Yes you heard that right boys and girls! I am coming home this month. However I have discovered that I will not be arriving home until April 1st until around 6pm at the Salt Lake City international airport. I will be flying from Ghana to London. Then from London I will fly to Dallas, then I will make my final departure to Salt Lake City and into my mommy's arms! YAY!!!! However that is in a few weeks so we don't need to worry about that just yet. I am not sure if I have mentioned but I will be staying up in Salt Lake City to go to General Conference.
Now onto my week. I should start by saying that the New Town Ward was split on Sunday. It was very interesting because the Stake President was there and during the Stake Business he divided it and told the boundaries, released everyone from their calling except the Bishop, and then called the New Branch Presidency and Bishopric and then said that since there were two wards in the meeting it was a bi-ward sacrament meeting and that for the rest of the meeting he would be conducting. It was also Fast and Testimony meeting so all the testimonies were about the ward splitting and how they were all grateful for the Bishop and all he has done to help the ward. It was a very nice meeting. We were so packed that we (the missionaries) had to sit outside.
Now for your information I will be in the ward. My companion and I. The other four missionaries that were in the ward with us will be moving to the branch. It is called Maamobi Branch. They will be in the same building until the rented building they are getting is finished (unlikely to happen while I am in Africa). However I am now the District Leader over three units of the Church. New Town Ward, Maamobi Branch, and Alajo Ward. Ten Missionaries in all. I don't think I have told you ever but this is the biggest district that I have been district leader over my entire mission. I have been in a ten missionary district, but never as District Leader until I came here in December (but back then it was only two wards). Now it is two Wards and one branch. Crazy!!!! AND STRESSFUL!!!!
This week was not one of our better weeks. My companion has not been feeling too well. Apparently he hasn't been feeling too well his whole mission. Just super sick and not really trying to do anything to make it better. He is trying though. Just Ghana has given him a rough time and when he has companions that like to push it doesn't help. You know me, I'm an understanding guy. If you need to rest, you need to rest. Of course one day I just was like come on lets go and he was like no I am not feeling well, and I was like ok if you are not feeling well and wanna stay inside, call Sister Hill and tell her that, if not lets go! He accepted my challenge and called and Sister Hill said to stay inside until he was filling well. Fine. Hopefully this week we can do more then what we did last week because I do wanna work hard the rest of my mission.
Other then that we are doing super well. Had four people at Church which is sweet because we have six with a baptisimal date and the two that didn't come had already told us that they weren't coming so the four that did come were all expected and now on the 15th of this month we will be baptizing all of them hopefully. Pray for me and them. They will need it, we all need it. We all need to pray for everyone. This world is getting crazier and crazier as it goes by. We truly are getting closer to the second coming of the the Savior. We need to continue to prepare, because it could happen any day. Are we ready? I hope so.
Love,
Elder Bowden
-----------------------------------------Elder Ty M. Bowden, Ghana Accra West Mission-------------------------------------------- This blog is written by Elder Bowden and his family. When we receive a letter, picture or an update, it will be posted on here so all of his friends and family can see.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Monday, February 23, 2015
Two Weeks in a Nut Shell
Well...sorry about not emailing any of you back last week. I hope that I repented today. Well lets get to it. Last week we had transfers. Exciting because this is my last transfer on mission. I will be staying in New Town for the last six weeks of my mission. Great. I also have a new companion. His name is Elder Graves. There is a tradition that the last companion on mission is the missionary to "Kill you" So Elder Graves will be the one to kill me. It is funny because his name is Graves. . .Get it GRAVES. . .Haha. Elder Graves will send me to my Grave. Get it? He is from San Jose California. He is the tallest missionary in the mission. He has been on mission a little over seven months now. He is into computers video games and star wars and a lot of that good stuff. So he is cool for me.
Also found out on Sunday that the New Town Ward will be split this upcoming week. Which is weird because we had our Ward Conference last week and now they will split it in the upcoming week. Crazy I know. It is whatever. It is being split because a lot of members stay in a farther part of the ward boundaries and have to travel all the way out here for Church. However, the rented building that they are going to be using is not yet finished. . .so they will still be going to the same building. . .which can not even fit everyone into it as is. Whatever. Now there will be one ward (that will be the one i am in) and one branch (the other missionaries will be in) for now. Okay, so it will be cool to see how much faster the work progresses once they actually get their building.
