December 10, 2012

The Christmas Spirit

Yay! Christmas is coming!!! It really doesn't feel like it though, it is like 100 degrees here. Somehow Christmas lights, and Christmas trees in people's windows just aren't the same when you are walking in the hot sun all sweaty...it just doesn't have that same magical ''Christmas'' feel.

Nevertheless we are getting geared up for a great Christmas focused on the real reason for the season. My companion and I are preparing to sing (and play the piano) in a Stake choir concert and for the mission Christmas conference this week. And we are offering to sing Christmas songs to people when we knock on their door...you would be surprised though how many people would reject even a Christmas song...I guess it is a little strange, two foreign blonde girls show up on your door offering to sing a song...but that is what is so great about the mission!! For us everyone is like your neighbor, we talk to, and love everyone, and just want to share the joy of Christmas with everyone!

Testimony & Conversion

This week I gained a stronger testimony about doing what our leaders counsel us to do. They are called of God to be a steward of the kingdom, and I have learned to have more trust in what they say, which is really what God wants instead of in my own fears and doubts. And I have seen that when we follow the counsel of our leaders that miracles happen, and we are blessed.

This Sunday I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting and was able to share the conversion story of my mom. Many people in the ward had tears in their eyes, and for me it was a special moment. I was able to testify about the importance of members of the church in helping others to come to the knowledge of the truth. My mom was introduced to the church because of a friend, and if that friend hadn't had the testimony she did and the love for my mom that she did to invite her to participate in the church, I wouldn't be here now. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, don't underestimate the power of your testimony and the light that shines in your life because of the Gospel. Strive to brighten that light and your testimony and as you live the Gospel to the fullest be prepared to be able to help your friends and family accept the Gospel because they will notice it in you!

The Gospel is so amazing! I live it! and I love it!:)
Love, Hermana Bowns
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December 3, 2012 - Summer is officially starting

my zone had an activity today,
 we went and played soccer at a huge house in the country!
 here we all are!

We are into December now, summer is officially starting but the weather threw us a curve ball. It has rained 2 nights, ALL night, this week. We had to pull out our rain boots yesterday, and carry our rain coats for a couple days. What is going on. SO unusual. It is nice because it keeps us cooler, but so unpredictable.

And we have started preparing for Christmas, my stellar singing companion and I have started offering to sing Christmas hymns to people to help them feel the Spirit of Christmas, but so far no one has taken us up on our offer...their loss...my companion really has a beautiful voice.

In other news! We talked to 2 American girls this week! My companion was super excited to be able to speak english:) Weird, right? One is an LDS 17 yr old from Utah who is here on a student exchange. She lives near some members in the ward and that is how we found her. Then we stopped someone to talk to them in the street. She was blonde, blue-eyes...so right there I suspected she was American, and then when I started talking to her in Spanish and she gave me that confused ''i don't understand what you are saying'' look. I switched to English...hardest thing in my life!!! I stumbled over my words for sure, I'm not used to preaching the Gospel in English  She is also in a student exchange, she said she would look up the church when she got home to Oregon:)

In church on Sunday, the Bishop bore his testimony and said somethings that I really needed to hear. He told us that even with the difficulties that we face in this life, we can't forget the vision of why we are really here. Why we were sent to this earth and where we are going. We are here to overcome challenges. God will always give us second chances, and if we live the Gospel, we will find solutions. At this point in my mission I feel like God is refining me in His refining fire more than ever, and the heat is almost unbearable. But I am learning to trust Him, and always show my faith by being obedient. I know if we are obedient to God's commandment that we will be free from sin and guilt and that all things will work together for our good. We just have to do our part and be obedient!

With all my love, Hermana Bowns
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November 26, 2012 - Gratitude & the Restoration

Happy Late Thanksgiving!!!!!

I hope you all ate lots of turkey and mashed potatoes!!! Thursday here passed just like any other day. I actually forgot it was Thanksgiving.

Half way through the day I remembered and told my comp that we would need to make some fake in-the-microwave rolls (did you know you can make bread in the microwave...) and some mashed potatoes and draw some hand turkeys to celebrate...but then we forgot. We taught a really great lesson but that went late and we had to run to the house and by the time we finished planning for the next day it was time to go to bed...sigh. Oh well.

What we DID do though is we had a Gratitude Night ward activity on Saturday ... planned by none other than the gringa missionaries ... it was our sly way to celebrate Thanksgiving:) We watched a Mormon Message* about gratitude then counted our blessings (30 blessings for each person) then we played that ''Have you ever...?'' game but we changed it to ''I'm grateful for...'' the person in the middle had to read one thing on their list and if you had the same thing you had to switch seats. Surprisingly the most common thing people were grateful for was water and bread (only in Chile would people write they were grateful for bread:) It turned out great!

Spring

Even though it is still only Spring here, it is getting quite warm during the day. A nice breeze keeps us cool, but it doesn't weaken the sun's rays. I am about as tan and blonde after 3 weeks of hot weather as I was after all of last summer. By the end of this summer I am going to be brown and very blonde. I keep putting sun screen on though don't worry!

The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

This week we started teaching a young couple. They are both college students and we've hit it off really well with them. The best part is they understand what we are teaching. After teaching about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ they were full of questions!! The girl asked us...if there was a restoration what kinds of things were restored? After we explained about the restoration of the priesthood, the doctrine of baptism and the doctrine of the family, she asked...and since the Bible has so many imperfections did the prophet do some kind of restoring of the bible too? So of course we explained about the Book of Mormon which clarifies the imperfections of the Bible. And they started reading the Book of Mormon together!!! So exciting:)

The Church and Gospel of Jesus Christ truly have been restored in their whole and perfect form through a living prophet, and the Book of Mormon really is evidence of this marvelous restoration!!

Love, Hermana Bowns
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*This link goes to the Mormon Messages YouTube playlist. I didn't know which video they watched at the Gratitude Night. -Ryann