Tuesday, January 20, 2015

January 19, 2015

Dear Family,
Well this week was actually a pretty good week. I guess it started off
crazy though,Tuesday was Tolars last day  and I was able to talk with
him before he left, just blows my mind that he is done. Also on
Tuesday we had Zone meeting at the Kaneshie stake center. IF I am
being completely honest with you Zone meetings  are just so different
from Liberia. Elder Fairwell is my zone leader so it was good to hear his
instruction, good old fashion Liberian instruction but other than that It just
makes me miss my old mission more. I was pumped though, I got 2
packages that day, one from Gpa and Gma Lovell and one from the
Asburys. Thank you guys so much, you guys are making sure you are
taking good care of me out here. Gpa, that jerky is slammin, everyone
in the apartment is enjoying and its almost finished haha.  The rest
of the week was a blur, we honestly just worked our butts off this
week, I think we ended up having 37 lessons or something like that.
The highlight of the week was Definilty Sunday.  Sunday we had baptisms
for our branch. Our companionship had one and One of the sisters had 6
(a family) and then we had some children of record baptized as well.
The family that the sitsters baptized was pretty sweet, it was a
mother and her 2 grown up children and then the grandchild. I was able
to perform the baptism and it was really sweet. The Mother is 70 years
old and the day before her leg started to give her problems. She
couldn’t bend her knee and was just hobbling along. She said that she
stayed up all night long the night before because she just didn’t know
how she was going to be able to be baptized.  She is a little bigger
to so she wanted to make sure that somebody could do it, and she
looked at me and I don’t think she had the full confidence in my
smallness haha. But I told her that it would be ok that that god would
help. WE got down into the water and she was still very nervous but as
I was telling her that god would help us, I just got an over whelming
feeling that it was going to be good and that things would work. I
finished the prayer and went to put her down and she didn’t want to go
but I told her to just straiten her leg and I would take care of the
rest. Well it happened pretty fast but I got her down and up and
looked to the witnesses to make sure it was good, and they said that
everything went perfect. For sure a miracle that we were able to
baptize her. I was standing out side the changing room when she came
out and I went to shake her hand and she said no and just came up and
gave me such a big hug and thanked me.  It was a pretty awesome moment
, one that I wont forget. God definitely helps us when we need his help
and when we are doing his work. Our baptism went well as well. Her
name is Patricia and she is going to be a strong member. Another high
light that we had on Sunday is we had 2 other investigators there, one
Bro George (he came last week) and after he told us that he made up
his mind to be baptized, which is a miracle. This guy has been
searching for the truth for so long. When I first met him he called
him self a church prostitute because he has been to so many churches
haha. So hopefully in a few weeks that will go down and then our other
was bro Ayuba (Muslim name ) We met with him after church and he told
us he was going to baptize next week haha but we told him we have to
go over a few other things with him before so we will do it in two
weeks. The work is picking up here and I am definitely seeing the
blessings of Dilligence and relying on the lord. Also another sweet
miracle that happened yesterday was that I was sitting in sacrament
meeting and I looked out the window and I got a faint glimpse at
somebody walking in. I thought to my self he looks a lot like my BML
Richard Yansey from Paynesville in Liberia. Well he came in after
sacrament and sure enough, it was Richard Yansey. It was so sweet to
see him, like a sweet reunion. I can only imagine what it will be like
on the other side when I meet all the people I have met on my mission,
especially the ones in Liberia. Overall it was a good week and I am
anxious to see how things go this week, hopefully they will be even
better. I love you all and I hope you have an awesome week. Love
Elder Bowring

