Settling In

Well I'm settling in a little bit now here in Miami. Getting used to being closer to a Walmart instead of Cuba. It is weird again to be surrounded by so many people, but it is pretty fun as well. We have been doing a pretty good job at finding lately. We just need to start converting these people into progressing investigators. We have a few that are really excited for baptism, but getting them to church has been a little hard. This week we are pretty excited though because we think that we are solving that problem a little bit. One of our investigators that we actually set with a date last night tried to go to church. He just misread the directions and went like 10 miles past the church. We told him instead next week we will get him a ride so that way he will know how to get there from now on. Another investigator that really wants to be baptized (and then bring us to Cuba to spread the gospel there) got stuck at work. He works the night shift, so if he gets off a little late at all, the 9 o clock church is kind of hard. The only other ward in our building too is an english ward, so he cant just go late to that one occasionally to still get to go to church. We are having fun here though, it is still weird not riding a bike all the time now. I'm not a huge fan of it, but I guess its ok. If I had a time to be stuck in a car though I wish it was over summer when the humidity is crazy instead of winter when it is pretty nice outside. Well I love this work, and I'm so greatful that I am a part of it, I love this gospel and I am excited for General Conference coming again. I know that we have a prophet who leads and guides this church under the direction of Jesus Chrsit, and I know that we are watched after by a loving Heavenly Father who does everything he can to help us get back to him. I know that this church is true, I'm so grateful for all you do, and all the love you show me. I love you all
Elder Wesley Christopher Bowen

Back in Dade

After a confusing week of not knowing where I was going, I am finally at my new area. I'm now serving in the Miami Lakes North area.  Super pumped to be here. Elder T is my new companion. He was Elder Bj 's(my trainer) MTC companion.
Basically everyone I've served with now were all in the MTC together and go home the same day. It is a pretty big area we are in. We have a car. Not sure how much I like it. We have biked almost none, which is really a bummer when you get fed everyday. It is my first all Spanish area. There are a lot of English people here, but we have to pass them to the English Elders in the area when we find them. It is a little different but good, I should finally be able to learn Spanish better. It definately needs some practice. I have already improved in my listening since I got here so that is good. I had to give a talk in Spanish yesterday, that was pretty fun. It was all about why we should invite our friends to come to church and that through the ordinances is the only way we can fully experience the atonement. It was aight I think. We have already had some success knocking doors, so we are excited for what we are going to be doing this transfer.
Basically all the investigators though from before just got baptized.
We were supposed to have one Saturday, but they moved it up to Tuesday. We have been doing a lot of knocking because of that. It is nice though. Knocking here so far has been a lot easier than Key West. Still havent had to knock as much as we did there either, so it is really cool. We have already had some really funny experiences with some of the people down here, so dont be suprised if I have some good stories to tell about this area. It is a little weird though now not being in the Homestead zone anymore, but I'm really excited for the work we will be doing down here. That's all I really have for now, Thank you all so much for your love and support, and for everything you do for me. I love you and I love this gospel. I know that it is the true gospel and that through the ordinances of the priesthood, one can feel the atonement more in their life. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that we are doing his will serving down here. I love this church and I know that it is true.
Thank you all so much
Elder Wesley Christopher Bowen

Crazy weekend.

Crazy weekend. Everything was way different than what I thought it was going to be. We were having a pretty good week down in Key West, and I figured we were staying because we had some of the best success.

We had to go to the meeting on Saturday though, so we had to get everything ready and stuff, but nothing to major. Well we got our transfer info Thursday night(the night before we had to be in Miami) and they told us I was transferring this weekend, and that Elder Br would be coming down with a car(just missed the car). Well I had to pack everything really fast, and we had to find a quick ride to Marathon, then we made it up. We went on splits which was fun and I learned a lot from the District Leader. We then had to wake up early to get to the meeting by 7:40 in Miami Lakes. We got there and I still had no idea who my new companion was going to be. Everyone else is transferring this Wednesday, so I was like great this is going to be weird. We had a great conference with Elder G, and I really learned a lot. Then I was trying to ask the assistants who my next companion was, and they wouldnt tell me. Then I talked to President for a little bit about Key West, and then I said something about when will I find out, and he said, Wednesday. So then I asked well what do I do now. He said, your going and staying with Elder H, didnt they tell you. Nope. Well then I found out that Elder F, the other Zoneleader, was taking my spot in Key West, and I've been here with Elder H for the past few days, tearing it up down here. It has been a lot of fun. We sort of thought I might stay, but we got the call last night, and I am definately going to transfer meeting tomorrow, so I'm definately going somewhere else. This transfer is going to be crazy, because we are getting a new Assistant(I've had the same 2 my whole mission), atleast 3 new Zoneleaders, and my whole zone is going to transfer meetings basically. Super excited, I have no idea where I am going though, it should be fun. I had a lot of fun in Key West and I really loved it, but I guess it is time to move on.

