Oh I had some narly cow intestines this week!

I am feeling good, everything is getting better now that I can mostly say what I want in portuguese :) How are you guys feeling?  Elder Benitez is a good elder.  He's just near the end of his mission so he is a little trunky.  This week was a little long.  It's a lot harder to stay focused on the work when you have a comp who can understand everything and likes to talk about what he will do when he gets home. I am trying and we are teaching alot... we will be more focused this week! 

I think it is more dificult to learn the language with an American because I can just ask for words but not remember them. With a native, I have to say everything in portuguese which helps me learn more but I'll try and make it more effective this week! :) 

Oh I had some narly cow intestines this week!  It wasnt too bad!  I liked it more before they told me what it was though! haha

My area is mostly the same.  We just got another area to work in since there are more elders leaving than coming out now.   There is a lot more work to do but it will all be good! Its getting hard to not write words in portuguese when I try to write in english!  :o

Have fun on your trip and have a great week!

Love ya!

Elder Bowden

Oh we had a talent show at the church and it was way weird... its brazil and some people are crazy! :D 
Here are some pictures of Fortaleza!

This week was a soul searching, revelation finding week for me!

This week was a soul searching, revelation finding week for me! Things have been crazy here since 26 missionaries are going home this week.  They are closing down my area and puting me with the district leader.  I'll stay in the same area with a new comp Elder Benitez,the other American! Oh we are ballers!   Only because no one else knows how to play very well here... its awesome! 

I have read a lot about faith recently and I am figuring out that I will always need more so I can do the miracles God needs me to do! Elder Benitez is a good elder and follows the rules, so its gonna help me learn the things I need to do so I can be a better missionary! Since they are closing an area, we are gonna have double the amount of people to visit so this next week is gonna be awesome, way busy!

I hope everything is going well, you will continue to be in my prayers!  Thanks for the pics!

Te amo

Elder Bowden

The baptism was nuts!!!

The baptism was nuts!!!  We went to go and clean the font early in the morning and it was pretty gross, but we got it nice and purty-ish! haha! As we were filling it, we had tons of water problems.  It took us like 2 hours to fill that sucker! We used a fire hose, tons of buckets, it twas awesome! We made it happen! She is super solid. We will confirm her this week since we had conference last week! We have new investigators all the time, the hard part is sorting through the ones who are ready and who want the gospel!  

Haha I guess its a family thing cuz my intestines are not having a great time at the moment!  Either I am sick (I dont think) but I think I am preparing to start a worm farm inside me!  I am gonna call it "I got worms"... sound fitting?

 Oh will you fast for my comp and Austy, dont worry about me, I have too many blessings right now I can share! Tell Austy to buy tons of biscoitos =(cookies-ish) it might help him gain pure muscle :)  My comp is struggling with the "following all the rules wont bring happiness so we can bend a few of them".  I am trying to help him, but have realized that he just gets really mad when I suggest to do things differently.  I am learning lots of life lessons, I think they will come in handy anyway! Just to be really subserviant and not get mad at him for not being perfect or not wanting to change. We are here to learn and help others and often those lessons are really hard to learn the first time. Patience is key!  Dad and I are rocking the patience!  Thanks for your help with that Mom, I am learning! :)

  

It twas sweet... we played bball with my companions Americans vs South Americans!  It wasn't the fairest of teams, but it was what they wanted!  I missed basketball a lot!

It was a good week this week!  Learning a lot every week, it's hard but fun!  I will fast as well boa sorte!

Te amo

Elder Bowden

 Oh also can you send me some pics of when I had a beard and more of the family please?  I might have some pics on my old iphone? Can you send me Pook's email and thanks for all you do :)

Rough week!

Rough week!  I got a differnent sickness!  My comp isnt happy with me for not understanding the plans he had that he forgot to explain. But its all good because I am learning how to be a better companion for him.  Its really hard for me to understand conversations that are not about the gospel and its hard because no one explains it.  So I am sort of solo for now at learning conversations (not gospel related).  Gospel related conversations and lessons are a lot easier because I have the Spirit to help me understand and convey what I need to say! 

We have a baptism with this awesome investigator this week! She is super solid bearing her testimony to all her family and working towards baptism! She is super stoked... its Pretty Fantastic!

I dont really think there are food rules besides only drinking water that says Mineral on it.  We eat whatever, so I will probably have a few new freinds inside me when I return... but I am not worried about that now. 

Here, almost everyone will listen to you, but few will act on it.  We are trying to find some more golden investigators and I am trying to adapt my teaching that I learned in the states.  My comp likes to remind me that Brazil is not America and things are different here, but its hard for me to not try and help everyone through their problems. Ill try and find a balance. 

Here are a few pictures, 1st is what the coins look like.

 part of a sketchy bridge I failed to take a good picture of

Pics of my sweet life here!

Brazil is crazy!