We had five investigators come to church yesterday. It was really cool. I didn't think that all five would come, but it was amazing to see that all five of our investigators with Baptismal dates for the 15th of March came. Please be praying for them. They need it super badly. Also Pray for rain. It is the reason for all of the light off I believe, and as the months go by there is less and less of it. We are in the late beginning of rainy season and only twice has it rained and only for about 30 to 90 minutes. I hear the even in Utah it is pretty bad. So I will be praying for you and you can pray for me. Sounds like a good deal.
As the weeks roll by, I would just like all of you to know that I plan on returning on the 31st of March. I will be landing at the Salt Lake City international airport. I will not be flying to the St. George Airport. This is my own choice because I will be going to General Conference that weekend. I also want to do some training up in Salt Lake City and because the area is higher in elevation I want that to help kick my butt a little bit. It will help push me to train harder and harder. I just am so excited to hear from all of you once I am home. It is not easy. At transfers last week everyone was talking to me about it. One was like. . .your still here? And I was like. . .ya! And he was like. . .bro you gotta go! And I was like I KNOW!!!!!. LOL.
Ok well I am going to sign out for this week. Hope you all have a wonderful day and week and we will see ya later.
Love
Elder Bowden
Also found out on Sunday that the New Town Ward will be split this upcoming week. Which is weird because we had our Ward Conference last week and now they will split it in the upcoming week. Crazy I know. It is whatever. It is being split because a lot of members stay in a farther part of the ward boundaries and have to travel all the way out here for Church. However, the rented building that they are going to be using is not yet finished. . .so they will still be going to the same building. . .which can not even fit everyone into it as is. Whatever. Now there will be one ward (that will be the one i am in) and one branch (the other missionaries will be in) for now. Okay, so it will be cool to see how much faster the work progresses once they actually get their building.
We had five investigators come to church yesterday. It was really cool. I didn't think that all five would come, but it was amazing to see that all five of our investigators with Baptismal dates for the 15th of March came. Please be praying for them. They need it super badly. Also Pray for rain. It is the reason for all of the light off I believe, and as the months go by there is less and less of it. We are in the late beginning of rainy season and only twice has it rained and only for about 30 to 90 minutes. I hear the even in Utah it is pretty bad. So I will be praying for you and you can pray for me. Sounds like a good deal.
As the weeks roll by, I would just like all of you to know that I plan on returning on the 31st of March. I will be landing at the Salt Lake City international airport. I will not be flying to the St. George Airport. This is my own choice because I will be going to General Conference that weekend. I also want to do some training up in Salt Lake City and because the area is higher in elevation I want that to help kick my butt a little bit. It will help push me to train harder and harder. I just am so excited to hear from all of you once I am home. It is not easy. At transfers last week everyone was talking to me about it. One was like. . .your still here? And I was like. . .ya! And he was like. . .bro you gotta go! And I was like I KNOW!!!!!. LOL.
Ok well I am going to sign out for this week. Hope you all have a wonderful day and week and we will see ya later.
Love
Elder Bowden
Monday, February 9, 2015
Another Week
Hello everyone! Greetings from Ghana once again. It has been a very nice week here in the land of Ghana. I would just like to start by informing all of you that are interested in the AFCON that was mentioned just last week of what happened. Ghana and Ivory Coast made it all the way to the finals, and it was a a close one. After 90 minutes it was 0-0, so another 30 minutes were played and we were still left at 0-0. So it went to the dreaded penalties. The winner of the AFCON 2015 was non other then Ivory Coast winning
0-0 (9-8). Sorry Ghana. . .next time.
Light off is not easy oh. If there is one thing that I would of done when I first came to Ghana, if I had known, was I would of bought a backup generator. They were like only 100 cedis and could of easily run an apartment of missionaries. Oh well. Now they are like 300 or 400 Ghana cedis so that is not possible. So we suffer with 12 hours of no light, and 12 hours with light on. So sleeping has been a real pain, but I have gotten used to it but my companion has not. He just tosses and turns. I feel bad for him.
