Humilty . . . . oh and Transferred!

Well, it's finally happening. I'm leaving the Clear Creek ward O_o People joke a lot about how long I've been here, so it's weird that I'm leaving. It's weird because my trainee has technically been in more areas than I have. 

We usually get the call Sunday night about whether we're staying or going, but they started late, and we didn't get called 'til early this morning. I had dreams about it. So Sister Tolman will be staying and training a new missionary. And I will be a Sister Training Leader--which is kinda like a zone leader for sisters. Because I've been here so long, the missionaries are joking that I'll get sent to IU campus, which is still in Bloomington. I kinda hope that it really happens. So, I'll either be there, Purdue, Indy, Logansport (Rochester), or Carmel, I think.

In other news, M got baptized on Saturday! He's so wonderful. In sacrament meeting he played "Silent Night" on the piano. Way to go 13-year old basketball stars that can play the piano!

In district meeting on Friday, I got to do a training on Humility. As a mission, we've been focusing a lot on Christlike Attributes. And I've been thinking a lot about complacency in the Gospel and as a missionary. These are some of my thoughts that I shared in my training: Humility is an attribute of power. Christ was powerful because He was humble. Because His will was swallowed up by the will of the Father, He did what God would've done had he been in the flesh. Similarly, if we do what God would have us do, we can be much more powerful than we could be on our own.

How do we know what He'd have us do? He's given us commandments, and leaders that are inspired by revelation. Obey them. Obey the personal revelation you receive. Our sole task in life is to keep the commandments and apply the Atonement when we mess up (redeeming power), and to help us keep them better (enabling power).  We are promised that if we come unto Christ, He will show unto us our weaknesses (Ether 12:27) If we can't think of anything we can do better, then we are not coming unto Christ. My purpose as a missionary is to invite others to come unto Christ, but I cannot do that successfully, if I'm not coming unto Him myself.

As a missionary, I have a more comprehensive list of commandments and counsel than normal people. When I regularly and earnestly repent for the things I do not do as well as I should, or for neglecting the rules I know I should keep, then I am enabled to do better. What an awesome process He's given us. The same way we've been given to cleanse ourselves because of our weaknesses (inability to keep commandments) is the same process which enables us to become more like Him--faith, repentance, baptism/sacrament, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and doing all over and over again. And it all starts with being humble enough to accept His ways and thoughts as higher than our own, and reflecting that acceptance in our actions. Keep the commandments. Live the standards and counsel that we are given from scripture and leaders that have been ordained by God. (For missionaries, this includes "Preach My Gospel" and the white handbook)

I hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas :) I sure did

And here's some pictures :)

Saying good-bye to P. He's too funny.

A district picture: It's not bad considering it was sitting on the stage on a timer: Elder Esplin, Elder Zeyer, Elder Brown, Elder Rasmussen, me, Sister Tolman, Sister Astle, and Sister Jones. We've got a great district.

And me with the Andersons. I sure do love them :)

Our district "touching all the lines"

and Elder Rasmussen "touching all the lines" 

Love,

Sister Bowen

Christmas and Meekness

Merry Christmas!

I don't have a ton of time today, which is fitting I s'pose, 'cause I don't really have a lot to say.

Other than I've been learning about Jesus, and about meekness. I was thinking of how he was the ultimate example of meekness, and how there was no pride or entitlement in his character. Elder Bednar tells a story of a woman who's actions demonstrate such character. I don't remember the story as well as I'd like to, but the gist is that this woman, who was serving as a Relief Society President in her ward, had a daughter that got in a nasty car accident with two of her friends. Her daughter died, but the other two survived. This woman took care of everything though. She helped the families of the other girls. The day of her daughters funeral, there was a woman in the ward (who had no knowledge of the situation) complaining because she was sick, and nobody had visited her or anything. On the way to the funeral, this woman dropped food off for this other lady. At the funeral she apologized to Elder Bednar (who she had called on to identify the girls at the hospital) for having to see her daughter in that way. In essence, she, and Christ turned outward, when most of us would have turned inward. Unfortunately I don't remember the story well enough to describe the other wonderful things she did and her incredible dignity and selflessness, but I hope the spirit of her actions is still apparent.  That is meekness.

I've been thinking also about how there is a lot of talk within the church's youth about being a "chosen generation." That is the attitude that a lot of young missionaries have. But they are remembering that you have to do things to be chosen. Kinda like how John that Baptist told the Pharisees and Sadducees, who were descendants of Abraham, that God could raise children to Abraham from the stones of the river bank. We need to deserve to be chosen. Like D&C 121:34-35 talk about.

That's all I've got time for,

Happy Christmas!