So I got sick right after our phone call and have been sick for like half of last week, but with different sicknesses each day. "But aint nobody got time to stop workin" so we have been going non stop this last week!  We work hard everyday and sometimes have to run home because we spend so much time teaching lessons. Brazil is crazy!  The language is really hard, especially since everyone has a wierd accent and they pronounce things all wierd!  I am getting the hang of it, learning as I go!  They say you dont get fluent and understand everything till you have been here for 3 months, but I plan to cut that in half! I am just greatful I dont need to make perfect sense for the spirit to touch their hearts.  I got a good chastisement from my companions about taking pictures.  It is too dangerous, so I'll need to be more stealthy I guess or just stop... we will see. 

Oh, I bought a couple apples, a bunch of grapes, and a cantaloupe for like 3 bucks.  It was pretty cool.  Everything is way cheap here. I couldnt find a convertor.  I talked with another missionary who had one and figured out it is best to just buy a razor that can handle both voltages.  If you could look for one because shaving takes way long for me and I want to have as much time as I can reading my sciptures... so if you could please, that would be fantastic! 

I am glad to hear of all the things still moving towards the glory of God!  Keep working and helping! Enjoy the pics!  Oh and as a side note, I get limited time here so my emails might not be as long!   That address is right I think! 

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Fortaleza is just like Mexico

I am fine mom, Fortaleza is just like Mexico except I understand a little more now and I feel totally safe here! The Lord has my back as I obey His rules, so I am not worried... though I would appreciate not being sick :) 

My comp is great!  His name is Elder Torrico.  Ele e muito legal porque ele é aprendendo Inglês, entao eu vou ajudar ele e ele vai ajudar me para estar fluente! (He is really cool because he's learning English, so I'll help him and he will help me to be fluent!)  He is really nice and has a lot of patience with me, so I will be fine. It's hard to get pictures for you since people might rob me if they see me with a camera.  I will continue to have stealth and not look like a tourist, and will get more pics this week if I can :D

My feet are definitely missing my bike, but my feet hurting is a good sign that I am not lazy :P mais ou menos (more or less)  Sorry for speaking Portuguese but I need to practice whenever I get the chance!  I'll try to write my emails with things that are easy to understand if I can. My comp in California, Elder McCalister, is home now in Utah.  Eu vou tentar para receber ele endereço. (I'll try to get his address).  You can pick up my things I sent home with him while you are up there.

Oh you are cutting down trees in Cloudcroft for Father and Sons..... haha I miss cutting trees... sorta... anyways I hope you don't let them do what you did last time and totally miss a turn into the bushes because that was nuts but awesome, for me at least.  

Oh wish the cousins good luck for me and tell Austin he smells like a fish :D

I did a front flip (with style I might add) over my bike onto the asphalt!

So I really don't know too much about my flight plans except I am supposed to fly into Sao Paulo Tuesday night.  My Mission President said that "I think your going straight to your mission" so my Portuguese is gonna be a little rusty!  I guess the power of prayer is gonna be something I need to work on, because I am gonna be saying some long prayers for help! I know that the gift of tongues is real, and I have already had a sweet experience with that.   I just need to pray for it a lot and strive to study the language as hard as I can when I can.  I am praying for a native comp so I can learn and adapt as fast as I can, since I am already behind every one of my companions!

So my comp and I were biking.  I was on the street and he was on the curb going down hill gaining speed.  I looked ahead and saw that my comp was gonna need as much room to make the turn ahead because he was on the left side of the street curb and we were about to take a left. So I in my awesome planning skills I gave him plenty of time and space and waited till the end to start turning.  But lo and behold my comp didn't know we were turning and commenced in taking a sweet jump off the curb right into my back tire, causing me to try and do a front flip (with style I might add) over my bike onto the asphalt, while he commenced in executing a perfect barrel role (with extreme skill) right on his head! I proceeded to laugh at our awesome display of manliness as he laid prostrated in the street!  I helped him up and we went through our day teaching investigators, because nobody has time to stop and recover until the adrenaline wears off.... Later we were told to take it easy and stay inside for a few days.     It really was a crazy experience... I was fine, but my comp is the one who got the bad side of that adventure! 

 I already went to the store to stock up on goods but I will try and score some peanut butter before I leave. Its sucks to say goodbye to all the people here, but I cant be selfish, so I will go where the Lord wants me to go! Way to be a member missionary!!!! You 2 are awesome, way to be keep up that missionary work! ok and remind me next email about the 2 things you asked because I am sure this week is gonna be crazy!  

Oh and I hope I get to call!  It will probably be at night if I am able to but if not I will try and call from the airport if I can!

Te amo muito!!!!

Elder Bowden

My comp was very sensitive to the light after the accident!

Our district came over to say good bye!  We had a little concussion party!  Notice my comp in the back with a cover over his eyes... still sensitive to the light.

Bro Townsend and his swords!

Our tearful goodbyes!