Our investigator's name is John Baptist!

So last week we didn't get a chance to email because all the baptisms in the zone fell through except for Valeska, a cousin of Iverson... she was baptized last Domingo! She is sharing the gospel with her friends, it is awesome, the only problem she had is that she thought we wouldn't visit her after her baptism! But anyway, President took away our P-day last week, so sorry for not responding...

Valeska is the one in the middle of the girls

But this week was nuts! We had a good FHE with 25 people and some investigators about faith and everyone loved it!  It helped me realize some awesome aspects about faith.  I'll save it and do it with you guys in 1 year or so... that's a really weird thought... 

But anyways we had a baptism that fell through this week, but he has a new date for this Sunday! His name is John Baptist! Its really nuts! 

Oh and I also received the packages last week and lets just say I didn't wait till Christmas with all of it, but some of it is still kept secret and safe! :) 

So the food in this area is a lot better and we have lots of juice here, its pretty legit!  My favorite up to this point is..... I have no idea, but the açai shakes here are really good and guarana is something awesome they have here! 

So I think I will email around 2:00 here.  I don't know what time that is there but that's my plan...I might be earlier! We will see.  I am way excited to speak with you all! It doesn't feel like Christmas here because its way hot and everybody is going to the beach... But I'll try and get in the Christmas spirit this week, I plan to read a lot about Christ!

Love you guys!  Try and email me back, Ill be on for 45 mins more!

Elder Bowden

It was awesome to see what the Lord can do!

It was a good week! We got to work and talk with a bunch of people, but not a lot of them went to church.. :( Here is a summary of a normal day: We start off with exercises and studies (lots of studies for most days) after studies we get to eat lots of food with members!! And then the day starts with lessons or finding/contacting people who can go to church and progress towards baptism! haha Lots of people are "different" here so everyday is different and many times the weirdest things happen to missionaries.. This week was a little different because we contacted a man who had no faith in Jesus but the spirit said to keep talking with him.  We learned that he is blind because he had a surgery that went wrong and he lost his sight. It is a great challenge for him but he went to church with us this Sunday and went to the baptism. He was singing the hymns that he was hearing for the 1st time in his life! It was really awesome, really special to see the power of hymns. After church he asked if he could come back.  It was awesome to see what the Lord can do. I think the Lord is teaching me to stop seeing with carnal eyes and more how He sees His children!

 One other thing we have been doing is helping part member families and it is working out.  We had a baptism this week, completing a family as members of Christ church! His name is Iverson and it was awesome because after his baptism his cousin confirmed that she wanted to be baptized too! So we will work with her so she can be baptized this Sunday!!!! 

 

It was a good week! The Lord is helping me attain more patience with my new companion and helping me learn what I need to do and teach him! Lots of awesome experiences this week!

 

Love You guys! 

Elder Bowden

No we didn't get to see the Christmas devotional and my comp is from Rivera Uruguay and can you set up a google chrome for me so we can talk in 2 weeks?? :D

I was in Metropole and now I am in Sevilha!

So this week was nuts I was in Metropole and now I am in Sevilha! It is a good area but really crazy! This week was really slow in the beginning. We had two areas to cover because our comps had to wait a day extra to meet us... but it was awesome,   My new Companion is Elder Chagas, he is really cool!.  He is from the north part of Uruguay! He speaks Portuguese really well, better then me, so its gonna be way fun to work with him! We already had a day full of experiences. We are gonna work hard to help a lot of people!   I am really grateful for this time I have to train someone that is is super prepared and ready to serve! 

So I am studying in a lot of places because I have a new comp that I need to help.  One place I was studying is 2 Nephi 9 and the Attributes of Christ! 

 

And yeah Ryan told me he had to wait till I left for him to get married so I couldn't do anything crazy at the wedding. But I am not too worried, Gramps will be there to help me out! :) 

 

I forgot all about Thanksgiving so I am gonna take a bit of money and buy some food to celebrate! Oh and thank Gma for the birthday money! It will be awesome, I'll take photos!! Sorry my letter is gonna be a little short this week, but next week I'll write plenty!! 

I miss you guys tons and hope that everything is going well with you all!! 

Love ya 

Elder Bowden!

 

So DJ will serve where??? No one told me or I missed it?

AWWWW its a week of craziness!!!

AWWWW its a week of craziness!!!  My comp and I are leaving the area!!!! But we're not going very far! I am gonna miss this area. I have been here for 7 months, but a new area will be really fun! I have a lot of things to do and people to see before I leave. Oh and I will BE A FATHER!!!!! hahaha! In the mission, that is, because I will train this transfer!! I am way excited to train! We are finally receiving more missionaries than we are losing! In my new district, we are both training! Its gonna be awesome!

This week was... well this transfer was awesome! We worked on baptizing part member families and it was so great! We had lots of help from the Lord! I hope I can do the same in my new area because the Joy it brings is so amazing! We had 3 other baptisms... one of which said when we were teaching her... "Why couldn't I have found this sooner!" That was so awesome! We had so many blessings this week and a lot of lessons that I needed to learn with my comp, haha, my patience has definitely grown!  I know that the Lord has blessed me so much and is helping me to become better each day so I can be a more effective tool in his hands! I have received some presents from the ward. I'll try and take pictures!

Love you and I am really grateful for your prayers!

I'll try and eat a delicious pizza for the holidays!

Te amo
Elder Bowden

The Lord has been blessing us more than we deserve!

So this week was really good! We have been finding a lot of people ready to return to church or who have wanted to go to church or who received confirmation that this church is God´s Church. The Lord has been blessing us more than we deserve! I have not seen so much success happen in this area than I have seen in this transfer! I am seeing the Lord work and His Work is so sweet! The lives He is changing... we as a companionship have been wondering why and to tell you the truth I don't know, but I intend to search the scriptures like Nephi and I know that it will help me learn. 

 

Oh, it was really awesome this week because we found this huge family of like 10 kids! We invited them to play soccer at the church with a bunch of kids and when we went to walk with them to the church they were waiting on the corner. When they saw us, they began to scream and get really excited! We entered the house and had a lesson. At the end, one of the oldest girls prayed for the first time and when she finished everyone started clapping... it was awesome! I love it!  Oh another miracle that happened this week is we had 3 baptisms planned but Alana fell through because she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to be baptized this week.  She wanted to wait a little more. Her bro Joelyson wanted to be baptized at 6pm Sunday night . They were running late and we had started worrying so we went to find them.   When we found them, the mother asked us if her children could be baptized together. It is the start of the family that we needed. The mother doesn't know it yet, but she will want to be baptized soon! :) Families need to be eternal! I love this work, it is awesome! 

 

My comp and I are good companions, but we were lacking being friends and we fixed that today... it was great!! The Lord Wants me to be humble so he can increase His work!  I hope you continue having great weeks!! I love you lots!!!

Elder Bowden

Oh I am half tempted to ask for tiny squirt guns but I think the temptation of bringing them to church would be to great. :D oh and tiny plastic bags!

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