Fit to Fight

High 5!

1. Easter! We had a great Easter! It was fun attending both wards this week and getting to know the members more! I actually got to speak in Valencia :) We had dinner with the Hanson family and their kids set up an easter egg hunt for us! It was so cute! Their non member family members were there too and we know they felt the spirit.

2. The women's general conference session Saturday was awesome! I learned a lot about selfless service! If you haven't watching it, do!

(I've never laughed so hard as I have in the past week!  We keep thinking we are going to wake up and our companionship is a dream because it seems too good to be true!  We are the definition of "work hard, play hard!")

3. Jason was baptized on Saturday! It was refreshing! I haven't seen one in WAY too long. The spirit was strong and we hope to start teaching his son and mom soon!

4. The Jacob's family! Okay, unreal investigators...Cory, Samantha, Elora, Xavier, and Daniel. The cutest family ever! They come to church every week, read and pray as a family, and even pay their tithing! Ahh, they are incredible. The parents are working on quitting smoking so they can be baptized as a family. Pray for them!

5. We got to do service at Mandy's Farm this week :)

Down Low, 2 Slow.

1. Dogs and gates. They are the staples of Los Lunas...everyone has them and it's starting to get annoying-haha. We are protected because we probably should've been eaten like 10 times by now.

2. Last night we found out that our investigator who is supposed to be baptized on April 9 is living with his girlfriend.

(And it's ALWAYS windy here!)

This week I've read a lot about "preparing to meet God". A member told us a story of a time when President Monson invited some ward members where he was visiting to attend the temple with him on a Sunday evening; very unexpectedly. There was a man who approached him and told him that his temple recommend had expired just the day before. President Monson's reply was, "5 were wise".

In Matthew 25:1-13 we read the parable of the 10 virgins. I love verse 13. "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." We learn that we always need to be prepared! We can't put off reading our scriptures. We can't put off praying. We can't procrastinate repentance.

My invitation is, start today. Improve your spiritual habits so you can always feel ready and prepared to meet God. You will see blessings that come into your life as well as find opportunities to share those blessings with others. You will be prepared to fight off temptation and conquer Satan.

God speed!

Love, Sister Bowen

Hallelujah!!!

High 5!

1. I've been transferred! I have been called to serve as a Sister Training Leader and am now in Los Lunas, serving in the Manzano YSA branch as well as the Valencia family ward! My new companion is Sister Ropelato and I love her!

***NEW ADDRESS***

Sis. Emilee Bowen

530 Bosque Farms Blvd.

Bosque Farms, NM 87068

My new house is dubbed the "Hobbit Hole".  Haha!

2. St. Patrick's Day was the bomb! We went with Jim to an Irish pub (oh my goodness!) There were even bagpipe players, haha! 

3. Our stake put on a HUGE Easter Program and it was awesome! We got to go to both of the showings on Saturday. Sue and the Bloom family came! The spirit was really strong :)

4. We have a baptism this Saturday for Jason! He is the fiance of a member and is super awesome! We got to teach him last night and he is really excited! His interview is tonight.

5. I got to meet some ward members yesterday! We had dinner with the bishop and his family and also visited with the relief society president. I can tell I will like it here :)

Down Low, 2 Slow.

1 big down low this week, I MISS MY ELDORADO FAMILY! Shoutout to ALL of you for making the past 6 months of my mission a blast! I love you all!

I am short on time but I wanted to share an Easter message with it being this weekend. This quote was used in the Easter Program and is from Elder Holland. It hit me hard and totally brings the spirit of Easter :) 

