Week 41 - In Need of DIVINE Help!

Wengapo family:]

Well I feel that the longer I'm out here the more lazy I feel towards emailing everybody about my week so I just wanna share a couple quick experiences!

When I was set apart as a missionary in my blessing I was told that as I served with all my heart that I would be forgiven of all my previous sins. Now I've kinda been holding onto that line because if anybody could use some extra forgiveness it definitely is this girl right here. Well as I was doing personal study, I came across 3 Nephi 22:4 and I completely felt this overwhelming feeling of relief. That I didn't have to sit here and beat myself up for some of the wrong decisions that I made before choosing to serve a mission. I don't need to be ashamed for the things that I have done while in my youth. And I got to thinking of all the changes that really have occurred while I have been out here.   Haha let's just look at me last year... and then look at the way I am now and while that process hasn't been easy, it's definitely been worth it.  After studying we got to attend a talk by Sherry Dew who is seriously one the coolest ladies I have heard speak.  She made a statement that really stood out to me "Are you going to continue walking by yourself with your own puny talent.. or will you be willing to humble yourself and let our Father and ALL the power that He has help you?" Man how true is that?  We can either continue walking this life on our own thinking that we can handle it.. OR we can choose Him.  He has literally given us so many things to help us out, are we really taking advantage of them?  Sister Dew made the comment that when she was in the General Relief Society they had this I.D. card that she never really thought to use.  On the day before she was released she put it up to a card reader and the door next to it unlocked.  Unfortunately by the time she realized she had this sweet card that could unlock almost any of the doors in the church buildings it was too late.. she was released and the card was deactivated.  So basically are we taken for granted the things that we have right in our pocket?  Heavenly Father is there.. are we asking Him for his help?

We also did have a baptism! hah it will probably be my one and only in Katy... Julia and Angelina LaRocco:] Their parents were just recently baptized in June and their dad Louis got to baptize them.  We planned the whole thing and it actually went really smoothly. Holla!  There was a really cool moment though right before Louis was going to baptize angelina where he looked over at me and he had tears in his eyes. He knew that what he was doing was so special and it was a privilege to me that I got to be a part of it.  I love life changing moments.  I really really do.

The next day in ward council we decided that we were going to be bold... mmm not that I haven't been bold this whole stinkin time but hey we were gonna try again.  As they turned the time over to us I asked them who in the room can say that they sincerely pray for the missionaries and for opportunities to share the gospel everyday.. I got a whole lot of silence.  I asked a couple other questions and what did i get?  More silence.  I then asked, pleaded and begged for their help and then the subject was changed. WILL I EVER GET THROUGH TO THESE PEOPLE?!  Am i speaking Hebrew?  During sacrament meeting I just felt the weight of the world on my heart.  I broke down at the end of it and got surrounded by some really sweet ladies in the ward.  I hate crying in front of people especially when I'm supposed to be that happy cheerful excited missionary.. but I broke haha and it seemed like once the floods started they couldn't stop.  Sweet mercy.  It's just gotten to the point where I really have NO idea why I am serving here in Katy?  Seriously can someone please tell me the point to all of this?  We didn't even go to our Sunday school class we just went and sat in the back of primary cuz heck.  There's no better feeling than a flock of children running up to you and saying how much they love you and due to the fact that we were having such a craptastic day we went over to the Soods, aka my favorite family here in Katy and low and behold being at their house really made my day a lot better.  They have become like our little go-to family and I don't think I ever realized how much of blessing that is to have as a missionary. Just a family that at any time you could call up and say hey can we just come over real quick?  They mean so much to me. 

Well low and behold that's pretty much it! Just hangin in there and trying to just do what's right!  I love you ALL and I hope this week is so great for everyone!

Love, Sister Bowden

Week 40 - A Little Piece of My Mind

So i could sit here and tell you guys all our wonder stories of this past week! we got new investigators! We had some straight up miracles! we also have a baptism this coming saturday so man:] my life has dramatically changed over the past 2 weeks but... i'm feelin pretty lazy so here's the top 30 things that I feel like sharing that I have learned:

1: There is a huge difference between satisfying the Lord and pleasing Him.

