I am learning tons with my comp.

So this week was a little crazy!  We were preparing for five baptisms but three will happen this coming week. After the baptism they all said they want to be baptized this week and one of the Grandmas that was there said she wanted to be baptized too!  It was awesome... she reminds me of Grandma!  We are gonna try real hard to make these last 2 semanas (weeks) together a flood of covenants... its gonna be way awesome! 

 

I am learning tons with my comp.  He can be a little difficult, but I can definitely see what the Lord wants me to learn! I am looking back and noticing the importance of my comps in preparing me to set my path straight, so that nothing can stop me from looking forward to the tree of life and holding fast to the Word of God that He has prepared to help me and others along the way!

Um Christmas package... thin mint cookies from Walmart  (send the cookies in zipblock bags because I need bags please) and the same kind of peanut butter! More candy it works miracles!!! haha Star Bursts? And the cereal is worth its weight in gold!  ...but I am out of peanut butter... haha!  I need more pictures :) new pics please!! 

 

I don't know where the time is going anymore! The days pass faster than should be possible... but the work is going and I will keep going with the pace of the Lord! 

 

I miss and love you! Do your best!

Elder Bowden

It was a really awesome week... really!

This week was nuts!  My comp and I had to go the the office on my b-day and pick up supplies and packages. It was crazy!  We had tons of stuff to take... 4 boxes of stuff. It was sweet!  We had some cake and pizza this week for our birthdays and we helped a family that is in need of food.  It was a really awesome week... really! haha 

This week we had a lot of people to teach and 2 baptisms of a recent convert/less active family.  It was really awesome!  One of the girls in the family really wanted me to baptize her, but the ward mission leader messed up and had my comp baptize her. She was a little mad but it all ended well! The rest of the family will be baptized soon.  It was so cool... Bruno and Bruna were baptized and we had a lot of investigators there at the baptism who afterward asked when they could be baptized!  We will work hard so we can baptize all 5 of them next week at stake conference!!! It will be awesome!  

The pizza is a little different here but really good!

Bruno, Bruna and Victoria got a treat on Halloween as we loaded them up with candy! I am almost out of incentives for them to pray everyday... I'll need to find more candy!!!  A family here made us brownies and we brought the ice cream.  It was a very unhealthy lunch, but very spiritual with such sweets! 

I am really learning how to study the scriptures and it is really helping me learn how to become more like those written in the scriptures.  And I also learned that my journal needs to be more detailed, haha, but learning is what I'll do até o pó (until the end)! 

I Loved the pictures, they were awesome!  I gave the pic of Ry, Meag and Grandpa 10 stars! It's gonna help everyone here understand why I am a little strange! Ha ha!  

Until next week!!! Love you!!! 

Elder Bowden 

Oh and I thought of dad and the YM when I read this... Alma 53:20-21

There is a family here that really likes to call me "Bond..... James Bond"

Este semana foi doido mesmo haha my bad....So this week was CRAZY! We found tons of youth ready to be baptized!  We worked really hard this week and my comp was hurting by the end.  We had to take it a little slow on the weekend but now that we had our rest we will go and prepare lots of people to be baptized in the coming weeks! There is a family here that really likes to call me "Bond..... James Bond".  It's awesome because they give us lots of sweets and she likes to make leather ties for me! They are perfect because I cant get them dirty!  

These weeks have been hard for a lot of the RC (recent converts) in the area.  They are having lots of problems and the ward isn't very good at fellow shipping them, but we will find a way to help them both. We baptized 2 kids whose aunt just started her mission, so we are gonna send her a picture of her family being baptized! 

Oh and I am back to truly studying the Book of Mormon!  I have the hunger to find the stuff I missed when reading the last time... its really awesome!  The Lord's been trying to help me learn my potential as a missionary... I just gotta learn to see as He sees! So my comp and I have birthdays this week (his is the 31st) and we received this huge package that we will have to go pick up tomorrow, its gonna be nuts... we will work até o pó! 

Have a wonderful semana! Love Ya Tons!

Elder Bowden

I have been in the same ward almost 6 months!

Its been a real hard past couple of weeks!  Lots of things going wrong/not working out.  Lots of stress from leaders .... its just very different here from what you expect from your leaders.  My president likes to punish zones for not baptizing every week and he puts pressure on everyone to just baptize, doesn't matter how to him.  Its just hard, but I'll do my best to prepare people before baptism, to think more about the people than numbers...The Lord will bless me as I am obedient and do what I can to help the people in my area.  My new companion will help me get back on track with what the Lord wants. he is a good Brazilian missionary  and doesn't know much English so I will help him and he will help me.  I am just realizing how much of a difference it makes to have a comp who is mature, but I am here to learn and become better with each comp...  so its gonna be fun! 