"So today we celebrate the gift of victory over every fall we have ever experienced, every sorrow we have ever known, every discouragement we have ever had, every fear we have ever faced- to say nothing of our resurrection from death and forgiveness for our sins. That victory is available to us because of events that transpired on a weekend precisely like this nearly two millennia ago in Jerusalem. Beginning in the spiritual anguish of the Garden of Gethsemane, moving to the crucifixion on a cross at Calvary, and concluding on a beautiful Sunday morning inside a donated tomb, a sinless, pure, and holy man, the very son of God Himself, did what no other deceased person had ever done nor ever could do. Under His own power, He rose from death, never to have His body separated  from His spirit again. Of His own volition, He shed the burial linen with which He had been bound, carefully putting the burial napkin that had been placed over His face "in a place by itself" the scripture says. The first Easter sequence of Atonement and Resurrection constitutes the most consequential moment, the most generous gift, the most excruciating pain, the most majestic manifestation of pure love ever to be demonstrated in the history of the world. Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, suffered, died, and rose from death in order that He could, like lightning in a summer storm, grasp us as we fall, hold us with His might, and through our obedience to His commandments, lift us to eternal life. This Easter I thank Him and the Father, who gave Him to us, that Jesus still stands triumphant over death, although He stands on wounded feet. This Easter I thank Him and the Father, who gave Him to us, that He still extends unending grace, although He extends it with pierced palms and scarred wrists. This Easter I thank Him and the Father, who gave Him to us, that we can sing before a sweat-stained garden, a nail driven cross, and a gloriously empty tomb, He is Risen!" 

Love, Sister Bowen

Hope of Isreal

High 5!

1. We have a new investigator! She has been investigating in the neighboring area, Indian School, for about 2 years now, but she moved into some apartments by us so now we will be teaching her! Her name is Sue. She loves the Book of Mormon and loves the spirit she feels when missionaries are around, but does NOT want to be baptized. Her family comes from a long line of Catholics so we think it's a tradition issue. We read Mosiah 24 with her though and at the end of verse 15 it talks about the Lord's will. We asked her that if it was the Lord's will for her to be baptized, if she would ...and she said yes! It will take work but she will get there :) She is coming with us to the Easter Pageant this weekend.

2.  We have a new member of our ward! Her name is Julianna. She is a returning less-active and is going to start coming out with us!

3. We contacted an awesome referral this week. Her name is Diana and she has the cutest family! She has 2 young daughters, Maddie and Nevaeh. We hope to start teaching them soon! It's perfect because they live next door to a lot of members!

4. Sunday we had a miracle! Utahna and her whole family just showed up at church! Her husband is a less-active member but her kids are 9 and 10 and they haven't been baptized yet! We are focusing on getting them progressing towards it though!

5. Sunday evening we spent with a member family who recently had some hard things going on in their family :( We made German pancakes together and read from the scriptures. The spirit was strong and they were SO happy we came!

Down Low, 2 Slow.

1. Last night we were teaching the Gatchell family and their son showed up to pick up his kids and REALLY wanted to bible bash and argue with us...it was intense.

2. Transfers are Monday :(

Jacob 5:71-72 "And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time that I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come. And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things." 

We are the Lord's servants in His vineyard today. We have the great privilege and responsibility to share our happiness with others! I know "the field is white and already to harvest". I hope that we will all step up to this calling from which we are never released.

Elder Holland said in a talk called "Feed My Sheep", "You've got to be the best missionaries this church has ever had. That's what you've got to be. We have a world in trouble and if we understand the scriptures, it's not over yet. These last days of greatness and grandeur in the church are not going to be a pretty picture for the world, and we're affected by it. But you're God's answer. You are the hope of Israel. I stand all amazed at what a missionary is in this church, and what God would somehow know and have the confidence to believe could be done with people like you and people like me. It's a marvelous work and a wonder." 

Diligence and obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ results in joy and we cannot keep that joy to ourselves. 

D&C 58:27-28 "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward."

God speed!

Love, Sister Bowen

Make Lemonade!

High 5!

1. Our new investigator Alfonzo is super awesome! We finally got in to teach him this week and he is really sincere! He is having a hard time coming to church because he has his 5 year old son on the weekends and when he is at his mom's, he goes to church with her so he doesn't want to cause more contention. Pray for them!

2. Another new this week is Lakem! She was just released from the hospital due to cancer and moved into an apartment in our area. We've been able to teach her a couple times and she came to church this week. 

