Tuesday, March 8, 2016

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


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