March 26, 2013

Hey daddy!!

Good to hear Rusty's doing well :-) haha when I get back (if she's still running...) can I still take some spray paint to her? I think it'll really help her self esteem. That's really good to hear about Chris...I didn't know he got a Beemer!!!!! That's awesome. Is it an SUV? That's awesome. Send me some pics!! Haha These doorknobs are giving you a run for your money :-) Hope they work out eventually...And I'm pretty sure in ChaCha's mind it's been over for a while...but don't tell Marshall I said that...As for the ipad...I don't really know. I haven't ever tried the retina display... haha I miss technology... we do this thing called TRC, which is where members come in and the Missionaries teach them a quick lesson, sort of like what they do after we eat dinner. Anyways, we wanted to read a scripture during one, and we were about to hand one of them our scriptures, but before we could do that, they both whipped out their iphones. I was a little jealous. Haha But about the TRC, you should really come do it!! They always need volunteers. And you could come work on your french :-) I met some sisters here that are going to Paris, and they thought it was really cool that I had a dad that went there :-)

Anyways...the rest of my week has been good. Nothing too terribly exciting. But I'm really excited for Sunday. Apparently the whole MTC gets together for sacrament meeting and a whole bunch of General Authorities come. I'll have to let you know how it goes!! Spanish is going really well...I can pretty much understand everything that people are saying. Unless they have an accent. Then it's a little bit harder... Anyways...So another cool experience from TRC, we taught this guy that came all the way from Chile to visit for General Conference. He has a wife and 3 niños. Anyways, we were teaching about prayer, and we asked him if he had any significant experiences with it, and he told an amazing story. Apparently a few years ago he was pretty inactive and he and his wife were having difficulties and they were about to get divorced, but he decided to get on his knees and pray to see if there was something that he could do to change. Turns out there was, and so he literally changed his life from that one prayer. Him and his wife are better now, one year after this experience he became the bishop in his branch. Then, the really cool part was that at first, his branch only had like 40 members or something. But now, there´s over 300!!! Isn´t that crazy!!! So he´s here now to go to General Conference and then he's going to take back what he learned to his family and teach them and the rest of the congregation. Such a cool experience to get to meet him. I'm pretty sure I learned some much more from him about faith and the power of prayer than we were able to teach him.

Anyways, I'm running out of time, so I'll talk to you later. Love you papa!!!

Week #2

Family Letter

Oh good :-) Just wanted to make sure everyone got them...I don't know addresses, and I thought it would save a bit of money just to have you give them out...haha

Oh my gosh!!!! That's exciting/crazy about Heather!! Wow. Kirstin is gonna have a rough time... haha is she excited to go? Send her my love if you ever have a minute...

About the other missionaries going to my mission....So, because I'm in an intermediate class noone else in my district or zone is going to the same mission that I am. I have met some of the girls that I was friends with on facebook that I recognized, and there are a whole bunch of others that are going there that are in the same district, but I haven't really been able to talk to them or anything. But I'm sure I'll see them when we get to Houston or when we leave to go on a plane.

Hahahahah Your deer story totally made me laugh....and my companion. hahaha It's her birthday today!!! I bought her breakfast at the temple :-) haha So we went and did initiatories this morning...we usually go at about 7. So that's pretty awesome to be able to get away from the MTC.

I'm so sorry to hear about Jennifer's brother!! That's rough. But awesome that she has a wonderful friend like you to give her comfort. Goodness. Ever since I've been here I just feel like a giant crying machine. Like seriously, everything makes me cry. Usually they're good tears though :-) or tears from laughing so hard that we cry....haha we do that a lot :-) I love my companion and the other two hermanas in our district so much. I am so blessed to have them here. The elders are really awesome too. They're so funny, and I feel like they're my brothers away from home. We are really one big happy family :-) A lot of other districts are not nearly as close as we are. Which is sad for them. Then again, it's kind of hard not to be close to them when you spend like 16 hours a day with them stuck in a classroom...

So wonderful to hear about dad's new calling!! And that blessing sounds wonderful. Wish I could've been there :-) But know now more than ever that I'm supposed to be here. We watch Music and the Spoken word every sunday, and I feel like this sunday was especially meant for me. They sang my favorite song (Come thou fount) and Called To Serve. It was so amazing. We also heard from the 1st counselor in the Primary Presidency on Sunday. We got to go meet her afterwards too. So cool :-) I mean where else do you get to have these opportunities every week?!

Haha a Do nothing day sounds wonderful right now...I'm so exhausted!! But P-days are the best. It's my day to sort of relax. Sort of. haha

And no chance to leave early, I don't think. I got a little card that said my estimated leaving day is April 15th. It might be the 16th, but I'm not sure...