Love,

Sister Bowen

You Can't Take "The Muppet Christmas Carol" Out of the Missionary

Christmas time is magical. Last night we had a stake Christmas concert. We are spoiled because IU has a great music program. There was a marimba medley, organ magic, Spanish carols, and many great solo and choir numbers. So fantastic. Yesterday was also the Christmas program in sacrament meeting, because a lot of the ward will probably be gone. And that was fantastic, as well. There is just so much talent in the ward, and it's a wonderful way for people to use their talents in such a way to catalyze the presence of the spirit.

Progress of investigators is difficult over the holidays, but we're doing what we can. We did have a great lesson with J. We've been meeting with her on and off since July. And she used to be a member, but then had her name removed. So she's always been back and forth, but her desires are good. She's almost 70, she's had a terrible life, and she has mental problems. She just wants to be happy. It's just really hard to try to help people to change their mindsets--you have to do the things that make you happy to be happy. And Heavenly Father has told us what we need to do.

She believes what we tell her when we're there, but forgets when we leave. For example, we talked to her about faith and experimenting on the word to try to get her to come to church. (She plans on going once the time changes from 9 am to 1 pm, but we'd really like her to go sooner to see if she's serious about getting baptized again). Sister F, who is the wonderful Bishop's wonderful wife, talked about how 9 am church is hard for her, because she has 5 kids (10 and under) that she has to get ready for church, but she is blessed for going. We asked Jane if she thought that was true. She said, "Well yeah! I don't think she would lie!"  So she agreed to come to church. But then she called us Saturday to tell us that she didn't want to go anymore because it was icy, and she might fall and break her leg, and then have to live in a nursing home.

I wanted to tell her to imagine the dedication to Heavenly Father that would demonstrate, but then she would probably go on about this church that wanted her to break her leg for the Lord. Oh, teaching people with mental problems. In the past she threatened to take legal action against us if we come to her apartment again. She thought we were going to force her to pay tithing. But we do love her.

We also got to visit a lady who has been less active for a long time. I've never seen somebody so genuinely annoyed to see us on their door-step. She said things like "I've got to talk to the bishop, because these visitations have to stop." But then she invited us in. We shared a message about Christ, and the spirit came in. She apologized for being how she was at first, and said she was glad she let us in.

The spirit softens hearts.

We also went to see J. We hadn't seen him for about 2 weeks. He said he was really content where he was. I didn't know what to say. I prayed to know how to help him. We asked him about his studies. He talked about studying firm foundations, and how sometimes we build wrong and have to start over, and how that can be very painful because we get so comfortable where we were. At the very end, we asked what had changed from when he was so excited about the Book of Mormon and God's pure theology. He said he didn't really know. Just that he wanted to go back to his roots. I said, "well, we've all got a lot to think about in regards to building firm foundations" And then we left. We'll see where his ponderings took him.

The spirit brings to mind what we need to say.

Yesterday, we were leaving a neighborhood when we felt like we should go back to see a lady who lives there. We turned around and went back. We told her we missed her at church that day. She said she didn't know if she'd ever be back. We sat and just listened to her talk about her problems (which are numerous) We had nothing to say, but had a lot of thoughts. About how the gospel isn't just for fair weather, but it's especially for those stormy times. At the end, she said "I should probably start reading again." It's amazing how those simple things really do make a big difference. "I'll read again tonight"

The spirit directs us physically and spiritually.

And here's a Christmas thought. We got to teach an Asian student on campus. He asked us why Christ is called a lamb all the time. We explained the creditor and the debtor, and how a 3rd party that was completely innocent was needed. He asked why anybody would do that--take upon himself something like that when it wasn't even his fault. We were quiet for a second. "Love"

"It's true wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas"

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Sister Bowen

Share Your Cookies!

So much snow!! It dumped all day Friday. And all our appointments canceled. We were at a bit of a loss for what to do, because it really wasn't safe to drive around a ton. So we were able to shovel a driveway and be helpful. So that was good.

We had some really wonderful lessons too. We got to teach D. He'd been taught the restoration over two years ago, so we've been reviewing it. I always love recounting the first vision, because the spirit always testifies. Which is a great tool for helping people to recognize the spirit.

This is our zone! Last transfer we doubled the number of zones in the mission, so it's a lot smaller than it used to be.

Back row: Elders Zeyer, Hallstrom, Syrett, Loveless, Clifton, Brown, Rasmussen, Draper, Greenburg, Park, Lawrence, Litster, Smith, Clapier, Anderson, Anderson, Esplin, and Adams

Front row: Sister Astle's chair, Sisters Jones, Bowen, Tolman, McKendrick, and Allen

I've been thinking about how logical the gospel is. I always do, actually, but here's a few thoughts.

