Only the Edge of the Hurricane

Wow, this has been a really good week.  Thought we were going to get hit pretty hard by the Hurricane, but we barely felt the edges of it hit us on Thursday.  We have been doing pretty well out here in the field.  We started out the week doing a lot of finding again. We were talking to so many people everyday.  School snuck up on a lot of people I think, so some appointments we had earlier in the week got cancelled.  I really have a hard time remembering exactly what happened then, but I do know we did a little more contacting than we usually do.  It was good though.  Thursday we had the follow up training meeting.  That was pretty interesting to try and get to.  The ZL's didnt need to go up, so we had to find another way to get up there.  They agreed to take us to H where there were some other Elders going to the meeting that took us.  We left like 40 minutes earlier than we thought we needed to, just to be safe.  Well we started our trip and got stuck in heavy traffic going to H.  There were so many cars, no matter what road we took.  Probably because the only freeway like thing takes a toll, so everyone stays off of it.  But so we got up there like 35 minutes after we expected to.  So that was crazy getting up there.  And then from H to Fort Lauderdale, thats when we felt the little effects of the Hurricane.  So there was a lot of rain heading up the road, so we were going pretty slow.  So we ended up getting there like 6 minutes late.  5 out of 8 companionships showed up when we did, or after us.  It was just crazy weather and traffic.  But so the meeting was good, we talked a lot about how we use How to Begin Teaching from PMG with the AP's, while the Mission President talked to the Trainers.  It was pretty good meeting, then we came back and we were supposed to go to this referral appointment that had been set up for us at 3 after we got back.  On the way, it started pouring, we got wet really fast.  The place had a security gaurd, and he couldnt reach the room for us to go to, so we werent alowed in.  We couldnt meet with the referral until the next day.  The next day we planned and then were able to go the referral with a recent convert.  We had a great lesson, and she was really excited for the Book of Mormon.   Afterwards we were able to see another recent convert.  He is now moving back to Peru, so that was really sad to find out for us.  He was hard to get to know at first, but we have been seeing him a lot and we have really gotten close.  He has a great love for the Book of Mormon and has already finished the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, and he has only been a member for 2 or 3 weeks, I forget time.  He is really great but is leaving this week. The next day, our plans went perfectly.  We saw everyone we planned on seeing, and actually overachieved some of our goals.  We had some great lessons, and J , the recent convert that had come out with us before came out with us again.  He has a powerful testimony and really helps in our lessons.  It was probably planning and goal wise our best day.  We met some great people and really got some amazing lessons that day.  Yesterday we went to an FHE, where the girls in the two of the families had invited their friends to come.  One of the them seemed very interested, and we are going to be talking more to him hopefully this week.  We didnt have much of a chance because the two of them left pretty quickly once it ended.  We are really excited that members are helpiong us out, and looking for opportunities to share the gospel.  One of the biggest thing we are always asking from the ward is to help us fellowship our investigators.  When the ward is involved, everything just seems more natural.  The people here are great.  I am very grateful for the opportunity I have to be here, and hope I get to stay longer in this area.  Transfers are a week from Wednesday, so we will find out then.  Thanks for all of your support and for al you do for me.  I love you all and I love this gospel, it is God's work.

Please keep Elder Bowen in your prayers this week as Hurricane Irene is headed for Florida!http://www.weather.com/

