Dear Family,
Well yesterday was awesome to be able to skype with all of you and be
able to talk with you all face to face. What is even crazier is that
we will be doing that again really soon. That was defintly the high
light of the week for me for sure. Well this week was pretty good, it
took a little more effort this week to move along, it was my
companions last week and he had a lot of last time things he needed to
take care of and some stuff he needed to get. Then on top of that, it
was his last week so his mind was pretty heavy on home, but we still
had an effective week. This week to add onto it, we had our Mission
Leader council on Thursday that we went up to , that took out a big
chunk of our day as well. We talked about some good stuff, it is
always good to go to MLC to see a bunch of the missionaries that I am
good buddies with. Saturday we had a ward party for my companion and
for the other Elder in my apartment because they are both going. It
was pretty good, lots of members showed up so that was awesome.
Honestly this week is just a blur to me right now, I feel like I said
most of the important things on skype with you guys so I cant remember
what I said or not. We have found some really good people who we are
teaching and really trying to help. On Saturday we went by and we saw
this investigator named micheal that we have been seeing for a few
weeks now. He is stuggling with the Word of Wisdom and we have been
trying to help him with that. Well on Saturday we went there and I
went back to get him and when I got there he was standing there
holding a beer bottle in his hand, it was pretty disappointing and he
was pretty ashamed of it to. We sat and talked with him and he didn’t
really know what to say execpt that he was ashamed. He wasn’t able to
come to church either because he was sick all day Sunday and he said
its because of the alcohol that he got sick, so I hope he learns his
lesson on that and we can get him on the right track . We are also
teaching a new family that we found just last week that I am really
excited about. It is a younger family, we contacted the wife a few
weeks back by her self and tehn we got the chance to see her husband
this week because he had gotten sick , so that opened the door right
up for us to come and to teach the whole family . They even came
Saturday night to the church for my Companion and the other
missionaries party and the members really fellowshipped them well. I
really have high hopes for them. They werent able to make it to church
on Sunday though because they accidently slept in on Sunday. We still
had a good day on Sunday though, had 3 people come to church so I was
happy for that, one of them is a muslim so I hope we can really get
her. She loved church on Sunday. All we did for church this week was
watch conference. There was some really good talks there. We only got
a chance to watch the Sunday morning session and then like 3 on the
Saturday morning session until light went off. It was good though, I
cant wait to go back and read all the talks though. My companion left
this morning so me and Elder Vandehei are giong to be companions here
for a few days until Wednesday when we pick up our new companions. I
already told you but I am getting Elder Forrest as a companion. We
were together in my last area in the same apartment and we both came
to the MTC the same time, so I am really excited to end my mission off
with him. It will be really sweet. It will be a big week of change
this week with 2 new people coming into the apartment but I am excited
to get things underway again. This week has just been kind of long
with my companion preparing to go home and then with the mothers day
call home so I am ready to just get down to work again and see what we
can do with these last 58 days. Sure do love you all and I hope you
have an awesome week. Love
Elder Bowring
Monday, June 8, 2015
April 27, 2015
Dear Family,
Well I honestly don’t know what I am going to write down in this
letter haha I just feel like this week was a pretty normal routine
week, just the same ole same ole missionary work. Tuesday I started
not feeling so well, I think I probably got it from my companion from
what he had last week. It just progressivly got worse all day on
Tuesday and by the end of the proselyting day I didn’t feel to great.
