PUSUQUÍ 4 LYFE, Y´ALL.

Chuta, this week has been absolutely incredible. 

Bravo fambam last week. OBSESSED WITH THEM. They´re awesome. They´re about to be ¨rescued¨ aka, they're basically active members of the Church again! 

We worked SO. DANG. HARD. Nos sacamos la mugre, como dicen aquí. (We do not get the grime, as they say here)  I am sososososoo grateful for my bed. One day, we were RUNNING from appointment to appointment this week. I literally have callouses on my knees from praying so much, never thought I´d be able to say that. 

I LOVE being a missionary. So this week me and my comp set some high goals and did all that was in our power to complete them, and left the rest to the Lord. Lemme tell yall, faith is quite an important ingredient in missionary work. Obedience and diligence are imperative as well. 

EEEEE got to see Sister Edwards! LOVE THIS WOMAN! She brought me my package. She´s a doll. I miss El Eden. It was basically heaven in a ward. 

Sunday was the day of miracles. We prayed to be able to see the fruits of our labors this past week on Sunday at choich. WE SURE DID. First off, we had 17 of our investigators at church, crazy. It was also the Ward Conference so we had a ton of our less actives and recent converts there too. I totally cried during the Primary presentation. They sang "Teach Me to Walk in the Light," and had the congregation sing verses 2 & 3. I´m such a baby, hahah. I love kids. I love this ward! PUSUQUÍ 4 LYFE, Y´ALL. 

Fellow Texan, Elder Mott. Anyone know him? Probs not because he´s a baby and graduated from Prosper in 2014. AH, WHEN DID I GET SO OLD?!?!¿?¿

So as we were transitioning to the second hour, Cristina, the SocSoc (Relief Society) Pres came up to us with 2 OTAVALEÑOS (MY PEEPS!!!! ITS BEEN LIKE 6 MONTHS SINCE I´VE SEEN THE NATIVE ÑAÑAGUS AND TURIGUS) I was stoked to say the least. She introduced them to us, Rosa and her son Vinizio. The story is, Vinizio just got out of jail after 18 months because he was falsely accused of something. But while he was in there, he has lots of time to reflect and thought a lot about Christ, once he was finally freed, he told his momma that he was wanting more out of life and wanted to find el camino de Dios. So, Rosa calls up her sister in Otavalo and asks her what she should do for her son. She suggests that he should look into La Iglesia de JesuCristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) since she´s a member (AND she is quite possibly a family that we rescued in Peguche. I still have to investigate, but I´m 99% sure. How awesome, huh!?) So they looked up the building and just showed up at church on Sunday and wanna learn more. WHAT ARE THE ODDS!? 

As we were walking out of the chapel, we saw a guy who looked like he was on the fence about coming in so we walked up to him and contacted him, turns out he´s the dad of some of our investigators (but he´s divorced and doens´t live with them) and coincidentially, he happened to be walking by the chapel at that very moment. We went and visited him last night since he lives in our sector. It was dope. 

The second time we were trying to leave the chapel, two ladies were walking up. We introduced ourselves. One was a member who moved away like a year or so ago and accidentally stole a hymn book, so of ALL days, she stopped by that day, with her nonmember friend to return the hymn book. Her friend, María, was super interested and happened to live in our sector we have a cita (appointment) with her this next week. WHAAAAAAT. 

THANK YOU MOTHER. I was overjoyed for the socks. Thank you so much. BIOTIN!!! AND TRUFFLESSSS FROM COSTCOOOOO I died. AND A NEW JOURNAL! Seriously, gracias. I teared up.

Our President was telling us about how on his mission, he and his companion would pray not to find investigators, but so that the investigators would find them. We were blessed to experience that this week with 4 different people. It´s crazy how the Lord blesses us for our diligence and obedience and faith. There were other little mini-miracles that day. We just broke our fast and a nice lady on the bus gave us each a mandarina. Tender mercies. It´s just so obvious that Our Father in Heaven is so aware of His children and He is continually reaching out to us and making His presence known in our lives. 

adventure hike with some members, woop woop 

We went out with some members hahhaa, oh so funny. I never noticed how much the mantle helps in like, every aspect of missionary work. There´s a shortcut we take to get to Cuba, a pretty ghetto ´hood in our sector where a ton of really humble people live, that´s actually kinda treacherous (but not too much). Anyways, Andrea was like, freakin´out and decided to sit down on the path because she was so scared of heights. But we made it! Eventually. When we were walking up to our investigator´s house, she asked why we were coming to this part of the sector (she´s pretty well-off and it was a big contrast to be in an area where people were very, very, humble.) and I simply responded, because everyone deserves to hear the gospel. 