Becoming Master Teachers

This has been a really great week.  As you know we started off this week with Elder Ballard talking to us.  That helped us have more energy than we already had.  This week we have really tried to use his advice and become master teachers.  After my last email we had an appointment with someone that we had knocked on their door.  They had forgotten the day before, so we had set up to come back.  This time when we came back they were ready to hear us.  We gave the Restoration, and really tried to make it make sense to them, so the Holy Ghost could bear witness of the truth with more power.  The two guys really seemed like they understood the Apostacy, and saw how it could make sense to have a prophet now.  They are really cool, but they start college again today, so meeting with them is going to get harder.  We left them with a Book of Mormon and they both said that they are going to read, and they wanted to know if we had anymore resources.  We gave them a pass along card, with www.Mormon.org on it before and referred them back to that.  They said they really wanted to study it out and know if this what we said was true.  It was awesome.  Later in the week we went to a members house for dinner, and the wife's brother was staying with them, so we were able to set a later appointment with them.  We had a  great dinner and afterwards we taught the Restoration again.  The brother seemed a little resistant at first, but as we continued to teach he opened up more and more.  His brother in law(the member we went to visit) is a very powerful teacher.  He was able to understand so well the Apostacy that he saw the importance of Joseph Smith.  There was such a great spirit there when we were teaching him.  He said the closing prayer and thanked Heavenly Father for us, for his sister and brother in law, and for this truth that he had recieved.  He had a beautiful prayer and was very greatful for the Book of Mormon.  He Afterwards he told us how he just couldn't believe Joseph Smith, but because he understood why prophets were so important and why they had been taken off the earth, he knew Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God.  It was awesome.  Later in the week Elder B saw him again while I was on exchange with one of the Zone Leaders we live with.  We taught him again yesterday, and this time he accepted to be baptized.  He is going back to California today, but he is going with a testimony of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and wanting to fully repent.  I'm sure the Californian Elders will enjoy this referral we give them.  He took some pictures with him and we will get them later from the members in the ward.  He was great to teach and I know he will be a strong member.  But while I was on exchange we had some really cool appointments.  We went to a less active members house and gave them a picture of teh temple being built and they were excited about that and said they would come to church this week because their son is preparing for the Aaronic priesthood now.  I didn't see them though, so I think the other Elders are going to go back and talk again with them.  Afterwards we had an appointment with this kid that a high school student had reffered.  We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he was really receptive to it.  He was really cool and really easy to get along with.  Later that night we had an appointment with a part member family.  She is a Peruvian Gourmet Chef, so to say the least, the food was delicous.  We also were able to have her husband talk to us more than he usually does.  We were able to explain a little better the Word of Wisdom, and I was able to pick up on some new Spanish words I had never heard before about food.  It was a really cool exchange.  We are continually seeing the blessing of hard work, and continue to try more.  Yesterday we learned about a Tropical Storm out in the Caribean that if it does hit us it will be around Thursday.  We are really prepared so we should be fine.  Elder B had a pretty nasty crash while I was gone on exchange.  Both times I have been on exchange he has been in a crash.  These other Elders are just bad luck for him.  That has been our week in a nutshell.  It was a pretty good week.  I am becoming more and more active  in what we do, and I do a lot of the contacting now, like 70%.  Sometimes Elder B has to help me, especially if it is in Spanish, but it is all going well.  Thank you all for your support and love.  I love you all and I know this church is true and that I am doing what God would have me do.  I love doing this work.  Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, and through him all can be saved.  I love this Gospel and this church.  Again thank you all so much for what you do.