And the dearelder worked great!! I got it on Saturday, so that was perfect timing for me. Such good news about Chris...Heavenly Father truly has his hand in everything. I see that more and more every day. I am here to be an instrument in his hands and to teach the people of Houston, and I am so excited. I got the letter from Bryan, thanks :-) And I definitely agree, this past week was BEAUTIFUL. We got to go outside and study for personal study. It was amazing...One rule that kind of drives me nuts is that we aren't allowed to listen to listen to music in our residence halls. BUT. We have something called TALL time which is like a language training thing on the computer. Ande if we get done early we can watch Mormon messages or whatnot. Anyways, I figured out how to get to the MoTab page on Youtube. So now we can listen to music while we email :-) It's nice. haha

Anyways, As far as things I left at home, I will send you a list in the mail of everything that I need...which is a lot...haha boots, watch, skirt, etc. I'll let you know :-) I love you so very much!!! And I really love letters. They're the best. Feel free to just tell everyone you know to send me letters or dear elders or whatever. Deor has sent me a couple letters...she's so funny. Anyways...I love you mucho, and miss you tons!!!

Hermana Bowerman

Letter to Lindsay

Haha oh auto correct...it's all good though :-) I can't wait for your letter!! P.S. it's kind of a status thing to get letter, so feel free to send me one whenever :-) even if it really doesn't say much, hey it's pretty cool to get letters :-) 

And...as far as food goes, the food isn't too bad. But it's all 19 year old boy food. A really good cafe rio pork salad sounds so amazing...if you can figure out how to send it to me, that would be awesome :-) just be cautious because security is super tight, and they sometimes throw it away if they think it's food. But you can also go to dearelder.com and apparently they have a bunch of stuff that can be sent through them...

 

Gosh, music and the spoken word was so amazing this past sunday!!! We get to watch it with all the sisters in the MTC every sunday. I totally felt like it was tailored for me. First it was a John Rutter song, which I love. Then Called to Serve and Come Thou Fount. It was seriously so good. And exactly what I needed to hear. Sometimes it's really hard to stay focused here. I mean, we sit in a classroom from 7 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. Only breaking for meals and gym time.  But music and the spoken word was a good reminder of my purpose here.

 

So we have like an hour a day to do something call TALL...not exactly sure what it means, but it's like a language study tool. Anyways. One of the rules here is that we are not allowed to listen to music in our residence halls. But while we are on tall we have access to watch mormon messages and stuff if we get done early, and I may or may not have figured out how to get onto youtube through that.... don't worry, I only watch MoTab, but it makes the days a little easier.

 

So every sunday we go on a temple walk. We just walk up to the temple and enjoy time away from the MTC for a bit. But that's at like 4:30 every sunday. I'm not technically supposed to "meet up" with anyone, but if you just so happened to be up walking around the temple...just saying... :-) haha

 

Anways, time is running out, so I gotta run, but I love you mucho!!!

 

Hermana Bowerman

Week #1

MOMMA!!!!! I miss you so very much. That's so cool about the temple!!! And I will keep Chris in my prayers. Sorry I can't write too much, but I want to tell you I love you, and I'm so grateful for you and for this opportunity.

This week, Send me letters on Dearelder.com That way I can read your letter during the week and write you on Tuesday. I think you should just be able to look up my name...but they do like same day delivery of your letters for me. It's pretty cool!!! Love you so much!!! And thanks for the story from Elder Bednar!!!

Love you, Hermana Bowerman

March 12, 2013

It sounds like you've had a fun couple of days!!! It's so cool that your friend was able to come over - he sounds like a great guy.  Who are you home teaching? Someone that I know?  Probably not...I don't know a lot of people....oh well. I'm only slightly jealous about the spa....haha please enjoy while I'm gone though :-) I bet it's awesome!! Haha that's super funny about the carpet :-)  Does Chris have another appointment with a doctor yet? That's kinda scary...But I remember in the blessing you gave him that he will be able to recover from this. But I will for sure keep him in my prayers.

Anyways...about my few days here. They have been amazing!!! The first few days felt super long, but I can't believe that I've already been here for almost a week. They do this simulation sort of thing here where they bring in people who are members of the church, but they act like investigators. It's interesting because even though you know that they aren't real investigators, we are still able to teach them as though they were. (P.S. all of our lessons are being done in Español) Anyways, our investigator is Rolando. ( I keep messing up his name and calling him Ronaldo...whoops) And we taught him our 3rd lesson the other day. IT WAS SO AMAZING. I have never felt anything like it before. Rolando's parents died when he was 9, so we were talking about baptism and how that's the first step to be able to return to live with our Father in Heaven. I was able to share about Amy and how even though she has returned to heaven already, I know that my family has been sealed in the temple and that one day we will all be together again. I cried. haha, but seriously one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

My schedule every day is pretty  much the same. We have 3 hours of class in the morning with our teacher, Hermana Collier. She served in Paraguay for her mission. It is so amazing how much I have progressed with the language since I've been here. I mean, I'm teaching whole discussions in SPANISH. With like little to no help. Its crazy. So then after class, we have a whole bunch of study time. Like 4 hours total. Then at night we teach our investigator. We also have about an hour for gym time.

 My companion is so awesome...we are alike in a lot of ways, which is nice. We get along really well and we are both pretty relaxed and easy to get along with. She's really athletic - she played volleyball and basketball in high school. She's from South Jordan, which is pretty cool too. We are along both on the same page when it comes to teaching which is good.

Anyways, I still have to respond to mom, and I only have 30 minutes total for everyone, but I love you so much, and I'm glad you're doing well. Thank you so much for everything you do!!!

Love, Hermana Bowerman