She Really Is in Indiana!

Greetings from Bloomington Indiana!

I will be surviving the great divide in July. (aka I will be staying in the Indianapolis mission versus getting switched to the new Cincinnati mission). I actually have two wonderful companions: Sister Saunders from Ogden, Utah (she's been out for 5 months) and Sister Howard from Parker, Idaho (she's been out for 2 months). They are fun, hard-working, and obedient, which is purdy much perfect for me. I really love them :D

I have SO MANY STORIES! I can barely remember all of them, even though I've only been here for like 5 days.

First of all it's crazy how small the Mormon world is. Last night we enjoyed dinner with the wonderful W family. Brother W teaches Spanish Linguistics at IU, so when I told him what I studied he asked my if I knew a certain professor from BYU. I had never taken a class from her, but I had heard of her. Then he mentioned something about visiting Professor Eddington recently. That's who I took Psycholinguistics from last semester. Kinda crazy, eh?

But it gets crazier! Yesterday I went to church (don't worry, that's not the crazy part) and after Sacrament meeting a man came up to me and asked me what part of northern Nevada I was from ('cause somebody told him that's where I was from) when I told him, he said that he grew up in Carson City and asked me if I knew the Halls. I told him they were in my ward! He said he grew up with Brother Hall and that they were best friends then. His parents, who still live in Carson were there visiting him too. They asked me if I knew the Maxwells and the Petersons :D That made me so happy! It's just so great to find connections out here. Then after Relief Society, the man's mom told me that she realized that she knew my Mom! When we had confirmed it was the right person, I started crying, which was super awkward, but they were tears of happiness. I'm so grateful for the Andersons of the Lone Mountain ward. (And Mom, she said she transfer my hug to you, so you better make sure you get it when you see her at the temple next ;) Heavenly Father does indeed bless his servants :)

One of my fears in coming on a mission was that I wouldn't be able to answer people's questions. But Heavenly Father gave me opportunities to make me realize that I do know more than I realized, within my first evening of being in my area. We had a dinner appointment with this beautiful part member family, the 12 year old boy ( who is not a member) was excited to recite one of the sacrament prayers for us. So we talked about the Priesthood for a little bit. The question was brought up why girls don't get the Priesthood. And I gave an answer that seemed to satisfy them. Later that evening, when we were a teaching a man outside, another man came up and started talking to us. At one point he said apologetically (because he didn't want to undermine our faith) that the Bible didn't say anything about the Book of Mormon. I was able to show him Isaiah 29:11 and was going to show him Joseph Smith History 1:63-65 (or somethin' like that) but he didn't really want to have evidence. I realize that facts and proof can only take some people so far in learning spiritual truths, but the situation was nice for myself to ease that worry.

Another notable moment was when we were visiting with an awesome man named W. He has 8 dogs. It was kinda funny when we came to his door, 'cause different dogs kept poking their heads through the blinds. He let us in and there were six dachshunds running around our feet (and two bigger dogs). So many dogs! He put them all in the garage (except for the one that climbed under the couch and stayed there the whole time we were there) and then we talked to him for awhile. At the end of the lesson, he said he had something to put me at ease ('cause we'd talked about how I was new and nervous). Then he brought out the puppies. He had 6 six-week-old dachshund puppies. And he let us hold them. It was purdy great. Even better, though, is that he told us we could come back to teach him more :)

This is really hard though. I've been sick since Thursday, but I'm almost better (just a cold, don't worry Mom :) And sometime I'm as sad as I can ever remember being, but things are looking up. Sunday seemed to be a turnaround, and made me feel like I do have a home here. I'm learning to love the work, and beginning to accept this as my life, which is a good thing, because it makes me significantly more optimistic. And the more I come to understand exactly what I'm doing and why I'm here, and the closer I get to my companions, the ward, our investigators, and Heavenly Father the happier I get. Life is good, and I am learning to let the peace of God reign in my heart :)

But it is worth it. We have some really great investigators, recent converts, and other people we meet that help me remember why I'm here. The ward missionaries are really great too. They really love coming to lessons with us, and are really good at making sure needs are met. The field is indeed white, and the Lord is indeed hastening his work.

Also, this week The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is coming to Indianapolis, so we get to go and bring four of our investigators :D That should be a great adventure.

And I got pictures this time! I haven't taken any in Indiana yet, so they're all from the MTC

~Me and Sister Roundy

~Me and Sister Roundy at the temple

~Our district with the Branch Presidency: from the back: Elder Fredette, Elder Udall, Sister Colton, Sister McKendrick, Elder Matangi, Elder Allred, Sister Coons, Sister Roseman, Sister Roundy, Me, Brother Harris (and yes, he is that short), President Connors, and Brother Peck

~Sister Roundy and I with two of our teachers: Brother Heaton and Brother Balzer

If you would like to write to me you are welcome to email me or send stuff here:

(see address to the side)

And also, there are a lot of people that I would really like to talk to, but I don't have a way to reach them, so I'd love short email, if only to get your email address.

Love,

Sister  Bowen

Jill--if you are reading this, you should email me. There is a lady in the ward here that is a Psych professor and trains and uses therapy dogs. And she said you could come up on the week ends ;)

Courtney--thanks so much for the letters! I should be getting one in the mail to you later today :D