This week was good (minus light off). We had a lot of lessons and made a lot of contacts. Because of my duties as a District Leader I had to go on two exchanges this week in order to keep up with going on exchanges with everyone. On Wednesday I went with a missionary named Elder Legg. He is a great guy. He knows how to teach and how to do it to each persons level of understanding. It was so funny. One lesson I just couldn't stop laughing because he was just making jokes with the investigator the whole time and it was applying to the principle that we were teaching. It helped that person understand more of what we were trying to tell her.
The other exchange I went on was with my MTC/AP Elder Clark. He is in my District so I went with him into his area. He has a truck! It was great. His area is a completely different world, compared to the rest of the New Town Ward. My area and the other Elders area is mostly Muslim and poor. Elder Clark's area. . .BMW's, Porsche's, Lamborghini, Audi's and other nice things like that. We saw an Audi R8 fly by and we are both like WOW!!! Who knew Ghana had one. His area, is so different that I was wondering why it wasn't it's own ward. It really could be, but then again there are only like 10 members in it. AND IT IS A MASSIVE AREA!!!!!!
We had four investigators at Church and it was sweet. During the second and third hour the Bishop gets up and starts finishing the members for failing to pay their tithing and all that good stuff. It was so funny, he went through every column on the tithing slip and explained what it meant and what it did and why we needed to contribute to it. Even the "other" section he took time explaining it. I was shocked. So was Elder Clark. After church everyone rushed up to pay their tithing. So funny. Even some investigators payed their tithing it was soooo good.
I think that will be all for this week. Thank you so much for all of your prayers on my behalf. Let's make these next two months good ones! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
ELDER BOWDEN
0-0 (9-8). Sorry Ghana. . .next time.
Light off is not easy oh. If there is one thing that I would of done when I first came to Ghana, if I had known, was I would of bought a backup generator. They were like only 100 cedis and could of easily run an apartment of missionaries. Oh well. Now they are like 300 or 400 Ghana cedis so that is not possible. So we suffer with 12 hours of no light, and 12 hours with light on. So sleeping has been a real pain, but I have gotten used to it but my companion has not. He just tosses and turns. I feel bad for him.
This week was good (minus light off). We had a lot of lessons and made a lot of contacts. Because of my duties as a District Leader I had to go on two exchanges this week in order to keep up with going on exchanges with everyone. On Wednesday I went with a missionary named Elder Legg. He is a great guy. He knows how to teach and how to do it to each persons level of understanding. It was so funny. One lesson I just couldn't stop laughing because he was just making jokes with the investigator the whole time and it was applying to the principle that we were teaching. It helped that person understand more of what we were trying to tell her.
The other exchange I went on was with my MTC/AP Elder Clark. He is in my District so I went with him into his area. He has a truck! It was great. His area is a completely different world, compared to the rest of the New Town Ward. My area and the other Elders area is mostly Muslim and poor. Elder Clark's area. . .BMW's, Porsche's, Lamborghini, Audi's and other nice things like that. We saw an Audi R8 fly by and we are both like WOW!!! Who knew Ghana had one. His area, is so different that I was wondering why it wasn't it's own ward. It really could be, but then again there are only like 10 members in it. AND IT IS A MASSIVE AREA!!!!!!
We had four investigators at Church and it was sweet. During the second and third hour the Bishop gets up and starts finishing the members for failing to pay their tithing and all that good stuff. It was so funny, he went through every column on the tithing slip and explained what it meant and what it did and why we needed to contribute to it. Even the "other" section he took time explaining it. I was shocked. So was Elder Clark. After church everyone rushed up to pay their tithing. So funny. Even some investigators payed their tithing it was soooo good.
I think that will be all for this week. Thank you so much for all of your prayers on my behalf. Let's make these next two months good ones! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
ELDER BOWDEN
Monday, February 2, 2015
LIGHT OFF!!!
Well I guess I have got a lot of explaining to do. Last week, well. . . as I was about to get on, LIGHT OFF! Let me tell ya, it has not been easy these past two weeks in the light off and it is usually been in the night time so sleeping has not been easy. I thought that I was used to it, but dang these past two have been a real killer and it is all of Accra too. Don't know why. It is actually amazing that I am talking to you people with light at the moment. Usually the cafe' I am at has a backup generator, but for whatever reason there was last week. . .it failed. So It had to be repaired so hopefully tonight IF there is light off then we will be prepared.
