When feeding puppies is service, you're in a good place :)

Gosh, I hate the anticipation of transfer calls--especially since this was the first time I really had no idea if I was staying or leaving. Aaaand I'm leaving, which is kinda sad 'cause we've got a lot of exciting stuff going on, but I'm always up for new adventures :)

We had a lot of really cool things happen this week. We went over to H's on Wednesday. She started out by asking if we could start coming Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. We gladly agreed! At the end we asked the boys if they wanted to be baptized, and they both said yes! So they're getting baptized in a couple weeks :)

Also, B--the awesome marine from Bloomington got baptized on Friday! But unfortunately we couldn't make it :/

And D continues to be wonderful :)

On Tuesday, we spent a chunk of the day inside 'cause Sister Mumford wasn't feeling so good, we were kinda unmotivated as we headed out in the evening to go meet a less active lady who'd moved in from Shelbyville. She wasn't there again, but we met her sister. She said that she was kinda busy 'cause she had some puppies to feed. We offered to help, and she gladly accepted. When feeding puppies is service, you're in a good place :)

On Saturday, we had the missionary dream come true. We had about an hour and a half before dinner, so we parked in a neighborhood across the street, intending to go check back on some people we'd previously met. We ended up spending about an hour in the car just coordinating things for the next day. The whole time, these people whose house we were parked outside kept coming out and going back in, probably wondering what two creepy girls were doing sitting there in a car. Eventually, the lady backed out of her driveway--in her car, of course--and pulled up to our window to see what we were up to. To make a long story short, we are now teaching her. We always dream about people coming to us, and sometimes it happens!

That's all I gots for today. I could be anywhere next week! I've got it mostly narrowed down to IU, IUPUI, or South Bend. We'll see!

Much love, and warm weather!

Sister Bowen

Peectures!

Feeding puppies!

Aaaand sometimes getting out of the car isn't as easy as it should be :/ #skirtsinthewind

an UBER eventful week!

Hello World!

This has been an UBER eventful week! 

First of all, J GOT BAPTIZED! He's the Pentecostal preacher that Sister Howard and I found last August. And last I'd head he was messing around with drugs. Wednesday afternoon we got a call from the sisters in Bloomington telling us he was getting baptized on Saturday and wanted us to come! The story is that they had prayed to know when to see him, and went on Easter. When they got there, he said he'd been waiting for them. He told them he just needed to do it. He knew it was what God wanted him to do, and he just needed to get it done. I think he had to get special permission, but it's done now. And what courage he had. He told his family, and they were not happy. And outside of church people, they're everything he has. So it was really a great experience to go be there, and to see him again.

Next is D. She was a lady we met about a month ago, who had been given a Nauvoo Pageant CD but really wanted "A Mormon Bible," which we gave her. She was unable to meet again because her husband is very much against religion. Her brother contacted the mission office to tell us to go over that day (Friday) because she'd been reading the Book of Mormon and had a lot questions--turns out she was also stayed home from work because she was sick, so he knew we'd catch her. We invited her to be baptized. She agreed, and we set a date for May 24. When she came to Stake Conference, she let us know it'd have to be postponed a week because then her brother could come baptize her. What a miracle she is. She is so prepared, and she's sane too! So that's really cool.

Then there is J. Her son and mother-in-law were baptized last year, but she backed done because of the Word of Wisdom. We met her the week before last because we were trying to help her mother-in-law get back to church, and we started teaching her too. Last night we invited her to be baptized, and she agreed. So she is preparing to quit smoking and aiming to get baptized in June.

In other news, we had exchanges with a sweet set of sisters. And it was exhausting. The previous exchange had been invigorating because the sisters were just so teachable, so faithful, and so happy. These Sisters were a second transfer trainee and her trainer. I had the trainee, and we wandered through a neighborhood to talk to people. We found a wonderful lady named S and told her about the Book of Mormon. She said she would definitely read it and pray about it. Then it was the trainee's turn to talk to people. She didn't know how. She didn't realize that this was something that missionaries did. Aaaand suddenly we understood why they've only found 2 new investigators in the past 11 weeks :/ It's just hard because it's not her fault at all. Her trainer (who I love dearly) just enjoys struggling. She has all the tools she needs to be a good missionary, but loves to let her situation control her. She only has two transfers left on her mission, and I hope she can figure things out before then.