Elder Wes Bowen

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

7951 SW 6th Street Suite 110

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33324

I'm late because of Elder Ballard :) 8/16/11

So to start off I am sorry I was not able to write yesterday, we had a mission conference I found out about the day after pday last week so I didn't tell you. But it was great, we got there and we were told not to bring phones in, so we sat down, President Anderson got up and said we will be having Elder Ballard coming so get ready. It was great. He gave a great talk about missionary work and he talked alot about being bold and how we people often listen to our message because of who we are, and we need to be personable with them, teach with structure, but never have it memorized. It was awesome to have him and our Area General get up and talk to us. This was Elder Ballard's unassigned weekend and he visited 3 missions and traveled through Florida and Georgia. It was so cool that he came to talk to us as his last stop, then he was off back to Salt Lake City. We all also got to shake his hand, and he said that his wife's maiden name is Bowen when I shook his hand, so that was pretty cool. It was also cool because the area authority was supposed to go first, but Elder Ballard got up and said, "the nice thing about being a general authority is I have general authority, I couldn't do this thought if President Monson were here." But so he proceeded to introduce the area general and expressed his friendship he has with him. Both told some really great stories. Elder Ballard also talked about reading the scriptures and how every time he reads he will be reading and say "How long has this been in here?" because we always get something new from them, even the apostles do. We were able to use that in a short lesson with a recent convert, it was pretty cool. But now to answer some general questions: Our apartment is nice and we are able to do whatever we need to in there. We get mail just as if you were sending mail straight to me, it just takes an extra day. As long as you send it with United States Postal Service, if it come through UPS or FedEx I have to wait until there is a mission conference to get it. I'm not totally sure how big our ward is, but it is decently sized. The chapel is probably 3/4 the size of the Stake Center we went to in California. It gets mostly filled up. I'm doing fine riding my bike, yesterday I fell because of the rain, and that's how my pants got a little ripped, but overall well. We get fed really well. Members can only feed us after 6 or 5 I cant remember which if there is a non member or an inactive member is there for us to teach a little. Members are pretty good about either doing that or feeding us earlier. The other Elders in our ward do not eat as well as us, but they are doing well. I cannot think of anything I really need. Um as far as fast food, the only few I know we have for sure are McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Subway. We are able to do laundry in our apartment so we can do it anytime we need to over the week. We didn't see anything but rain, but that's pretty normal, so I don't think Hurricane Emily ever got to us. So that is the general questions I think. As for my week, I don't remember anything special from Tuesday except we ate a lot of food. Wednesday we had exchanges, I went to the Coral Reef area with our District Leader Elder M. It was fun, he had a lot of appointments set up for us, and the whole time we were in a car, haha what a different experience that is. It was pretty interesting getting to see a whole new area. Thursday we had a baptism interview so Elder M drove me back to my area, and gave the interview. Then on Friday we did service in the morning and I cant remember what else really happened. But then on Saturday we had a BAPTISM. He had heard the lessons like 2 or 3 times before and he had a pretty strong testimony. Most of his family was baptized a little while ago, but he said he wanted to finish the Book of Mormon first. He knew it really well, I was surprised because we asked him questions and he would bring up stories from the Book of Mormon, so that was exciting. We had to teach him quick though because I didn't know him until Tuesday, but since he knew it all, he agreed to everything and really knew most of what we were going to say. We had to clean out the font though because there was an 8 year old baptized like a week ago, and apparently the drain doesn't work anymore, so we had to pale it out and clean it out, so Saturday was a lot of work for the Baptism. Elder B baptized him. The other Elders have pictures from it, I will send some later. While Elder B and F were changing afterwards, F opened up and said he felt weird, then expressed desires to serve a mission. He is 15 so he was disappointed when he found out he has to wait 4 years. We told him its a good thing and he can get focused on it now and get to know the scriptures and whatnot even better. It was a really cool experience. We went home that night and called some people and committed I think 7-9 people to come to church the next day, I cant remember for sure if all said yes. But so church was about to start and we got a call from one that he couldn't come because work had called him in and he was behind because of the rain. Then church started and no one showed up. We were disappointed, but then a family walked in that has been hard to get in contact with again. They said they would come. So we sat with them and they really enjoyed church. Yesterday their son went to basic training so it was good he finally came. They all talked about a peacefulness they felt. They clapped for the Musical number, and some members started clapping too. the kids were embarrassed but it was ok. Alot of people came and greeted them because they clapped and people knew they were investigators then, so it all worked out great. Later that day, we got some great referrals from a late lunch appointment we had, so we are going to go and check them out pretty soon. Then yesterday was the Elder Ballard talk so that was pretty cool, and then we accidently forgot the phone in the car, so we had to get it because we needed to reach some members to come with us out to teach. Most of our lessons fell through though because we were not able to get a member to come with us. So we visited some recent converts and gave them a short message, then we had an FHE thing yesterday with some less actives, that went well. But so today I don't know what we are going to do. We haven't really done anything exciting on Pday yet. Last week we ended Pday really early to meet F, the kid that got baptized. So maybe we will do something fun today, we talked about playing soccer with a recent convert. So hopefully we get to do something fun. I have some more time now so I will try and send some more pictures. Thank you for everything, I love you all. sound like you are all doing well there. Stay strong in the Gospel. I love it so much and I know that this is Jesus Christ's church here on the earth.