2: You can't change the past and you can't control the future but right now you can choose who you are, what you'll do, and how you feel.

3: That's what she said jokes are well... a million times funnier as a missionary.

4: One person can really really make a difference.

5: Most single less active ladies are hoarders..

6: Everybody is watching you so you might as well give them a good show:]

7: As a leader it's good to sometimes show your weak moments.

8: The rules weren't made to hold you back, they were made to help you become better.

9: Our God is a 4th watch kind of God, trust in Him.

10: Riding a bike in a skirt and knocking on strangers doors will never be something that I am comfortable with.

11: Talking with God is the best form of therapy:]

12: The more you are willing to give, the more He will be willing to give.

13: Mission goggles make even the trees look good...

14: Be humble enough to ask for help... even from people that you wouldn't want to ask.

15: I have been more blessed throughout my life than i ever realized.

16: Curb hopping on a bike can end up being quite painful and embarrassing!

17: Be honest, be honest, be honest.

18: At times I think i'm being stood up now for all the times I stood people up before the mish..

19: Heavenly father is constant and i feel like I am constantly changing.

20: I never realized how many people truly struggle with being confident in their own skin. 

21:The Book of Mormon is true and it can help you in ANY situation. sometimes I feel like the grandpa off of my big fat greek wedding "give me yo problem any problem and I will tell you how this book can fix it:] hahaha.

22: Heavenly Father knows me and while I know this life is a test, I also know that he sees our full capability.

23: Being happy truly is a choice!

24: The atonement: use it, love it, embrace it, and come to understand it on a daily basis.

25: It's a NECESSITY for me to be around people that are willing to laugh with me not just laugh at me. If not, I wanna kill someone.

26: I think for once I've finally been able to stand on my own 2 feet (of course with the Lord) but really I've had to just stick to my own guns.

27: The more you bike, the less you have to worry about what you eat!

28: You should always do things out of love, it truly is the greatest motivation.

29: Cotton garments are the way to go in the south!!

and 30: I know that God loves us and He is so aware of us, He knows what's best. Definitely not what's easiest but yes, what's best. I know that He asked me to serve a mission because it was literally the only way i would ever have a sure foundation of the Gospel and our Savior. How grateful I am for Him! Everyday I try to show Him my love and appreciation and everyday i am blessed for it, I can't keep up!

 

It was a process to get me out on a mission, it's been a process to get me to stay, and now I worry it might be a process to get me to come home:] haha i know that when that comes I'll be putting to test all the things that I have learned and shared out here:] 

love ya long time!

Love, Sister Bowden

 

week 39 - All This Time I've Been Converting Myself

Ohlo family!!

This past week was let's just say SO much better than last week and I once again am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows me and is constantly trying to get me to be better!

So last Monday night I got to eat dinner with the Maiava's from Fairfield and it was probably the best dinner I have had in such a long time. Sa was so excited to see me and when we got there I found out that she had put the whole thing together just so that she could see me. I felt so so grateful for their family, it was a good reminder for me that I really have had an impact on certain people while i've been out here. 

Tuesday! haha ok so we got permission to go with some of the alzheimer's patients we work with and take them to the butterfly museum downtown. It was such a good time. When you first walk in there are all these signs that say don't touch the butterflies la la la, well when we got in one of my favorite ladies betty started going buckwild and was trying to chase all them down. hahaha I wasn't really sure what to do because sometimes alzheimer's patients act like 5 year old kids, but we managed to get things under control and it ended up being a really good time for us.