I got a priesthood blessing that night though and was able to make it
through Wednesday and am atleast feeling better now. This week we had
a lot of light off, so me and Elder Vandehei put our mattresses out
side and our mosquito nets and slept inside. It gets so hot in your
bed at night with out a fan, you wake about about 1000 times in a
puddle of sweat. It sucks , but luckly we got some good sleep out
there. Thursday I had an opprotunity to go on an exchange with Elder
Lierra, he is a Hispanic American California. I didn’t know him very
well before the exchange but we had a good time being together and
there was a lot learned, its been a while I feel like since I have
been on an exchange with somebody. Its pretty crazy to be having a
companion who is going home so soon, these next two weeks are his last
weeks on mission. It just really makes me think about what I have done
with my time on my mission and to make sure that I am able to finish
strong and hard to the end. Ya we end up talking about home a lot some
times haha but I feel like we are still doing well diong the work to
the best of our ablility. We had an awesome Sunday this Sunday. It was
stake Conference and so we had to go to the temple sight to have our
conference there. I always get worried about trying to get
investigators there and make sure its an uplifting experience for
them. Sunday morning we went out with bishop to see a few people
before the conference (didn’t start until 12) so we had a chance to
swing by a LA member who told us she would be coming with her friend
who we also started teaching. I was expecting them to not even be
ready and say next week when we rolled up, but I knocked on the door
and the friend was chillin there in her dress and out came the LA with
her and they were ready to go. I was pumped up and so was bishop haha.
Then we had another guy come who we have been working with since I got
to north ridge, he is really on and off so I hope that the conference
will get hima little more fired up to start coming on a regular basis.
Then we had another RC bring one of our Investigators with him to and
we didn’t find it out until after the confernce and he loved it to. It
was awesome, I think that they all enjoyed it. Another cool thing is
that I got to see all the people from Nsawam at the conference, as
soon as I got out of the Van that took us there , I saw my Deaf RC
Darius there and he just came up and gave me a big ole hug , it was
so awesome. The cooelst thing is is that he has brought like 7 other
deaf people to the church and Elder Peterson is still down there
taking good care of them. Its just crazy to see the work of the lord
in that way. I love seeing old people and RC from other area’s still
strong. Not much of a better feeling than that. That was probably the
high light of the week for sure. This week should be pretty good, got
some good people to work with now and we have some conference on
Wednesday with a General Authority so that should be pretty good as
well. Sorry this letter is a little shorter than usual, but I hope
that you all enjoy your last days of April love you all very much,
Love
Elder Bowring.
Well I honestly don’t know what I am going to write down in this
letter haha I just feel like this week was a pretty normal routine
week, just the same ole same ole missionary work. Tuesday I started
not feeling so well, I think I probably got it from my companion from
what he had last week. It just progressivly got worse all day on
Tuesday and by the end of the proselyting day I didn’t feel to great.
I got a priesthood blessing that night though and was able to make it
through Wednesday and am atleast feeling better now. This week we had
a lot of light off, so me and Elder Vandehei put our mattresses out
side and our mosquito nets and slept inside. It gets so hot in your
bed at night with out a fan, you wake about about 1000 times in a
puddle of sweat. It sucks , but luckly we got some good sleep out
there. Thursday I had an opprotunity to go on an exchange with Elder
Lierra, he is a Hispanic American California. I didn’t know him very
well before the exchange but we had a good time being together and
there was a lot learned, its been a while I feel like since I have
been on an exchange with somebody. Its pretty crazy to be having a
companion who is going home so soon, these next two weeks are his last
weeks on mission. It just really makes me think about what I have done
with my time on my mission and to make sure that I am able to finish
strong and hard to the end. Ya we end up talking about home a lot some
times haha but I feel like we are still doing well diong the work to
the best of our ablility. We had an awesome Sunday this Sunday. It was
stake Conference and so we had to go to the temple sight to have our
conference there. I always get worried about trying to get
investigators there and make sure its an uplifting experience for
them. Sunday morning we went out with bishop to see a few people
before the conference (didn’t start until 12) so we had a chance to
swing by a LA member who told us she would be coming with her friend
who we also started teaching. I was expecting them to not even be
ready and say next week when we rolled up, but I knocked on the door
and the friend was chillin there in her dress and out came the LA with
her and they were ready to go. I was pumped up and so was bishop haha.
Then we had another guy come who we have been working with since I got
to north ridge, he is really on and off so I hope that the conference
will get hima little more fired up to start coming on a regular basis.
