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