Now I will attempt to cover two weeks worth of valuable information. So I will start kinda in the middle. Last week Sunday we wake up and are getting ready for church and as we are leaving we unlock our door and notice that the key mount has been tampered with. Like someone took a hammer and tried to break it. Also a screwdriver had been forced through the crack of the door to try and shimmy it open. ALL FAILED. Whoever it was definitely is not a pro at unlocking/breaking into apartments. This is strange because a week earlier the Zone Leaders apartment HAD been broken into and then ours following. Not sure if they are related but you can never be too certain. After this the mission sent some guys to double our protection. Adding a second door key AND an alarm pad lock. Also me myself added a bike lock for kicks and giggles. Ain't no fool gettin' in this place now!
We had two really good weeks. I was really happy because it has been a really good month. Not like the greatest but better then one could think for the area that we are in. We have found a family we have started to teach and hopefully starting next week they can come to Church and worship with us. Not just them but several others. We did have 4 investigators at church yesterday. Our teaching pool isn't really that full however, in fact most would say it is empty except for a few drops surrounding the drain. I feel differently because a few months ago the pool was being used as a skate park. However there is room for improvement. Our baptismal dates are very low compared to when I was in Dansoman and we had more then ten a week. We will improve on the ruff edges and hope for the best.
My companion is doing well. He is learning and teaching more. I basically just let him plan and do everything (I've been planning and doing everything for almost 18 months, I'm tired)! He has been doing well. Loves reading his scriptures and every minute that he gets he is busily eating them up. Keeps on going. Great guy.
Last week Monday, me and my companion, the APs, Office Elders, and another companionship went to this place in the APs area that has a MINIATURE GOLF COURSE!!!!! Who would of thought. Actually I've known about it for a long time. Ghana actually has two full 18 hole golf courses (we would go there but it costs 100 cedis to play), so why be surprised that they also have a Miniature Golf Course. I know right! It was so much fun. 18 mini holes of fun!! Just like the courses back home. It is owned buy a woman from England. Accent and all. Totally worth it.
A little sports updates this side of the world. Not sure if I have ever told you about this, but in Africa they do a tournament called the Africa Federation Cup of Nations or AFCON. So Ghana is in the Semi Finals against Equatorial Guinea who happens to be the host team. If Ghana wins they go onto the finals against either Ivory Coast or the team they play. So it is really exciting to be here. During two major sports events in Ghana, first the FIFA World Cup where America humbled Ghana 2 - 1. Now Ghana is back for revenge in the AFCON. GO BLACKSTARS!
So I am outta here. I love all of you so very much. Hope you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Bowden
Now I will attempt to cover two weeks worth of valuable information. So I will start kinda in the middle. Last week Sunday we wake up and are getting ready for church and as we are leaving we unlock our door and notice that the key mount has been tampered with. Like someone took a hammer and tried to break it. Also a screwdriver had been forced through the crack of the door to try and shimmy it open. ALL FAILED. Whoever it was definitely is not a pro at unlocking/breaking into apartments. This is strange because a week earlier the Zone Leaders apartment HAD been broken into and then ours following. Not sure if they are related but you can never be too certain. After this the mission sent some guys to double our protection. Adding a second door key AND an alarm pad lock. Also me myself added a bike lock for kicks and giggles. Ain't no fool gettin' in this place now!
We had two really good weeks. I was really happy because it has been a really good month. Not like the greatest but better then one could think for the area that we are in. We have found a family we have started to teach and hopefully starting next week they can come to Church and worship with us. Not just them but several others. We did have 4 investigators at church yesterday. Our teaching pool isn't really that full however, in fact most would say it is empty except for a few drops surrounding the drain. I feel differently because a few months ago the pool was being used as a skate park. However there is room for improvement. Our baptismal dates are very low compared to when I was in Dansoman and we had more then ten a week. We will improve on the ruff edges and hope for the best.
My companion is doing well. He is learning and teaching more. I basically just let him plan and do everything (I've been planning and doing everything for almost 18 months, I'm tired)! He has been doing well. Loves reading his scriptures and every minute that he gets he is busily eating them up. Keeps on going. Great guy.