Elder Wes Bowen

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

7951 SW 6th St Suite 110

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33324

The Return of the Bikes 8/8/11

This week we got our bikes back YAY! On Tuesday.  We forgot our helmets though and had to walk all the way back from the bike shop where we took the bus to.  So we took the bikes back to apartment, got our helmets and then left to go contacting.  As soon as we stopped to lock up our bikes, we heard a "PHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhh" sound.  We looked down and saw Elder B's back tire had gone flat.  He told me that is like the 10 time it has happened.  So we contacted for a bit, visited someone, then it was late by then so we were going to go see if we could get a ride to target to get a new tube.  As we were walking I thought why dont we just keep on walking.  Target is on the way home, we will just get back really late.  But that is what we decided to do instead.  So we were walking and we contacted this guy on the street who was just getting home from work.  He is interesting and he said he wants to go to church and took a Book of Mormon and said he was going to read it during laundry time.  So that was a cool contact we had on the way to Target.  Hopefully something comes of it.  The next day we had an appointment with this lady we had contacted at a bus stop that said she always loved the Mormons when she lived in Nigeria.  If it wasnt for their example she would not have let us come and teach her.  She was really excited to read the Book of Mormon and said she really wanted it if it could help her understand the bible and help her understand truth.  She seems like a great investigator.  We challenged her to be baptized and it starts out with " will you folllow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized..."  So she said of course I want to follow Jesus Christ and she went on for a bit, and said, "but I've already been baptized."  We tried to explain a little more why she would need to be baptized but thinks it is a sin to be baptized more than once and is really a waste.  She seems really receptive to everything else though.  We have been studying how to approach that question and we are going to go over priesthood power and try and build her faith.  When she gets an answer and understands why we need to be baptized by the priesthood, I'm sure she will be baptized and be a great member.  We are going out to teach her tomorrow.  But later that day as we were going to an appointment, Elder B's tire went flat again.  So we stopped by Walmart and he picked up two spares this time.  We went out and fixed it and were on our way.  The next day we had recieved a referal over the phone and went to go drop off a Book of Mormon with the referrall.  So we went out to meet him and stuff, he took it and said he cant wait to read and will ask his friend with any questions he had.  We could not set up a return appointment with him though.  But on the way back to the church, Elder B's tire went flat again.  He had 3 flat tires in 3 days.  Crazy.  Good thing he picked up the other one so we went off to the side and he fixed it up.  So we had some cool experiences that day with members.  But the next day, I think that brings us to Friday...  but anyways we decided to go to Walmart and pick up another spare just incase it happened again and we were right by it.  So we got in and as we found the bike isle.  This man walks up to us and says hey, your Mormon missionaries right?  and we say yeah.  Well he goes on to explain that he is a inactive member, but wants to return to the church, and also wants his girlfriend to be a member too.  So he gave us his information and we passed it on the Elders/Sisters that live in his area.  It is a good thing we were at Walmart haha.  So that was pretty cool, and hopefully we will get some referralls in return haha.  So Saturday we pretty normal, apparently there was supposed to be a tropical storm this week, but it got stopped in the Dominican Republic. So we got some rain, but it still has not been to bad here yet with rain.  