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!