It Could Be Weirder, I S'pose

Greetings, world!

My new companion is Sister Mumford. She is from Apex, North Carolina, and she was actually Sister Blacker's MTC companion. So we came out together! But we didn't know each other in the MTC.

One of the highlights of the week came on Saturday. We didn't have any scheduled appointments, so we were planning to spend the day finding people to teach. Unfortunately it was really cold. Recently we got a list of of HQ referrals that had not been reported as contacted. So we figured we might as well head out to Morgantown--which is 1/2 hour away to see what was going on out there. When we drove up a chubby (shirtless) little boy ran into the side door. We knocked. And nothing. So much for inspiration.

On the way back we checked on another HQ referral. It was a request for a Nauvoo Pageant CD, and to please not send missionaries without it. But we figured we'd check it out to see if somebody had brought it to her (we have to special order them, so we didn't want to do that if she already had it.) We met the lady who said she had gotten the CD and loved it--her brother who'd joined the church requested it for her. She asked "Do you have a Bible though? That's what I really want." What she meant was the Book of Mormon. We gave it to her and told her about it a little.

We can't meet with her 'cause her husband is super anti-religion, but she was really grateful we came, and said "This is exactly what I needed today."

K is doing really well right now. She came to the general women's broadcast and loved it. She came to church and loved it. And she accepted a baptismal date to work towards. Church is always interesting when she comes. She loves meeting people and is just super excited. She had me braid her hair before church started. It could be weirder, I s'pose.

News from Bloomington: R and B are doing well--B will be getting baptized the beginning of May. J is on drugs, and Sister Tolman got transfered. Her trainee is now training. Which makes me a great grandma in awkward mission lingo.

On another note, I learned how to transfer pictures between memory cards. So I have more pictures now. (You're welcome mom ;)

That's all I got for today!

Much love,

Sister Bowen

~Sister Blacker and I on a cold day about 2 months ago

~The death of Elder Joos (who just went home) Elder Diaz, Elder Twitchell, Elder Caplin, Elder Joos, Elder Johnson, and me

Bowling with G (a wonderful gal the elders are teaching) Elder Twitchell, Elder Hymas, Giselle, me, Sister Blacker

makin' breakfast burritos on Valentine's

Me, K, Sister Blacker

Warming up for Elder Joos' farewell song that I wrote--Elder Johnson, Elder Brown, me, and Sister Blacker. Elder Brown and I have been in the same district for 6 consecutive transfers. That's half my mission!

"The Right Time"

Greetings world. Transfer calls came....and I'm staying in Franklin! But Sister Blacker is leaving. That'll be sad, but I'm excited to get some good work done here. It seems like things always pick up when somebody new comes into an area. We don't have a ton of people to teach right now, but we've got a huge handful of people who seem pretty interested...so it's just a matter of getting in with them at the right time :P

I've been thinking about "the right time." A lot of people will say that they're too busy for whatever--whether it's meeting with us, coming to church, or just anything of a spiritual nature. There never will be a time that's good. Taking care of ourselves spiritually is one of the important, but not-so-urgent things that can very easily get left on the back burner. I was thinkin' 'bout that in regard to tithing. We're teaching K (who we haven't specifically taught tithing to, yet) She says, "I can't tithe. After my expenses, there's nothing left." Which is completely normal, logical way to think, to an extent. The principle is putting Heavenly Father first. If we put Him first financially, things work out.

We heard of a great experience about a couple that was baptized back in November in our ward. They promised that they would pay tithing when they got baptized. And they did, but it stressed her out tremendously. They weren't going to be able to pay for his medications (which he does need--he already lost a leg to diabetes about a year ago) and they don't spend a lot of money needlessly. Their concerns were very real. But they kept paying. Suddenly the price of his medications dropped significantly. They hadn't been coming to church because of some other concerns they were having, but came back because of a miracle. They had prayed about whether they should come. She felt impressed to go over her account. She found a lump of money that she had missed before. She felt impressed to look again. And found even more.

But it's more than just putting God first financially. If we make time to do all the things He would have us do, there will be time for the more urgent, but less important things. I hope that's something that I can remember, and act accordingly when I get home. It's so easy to make time to study the scriptures now, but it never has been before. My life is centered around Heavenly Father now. I don't remember if it was before. But that doesn't mean I'm better than I was before. I still struggle with pride, self-centeredness, and exact obedience. But those are all things we strive to develop our entire lives--obedience to Heavenly Father's commandments and counsel is what will make us the most like Christ.

I got to go to the temple this past week. It was wonderful. It reminded me how merciful our Heavenly Father is. He offers us tremendous blessings for keeping promises we could never keep on our own, but then He even helps us make up the difference. Sometimes I forget just how much I need the Savior.