Yesterday we wore panchos to go and eat, but the member picked us up before we got very far.  So rain has not been a huge problem yet.  The people here are all really nice.  On the street everyone is willing to atleast here what you have to say, and everyone wants a free card, and when we say its for a free book or dvd they look excited hahaha.  There are all types of latinos here.  Mostly Cubanos, Domincanos, Puerto Ricans, Venezualans, and Ecuadorians.  For some reason the Cubans dont get along with everyone as well, but thats the only thing.  You can definately tell when someone is from Cuba.  They speak so differently.  Hispanics love to talk too.  If you do not keep them on track they can get really far away from the original message haha, but it is good, and I think they like that I do a lot of listening right now.  I'm still learning Spanish, and I am gaining more and more confidence as I speak it.  After every Language Study we talk in as much Espanol after it.  Elder B keeps giving me more and more to do.  I do almost all the street contacting right now, but he does a lot more of the Door contacting, so he still does more than me.  But I am getting better.  Especially better at understanding.  I still miss some things from conversations, but I can get most of what is happening in it.  We had a baptism set up for last Saturday, but she needed to go to church.  I still havnt met her though.  She had mouth surgery, so the couple times she was there when she visited she wouldnt talk to us because she looked weird or something.  We were talking to her through her nephew.  She already knows that she has been moved back, but we really want to get in and teach her the importance of keeping her commitments.  If she isnt going to go to church now she probably wont go later.  So thats where we stand with her, it will be amazing if I still cannot meet her this next week.  But on Sunday we had a convert family come and tell us that their son wants to be baptized.  So we are going to go and teach him today and get him ready.  He knows a lot of it because his family just took the lessons a little while ago.  He said he knows the Book of Mormon was true and so is the restoration, so he should be a pretty solid person.  I think this Wednesday we are doing exchanges, so I'll be with our District Leader Elder M on Wendesday in his area, and Elder B will be with his companion.  Then it will go back to normal.  Elder M is a pretty nice guy.  We found out if we add up the amount of time each member of the district has had in the field, it is still less time than Elder M has been in the field.  We are a pretty young district besides him.  I think Elder B might be right behind him or the one after that, and he has only had 4 transfers I think.  I'm excited to go out with Elder M.  Also when the rain does come here, which it hasnt been to much of a burden to us, there is awesome Thunder.  The lightning is usually hard to see in bolts becuase of the clouds, but the Thunder is so loud.  Yesterday in a members home we heard a thunder that had to last like atleast 20 seconds.  So that was really cool.  Sorry this letter kind of all over the place, but I just keep thinking of what you all might want to know.  Time is flying by now, it honestly feels like I was here on the computer like 2 days ago.  Tell me if there is anything else you want to know, but I think that is a pretty good amount today.  I love you all.  Se que esta iglesia es verdadera y esta es la obra del Senor.  Nuestro proposito aqui es para traer la gente a Cristo por bautizmal.  Se que con Dios podemos hacer todas cosas y tener gozo en todos dias de nuestras vidas.  Amo este Evangelio y se que lo puede ayudar todas personas.  Thanks for your support and I love you all.
Elder Wes Bowen
Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission
7951 SW 6th St Suite 110
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33324