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

January 12, 2015

Dear family ,
This week was a good busy week that is for sure.  Tuesday was mind and
Elder Langi’s last day together, we went around and said goodbye to a
bunch of people and so that made the day a littler longer but it was
really good. Wednesday was the day of transfers . That morning me and
Elder Langi decided to go get hair cuts , so he went first and the guy
did a really good job so I told the barber to just do the same thing
with mine as he did with Elder Langi, well some how he didn’t get what
I was saying I ended up with a shaved head haha, I seriously have the
worst luck with hair cuts out here but o wells what can ya do. Usually
for transfers we all go to Tesano so we can pick up our new companions
and drop off our old ones but my new companion was coming from an area
really close to mine, so that morning we just went to the other
missionarys apartment and I dropped off Elder Langi there and I picked
up my new companion. When I first met my new companion I didn’t know
that it was him, I looked at his tag and it said Tshibangu and I was
looking for something starting with a CH because that is how it is
pronounced. So ya I figured out that you spell my new companions name
Tshibangu but it is pronounced Chibangu haha. Like I said last week he
is from the DR congo and has been out for about 8 months now. He was a
little bit quite the first few days but he is warming up. He is a
really chill guy and I like him a lot and I think we will get along
just fine.  Thursday was another not normal day as well ha. Every
month they have MLC (Misison leader Council) but it is usually just
for the ZL’s to go to meet with president and what not, but since It
was the beginning of the year they invited all the DL’s to come that
day to, so me and Elder Forrest went to that together. It was at the
temple sight, the thing that I was most pumped about is that I was
going to see Tolar for the last time. I seriously can not believe that
he is going home. It is weird because we have done so much together
and he is one of my best friends now and he is going to be home on
Wednesday, dude is just leaving me to dry out here haha. I’m happy for
him but sure am going to miss him, we had a lot of good times together
but its chill because when I get back we will have some more. MLC was
ok, honestly its meetings like those that make me miss my mission back
in Liberia. Things are just done so differently here and I am still
trying to adjust to them and the way that things are run.  I guess its
what ever though.  Quick side note, right now here in Ghana we are
going to a season called Homaton or something like that , and its
basically a bunch of dust and crap coming from the north part of
Africa is being blown down here, anyways, it sucks. IT has been so
dusty and like , its so bad you can hardly see the moon at nights
because of how much dust is in the air, it was really bad on Thursday that is what made me think of it. I think it is supposed to last all
month to. Anyways that literally took like all day for us on Thursday . Friday was finally back to normal and so was Saturday. This Sunday was 100x times better than my last 2 Sundays have been. We finally had
4 people come to church this Sunday. I was really excited, and one of
them is scheduled to baptize next week , so we will have a baptism
next week that will be really sweet. It defiantly helps with the
transition of areas. I have been here for almost 1 month now though
and I am starting to get used to things here.  Things are looking up
though so I am excited, still got a lot of work to do. Its crazy, no
matter how much you do or how much you work , there is always more to
do.  Just so many people out there who don’t have the gospel, it blows
my mind how lucky I am to have it, out of all the people in the world
I am a part of the small percent that gets to have to gospel.
Anyways, I hope that you all have a great week and that you are all
doing well. Love you all,
Elder Bowring

