From Elder to Sister

Ashley,
 They gave me the opportunity to write you a little email before you leave. Im so excited for you. What a feeling i felt when i left from that little airport in cedar city utah. with so many wonderful people to send me off. I will not be there to give you a big hug, but i will say that if i was there, maybe for the first time in my life, i would cry more than you. Im so proud of this decision that you made, you didnt have to but you did anyway. I pray for the people that you will find , and i pray that you will learn quickly this beautiful language of portugues. My companion, Elder Perrupato also wishes you good luck and a great trip here ! You are such a wonderful sister with so many wonderful talents and everyone will love you for who you are, you will become a great woman for the choice that you made. What faith you have... you have never seen this place, and i am but a testimony that this place exists . so you are a woman of great faith. I sure love you Ash, you are the best. I love our family and i know that when were all together again, we will have felt the greatest happiness that exists.
 Your Little Brother
 Elder Rowland

 PS, You can send me letters here for just 1¢!!!

Elder Rowland October 5 2009

Hey there Ash and the Family!
 First off, Im so excited to actually be having this conversation! Legal!! and also thanks so much for the help on my email crisis. Its was getting pretty ugly. I am pretty good for now on clothes , Garments, socks , shirts , and ties, so all thats pretty good still, But as for the cristmas stuff, i will save that for a little later in the email... But what i wouldnt have brought and what i would have stalked up on more... let me see. The Giant thing of shampoo that i brought lasted until 8 months, but since you are a girl ash, so i dont think it will be quite the same for you. but let me think.. I really cant think of anything right off the bat, it seems like i needed to use everything i brought at one time or another. But i wish i would have brought more folders to store papers, and important items like that , but that all i cant think of for now. Remember my companions brother works at the CTM Irmão Perrupato, and look for Irmã Camila for me and give her a big hug, because im speaking portugues now! And i will give you more names too find, but most importantly, Pray to the lord to prepare you for the trip, and pray to help you let go of the worldly things. I sure love you ash, and think you are just awesome for making such a great choice. I love you Maddy , Jesse , Logan , Russell , Mom And Dad!
 Elder Rowland

Elder Rowland September 28, 2009

Hey Family
 How are things going? First of all i would like to say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDY! Your such a great sister and i love you to peices. And the other thing that i would like to say i that ashley is just about to step in my part of the woods .! how cool is that, Whatch out Brasil! Im so excited for her. That also means that the only ones that will be living at hom, will be the little boys! You guys will have a lot more responsabilty , washing dishes, cleaning toilets, All that jazz. Right now im in Arroio Dos Rats. (Brook of Rats) Its a little town that just has a branch. Something that touched me this week was that me and my companion were having a bit of a hard time finding someone to teach, and this sunday a member in our little branch came up to us saying that we would be having a lot more people to teach this next week . And he gave us 7 families to teach and the members are determined to find more. Its such a wonderful thing, they will become a ward if they keep up the great attitude. My companions name is Elder Perrupato. He is from São Paulo, and his brother actually works in the CTM, so ashley will see him, ( Just Remember The Name) And he is a great missionary , i love him to death. The CTM was the coolest experiance that is something that ashley will experiance for herself. I cant beleive that its been 1 year since i was there with my friends and family, because i consider them my family as you guys are. This week was wonderful and i love you all so much
 Love Elder Rowland

Elder Rowland September 14, 2009

Hey Everyone!
Thanks so much for the great email, and birthday wishes! i am always so happy to get the news from home, its wonderful. It charges me up to do my best the next week. I see that life is a time to have a smile on my face , and when i get the news from you guys i am reminded to smile more and more. Ashley will be leaving in one month from today! that is so neat, she will be a great missionary and i know that she will be so blessed. It was so neat to see the pictures of the cabin and dad and ashley at the temple! and thanks so much for the cake! IT was DELICIOUS! i love you all so much and thanks for the many prayers and all the love!

Sister Rowland September 4, 2009

My dad and I had the opportunity to go up to Salt Lake a few days before the rest of the family and we went to the Salt Lake Temple and went through a session! It was such a great experience! After we got done we walked around Temple Square and took a few pictures. We ran into a sister up there who is from Sao Paulo - the city I will be serving in! She was the cutest! She assured me I'd love the food and thanked me for serving the people of her city. We told her Tyler was serving in Brazil as well and she couldn't believe it! It was so great that I was able to meet her! She was able to answer some questions I had and it really was comforting! I know we were led to talk to her.
-Ash

Dad and Me

Elder Rowland August 30, 2009

Ty Sent us some pictures today! The first two are of his District, there are 3 Americans.

Elder Nasella went and played ball at Brighton

Elder Rowland is Nuts!

Elder Horrocks is brand new on the mission and is learning the language great!

And Elder Braz is my awesome companion.

The other 2 are pictures of our baptism.

She is 76 years old and was happy as ever to be baptized

And the thing im holding is the babtismal font

Love you all!

Elder Rowland August 17, 2009

This week was great, im really like working in a branch. Its always pretty interesting. We are teaching a man of about 45 years old and his mom. And everytime we go there and teach , it seems like the lord blesses us with a little more inspiration. Yesterday we brought them to church and we didnt tell anybody about his problems with drugs and things like that. And every lesson that was given in church, was about the word of wisdom! and the spirit was so strong, and it was just neat to see how the lord works. Another thing that happened yesterday was that me and my companion had to stay at home a little longer than planed because my comp has to put in eardrops for the next week , three times a day, but anyway , we marked some visits that were pretty far away and so we had to cancel thoses visits, so as we were sitting at home, he asked me " what do you want to do" its kind of hard to explain the story about the answer that i gave him but i will try. We had a great investigator that said she recieved an answer about the book of mormon and wanted to be babtised, and then one day she came outside with the book of mormon and said" my husband doesnt believe in these things and he doesnt want you guys to visit anymore. So we left the book of mormon there, crushed because she was a good one. So i said to my companion. " hey we have never talked to here husband, so lets go over there and mark a visit." then my companion gave me a few excuses not to go and then i agreed with him, then i got the feeling to just stay home for the rest of the night. And then he put on his shoes and said " Lets Go." So at first i kinda got scared because i know that her husband did not want us to visit, but we were on our way. When we arrived at the house my comp we knocked on the door and we marked a visit with him and everything went really well. So i know that we were guided by the spirit. But i love you dad, thanks so much for the package, and the funeral tape, i really need to hear it. Im loveing the mission dad.
Elder Rowland