August 11, 2011

Hola! First of all THANK YOU all sooooo much for all your letters and packages and love and support. I feel SO loved and SO blessed to have such great friends and family!!! Having said that I will try to get back to all of you ASAP, but my letter writing time is limited so be patient with me:)

I think my body is finally adjusting to being in the MTC. Yesterday was my three week anniversary:) And I've finally gotten used to the schedule. The first three weeks I felt overfed because we eat every 4 hours (7:00a, 11:30a, 4:30p) but this week I am starving by the time we eat again! My sleeping is still a little wierd, I just don't think I'll ever be awake at 6:30. One day in gym (which was right after waking up), I almost fell asleep while riding the stationary bike!! and while stretching, and while studying! Once it hits about 10a I am fine, but before that it is a struggle! Not even exercise will wake me up. But I am not getting sick (I am fending off a little cough, but nothing to really get in my way). This week  I had a couple moments where I thought to myself, "I am on a mission. Like for real!" It's still sinking in. This week was also the first week that I actually felt frustrated! Day 19 was bad. I had a venting session to my roommates when we got back to the room. It is just hard to not really know what to do to meet your goals effectively, but I knew the next day I would be fine because I know that all things that are happening are for my good and are teaching me. I just feel like a 3 year old, kind of miffed and frustrated because I'm not "getting" everything (like teaching investigators, etc.) perfectly the first time. Duh! Diane.

The MTC is definitely a hub though and I've seen more than a couple people that I know. Two guys from one of my BYU wards are teachers here so I see them occasionally, and I ran into a guy that I went to EFY with in like 2002! I don't even know how he recognized me, I didn't recognize him for sure! And my friend Dave Roemisch works here and so I saw him too!! AND I saw Tucker Ferwerda yesterday! It was his first day and I was looking for him like crazy at dinner. Finally he saw me and I went over to say hey. His nametag is crazy. I don't even know what to think of Bulgarian! I'm glad I'm learning Spanish:) He looked good and happy. Hopefully I'll run into him often. But Mom, tell Debra that he is doing good and looks the part of a diligent missionary:)

Sadly this week we lost some elders (meaning they left to go to their missions). My favorite Zone Leaders are gone to Honduras and my beloved District Leader and his companion are now in the MTC in Guatemala:( They will be missed. My new District Leader is Elder Tingey (grandson of Elder Earl C. Tingey) He is awesome! And my new Zone Leaders (Elder De Lora and Elder Ingersoll) are SO fun:) I would send pictures so you can see all of these wonderful people, but sadly there is no way for me to e-mail pictures home. I have to print and mail them, or get them on a CD and send them home. I will do the latter when I have more pictures to send. So eventually you will get to see me in the MTC.

Oh man I have learned so much this week. The amazing thing is that here in the MTC I feel like my prayers have been answered so much quicker than ever before! And my measly efforts yield such amazing results that I KNOW that I am not doing this on my own. For example, I think my companion is awesome; so wonderful, but we could always be closer. One of my teachers suggested that I try to serve her to strengthen our relationship. I was like "yeah right"! How can you serve someone who is ALWAYS with you?? Then it's not a secret or a surprise and it's kind of embarassing to try to serve someone with them watching (like make their bed and stuff, since that's the only thing I could really think to do...I mean we are in the MTC, all we do is sleep, study and eat). But I said I would try it. So I made her bed twice while she was in the bathroom, and took her meal tray a couple times, and tried to be more encouraging and engaging. And oh man, this week has been so much better. We are definitely closer than we were before. At first I was like, "wow this is awesome!" I'm feeling so much more love for my companion, and we are laughing and sharing with each other, and we are working better together. And then I was like "oh. I've been praying and trying to serve her." I know that it wasn't all me, I know she's been working to strengthen our relatioship too, but I was astonished by the results of even my small efforts. Another example, I have been feeling a little lost in my studying. So much to study, and no organization. It was getting to me, and so on fast Sunday I decided to fast that my studies would be more effective. And guess what, THAT DAY i had incredibly effective studies. I felt edified and uplifted. By the end of the day I was so happy. And I had only fasted that day! I know that Lord was helping me. ANOTHER example, my companion and I have been frustrated about teaching one of our "investiagtors" and teaching in unity. We decided to try something new, and prayed about it. We each studied on our own what we thought our investigator needed to learn about and them came together to share. I knew that something amazing was about to happen when my companion started smiling as i was sharing what i had studies about. she was like "i was thinking the exact same thing!!" amazing! The Lord really does want to help us and does want us to be effective, and I have seen first hand in many small but amazing ways how He blesses us for our small efforts:)

