Switch It Up A Little

Well this week was a little on the crazy side, the other Elders left a little bit of work for us to do and I kind of got burned with not planning very well. So that left our baptisms a little on the weak side and they said they wanted to wait a little bit more. I learned that planning is important, but we´re going to do a lot better this week with planning, so that they feel more comfortable. But yeah that about sums up my learning experience this week. Also I forgot to tell you last week that I was called to be a DL, so that flipped me out a little bit, but it is all good for now.

But this week is Halloween, it will be weird to not have all little kids in costumes here asking for candy, but I think that I´ll live. Hope that all is going well with you guys, and sorry that I didn´t write much this week, I´ll do better next week.

Love you all!!!!!!!

Elder Bowman 

From 6 to 2

Well this week was transfers and our house was reduced from six missionaries to two. It´s weird how quite it is at home now, and I´m thinking that it is going to be a lot cleaner too. But, I miss my buds, but you know it is life and you have to move on sometimes. I stayed with the same companion, my kid Elder Olivera, we are pretty pumped to go to work and baptize like none other down here.

But we had two baptisms this week. Maria and Marilia are their names. Maria was a catholic girl who we taught a little bit but then we cut her because she didn´t want to pray about the book of Mormon, but her boyfriend didn´t get discouraged and he helped her with her doubts and she was baptized this Sunday (By him of course). But the other lady is the mom of one of our baptisms. It was one of the coolest things for me to see because she smoked and drank, but after we baptized her son, she slowly just stopped doing those things and went to church. And we hardly did anything to help her stop, the Lord just changed her and she was baptized this Sunday too. Really the Lord can change the hearts of the people. This gospel has the power to change our desires and turn us into who God wants us to be. It was a great experience to have and to see.

Yeah, this week we have a girl who is going to get baptized. We have been teaching her with one of the converts and man, it is awesome to see the testimonies of converts. It makes you feel so good to be a part of the Lord´s work, there is nothing greater than seeing people change for the better. Hope that all is well and that everyone is happy!!!! Have a great week y´all (That was for Whisker).

Love you all to pieces
Elder Bowman

Miracles Really Happen

Man this week was awesome, we baptized Baltazár. He gave us a few more details on the story that he told. He said that he didn´t go to any church for like 6 years and that he didn´t accept visits from anyone, not even his friends from the chuch. But, he was missing something, he said. So he prayed that God would show the way for him, show him were he should go. Three days later we showed up at the door looking for someone else. We talked to him a little and invited him to come to church and he promissed that he would be there, (Let me just say that no one ever says that down here). He got baptized yesterday...man it is crazy how things work. Just goes to show that really the Lord is behind His work and that there are people who are looking and praying that we show up at there door. I learned a lot this week. from that.

We´ve also taught this one lady, who is really catholic, but her boyfriend is part of the church, and this Sunday she told us that she´s thinking about being baptized. So really, it was just a test of patience for us. We´ve had a few tough weeks, but the Lord is blessing us now.

I hope that all of you are happy and that school is going well for all. Love you to death and miss you to death too! Have a sweet week and I´ll talk to you next Wednesday (Transfer is coming up).

The school that we use for church on Sunday

Baptism Baltizar

Conference​, I must say that it was a good one.

Well, conference was probably just as good for you all as it was for me. I was watching as a missionary and was stoked that there is a big focus on missionary work. I can see that really things are going to start changing here shortly and that we are going to see the work of the Lord accelerate like a Ferrari on the freeway.

It was a little bit stressful this week running around talking to everyone and seeing if they could go, but there is nothing better than having it pay off in the end. We took this guy there and he was pretty impressed with what he saw. We are going to pass there today to talk a little bit more about conference and the prophet.

But, everything is going well here. I´m kind of stunned that I´ve been out a year...it seems like yesterday I was flying to São Paulo and trying to sleep on the flight that would never end. And here I am one year later...time passes too fast. But I´m glad that you are all doing well and that everyone is happy. I love and miss you all and hope that you have a great week. Know that I´m eating well and that I´m happy (I could use a little bit more sleep...but 8 hours is good hahaha).

Elder Bowman

Wow, that was totally inappropri​ate.

Well this week went okay. We had a bunch of people lined up to go to church, but the majority didn´t go. I got a little frustrated, and was a little bummed the rest of the day. But, I´m good now, ready to go to work. The thing that we should remember is that we are helping people change their lives, and change is never an easy thing. But we have the Lord on our side, and that is where we can find our strength. The other companionship in the ward baptized yesterday, and I was pumped for them. They are a great example to me of how to work. I´ve been trying to follow in their footsteps a little and I´m seeing the changes happen.

But yeah so I´m sure you are all wondering about the title of the email. So Elder Oliver and I were sitting outside of our house waiting for the other companionship to get home (We don´t have keys to our house....it´s complicated). But this lady walks up to us and asks us about the church...and to put it nicely she is a little crazy, but to put it truthfully she talks to herself in the street. We are talking she has conversations with no one. So anyway, I tell her she should go to church and she said no. She then goes to the other part of the road and asks if we can break the law of chastity...but she doesn´t say it exactly like that. I just sat there dumbfounded and Elder Oliver just starts laughing. I must say I must say I almost died of embarrassment, there were a lot of people in the street...but we told her we don´t roll like that so I think it is all cleared up now.

But, I was digging the pictures of you all, I showed them to the other Elders and they said that I have a crazy family...and I agree, my family is crazy good. This week is going to be a good one, I´m feeling it. I hope that you all enjoy conference weekend. Love you all more than Honey Bunches of Oats (and that is saying a lot if I do say so). I´m praying for you all.

Elder Bowman

What just happened?

Heya family,

I think that it has been a while since I sent an email, usually we just chat it up. This week was a bit on the tough side. In the beginning it seemed like everything was going right and I was super happy. Then on Saturday everything just fell apart and I felt like the kid in Kid History, What in the freak just happened! But, I've learned that when you are working with people, there are always going to be difficulties. But, you just keep working and the Lord will show the way. If it wasn't there time right then and there to accept it, who knows a little bit more down the road.

But we are teaching this girl named Vanessa, she is pretty cool. We taught her the first lesson yesterday and she accepted the invitation to be baptized. I was like will you pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true? And she was like Yeah, and I know that God will show me the answer.  I was just like, wow, amen. I hope that she continues to have the same firmness and desired to learn.

Sounds like the Eagle Scout project went pretty well, Chipper is all growns up making growns up decisions.(Psych). I was thinking about it the other day and I was like, man, I'm going to have a year on the mission in about two weeks...I must say I was little freaked out by that. The time has passed so fast. It won't be long till everybody is married and has kids, and then I'll be an old man. These were my feelings, you can see why I was a little freaked out. But time passes, and always will, the only thing that matters is what we do with it.

Hope that all is well at home and that you guys are as happy as a jar of peaches. Love you all to bunches and to pieces too,

Justin

We had baptisms this week.