Week 29-Transfer 4

Hey familia! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELSEA!!!!!!!!!!! So I totally had a card ready to go but didn't get it out in time...again. So don't worry, it is on it's way:) I was thinking about you yesterday though:) Thanks for the pictures of Tyson's play! I wish I could be there to watch! It looks so fun! Alexa's surgery sure sounds super painful! I don't understand everything you write about what she is getting surgery on (I swear you could be a doctor now with all that you know), but it sounds like they found something. Was her DVD as exciting as Chelsea's ear surgery...? What would the next step be now? People here are still praying hard for her! Including me:). Congrats on Scott's job! That is so exciting! 

So Tony is baptized now! So cool! He's probably almost done with the Book of Mormon by now too. This week has been full of ups and downs. I do LOVE Sister Bonrostro. I love to laugh at (I mean with) her mostly:) If she wasn't Asian she would be blonde and she knows it:) I say that with all the love in my heart:) It's kind of weird for me to be the senior companion. She just barely finished her training and she still asks me lot of questions and stuff when I don't feel like I know anything either:) She is so sweet though and we get along great! She did get to really meet Brandon for the first time the other day. He is about to leave home to "bring the gospel to his family!" You know I thought it would wear off after a while, but he really is still soooo happy about being a Mormon:) He told us how one day he was walking to the beach and he was just so happy because he is "a Mormon" and things were great that he started singing "Zippady Dooda, Zippady ay, my oh my what a wonderful day...etc". He said he was singing it over and over when the person walking about 20 ahead of him finally turned around and said, "Shut up!" and he just laughed and thought "Wow, i'm one of those guys:)" We decided though we need to be that joyful more often. We are Mormons! We have the Gospel! No matter what happens, we know we have a loving Heavenly Father and a Savior who will be with us every step of the way. We all have reason to sing Zippady Dooda! 

I love being an online sister. I'm not sure if I like it more or less than having another area, it's just different. It is super frustrating though, when you have people who want to be taught so bad face to face, but the missionaries won't get to them! Or also, if you have someone that is ready to be baptized but you can't really do much with it unless the local missionaries set it up! So, do you remember Chris? The really awesome, golden investigator that came to the VC and wasn't being taught by his local missionaries and so he said that he wanted to be taught by us? So Sister Patlingrao and I taught him pretty much all the lessons and had a baptism date set for him and everything. And then transfers happened. Well, we decided that that was ok cause we got special permission to keep teaching him together cause it was from the VC and everything. Well, something happened and we lost contact with him. No matter how many times we called and left messages we couldn't get a hold of him! So the day of his scheduled baptism arrived. This was March 26. I decided to call the Zone Leaders in his area to find out what was going on. Well the Zone Leaders told me that his local elders had dropped him cause "he wasn't keeping commitments" A bit frustrated, I told the Zone Leaders the whole situation and how awesome and ready he was for baptism. They then decided that they would contact Chris and find out what was going on. So they called me later that evening and said that they had called him and now had an appt. scheduled for the next Tues  to teach him. A little confused why I still was unable to contact him, I was happy that the Zone Leaders were on top of it now. I had met Elder Ludevico before and had heard he was an amazing missionary so it was all good. Well they reset his baptism date to be April 6th. Right around General Conference:) I was so excited! Also, I finally was able to reach him and found out that he had lost all his contacts on his phone and he also hadn't been getting my calls! So weird! Well anyways, April 6th comes and the Elders call me and say that because of scheduling conflicts, it had to be moved to Sunday, April 7th. But they were thrilled at how ready and prepared Chris was for baptism! Well, the morning of April 7th comes and I get a call from the elders saying that the baptism had been postponed again! Apparently the person who Chris wanted to baptize him couldn't do it so he decided to wait till he could, which would mean it was postponed until after his grandma's birthday which would be April 27th. I was so sad and even called Chris later and talked to him about it. He told me that he regretted not being baptized that weekend, but he just felt like the elders were trying to rush things and he wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to be there. Well, that was that, so we waited until the 27th. Chris got home from his grandma's the 21st and called me to let me know that everything was good with his baptism and he told me he was going to talk to the elders the next day to set things up and let me know how it goes. Well I ended up talking to Chris twice that week and the elders twice but for some reason they were not able to contact each other  It doesn't help that since we just had transfers there are now new elders over Chris. So story goes, the evening of the 26th comes around and I call the elders to see how things are coming. They still hadn't talked to Chris at all and said they didn't even know if he was still planning on being baptized! I told them that I had just talked to him and he was still planning on it and we had also talked to his little sister and she was planning on going! Well long story a bit shorter;), the baptism is now postponed again...they were supposed to pick a new date on Monday. Chris actually called me Monday but I missed the call and haven't been able to get a hold of him again! This kid is one of the most prepared investigators ever, he was supposed to be baptized on March 23th! Sorry this is such a long story, it's just been such a frustrating process. I know that Satan is really trying so hard to keep him from being baptized! I know that he is elect, I know that he will get baptized eventually, but being apart of this and knowing the blessings that come from baptism, knowing how much he does want it, yet having every obstacle thrown in front of it just hurts my heart so much! At the same time, I know that it is all in the Lords timing. No matter what happens, I think we all are definitely learning so much of the Savior and His love. We just need to continue in patience:). 

