Week 32 - Start Looking Through The Window

Well greetings my fellow family members:]

Before we jump into all the greatness of my life as a missionary i want to point something out. I'm so freakin tired. I'm just really tired all the time and i keep thinking when am i gonna get a break? oh oh yeah that'll be in like 10 months. So when i get home and everyone is super excited that Macall is back, don't be mad if i just crawl into my bed and sleep for 5 days:]

There is seriously one of the greatest ladies i have ever met in the ward named Sister Hanna. She's number one and i really look up to her and admire her. Her husband mm i think about 9 or so years ago fell away from the church. Her two older sons both came home early from their missions. She has had thyroid cancer and all sorts of other health issues, and yet she is by far one the most christlike ladies in Texas. This past tuesday she took us out for lunch and as we were sitting and talking she gave me probably the best advice i have ever received. She was talking about how her daughter served a mission and how probably 90% of the time she just wanted to come home but that her mission president would never let her. Her daughter says now just how grateful she is that she stuck it out to the end, because now she has been able to endure her current trials a lot easier. She has this famous quote "Stop looking in the mirror, and start looking through the window" and as she said it i just thought oh oh wow. How many times do i still get so caught up in what's going on with myself that i miss a lot of beautiful experiences that are right in front of me? At the end of the book of mormon mmm i think around moroni 7 he's talking about how his father, friends, everyone has passed away. He's the last one standing and he really doesn't care whether he lives or dies. What moroni didn't see however, is the huge blessings that heavenly father had in store for him, if he just endured through his current trials. I mean come one Moroni ended up being the man! he's on all our temples, he's the angel that spoke with joseph smith, he is number one. And he's number one because he endured. This past week that's been on my mind a lot, i'm trying to keep my views not on myself but on those around me. If we look at things with an eternal perspective i know that challenges and trials will be easier to face. we just gotta hang in there:]

Karen Foreman got a blessing this past week from the elders and is CANCER FREE. After the blessing we left and told her to keep us posted, a half hour later she texted us saying the doctors had just called and everything was going to be ok:] She came to church this past sunday and at the end of sacrament meeting i turned to her and asked her how she felt, she started crying and said that even though it had been 10 years, she still remembered the sacrament prayers word by word. We're gonna keep going over there and teach the discussions and hopefully her family will start being more involved. While we were sitting next to her in sacrament meeting a couple and a younger girl in jeans walked in and sat right in front of us. The couple was from Utah and they had brought their younger sister. During sacrament they were explaining to the girl what was going on and i kept thinking holy crap, i'm so glad we sat back here with Karen or we would have missed them. Right after the bread and water they got up and walked out, as the door shut behind them i just thought there is no way you can just let them leave!! So i grabbed combs and we kinda chased them down.. haha awkward i know. We talked to them in the hall and the couple is visiting their family for thanksgiving they are members but the young girl is not. Long story short we know that the young girl's family lives by an elementary school in our area and i've never prayed harder to find someone. I'm hoping that by some miracle we're able to run into them and start teaching the family.

It's been FREEZING this past week in Texas! who knew?? there never was a colder missionary in all of Texas than this girl right here:] We've been walking a lot in this area because in Katy, sometimes you have a safe sidewalk and then other times you don't.. haha and it seems like all the really busy roads don't have sidewalks. Even though it's been hard, walking has provided a lot of opportunities for us to share the gospel. haha this past week a cop stopped us and said that they saw us walking everywhere and they wanted to know what we were doing. We also got to meet Jeffrey the crazy salvation army bell ringer! oh my heck:] haha ok so jeffrey is the guy that rings the bell and you put donations in the bucket guy for 31 years! We started talking to him and oh heck, some people are just crazy. he has no teeth and when we told him we were missionaries or representatives of Jesus Christ he burst out into some old man song.. haha it was.. inspiring. The cool thing about being a missionary though is that i'm seriously just supposed to talk to everybody, and man have i met some pretty interesting people because of it.

OH YEAH! ok so the Katy 2 ward is pretty funny, at basically every meal appointment at some point or another they start talking about either their son, nephew, brother, or second cousin once removed, ya get my drift? and then they start talking about how cute, funny, fantastic all these boys are and how the majority of them live in Utah. It really always cracks me up because they are trying to set us up with them but the best part is, I've become a pro at using Sister Combs as the perfect decoy. hahaha, as soon as they bring it up I'll say, "Oh my heck combs did you hear that? they have the cutest (son) and you are so available!"  haha it drives combs crazy but i just know that when she gets off her mish and she has 73 dates lined up, she'll be thanking me:] Combs gets all awkward and every time we leave she punches me or something but heck i think it's so funny. This coming week should be interesting though because most of these candidates are in town and i'm sure we'll be invited to a couple of members houses just for the purpose of introducing us, mmmm awkward. 

 Well heck i can't even believe this week is thanksgiving! where has the time even gone?? I'm super bummed I'm gonna miss shooting cuz we all know that last year i was a legend! it's the weirdest thing how you can beat everyone even with your eyes closed:] ok so i kinda miss you guys a lot now but hey! next year will be the greatest! Also i just wanna throw in there that this is the first year in mmm what 8 or 9 years that I'm NOT doing nutcracker?! haha the other day i busted out some sugar plum for sister combs and she sat there and said please don't do that again.. yeah i miss ballet. but i just gotta accept that that ship has sailed! I love you all so much and i hope this next week is a good one! Eat a lot, sleep a lot, miss me a lot, and just know that I'm grateful to be serving the Lord.

Love, Sister Bowden