Then we had another RC bring one of our Investigators with him to and
we didn’t find it out until after the confernce and he loved it to. It
was awesome, I think that they all enjoyed it. Another cool thing is
that I got to see all the people from Nsawam at the conference, as
soon as I got out of the Van that took us there , I saw my Deaf RC
Darius there and he just came up and gave me a big ole hug , it was
so awesome. The cooelst thing is is that he has brought like 7 other
deaf people to the church and Elder Peterson is still down there
taking good care of them. Its just crazy to see the work of the lord
in that way. I love seeing old people and RC from other area’s still
strong. Not much of a better feeling than that. That was probably the
high light of the week for sure. This week should be pretty good, got
some good people to work with now and we have some conference on
Wednesday with a General Authority so that should be pretty good as
well. Sorry this letter is a little shorter than usual, but I hope
that you all enjoy your last days of April love you all very much,
Love
Elder Bowring.
April 20, 2015
Dear Family,
Well this week was a really good week just as all of them are, they
just go by so fast now a day I cant believe it. Well the week this
week was pretty normal, not anything out of the ordinary. Elder Moroke
wasn’t feeling the best this week, I think its because he is getting a
little nervous to go back home haha but because of that we came in a
few times early during the week to try and give him some good rest to
recover but he is atleast feeling better now so I am happy for that.
He is doing really good especially for only having 3 weeks left.
Anyways, Wednesday was the day that we were supposed to meet with our
Stake president again and he freakin bounced us again. On top of that
we took a taxi over to the stake center and I left the phone in the
taxi on accident haha, the taxi driver wouldn’t awsner the phone
either when we tried to call it about 2 minutes after we had left it.
O wells I guess. Thursday was the longest day of the week, my comp
tried to go out in the morning but come 3 I could tell he was hating
it so I took him back to the apartment and he
crashed hard haha. Friday was a really cool day, we actually had a
little rougher day proselyting that morning but that evening we had a
chance to go to the stake center and watch the Movie “Freetown” It was
sick. I don’t know if you have seen it yet but its really good. Holy
crap did it make me miss Liberia. Some of the places mentioned in the
movie I have served in. The only thing is , is that it was filmed in
Ghana and the actors in the movie are Ghanian so they talk with a
ghanian accent. There was a few people in the movie who had a Liberian
accent and that just pumped me up. Its cool to, one of the
missionaries potrayed in the movie is now a district President in
Liberia and I know him very well, we had a christmas devotional at his
house my first christmas in Liberia. A few of the actors in the movie
were there so I was able to talk to a few of them. It was really
cool. I’m excited to watch it with you guys back home because it
really shows how things are like over here. Anyways , We had a good
Sunday, we got our Two confirmations in. One of them is Isaac and he
is just a stud, he always just comes up to me and asked me so many
question about things, like he just wants to know everything. We took
him with us to go teaching after church on Sunday and it was really
good. I love hearing Recent Converts testimonys , they are seriously
so powerful . We also had one guy come to church this week for the
first time and the way he is feeling the spirit is crazy. He was
eating up service and he loved it so much. Its crazy by talking with
him seeing how much the lord is directing him to the church. Sometimes
we just have to point it out to him haha. He is one of the guys that
we went and helped bucket out his house about a month ago, so that is
what service can do for you haha. Ok funny story about last night.
Every Sunday night after we do all our numbers and stuff, we always
take our table out side of our apartment in our compound and go out
and eat together and then play some phase 10 together. We usually get
around to this at like 9, so it was about 9:30 and I went to go get
something in the apartment and it was totally locked. Sometimes the
door latches it when you close it so we were all stuck out side with
no key. We called president (luckily we had a phone) And we ended up
having to go to the mission office at 9:30 at night to go look for a
spare key. Funniest thing about it is that I always get into my Muslim
robe on Sunday nights and Elder Vandehei was in his as well, so we
rolled up to the mission home at 9:30 at night in our muslim robes
haha. It was funny. Well the spares didn’t work , so I ended up having
to breakin through our window and get my keys on my desk .
