This Is Why

High 5!

1. We had Zone Conference this week! It was awesome! We focused a lot on the Book of Mormon and I learned a lot!

2. Jason and Merry were married this week! It was really fun-totally Los Lunas style, but really cute,  haha! :)

3. General Conference was amazing, as always! I LOVED listening to the prophet, apostles, and other leaders of the church. It is always an uplifting experience and a great time to have personal questions answered. If you didn't get to watch it, look it up online! I can't wait until the Ensign comes out! Sue came to a members house to watch a session with us and she is on date to be baptized for May 14th.

4. Joseph! Ahh, we have the most awesome investigator. He was a media referral and we have been teaching him since I got here. He is in the middle of Alma and is SO excited to be baptized on April 30th. He LOVED conference and even took notes! He is solid. Keep him in your prayers!

5. We got to do service for a part member family this week, the Yamamoto's. It was so fun! We reupholstered frames and by the end, we had great conversations about the gospel and they warmed up to us. 

Down Low, 2 Slow.

1. Our YSA branch is dead right now :( We found a new this week who we thought would be YSA aged but he's 32...

2. I got called on to give a 5 minute talk at Zone Conference. It's something our mission president does but it's stressful. He gives us a topic and we have to include a memorized scripture. It went okay though-haha :)

This week my thoughts come from the April Ensign in an article called, The Redeeming and Strengthening Power of the Savior's Atonement. Elder Kim B. Clark of the 70 says, "There is no sin, no guilt, no shame, no fear, no loneliness, no heartache, no loss, no depression, no sadness, no terror, no pain, no challenge, no weakness that Jesus Christ has not experienced and overcome." He goes on to talk about having faith and hope in Christ and to act on it so light and power can come into our lives.  

That power comes into our lives when we obey. The Lord requires of us obedience that is exact, willing, and deep. He wants obedience of the whole heart and soul. President Ezra Taft Benson said, "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power." I loved how much the temple was talked about during conference this weekend. The temple is where God wants all of us to be. I testify that the peace and power that comes from the temple is unlike any earthly influence and can sustain our lives. The blessings He has for us are endless when we make obedience to His commandments an unending quest. 

This is why the Father sent His son to suffer and die for us. This is why the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove and called him to be the great prophet of the Restoration. This is why Joseph received the power to translate the Book of Mormon; why he received the keys of this dispensation, why he received the ordinances and covenants of the temple and revelation upon revelation establishing the Lord's true and living church on the earth. This is why, from the days of Joseph Smith until this very hour, the Lord has called living prophets to stand where Joseph stood, to hold the keys Joseph holds-so that you and I could be blessed with prophetic counsel and guidance, spiritual gifts, sacred ordinances in holy temples, courage and faith to walk in the light, repentance and forgiveness, and the power and authority of the keys of the priesthood of God. It is so that we might qualify for all the blessings God has in store for us as His children. This is why.

God speed!

Love, Sister Bowen