Show and Tell

High 5! 

1. We had 5 new investigators this week! Yay! 3 of them came from the Hardin family and they all came to church on Sunday and loved it!

2. Another one of our news is Isabel. Her and her husband have a 2 year old daughter, Mia, and they are super involved in their Christian church, so kind of skeptical right now. BUT she agreed to read the Book of Mormon. Pray for her!

3. We got to meet with a member referral this week! The Kimball family is an awesome family in our ward and they invited us to teach their neighbor Suyapa. She is so sincere and believes everything we teach, but wants to be baptized with her family, so there is work to be done there. 

4. Eric is another awesome investigator we saw this week. He is in a super hard situation and needs the gospel SO bad. He comes to church a lot and is best friends with our high priest group leader. We read D&C 121 and 122 with him and talked about how trials are for our good. He loves the Book of Mormon and has such a strong testimony, so much faith and hope, and will be baptized soon!

5. It's been raining TONS this week and we LOVE it! :)

  

No down lows this week!

I heard a quote this week that went something like this..."If a man wants to learn how to build a ship, show him a love for the sea and he will figure it out." 

That's not exact but the principle applies to the gospel. The way we live the gospel and allow it to work in our lives, the more others will be attracted to us. It will lead to more opened doors for gospel conversations and more opportunities to share parts of our testimonies. 

Joseph Smith said, " I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves." In D&C 58;27-28 we read, "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."

My invitation this week is to SHOW your love for the gospel in all you do, and then TELL everyone how they can obtain the same, lasting happiness in their lives. 

God speed!

Love, Sister Bowen

O' That I Were An Angel

High 5!

1. Frank's lessons went SO well this week. We focused on the temple, family history, and eternal marriage. The spirit was incredibly strong anddddd, he came to church on Sunday!

2. We finished Raquel's lessons this week by watching Meet the Mormons and on Sunday she passed her baptism interview! We are super excited for her!

3. We met an awesome lady this week named Pinky! She used to study with the missionaries and has a sincere desire to find the truth. She has grand kids who are members!

4. We knocked into a part member family this week! They let us in and the 3 youngest kids aren't baptized so we are teaching them! Miracle!

5. We are teaching a less active girl named Alexis! She is super sweet and lives with her grandma who attends the Spanish ward. She doesn't understand a lot of the gospel terms in Spanish so we are fellowshipping her into 5th ward :)

Down Low, 2 Slow.

1. We found 3 families this week who we got return appointments with and none of them went through :(

2. Literally everyone we find goes to the Spanish elders. If someone speaks English here, it's their second language.

We are having the hardest time building up our teaching pool! We find and find and find and aren't seeing very much fruit. I was feeling a little bit like Alma in Alma 29 (read it!). At the end of our week we were feeling really discouraged and then the next morning I read this..."In the accounts kept by the recording angels, entries are made in terms of quality rather than quantity, and values are determined  on the basis of capability and intent. It was not the smallness of her offering that made it especially acceptable, but the spirit of sacrifice and devout intent with which she gave." Talmage offers this commentary in regards to "The Widow's Mite", but I found it to be applicable to our situation and I'm sure it can be to yours as well. I have used this before, but Elder Holland says, "If for a while the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart; so it has been with the best people who ever lived." The Lord sees and recognizes our efforts to do our best and will consecrate those efforts. Our best is all He asks for. His timing is everything and I have learned that over and over again throughout my life, and my mission. Being a missionary is the best calling and I wouldn't trade it for anything! 

God speed!

Love, Sister Emilee Bowen

P.S. November 23rd is my official release date. It will be a happiest Thanksgiving! 

Retain A Remembrance

High 5!

1. Exchanges! Hermana Verdoorn came to 5th Ward with me and we had a blast! We came out together so it was super fun catching up and talking about our missions.

2. We have the BEST new family in our ward! The Whetten's just moved here from New York. Sister Whetten and her daughter, Noelle LOVE the missionaries and always text us asking if they can come out with us! It is the best! Their dream is to have the missionaries live with them-haha.

3.We got to go to Resler Wards's baptism with Raquel this week! She LOVED it and is so excited for her baptism in a couple weeks :)

4. We had FHE with a LA family in our ward and it was a miracle to watch them open up and show a desire to return to activity. Miracles!

5. We did service with a recent convert this week. We made pillowcases for hospitals and a couple other organizations! It was fun :)

Down Low, 2 Slow.

1. The mosquitoes are crazy down here by the Rio Grande...I had 147 bites this week, just on my legs!

2. We NEED a new teaching pool!

Retention is something talked about a lot, especially in missionary work with recent converts. A cool statistic was brought to our attention. 90% of recent converts who attend the temple within 6 months after their baptism are retained long term. 

I think it is super important to think of our own spiritual progress and retain a remembrance of the things we need to do to be prepared at any turn. In Mosiah chapter 4, verse 11, it tells us how. "And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel." And then comes the promises and blessings in verse 12. "And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true." 

I love substituting my name into these scriptures to make them more personal for me and I invite you all to do the same.