That's all for today. We're looking forward to an exciting week. We're booked with appointments tonight, and tomorrow night; Wednesday is transfer meeting appointments with new investigators in the evening; Thursday is full with service, helping out with visiting teaching, and planning; and Friday there is Mission Leadership Council all day. It'll be good.

Much love!

Sister Bowen

Something Strange is Afoot in Franklin

It's been an interesting week fo sho. It was actually a really good week, but Satan was hounding us pretty good.

 Wednesday started out awful. Tuesday had been a beautiful day, but Wednesday was cold, snowy, and super windy. Aaaand nobody wanted to talk to us. So we had no set appointments, and tracting is super difficult when it's that windy. 

But that was okay because we had a good handful of people we'd met recently, had good conversations or lessons with that said they'd love to talk to us more. But not really. 

We knocked on the first door--his truck was home but no answer. Onto the next one--we heard a baby cry for a split-second, but no answer. Onto the next. We saw the door knob start to turn and then stop. No answer. So we went to the next one. We saw a man check through the window, but no answer. It was pretty eerie. Not to mention extremely discouraging. I can understand four outta five people doing that, but when it's like 15 for 15, it gets a little weird. Something strange is afoot in Franklin

On the other hand, we were blessed with really good timing when it came to seeing members that aren't as active. We stopped by one family on Saturday night--we just got to know her a little bit and set up an appointment for late because they were a bit busy getting the kids to bed. The next day several people told us that on Facebook she had posted about how she'd been praying for something, and the sisters stopped by and were the answer she was looking for. She said she'd be going to church the next morning. She wasn't there, but she might not've been aware that church was no longer in the morning O_o

Lately I've been thinking a lot about pride. It's a purdy natural thing to think about on a mission. You think about how people don't listen because of pride. You think about how people don't keep the commandments because they know better than God how we can be happy. You think about how you'd be a much better missionary if it weren't for your pride. You think about how Christ was who He was because He lacked any ounce of pride.

But these thoughts were further catalyzed by a simple event on Saturday. The elders we share the ward with (who are also the zone leaders) called a meeting with us. To further preface this, our district leader had called us to see how we were doing on our terrible Wednesday, and had probably reported to them our discouragement from that day. 

So these wonderful, sincere elders met with us to discuss "issues" that had arisen about crossing boundaries. (Sisters have only been in the area for a few months, so when they first came, the previous elders had split the area taking the east side of the 31, which is Whiteland and most of Franklin, and giving the west side--Trafalgar, Bargersville, Nineveh, and the rest of Franklin to the sisters. They gave the sisters a ward directory marked with which side the members lived on. 

For the most part, we stay on our respective sides, except to meet the needs of single members/investigators of the same gender on the other side.) We've got a handful of people we work with on their side because they are single women, or because the ward council suggested it would be good. They work on our side with some single men or prospective elders. 

To make a long story short, they thought we were spending too much time on their side, and that we might be doing so because we were struggling. They lovingly said some offensive things. They successfully made us feel like terrible missionaries. They respectfully neglected to acknowledge some of their own errors. Yet, their motives were pure. They desired for the example of unity between companionships to be modeled in our area. They desired to help us in any way they could. They desired to do the work of the Lord.

And so often that's what happens in the church. I was thinking about Alma 4:8-9 this morning: "there began to be great contentions among the people of the church; yea, there were envyings, and strife, and malice, and persecutions, and pride, even to exceed the pride of those who did not belong to the church of God....the wickedness of the church was a great stumbling-block to those who did not belong to the church; and thus the church began to fall in its progress."

How often does that happen? Leaders, with the the best intentions continue to be imperfect. Those they are called to serve become victims of their imperfections, yet have their own opportunity to overcome pride for the progress of the Kingdom. We wanted so badly for these kind elders to see the beam in their eyes. And then we saw the bigger one in our own :P What is to be done? To move on. That's all there is to be done. I've been busy thinkin' 'bout how I've been wronged, and the opportunity cost has been thinking about what I can do to serve others. Pride is the primary enemy to progression. And I've got a lot of work to do to overcome that :P

Phew. Well, that's my sermon for the week. On a more humorous note, we were trying to find out where somebody lived with an out of date directory, and met a man named Mike. We introduced ourselves. He was mildly shocked when I said, "and I'm Sister Bowen." He said, "Oh! I thought you were her daughter! You look like you're 12!" They tell me it'll be a good thing some day :P

And one more thing. We have in our ward this couple that were baptized back in November. They hadn't been to church the past few months. They had become extremely argumentative and bitter. And they talk so much that nobody can even get a word in :/ They were simply having a rough time with things. Their home teacher went to see them on Saturday night. Before he left (after 2 1/2 hours of listening) he asked if they'd be at church. They said they didn't know. He asked them if they'd pray about it. They said they would. They came to church yesterday. It was a miracle.