There is natural cause and effect. We get blessings for keeping the commandments, and don't receive those blessings for not keeping the commandments. For a lot of commandments, it's true regardless of whether God exists or not: for example, if you keep the law of Chastity, you are significantly more likely to sidestep negative consequences like STDs, child support, parenthood tests, unwanted pregnancy/abortion, and have a more secure family situation (which leads to innumerable positive effects for individuals and society.) On the other hand there are commandments that are only logical if there is a God, like tithing. If there is no God, than there would be no good reason to give money to a church, especially when in financial straits. But that's where experimentation comes in. We pay tithing and look for the blessings. If we receive blessings, there is probably a God.

But they say that science and religion are aiming for the same thing, but religion gets there faster.

People tend to treat their denominations like political parties. "Nobody agrees with everything in their religion." But we do. We all have exactly the same testimony. We all know God lives and loves us. We all know that Jesus provided the way back to Him. We all know Joseph Smith was the prophet called to bring in the dispensation of the fulness of times. But we all know because we've learned for ourselves. Not because our parents told us, or because our pastor told us. It's always scary when people trust their parents, pastor or preacher more than they trust God.

And things are wonderful here. we've got a lot of people to teach, a lot of snow to trudge through (no car this week O_o), a lot of character to build, a lot of souls to save, and a lot of blessings to go around.

Merriest of Christmas to all! Give the gift of eternal life and eternal families: share the gospel. And cookies--share those too.

Love,

Sister Bowen

Wonderful in a Different Way

Hello World!

 

Thanksgiving was wonderful, but the rest of the week was...less wonderful. Or maybe just wonderful in a different way.

 

Nobody wanted to meet with us, so we went into the week with only one set appointment that fell through. So that was a little depressing.. Not to mention we didn't have a car, and we were wandering around on days were it didn't get above 32º. But life goes on, and so do missionaries.

 

For Thanksgiving, we visited one of our ward members who's been struggling a little bit. So we made a dessert to share with her. Then we went to the A's house. We played Ping-Pong, and feasted. It was fantastic, and just the mental break we needed.

 

On Saturday, we spent the day wandering around the far side of town from where we live, and were able to reconnect with some former and some sort-of investigators, who we were able to set appointments with this week. So that was awesome.

 

We visited J too. He's being a little ridiculous. He didn't read what he said he'd read, and asked us to tell Brother M (the member who offered him the challenge, and is doing it with him) that he wouldn't be able to keep his promise to read the Book of Mormon by Christmas. We're thinkin' he should probably tell him, himself. But things will be good. He'll come around again, sometime. In the meantime, we've got a good handful of other people to teach. I'll probably talk more about them some other time. :)

 

We'd been worried about P for a while. He was still meeting with us, but had only been to church once in the past seven weeks. He doesn't really process much of what we say, we really need to rely on the spirit for him to "get" things. We'd tried telling him plainly. We tried teaching about Sabbath Day observance and taking the sacrament. But this time we talked about baptism and renewing those promises we make through baptism. And then he got it. He said he never knew he was supposed to go every week, but he now understood that he needed to for taking the sacrament. So that was good. He came to church yesterday. :D

 

Also, I come home exactly a year from today, I believe. So to celebrate, I'm wearing a skirt as a dress. Is that weird? I meant to send a picture, but I didn't take one...but I look good.

 

That's all for today, but I hope everybody had a lovely Thanksgiving, and happiest of holidays to all :)

 

Love,

 

Sister Bowen

 

PS. In honor of Thanksgiving, y'all should show your gratitude for our Savior, by allowing him to Atone for more of Heavenly Father's children, that they too may return to live with Him and engage more actively in the work of salvation within their lifetime. Share the gospel, eh?

Thousands of Crows

Time is short today, so I'll be brief. Today is a partial preparation day, so we'll doing missionary things this afternoon/evening, and then on thanksgiving, we'll do our two hours of study, and our three hour planning session, and be left to finish our preparations and do other Thanksgiving type things.

 

We had several wonderful lessons this past week. President Cleveland has instructed us to try to have lessons with investigators in members homes. It's been extremely productive to people's progression. So, that's always really nice and exciting.

 

J's being goofy again. He stopped reading the Book of Mormon, and started going back to a church that he used to preach at. Several weeks ago we'd suggested that if he writes down all the times he's received a distinct spiritual "prick" (as he calls them), and then the way Heavenly Father wants him to go might be more clear. When we saw him on Saturday, we asked about the list and he said that he hadn't felt anything like that in a while. "The last time was...when I was reading the Book of Mormon." We told him sincerely that we want to help him on his spiritual journey to discover what God would have him do. We read scriptures about the Liahona...and they describe his situation perfectly. It's so obvious to us (not that we're biased or anything) what God would have him do. But he'll come around sometime. 

