Two Thousand Sixteen

~THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE CHRISTMAS AND BIRTHDAY WISHES! LOOK FOR LETTERS SOON!~

High 5! 

1. Christmas! My first one away from home was a success! It definitely wasn't the same but it was good. We had a great Zone Training in the morning, a zone potluck, played games, ate way too much, and I LOVED skyping my family!

Christmas morning with the zone, and having fun with my selfie stick!

The birthday missionaries!

 

We didn't have candles, so they made us take a bite out of the cake, haha!

2. BiRtHdAy! Yeah, I'm old now! The people here made my birthday a special day for me! We only had sacrament meeting because of all the snow, our ward mission leader's family threw me a birthday party, and we had a killer lesson with a less active who wants to work towards going to the temple :)

3. Exchanges! I spent a day in the Spanish branch this week with Hermana Marzo! I met some great people, got to work on my Spanish, and we got caught in a blizzard! Fun memories :)

4. Yesterday we had another big Zone Conference! We talked about our goals as a mission for 2016 and were spiritually fed and uplifted.

The BEST zone in the mission with Elder and Sister Bennett!

5. Steve is on date to be baptized on January 30th! Pray for him!

Down Low, 1 Slow...(haha)

1. It snowed a TON but now everything has turned into ICE!

(That's all I can think of this week!)

 Yesterday we talked about goals and visions for the new year so I thought it would be appropriate to share a few things with all of you! We made lists of what is good and should stay, what is bad and should go, and what is missing that we should add. I think all of us can apply it to this upcoming year as we set goals and make resolutions! I've been able to reflect on where I'm at and my goals for 2016 by making these lists. I invite all of you to read in Preach My Gospel page 146 about goal setting! Elder M Russell Ballard said, "I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don't set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age  and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life." We all have great potential. Like the Family: A Proclamation to the World states, "everyone is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such...has a divine nature and destiny." It is my prayer that we will all have the eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to know and feel what we can accomplish during this next year!

I love you all! God speed and Happy New Year! Cheers to 2016!

Love, Sister Bowen

More Christmas fun  and shenanigans with some of my favorite people!

Red or Green?

High 5!

1. We have a new investigator! His name is Steve and he is SO prepared for the gospel. He is progressing really fast and we will see him again tomorrow and hopefully set a baptism date for January!

2. This week we ran into a less active named Lorinda. Her records never got moved from the reservation but we took the bishop over and she is excited to start making her way back to church. 

3. We got to help one of our favorite elderly ladies pack and deliver Christmas goodies this week! She made tamales and biscochitos. YUM :)

4. We have the best time caroling every day...HAHA. People think we are crazy but it's so fun!

5. IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS! 

Down Low, 2 Slow.

1. This week we had to eat chicharrones AND menudo...look it up if you dare!

2. Sister Morris was sick practically all week so she stayed at members houses while I worked our area with other members.

Merry Christmas! I can't believe Christmas is really in 3 days! I am feeling very blessed to be a missionary this year. I know it will be a Christmas I will always remember and one I gave lots of attention to the true meaning, which is our Savior, Jesus Christ. We do A LOT of caroling...one of my favorite songs, because of the meaning behind it, has become The Little Drummer Boy. He has nothing to give to the new born King but he promises to "play his best for Him". It reminds me of a tradition my family has each year. We all think of gifts we can give to Christ, write them down, and put them in His stocking. Even though there is no amount of money or precious thing we can give to Him, we can play our best for him by living a Christ centered life, keeping His commandments, opening our mouths to share His gospel, and serving His children. I hope we all have a great Christmas! 

"Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:...His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." -Isaiah 9:6

God speed!

Love, Sister Bowen

(My FAVORITE people in our ward took me to Chipotle for birthday lunch this week since they will be out of town.)

Wise Men Still Seek Him

(We woke up to snow again...it's beautiful!)

High 5!

1. SURPRISE! We are staying in Eldorado for Christmas! We are SHOCKED but super happy and excited! They ended up making a new district so we are in that!

2. Multi-Zone Conference! Elder Bennett, from the 70, came a spoke to us for 9 hours this past Tuesday! It was AMAZING! Our mission has been so blessed! It was definitely something I will never forget and always cherish.

3. Our ward Christmas party was this week and it was a HUGE success! We had 10 investigators there! (If only we could get them to church, right!?)

4. We found a new investigator this week by carol tracting...haha. Her name is Gabriella. When we asked if we could sing her a Christmas carol she actually said no but then we ended up teaching her, having the elders come give her a blessing, and she invited us back! 

5. Last night, Jay came with us to the bell choir concert! It was super fun! Christmas music is the best!

Down Low, 2 Slow.

1. This week I talked and met the rudest people I have yet to meet on my mission...(it's okay though because we also had a super successful week.)

2. Pretty much our whole zone is sick! (except me-that's a good thing!)

ChRiStMaS BoNuS!

*John and Leila came to church on Sunday!

*We have the biggest apartment so we got to house the sisters who came up from El Paso for Zone Conference and it was a giant slumber party!

*We had interviews with President this week.

*Our December Zone Training was AWESOME!

*One of the families who had us for dinner this week invited 4 non-members who we got to teach!

*We did service at Manzano Elementary, helped our neighbor move, and helped paint and decorate for the Christmas party.

It was a really good week full of Christmas miracles!

My message today is simple (partly because I have no time). I am feeling super blessed to be a missionary this Christmas season! I've been able to really focus on the Savior. I've been thinking about the nativity and made a comparison between us and the wise men. They knew the scriptures and the signs of Christ's birth. They stayed humble even though they were wealthy and when they saw the star, they sought the Christ child immediately. Even though they were of high rank, kings, they left their duties and they traveled to Bethlehem to see our Savior. I hope that we can all step back from the hustle of the world to reflect on the real reason for the season. Christ was born so that one day he could die for us and I know that to be true. He is the gift.