This is one of the shortcuts we take to CUBA! Hahah, the ´hood is called Cuba. I love this view. I love my comp. I LOVE ECUADORRRRR

Also, we learn in Alma that the people who have been humbled are MUCH more receptive to the message. I know that this is true. After accompanying us that afternoon, she was describing how cool it was to observe the lessons, and also take part in them. She said that as the missionaries talked, the Spirit was like, BOOM, totally there, and that we truly were speaking with power and authority. She could discern the Spirit. It was awesome because you can tell that the Spirit is the true teacher. This work is so awesome, you guys. I never wanna come home. 

We were contacting and found familia L - Cabezas. They´re refugees from Colombia (I LOVE COLOMBIANS they are so open and fun). We first talked with Luz Carime (whose son we had contacted earlier that day but it took like 2 more days to realize that they were related hahha. But it goes to show that the Lord wanted the family to hear this message.) She was hesitant at first, but then she agreed to listen to the message of the Restoration. After we finished a summary of the lesson, we asked if she had any questions. ¨I have 2,¨ she said, ¨How can I get that book (the Book of Mormon) and when can you come back to teach me and my whole family?¨ I thought that line only existed in movies. It was so awesome because the Spirit was so strong. She and her whole fam came to church, including her sister and brother in law who she referred us to. DANG. 

The L-Cabezas fambam at the ward activity on Sat. We found them this week and they are SO dang prepared. OBSESSED with them. They´re so incredible.

The work is going great y'all. Next week, I´ll have [been out] a year. I´m not even trunky heh, don´t worry. It´s so cool that this second half of my mission I get to continue learning and also put into practice all of the things I have learned so far. I love the fact that I get to testify of my Savior, Jesus Christ, all day every day. And that I get to share the happiness that this message brings. I know that FAMILIES are the most important thing here on earth. We are all sons and daughters of a KING. He loves us and wants more than anything that we return to His presence with our families. The Book of Mormon is a TRUE testament of Christ. I LOVE IT. It applies to every aspect of our lives and is truly the voice from the dust saved for our times. I know that the Atonement is REAL and that we can use it daily, and better ourselves through the living sacrifice of our Older Brother, Jesus Christ. My testimony of Joseph Smioth grew a lot this week as well. I don't know where we would be without the Restoration of Christ's true church. I'm grateful to be living in these latter days and that I can be a part of the preparation of the Second Coming of the Messiah. GOD LIVES. JESUS IS THE CHRIST. The Church is true, y'all. 

I love each and every one of you so very much. 

Have a marvelous week. 

CON MUCHÍSIMO AMOR,
Hermana Bowman 

Some things never change........... jk, my desk usually isn´t this messy I promise. But it was like night and day, heheh.

P.S. HAPPY 15th BDAY HANNAAAAA, my little pumpkin. I love you. Have fun. Party for me and eat candy.

Sharing is cariiiiiiinggggggggg

Hey Fam-bam and amigos (friends), 

Well, another 6 weeks have flown by. Hermana (Sister) Landero, my Belizian compcomp got sent to... drumroll, the COAST! Woo woo. So tight. We spent 2 days in the hospital this past week. Turns out she´s got liver problems, but she is doing a lot better than before. THANK YOU FOR THE PRAYERS. Our mission nurse is the bomb dot comb so she took real good care of her.

I got my new companion, Hermana (Sister) Ponce, who is a DOLL! I love her, we were in the same zone a few months back. She´s from Chile and lives in the mission boundaries of Jordan´s... I mean, Elder McGee´s mish! Actually, Elder Archuleta baptized her niece! Small world, eh? I love her so much. People call her Hermana Caridad (charity, chapter 6 from Preach My Gospel, holla), ha! I´m so happy to be workin' with her! 

Barrio Pusuquí won´t know what hit them! We have 6 really hard working, spiritual missionaries here. Our zone divided because we had 29 people. Can y'all believe that when I got to Ecuador there were only 8 zones and now there are 14?! And we now have over 230 missionaries. It´s insane how God's work is spreading and growing across the globe. 

A gentle reminder, we do NOT need to have a nametag to be a missionary. As Elder Neil L. Andersen says, ¨If you’re not a full-time missionary with a missionary badge pinned on your coat, now is the time to paint one on your heart—painted, as Paul said, “not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God” (2 Corinthians 3:3).¨ 

We can all contribute and we can all help, in fact, it is our divine responsibility. Sharing is cariiiiiiinggggggggg! I remember in Young Womens we would always have a minute to share our ¨Missionary Moments.¨ Little did I know that each time I raised my voice and mustered up a bit of courage to share the Gospel with my friends, I was preparing to be a full-time missionary! I encourage y'all to put this into practice. It will help a lot, I pwomise. 

