The Miracle of A Mission!

High 5!

1. Pablo is on FIRE! We had the coolest lesson with him this week. He is a huge reader and his fellowship gave him A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. It was so cool to listen to him talk about the Book of Mormon. He really understands where it came from and how it fits in now. He also has realized that there really only is 1 true church. He came to church for the first time this Sunday and really enjoyed it. We are so excited for him. 

2. Calee passed her baptism interview and is ready for Saturday! She got a new white dress and everything! We are super excited for her and her family! <3

3. We had interviews with President this week! My exit interview went well...it was long but so spiritual. We talked about the experiences that I've had and I could barely get through 'em! He also gave lots of good advice.

4. We only spent 2 days in our area this week and still hit SOE! HUGE miracle. God is so good.

5. Tom is an "eternigator". He was coming to church regularly, but has been off and on the past month. His wife is part of the hold up so we thought maybe that's why he wasn't coming, but yesterday he told us that she woke him up and told him to go to church...the MORMON church! It was a miracle. We are working on helping him quit smoking but other than that, he is ready! 

Down low, 2 slow. 

1. One of our sisters went home early this week due to medical problems :( It was heartbreaking.

2. THIS is my last mass e-mail!!! We have MLC next Monday. I will probably get to check my e-mail one more time but it will be fast.

Before I get to the spiritual thought, this week was by far the craziest week of my whole mission! It started with getting home last Monday after p-day to find out we got broken into...so we had to stay with some other sisters for a couple days. Tuesday we had interviews and spent the rest of the day packing. Wednesday we had lessons but also had to move. We flipped apartments with the Spanish elders so you can still send mail to that address and they will get it to me. Thursday, the sister who ended up going home was really struggling so we were on splits for their appointments. Friday, she got the call from doctors, counselors, parents, and President that she had to go home. We helped her pack and then took her to the airport. We were in a trio for the rest of that day, covering 3 units until Saturday morning when we went and picked up Sister Rackley's new companion, Sister Hay. Wait...it gets better...we got a phone call from the assistants informing us that the west side STL's were released due to medical problems so now we are covering that zone of sisters too. We had 2 days to get all the information from them in order to coordinate our meeting yesterday with 2 brand new zone leaders who have never been to an SMCM. Then, the APs called us again and asked us to do a 30 minute training at Zone Conference tomorrow. Crazy, or what!? This week we have Zone Conference and 2 exchanges, plus MLC prep and packing for me! Apparently it's true what they say about the last couple weeks of your mission!

Anyways, before my mission I thought I had accomplished some pretty great things, but this has by far been the highest, most holy, and sacred thing I have ever done. For the last 18 months, my purpose has been aligned with God's, Jesus Christ's, Adam and Eve's, and all past, present, and future prophets and apostles. Elder Holland called a mission a "relay race for eternity". The past 18 months have set the tone for the rest of my life and I owe everything to it. It is almost impossible to put a mission into words. I think missions are the best kept secrets in the church; you can't describe it and even sharing experiences doesn't cut it. There is no way to understand it, unless you go! I would encourage you to go if you have the chance. Elder Holland wrote an article on President Hinckley and said he always, only wanted to talk about his mission...almost as if nothing else ever happened. Elder Holland makes the wise observation that nothing else would've happened had it not been for his mission. 

For the past couple weeks I have been thinking about the irony in missionary work. We work the hardest we've ever worked, in extreme weather conditions, we get mocked, persecuted, spit on, made fun of, teased, cussed out, we have things throw at us, we are exposed to anti, we have doors slammed in our faces, and we are rejected over and over again. We come home at night exhausted, physically and spiritually, and then wake up the next morning and do it again. While all this happens, we also experience the most happiness, the companionship of the Holy Ghost like never before, we develop more friendships, receive more revelation, and come to understand the gospel more deeply. I have never studied so hard, pleaded and begged on my knees in prayer for help and guidance for other people, loved so many strangers, been so obedient, seen the hand of the Lord guiding me to just the right place at just the right time, and witnessed so many miracles. 

My mission means everything to me and I would not be here if it weren't for all of you! I really can't thank you enough for the support and encouragement you've given me through emails and letters. My homecoming talk will be Sunday, November 27 at 11am at the Treeline chapel. See you next week!

God speed!

Love, Sister Emilee Bowen