God speed!

Love, Sister Bowen

(This person's yard was so cool!)

We Are His Hands!

High 5!

1. We found a new investigator this week! Her name is Misty and she has 2 little boys. She is super solid and we are excited to continue teaching her this week :)

2. We got to go caroling with the youth for their mutual activity!

3. We went to the Relief Society activity this week and it was really nice! We sang a bunch of Christmas songs and read the Christmas story :) I love this time of year!

4. Yesterday, we did a special fast for investigators because the ones we have are really inconsistent and only want to meet with us every 3 weeks and a NEW investigator showed up to church yesterday! His name is Jay and he said he has just been visiting a bunch of churches, googled us, and decided to come! We talked to him after and he said he really liked it and felt something different and would definitely be back! Miracle! We were also really amazed at the simplicity of the testimonies that were borne yesterday, which we know touched Jay's heart.

5. Last night we had dinner and watched the Christmas devotional with a family in our ward as well as their non-member friend! She really felt the spirit and her 9 year old little boy asked if they could go to church with us sometime. It was awesome :)

Down Low, 2 Slow.

1. We are struggling to teach investigator lessons right now :(

2. Yesterday a new stake was built, which is a good thing, but they took our district leader area which causes the ratio of elders to sisters to be off, so it is most likely our last week in Eldorado and they are probably getting elders back. At least we will be able to say we were the only sisters that ever served in Eldorado, haha!

We run into a lot of people who "don't believe in organized religion" and who claim to practice on their own, with out attending a specific church. I've been thinking about this "excuse" a lot and came across Elder Christofferson's talk from General Conference. He compares the church to the body of Christ. "We are the eyes, hands, head, feet, and other members of the body of Christ [...]" I love the scripture in D&C 81:5. "[...] succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees." This is part of our baptismal covenant! Elder Christofferson says, "Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. Uniting ourselves to the body of Christ-the church- is an important part of taking His name upon us." As we come together as members of the church we can accomplish so much more and lift each other up. For example, he talks about repentance. "Repentance is individual, but fellowship on that sometimes painful path is the church." I am grateful for the examples I have of faithful disciples of Jesus Christ who assist me in getting through good times and bad. I hope that we can give special attention to those who need strengthening and lifting up this holiday season. You will see great blessings as you do so. D&C 115:6 explains to us that "[...] the gathering together upon the land of Zion, [...], may be for a defense and for a refuge from the storm [...]" that the world throws at us. 

I love you all! Thank you for the continued support! God speed!

Love, Sister Bowen

PS. P-Day will be Monday again next week because of transfers!

We Are The Clay, Thou Our Potter

High 5!

1. Thanksgiving! My first BIG holiday away from home was a success! We had a zone activity in the morning with lunch and then we cut out turkeys and hearts to decorate some members doors during the day. (We only got caught once, haha.) We went to a steak house for dinner with a couple in our ward and some of their friends who are actually less active members of the church and part member families. They served a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and then afterwards we went to a members house and played games :)

2. We found a new investigator this week! His name is Samuel and he is SO prepared. We taught him the first lesson and then he came to a baptism with us on Saturday.  Hopefully we will get him on date at our appointment this week! His first language is Spanish so it's been fun to practice a little bit again, haha.

3. We had a lesson with Tati this week that also went super well! It is seriously an answer to our prayers that her mom is letting her meet with us. We aren't sure we will see her baptized while we are here but it's going to happen eventually and we are privileged to prepare her for it!

4. Yesterday we met a lady named Hilda while we were tracting. She broke down in tears because she recently lost a granddaughter and her husband has cancer. She is a Catholic but has been questioning everything and agreed to let us come back a teach her about how our message can strengthen her in this time of difficulty. Pray for her!

5. We went on exchanges with Alvarado Park this week! Hermana Marzo came to Eldorado with me and we had a lot of fun :)



Down Low, 2 Slow.

1. Roy dropped us.

2. We didn't get to teach much this week with so many people out of town for the holiday.

Happy December! I am so excited for this Christmas season, especially as a missionary! If you haven't watched the new video yet, "A Savior is Born", I encourage it!

This week my thoughts come from Elder Maynes talk from General Conference. A member in our ward spoke on it in sacrament meeting this week so it really got me thinking! He talks about the importance of centering our lives on Jesus Christ and standing in holy places. He promises us that, "If our lives are centered in Jesus Christ, He can successfully mold us into who we need to be in order to return to His and Heavenly Father's presence in the celestial kingdom." May I add the opposite outcome, that when our lives are not centered on Christ, we are allowing the worldly voices to influence and mold us into who it wants us to be. How can we be sure our lives are centered on Christ? It comes down to being converted rather than just convinced. Mosiah 5:2 illustrates the steps of gaining a true testimony. First, you HOPE it's true, then you THINK it's true, then you BELIEVE it's true, then you KNOW it's true. True and lasting conversion comes when we take one step further, however, which is CHANGING. We need to live what we know. President Hinckley said, "Get the gospel out of their minds and into their hearts. Get the scriptures out of their hands and into their souls." I hope that we can allow the Atonement of Jesus Christ to change our nature, not just our behavior; so we can become truly converted to this gospel and make any place we stand a holy place.

I love you all! God speed!

Love, Sister Bowen

PS. We have a conference next Tuesday so I am not sure when P-Day will be...probably Monday!