And that's partly why Mission Leadership Council was awesome. President spoke a lot about faith and sharing miracles: "Remebering may be the highest form of devotion" If we remember how Heavenly Father has blessed us, it can get us through times of personal spiritual drought. And sharing those miracles helps bring/restore faith to others. He also gave us a ladder diagram, where the bottom were those with little faith who let their situations mandate their happiness and success. And at the top were those who exercised their faith despite their circumstances and made success. It made me really think about my faith, and where I was on the scale. I hope when the other sister sees it, it will open her eyes as well.

This transfer has been like the greatest adventure. And I even have some pictures to  send home! (You're welcome mom ;)

Me and Sister Howard with Jonathan post baptism

Me and Sister Howard with Brother Martinez (the Ward Mission Leader in Clear Creek)

Me modelling how to wear a skirt as a dress...with all my companion's belts

Me on the ground 'cause I couldn't make it to the front door.

When I almost burned holes in PMG and my planner while planning.

Happy Easter!

Greetings world!

It's been another week full of adventure.

Monday we had our basketball clinic with President Coach Cleveland. It was super fun/ny. I think we all a good time--not sure if we got any better at basketball though O_o

On Tuesday we had training on how to give church tours. It's a kinda cool thing. The tour isn't for the purpose of showing the church to people, per say, but we sorta teach the restoration lesson as we go along. It's super cool. And spiritual. And President is purdy serious about it. We've tacked a 1/2 hour on to study everyday to practice it. It's gotta be good.

Wednesday was the specialized training for all the sisters in the mission. In the morning we learned a lot of cool things: President Connelly shared some very enlightening thoughts about women and the priesthood. Sister Clark gave an inspired training on finding joy in the work through giving it your all. Sister Cleveland gave a presentation about what God expects of us. Sister Tolman did a musical number that was absolutely fantastic. It was a great morning.  

In the afternoon we were taught by some ladies about eating healthy and managing stress. And then they taught us some exercise  stuff that we can do to not be bums. Aaand that's where the adventure started. The lady was showing us how to do lunge jumps. And then there was a lot of screaming. One poor sister in the back was laying on the ground. While the appropriate people tended to her, they told us to keep doing what we were doing...while she was still laying on the ground screaming. Can you say uncomfortable? The lady instructing us felt super bad. She said, "Oh, I broke a sister missionary" And because we're all girls and are compassionate (except those of us who don't have hearts anymore) we all felt suuper bad. Her knee was sticking out at an uncomfortable angle. She tore her meniscus and may have to go home for surgery. She one of the sisters in my stewardship, but unfortunately I don't really know her yet--our exchange had to be postponed 'cause she was sick. Aaand  she's not coming back to that area this transfer 'cause their apartment is up three flights of stairs. But other than that, it was a fantastic day.

On Thursday we met with a really interesting man. Every time we talk about him, all we can say is "he's so interesting!" He's the one from two weeks ago who blew up cocaine plants. When we were leaving, he told us two quick stories. On about how he put up two big boulders on his property to stop snow-mobilers--and how if people hit the rocks, there would be a cap on how much they could sue--or something like that. Then he told us about when his daughter was in an unpleasant situation with a guy in his car. I think he said he arranged for the car (a jaguar) to be taken to a chop shop. And then offered to let the guy's father pay him $10,000 to forget the whole thing. The guy's dad did some research on our friend, and paid up. He said, long story short, that he would be that kind of insurance for us. It was almost like having somebody like Liam Neeson from Taken watching out for us. Except for the fact that he's 70, and seems much more mellow. And we don't even know what his real name is. You meet the most interesting people. And he wants to learn more and introduce us to some young friends. We'll see where it goes O_o

Friday to Saturday I was on an exchange with Sister Allred who is a new missionary serving in Columbus. We had some great appointments set up, but they all fell through. That was okay because we met a lot of people.