So as an online sister, we don't have a ward, so we get to go to any ward we want really. So this Sunday we went to the Sister Trainer's ward cause they were speaking that day. Well, they have a very friendly bishop that noticed the 4 online sisters in the back and at the end of the meeting called Sister Mckinney and I up to bear our testimonies. Wow, I hadn't spoken in Sacrament since I gave my farewell talk! It was so cool though to have a whole program filled with 4 sister missionaries! The spirit was so strong and so it was not difficult to know what to say. I was able to catch a glimpse though of how much my testimony has grown since I left. I really do love this gospel so much and have reason to sing Zippady Dooda all day long!:) 

I love you all so much! I can't wait to talk to you in 2 more weeks:) Yes I knew that:) Unfortunately, we cannot use the computers for that, just phone. I don't know how connecting everybody works but if it is easier I could give you the number and you could call me in or we could just do like we did at Christmas. Which ever one is easier. I love you all and I pray so much for each of you! I am so lucky to have the best family ever:) 

Les Quiero!

Hermana Rowley (Shayla)

so in the Pics. I have introduced Recess Puffs to my companion (Even though she grew up in San Francisco, she is still full filipino and didn't eat much American food). I also introduced something other than instant mashed potatoes to her:) The other two are of us and our area:) so fun huh:)

Week 28-Transfer 3

Aloha a Todos!

So news for this week...Transfers! We just found out today who everybody's new companions are going to be. My new comp. is Sister Bonrostro. Another Filipino! However she grew up in the city in California and is as white as they get:) She is so sweet though and i'm super excited to be her companion! I actually sent a pic to you with her. The one where she is holding the cricket that I made out of grass. I'll see if I can get some more:) She is another really short one:). I am still online. This should be my last transfer online since we always have one transfer being trained online and one training. So I guess in a way I'm training this transfer:) haha.

So this week has been such a busy week. Sister Mckeever knew that she was going to be going off-line so we have been spending tons of time cleaning out the online area book. For some reason there is a myth going around that the online sisters have more time so everyone tends to dump their investigators on us when they leave. This is so not true. I guess one good thing is that we are never devoid of people to teach. So something cool this week, while we were in the Visitor Center, this kid came in looking for a church building near his house. So as we were looking it up for Him we got to know him a little better and found out that he was not a member and had actually been close to being baptized years ago but joined the navy instead and now he was on medical leave from the Navy because of an accident that injured his back. We asked him if he had a copy of the Book of Mormon and he said yes, then if he had read it, and he said a little, then if he had prayed about it and he said no. So we talked a little more. I asked him if he wanted to know if the Book of Mormon was true and he said "undecided." So then he said thank you and began to make his getaway. On the way out he said, "I may or may not be back." Well a few hours later, after our shift was already over, Tony walked through the doors once again. This time Sister Bradley and Manoa talked to him. He told them right off, "So I guess I'm back. I just found out that my sister has a blood clot in her leg." They then sat him down and began to talk to him. Well long story short, Sister Bradley ended up inviting him to be baptized right there! She said that after she invited, he sat there in silence for like 3 min. and she felt like she couldn't talk even if she had wanted to. Finally he said, "yes." Then she said, "will you be baptized next Saturday?" and he sat there for a while, and then said, "yes." Yay! So this Saturday is the baptism of Tony! The cool thing is that ever since then we have been able to see him every day because he has been coming in every day to sit and read the Book of Mormon. He is now half way through the book and he has finally prayed about it and is excited for his baptism! So cool! 