January 5, 2015

Dear family,
Well happy new year, I cant believe that it is 2015 already, its so
crazy. Well this week has been pretty eventful,   forone, we had
transfer news,     and my companion is leaving me, I am a little
disappointed about that one. I  have only  been with him for 3 weeks
and  they are taking him and I am getting a new compa nion , his name
is  elder chibagu, he  is from congo, so that should be pretty
interesting, I don’t know him at all but it will be chill iguess, just
keep the changes coming . Me and my companion have been working out
butts off this week and we didn’t really get the  result we wanted.
This week was the first week I haven’t had any investigators at
church back to back weeks, it s tough some times. The city is a lot
harder that where I was at and  people are just must stubborn I guess
but  jit is teaching me a lot of patience and a lot of diligence. New
years was good this year, we had a ward party on new y ears eve that
started at 6 but   people run on Ghanaian time so it didn’t get
started till about 8 haha. It was fun though, they  just got a bunch
of big speakers and put them out in the parking lot and had a bunch of
food and stuff so we just went there. Also , we left the party for a
bit of time and went to a p izza place in  our area with the other el
ders in our  apartment so that was really good and nice, the party
lasted all night long at the church but we had to be in our apartments
at 9:30 so we just stayed up and chatted until 12 in the apartment to
usher in the new year, wasn’t to fancy though, just a few people s
hooting off fireworks.  WE had a lot of success at the party though,
we had a few investigators and a less active family that showed up so
I was pumped about that, but none showed up to c hurch. This week I
got a good taste at what its like to be a district leader over the
sisters, me and Elder Forrest  (o ther DL over the sisters, he has 4
and I have 4 but they all stay together) were over at their apartment
last night for 1  ½ hours sorting out some stuff, it was ridiculous
but I will just leave it at that, its de f intly a new experience that
I am not used to , that is for sure. Im sorry, this week is just a
blur, like I said, we just worked really hard this we ek but didn’t
get any success. We do have a lot ho have alo of potential though.
Esp elly we found a LAfamily who is really sweet , the mothe r and 2
of her 3 children are baptized but her husband is not a member  and
her  younger dau ghter  who is 9 is also not baptized so we are
working with them and are hopefully going to baptize  the daughter
this month. I am  excited fo r them because we even found a good
investigator who stays  with them so I have my hopes up for them. My
mind is still blown that  it is 2015  , 2014 was really a good year
and I learned so much, I cant believe that  it has come and gone so
fast, I am excited for the new year, its crazy to think of all the
things that are going to be happening this year but it srue will be ex
 iting, Definly a lot of changes going to take place but we will see
what happens. Sorry this is  shorter than usual but not to mu ch else
w ent down this week. Th is next week will be pretty event ful though.
This keyboard that I am using sucks to so I am just going to end here.
LOove you all very much and hope you have a wonder 2015 . 
Love Elder Bowring

December 29, 2014



Dear family,
Well this week was great, it was awesome to be able to talk to you guys on Thursday , that was definitely the high light of my week for sure and I am just debating on ending my email there since I told you most on Thursday haha but for those who weren’t on the call I will give ya a nice update. Well things in our area are coming along nicely and we are still meeting some really sweet people and getting to know members and people better. It honestly didn’t even feel like Christmas until Christmas eve at like 7. We decided to go Christmas caroling as
a district , so it was me and my companion with 4 sister missionaries all caroling. Africans don’t really know what Christmas caroling is all about haha , Christmas eve was just like a regular night here, not to many people doing anything out of the normal, just a few more
people buying some fire works and shooting them  off. We went in the sisters area and did our caroling and visited some members and some of there investigators. WE also stopped into a pharmacy on the side of the road and sang some carols there, it was funny because we went in
there and some people were just looking at us weird but we started
singing and they enjoyed it and it was nice. That is one thing,
Ghanians are all just so nice. When we visited the members homes, they
didn’t know what was going on either, they would invited us in and
they would get there hymn books and join us haha but it was still all
good. I thought it was a good way to feel the Christmas spirit.
Christmas day was good, I had some presents to unwrap and then I was
able to give 2 stockings to everyone in the apartment so we all got to
gether in the morning and we were able to open up some Christmas
presents so it was really cool and felt like Christmas. Grandma and
Grandpa B, thanks for the wood tie, its sick haha everyone loved it, I
wore it on Saturday and people thought it was the coolest thing ever,
they kept asking if I made it my self. We just then got fed on
Christmas and I was full as could be, then we called home which was
awesome. The next day was a little hard, still had you guys on my mind
a lot but it was still a good day. It was a little rougher this week
at church, we didn’t have any investigators come to church but we did
get 2 LA guys to come so I was excited about that and then the sisters
had a baptism after church on Sunday which was really good. The guys
name is Emmanuel and he is an awesome guy, got to interview him and
all. The service was pretty disorganized so I just got tossed up there
to conduct the whole thing and do it all but it went pretty well.  I
literally don’t really have anything else to say except we are
enjoying here. Today we went to a new mall that they built here in
accra and holy crap it was so nice. Just like a mall back home. I
haven’t been some wehre that nice my entire mission. I was like
uncomfortable there , I am screwed when I get back home because I
don’t know how to handle my self in a nice area like that and I don’t
know how to spend money any more either haha. It was nice though, I
cant believe that 2014 is over and that we will be in 2015 this year,
that means I am coming home this year, just blows my mind. I hope that
you all have a wonderful new year and that you all had a merry
Christmas , I love you all and wish you the best,
Elder Bowring