 

And L is funny as well. He'll bike several miles to meet with us...but he won't come to church. But it's tricky 'cause of work. He'll come around too. We hope :)

On Tuesday, we were in the car before a lesson, and there were thousands of crows flying around everywhere! I've never seen anything like it in my life! And they pooped all over our car that we'd washed the day before. It was super eerie.

 

And another story. We're really encouraged to do role-plays as part of our companion study, but it's usually really hard to get motivated to do that. We role-played talking to R about his weird method of finding answers. It wasTuesday, and R's lesson wasn't 'til Friday, but I felt like we should go over it anyway. The role-play was really good. I asked R/Sister Tolman if she trusted the internet or her brothers more than she trusted God, and some other inspired things. Right after we finished the role-play, R called to cancel his appointment, but we were prepared with what to say to him. The spirit's purdy cool like that. And role-plays might be cool, too. I haven't made up my mind about that.

 

Because our ward is close to a University, there's a lot of young couples who leave to go be with family over the holidays. So I taught Gospel Principles, and Sister Tolman and I taught Relief Society yesterday. Both of which we were asked to do yesterday. It was fun. I like being able to talk about the gospel with people who already know it.

 

Along those lines, however, nobody wants to meet with us this next week, because of Thanksgiving. So we'll probably wander the streets ('cause we're without a car again) looking for people to talk to and service to do. It'll be a grand adventure :)

 

Hope everybody has a happy Thanksgiving :D

 

Love,

 

Sister Bowen 

A Litte Wind Can't Stop Us!

Well, I've survived transfers once again. I will be in Bloomington 'til the end of the year! Which is great for a multitude of reasons. 

1.) I love the ward (they're probably tired of me, though) 

2.) I love Sister Tolman--she's a great missionary and is like the first person ever who seems to really appreciate that I have a lot of thought behind the things I say (most of the time). She is also much more people friendly than I am, which makes me feel like a terrible person 'cause going around hugging everybody is something that is not part of my nature, but it's definitely a great addition to the effectiveness of our companionship. You win some, you lose some...but mostly win. She's wonderful. 

3.) I love the people that we're teaching, although I do get tired of constantly thinking about how to solve their problems.

 4.) We just met a handful of really cool new/potential investigators, who would be a pleasure to teach.

B and R (pronounced R) are my favorite new people. We met R on Tuesday. We talked for awhile outside, and then she let us in so we could tell her about where she came from and why she's here. Her husband B came home. His spiritual side is very "personal" to him, so she/we didn't expect him to join us. But he couldn't stay away--he tried, it was kinda funny.

They both served in the military--he for 30 years. He explained to us that when you're assigned to learn Arabic on a 20 hour flight, and then dumped into a war-zone with 350 infantryman whose lives you're responsible for, there is only one God, and it doesn't matter how you make it back to him.

He talked about the terrible things he had to do, and a little about guilt that plagues him every day. We talked about how the Atonement can and does relieve feelings of guilt. He's having a hard time believing us. And that's understandable--we are young gals, who know nothing of the world--but if we know anything, it's that the power of the Atonement is real.

We had to run at the end of the lesson 'cause we were cuttin' it really close with curfew, but he really wanted a Book of Mormon. She followed us out to the car so he could get one. We're excited for him and R, who also has a great interest in such things.

In other news, J is still doing well. The A family invited him to dinner with us. We had to leave after a short lesson, but they had him over for another 1 1/2 hours. He asked about home-teaching, so he is now going home teaching with Brother A. He asked him to prepare a 2-3 minute thought about faith. I wonder if he realized how much of a preacher J still is, and that he'll never be able to stop there.

There was also a great tornado adventure yesterday. I've never seen winds quite like it. I'm not quite sure if the tornado ever actually formed, but the sirens were going off, and some tree branches fell. Huzzah for being cut off from the news. On that note, sometimes people ask us why we're not allowed to read the newspaper as missionaries. I dunno about everybody else, but we're far to busy too! It's purdy fantastic stuff we get to do. and time sure does fly. Friday will be 6 months since I went into the MTC O_o

And I remembered picture stuff.

A surprising successful selfie after District meeting: Elder Brown, Elder Zeyer, Elder Rasmussen, and Sister Me.

 

Here's our district: Me, Sister Tolman, Elder Rasmussen, Elder Brown, Sister Fullmer, Sister Astle, Elder Zeyer, and Elder Esplin

 

Elder Rasmussen, Elder Brown, Sister Me, Sister Tolman, Sister Fullmer, Sister Astle, Elder Zeyer, and Elder Esplin

Crystal Meth and the Bird

Greetings!

 

Nothin' new to report really, other than it's been an uncharacteristic uneventful week. Weird.