This Gospel is all about change! Changing to become better and more like the Savior. I have been experienceing some of that change the past three weeks and am excited for more of it. Change isn't easy and it definitely isn't comfortable, but it is worth it. The joy that comes from becoming more like Jesus is priceless, really! What can you change in your life to be more like Him?

I also know that all things have a purpose. We don't always understand the purpose, but there always is one. We are put with the people and in the places where we can bless and be blessed. I have experienced that as I've been here in the MTC, but also in other times in my life. The sisters and elders that I am surrounded by are blessing my life more than they know because of their love, testimonies, and faith.

I love you all. You are a blessing in my life too! Thank you for your prayers and letters!
Hermana Bowns

'Rescue Me' by Jenny Phillips

Here is the song Diane mentioned in her August 4th letter.
'Rescue Me' by Jenny Phillips

Here is a link to the YouTube video: http://youtu.be/iD7hjUgPq9A
There are other versions on YouTube. I figured this one is probably the closest to what it sounded like for Diane.

August 4, 2011

I have so much to say I hope I can type it up in 26 minutes!! First of all MUCHAS GRACIAS for my birthday package and wishes:) The cupcakes were delightful. Squished but delightful nonetheless. I shared them with my district. They all say thank you:) Elder Sutterfield's birthday was on the 3rd so we've been getting lots of packages and treats in our district. He just turned 19 though!!! He just graduated from HS this year! I can't hardly believe that. He is 4 years younger than me, but is so impressive and spiritual. But don't worry all these 19 years olds are normal 19 years olds. I saw how amazing they are and how much I love them, but they still do funny 19 year old boy things:) I think I smile too much though in class and when people are talking. I just love everyone here and so I smile at them when they talk. I think one of my teachers might have been slightly wierded out the first week because I was so attentive and expressive. Oh well:) And my zone leaders who I loved so much got released! In the MTC you only have a leadership assignment for 3 weeks so Elders Shirley and Roper are no longer the Zone Leaders (plus they leave for Honduras on Monday:( ) Now Elders De Lora and Ingersoll are the Zone Leaders. At lunch the other day they dared us to drink root beer, orange juice and chocolate milk together. So we did! It tasted like a rootbeer float with an orangecreamsicle in it. Those are the types of things 19 year old boys do that we hermanas get pulled into:) Elders Gregroy and Hartmann also leave on Monday to go to Guatemala. We in our district will miss them soooooo much. E. Gregory is our district leader and is soooo amazing! They are going to the MTC in Guatemala. I also had an hermana friend leave on Wednesday. My host (the person who showed me aruond the MTC on my first day here) was Hermana Lao from SLC. She moved into our room a week ago because she had to stay at the MTC a week longer than her district to recover from ACL surgery. She was so loving and so fun. She left to go to Argentina!! And yesterday two new sisters moved into our room. They are from New Zealand and Arizona going to the Saint George visitors center and san fernando california. It is crazy how much shifting goes on in the MTC. People come in and leave all the time. And these new sisters will only be here for three weeks. So in three weeks we'll get NEW roommates!! Crazy!

