May 23, 2016

This week was crazy! God does great things! We did like 3 days of work and somehow we were able to meet all the needs of the area! We had so many meetings this week and God still makes up the difference! He is obviously the one doing this work.

We are going to see Jeffersina this Tuesday and we are excited to share with you about it. This week was pretty revelatory though with the meetings, There should be some pictures on the Cincinnati Ohio Mission Facebook page. Also there was a picture on the Facebook page that an Emmalee Cartwright posted of my companion that was soooooooooooo funny! :) 

We had a leadership training and got to see several of my last companions which was so fun and we got to eat good food and learn so much.  Things are just so great right now :) We are planning on this week being big!! 

LOVE YOU!!!

Elder Howland

May 16, 2016

So I just want to share a quick miracle of this week... We had a member out with us teaching and we had to cut that short to go to a dinner appointment. When we pulled in the parking stall of the dinner appointment's home, they sent us a text saying that they had to cancel. We were pretty bummed because if they had told us sooner we could have kept the member with us and done some good work! But we figured God wanted us in that area for a reason and so I got the idea that we should walk and we found a local member and decided to walk to them even though it was cold, rainy, and Elder Wilcken was sick.  We walked there, 2-2-5ed**, and still found nothing.  We walked back to the car and on the way someone pulled over and asked to talk to us.  And to make a long story just a little longer, we talked to a lady who had been adopted by a member family as a child and baptized.  Since then she had married an Episcopalian and has several kids and has been looking for a way back to church.  She said "I have lived here for 9 years and have never seen missionaries around here but I'm so excited to be able to come back." 

We had no right being there. If even one thing happened differently she wouldn't have passed by us. God led us there in a very real way. He is the one that knows where his children are and we need to rely more on him. I'm going to commit to do that more.

That is the best of the week and sooo much fun. This week we are going on 3 exchanges and so I'm sure that it will be soooo much fun :)

LOVE you!

Elder Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch Howland

(2-2-5ed means going to visit someone and if they do not answer we knock on the two doors to the right and left and 5 directly accross the street! The OCM version of tracting that is way more efficient.  I didn't know...I had to ask him what that meant.)

 Elder Howland with his new zone...at zone conference.

 Elder Howland and his companion, Elder Wilcken (from Texas).

Elder Howland...

May 9, 2016

Hello hello hello from wonderful Dayton, Ohio! Technically I am in a place called Miamisburg but I thought if I started out with that I would confuse some of you saying I got transferred to Miami haha. I am now with one Elder Wilcken who is a stud. Oh my gosh can I just say that this transfer is just like God is patting me on the back- after being in Norwood ward which struggled numbers wise and working with missionaries (except a couple exceptional families who shall remain nameless... *cough*Garlock's*cough*) I now feel like I have made it and just like Brigham Young I feel like I should say "This is the Place." I get fed everyday and we are not in the ghetto and my companion is fantastic, really a tremendous missionary, and person. The only struggle is that they baptized twice last transfer and they have literally nothing left so we are starting from scratch. But this is the second time I have had to do that and it is kinda fun to be honest :) I also feel like I get to be more of myself now. Like with Elder Mc Kellar I needed to be his number one guy and support him 100% and so we didn't do a lot with the other missionaries because he didn't want to and I was loyal to him, but now the whole zone is looking to us for leadership and I get to be outgoing and fun and everything I wanted to be! So that is the best :) I really love all the missionaries that surround us, they are so fantastic. And how can I not mention... We have a CAR!!!!!!!!!!! :) That is so nice, after 6 months walking ahhhh. Really. Just everything is so good :)

This week Elder Wilcken caught and tamed a wild snake! Yes Elder Wilcken the redneck (and redhead) cowboy from Texas wrangled that bull snake like a pro! We have pictures to prove it too. But I will have to send them next week.

Love you,

Elder Howland

P.S.  Elder Howland would love to get cards and letters from you all.  His new address is:

Elder Mark Howland

1103 Arrowhead Crossing Apt 3

West Carrollton OH  45449

May 2, 2016

Okay so I pushed this to the last couple minutes so I have to be very quick. So I am getting transferred. That is sad news because after being here 5 months I really loved this ward and the people in this area! I got called as a Zone Leader so I know about 6 areas that I can go instead of the normal like 30 possibilities but I will look forward to getting you that information as soon as possible!

This last week was awesome. Ronda came to church again for the third time and is ready to be baptized on the 14th. I hope I am able to come back for it! She is pretty much ready with only like one more lesson to be taught. I am looking forward to coming back to this area for her baptism she is so elect! She feels the spirit so strongly and participates in class so much. She was ready for the gospel and just waiting for us to come! What a miracle!

I keep learning over and over and strengthening my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know it is the word of God. I know that Joseph Smith is his choice seer and that through him and the atonement of Jesus Christ I can change through his Doctrine and become more like him. This has been the best experience of my life and can't believe it is flying by!