December 22, 2014

Dear family,
This week has been quite the crazy week and a lot of stuff going on,
so I guess I will just start from the start of the week. Tuesday was
the last day in my area in Nsawam so we went around and we had some
lessons with everyone and just basically went around and said good bye
to everyone.  It is always weird to do that, I really hate goodbyes ha
but its just all a part of being a missionary. I am really going to
miss all of those people in Nsawam. For Christmas I gave Joshua one of
my Niners shirts so they will be well repped over here in Africa. Well
Wednesday was transfer days. I was lucky and I had the Berretts come
and get me and take me to Transfers. We went to Tesano to get our new
companions and there wasn’t that many missionarys there. Usually there
is just a ton of missionary but it was a really small transfer. I met
my new companion there Elder Langi. He is from Tonga and has been out
for about 7 months now. He didn’t know any English when he first came
but now he speaks really well.  I am pumped to because I actually have
2 other Elders in the apartment with me . Elder Forrest (we came
together to Africa and were in the MTC at the same time so its cool )
and Elder Crandall from Utah. Anyways, we went strait to our new area
and apartment and my new apartment is a lot nicer than my last one but
it was trashed when I get there so we have been cleaning up a bunch
today. Anyways, things here in Dansoman are a lot different that is
for sure.  One big thing is that it is hotter here than it was in
Nsawam. Nsawam was a really green area with a lot of rain and
vegetation but here is just dusty and hot. Its killing my white shirts
haha. Its more of a city area here to , Nsawam was like a little more
Rural but here there is a lot of people crammed into our area and is a
lot more city. Anyways, as soon as we got here me and Elder Langi sat
down and started talking about the area and what not. Well he told me
a bunch of stories of the Elder that I came to replace and from the
stories that I have heard he is the most unserious missionary I have
heard of. I wont go into detail but I will just say that his mind
isn’t really focused on missionary work and that just frustrates me.
It just pisses me off to see missionarys not take there missions
serious, and because he was so unserious our area is crap. Honestly I
feel like  am just starting a new area.  Not many people at first to
teach and see so this week me and Elder Langi have been working our
butts off. I love Elder Langi, he is just ready to work hard and do
work especially after his last companion. I feel bad because he really
tried with the last guy but the last guy just didn’t listen and wanted
to do his own thing. We have really been working hard on just finding
new people but also trying to get to know the members more and use
them more. Dansoman is actually a ward here, its my first ward that I
have served in so its weird calling our bishop , bishop. I am used to
branch president haha. The members seem like they are more than
willing to help us though, we just need to put our effort forth. There
is a lot of potential in this area and I think me and Elder Langi are
going to turn things around here. Its amazing to see the small little
miracles that god blesses us with though when we do our part and try
our hardest. I have seen so many this past week in him helping us find
people to teach. For instance yesterday we had a lot of bounces so we
were walking to go and try to follow up with somebody and we ran into
another member from another ward going to visit his Uncle and so he
told us he wanted us to teach his uncle so we went there and contacted
the uncle and his wife and his kids. It was a miracle that we just
randomly ran into that guy. I have seen a lot of little things like
that happen this week. So we defiantly have our work cut out for us
here but we are up for the challenge for sure.  One thing that sucks
about the area though is that there is so many fetching Muslims in our
area. I swear more than half of the people we contact just tell us
they are muslim which means leave I don’t care for your message haha.
Anyways things here are going to be good. We have a some good work our
equipment here in the apartment to so I have been loving using that. I
cant believe that it is Christmas this week already. Doesn’t feel like
it at all. They just don’t get pumped for Christmas here like we do
back home. We honestly don’t have anything planned for Christmas this
year so I don’t how it will be.  A member invited us to come chop
(eat) fufu with them so we will be doing that. I hope that all of you
have a great week though and that you all enjoy your Christmas . I
love you all so much.
Elder Bowring