Sometimes we talk about what kind of investigators we tend to teach. Sister Mumford tends to teach kids. Her previous companion tended to attract old ladies. My investigators seem to be middle-age to older men. That's who we taught in Bloomington, and that's who we've been finding a lot here. So that was everybody we talked to. Kinda funny.

So for Easter, I've been thinking a lot about the Atonement, and what that means for us as individuals (watch mormon.org/becauseofhim if you haven't already) Because of what Christ did is the only reason that life has any meaning at all. It truly is the greatest gift and greatest manifestation of love ever. John 3:16. So how do we repay him? The last two versus in Matthew talk about the apostles commission to teach and baptize. That's our role too. I was thinking about that in reference to Helaman 10:4-5. It's hard to do it without weariness, but we are blessed tremendously. I was also thinking about Isaiah 6:5-8. He volunteered without hesitation to serve. And because of that he was purified. What another great blessing. I've been thinking a lot about the gospel in reference to happiness. Living the gospel (faith, repentance, making covenants, the holy ghost) is supposed to make us happy. Was Christ happy? I think he must've been, but it doesn't really talk about that in the scriptures.

I think one of the blessings about striving for righteousness, is that when we do sorrow, it's not for our sakes, but for others.  

Yesterday, Sister Mumford taught gospel principles which was about how we are a covenant people. One part of it said something about how it is hard for mortals to fully comprehend the significance of the promises we make. And I think that's really where faith comes into play. Much of the faith we exercise is to keep commandments, and we can see the positive effects of that in our lives through experimenting on the word, and evaluating the results. But when it comes to determining whether or not consecrating our lives to our Heavenly Father will bring us the most satisfying form of happiness attainable, we can't know for sure in this life.

Well that was quite a novel. I hope everybody had a great Easter. What a great time it was to reflect what the Savior has done for us, and what we can do better for Him.

~Sister Bowen

Fifty Dollars!

What an adventurous week it has been!

On Monday, we got to play soccer with a bunch of missionaries. We've played a lot of chair soccer, but not real soccer. It was sooo fun!

Tuesday we had a fantastic district meeting and went out for lunch with our district. Then we drove home so I could be lame and take a nap--'cause I wasn't feeling too good :P That afternoon we headed out and tried to talk to everybody. We were doing some inspired wandering, and greeted this man who was blowing leaves outta bushes. He turned off the blower and came over to talk to us. We gave him a run-down about the Book of Mormon and exchanged phone numbers. His name is J, and he's super nice! That night we started an exchange with the Indy 1st sisters. I got to bring Sister Loveland down with me. She is a brand new missionary, but she's really good.

Wednesday, we went to do companion studies...and I was lame and apologized and told this brand new sister I had to go lay down, 'cause I felt purdy cruddy again. We had some service scheduled for the morning, so we went to go help clean an apartment. I figured if I could do that, we'd be good for the rest of the day, and if I couldn't we'd probably have to figure something out for our appointments that day. Part of the way through cleaning, and went into the bathroom and threw up. But then I felt much better! And the rest of the day went really well. K committed to stop smoking, and is very motivated to change her life. Then we went to see the less active lady (the one I talked about last week, who's life is all over the place, but who's faith has grown tremendously in the last few months.) Unexpectedly, her husband was home (who recently got out of prison, and I'd never met before.) We talked a little about the restoration. He said he was coming to church and read the Book of Mormon. He asked us what kind of bonus we'd get for getting him there. We told him a high-five from the spirit. He said that he was a big deal because he's so stubborn, so we should get more. We told him we'd probably get a high-ten. He liked that. Aaaand the whole family made it to church.

Friday, we met a handful of new people. One weird instance was when we were talking with this gal who seemed super open fairly interested. Until we mentioned the Book of Mormon. Then she mentioned how her pastor had gave a sermon about it a couple years ago...and then we could sense her becoming more and more closed off. It's so sad that these people with such great intentions (pastors) and do so much harm and inhibit people's progression.  Later in the ay we went to the private viewing for the man who died the week before. We weren't sure how we'd be received, because sometimes we feel like we bother people when we keep showing up. But the family was sincerely glad to see us. So that was nice :)

Saturday, we were suppose to do another exchange, but the other sisters were a little sick. So we didn't. The highlight of the day was when we tried to call J to set up an appointment. The number didn't work. So we stopped by. He wasn't home, but his mom was (we hadn't realized that he lived with his parents.) We talked to her for a long time. She told us about his drug addiction, but how he's been clean for two months now. She was glad that we'd talked with him a little, and we have an appointment to meet with both of them this week.