Also this week we found out that the local missionaries FINALLY reached a few of our investigators and put them as progressing investigators now! One of them is that really awesome couple from Mexico who came on the tram tour and then was amazed at the spirit in the VC and the wife was crying on the way back. I am so excited for them!

Well I love you all and pray for you always! I hope everything goes well with Alexa and her surgeries. It's nice to know that we are on the right track. I can't believe Tyson is 6'2! Tell Taya HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She is so awesome! I wish I could have been there for the cake:) I just realized today that it is Mother's Day soon! It will be so good to hear your voices again! I love you all so much and am so grateful for all of your prayers and love! 

Les Quiero!

Hermana Rowley

So this picture is of my missionary "step-family" can you tell I was adopted:) Sister Bonrostro is the one in the brown sweater next to me:) She is my "niece":) 

PS Gmail is being very temperamental that's why this is late and not as long as it was originally and also, with this new transfer, my PDays are going to switch back to Tuesday! Love you all!

Week 27-Transfer 3

Aloha y hola:)
Como estan?! Thanks for all the pictures mom. I wish I could print some of them in color. I love Tyson's bow tie:) He looks so cool:) He is so tall, Alexa's hair is so short and Maelie and Kason are so big! I'm so sorry Tiffany! I thought I had emailed you something. I will
get you something this week:) Congrats Alexa on your medallion! That is so exciting! You must be relieved mom:) Thanks for the recipes:) Any thing will do that doesn't use very many ingredients. Especially now that transfers are coming up and I will most likely lose my

cooking companion...

So this week has been pretty exciting:) We got a lot of Spanish chats. One of them was a member who kept using slang from Puerto Rico and computer slang:) I will know how to text in Spanish when I get home now:) Another guy came on our English chat and asked if we knew Spanish. He was super confused because he said some missionaries came by and invited him to their church and gave him this card, but the card was in English!  I asked if either of them spoke Spanish and he
said one of them was communicating but the other looked "mudo":) (dumb) haha, I'm learning so much on chat;) My companion has been so good about making sure I get my language study in. I mostly just read
the Book of Mormon out loud and go over any grammar principle that I am having issues with. Reading that book out loud has helped the most I know. I tend to read more when I get frustrated but It's amazing how much I am understanding when I read. Now if only I could speak like that:) I told Sis. Mckeever that I will just start quoting scriptures to every one and then it will be like I am fluent:) Good news in that department though that I think you will all appreciate:), Sis. Mckeever told me this morning that last night she woke up at 2 in the morning because I was sleep talking super loud and intense...all in Spanish! haha! Too bad I can't do that when I'm awake! At least I'm doing something right though, right?

One cool thing this week is that we found out that 4 of the people we have been working with are finally meeting with their local missionaries! One of the ladies is from India. We haven't been able to get a hold of her for like a month after we chatted with her and sent the missionaries to her. She finally found us on chat and went off about how grateful she was to have found this in her life and how she bore her testimony in Fast and Testimony meeting and how she feels so much closer to God now! She asked us where we were on our missions right now and when we told her she said that she hopes we will betransferred to India soon where she is:) Haha, that would be and exciting transfer:)

So yesterday, right after I took the picture with Jordan actually, this couple came in to the visitor center. We showed  them the Christus presentation which at the end says "if ye love me, keep my commandments" and right after the man asked, "What are His commandments?" "Well," we said "like the Ten Commandments." "What are those? Tell them to me." So I pulled out my handy dandy pocket sized Book of Mormon and began reading each one from Mosiah 13. He stopped at each one and made sure he understood them and then we started talking to them. We found out that He was a monk for 12 years. I'm not sure what religion they would be considered now but it was rather
interesting. A few times I had to stop myself from laughing:) Anyways, the woman was from Russia and Sis. Mckeever knows a little Russian so she said something to her and they instantly became best
friends...leaving me with the monk. They ended up staying for about an hour and each of them agreed to read the Book of Mormon. I was able to share all about the plan of Salvation and the Restoration. The spirit
was super strong as I was talking and I could tell he felt it, but then he would start in on His beliefs in a very matter of fact way which were interesting to say the least:) I am glad they were able to come in though. Hopefully they will feel the spirit as they read the Book of Mormon. and do as we asked them to do, to ask God if it is from Him, because it is either all true or it is not.

