October 10, 2011

Hola! Whew this week went so fast, it seems like two days ago that i was writing you an email. I´ve decided that i need new ears. i need to get rid of these english ears and get spanish ears. seriously. it is so odd that i can speak 10 times as good as i can understand. so i still don´t talk much because its hard to just start talking when you´re not 100% sure what is being talked about. i actually do ok with understanding, i´m just afraid because i don´t know all the details of what is being talked about, only the big picture. the bishop and his family have started teasing me about not talking or understanding. The bishop´s daughter always looks at me and says (in spanish), hermana bowns stop talking your bothering me with all your talking! haha. someday soon i´ll talk more. i´ve started talking more in our lessons. at first hermana lopez did most of the teaching (well she still does) but when i feel like i´m on the same page as everyone else and can teach something i try to pipe in. and people are so nice because even though i speak well, i still make LOTS of mistakes.

Us, pulling weeds.

This was our week for service! We were talking with a woman and her mother and taught them a little bit about the church and made a return appointment. my companion and i often like to ask if they need help with anything before we leave. people usually say no, so my companion offered for us to cut her front lawn, she didn´t refuse! we came back the next day (and the next) to clear up her yard! we actually didn´t cut the grass (even though we had borrowed an old school lawn mower from a brother in the ward and had carried it halfway to the ladies house then put it on the bus the other half of the way!) because it wasn´t grass, they were weeds up to my belly button! we pulled lots and lots of weeds. But the woman was so grateful and she and her mom came to church with her and we are visiting her regularly to answer her questions and help her learn more about the church. We also went to visit the bishop´s family who operates a small cereal factory of sorts in their house. they package cereal and sell it. we offered to help the bishop´s wife package cereal and then bought some! And then we helped a young family who was recently baptized make a bird costume for their son for school. And then we played basketball with some kids. haha wait is the last one really service? We think it might be borderline, but the two other hermanas we live with asked one of the young men they are teaching what they could do to help him be prepared for his baptism and he said play basketball with me. so all four of us went and played with two 10 year olds and two 14 year olds. and on sunday three of the four boys were at church! Yay for service!

Also today for our preparation day our whole zone went to Siete Tazas (Seven Cups). Its a waterfall of sorts. There are seven basins, one feeding into another. It was pretty neat, and we got to see two other waterfalls. It was so nice to be out in nature. At one of the falls we took about 30 minutes just to pray and ponder by ourselves. As I was sitting looking at the river I noticed a small tree growing out of a rock in the middle of the river. how rare i thought. and then i realized there was a lesson to be learned in that little tree. The river was rushing by, and i know that river never stops flowing and ebbing around that tree. but that tree is growing and thriving, staying in place because it is rooted in the rocks right next to it. I thought about how life is like that river, never letting up on its ebb and flow, and how tiresome it sometimes is, but how we can be fruitful and happy and alive in our lives when we are rooted in the only sure rock that is constant: Jesus Christ and His restored Gospel. I thought of how grateful I am in my life to have a firm and living testimony of Jesus Christ and how I feel that security in my life, even though it rushes by, because I trust in Jesus Christ and in the doctrines of His Gospel. I hope if you feel rushed by the current of life that you will root yourself in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And if you already are rooted in this Rock but feel yourself being pulled into the current that is so strong, work to root yourself more firmly in the Rock of our salvation! Because it is there you will find strength to live day by day. I know this is true because this is how I am living right now! I am so happy to be on a mission, but I won´t lie and say that it is a piece of cake. It is tough and wearying at times. the river rushed by and i wish i had a moment to stop and process what is going on or time to rejuvenate myself and relax, but I am rooted in the Rock of Jesus Christ and I am here for a reason and it is only because of my faith in Him that I am able to go on day after day. I trust that He sees the end from the beginning and He knows what I am capable of and what I need. And He is richly blessing me!

I love you! Thank you for your prayers and your love. Until next week Ciao!

Hermana Bowns