Miraculously we got it . It was pretty fun, but we still got a
successful game of phase 10 in. Well , that’s all I got for this week,
I hope that you all enjoy your week and know that I love ya tons. Love
Elder Bowring
Well this week was a really good week just as all of them are, they
just go by so fast now a day I cant believe it. Well the week this
week was pretty normal, not anything out of the ordinary. Elder Moroke
wasn’t feeling the best this week, I think its because he is getting a
little nervous to go back home haha but because of that we came in a
few times early during the week to try and give him some good rest to
recover but he is atleast feeling better now so I am happy for that.
He is doing really good especially for only having 3 weeks left.
Anyways, Wednesday was the day that we were supposed to meet with our
Stake president again and he freakin bounced us again. On top of that
we took a taxi over to the stake center and I left the phone in the
taxi on accident haha, the taxi driver wouldn’t awsner the phone
either when we tried to call it about 2 minutes after we had left it.
O wells I guess. Thursday was the longest day of the week, my comp
tried to go out in the morning but come 3 I could tell he was hating
it so I took him back to the apartment and he
crashed hard haha. Friday was a really cool day, we actually had a
little rougher day proselyting that morning but that evening we had a
chance to go to the stake center and watch the Movie “Freetown” It was
sick. I don’t know if you have seen it yet but its really good. Holy
crap did it make me miss Liberia. Some of the places mentioned in the
movie I have served in. The only thing is , is that it was filmed in
Ghana and the actors in the movie are Ghanian so they talk with a
ghanian accent. There was a few people in the movie who had a Liberian
accent and that just pumped me up. Its cool to, one of the
missionaries potrayed in the movie is now a district President in
Liberia and I know him very well, we had a christmas devotional at his
house my first christmas in Liberia. A few of the actors in the movie
were there so I was able to talk to a few of them. It was really
cool. I’m excited to watch it with you guys back home because it
really shows how things are like over here. Anyways , We had a good
Sunday, we got our Two confirmations in. One of them is Isaac and he
is just a stud, he always just comes up to me and asked me so many
question about things, like he just wants to know everything. We took
him with us to go teaching after church on Sunday and it was really
good. I love hearing Recent Converts testimonys , they are seriously
so powerful . We also had one guy come to church this week for the
first time and the way he is feeling the spirit is crazy. He was
eating up service and he loved it so much. Its crazy by talking with
him seeing how much the lord is directing him to the church. Sometimes
we just have to point it out to him haha. He is one of the guys that
we went and helped bucket out his house about a month ago, so that is
what service can do for you haha. Ok funny story about last night.
Every Sunday night after we do all our numbers and stuff, we always
take our table out side of our apartment in our compound and go out
and eat together and then play some phase 10 together. We usually get
around to this at like 9, so it was about 9:30 and I went to go get
something in the apartment and it was totally locked. Sometimes the
door latches it when you close it so we were all stuck out side with
no key. We called president (luckily we had a phone) And we ended up
having to go to the mission office at 9:30 at night to go look for a
spare key. Funniest thing about it is that I always get into my Muslim
robe on Sunday nights and Elder Vandehei was in his as well, so we
rolled up to the mission home at 9:30 at night in our muslim robes
haha. It was funny. Well the spares didn’t work , so I ended up having
to breakin through our window and get my keys on my desk .
Miraculously we got it . It was pretty fun, but we still got a
successful game of phase 10 in. Well , that’s all I got for this week,
I hope that you all enjoy your week and know that I love ya tons. Love
Elder Bowring
April 13, 2015
Dear Family,
Well another week down, it was a good week as well, really busy as
always, it was really successful as well. On Tuesday we had our zone
training meeting that me and my companion had to present to our zone.
Usually I get a little nervous before we do it because I just want to
make sure that it is good and that people actually get something out
of it but I think it went well so I hope everyone else thought so.
Afterwards we decided to go get some pizza at a place near buy called
Eddy’s pizza because it was somebodys birthday in our zone so we went
and did that. Cost me half my subsistence but o wells haha. It took
more time that I was hoping for so we didn’t get out until like 2 or 3
that day but we had some good people that we were able to see.
Wednesday was not a normal day either. We went proselyting in the
morning but in the evening time we tried to meet up with the stake
president since that is one of our responsibilities as Zone leaders.