Last week Monday, me and my companion, the APs, Office Elders, and another companionship went to this place in the APs area that has a MINIATURE GOLF COURSE!!!!! Who would of thought. Actually I've known about it for a long time. Ghana actually has two full 18 hole golf courses (we would go there but it costs 100 cedis to play), so why be surprised that they also have a Miniature Golf Course. I know right! It was so much fun. 18 mini holes of fun!! Just like the courses back home. It is owned buy a woman from England. Accent and all. Totally worth it.
A little sports updates this side of the world. Not sure if I have ever told you about this, but in Africa they do a tournament called the Africa Federation Cup of Nations or AFCON. So Ghana is in the Semi Finals against Equatorial Guinea who happens to be the host team. If Ghana wins they go onto the finals against either Ivory Coast or the team they play. So it is really exciting to be here. During two major sports events in Ghana, first the FIFA World Cup where America humbled Ghana 2 - 1. Now Ghana is back for revenge in the AFCON. GO BLACKSTARS!
So I am outta here. I love all of you so very much. Hope you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Bowden
Monday, January 19, 2015
Greetings from Ghana
Hello everyone. Well it has been another week here in the wonderful hot land called Ghana. The last few days I do not know why, but they have just been super sweaty. Like none other!! I was sitting on my chair last night, and I was sweating like crazy. Of course I am always sweating, but it was just more then usual. A little surprised because I am used to the heat and what not but the past few days have really been killers.
Anywhos. . .I have some very good news. . .The good news is that we had a Baptism yesterday! YAY! That is sweet since I wasn't really planning on one. We had been trying to see this guy all of the week and he hadn't been around due to work so we had been seeing him in the evening around seven or eight pm and some days he wouldn't even be around then. Finally Friday night we see him so we can teach him lesson five. We do that so Saturday night the Zone Leaders come to do his interview. It was a miracle. His name is Thomas and he is super cool. He has been investigating the Church for about five to six months but has been coming and going so often that the missionaries did feel good about it. Then finally he started to show up when I arrived and we finally got him! YAY!!!! He has a son who is eight and he will be a child of record in a few weeks.
Grace didn't show up to Church. . .again. She is the one whose husband is a Muslim and she is a Christian. She came last week but yesterday she didn't. I just wanna take her and scream. Nevertheless I feel that she can be baptized in the next month. I am not going to push her, I want to go back, reteach all the lessons to her, and then see what is going to happen with her. If nothing happens we will have to drop her. That is sad to think, and I hope I am wrong, but we can not waste our time with non serious people.
I want to share an experence me and my companion found ourselves in last Saturday. We were teaching a guy named Michael when all of a sudden a Jehovah's Witness comes up and interrupts our lesson (typical). Well, we debated and argued and it was two LDS missionaries and one Catholic vs a Jehovah's Witness. Crazy combo if I've ever seen one. It worked. He left. They never let you talk, only them talking talking talking. Good grief.
So I was looking at Dixie State University website on Google and up comes the "notable alumni" and you would never guess who I found on it.
Anywhos. . .I have some very good news. . .The good news is that we had a Baptism yesterday! YAY! That is sweet since I wasn't really planning on one. We had been trying to see this guy all of the week and he hadn't been around due to work so we had been seeing him in the evening around seven or eight pm and some days he wouldn't even be around then. Finally Friday night we see him so we can teach him lesson five. We do that so Saturday night the Zone Leaders come to do his interview. It was a miracle. His name is Thomas and he is super cool. He has been investigating the Church for about five to six months but has been coming and going so often that the missionaries did feel good about it. Then finally he started to show up when I arrived and we finally got him! YAY!!!! He has a son who is eight and he will be a child of record in a few weeks.
Grace didn't show up to Church. . .again. She is the one whose husband is a Muslim and she is a Christian. She came last week but yesterday she didn't. I just wanna take her and scream. Nevertheless I feel that she can be baptized in the next month. I am not going to push her, I want to go back, reteach all the lessons to her, and then see what is going to happen with her. If nothing happens we will have to drop her. That is sad to think, and I hope I am wrong, but we can not waste our time with non serious people.
I want to share an experence me and my companion found ourselves in last Saturday. We were teaching a guy named Michael when all of a sudden a Jehovah's Witness comes up and interrupts our lesson (typical). Well, we debated and argued and it was two LDS missionaries and one Catholic vs a Jehovah's Witness. Crazy combo if I've ever seen one. It worked. He left. They never let you talk, only them talking talking talking. Good grief.