Its really awesome in this ward because I have been in the same ward almost 6 months.  I know pretty much everyone and am trying to help improve the ward!  Some good news is I bought a big box of cereal and cookies!!!!! And even better news is we found part member families to baptize and they are really awesome!  So hopefully, everything will go well and we can help them be baptized, and start the path back to return to God! 

Love you!  Hope you have a good week!

Elder Bowden

I am staying one more transfer in this area!

Yep, I am staying one more transfer in this area! I think I'll have a calling pretty soon since I know the ward better than a lot of the members!  I'll be receiving a new comp this week.  I don't know who he is, but I hope he is a good one!  I learned a lot from the last one, but I am glad for a new change. 

This week was nuts, and a little sad.  We had two baptisms set, but they both fell through.  The good news is, I will be here another transfer to help them be baptized.  Its gonna be awesome! 

This week was pretty hard and full of new challenges, but it will work out. Glad you 2 had lots of fun with the youth!

Love ya

Elder Bowden

Conference was the bomb!

So I watched 2 sessions of Conference in English with another american and the other 3 in Portuguese! The 2 sessions I watched in English were Sat night and priesthood! They were the bomb!  The other sessions were a little harder to understand, so I will listen to them again and get back to you on those! Faith and obedience is what I got out of Pres. Monson's talk.  Also the 10 commandments and that now is the time to have our faith in Christ.  If we love Christ we will obey his commandments! 

I am having a little bit of problems with my comp... but I am learning tons. I'm learning that I need to find a spouse who is really obedient so I wont have to worry about fighting over simple things like this and we can have a stronger peace in the home. He is a good friend. We joke a lot and have a lot of fun, but as a comp, its hard sometimes.  Its life, no ones perfect, but I am enjoying the blessing and challenges the Lord is giving me to help me grow! 

I baptized a 19 year old the other day and his hair is as short as mine.  Somehow it didn't go all the way under water (don't ask me how), but I more than compensated by pulling "a grandpa" and I almost put him to the bottom of the font the 2nd time. (He didn't have any chance of keeping his sins that time!) 

So I don't know if I will stay in my 1st area in Brazil for one more transfer or leave.  I'll find out next week! Its nuts! 

And for sure I will pray for the Ronquillos!!! 

I love you guys!!!

Elder Bowden

I hope you all enjoy conference! I will be praying tons to understand everything in Portuguese... it will be awesome!

This week in the past was hard (haha I have to translate back into English sometimes and it just sounds weird)  My comp and I don't see eye to eye on the qualifications for baptism and so it was just a harder week, but a good one.  I learned a lot and I am trying to become better everyday. Fun fact:  reading 2 Nefi in another language is really, really hard to get through... I need those prayers! :P I don't know whats happening with the time here, every p-day just comes so fast.  I wanted to wish you a Happy Anniversary this week, but I only look at the calendar once and a while for the dates.. most of the time I just look at the pictures. 

So a few updates: the real (Brazil money) is falling in value so 1 dollar is like 4.20 reis. It's beautiful for Americans, so I have been buying lots of food for my comp and such. He loves the coke here. He drinks 4 liters in less then 24 hrs and more than half that time we are not even in the house! So anyways My comp Elder Guilerme is a good person, likes to teach with efficiency and wants to BAPTIZE EVERY WEEK! Its nuts but a great goal! He's got the faith to help these people and he has opened my eyes to a lot of things I can do better to teach the people here.  I have just been struggling to help him be more obedient to the rules.. but we will get there!! Slowly but surely. He also is really funny and just a little crazy! We like to mess around in the house with "light sabers"... its really crazy, but fun.  Also on p-days, we have a goal that he can only speak in English so he can become fluent.  

Another crazy story: So this Sunday, I was out waking up people to come with us to church and one lady (investigator that is crazy) was yelling at me.  She was not mad at me, just at everyone else.  It was a weird experience to have someone yell at you saying, "Yes I will go to church with my son, but I will get ready first!" She said many other things, but I, like Moroni, did not deem them worthy of this epistle. May I move to a close by saying, the Lord Lives and Loves you as I Love you!  I hope you all enjoy conference!  I will be praying tons to understand everything in Portuguese... it will be awesome! 

 Elder Bowden     

Oh a package... haha food!!!! Please haha food=cereal and Skittles or peach rings (they were heavenly) but Skittles are better to share with everyone! We love them here, but no one sells them, so they are worth gold! :D Oh if possible, can you send Dinobites fruity?  I have been craving them, but if not, its all good.  I usually just eat cookies for breakfast :)