Kinda funny story, I don't remember which day it happened. We wandered into a guy in his late-teens and a guy in his 60s. They were neighbors, and the older man was helping the younger one with his truck. They were putting guards on the tail lights. The older one warned us that they were men at work and things weren't going well. We offered to try to help. The younger one offered $50 if we could fit the guard over the light. I picked it up and did it, without much of a problem. One of the more amusing moments X)

So things are good. We're finding a lot of people, people are coming to church, and the gospel is real. Life doesn't get much better! And this week is pretty exciting. Today we have our basketball clinic with President Coach Cleveland, tomorrow we have a special training for giving church tours, Wednesday we have a specialized training for all the sisters in the mission, Friday district meeting, and Saturday exchanges. So much adventure!

I hope all is well with everybody!

Much love,

Sister Bowen

Miracles and Adventure

Greetings world,

It has been a week of miracles and adventure.

On Monday evening, we had a HQ referral to contact--it turned out to be a special needs lady. We were talking to her outside when her mom came out. We told them about the Book of Mormon and set up a time to come back. 

Then we talked to the grandmother of all these kids that were running around next door. She was very strange, but pleasant enough. 

After that we went off to check on a part member family, we drove past and continued on because their cars weren't there (yes, we are creeps like that.) 

A block or so down, we saw a man sitting at the edge of garage trying to get rid of a TV. We went and talked to him. He was also really interesting. He worked for the government--he did some profiling, and blew up cocaine plants. We talked a little about the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. He asked us why he would want to be a part of our church. I volunteered that 1) because it's true 2) because it's true, and God really loves us, it makes us significantly happier than we could be without it 3) it brings strength and perspective. And Sister Mumford added that it brings people a lot of peace. We scheduled a time to come back and went our separate ways.

We'd missed a call from the elders about this family that we'd helped to move in a couple weeks ago. He'd been in and out of the hospital because his cancer had taken a turn for the worse. They are not members, but their daughter who lives in Indy is. He was dying, and they wanted to see if we could come pray with them. So we did. It's hard to pray for a dying man's family. What do you say? I dunno what I said, but I hope it helped. And we talked a little bit about the spirit world.

Tuesday morning, we got a call from his daughter. He died that morning. Later on Tuesday, we talked to one of the wonderful less active ladies we've been working with. The ward was worried that she wouldn't be as receptive when her husband returned home from prison. He got back a few weeks ago, and they've been having problems. But she was doing great. She talked about how she's been reading the scriptures a lot, and praying more. She expressed how she wished she had done that when they had problems in their family years before. It's amazing to see how fast she developed her faith so that it could carry her through this.

On Wednesday, we had a first lesson with this wonderful lady. She was very receptive, and the spirit was strong--that's what happens when you talk about how much our Heavenly Father loves us and discuss evidence of that love. She was excited to meet again. I love lessons like that.

Friday, we had zone training, which is always an great revelatory opportunity. 

In the afternoon we talked to some neighbors. The lady was happy to meet us, but when she learned we belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, she closed off. She talked about how we teach things that just can't be true "Jesus and Satan were not half-brothers!" We agreed, and talked about how we were all brothers and sisters when we lived with our Heavenly Father before this. She talked about how she had been saved in her youth, and that Christ is the only way. We agreed and talked about faith, repentance, baptism, the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. Then we prayed. Their hearts had been softened by the spirit, and we don't know if it'll go anywhere, but we left on a very high note.

And then general conference was fantastic. How grateful I am to have a prophet on the earth today. How grateful I am that God still speaks to us today. Listening to the prophet and apostles is probably my favorite way of obtaining personal revelation. Often times things I need to do become so much clearer. That's one of my favorite roles of the spirit--clarity. "It beginneth to enlighten my understanding"

I hope everybody enjoyed conference as much as I did. We've got a lot of work to do, but it truly is the key to happiness--doing the Lord's work. Taking on a load that will provide sufficient spiritual traction, that we may return home

That's all for today,

Much love!

