It is awesome to see the fruits

10-10-16

This week was good but a little crazy.  We did lots of exchanges.  I only saw my companion like 3 days last week but we got what we needed done and we had some good experiences.  Ryssa received answers to her prayers (about receiving an answer to her prayers) about which church Jesus Christ built (Mathew 16:18).  She had been searching for a long time for the right church and she recognized the answer God has been giving her. She knows and feels everything is true and she gave herself a goal to be baptized this week. Her brother went to church this week, which was awesome! She is helping him to receive the blessing of obeying God commandments. We also had Mary and her whole family receive answers and it is changing their lives. It is awesome to see the fruits. They always thank God for the chance they received to talk with us. Mary said that she had heard lots of terrible things about the church and when we asked if we could share a message with her she said yes only because she didn't want to be rude. I think its really funny how so many people say terrible things about the church without even visiting. I like to compare the church to a cake. Everyone can say that its good or bad, but until we muster up the courage to try it we will never really know. Its crazy how the church that Christ created in the past is exactly the same today and people still say the same things today that they said about the church in the time of Peter the apostle. When people really read the scriptures with a desire to learn the truth, its really easy to find the truth and receive the confirmation with God. 

But anyways, Mary and Valdimir need to get married before they can get baptized... but they are trying to get the papers they need! It's gonna take a while and I hope I'll still be here to see them get baptized!! Also this week I had the chance to interview a mother and help her recognize the answer God was giving her. I have seen that many times we blind ourselves to answers from God, looking for the answer that we want but not the answer God knows we need. I have seen that I need to pray to recognize the answers and guidance that God is giving me. 

This week our leaders, the Assistants, will try visit our area to see how we are working and help us become better!

It was a good week... I didn't die... I'll try and eat some good food this week=açai :)

Love ya tons!

Elder Bowden