We also had some miracles happen over the phone. Both of these people had called in, one asking about some Health insurance (I don't remember if I told you about Mildred) and one wanting a free bible, and both of them were from the South, and both of them had wanted the missionaries. Well, I called them both back on Saturday to check up on them. Mildred (from Mississippi) still hasn't seen the missionaries(Come on Elders!), but I was able to hear more about her. She is a

widow and said that she hasn't always had God in her life, but she lost her husband, brothers and sisters, and so much else. She said that eventually it got too hard for her to stand so she dropped to her knees to pray and has been praying ever since. She loves God and Jesus
Christ with all of her heart and I asked her what brought her to that point, and she said that it was because they were always there for her even when she didn't believe it. She said that she knew they carried her all that time and now she walks hand in hand with them. I was able
to testify that the message that we have to share will help her to strengthen that faith even more and help her develop that relationship with God. She said that that was fine and that together we could work on her new years resolution which was to "become less like Mildred,
and more like Jesus Christ." I love Mildred so much!

The other call was the young man, Jody, who wanted a free bible. He said it was alright if the missionaries brought it by and if I called back to make sure he got it, so I called back on Saturday. He did get the bible and said he was reading it now. He didn't talk much and it
was a bit awkward so I asked a ton of questions trying to find out more. He said they had also given him a copy of the Book of Mormon and stayed to talk for about a half hour:) I asked him if he had read it and he said that he thinks its the same book that he bought on eBay a
while back and that he had read the whole thing! This is a single adult we are talking about! What single adult buys an old Book of Mormon on eBay and reads it all! Well Jody does:) I asked him how he liked it and he said it was really good. I asked if he had prayed about it and what the missionaries taught and he said that he prays

all the time, but he hadn't prayed about that specifically because he already kind of knows that it's true! We then talked about baptism and I asked if that was something he wanted and he said "Yeah, that's what I've been looking for!" I asked if he had told the local missionaries

that and he said "um, no, I haven't told them that really" "Well," I said, trying to keep the happy disbelief out of my voice, "They probably would be happy to hear that." "yeah, he said, maybe I should call them. I told them I would come to church (with his mom by the way) and didn't set up another appt. but told them they could come back any time. Maybe I should call them though." Wow, I wonder if those missionaries know what a gem they got:) I asked him if I could give him a chapter in the Book of Mormon to read and he said "yeah, let me go get it" He was gone for maybe 2 sec. and then said "ok, I'm ready." I gave him 2 Nephi 31 and told him it was all about baptism and things that we needed to do to make it into heaven. He thanked me very politely and said that he would for sure read it:)

Can I just tell you how happy I am to have this calling. I get to be a missionary all around the world really. Being in Hawaii is just a bonus:) I love this work. I love the gospel. I LOVE studying the Atonement! I know that this is real and so true! I love you all so much too and pray and think about you often. These last six months have gone by fast in some ways and so slow in others. I feel like I have been doing this for so long now (probably just looking back on how much my testimony has grown) yet I still feel new like I just got here:) I continue to learn so much and live each moment to the fullest:) I love you all!

Les Quiero,
Hermana Rowley (Shayla)

Week 26-Transfer 3

Aloha y hola!

Yes, 2 more days till my 6 mth mark! Oh my goodness how time flies! Thank you so much Chelsea for your package!!!! I got it today and it made me sooooo happy! How clever of you:) You pretty much hit all of the best treats ever! Thanks so much! Thanks Tiffany for all the
pictures as well! Isaac is getting so big! so are you it looks like:)
I don't remember if you told me but when is your due date? Yes mom, I did love the package. I forgot to tell you last time but I love the bag! Sis. Moultrie, one of our senior couples, said she loves it so much and when I told her I got it from my mom for Easter she asked if
my mom wanted another daughter. haha, she's so cute:) Hey, I was wondering if maybe I could get some recipes, like for French Toast, Lasagna, and easy stuff like that;) I think I should give my wonderful companion a break once in a while and show her I know how to do a little more than the dishes:). And also, I keep forgetting to tell you but everybody needs to look up "Hawaii Temple Visitor Center" official page on facebook and like it:) You can see our latest picture on that too:).