Remember, remember, remember! It is said so many times in the scriptures and is the hardest thing to do! Strive to recall your spiritual highs, stories from your ancestors, experiences when the Lord has delivered you and others you know, and use the Atonement on a day to day basis. All the blessings are yours!

Dios le bendiga!

Love, Hermana Bowen

Lost and Found!

High 5!

1. We had our first interviews with President and Sister Guffey this week! They went well and they are so in tuned to the spirit! I can't believe I am putting this in here but stay tuned for my official return date...!

2. Catlyn is a 16 year old we are teaching. She was super excited to have sisters and is loving getting to know the young women in the ward. She is so eager to be baptized. We are shooting for the end of this month but pray extra hard for her mom's heart to be softened so we can make it!

3. We got in contact with a less active recent convert this week who cried when we knocked on her door. She is going through some HARD things so we got some elders to give her a blessing and it was a super spiritual experience for all of us.

4. Raquel is our G O L D E N investigator! She is the wife of a member and is on fire! I think she studies more than we do...and that is A LOT! She will be baptized on September 10th :)

5. Yesterday we had a Face to Face meeting with the Guffey's for all the trainers and trainees :)

(We happened upon a cute lemonade stand while out knocking today!)

Down Low, 2 Slow.

1. We were expecting like 5 people at church and got 1 :( 

2. We are pretty much starting over as far as our teaching pool. Pray for us!

I don't have a lot of time this week, but someone asked our mission president why he chooses to wake up every morning and do what he does and his response was the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  

The father in the story is symbolic of our Heavenly Father. He gives all of us, His children, agency, He anxiously waits for us to "come home" or turn towards Him, and when we do, He RUNS to us. So many of our brothers and sisters are lost and need to be found and God gives us the privilege of being instruments in that process. 

Along with this parable, Luke 15 contains the parable of the lost sheep. "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing." 

There is no greater joy than that which comes with missionary work. I invite each one of you to watch this video and ponder how you can contribute to "finding a lost sheep". Rather than ""hope" for their return, let us "help" their return.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-10-055-the-prodigal-son?lang=eng

I love you all! God speed!

Love, Sister Bowen

 (Service Project)

Merits, Mercy and Grace

High 5!

1. Sister Roylance and I made it to the El Paso 5th Ward! We have the nicest apartment in the whole mission and the best members! We are loving it here and are expecting BIG miracles to take place :)

2. There were only a could of investigators when we got here but Kevin Antunez was one of them and he wasn't progressing. The elders had only taught him a couple times but we had one lesson and he accepted a baptismal date of September 3rd! He is part of a part member family so keep them in your prayers!

3. Lonnie has been investigating for a while now and he struggles with the tea and coffee aspect of the word of wisdom. He was super interested in reading the Doctrine and Covenants though and committed to pray about it and come to church on Sunday. He says the next church he joins will be the last!

4. Small miracle this week! We were knocking doors in a neighborhood and realized that a part member family lived near by so we went by, knocked on the door, the 25 year old less-active daughter answered and invited us in...she told us that she had just been praying that someone from the church would come by so her sick mother could get a blessing! We set that up for her and they were really grateful :) Heavenly Father knows!

5. Frank is another one who has been investigating for a while...he was super hesitant about having sister missionaries but quickly got over that after our first lesson. He is the sweetest 90 year old man and SO healthy! His struggle right now is his anti mormon care giver :( Pray for them!

Down Low, 2 Slow.

1. Yesterday we got bashed by this man for almost an hour. We don't know if he ever even took a breath, let alone let us say anything!

2. If I thought it was hot up North, down here it's 10 degrees worse! BUT I can't believe it's August!

This week was longgggg. We are still trying to get to know the area and the people but are super grateful and excited to be here! Sister Roylance is straight out of the MTC but on fire! She is good at being personable and always wants to use the Lord's time most effectively :)

We have been talking a lot about repentance in meetings and trainings; mostly about how to teach it. A lot of times we hear the word repentance and shrink. It seems scary. I love the verse found in Alma 7:15, "I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments [...]". Heavenly Father is eager to forgive us. That is why He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to atone for us!

In Alma 11, we read about Amulek's encounter with Zeezrom and the important difference it is to realize that Christ saves us FROM our sins, not IN our sins. There are merits to His mercy. 

The demands of justice stand as a barrier to which we are powerless to overcome on our own. We might find ourselves asking, "If we cannot ever do enough on our own to be saved, why bother?" Or in Paul's words,"Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" His answer is simple and clear. "God forbid." (Romans 6:1-2) 

Though we are saved by grace after all we can do, our willingness to obey the commandments shows our love for God. President Uchtdorf says, "Grace is a gift of God, and our desire to be obedient to each of God's commandments is the reaching out of our mortal hand to receive  this sacred gift from Heavenly Father."

Through the Atonement, we can overcome the undercurrents and quicksands of the deceiver, rise above sin, and be perfected in Christ. Don't leave this precious gift on the table.

God speed!

Love, Sister Bowen

(Just a few pictures I missed from last week!)

NEW ADDRESS!

12 N. Country Club #A3
Santa Teresa, NM 88008