So this last week we taught our first lesson in the TRC (teaching resource center). I used to volunteer here before my mission. People (usually BYU students) come and volunteer to be a fake "investiagtor" and be taught by the missionaries. When we went on Friday not enough volunteers came so we actually taught one of the TRC administrators. Intimidating!!! Our teacher told us he "wouldn't follow the script" which to me meant he would be hard to teach. But he wasn't. In fact the lesson went amazingly (well it was in English so that helped a lot!) The feedback that our "investiagtor" gave us was that the lesson was very powerful and that we could focus a little more on the doctrine. The lesson was powerful! I was able to recite Joseph Smith's first vision and the Spirit was there and my companion testifies of how she knows that the Book of Mormon is true and can bless you life. Even though it was only a mock situation it was still a great booster for us, who have been trying to teach our teachers in Spanish and failing miserably.

The Spanish is coming along though. In my setting apart President Ellis told me that I would be able to learn the language quickly and I have! I feel like I speak spanish about as well as I spoke French after one year of French in HS. Granted I can say different things. I don't know the days of the week or the numbers all the way, but I can bear my testimony in Spanish and I wrote a 5 minute talk about the Book of Mormon in Spanish (luckily I didn't have to give it in Sacrament Meeting - I just had to have it ready in case I got called on). Learning French has DEFINITELY helped me. Sometimes french words slip out, but overall it is a benefit, not a limitation.

This week was a little tough. We've been here 14 days. And it is finally setting in that this is our life now. We've been a little more restless in the classroom. I knew it was bad when our fearless district leader E. Gregory was asked a question by our teacher and he couldn't respond because he was so hot. All he could manage to say was "isn't anyone else hot? I'm dying!" It was funny, just because E. Gregory is SO diligent and obedient. I knew we were in trouble if HE was having a hard time paying attention:) But we get little boosters every week. Like on Sundays and Tuesdays we have a Devotional/Fireside where awesome and important people come talk to us. This Tuesday Gerald N. Lund (former member of the Quorom of the 70 and author of the series Work and the Glory) came and spoke to us about Faith. It was very inspiring. One of the coolest things sometimes happens at these devotionals. The elders all have to wear their suitcoats to the meeting and they are only allowed to remove their suitcoats if the speaker invites them to. Sometimes the speaker does and sometimes he doesn't. Last week the speaker said they could take off their coats, and all of the sudden the room was full of light! It looked like it had snowed or something. 2,000 elders who had once been wearing black were now wearing white. It was way cool! We also get to watch a movie on Sunday nights. They show church movies or conference talks. The funniest thing though is that in some movies (like Legacy or the Joseph Smith movie) there is a little bit of kissing. Like one kiss really, not that much. But whenever there is a kissing all the elders (mind you hundreds of 19 year old boys) whoop and holler. It is very amusing:)

This last Sunday I had the chance to play the piano. One of the hermanas in my district, Hermana Hathaway, used to be a piano major and has a beautiful voice!! She wanted to sing one of her favorite songs "Rescue Me" by Jenny Philips (I think there is a youtube video of a man singing it...you could put that on the blog maybe) for Sacrament Mtg. And she asked me to accompany for her. So three days before we ran through it. We practiced on Saturday and again on Sunday before church and then performed. It went very well. It is a beautiful song. Especially in the context of Hermnana Hathaway singing it. She has been having a very hard time with anxiety and homesickness here at the MTC. She hasn't been able to keep food down, etc. And so to have her sing this song about how the Lord will always be there to help us and strengthen us was really meaningful.

We also saw the former president of the Ukraine here at the MTC. We were having a lesson in the hall and the MTC president stopped to talk to the former president of Ukraine about us and what we were doing and where we were going. Cool!

I am almost out of time, so the last thing I'll say is that one thing I am in the process of learning is that the reason I am here, on a mission, and I think one of the reasons why we are here on the earth, is to learn to love; to love everyone! I have to go now, but I love you all very much!

Hermana Bowns