We could never get a hold of him though so I had a chance to talk to
one of his high councilors on Sunday so he told us that the stake
president would be at the stake center Wednesday night and would be
more than willing to meet with us so I informed the other Zone leaders
in the stake and we all showed up but no Stake President. It sucked
because it basically trashed our night but It was good because we
atleast got a hold of him finally and he agreed to do it this week so
I hope that will go well. Thursday was a really sweet day. We had a
chance to take sister Stella to the temple that evening for a special
interview with president. We took her Daughter, sister beauty along
with us as well (she is already baptized) and it was awesome to be
there with those two. We got the interview all finished up and then we
just kind of showed them around the temple grounds and just kind of
sat and looked at the temple. It was night time to so it was all lit
up and it was just awesome. I am so greatful for temples now,
especially being here in Ghana. These people are so blessed to have
one so close by. In Liberia it was a journey to get to the temple and
most people only got to go once. We are so blessed back home
especially in Utah to have the amount of temples around. Sister beauty
just kept asking me if we could go inside the temple , she is really
excited to be able to go, so hopefully soon we will get them there.
Saturday was pretty crazy to. It was just a normal day that morning
but in the afternoon , we hit a few appointments and then we looked up
in the sky and there was just pitch black heading at us. It looked
like we were about to prepare for a hurricane haha, (not that bad) but
we got to a members house real quick before it hit (my comp didn’t
want to go out in the rain so I didn’t have a choice ha) We almost got
stranded at their house. We were stuck there for about 2 hours until
there was break in the storm so we booked it home and got in and by
that time it was around 8 so that finished the day for us. The storm
continued until Sunday morning which sucked because no body ever comes
to church when it rains. Luckily the rain stopped by about 8:30 but
that still was enough of an excuse for a lot of people to not come. We
got sacrament started late and I was getting a bit worried about our
baptism candidates coming but they both showed up and I was pumped
about that. It did disturb a lot of our other investigators who were
planning on coming though. We did get one other guy there though so I
was happy about that. The baptism went all really smoothly. It was
awesome to be able to see that family all together finally , they were
all so happy for there mother and the mother was so happy, I could
tell she felt great after wards. Even Isaac was pumped up to, his
brother is the one who got to baptize him so I thought that was really
cool. It was just a really good 2 baptisms that we had and I am so
happy for them. We are now just working on getting some other people
ready for baptism , doesn’t look like we will have any until may but
we have a lot of good people in the teaching pool, just got to get
them to commit to come to church. Anyways, that was about it for my
week this week, pretty good solid week, I am excited for this next
week. We are going to have a chance to watch the movie Freetown on
Friday so I am excited to see that. Well hope all have a great week
and I love you all,
Elder Bowring
Well another week down, it was a good week as well, really busy as
always, it was really successful as well. On Tuesday we had our zone
training meeting that me and my companion had to present to our zone.
Usually I get a little nervous before we do it because I just want to
make sure that it is good and that people actually get something out
of it but I think it went well so I hope everyone else thought so.
Afterwards we decided to go get some pizza at a place near buy called
Eddy’s pizza because it was somebodys birthday in our zone so we went
and did that. Cost me half my subsistence but o wells haha. It took
more time that I was hoping for so we didn’t get out until like 2 or 3
that day but we had some good people that we were able to see.
Wednesday was not a normal day either. We went proselyting in the
morning but in the evening time we tried to meet up with the stake
president since that is one of our responsibilities as Zone leaders.
We could never get a hold of him though so I had a chance to talk to
one of his high councilors on Sunday so he told us that the stake
president would be at the stake center Wednesday night and would be
more than willing to meet with us so I informed the other Zone leaders
in the stake and we all showed up but no Stake President. It sucked
because it basically trashed our night but It was good because we
atleast got a hold of him finally and he agreed to do it this week so
I hope that will go well. Thursday was a really sweet day. We had a
chance to take sister Stella to the temple that evening for a special
interview with president. We took her Daughter, sister beauty along
with us as well (she is already baptized) and it was awesome to be
there with those two. We got the interview all finished up and then we
just kind of showed them around the temple grounds and just kind of
sat and looked at the temple. It was night time to so it was all lit
up and it was just awesome. I am so greatful for temples now,
especially being here in Ghana. These people are so blessed to have
one so close by. In Liberia it was a journey to get to the temple and
most people only got to go once. We are so blessed back home
especially in Utah to have the amount of temples around. Sister beauty
just kept asking me if we could go inside the temple , she is really
excited to be able to go, so hopefully soon we will get them there.