So I was looking at Dixie State University website on Google and up comes the "notable alumni" and you would never guess who I found on it.
Second to right: Wendy Horman. That is my aunt! Never would of thought of seeing family on the Alumni of Dixie State. Elder Holland was number one, so Aunt Wendy, you are on Dixie's Alumni.
Well, I guess that will be all for this week. Thanks everyone for your prayers and thoughts in my behalf.
Love,
Elder Bowden
Monday, January 12, 2015
WEEK 93
Well, another week is gone. They are going by faster then I can possibly imagine. This week was a very good week for us. On Saturday we kicked some serious butt! It was sweet. Especially in this area it was surprising to me that it has now happened for the last two weeks. I believe that it is all due to you. Your prayers and thoughts heading my way have really helped me and my companion. Keep praying for us. Pray that we continue to work hard and smart and that our investigators progress.
Well last week was the beginning of my second to last transfer on mission (I have all the milestones marked out), and thinking about it is no help. However we put our faith and trust in God and push forward. Even though some mornings I don't wanna get outta bed. I do feel like I am working as hard now, as I was when I first came to Ghana 21 months ago. That is one of my goals is not to go "rusty" as we say but to "Burn Out" rather. I wonder how Ammon and his brethren did this for fourteen years, and some of them spent time in jail! Honestly how could they do that? I am grateful it is only two years and not fourteen. LOL.
Talking about this past week, on Thursday President Hill had all of the Zone Leaders and District Leaders come to an extended Mission Leaders Council or MLC for short. After going to that meeting I am so grateful I was never called to be a Zone Leader because going to just one of those meetings gave me and everyone else a headache. So better to go once every six months rather then once every month. It was a good meeting in which we talked about a lot of things. We had a ton of action items that we need to work on in the upcoming weeks and months. Especially focusing on the Book of Mormon.
Still on the hunt to find and teach new people. That is the biggest problem I think facing our Zone considering that half the zone is living in Muslim areas. But we continue to try out hardest to find those ready to receive the gospel. It is such a blessing to see it change so many peoples lives. It will continue to change and bless those who do live up to it. Not just saying they believe but actually living it. I hope that we all will try to live what we believe and not just say that we believe. Let us all do better.
Have a great week everyone! I love you so much!
Thank you for again for all of your prayers.
Love,
Elder Ty M. Bowden
Well last week was the beginning of my second to last transfer on mission (I have all the milestones marked out), and thinking about it is no help. However we put our faith and trust in God and push forward. Even though some mornings I don't wanna get outta bed. I do feel like I am working as hard now, as I was when I first came to Ghana 21 months ago. That is one of my goals is not to go "rusty" as we say but to "Burn Out" rather. I wonder how Ammon and his brethren did this for fourteen years, and some of them spent time in jail! Honestly how could they do that? I am grateful it is only two years and not fourteen. LOL.
Talking about this past week, on Thursday President Hill had all of the Zone Leaders and District Leaders come to an extended Mission Leaders Council or MLC for short. After going to that meeting I am so grateful I was never called to be a Zone Leader because going to just one of those meetings gave me and everyone else a headache. So better to go once every six months rather then once every month. It was a good meeting in which we talked about a lot of things. We had a ton of action items that we need to work on in the upcoming weeks and months. Especially focusing on the Book of Mormon.
Still on the hunt to find and teach new people. That is the biggest problem I think facing our Zone considering that half the zone is living in Muslim areas. But we continue to try out hardest to find those ready to receive the gospel. It is such a blessing to see it change so many peoples lives. It will continue to change and bless those who do live up to it. Not just saying they believe but actually living it. I hope that we all will try to live what we believe and not just say that we believe. Let us all do better.
Have a great week everyone! I love you so much!
Thank you for again for all of your prayers.
Love,
Elder Ty M. Bowden
Monday, January 5, 2015
12 Weeks.
Lest in case you think that I am trunky. . .you might be right! LOL. It isn't easy that people keep reminding me about it. Let alone me thinking about it every day. LOL. No worries, I am happy to be out serving. I love it and I am still finding new ways to do it. I truly will miss Ghana when it is over. Ghana is a wonderful place with wonderful people. I do hope that within five years of finishing my mission that I can return for a few days or weeks to visit the people here. I have made so many good friendships that it will not be easy to be away from them.