Last Monday we got out of our cita (appointment) early and had 20 minutes before we had to be home. Instead of saying, ¨Eh, it´s Preparation day, we should just go home and plan for tomorrow...¨ we decided to contact people. First lady we talked to in the street invited us into her house and introduced us to her 3 daughters and 2 nephews who were living with her! We found a new family. Nothing in this work is coincidence. It is alllll inspired. The Lord sees our efforts and faith and then blesses us accordingly. 

Chutaaaaaa, later that night though, we were getting ready for bed when right in front of our house, a 19 year old kid got killed. It was horrible. Ecuador can be a tad scary sometimes. We´ve been praying to find his family to be able to share the Plan of Salvation with them. 

I was pondering a lot about life and death and how we are only here on this planet for a little blip in time in comparison to eternity... God hasn´t left us alone. He knew we were gonna slip up and make mistakes, and so He sent His Son, who atoned for our sins, making it possible to repent. He has left us with a GPS, the Gospel. He is available 24/7 for ¨tech support¨ through the incredible tool of prayer. It´s just perfect. We aren´t alone! 

I KNOW my Savior. I love Him. I know He knows me. I can't believe I have been so blessed. I truly Stand All Amazed as the hymn states. He has so much mercy, grace, love, kindness, every Christlike attribute in the book. I know that this is the work of the Lord and that there are prepared people here in Ecuador, searching for the truth. I am blessed to be an instrument in His hands as it states in Alma 26:3. I know that this Church is true and that God´s hand is always guiding us along in our lives.  A wise one once said, ¨Little spiritual experiences as well as the bigger ones are the thing that get us through this life, because it´s God talking to us through His actions!¨ 

If y'all have a second, read this! Prayer is important. :)

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2014/10/the-prayer-of-faith?cid=HPSU100514466&lang=eng

Have a wonderful week. Be happy. Do a random act of kindness!

PORTARÁSEN BIENNNNNNNN (BEHAVE WELL)

Con amor (with love),

Hermana (Sister) Bowman 

¨How's it going in Guatemala!?¨

Hahahha, so I think its semi-hilarious that my inbox these past couple weeks has contained messages such as: 

¨Hope you´re enjoying Mexico!¨
¨How´s it going in Guatemala!?¨ 
¨I´m sure Bolivia is awesome!¨ 

Ohhhh, myyyyyyy hahahha. Y'all, I'm serving in QUITO, ECUADOR. Hahaha. But I love each and every one of y'all. It honestly doesn´t matter where I´m at as long as I´m serving the Lord, eh? 

Well, this week has been great, as usual. Can yall believe that we only have 10 weeks left of 2014?! No way.. I can´t. AHH and it´s already the last week of the exchange. Time fliiiiiies when you´re preaching the gospel!

My companion is really sick. We don´t really know what's up with her but she has a medical appointment at the hospital tomorrow. I love going to the hospital here beacuse it's like walking into the United States. Sooo since she hasn't been feelin´ too dandy we basically have stayed at home for like 4 days. 

(I loathe staying at home - it's the worst - but I'm almost done with the Book of Mormon again! It was really good study time, I also read a good chunk of Jesus the Christ and some of the Bible. I can Bible bash anyone, anydayyyyyyyyy, ha!)  But if y'all could keep Hermana Landero from Belize in y'alls prayers, that would be much appreciated :)

 All the members have been tryna pitch in their remedios caseros (home remedies) like, melting 2 sticks of butter and drinking it, drinking aguita de panela with 3 lime shells, taking an ice bath, and lots of other really interesting things hahaha. I love Ecuador.

On Tuesday, one of the days we went out to work, we went on a major adventure. We found this short cut, which was actually like, reaaallly dangerous. We kinda fell down a mountain -- hahaha. But it was worth it because then we found a SUPER prepared family of 8! Woo!!! We taught them 4 times this week and they are super super super interested. The 14 year old has full buenas preguntas (good questions). The Spirit has been super strong in all the lessons. 

The Elders came along to give Jackeline a bendicion de salud (blessing of health) 'cuz she has hepatitis. This family is so humble. They are struggling to even have the bread of each day, my heart aches for them. 

We made the empanadas de verde with familia Murillo and took it over to the familia Remache Mera for dinner. People here literally have nothing. Dirt floors and tin roofs, y'all. But their hearts are SO big. So so so big. I love being a missionary. 

all our pics this week involve food........ hm.......

Cookin' with Maribel and Christian...

We had a verde partyyyyy with the Murillos! BIG PROGRESS. Ramón finalllyyyyy agreed to be married to Bertha! So they are going to work on that because they want to get baptized. Miracles, miracles.   We made empanadas de verde and corviche. It was way fun and very delish.

I am not a karishina anymore! Hahaha -- that's what Ecuadorians call girls who can´t cook. I can cook, y'all.  We had to boil the verde and then mash it and all these other processes, but it was so worth it.

LOPEZ FAmmmmmmmmm
Love them. He´s the first counselor in the Bishopric and his wife is a SOLID convert. They are helping us fellowship the Murillo fambam.

