May 26, 2014

Dear family,
This week was a pretty crazy and eventful week. We had a lot of stuff
on the schedule. First off, I went on exchange with one of our
district leaders. His name is Elder Manqana. His name is crazy to
pronounce, its got like a click in it. He is from south Africa. He is
an awesome Elder, I have always had a lot of respect for him ever
since I have came out on my mission. We went out into his area so it
was good. I kind of don’t like exchanges for the fact that when we go
on exchange, its my duty to train the missionary and I just feel like
I get really annoying when I do it haha but its all good, something
that I am learning to do on my mission for sure. We had a sweet day.
Funny story about it, the night before the exchange , Elder Tolar
wasn’t feeling to good, we thought it was constipation so he took some
constipation pills that we had and then I got dared to take them with
him so of course I did haha. Well nothing happened that night so we
were a little disappointed. Well the next day on the exchange, right
when we were in the middle of a lesson , the pills hit. And they hit
hard. I did a good job fending it off for about 30 minutes but then I
finally had to stand up and do all I could to hold it in and then
finally I asked the member who was with us where the crap I could go
to the bathroom at. Most people here don’t have toleits and there is
no such thing as a public bathroom. Well I got lucky, against all
odds, there was a community toilet so I ran there and barley made it
in time. I had to go so bad I was prepared to go behind a tree. I felt
like the one guy off of dumb and dumber haha.  So I learned that
before you go on exchanges, to not take constipation pills haha. It
was a good exchange though. On Wednesday, we had zone conference and
it was good. One thing that really stood out to me was we talked about
really how important Jesus Christ is and how because of his atonement,
he is able to bear our burdens and that this this the message that we
are telling the world now. How we are bringing people to Christ so
that there burdens can be made light and that no matter what life
throws at them , they can handle it and know that everything  will be
ok. I really thought that was cool and really put a perspective on
being a missionary and the impact it can have on somebody. Thursday we
finally had a normal day which was nice because on Friday we had
another exchange. I was able to go with Elder Khasiahi again but this
time he came into my area and we had a really good day. This Saturday
was the first Saturday in about a month that we haven’t had baptisms
but it was a good rest, I was getting a little worn out from dunking
people in the water any ways haha ;) This Sunday we had district
conference all the way in town and it was really good. It was
completely packed in the district center. It was really cool, before
the actual conference president Kirkham had a short meeting with all
investigators and Recent Converts.  Me and Elder Tolar strait showed
up and stole the show, he had all the converts stand up at one point
and then he had a microphone and was asking them who the missionarys
were that taught  them and the things that they learned and by the
time he got to the 3rd one of our converts President Kirkham said “
Alright we need to hear from somebody who hasn’t been baptized by
Elder Tolar and Bowring”. It was pretty funny. It was so awesome to
see though, The Desmond Family came and the Husband, and all the kids
were wearing White shirt and  Ties, it was the sickest thing ever. I
was strait up pumped. Conference was really good, talked a lot about
the importance of families and how we can have happy families and how
the center of a happy family is the gospel. I thought it was really
good and definetly something great for our family to hear. This next up
coming week we will be awesome. We have 2 baptisms coming up, and one
is that Darlington kid. He is so excited for his baptism. It is so
sweet how much the gospel can just bring instant happiness and joy to
your life and I have really seen it in his life. It was pretty funny,
we were asking him about his uncle, Charles Taylor (evil guy) and so
the next time we saw him he brought some pictures of Charles Taylor
and he gave them to us, so I now have a picture of Charles Taylor him
self sitting on my desk haha.  Well any ways, things out here are
great as ever, I cant believe that we are in the last week of May
already, defintely the fastest month of my mission so far. I hope
everyone has a fantastic week. I love you all.
Elder Bowring
Dear dad and mom,
Just wanted to drop a quick note off telling you how much I love and
appreciate you guys. I hope you had a good week this week, I still
haven’t looked at any of the pictures or anything yet but I am sure
you guys had a good bike trip. I sure do love you guys and appreciate
you guys very much. Just know that I am very happy right now and I
know it is because I have a such a great parents that made it possible
for me to serve a mission. You guys are awesome. I hope you have a
great week. Love your African son, Elder Bowring.
P.S I got one of your cards this week mom so thanks still no package
though, don’t know what is happening haha.