Introspection

This week was not the week that we were hoping for. This week Elder P and I worked more in our area than we have since we have been together, partially due to miles and not being able to do companionship studies far from home, but either way we worked extremely hard in our area. We started out great reaching almost all of our midweek goals on Monday, and then we just did not have much success after that. We found some amazing people during the week, which we thought were going to be amazing, but we had a really hard time getting back into contact with them. The entire week we tried to introspect, and I think we did it to the point that we wore ourselves out and were looking beyond the mark. We had a huge desire to get people to church this past week, so we invited everyone everywhere to come to church and prepare for baptism, and we had so many people who were committed and excited to come, and then no one showed up. We talked a lot about it after church, and repentance came to mind. We have continued to talk about it, and we feel out of our desire to get everyone to church, we focused too much on the application and not enough on the why, repentance. This week we are going to be declaring repentance the best we can, and making sure that everything we do is tied to bringing people unto repentance, and having urgency to move forward, and not procrastinate the day of their repentance. We did have some amazing spiritual experiences this week. We met with a new investigator who is a Native American Cuban. We hit it off really great because of the things I learned when I was in Okeechobee with the Seminoles, and he even knows some of them. Then in the lesson we had a strong feeling to share Alma 34:32, but it wasn't coming out, and then he asked about the Law of Chastity, and he read the verse before, and after, and he said those were the most powerful sentences he has read in his life, and he now realizes that life is here for us to master our bodies. Later in the week we met with someone who Elder P contacted while he was leaf blowing. He accepted to be baptized, and he is preparing to be baptized once again so he can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. He is really awesome, and called to make sure that we were coming by. Overall we are doing good. We have done a lot of good things and are continuing onward. I know that the Lord will help us, and he always provides miracles when we have the faith. I love the Lord, and I am so grateful that I can be here to do his work. I love you all so much!

Elder Wesley Christopher Bowen

More pictures from Okeechobee

Hectic week

A sister in his current ward emailed these pictures to me and said she will be like paparazzi when he is around!

This week has been a whirlwind of excitement. We had some amazing things happen in our own area, and we were super excited for all the miracles that we saw. First we had an amazing two lessons with, a referral that we received this our first day together. We taught her the first time on Tuesday, where we set her with a date for the next Sunday because she had just made it to church. She was super excited, but a little aprehensive about her date. It was one of the most spiritual lessons of my entire mission. We testified to her of baptism, and showed her with Mosiah 18:8-10 that she truely was prepared to be baptized. The next day we went over and taught her everything else for her baptism, because she was going to be busy the rest of the week at work. Her husband had prepared her a little bit, but it was an amazing experience that we had with her. We taught about tithing, and she told her husband that the time has come that they must start to pay their tithing. She was so faithful in everything, and she understood so much of it as well. She was very anxious, but she made it to Sunday, and had a huge smile after her baptism. Another experience we had, had to do with our planning. Elder P and I have tried to apply the things we learned at ZLC and in the zone training we studied for, and we have been seeing miracles. We knew thata couple we had met two days before were going to have a hard time coming to church, especially with day light savings time, but we prepared an amazing lesson plan during weekly planning, then during companionship study the next day we went over it, created even a little bit more, and then practiced it with the other Elders in the apartment. They were so amazed by the power of the lesson, and we testified to them of the power of planning. We then taught the couple and they were so overpowered by the spirit, and knew they needed to come, and promised they would.
We had an amazing Zone training this week as well. It was very powerful and us and the zone learned a lot. The assistants came, and really helped out in it, and were always identifying the spirit so people would write down the impressions they had. It was a great week for us.

In the Book of Mormon we had some amazing studies this week. I studied a lot about how Nephi became who he became, starting from 1 Nephi 1-4. In those chapters Nephi goes through a lot to start with, and is put into a humble circumstance, "My father dwelt in a tent." Through the hard times he had, he started depending on the Lord, even, "crying unto the Lord," and the Lord did visit him and he received a confirmation to follow the words of his father, and from that point on, he never did stray. That study combined with Elder P study of 1 Nephi 17, we were inspired, and also shared our insights with a lot of the members of the zone. It really helped us be resolved throughout the entire week.

We have been so blessed here. I love my mission, and I love all that the Lord does for us. I know that He cares for me, and all of his children here, and he is always preparing people to come to him and receive the blessings that he has prepared. I love you all, and I cannot wait to hear from you.

Elder Wesley Christopher Bowen

Zone leader

This week was a great week in the H Zone and the P area! We had a lot of awesome things go on here, and we are really excited for the work that is going on here. We have a lot of new faces, and a lot of new experiences going on, and we are so grateful to be here at this time to be apart of this great work. We are also extremely happy that we were able to reach 42 baptisms as a mission, breaking a record for a single week for us. We have 3 sister companionships training, 1 elder training, 2 new district leaders, and 2 of the training sisters are pink washing in. We have had a lot to do to start off this transfer.

In the P area we had a great week. We have been super busy, and looking to use our time the most effectively. We also started out early on praying to find a family that would follow Christ in their lives. Thursday night we went to a spot we had prayed about, and asked God for that exact thing, that we might be able to find a family that night. We followed the feelings we had and the third door we knocked we met a great family. We could not go in, but we said a pray with them at their door, with the spirit so strong. As we invited them to be baptized they accepted right away, and accepted for March 10! They were so excited. They missed our return appointment on Friday, but we were able to set another one up for Saturday, where we found out that Teddy was looking for greater peace in her life and balance, and her daughters are looking for greater guidance in their lives, and they also have always wanted to be baptized. the mom did not make it to church, but her daughters were able to be there, and they saw the baptism. They both felt the spirit strong there, and knew that that is what they wanted to do. We were able to testify to them that night that they can be ready this coming Sunday, and they are so excited. They are coming to a FHE tonight. We also had an amazing experience on the first day, where a family asked if they could teach them at the church, and we are going to be visiting them tomorrow. The husband is a member, and wants his wife baptized so they can be sealed in the temple.

I was able to go to a Zone Leader Council for the first time this Friday, and it was amazing. We received so much revelation, and I am so excited for the work that we have to do here in H. I am so grateful for the Lord and all that he does for me and the people around me. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that he loves us, and will support us through anything. I know that we can receive greater inspiration as we follow him and desire that in our lives and plan to help others in the best ways. I love this gospel, and I love this work. I love you all, thank you so much for all that you do.

Elder Wesley Christopher Bowen

He's a zone leader now :)

And on the back row in a picture for once!

Picture from Okeechobee