Saturday was pretty crazy to. It was just a normal day that morning
but in the afternoon , we hit a few appointments and then we looked up
in the sky and there was just pitch black heading at us. It looked
like we were about to prepare for a hurricane haha, (not that bad) but
we got to a members house real quick before it hit (my comp didn’t
want to go out in the rain so I didn’t have a choice ha) We almost got
stranded at their house. We were stuck there for about 2 hours until
there was break in the storm so we booked it home and got in and by
that time it was around 8 so that finished the day for us. The storm
continued until Sunday morning which sucked because no body ever comes
to church when it rains. Luckily the rain stopped by about 8:30 but
that still was enough of an excuse for a lot of people to not come. We
got sacrament started late and I was getting a bit worried about our
baptism candidates coming but they both showed up and I was pumped
about that. It did disturb a lot of our other investigators who were
planning on coming though. We did get one other guy there though so I
was happy about that. The baptism went all really smoothly. It was
awesome to be able to see that family all together finally , they were
all so happy for there mother and the mother was so happy, I could
tell she felt great after wards. Even Isaac was pumped up to, his
brother is the one who got to baptize him so I thought that was really
cool. It was just a really good 2 baptisms that we had and I am so
happy for them. We are now just working on getting some other people
ready for baptism , doesn’t look like we will have any until may but
we have a lot of good people in the teaching pool, just got to get
them to commit to come to church. Anyways, that was about it for my
week this week, pretty good solid week, I am excited for this next
week. We are going to have a chance to watch the movie Freetown on
Friday so I am excited to see that. Well hope all have a great week
and I love you all,
Elder Bowring
April 6, 2015
Dear Famliy,
Well we had quite a busy and full week this week. On the brightest
side of things, my new companion is actually really sweet and is down
to work hard. We get along really great and are enjoying eachother but
most importantly we are working hard so I am really happy about that.
I guess to start things off, Tuesday wasn’t a normal day because it
was Elder Kiwanuka’s last day in the area so he was saying goodbye to
a lot of people and we had to come back in a little early so he could
pack. Wednesday we had Transfers and so we got there at about 12 so I
could pick up my new companion. We didn’t get out until about 3 that
day so we didn’t have a full day, so between those two first days, I
didn’t spend as much time as I would of liked in our area. To add onto
that, Thursday we had to go to the mission presidents house and we had
our Misison Leader Council that morning which took almost the entire
morning. It was pretty good though, a little frustrating to be honest
because we talked a lot about the same stuff we talked about last MLC
but I guess go with the flow. So because of that we also didn’t get a
full day in our area. Friday we finally just had a normal day. Got to
know my companion pretty good. His name is Elder Moroke and is from
South Africa. He likes cricket a lot and he is kind of shy but we
actually connect and talk together a lot, already feel like we have
more unity than my last companionship so that is good. Saturday was a
pretty cool day. We had a Ward easter party planned for that day to
start at 4. We showed up around 4 and there was hardly any body there
, it was a little frustrating. As missionaries we were asked to take
part in the program so we decided to do a little skit. I am sure you
have seen the churches easter promotion the #becausehelives video. If
you havent its worth a look, anyways we had a bunch of pass along
cards with that on it so we asked the office elders to get the video
for us on a USB drive. Well they gave it to us and bounced and we went
to go and try it and it was a wrong format so we rushed to a near by
café and downloaded it our selfs and tried it again and it still
wasn’t working. Finally we figured out it was the USB so we had to run
home and get a different one and put it on there and it finally
worked. Our skit was me and Elder Vandehei pretended to be buddies, I
was a christain and he was a muslim. We pretended to go and sit at a
local food placeand we brought out a local dish Called Banku.
