Well greetings to the coolest family in all the land!!
I hope this past week was an incredible one for all of you! I just feel very overwhelmed with my heart full of gratitude today and I hope this letter can pick ya up and put a smile on your face:]
There were some very incredible things that happened this past week, but for some reason I feel like talking about SOME of the investigators we have been focusing on lately, because don't think I've talked enough about them and how great they all are!
So first and foremost we have Chera Harbin and she is getting baptized this Saturday!!! *fireworks* *guns shooting* *audience applause* Haha I can't even begin to say how excited I am for her and the step that she is about to take! It has been a long time coming and if anything, Chera has taught me that your circumstances are not what define you. She has come from a pretty rough background with drugs and prison, but regardless of all these things, Chera still has one of the most caring hearts. I know that truly through Christ we can be cleansed and we can change ourselves. While she has been a little stubborn, I know that the Lord has been preparing her for this time. One of the best parts about the whole thing is that her husband Derrick (who got baptized in March) is going to be the one baptizing her. This past week I got the incredible opportunity to go to the temple with Derrick for the first time. We went into the baptismal room and as Derrick entered the font my whole heart was just so happy! As I sat there and watched him do baptisms the scripture entered my mind "greater love hath no man than this . . that a man lay down his life for his friend." I am so grateful that I have been able to serve a mission. While I may have made some sacrifices in order to do so, it was so worth it. I would give it up all over again just so that I could sit and watch Derrick enter the temple. It's the small, quiet moments like that that truly make your mission worthwhile.
Jade Walles! Another incredible woman who's husband has been inactive for quite some time. She has been taught the missionary lessons multiple times and the one thing that stops her from being baptized is that she doesn't want to do it alone. She wants her husband to be right there with her, willing to wake up and come to church. She wants time with her family. As me and Bonner were discussing what we could do to get them to church, we decided that clearly we needed to talk to Clint. Haha the awkward moments never cease as a missionary. As I called him up at work I don't even know what I said but it was so awkward and I basically told him "Hey... your wife really wants to do this so will you get your act together and come to church?" He said some decent excuses and after I hung up, I just thought 'well that went awful.' THE NEXT DAY he sent me the greatest text in all the land:] Haha and yesterday they made it church! I was so excited and I could tell that the bishop was too! Good things are happening in Montgomery.
And yes we still have Marcus... He's coming along.. praying about when he should be baptized. I think his struggle is just not wanting to lose his family by making this decision. I know though, that the Lord can do incredible things and He will provide a way for Marcus if he wants it.
OH! and Yessica Perez:] So a couple weeks ago Sister Niedert and I went knocking. We knocked on a house and a young girl came to the door... she didn't look so hot. She told us that she had been throwing up all day but that we could come back another time. Doesn't sound too promising, huh? Well, she's actually been coming to church and reading and praying! It was the last thing that I expected, but I think she just might get baptized at the end of this month:]
I am just so grateful. So grateful to be serving a full time mission deep in the heart of Texas! It seems that I went from the Europe of Texas to the Mexico of Texas and I'm just trying to keep everybody on the right path. At times I feel completely exhausted, I'll go to bed thinking there is no way that I'm getting up at 6:30 tomorrow.. but then the alarm goes off and once again my knees are hitting the floor. I love this work. It truly has changed my life for the better. I love Heavenly Father and how willing He is to answer my prayers. I hope that this week is one full of incredible experiences and that you'll find yourself saying an extra prayer or two!!
LOVE YOU ALL!
-Sister Bowden
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