 

Oh, except for the crystal meth and the bird. 

Saturday was going to be a finding day, 'cause we didn't have any set appointments. We'd made a list of former investigators to stalk, potentials to stop by, and streets to tract. In the morning I felt like maybe we should go see J. We'd already had lessons with him Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday though, so I kinda fought the idea for a while, especially 'cause I was thinkin' that I only wanted to see him, because it's nice seeing people who like to talk to you rather than looking for people who will--but we really need to be finding new people. But eventually I caved. And it was a good thing I did.

 

We knocked on his door, and a girl (I'm assuming his sister) opened the door. We asked for J, and we heard him call "just a minute!" So we waited outside. We wandered a few feet away to look at the stairs that lead to apartments right above his. There was stuff that looked like rock salt all over them. Buuut my companion knows more than I do and recognized it to be crystal meth. The things you learn on a mission.

 

Then we heard screams from J's apartment and one of his other sisters ran out. There was a bird that somehow got in their apartment, and they couldn't get it out. Eventually it flew out, J came out, and things settled down. J was really sad 'cause he's got an addiction problem (not to crystal meth) that makes him feel like a terrible person. He said really need to talk to somebody about the Lord today, and that he had been planning on talking to his pastor from before, but was glad we had come instead. And we were glad too. Pastors don't seem to like Mormons generally. Yet people seem to trust them more than they trust Heavenly Father. Weird. 

 

And then J came to church the next day and got some of his questions/concerns resolved. Revelation through church attendance for the win. J's fantastic. And so is Heavenly Father.

 

Also we had interviews with President Cleveland on Tuesday. Every time he sees me he tells me that I've been in my area too long, and that we'll have to get me out of there. Buuut then he told me that I would be finishing Sister Tolman's training there, but then I would need to leave. So I should be in Bloomington until New Years. But by next week I'll know if that's really what will happen.

 

The rest of the day, we did splits with the IU sisters, 'cause SIster Allen was sick. That was probably my fault because I asked her the week before if she ever had to take a sick day before. She hadn't until Tuesday--and she's only got like 3 months left. Oops.

 

That's all for this time!

 

Much love,

 

Sister Bowen

What is Normal Anyway?

Greetings world!

So good things never last--excect all things Gospel. We got a call Wednesday morning from President Cleveland. He said there was sister up north who was really struggling. So they were giving me her companion the next day. The 3 of us were SOO sad!

So I'm back in a normal companionship. My companion is Sister Tolman. She is from Brigham City, Utah, and she has been on a mission for about a month now. She is 23 and graduated from Utah State in Music and Broadcasting, or somethin' like that. Needless to say, she is a wonderful singer and piano player. But most importantly, she is ready and excited to get to work. Things were a struggle for her first 3 weeks,. But she is excited to be here, and I am excited to have her as my companion. Many of her strengths are my weaknesses, so we should be a good mix, I hope.

And this transfer has been crazy. In the past 3 weeks I've had 4 different official companions (Sisters Goldrup, Allen, Clark, and Tolman), taught lessons with 11 different sisters (Sisters Fullmer, Astle, Hansen, Knight, Niemann, Hales, and McKendrick + plus companions), and moved 3 times. The rest of my mission will seem so mellow now.

J's doing fantastic. We had a lesson with him on Tuesday, he came to a ward chili cook-off/Halloween party on Wednesday, a baptism on Saturday (for (another) J, an awesome kid the IU sisters were teaching, that I got to know), church and a lesson on Sunday. The spirit is melting away all his doctrinal concerns. It's cool--we'd been talking about sealing/eternal marriage/temples, which is something he wasn't sure about because of Matthew 22, but then he stopped talking for a sec, and a verse from Genesis came to his mind that instantly resolved his concern. So cool! We had a lesson scheduled for him on Thursday at the Bishop's house, but he couldn't wait that long. So we scheduled another lesson at the Elders Quorum President's home for Tuesday. J is so excited. And so funny. He'll ask about who would be allowed to baptize him, and if Sister Howard would be able to come to his baptism. He asks if he would be able to serve a mission, and how soon he could go to the temple. What an all-star.

There is so much power in doctrine. And so much truth in doctrine. and so much spirit in truth. And I've been learning that the spirit does testify of specific things--we've got to pay attention to what's being said, or what we're thinking about when we feel an increase in the spirit. If Heavenly Father loves us (which he does) He would not leave us directionless. He would, however, guide us with commandments, laws, promises, and the spirit, to find happiness, to find success (even in matters that don't seem "spiritual") to find our way back to Him. I love in Alma 34 when Amulek talks about prayer. Cry unto the Lord over your crops--yes, He cares about your corn, because you care about your corn.