Everybody got a kick out of that, they think its so funny to see white
people eating there food. So then we just showed them how a casual
converstaion can lead us to sharing the gospel with friends and then
we gave out all the pass along cards to the members of the ward to
share with there friends so I hope it worked. The party was pretty
good and we ate good so that is always a bonus. Easter really snuck up
on me this year and I didn’t feel like I was really prepared for it,
but I did take a chance to read through the gospels of Jesus Christ
and his sacrafice for us. Its crazy, the more I try and learn of the
Atonment, the more I feel like I appreciate the sacrafice Christ made
for us. Something that really stood out to me this last time when I
was reading was just how firm christ stood his ground when he was on
trial. Sometimes he wouldn’t even awsner the questions they would ask
him. He knew what he was doing and his purpose and they just made me
as a missionary to always stand my ground and be dignified because of
my purpose. Anyways, I was a little bummed I couldn’t be watching
conference live though, I cant wait to hear the talks and be able to
read them, but don’t worry, next one I will be right there for it
This week we have been preparing 2 people for baptism next week. One
guys name is Isaac, he is 20 and he is really sweet. He is the younger
brother to a RC and he is just excelling in the gospel. It just amazes
me time and time again how fast people pick up on the gospel and when
they are willing to take it in how much they just want more of it. I
am really excited for his baptism and we are also preparing sister
Stella for baptism to. She is the mother and wife of the Oteng family
and she is really doing well to , I am really happy to be able to
bring the whole family into the gospel. So that was basically my week.
Should have another good one this week, hoping for some rain. Love you
all so much,
Elder Bowring
Well we had quite a busy and full week this week. On the brightest
side of things, my new companion is actually really sweet and is down
to work hard. We get along really great and are enjoying eachother but
most importantly we are working hard so I am really happy about that.
I guess to start things off, Tuesday wasn’t a normal day because it
was Elder Kiwanuka’s last day in the area so he was saying goodbye to
a lot of people and we had to come back in a little early so he could
pack. Wednesday we had Transfers and so we got there at about 12 so I
could pick up my new companion. We didn’t get out until about 3 that
day so we didn’t have a full day, so between those two first days, I
didn’t spend as much time as I would of liked in our area. To add onto
that, Thursday we had to go to the mission presidents house and we had
our Misison Leader Council that morning which took almost the entire
morning. It was pretty good though, a little frustrating to be honest
because we talked a lot about the same stuff we talked about last MLC
but I guess go with the flow. So because of that we also didn’t get a
full day in our area. Friday we finally just had a normal day. Got to
know my companion pretty good. His name is Elder Moroke and is from
South Africa. He likes cricket a lot and he is kind of shy but we
actually connect and talk together a lot, already feel like we have
more unity than my last companionship so that is good. Saturday was a
pretty cool day. We had a Ward easter party planned for that day to
start at 4. We showed up around 4 and there was hardly any body there
, it was a little frustrating. As missionaries we were asked to take
part in the program so we decided to do a little skit. I am sure you
have seen the churches easter promotion the #becausehelives video. If
you havent its worth a look, anyways we had a bunch of pass along
cards with that on it so we asked the office elders to get the video
for us on a USB drive. Well they gave it to us and bounced and we went
to go and try it and it was a wrong format so we rushed to a near by
café and downloaded it our selfs and tried it again and it still
wasn’t working. Finally we figured out it was the USB so we had to run
home and get a different one and put it on there and it finally
worked. Our skit was me and Elder Vandehei pretended to be buddies, I
was a christain and he was a muslim. We pretended to go and sit at a
local food placeand we brought out a local dish Called Banku.