Nicole is going to be so mad that I am leaving hahaha 

Love you guys, thank you for your support and your love and prayers!!!

Elder Howland

April 25, 2016

This week went by super quick and was awesome!

Ronda is still awesome! She came to church this week after having worked from 11pm-9am and our church is at 11. So she was here til 2 and then went home and crashed haha She is wonderful and always is so willing to contribute in classes.

Tiarra and Alazaleah (sorry about the spelling) came to church this week too! They are 17 and14 respectfully and they loved it too! Honestly I don't think we have had an investigator not come away from church talking about oh wow I loved Sunday school when they said... or something like that. This ward is truely awesome and the people in it are great! My problem is that I want to go talk to and learn more about all of them but I can only go see a couple each week. I have been in this ward going on 5 months now and I just introduced myself to a couple this week I had never met before!

So Nicole who got baptized a couple weeks ago is going through a hard time right now. Her grandmother Audrey passed away this week. She practically raised Nicole and so it is really hard. Honestly if it was my mom I don't know what I would do also so we are just trying to show her how she can rely on the Lord. She was awesome, as we were talking after she said that the one thing sh ewas looking forward to was in a year going and being baptized for her. Her mom Pam is also now taking lessons from us and is making good progress. The lesson that came right after her mom's death just happened to be the Plan of Salvation and so I think God planned it that way so that she could have that knowledge of where her mom is and that she will see her again.

We love love love this area, Elder Mc Kellar usually keeps us laughing he is the one that stands by me through it all and I'm grateful for that.

Love you guys

Elder Howland

April 18, 2016

April is halfway over?????

What in the world? Did someone press fast forward on the remote? Wasn't it just January?

Well this week was awesome and we did some great work! We have a new friend named Ronda who we met with this week.  When we taught her about the Restoration, she connected so well with the idea that she should ask God for truth! She is awesome and on Sunday she came to church with us; she is so cool and funny! She said that she wants to change where her life is going and that is why she came. We gave her a Book of Mormon and as we bore testimony of it and how it will help her change, help her feel forgiveness, and help her to come closer to Christ she was crying and the Spirit was so strong. 

Coming out here I feel like I had a pretty good testimony. Looking back now I realize how much my testimony has grown and that is the coolest thing. I definitely can say without a shadow of a doubt that I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that Joseph Smith is God's chosen seer in these last days with the keys to this dispensation. I know that God loves each of his children individually including me. I know that Jesus is the Christ, my Savior and my Redeemer.

Nicole got to go to the Louisville, KY temple on Saturday and we are so happy for that!!!!!!!!!! We helped her do some family history work and get it temple ready, and then she took her Great Grandma's name and was baptized and confirmed for her. She cried afterwards when she realized the significance of what she was doing. What a beautiful gospel that we have as a gift from our loving Heavenly Father! And how grateful am I for my privilege of being a part of it and knowing of the hope and goodness that is found here. 

I love you all, Thank you for all your support and prayers!

Elder Howland

April 11, 2016

Hello good morning and how do you do!

You know the weeks that don't go very well at all where everything is opposing you? Yeah that was last week. You know the weeks that go really really well and everything is in your favor? Yeah that was this week!!! :)

So on Monday we went on exchanges with one Elder Cusworth. He is such a stud of a missionary, very good listener and loves the people. So we went to one investigator's house, Reuben, and at the front step he was about to drop us and tell us to go away but luckily I had a trick that I pulled out that he wasn't expecting! I asked him to use his bathroom and BOOM he let us in. And from there we gave him a Book of Mormon to read and asked if we could take a few minutes and show him how it would help him... And an hour later where the spirit was there so strongly we finally left and he was so excited! Haha that man is so cool! 61 years old and still knows that there is more to learn and so humble!

So Ben is this guy that we met 3 months ago and on Sunday we really talked about his commitment level which was pretty low based on the evidence. He said he wants to learn more and do more but never came to church and would often flake on our appointments. So after Sunday he was pumped and ready to come to church and meet with us on Tuesday and Friday... well he didn't show up on Tuesday and we were worried... and then on Friday we went over and... he wasn't there again. UGH!!! But. On Sunday morning who came to church? Ben :) And he brought his fiance, Amy, too! :) Testimony meeting was good but it was priesthood that was the most powerful. It was all about the atonement and the resurrection. 

This week really was so great and the Lord was ever mindful of us. Even last night when I was walking without a jacket or umbrella and it poured down on us... again!!!!!!!!!!!! Haha

Good things are happening in the Norwood area!!! :)

Much love!!

Elder Howland

Note from Mark's mom (Cheryl):

When Mark was selling down in Arizona last summer, he met Sis. Eaton (picture above) in his ward. In fact, while he was down there she got her mission call to Cincinnati, and he already had his, so that was cool.  And now they're in the same zone back in Cincinnati.  Fun to see a familiar face, I'm sure.