I have been learning that Heavenly Father always loves us. Every trial has a purpose. He gives us His spirit to prompt us for our good, and the good of others. I've been realizing how often He gives us all divine guidance/inspiration, and how often we all dismiss it--like hitting the snooze button while we're only semi-conscious. Wouldn't it be something if we all decided to cling to those promptings--those seemingly random ideas that we can't always see a purpose to--and just do them? Or just do one. And work from there. There would be many more miracles. And we would be the instruments through which he works them. That's purdy cool.

And here's a challenge for all: be converted to the Lord and Savior rather than to our denominations. There would be more love, more service, and strangely enough, more Mormons--the sincere kind, not the I'm-a-Mormon-because-I-know-it's-true-but-you-wouldn't-know-by-the-way-I-live kind. And revelation through prayer is real. Ask Heavenly Father. If the Book of Mormon is true, he'd want you to know, because the implications and blessings are tremendous.

That's all

Love,

Sister Bowen

Us at the IU Institute building with Sister McClellen

us having the craziest planning session ever just before Sister Goldrup left

Being a Missionary is So Glamorous!

This week has been such a party! I love working with Sister Allen and Sister Clark. And I love working in two areas. This'll probably be my favorite time during my mission.

It's absolutely crazy. For example, yesterday we had ward council at 7:30, church at 9, my companions left after sacrament meeting to go to their coordination meeting and branch council, so I went on a member exchange to attend the rest of Clear Creek meetings. (People kept asking me where my companion was) Then I got taken over to the other chapel where the IU branch meets. I joined  my companions for a lesson right before church. And then we enjoyed three more hours of church meetings. We left right after that for the other coordination meeting, and then straight from there to another lesson. And then straight to a fireside where recent converts share their conversion stories. When that was over I finally had a chance to go to the bathroom, which I hadn't had time to do since before we'd left the apartment in the morning. By then it was 8:30pm. What a great day!

Part of what made the day so great was J. We'd met with him the day before. The M's, the wonderful couple that came with us, joined us for a lesson. They challenged him to read the Book of Mormon by Christmas, which is just 10 pages a day (that's also what Brother M is doing.) He readily accepted. He loves our theology, and said he believes everything, but is stuck on Joseph Smith. Was he really a prophet? We offered him a baptismal date in mid-January to prepare for. He declined, but said he would get baptized if he got an answer to his prayers.

Yesterday, he said the spirit woke him up at 3am and prompted him to pray. He started on his reading for the day, but couldn't stop because it put him in the middle of Lehi's dream. He prayed to get an answer about Joseph Smith. The primary program was yesterday. One girl presented Amos 3:7. And Jonathan put his head in his hands. The M's reported that when they were driving him home he'd asked what would happen if he were ready for baptism before mid-January.

So that's purdy excited for him. He's been super sensitive to the spirit his entire life, and wonders why he seems to feel the spirit so much more distinctly than most people. He knows he's been called to preach. Random people have told him throughout his life that he would one day preach to thousands. He worries that that won't be fulfilled through the Mormon faith. I don't know what Heavenly Father's plan for him is, but I do know that he's got something tremendous planned for Jonathan if he continues to follow the spirit. I think he's got something tremendous planned for all of us, conditioned upon our willingness to follow him (keep the commandments, and follow the promptings of the spirit.) Heavenly Father's purdy cool like that.

In other news, the IU paper will soon feature (it might even be today's issue??) a story about Sister Clark. The wonderful gal who wrote it, C, is now taking the lessons, and is doing very well. We might also get to talk more with the awesome girl who took pictures for it. That was an interesting experience--getting our pictures taken while teaching and personal contacting. Being a missionary is so glamorous ;)  (article)

On another note, I love being able to teach people who are returning to activity in the church. They begin to gain such a great understanding of the Atonement through really using it! And they begin, often for the first time, to really feel the love that God has for them, and the love their Savior has for them. They knew about it before, but they didn't know it for themselves. Their passion for the gospel is so exciting. One thing typical Mormons are so good at doing is making miracles seem so mundane. Church meetings are so fantastic if we are looking for hope or for answers.

That's all I've got for today. Live long and prosper. And someday I might get better at taking pictures to send.

Thanks for all the prayers :)

Love,

Sister Bowen

Talk About Busy!

Time is short today, 'cause we gots to take Sister Goldrup to the airport. I will be moving in with the Sister Trainer Leaders (Sister Allen and Sister Clark) and we will be covering my area (Clear Creek) and theirs (IU Campus), which'll be a party 'cause we both have a lot of people to teach, and they go on exchanges all the time...so sometimes we'll probably be teaching like 3 lessons at the same time O_o 

My mailing address will be the same 'cause their apartment is in the same complex as ours, so we'll just check both mail boxes...and I'll probably be moving back into the other apartment in 4 weeks or so...