I know that God loves us! and that the Book of Mormon is truuuuuuuuuuue.

MAKE GOOD CHOICESSSSSS, REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE.

Con amor (with love).

Hermana (Sister) Bowman 

PS It has been raining every day! It's officially ¨winter¨.  

There's an Elder from Prosper, Texas and we were talking about Stonebriar Mall and various restaurants: Canes and Whataburger -- I got really trunky for like a second. If anyone truly loves me, they will wait for me at the airport in May with food. Thank you. That´s all.

beyond blessed

Fam-o-lee: hello, or in the words of D. Todd Christofferson, ¨MUY BUENOS DIAS¨ hahahha. I died, that was so funny.  

Looking for investigators - hahahhehehehahahah.

There's this really good brand of water and its cielo aka sky or HEAVEN - hahah. We were drinking it during Conference and thought of John 4:14.

WOW. Conference was absolutely incredible. I am blown away at how in touch Heavenly Father is with us, when WE tune in! That is the key, having an open heart and ears as King Benjamin teaches us in Mosiah 2:9. I received so many answers and an overwhelming peace. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the true church. I could write essays about each of the talks! EACH one was inspired and I don't think I've ever enjoyed a conference as much as I have this one. I was about to list my favorites but each one taught a powerful lesson. I did notice the recurring theme of FAMILIES and I think Helaman 5:12 was mentioned or alluded to like 5 or 6 times. Also, the importance of our self improvement and TRUSTING in the Lord our God. How we need to pattern our lives after Christ's and become more commited and devoted disciples of His. Agh, there´s just too much to put into words. I am SO grateful for the blessing we have to hear modern day scripture through the prophets, seers, and revelators. 

FAMILIA MURILLO!!!! They came to conference. So cute.

We all matched. Ha! Our district made matching skirts and ties. The elders sewed their ties and an Hermana in the ward made our skirts for us, so kind!

The Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple!

Yoga wha???

Climbing trees in honor of ¨el señor del arbol¨ in our area --there are some crazy people who worship a big old tree.

I was blessed to have divisions with Hermana Quizhpe this past week and she told me that I have changed leaps and bounds since the last time she worked with me (which was about 9 months ago). What a compliment! But then I went back and reflected on the person that I truly have been shaped into during my mission. I feel that none of this would have been possible if it weren't for the Master, the one who is molding me into the person who He knows I can become. I have realized that trials and speedbumps strengthen us, I mean, this is WHY we are here on Earth! 

As many speakers taught this past week, to be tested and tried is our purpose! We learn to distinguish between bitter and sweet. We find the joy in the tender mercies of our Heavenly Father, we have the capacity to feel great joy because we have before experienced dissappointments and sorrows. It is for a reason. In this way, we grow and we develop faith. You can't just get faith as a present, all wrapped up and pretty- it's something that you attain through personal experience and practicing the principles in your own life, filling your lamp with oil. The same with a testimony and personal conversion, it's a constant effort. We can choose our current. 

I choose obedience, which was a recurring theme of Conference as a whole. I choose to be diligent. I choose to TRUST in my Savior and Redeemer, even Jesus Christ. I choose to stay on the Old Ship Zion! I got a lot of personal revelation and I really got closer to God this past week. I am really just grateful, to sum it up in one word. I am beyond blessed. 

ME AND THE QUIZH ARE BACK IN THE SAME ZONE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! WEEEE! Love this girl.

We played soccer and volleyball and dodgeball and stuff like that.  The Elders cooked for us today.  It's called causa. It's like layerd mashed potatoes and chicken and aji (garlic) and stuff. Waaaay good. ¨La mamᨠas they say here.

Maribel V. is progressing veeeeery well. She came to conference all by herself! Also, the Familia Murillo showed up BEFORE us. We are working on helping Ramón, the partner of Bertha so they can get married. They are doing well and enjoyed hearing the Prophet´s address. It was so cute, Ramón said that he felt all warm inside. :) 'Tis the Holy Ghost, people! 

So, just to update, Andres´s wife, Lorena (lol, my name in spanish! Woooo) had her bebé on Thursday so Andre's baptism got pushed back for a little while! 

This past while we have been focusing on balancing crecimiento real (less actives and recent converts) and investigators. I think it´s going really well as we do that. The people we are teaching right now are doing veeeerrry well and I can see their testimonies growing. I love those moments where you open your mouth and then words just flow out, guided completely by the Spirit. 

Everyday my conversion deepens and my gratitude grows! Remember that the best part about conference is going home and putting it all into practice. GO & DO ;) 

Thanks for everything y'all doooo!!! I love and pray for y'all.

Remember the Lord loves youuuuuuu :)

MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!!!

Con mucho amor (with lots of love),

Hermana (Sister) Bowman