Sister Bowen

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

A Week of Adventure

This was a week of adventure!

Monday evening we were stuck inside 'cause of freezing rain

Tuesday, we were in Bloomington with four zones. The trainings were excellent, and I love Bloomington. When we got back at 8:30, we were pleasantly surprised to find our power had been shut off (because of a mix-up with our electric bill). And we were on exchanges, so there were four of us left to do everything in the dark. What an adventure!

Wednesday, Sister Jeffrey and I were companions for the day, the power was restored, and the weather was beautiful. We met a good handful of people to teach.

Thursday, was purdy normal. Except this crazy thunderstorm started during our last appointment for the night. We were driving home amidst heavy rain, intense flashes of lightning. Not to mention the blaring tornado sirens. It was purdy surreal. We loved it :D

Friday, we had movie night. 50+ people showed up, including 2 investigators so that was purdy exciting. Not to mention that watching 17 Miracles is always enjoyable. I love the example of these people who sacrificed everything to receive the blessings of the temple, while some of us can't sacrifice much smaller things of no consequence. What great faith those pioneers had.

Saturday, S got baptized! She is a wonderful gal who we've gotten to teach. She was adopted by a family in the ward, so she couldn't be baptized when she was eight (now she's nine), so she came ready. She is a little ray of sunshine, so it was a pleasure to be able to teach her :)

Sunday, one of the less active ladies we've been working with came to church! I think she hadn't been in 10+ years. Another family that hadn't been to church as long as I've been here finally made it. They add such an energy to the ward, and I hope they come every week. I got to teach Gospel Principles, which is enjoyable. That evening, there was a stake youth fireside about missionary work. All the missionaries in the stake came (two zones, about 40 missionaries). I got to speak a little on "Preach My Gospel." And then the young women asked us questions. Some of them are so excited to go on missions!

Oh, and Relief Society was hilarious. I was sitting by the older lady with dementia. The lesson was about tithing (based on Elder Bednar's talk). And she thought it was the funniest thing. She kept busting out in laughter. And then she got super angry with her son (for no reason apparent to us--he wasn't even there). She kept saying, "I'm gonna kill him!" She whispers, but it carries. At one point she swore. I almost died. On a more spiritual note, the lesson was fantastic. Ladies shared their stories of how they developed faith to pay tithing.

~There was the standard We couldn't afford to pay it, but my husband said we'd try. Then we got a check in the mail for the same amount from a place that had overcharged us.

~I was at work, with no gas left in my car, and I could chose to eat, make it home, or pay tithing. I held the envelope in my hand until the mail man came, then threw it in. And waited. My boss asked if he could use my car real quick. I told him the tank was empty, and he said he'd take care of it, and brought it back with a full tank.

~One lady, who the ward just has tremendous respect for shared how when she was young, recently married, and newly converted, she almost divorced her husband because of tithing. After they had paid everything, they had $5 a week. And people randomly kept dropping food by, without any knowledge of the situation.

The Lord doesn't need our money, individually. But we need the blessings from paying it. It's cool to see physical manifestations of Heavenly Father's blessings.

It was a great end to a purdy satisfying week. This week looks to be almost as adventurous, with two exchanges, and mission leadership council. Tomorrow will be my 1/2 way point. It's been kinda fast O_o but awesome.

Love you lots!

Sister Bowen

Some peectures. Finally.

 ~Me, S, and Sister Blacker

~ Take 2

 ~Me and Sister Blacker

~Me and Sister Jeffrey

Sometimes It's Hard to Be a Missionary

Not a ton to report this week.

Missionary work is hard, but it's just life though.

We were at a dinner appointment yesterday, and we were talking about faith as it relates to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We talked about how it leads us to keep the commandments, and to do whatever it is that God would have us do. It takes faith that these things will be to your benefit and happiness. A lot of times we'll relate that to the joy promised with the efforts of doing missionary work and invite members to experiment on the word and invite friends to learn more about the gospel.