The four days with Elder H have been nice because he is an awesome missionary, and I learned a lot from him. Thank you all so much for everything you all do. I love you and really appreciate it. I know this church is true, and that it is guided by a prophet of the Lord who recieves revelation from our Heavenly Father. I know that we have the authority to act in the name of Jesus Christ, and that we have been called to do so. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior and that he lives. I love you all so much, and love hearing from all of you

Elder Wesley Christopher Bowen

Early Dunks

So this week we had 2 baptisms.  Super awesome.  They were supposed to be this Saturday, but we will not be here, so we bumped them up to yesterday. They were both excited and ready for it.  One person we had been teaching for a while, the other we found like 3 weeks ago.  They were both super pumped and ready for their baptisms.  It was so awesome.  We had a lot of fun teaching them, and are excited to see them keep growing in the gospel.  This week we had the assistants down with us for Monday night and Tuesday till the evening.  It was awesome.  We got a lot of the trainings that we had been missing out on because of the fact of us being down here with no one else.  We really learned a lot.  We met a lot of people.  Never have had so much sucess knocking doors before. We are really excited about what is going on down here.  The area is really growing.  I love it down here so much.  Transfers are next week, I'm getting nervous.  We find out if we are leaving this Thursday.  We also have a zone conference on Saturday, so if anyone is getting transferred then we will go up, come back down, then go back up.  Could be pretty crazy.  If it is that crazy you might not hear from me for a couple weeks.  Hopefully I'm staying down for one more, because I love it down here and it is really growing.  We have had a lot of fun down here.  I am definately going to have to take many many pictures this week.  Such a good week though with the assistants, we had a lot of fun.  We are super excited to go up to Miami this weekend too and see the missionaries.  This will probably be a crazy transfer because we will have a new assistant, first time since I've been in the mission, so I'm not sure whats going to happen, but I do know that they have been working on this transfer for a long time.  well I have to go now.  i love you all and am so grateful for everything you all do for me.  I know this church is true and that it is Gods kingdom once again established on the earth.  I know that President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God on the earth today, and that Jesus Christ leads his church through the prophet.  I love you all so much

Elder Wesley Christopher Bowen

Neeeewwwww Record

This has been a pretty good week, we were able to have more lessons that I have ever had before here in Key West.  It has been awesome to be apart of the growth here, from my first week here to now we have quadrupled in lessons taught a week.  We have some people that we are super excited about and we have two extremely solid dates for the 18th.  Hopefully more solid dates to come.  It finally rained again this week.  First time I have seen real rain since I left Miami.  The whole island is flooded.  It is kind of funny that it can rain so much, and they dont have a better way of getting rid of it that they do.  Today the Assistants are coming down to visit us.  We had one of the Senior couples come down last week.  They came and checked our apartment, stayed the night, made us breakfast and then went.  It was good.  the Assistant will be down tonight and leave tomorrow night, so that exciting.  It is crazy to have some many visitors down here for us.  We had one Senior couple down here once in my first 2 transfers.  We might even get a visit from President Anderson soon, and maybe also a General Authority that will be touring our mission.  My bike has had some problems this week though,  the Senior missionaries told me to get it checked out at a bike shop, and we didnt have time, so we planned on it today, but then i got my first flat, the handle bars have a crack now, and my brakes are acting weird, and so are my gears, something about them telling me that really got my back in a bad mood or something.  Should get it fixed pretty soon though, but we are excited for all the work going on down here. I love this area so much, and i love being a missionary  Thank you all so much for your support and all you do for me, I know this gospel is true and that only through the saving ordinances can we live with our Heavenly Father in the Celestial Kingdom.  I know that the authority to do so is back on the earth, and that we have a prophet.  I love you all so much

Elder Wesley Christopher Bowen

Time just keeps flying by...

This week went by so fast, Seriously feels like I was here 2 days ago.  Well I guess that means it was a fun week.  We did pretty good.  Alot of the people that we wanted to meet with we were not able too, but we still were able to get a good amount of lessons even with some of our more reliable people fell through.  We had some really good lessons this week though.  We were also able to have 6 investigators at church, which was pretty good for us.  Church was a stake conference broadcast from Salt Lake with Elder Ballard, Elder Gonzalez, someone in the primary presidency, and Bishop Edgley.  It was good, but kind of weird because we didnt know until Saturday, and we were inviting all our investigators to come and witness the Atonement in action with the Sacrament, and then it wasnt there.  But it turned out well and was very inspiring and they all liked it anyways.  We had a lingerlonger afterwards with a lot of food.  There our investigators really got to know the branch a lot better, and I think that it was amazing.  We are so excited for the work that is going on here, and we see so many blessings every day and every week.  This coming week we should continue seeing success and be able to keep inviting more people to come unto the Savior.  I love this gospel and all it has for us.  I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I know that he suffered the Atonement for each and everyone of us so we can return and live with him, I know this church is true, and I know that families can be eternal, I'm grateful for this opportunity and for all the love you all show me.  i love you and thankyou so much for everything that you do for me

The Lesson

This week we had some pretty good lessons.  We taugt six on Tuesday and 3 were the Restorations so taht was cool.  We had some really cool experiences with that.  Our teaching pool is increasing and we are able to stabalize the amount of lessons we are teaching and we should be seeing more and more results soon.  Alot of the people we are working with are really progressing too.  Elder Br is a powerful missionary and is very keen on listening to the spirit.  We had some amazing lessons this week, and I know that the spirit was guiding everything that we said and everything we did at those moments, and I'm so grateful for those moments.  One in particular we went planning on teaching the Plan.  We kind of did, but it was way different than any other plan has other been.  We started out pretty simple, but when we got to the part about us being here on earth and learning and whatnot it went crazy.  Both Elder Br and I shared things we never thought of sharing before, and we know that it was exactly what the investigator needed.  One question he asked was about the atonement, and while he was talking it reminded me of the story in Alma 42.  So I opened up to it, and as soon as i looked down i saw a scripture I wanted to share.  Never had that scripture been on my mind before as something to share, nor had I even thought of it as profoundly as I did.  It is the second last verse in Alma 42.  We read it and our investigator stopped and thoguht immediately.  It was really cool.  We knew the spirit guided us, and it was one of the most memorable lessons I've had so far.  This transfer should just keep geting better.  i got to go, sorry, but I know these things are true and I love this gospel and I know that the Atonement is real and that we can access it from baptism on, and we can feel its healing powers.  I love you all, and cannot wait to hear from you

 

Elder Wesley Christopher Bowen