At our ward correlation meeting this past week I finally brought down the iron fist. I explained to them how it was time to start changing things and how the past 3 months I have felt like I haven't done anything in this area. I was honest and sincere and told them how much I really needed their help or nothing was ever going to happen. I think that I have been pretty passive the past three months just telling everyone oh you're so great.. Oh you guys just keep it up, we sure do appreciate you! Ya know just trying to be that cheerful missionary that never seems to be down, but I just reached my limit. I need to have the support of this ward and I should have had it since day one. Well that got things cooking which made me pretty happy. The ward missionaries seem to be on board with us, as we were walking out one of my favorite guys Brother Meldrum came up to me and said I like your style Sister Bowden. I laughed and said I'm not sure what you mean... and He just went on to say You just really know how to get people inspired. I like the way you do things. While the past couple months have been pretty tough for me I have come to realize something. My own personal conversion has grown immensely. I know that faith isn't something that is handed to us. It isn't just waking up in the morning and saying Heavenly Father, give me somebody to teach and expecting it to happen. A part of faith is accepting His timing, It's knowing that He will let things happen at the right time and until then, you just have to keep being obedient and keep doing what you know is right. Patience is holding out til the end:]

We also have a new investigator!! Emily Wilson is 20 years old has been less active for about 4 years and is pregnant with twins! She wants to raise her sons in the church so her and her husband have agreed to listening to the discussions! ah I'm so excited:] When we met with charlene this past week, she told us that she wasn't sure if she should keep meeting with us. She said that if she didn't feel right about the church after a year and half maybe it just isn't the thing for her. Before I could let all my hopes be crushed a pulled out a scripture that I had been wanting to share with her for the past 3 weeks. As i had her read it she started tearing up and I know that she felt the spirit. I know that it was an answer to her prayers, but right as she finished it and the spirit was right there, her husband walked in slammed the door and all the kids went buckwild:/ ahhh I just can't win!?! When we left though I felt at peace because I know that I did everything that i could. Now it's just up to her and whatever circumstances she is placed in.   Karen Foreman's lesson went really well.. it just kinda irritates me that all these miracles have happened in her life and she'll still say "well I'm just not an every Sunday kinda person" mmm well I think you need to be and I know you know it. Ah the weirdest thing happened though. We were talking about prayer during her lesson and she struggles with saying real prayers and taking the time to kneel down. I don't know why I said it but all of the sudden I'm promising this lady that if she said her prayers and asked heavenly father to share the gospel with her family that it would happen. UH I can't promise her that?! heck oh heck as soon as it came out of my mouth I just felt like haha mmm I hope you back that up Heavenly Father. So I guess we'll see if she said her prayers right?:]

We had zone meeting this past week and for a part of it we got with another set of Elders and were practice teaching one of our lessons. The elders went first and it was so interesting to see how differently they taught then me! not in a bad way or anything.. just different. They go la la la we give them feedback and then we went. When we finished it my friend Elder Cornwall looked at me and said well, I think I need to go re-evaluate my life because you guys just put us to shame. hahaha. Teaching the gospel has seriously become something that I really love to do, now if I could just actually find some people to teach all my problems would be solved:]

We had ward council yesterday and I literally wanted to junk punch our bishop.... mm sorry that was probably uncalled for. but seriously all of ward council he's talking about things that really aren't even that important... and then at the end he started talking about this year's goals. He's planning on having five baptisms this year... 5?!?! no I'm sorry but no this ward can do SO much more than that. At the end I tried to get my two cents in, I talked about how before we can even begin to have new people coming to church this needs to be a ward that Heavenly Father can trust. So long story short, we're coming down hard on this ward and I'm so so grateful to have Sister Newhouse here to back me up. She's really good at just sticking to her guns and not letting things go until we really have made our point. 

But that basically sums up my life for now:] I love you guys so much! I hope that everybody is doing well and that the start of the year has just set the tone for 2014. I love being a missionary and it's been awesome to see how the challenges that I have been facing really have helped me grow and learn. 

Love Sister Bowden

Week 38 - But You Sure Do Suffer For It!

Wengapo family:]

Well heck, i'm not even sure where to start this bad boy. It seems that a mission tends to be a constant up hill battle and sometimes I really just wanna take a break for a minute haha but I guess I don't really have time for that. 

Transfers!! My new comp is Sister Newhouse which is awesome because for once in my life I am NOT training! it has been a huge blessing to me not to have to explain everything and also to have someone who has her own ideas and thoughts to toss in. The only problem that I now have is that after her I will have basically served with every cool sister in our mission.. haha tau, combs, and newhouse. Sooo that's a good sign:] we're actually getting along just great and she has the funniest sense of humor. 