The lady whose house we were at has really had a lot of great opportunities lately to share the gospel, but they haven't made it to the next step yet. She asked us how we handle that. And it takes faith--sometimes we're granted glimpses of the fruits of our labors, but more often than not, we probably don't see the results.

We talked about Abinidi. He boldly proclaimed the gospel and died for it--without knowledge that it had any effect. But Alma heard, and did something about it--that's a big deal.

We talked about how sometimes we are the seed sowers, and sometimes we are the harvesters, and if we could see the whole picture, it probably would be more satisfying to be the seed sower.

We talked about the way we react to spiritual promptings. Sometimes we'll receive a lot of inspiration and revelation on how we can be a better person from a particular church meeting. We'll resolve to do and be better. And then we come home and stay the same. We don't like to change, even if it's for the better. People feel the spirit when they hear about the first vision or the plan of salvation, we invite them to do something about it, and they agree to. And then second guess the reality of the spirit they felt, or get lazy. Just like we do :P

It takes a special person to change religions, no matter how true it might be.

Somebody told us the other day that this is the most snow Indiana's ever gotten. And we're lucky enough to be here! It's getting a bit old though. On Friday, we weren't allowed to drive 'cause the roads were so bad. We couldn't really ask members to sacrifice their lives or their Valentine's date night to take us to appointments :P And then people's Friday activities/events got moved to Saturday, so all those appointments cancelled too.

And that was the week--cancelled appointments, lots of snow, and people who told us they'd be at church and didn't make it.

Such is life, eh?

We got kinda down and depressed and frustrated. With the situation and with ourselves. But we're looking forward to being better missionaries, and better weather (which might come someday). This week we've got a baptism, zone conference (in Bloomington!), exchanges, a missionary movie night (where members invite their friends--we're watching "17 Miracles") and a youth missionary fireside (with no fire involved :P) So it looks like it'll be a good week with lots of good things goin' on.

Hope all is well

Love,

Sister Bowen

A Misplaced Phone and . . . . Soccer

Well, Sister Blacker and I are in Franklin for another transfer! Not super exciting, but we're glad to stay, 'cause we love the ward, and there's a lot of good things going on :)

Saturday was a great adventure. We got to go to Bloomington for R's baptism. It was really exciting to see everybody there. I've missed it. When we got back to Franklin, there was a baptism for our ward for a man named D who the elders have been teaching. After that, Sister Blacker and I had gotten permission to do a member exchange so that she could go to a baptism in Plainfield for a gal she taught in Indy YSA. I stayed in Franklin because we were having a class to "learn more about Jesus Christ" (that had been advertised in the paper and on Facebook) and we were supposed to teach part of it. It's kinda funny 'cause when you go on splits with members, people greet you then look around to see where your other half might be. It was a great and exhausting day.

It was kind of a crazy week over all. We drove down to Columbus on Tuesday morning to start an exchange with Sisters Knight and Sessions, and then Sister Knight and I drove back up...and left our phone there. It was fine 'til the evening when it started snowing like crazy, and the cars got grounded. We had to make some calls to coordinate/cancel appointments and find a ride back down to Columbus. So we met some neighbors by borrowing their phones to make some calls. The last neighbor we bothered, let us use her phone so I could call Sister Blacker to see if she could make some calls and then get back to me on the same number. So we stuck around for awhile and taught our neighbor a lesson. She was very interested, so we'll see if that goes anywhere.

Our ward mission leader (who drives a plow truck) gave us a ride to meet up with the other set of Columbus sisters (Sisters O'Brien and Hansen). So Sister O'Brien came with me and Sister Knight went with Sister Hansen, so Sister Knight could get back with her companion and then Sister Hansen would go with mine. And we still didn't have our phone. O_o And I didn't see my companion for two days. Weird.

And we had a lot of things to prepare for. We did a training about effective questions in zone training on Friday, I spoke at a baptism on Saturday, and taught a class that evening, and on Sunday, Sister Blacker was teaching Gospel Principles. We were uber busy. But that's okay, 'cause that's how we like it.

