July 9, 2012 - Settled in your heart

Happy 4th of July!!!

And welcome to the world my little niece Millie Madsen:)

What an exciting and somewhat crazy week. Some really great things happened and some really not great things happened...I'll just report on the great things:) Today is transfers and...drum roll...me and hermana kemp are staying together! Yay! We have set some goals to work harder than before and accomplish more than before. And we are excited because we will be together for our one year mark, so we will get to celebrate a little.

This weekend the boyfriend of one of the ward members got baptized. Hna. Kemp and I sang 'How Great Thou Art' at the baptism. It was a really sweet experience, because after his baptism he said that he was just SO happy, and that he had never felt that kind of joy before, he said just wanted to do everything right from then on!

For the 4th Hna. Kemp and I ate peach cobbler and ice cream in our apartment before going to bed. We were going to sing the national anthem, but we ended up practicing our song for the baptism instead. I drew some fireworks on a piece of paper for us to look at, but it just wasn't the same:) We did wear red white and blue though, and every chance we had pointed out to people why we were wearing red white and blue!

Here is a pic of me and the girl that
the ward members say i look like...
the one who cocks her head to the side...:)

Funny thing: here in the sector everyone calls my companion kem piña (because her last name is kemp and kem piña is a soda here). my name doesn't relate to anything, but apparently there is a commercial on tv for a cell phone company that has a girl that looks and talks like me on it. the girl in the commercial is in a miss universe pageant and actually says something really intelligent and so everyone cocks their head to the side like they are thinking, and in response to all the cocked heads the girl says 'either what i said is really stupid or...' ) at least that is what people have told me happens in the commercial...i haven't actually seen it. but all the young men in my ward always cock their head to the side when they see me and say 'either what i said is really stupid or...' its pretty funny. and if i want to get a good laugh out of people i just have to cock my head to the side and they bust up.

And it is officially cold!!!! My cute little rain boots that i bought a month ago got a bunch of cracks in them, and so hna. kemp and i went and bought new matching ones:) we'll see how long they last!

This week in my personal study I have been reading the Ensign* from June. It is SO good! My favorite article so far was by Elder Anderson called 'You Know Enough'. In his talk he shares a scripture from Luke when Jesus says, “Settle this in your hearts, that ye will do the things which I shall teach, and command you” (Joseph Smith Translation, Luke 14:28 [in Luke 14:27, footnote b**]). I have been thinking about what this scripture says a lot. To me this is true conversion, that in our hearts we already have settled, or decided, that we will do what Jesus commands, or teaches. This means also that we will support our church leaders who have been called and set apart in the name of Jesus Christ to lead and guide us. I really like the phrase ''settled in your heart''. I want to live like that; already decided and dedicated to doing what the Savior says.

I hope you are all enjoying your summer...soak up the sun for me:)
Love, Hermana Bowns
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*I actually found the article Di was reading in the Liahona, which is the Church's international version of the Ensign.
**I couldn't find a link to the JST of Luke 14:27/28 online, however you can look it up in a Bible published by the Church. The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible is included after the normal text of the Bible, like an appendix, for reference. -Ryann

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