Sorry this is so huge, and probably uber boring. But I hope everybody has a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Bowen

Awkward . . . Just Like My Parents

Well, we didn't get much done in our area this week. The sisters down in Columbus are covering two areas right now, so we did exchanges down there so they could keep up with it all. That was a lot of fun, because it's much less pressure for us, and the sisters down there are so good, and so fun! Sister Howard is there, so naturally it's a party.

Another set of sisters in our stewardship is really struggling, so we went up to help them with weekly planning. They called us the day before to see if we could do a brief exchange, to give one of the sisters a chance to go out, and so the other could talk some things out. I talked with the one sister. She is a wonderful girl, and it was a good experience to be able to talk with her. Miracles are beginning to happen in their area, so it was cool to be a part of that.

I learned once again that Heavenly Father is very aware of me. Finding people to teach out here has been rough. I've been praying that we could find a R--because she was just so prepared and willing to follow the spirit. There aren't enough people like her out there.

So on Tuesday, it was just a bad day. I don't like talking to people, usually is manageable, but Tuesday was hard--I reeeally didn't want to leave the apartment. Our morning appointment fell through, and we didn't have any set appointments the whole day--not for lack of trying. So we were tracting. We knocked on this door and a young woman answered. She was very friendly. Like R. She was in the marines, like R. She even looked a little like R. We talked to her a little bit about our message and scheduled an appointment for the next day. Then we asked her name, and it was R. It was a pretty clear message for me at the time.

We showed up the next day, and she wasn't there, but that was okay because we had perfect timing for catching one of her neighbors we haven't been able to see for awhile. We'll catch up with her later.

The rest of the week was good, with zone training, exchanges, church, and Why I Believe. It was the first Why I Believe of the transfer, so I got to see who was serving in the area (outside our zone) And there are a lot of new sisters. I knew just about all of them last transfer, but not any more. I decided I should probably go talk to them because it seemed like a responsible Sister Training Leader thing to do, and I need to get better at talking to people.

That reminded me why I don't talk to people...'cause I'm suuuuper awkward! So now all these new sisters, and their companions (most of who I don't know super well) will remember me as this really awkward sister who attempted to make conversation with them that one time. Oh well. I tried.

And this is exciting--I probably won't be emailing next Monday, 'cause we get to go to the Louisville temple on Wednesday next week...which replaces our preparation day, but we'll probably have some time to email late that day.

Much love!

Sister Bowen

Peectures!

When we were leaving from our Columbus exchange--Sister Carroll, Sister Howard, Sister Sessions, Me, Sister Blacker

And again! I dunno what we're doing...Sisters Sessions, Carroll, Howard, Blacker, and me

The Importance of Ice Cream

Oh, life is adventurous. Church got cancelled again yesterday 'cause of snow :P Which is always tragic.

One day, some of the sister missionaries we watch out for were really struggling. They have a tough time overall because of learning disabilities, but they broke down a little bit. Our evening appointment fell through, so we went up there to bring ice cream and talk it out with them. Sometimes it's nice to feel useful. Although, helping people mentally is like squishing spiders. You step on them and hope it worked :P We'll be helping them with their weekly planning this week, so hopefully that will be of use for these sweet sisters.

On Friday we had mission leadership council, which lasts all day. It was awesome as usual. We recieved inspiration for how to do our work better, and just be better. A lot of times we'll practice teaching various principles or using different methods. 

Near the very end, President calls me up, and says, "Sister Bowen is  a very special sister. She doesn't say much but she is probably smarter than I am" (That's the key--if you're quiet, people think you're smart.)

He set up a scenario. I was a missionary, Elder Smith was a random person on the street in Carmel. I was supposed to give him a pass-a-long card with a picture of the upcoming Indianapolis temple (that is really in Carmel) and pique his interest.

Sister Blacker and I greeted him and asked if he was familiar with Mormons. I handed him the card and asked if he'd ever seen a temple before.

 He said he hadn't.

 "Well there's one right over there!" pointing over his shoulder.

 "Oh cool. Can I go in when it's done?" "Sure! We just have to take care of some things first"

That's when President ended it. And said "In all these temple role-plays, I have never seen anyone go like this pointing like I had done. I'm not sure if I wrote out the situation adequately, but needless to say, I am a really good missionary. :P

Other than doing terrible role-plays, things are good. We're working with a few great people, and striving to find more people to teach. We've kinda been in a motivation slump lately. For both Sister Blacker and I, this is the first time since we were trained that we aren't training, so we don't have that drive to be a good example. We still work hard, but we could do better. And we really want to, but it's hard. Ah well.

I've been thinking about how being on a mission really has made life easy though. Our bills are taken care of, so we don't have to worry (except when the mission office struggles.) We don't have a lot possessions to worry about. We don't have boys to worry about (which means we eat a lot less ice cream.) We only have to worry about making time for the little things that are important, like reading scriptures and going to church, or putting in the time for our callings. So I'm enjoying it while I can.

Thanks for all the prayers and support :)

Much love,

Sister Bowen