I've been thinking lately (a dangerous past-time, I know) about people who get hurt and stop coming to church. We're meeting with like 4 part member families, and that sort of thing happens far more often than it should. Some of them have had severe physical or emotional abuse at the hands of church members. They feel like a large part of their suffering has come through the church--and partly it has.

Then I think about soccer. Soccer has caused some of my greatest physical and emotional pain. Sore muscles, loss of breath, bruised shins, strained quads and hamstrings, jammed fingers, loss of a tooth, and a broken collar bone. The emotional agony of failing to make a team--a goal I'd worked for my whole life, up to that point, hurt beyond anything that I'd imagined or wish to ever experience. But despite the pain, I always go back. I go back because I love soccer.

It's a great blessing to be able to teach Christ's message of love. He gives us church because He loves us. And our task is to learn to love Him, and act according to that love. We triumph over our anguish because we love Him.

That's all for this week :)

Much love,

Sister Bowen

Here's me with R and B from Saturday :) B was afraid the church building would fall in on him. After R got baptized, he said, "When I do that, the water will probably turn black! They'll have to dunk me four times!" He's so funny.

What a Great Blessing!

What a great blessing it is to be a missionary.

We met with an older lady last night. She's an active member, who I hadn't met before yesterday because she's been out of commission because of some back problems. I didn't expect a lot from the lesson. We meet with members to teach the gospel, and to help facilitate their receiving the blessings of doing missionary work. Most older people talk about how they only know church people these days, and they've done their work.

We asked her what "the gospel of Jesus Christ" meant to her. Most people will say things about Christ's teachings. She said, "I think it comes down to faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the holy ghost, and then enduring to the end" She's the only one who just knew that. (Not that we're quizzing members when we ask that sort of question, 'cause we're not.) She told us how exciting it was when she first learned about the restored gospel when she was 20, "And it's been exciting ever since." 

She talked about how it really hit her when Elder Gifford Nelson mention in general conference that Elder Perry had said that the hastening of the work is on the same plane as the restoration of the priesthood and the first vision. She mentioned how we can watch it happen or be a part of it, and she said, "I want to be a part of it!" And she is--she's done a lot of good with those around her, and shares the gospel with those she meets at the store and wherever else she goes. What a great example.

And that's how I'd like to be. I hope that my mission changes me enough so that I can retain always the clarity that I have now. I hope that I can keep this pattern of doing things against my natural tendency for the sake of righteousness. I hope I begin to make the best choices in exchange for the good choices I do make.

I read Elder Nelson's talk about choices from last general conference this morning. I really appreciated his comments that we developed certain spiritual gifts before we came to earth, and we can choose which spiritual gifts to develop here, too. He talks more about developing self-mastery. I've been thinking a lot about that, and how I wish I'd developed that sooner, but I'm grateful to be able to work on it now. I hop out of bed without pushing the snooze button now. I go out and talk to strangers now. I manage (or try to manage) my eating habits now. I'm actively striving to do what Heavenly Father wants me to do now.

I've been studying a lot about faith. I always hated when people talked about how belief is power, 'cause it's not. But faith is a principle of power, because if we truly believe something, our actions align accordingly. If I believe keeping the commandments will make me happier than I could be otherwise, why don't I keep them better? Christ was all powerful because He had perfect faith in Heavenly Father's guidance for Him, and aligned His behavior accordingly. God would have us be intelligent, responsible, hard-working, honest individuals because the most satisfying form of happiness (in my mind) comes from becoming something great. And He's given us the guidance to become such, through the commandments. And Christ provided the Atonement to enable us to overcome those things that prevent us from keeping the commandments. How cool is that?!

Well that's my sermon for the week :P

And R (from Bloomington) is getting baptized on Saturday! And I probably will be able to go! I'm purdy excited for that :) Here in Franklin, we've got some tough people to work with, but things are still going well. We've got a sweet 9-year old girl getting baptized later this month, and some other things in the works. February should be a good month. Unless we get 20 inches of snow this week, like some sources are predicting O_o

Much love,

Sister Bowen

And here's a picture of the Indianapolis temple, as of Friday :)