3. Terry came to church on Sunday and LOVED it! Him and our bishop got along really well. He is progressing now!

4. We went to a Relief Society activity this week and it was super fun! It was a "spring cleaning" activity :)

5. Yesterday we got to go to the temple! Best day! I love being there and feeling the spirit. I know it truly is a House of The Lord and it was powerful to see SO many missionaries all together at once.

Down Low, 2 Slow.

1. John is officially leaving for Hawaii on Thursday :( Yesterday we had a lesson with him at our ward mission leader's house and he asked him why he doesn't just get baptized on Wednesday but, ya know...haha.

2. 1/2 p-day today because of our temple trip yesterday.

(Something we deal with everday...)

This week has been full of ups and downs. As I was pondering on that I realized that it's just the way life goes! We can't always control the situations we are faced with, but we can control how we react to them and our attitude through it.

I think about the very beginning of the Book of Mormon and the different attitudes of Nephi vs. his brothers Laman and Lemuel. Their attitudes affected everything! We read countless times that Laman and Lemuel murmured, or complained, and drug their feet through everything they were asked to do. I do not think Nephi thought all that the Lord asked him to do was easy, but he trusted in Him and knew the Lord's words found in  Isaiah 55:9 were true. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." 

This is something I've had to work on because missionary work can be full of disappointment and frustration. We put a lot of hope and faith in the people we teach, especially when it comes to helping them keep commitments; and it seems like too often they use their agency to fall into Satan's temptations and tactics. Sometimes it even seems like he is winning,..but it's in those moments when we have to remember that we already know the outcome of this game. The Lord's team wins and all we can control is how hard we work to recruit more of His children to wear the right jersey. 

We can choose to be discouraged or we can choose to press forward. We can choose to be bitter or we can choose to be better. Sooo, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

God speed!

Love, Sister Bowen

Christlike Heros

High 5!

1. So much success this week! We got 5 new investigators! (That's a lot here-haha) Kristine Lippke is one of them! Her dad used to be a member of the church and she has always been curious. She is very willing to learn and wants to be a strength to her family.

2. One of our favorite families in this ward introduced us to their really good non-member friend this week! She is a single mom and has a nephew on a mission! She gets his e-mails and has been asking TONS of questions so we will start teaching her. Pray for Jen!

3. Another new this week is Kim! He is an older man, super nice, and very willing to learn and listen. He is very curious about the Book of Mormon so stay tuned for his progress!

4. Remember Norman!? Well, we finally got in to see him again this week and he has been having some health problems but he committed to meeting with us once a week. While we were teaching, he kept saying, "wow, that just answered the next question I was going to ask..." Pretty cool! I totally could feel the spirit speaking through me and I live for those moments!

5. The Gatchell family is doing really well! We saw them last night and they has extra family over so we taught a group of like 10 people about the Book of Mormon! It was awesome :)

(Sis. Johnson's mom mailed a pizza making kit, we had fun making our own pizzas!)

(Milkshakes for Elijah's going away party!)

Down Low, 2 Slow

1. Probably no baptism this week...:( We haven't seen John for a while because he's been sick. Pray extra hard for him!

2. Our biggest struggle right now is getting people to keep commitments in order to become progressing...if only we could take away their agency for a second, right? Just kidding-haha.

This week we had a super good district meeting about Christlike attributes! It really hit me! We were all asked to think about our heroes in life. (Shout out to you, Mom!) We were asked to write down what made them our heroes and why. It was interesting to see that every one, no matter what characteristics they wrote down, wanted to become like that person! A lot of the attributes that came out were also attributes that Christ has. Our mission has been challenged multiple times to do the 9 week Christlike attribute challenge from Preach My Gospel chapter 6. DO IT! I love the perspective of working towards obtain these attributes so we can be someone else's hero too! Some ideas I like are, find people from the scriptures who emulate a specific trait you want to work on and read their story! Or, find a hymn that talks about your Christlike attribute and hum it throughout the week to remind yourself of who you are working to become :)

As we shape our lives with these Christlike attributes we will help others shape theirs. It will become more natural for us to be obedient to all of God's commandments and become fully converted unto Christ. Remember the Savior's example in your quest. James 3:17 "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." 

God speed!

Love, Sister Bowen

(Sister Selfies!)