This week was anything but easy. We had one woman that we were supposed to baptize yesterday, but her husband (who is a Muslim/she's Methodist) isn't liking the idea of her joining the Church (from what she has told us). Since I came here 3 weeks ago, she has only come to Church once, and yesterday was one of those days she missed. I don't wanna give up on her, but seeing on how she is subject to her husbands laws, I am not sure how else to help her. From what she has told us she does not wanna become a Muslim. So. . .what now?
We continue to drop people and find people. We just have to be in contact with more and more people. Just I hate contacting, but I know that I need to be doing it. So this week we actually did very well on doing that. It is the same old same old though. They all say "oh I'm cooking!" or "oh I'm busy!" or some other excuse, but that doesn't matter. If you're too busy to hear us then God will be too busy for you at Judgement day (sounds a bit harsh but I find it a good response to those excuses, which usually leads to us getting a seat and sharing something small with them).
Muslims are good people. Not like what you hear about in Iraq and Afghanistan. They actually find what is happening in the middle east disturbing and not pleasing. When talking with one he told me that what they are doing is not found, or approved of in the Quran. I found that shocking but hey, this guy is saying it not me. So I believe true Muslims are good people.
Two nights ago I was talking to one and he was saying that it doesn't matter what religion you believe in because they're are good Muslims and good Christians and bad Muslims and bad Christians. I of course disagreed with him, but then explained that if you travel down one road, you will get to one place, as with a different place on a different road. I further explained that not all roads go to heaven, and that while maybe you may be a good person, if you're on the wrong road, you won't get to the destination you would of liked.
Having fun. That is good. Mission is suppose to be fun, hard, and not a vacation. So we treat it as such. Just gotta work and not get distracted by small things. Keep improving on the things that we can do better on, and then rejoice when people change because of the choices we make.
Love,
Elder Bowden
--- -.- --..-- / .-- . .-.. .-.. / .. / .- -- / --. --- -. -. .- / --. --- .-.-.- / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..- / .- .-.. .-.. .-.-.-
Just for my mom a little Morse code.
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This week was anything but easy. We had one woman that we were supposed to baptize yesterday, but her husband (who is a Muslim/she's Methodist) isn't liking the idea of her joining the Church (from what she has told us). Since I came here 3 weeks ago, she has only come to Church once, and yesterday was one of those days she missed. I don't wanna give up on her, but seeing on how she is subject to her husbands laws, I am not sure how else to help her. From what she has told us she does not wanna become a Muslim. So. . .what now?
We continue to drop people and find people. We just have to be in contact with more and more people. Just I hate contacting, but I know that I need to be doing it. So this week we actually did very well on doing that. It is the same old same old though. They all say "oh I'm cooking!" or "oh I'm busy!" or some other excuse, but that doesn't matter. If you're too busy to hear us then God will be too busy for you at Judgement day (sounds a bit harsh but I find it a good response to those excuses, which usually leads to us getting a seat and sharing something small with them).
Muslims are good people. Not like what you hear about in Iraq and Afghanistan. They actually find what is happening in the middle east disturbing and not pleasing. When talking with one he told me that what they are doing is not found, or approved of in the Quran. I found that shocking but hey, this guy is saying it not me. So I believe true Muslims are good people.
Two nights ago I was talking to one and he was saying that it doesn't matter what religion you believe in because they're are good Muslims and good Christians and bad Muslims and bad Christians. I of course disagreed with him, but then explained that if you travel down one road, you will get to one place, as with a different place on a different road. I further explained that not all roads go to heaven, and that while maybe you may be a good person, if you're on the wrong road, you won't get to the destination you would of liked.
Having fun. That is good. Mission is suppose to be fun, hard, and not a vacation. So we treat it as such. Just gotta work and not get distracted by small things. Keep improving on the things that we can do better on, and then rejoice when people change because of the choices we make.
Love,
Elder Bowden
--- -.- --..-- / .-- . .-.. .-.. / .. / .- -- / --. --- -. -. .- / --. --- .-.-.- / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..- / .- .-.. .-.. .-.-.-
Just for my mom a little Morse code.
. .-.. -.. . .-. / - -.-- / -- .-.-.- / -... --- .-- -.. . -.
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