Here and Alive! 8/1/11

So the travel went well and we got picked up quickly in Fort Lauderdale.  When walked outside into the car we got hit with a wall of humidity.  But we quickly got into cars and out of the humidity.  We spent the first day doing orientation and we had dinner with President Anderson and his wife.  It was great meal, especially after the MTC, haha.  We stayed in a hotel that night by the mission office and then came to a church building the next day and met our companion.   4 of us cover our ward and the missionaries we are staying with are zone leaders.  So it has been great staying with them.  We went to work on the first day and after a couple of hours we went to the church for mutual and met the Bishop and some other members.  This is a great ward we have here.  It is both an English and Spanish ward.  Alot of the members speak both, but some grab translator headphones when they come in to sit.  It is really cool.  After all that we rode home.  the next day we got up and had planning and some other things and we were finally off and we went out to contact and meet our investigators and some ward members.  We did a lot of work that day and really put in our full effort.  On the way home though, I ran over a branch, and my gear shifter got busted, so we took it in the next day with a member driving us to the shop.  So needless to say we have been on foot since.  It really has been a blessing though.  On the way to where we have been going we talk to everyone now because it is really easy just to talk when your not sitting on a bike.  We have met some great people this way, and it has helped my confidence in talking to everyone we can.  My companion has been a good example of that to me and we are trying to get work done.  So Friday we did some service and a member helped us with our bikes and then we walked a bunch and met a lot of people.  The person we did service for invited us back again to help him again, and said he would have his wife make us dinner and afterwards we should talk about Jesus.  We found that an awesome experience and cannot wait to teach him.  We tried to see a lot of people around the church that were investigators.  We have one investigator who had a baptism date for this Saturday, but I still havent met her.  She works a lot and is on call or something, so she will not set up appointments, and she hasnt been there when we are there.  We will hopefully see her soon, we try often everyday.  She might be on vacation.  But so on Saturday we went to go see her and on the way we met a lady that was interested in talking to us and we are going to set up an appointment to teach her at the church, so that was great.  But our investigator  who has the baptism date wasnt there, so we walked across the street to the church because there was a scout carwash going on.  At the carwash there was a lady getting her carwashed and she wanted a Book of Mormon.  We gave it to her with our testimony and so we got a member referal there because a member brought her.  So that was great.  Then the bishop asked to drive us to our next appointment, which we went to and saw a recent convert.  She is doing well and I saw her again at church the next day and it was nice to see her there again.  But so after that we went to go see another investigator, but she wasnt there, and a car for a member family we wanted to see wasnt there so we were going for our next potential investigator when one of the members came out and said her son was there, which is who we have been trying to see for a while.  He is also another recent convert, but is not always going to church.  We had tried to see him before, but he was never there.  Then after we talked to him and I finally met him, we were leaving, and saw our investigator we had come to see.  She was unloading her car.  She had been hard to get in contact with because she just had twins.  We helped her carry in her purchases and left her with a short message and were able to see how shes doing since we hadnt seen her  in a while.  So all that was an awesome line of events that helped us know the Lord is guiding us.  Yesterday was church, which was half Spanish half English.  I got to meet a lot of members and it was great.  We did more work yesterday, and right now it is Preperation day until 5:45 so we are getting stuff ready for this week until then.  Sorry that seems like a lot in one single paragraph but this week has been a crazy week.  We are really working hard and I actually enjoy the work more than I expected to.  We will get our bikes back tomorrow so we will be grateful for that blessing when we get it back and be able to get around a lot faster.  The members are great here and always want to help come out with us and our always looking to help us.  I cannot help but love the people here.  It is really humid, but I dont think is is as much as the first day.  It also hasnt rained since the first day I got here, and that was only on the car trip over here.  There is some really good food here too.  Today we went to get some stuff done with the other Elders on the truck we have, and we had a Persian Book of Mormon in the car for someone, and we decided we wanted to find out how to write Jesus Christ in Persian so we brought it in PepBoys and started cross referencing it with an English Book of Mormon.  After we finished that I started to read a little bit and Elder B was working on a scripture list, and the other Elders were doing something in the same waiting area, and a lady walked in and asked us if we were having a meeting or something, because we looked like we worked there.  We explained to her about ourselves.  Elder B gave her a pass along card for the Book of Mormon and she said she was going to call the number.  I then realized I had brought the English one in, and was able to give her it right there.  She was in the other Elder's area, so they continued to talk to her, and she seemed really receptive.  She seemed interested and they have another appointment with her now.  Hopefully it goes somewhere.  We see the importance of always being ready to teach now and always looking for ways we can help.  Tonight we have an FHE activity with some members and their friends so hopefully we can meet some great people.  My Spanish is going alright, with the ward members yesterday I was able to have some basic conversations, but I still have a hard time understanding some people.  It will come with time though I am sure.  I love this work I am doing, and I know this is where I am supposed to be.  I know this work is true and I am so greatful for the opportunity to be out here helping people.  I know that Jesus Christ is my savior and he suffered for me.  I know the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. So that is what I have for you all ths week, I love you all and thankyou so much for your support

Con Amor,

Elder Wesley Bowen