So, we're not sure exactly what covering two areas will look like...potentially 30+ lessons a week. Potentially 6 hours of church on Sundays, plus ward council, branch council, and 2 coordination meetings.

Yesterday we were invited to PEC for the first time (where, in this case, the ward discussed welfare matters.) I'm not quite sure why were invited, but it was very...educational. 

We discussed mostly one individual, but an individual whose situation is not unique. This person lives in a house that won't be suitable for winter, calls on the church regularly to help pay for gas, works a job, but not enough to cancel her disability income, and has a couple pets that she's not willing to let go of. Aaand they are living out a 1/2 dozen miles away from town where they need to go very regularly. 

They talked about how they've been trying to help this person for years. And how the purpose of church welfare is to help people be able to help themselves. But you can't seem to fix the way people think. So how long do you help people for? And part of it is just simple logic. And part of it is faith and logic--tithing, for example. If you pay tithing, you will be taken care of. I like how 3 Nephi 13 addresses that. Consider the fowls of the air--the Lord takes care of these, and doesn't he love us more?

Heavenly Father gives us blessings when we keep his commandments. If we want blessings, we just need to keep the commandments that pertain to the blessings we wish to receive. If we wish to be financially stable, we pay our tithing. If we want to receive guidance, we go to church and study the scriptures. If we wish to be as happy as possible, we do everything Heavenly Father asks us to. Faith and logic. Experiment.

That's all for today.

Much love,

Sister Bowen

Miracles, Challenges and Blessings!

Sister Goldrup got her visa!! So she will be leaving to Australia next Monday...which is a week and a half into the transfer...and I have no idea what they'll do with me for the next 4 1/2 weeks....President Cleveland called to tell us about her visa on Tuesday. In the call he asked, "Do you have any people you're teaching? Any progressing investigators?" I almost asked him, "What do you think we do all day?!" But I didn't. We do have a lot of investigators. Our new district leader Elder Zeyer asked us how we had so many. "Uhh...we give people commitments to keep...and the keep them..." So, it might have a negative impact on their salvation if they have to take a 4 week hiatus. But Heavenly Father knows what's best, and President Cleveland knows how to seek His inspiration. So good things are to come, either way.

In other transfer news, Elder Lawrence got transferred, and in his place is Elder Rasmussen (one of the 7 missionaries in Indiana from my MTC zone.) So now the combined field experience of all 4 missionaries in the ward totals slightly more than a year. Thank goodness our ward is patient with us.

In other news, we were able to have a good conversation with J. Every time we'd gone over since he'd dropped us, his cousin had been there. J is always glad to see us, and likes having churchy discussions (which is good...'cause that's all we talk about), but we can't talk about how he really feels about the Book of Mormon and whatnot 'cause his cousin is one of the reasons he dropped us in the first place. We were finally able to ask him what had changed--why he was so close to baptism and then stepped back. His answer was one word: fear.

He talked about how he really really loves Jesus. And we know he does. I don't remember how much I said about him earlier, but once he discovered who Jesus was, he prayed for 6 hours everyday. He read the Bible in a month. He feels the spirit and know what it entails--which is something most people don't understand unless we can tell them--and even then it doesn't always sink in. We shared Hebrews 10:35. Then his drunk neighbor, P, made us brauts (that were really good.) And then we shared 1 John 4:18. I love that verse, and hope he lets it change his life.

I don't remember if I talked about this miracle either--we are teaching this Micronesian family the mother of which has cancer. Her husband told us last time that he killed a man--and that's why he keeps his hair long--or something like that...he's kinda hard to understand, but that's neither here, nor there. Anyway, their daughter asked us to pray for her mom. She's got this tumor on her neck, that I guess hurts a lot. So before we left, we said a prayer. The next time we called them, M (the mom), said that her pain was gone! We may not be able to communicate with them super well in English (or in Mandarin), but the language/healing of the spirit transcends language barriers. M came to church too. She said she likes to feel the spirit, even if she can't understand much of what's said.

And thus we see that there were more miracles wrought, other challenges endured, more blessings received, much of which cannot be written for the sake of time and energy. And thus commenced the 20th week of the ministry of Sister Bowen.

Sacrifice Does Indeed Bring Forth The Blessings of Heaven

IT'S TRANSFER WEEK! And Sister Goldrup and I are both staying in Bloomington. But we are trading apartments with the Elders, so we gots a new address.

We're grateful to stay. We've gotten permission (and encouragement) from President Cleveland to spend some time on campus to use Sister Goldrup's sweet Mandarin skills, so we've found some new, young, Asian people to teach. We're excited to see where that goes.

