So well,,, haha wow.
All i can say is seriously this week has been just a whirlwind of big
changes. I am now serving in the Katy 2nd ward, i'm training Sister
Combs, and whaddayaknow i'm still on bike:]
Wednesday was probably one of the hardest days of mission so far, it was
my last day in Fairfield so we kinda took the afternoon to let me go
around and say bye to some of the families and people that i have come
to love and care for. It was really hard. Todd Henke had his baptismal
interview that afternoon and as i got to bear my testimony to them one
last time i really felt this deep bond and connection with their family.
If the whole point of my mission was to help the Henke family then
heck, i'd feel like i had a successful experience.
BUT
now i'm serving with freakin Sister Combs. Guys she's from Roy, Utah.
Literally she grew up down the street from me and i love her to pieces!!
We have basically the same sense of humor, it's like Jennifer Lawrence
and Emma Stone are now mission companions so basically we laugh all day
long. It literally has been SUCH a blessing to have her as a companion
because let me tell you about the first week here in Katy. So we get
dropped off with all our stuff around 3... ish.. and we have no phone...
and no keys... The Elders that were here previously had taken it with
them. Haha so i had no way of talking or getting a hold of anyone we
were basically stranded. awesome. Finally our district leader comes by
to see how we're doing (i'll give ya the scoop on my new great great
leader in a sec) i tell him that i have no phone or keys or anything. So
i borrow his phone and call the assistants. Heavens to betsy let's just
say it was a mess and i was just grateful on Friday when we finally had
keys to the apartment and the phone for our area. My dear new district
leader Elder Chollet.. hahaha i'm not really even sure what to say.. ok
this was his first comment to me. "Sister Bowden i was hoping that
either you or Sister Follsom would be the ones put down here" Chollet in
my kindest way of saying is the sleezeball of the mission. haha he
just... tends to prey upon certain sisters and i refuse to be one of
them. So everytime he texts i usually don't respond and if he calls i
make combs answer it.. he's just so.. awesome. But wait there's more, so
white washing, basically i have come to understand this means "the
elders weren't really doing anything so i need you to get down there and
pick things back up again" We had no maps, no lists of ward members or
investigators, literally nothing. All i can say is that opening
Fairfield was SO much easier, i didn't realize just how much Elder
Vought and Hardy had really done for me. haha they handed me the phone
with every number i would ever need in it. They left us with a map that
had the whole area broken up. Sheesh. This has definitely been a hastle.
Not to mention the Ward Mission Leader just happens to be out of town
this week:] all i can say is... typical.
Saturday
we got the opportunity of going to the Houston Food Bank and doing a
couple hours of service. Just so everyone knows there are no real green
apples inside. haha we just went through donated food and threw out what
was expired and what was still good. By the end of it i was starving
(you know how i get) and ended up eating a whole pizza. hey, just love
me alright. that afternoon we were able to meet up with the Bishop to
try and figure out whats going on in the ward. He basically said "Katy
is a rough area everyone is pretty well off so it makes it hard to do
missionary work" Ok did i just hear that from the bishop?? Whoa whoa
whoa, hold the phone chief. We do not just throw in the towel because
it's a "hard area" that's not gonna fly with me. So right then i knew
alright, my purpose here is to build things back up, the bishop has even
lost his fire and excitement towards missionary work and he is leading
this ward! That night we went to our ward's Chili cook off to try and
get to know members and see what's going on. Well we ended up being the
judges of this cook off because the Bishop didn't want to do it this
year. Haha i felt like the freakin grinch when he has to taste all the
food at the hoo party. Seriously wanting to explode and then there's
another person cramming there chilli in my face. haha ok but seriously,
texans take their cook offs seriously i'm 83% sure we had some pretty
ticked off mothers when we left. Great way to get in with the members
right?? So by saturday night i'm feeling pretty frustrated. I'm in this
new area, wasn't feeling the warmest of welcomes, and i honestly am just
here to get work done. Sunday things started to change! We went to ward
council and eh, that was alright. I told Combs that honestly what
happened this sunday would really show if the ward was supportive of
missionaries or wasn't really feeling them yet. As we were walking into
sacrament we got asked to say the prayers so i thought, ah yeah there's a
little something. Then after the speakers had finished up i looked at
the clock and realized oh wow we still have like 15 minutes to kill. The
1st counselor gets up and i can see that he's looking for us, he asks
if we'd be willing to bear our testimonies. FREAK YES! of course my
heart is pounding and i'm trying to hurry and think of something great
to say, but i got up and just was really honest. Combs finished it off
and after the meeting a lot of the members were more willing to come and
talk to us. A guy in our ward Brother Hancock, said hey you guys need
bikes right? I said yeah we've been on the hunt for some and he said
well if you can't find any please call me, i'd love to buy bikes for you
2. WHOA. did that just happen? A man in the ward just offered to buy us
bikes? So yes, katy 2 is slowly but surely starting to show their true
colors and i'm really excited to see what me and Combs will be able to
whip out. We found a harp in our apartment and i'm pretty dang sure were
gonna use it for the talent show coming up in november.
The best part
of sunday though was last night right before we were getting to bed, i
texted mama blattman just to keep up on her and let her know i was
thinking about her and i guess that i was brought up in Relief Society
or something and this is what one of the member said "I heard one of 3
things from every boy in the ward concerning Sister Bowden: they either 1
wanted to marry her, 2 wanted to marry someone JUST like her, or 3
become a missionary just like her. If she did nothing greater in this
area she influenced a generation of young men." I"m gonna be honest i
was completely caught off guard by this, i mean sure yeah i had to talk
to the young men and tried to be funny but i guess i didn't realize that
i really could leave a lasting impression like that. It's all because
of Heavenly Father though, everything i am He made me. I will be forever
grateful for all the people that i was able to meet in fairfield, and
for all the things that i got to experience while i was there. But my
mission does have to continue, I have to keep looking forward. don't
look for someone to blame, look for someone to help you:] I love ya all
the days, do me a favor and watch a scary movie or go to some haunted
forest cuz this girl has to miss out on all that this year! Talk to ya
soon:]
Love, Sister Bowden
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