Everybody got a kick out of that, they think its so funny to see white
people eating there food. So then we just showed them how a casual
converstaion can lead us to sharing the gospel with friends and then
we gave out all the pass along cards to the members of the ward to
share with there friends so I hope it worked. The party was pretty
good and we ate good so that is always a bonus. Easter really snuck up
on me this year and I didn’t feel like I was really prepared for it,
but I did take a chance to read through the gospels of Jesus Christ
and his sacrafice for us. Its crazy, the more I try and learn of the
Atonment, the more I feel like I appreciate the sacrafice Christ made
for us. Something that really stood out to me this last time when I
was reading was just how firm christ stood his ground when he was on
trial. Sometimes he wouldn’t even awsner the questions they would ask
him. He knew what he was doing and his purpose and they just made me
as a missionary to always stand my ground and be dignified because of
my purpose. Anyways, I was a little bummed I couldn’t be watching
conference live though, I cant wait to hear the talks and be able to
read them, but don’t worry, next one I will be right there for it
This week we have been preparing 2 people for baptism next week. One
guys name is Isaac, he is 20 and he is really sweet. He is the younger
brother to a RC and he is just excelling in the gospel. It just amazes
me time and time again how fast people pick up on the gospel and when
they are willing to take it in how much they just want more of it. I
am really excited for his baptism and we are also preparing sister
Stella for baptism to. She is the mother and wife of the Oteng family
and she is really doing well to , I am really happy to be able to
bring the whole family into the gospel. So that was basically my week.
Should have another good one this week, hoping for some rain. Love you
all so much,
Elder Bowring
March 30, 2015
Dear Family,
Well this week wasn’t really the most exciting week but It was just a good missionary working week I guess you can say. There honestly wasn’t anything that really stood out like we had last week but it was just a really good week. This week we are really doing our best to try and find some more people since we are just putting so many people in the water over here ha. We have about 4 or 5 more baptisms set up for the 12th of April but after that not to much. Last week me and my companion were able to contact this one women who is really prepared for the gospel. Her name is sister Telza, she is about 30 or so and is sweet. We first contacted her and she didn’t really seem to excited to see us and asked what we wanted and we gave her our spill and then she was really interested when my companion said something about the Book of Mormom. We came back and taught her about Joseph smith and the Book of Mormon and everything we taught her she just kept saying to us that “it made sence” Heck ya it does haha. We found out that she stopped going to church like 4 years ago because she was sick of these apostate churches taking her money. She didn’t come this week, I think she is just a little nervous because it has been so long since she has gone to church but I am excited to see how she progresses. I hope she continues. On Wednesday we got some good rain. It started raining in the morning and my Companion didn’t want to go out and neither did Vandehei’s companion so we did a short little exchange and we went out that morning in the pouring rain. It was fun, I always enjoy working in the rain. We didn’t have a ton of success but it beat being in the apartment. That day we went to the hospital where one of our RC works and where one of his buddies is that we have been teaching. His buddy is hooked on Heroine so they brought him to the hospital to get him help. He came to church once but he has escaped the hospital a few times trying to run and so because of that he isn’t allowed out. When we went there on Wednesday he had escaped the night before and while we were there they found out where he was so we went and joined our RC promise, and went and helped fetch him. That was kind of cool to be able to help. I just feel bad, he really wants to change and stop the drugs and join the church but the addiction is hard and even the living conditions in the hospital suck. He is just basically under an oning with a bunch of beds lined up and all he has is his own bed and a bunch of other people around him and most of them are crazy. The conditions are rough, I don’t blame him trying to escape. This week we were able to confirm out family and that was awesome, we had so many confirmations in sacrament meeting that they had to skip 2 of the speakers because we didn’t have time. The Oteng family is just so happy though and It is just so awesome to be able to be a part of there happiness. I guess on another note, we got our transfer news this week and My companion Elder Kiwanuka is leaving me and I am getting a new companion again, I am strait going through companions. My new companion is Elder Morokay from South Africa. Its his last transfer and honestly I have heard that he is dead so I might have to do a little motivating this transfer but we will see how it all goes. That means that I will have him as my companion and then for my next transfer which will be my last I will get another companion so that will be interesting. I got a feeling that these last 3 months are going to fly by. Defintily putting it into 6th gear and doing all we can before its to late. Well sorry that this weeks email isn’t the most interesting, next week will probably be pretty eventful though so we will see how it all goes. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and enjoy april. Love ,
Elder Bowring
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