So General Conference was amazing! I was watching it at the same time as you (6AM for us:)) And I thought of you the whole time:). I don't think it has ever been so anticipated and so short before though! Seriously, it was like Christmas to us! I don't think I have ever been so captivated by all of the speakers like that. They truly are
witnesses of Jesus Christ and speak the words of God. I too loved Elder Hollands talk. Is it just me or does he get more and more powerful every time he speaks! I think one of my favorites was Pres. Monson. I think that this transfer, I am finally gaining that testimony of obedience that I always wished I had. I always just
obeyed just because, but my experiences this transfer, mixed with General Conference, have really helped me to understand more the importance of being exactly obedient.

This Wednesday was an exciting one for me as we were able to go to Pearl Harbor for a service project. Let me tell you, that is the way to go to Pearl Harbor! We got to sweep the Missouri Ship and as we were sweeping we got to see all throughout the ship! It was used in both the 40's and the 80's and so different parts of the ship were set up for those time periods. You know how much I love that kind of stuff! It was so cool! After we were done they took us on a private tour into parts of the ship that say "Do Not Enter" As he pulled back the rope and we started down the stairs, somebody was watching us and our guide was like "you don't want to go down here, just the broilers, really boring stuff:)" He took us to the broiler room, the steering room, the communications room, the bunk rooms, the kitchen area (which
was ginormous!), and the computer room, yes, the 1940's computer room, where they fired the missiles. It was so amazing to see! I felt like I was in a movie or something but of course it was much more real than
that...

On chat this week we met this really cool guy from NY named Peter. He started out saying he was just curious and had a few questions. He said that he was Catholic but only went to church because of his mom. He said he wanted to have faith in Christ but he knew he didn't really have that and he didn't know where to start. We talked to him a while and then showed him a video, Here is the basic chat although I've taken some stuff out:) I was on exchanges this day so Courtney is Sister Millet:)

Courtney: What were some thoughts or feelings you had while watching the video?
Peter: That it would be nice to believe what some of the people in the video were saying.
Peter: That I wish I wasn't so skeptical
Peter: or
Peter: perhaps a different way of putting that last statement
Peter: that I wish I had an intellectual basis to build a spiritual connection on.
Peter: I don't know what it means that someone who lived thousands of years ago died for sins that I commit today.
Shayla: Do you have faith that these things are true?
Peter: No.
Peter: I think i am here because I want to
Peter: but to answer your question honestly, the answer is no.
Shayla: What is faith to you?
Peter: The ability to believe something with conviction in absence of tangible evidence or proof
Courtney: Can I share a scripture with you? It's from the Book of Mormon. It's talking about faith and I love it because it has helped me to understand more of faith.
Peter: Sure.

Courtney: 26 Now, as I said concerning faith that it was not a perfect knowledge even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.
27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a

The last few days have been interesting because the internet went out and we haven't been able to go online for our areas which is problematic. I guess it was good though because my companion wasn't feeling very good but she wouldn't have stopped on her own so she was able to get a bit of extra rest in. Speaking of Sister Mckeever, she could use some extra prayers. She has been through more trials than anyone I know of and she just got terrible news from home that I don't think she wants me to share, but please pray for her. She is so strong and tries to hold it all in but she is really having such a hard time. Thanks for all of your prayers. I feel them every day. I love being able to bear my testimony every day, but even better, I love these experiences that I am having that helps me to strengthen my testimony
and conversion like never before. This Gospel is true! It is real! It is here to help us change and become more Christ-like every day. The temple is real and so amazing! I love being able to share it with so many people. We have a new thing now where we are trying not to just tell people, "it's not open for public tours," but rather, "The temple is such a special place and we would like to share with you how you can prepare to enter:)" or something like that:).

I love you all so much! Thanks for everything! Thanks for raising us the way you did. Especially listening to Conference, with so many talks being about family and all, I am so grateful for the spirit that is in our home. I love you and pray for you always.

Les Quiero!
Hermana Rowley (Shayla)

PS. I just discovered that that recorder you sent has 67 hrs, not mins like I thought, but HRS. on it! So I think I will just be sending it home soon with out worrying about filling the space:) Hope you enjoy it:)

this was our hike up Laie Falls, officially the only hike I have ever hiked in Hawaii, 3X!

The one with sister Bonrostro is of the cricket that I made out of a leaf, yes, I am learning all kinds of talents here;)

Pearl Harbor:)