It was kinda funny yesterday. We had an appointment with a guy named Z. We were doing it at the church building right before conference started. Right before the we were scheduled to meet, he called us because he couldn't find us. He was at a different church building right before ours. He handed the phone to the pastor who gave us directions on how to find him. So here we go into the Evangelical church with lots of loud music. We head in to find our friends, and then let them know they were in the wrong place. We felt weird taking people out of one church and into another, especially while they were toting around their new member gift bags. Too funny.

On another note, conference was fantastic. There's nothing better than listening to those who receive direction from God for the world. There were quite a few talks I REALLY liked, but my favorite was probably Elder Bednar's: often times our trials and challenges are not removed from us, even if we are praying for it and keeping our covenants. But better, our capacity to handle these things is increased.

Heavenly Father really does love us, doesn't he? He loves being merciful, but he sacrifices His own desires that we might be able to grow, learn, and become more like him.

And I also really appreciate President Uchtdorf's simple statement, "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your fears." There were soo many great things said this weekend.

And here I will bear testimony that sacrifice does indeed bring forth the blessings of heaven. Yesterday, we had an invitation to eat between sessions of conference at a members house which we really like going to. However, we had a previous commitment/invitation to go to another members house as well (we also love going there too) We realized that we had the ability to go to both if we wanted to (which we did want do). But also realized that there were other things to do which better served our purpose. So we decided to visit the less active we'd planned to, to encourage him to watch the last session of general conference. But he wasn't home. Then we turned to our back-up plans, which were to check back with some potentials we'd met a few weeks before. We didn't think they were particularly promising, but we'd felt inspired to plan them in.

We knocked on S's door. She opened and invited us in. She's super friendly, asked us a lot about ourselves, and about mission stuff (which she had also done when we'd first met). She let us tell her about the Restoration, about the Book of Mormon, and about how our message blesses family. She was really interested in the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. She also cares a lot about her teen-age boys, and really hopes they'll make good choices in their lives. We set an appointment to come back. Which is significant, because she's super busy, and didn't want to the first time we'd met.

It's always a big deal when people who are well-off and have decent lives want to meet with missionaries. A lot of times they don't think that they need God, or that he doesn't have anything new to offer them. I'm glad that our sacrifice of a good time with people we love may have a life-changing effect for somebody else. (At least we hope it does) Decisions really do determine destiny...often times more than just our own.

And here's more pictures!

This was supposed to be our week without a car, but then Tuesday morning they brought us a brand new car. It's a Chevy Cruze that had only 148 miles on it. Kinda crazy that they'd trust me with a new car. But I guess He trusts me with saving souls. (but he trusts a lot of us with that.)

And our Micronesian friends gave us gigantic apples.

 

And this creature was a major distraction in our planning session.

And the missionaries of the Clear Creek ward: Elder Lawrence, Elder Brown, me, and Sister Goldrup

And my super awkard picture of our district: Sister Astle, Sister Fullmer, me, Sister Goldrup, Elder Esplin, Elder Fields, Elder Brown, and Elder Lawrence. Unfortunately, we are as awkward as we look. But we have a good time. Elders Lawrence and Fields are getting transferred, but the rest of us are stickin' around for 6 more weeks, or so. 

 

And the view from the Highland Sisters' apartment

Back to College!

Well team, it's been a good week. 

Yesterday we had adventures going to an AME Bethel church (African Methodist Episcopal) for one of our investigators. There were only like 6ish white people there. And we were two of them...plus a man who'd also come from our ward. There was a lot of energy and people were super friendly. Good feelings all around. We also did a mini-exchange with the IU Sisters so that Sister Goldrup could use her awesome Mandarin skills to teach one of their investigators. 

I also got to play a homeless man's guitar at a soup kitchen again. He came up and asked if I would play him a song. That's always a good experience. I haven't been able to play for about two months, and I've really been missing it. Heavenly Father does answer prayers. 

We've also been able to spend a couple days on campus. It's not in our area, but President Cleveland wants us to go 'cause 1. there're Asians for Sister Goldrup to talk to, 2. young people are so much more receptive than not-so-young people, 3. it's good training for us--much faster paced than non-campus areas. So that's been a great adventure for us.

In our letters home we are encouraged to share spiritual experiences. It's hard. There's so many that they almost become mundane. And usually take too much of a background to really explain. But one of my favorite consistent spiritual experiences in sharing Joseph Smith's first vision. The spirit is always there, and it's fantastic. I also love when people agree to get baptized. Or when you see direct and speedy answers to prayers. Or when somebody understands something gospel related that they hadn't before. Or when we just happen to be in the right place at the right time. There are just so many miracles.

Life is good. And I love being on a mission. On Wednesday I will have exactly 14 months...so I'd better make those good.

Love,

Sister Bowen