Michelle Henke called me this past week and asked if I would be her escort in the Salt Lake Temple December 20, 2014:] to say that I am excited would not even do it justice!!

So what else happened this week? oh just a whole lot of disappointment for this sister missionary. Caroline's parents told us that no they won't let us teach her, another part member family told us no they don't want to take the lessons, every person we seemed to talk to on the street or in the parks all said NO. Can we just throw it out there that I'm living in disappointment city right now? It's just been a real struggle in this area and so a lot of my thoughts have been on faith. I woke up so many mornings and I told myself ok Heavenly Father today I will find a new investigator, and then I'd go out do all that I could and still come home with nothing. I'd wake up pray say the same thing and still once again come home and nobody to teach. It's starting to wear on me and that's the honest truth. I can't even say how many times this past week I've thought what is the point of me even being here? This isn't making any sense. But I do know that things will start coming together haha I just gotta figure out how.

We've been teaching a less active lady named Regina Kim and she is a powerhouse. I love her so much. She has a severely autistic son and has gone through so so much with divorce. As we were at her house on Saturday she made the comment This was never in the young women's manual! No one ever told me that things were going to be like this and my reply was and that's exactly why they need someone like you in the YW, so that you can have an influence on them and they will see that life doesn't really go the way we plan it too. That caught her by surprise and she then promised us that she'd come to church:] awesome awesome! Made my whole week.

We get to help teach mission prep every sunday morning and I have really come to love doing that. No matter what you share even if it isn't the greatest all the kids in their think it's gold, they are all so eager to learn so that's been an awesome teaching experience for me. They really are like sponges just wanting to know how to teach, my favorite thing is to throw them a question right while they're teaching and see them kinda panic. haha they don't need to at all. I think the best thing you can do while teaching is teach to them like they are your best friend, that way when you share your testimony you really do mean it and they can feel it.

During sacrament meeting yesterday I was sitting their kind of in my own thoughts just thinking about a million different things and the thought came into my head open the scriptures. haha so I did, just popped them open to D&C 6 and dang. Heavenly Father sure does answer us. I think it's in verse 15? that it talks about how you have been enlightened by the spirit because that's how you got to where you are right now. Man, He does answer us. I know that specifically in my life Heavenly Father has led, and even drug me to do what is right. I just want to do that, I want to be diligent in my efforts but man it's so hard when you don't see the fruit of your labors. 

I know that a part of me serving in Katy is to get this ward moving. I have some pretty good ideas circling about in my brain and i'm gonna start putting them together. I think I've just been waiting for someone to show they care about the work here, but they aren't going to until I show how important it really is. We had a break the fast for our ward yesterday and I was reminded just how much I really do love the members that I am serving. I got to go around from table to table and just make people laugh and talk. I think that's one of the coolest things about serving a mission, I've been able to meet so many different people and see how much the gospel really does help our families. 

My sweet companion showed me a quote that literally explains to me a T. "You are so good. So good, you're always feeling so much. And sometimes it feels like you're gonna bust wide open from all the feeling don't it? People like you are the best in the world, but you sure do suffer for it." That just explains how I feel. I care so much, I want so badly just get things moving here but i feel like i'm fighting for something that no one even really cares about. I love the gospel and I know that when others find the truth it can help them in more ways than they even realized when they decided to enter the waters of baptism. The fight continues and I'm not quitting just yet:]

I love ya all and hope that things are just getting started for this new year.

Love, Sister Bowden

Week 37 - Leaning Not On My Own Understanding

Well hey family!

I hope that your christmas was just what you wanted to it be and more! This past week was pretty good as a missionary! haha honestly i think i get more love when i'm away than when i'm around:] My scarf collection has reached a whole new high and i really do appreciate all the things that everybody sent me, you definitely made this christmas special for me. 

 

Not a whole lot has happened this past week just because most people keep telling us they'll talk to us after the holidays... which i know it's a big fat lie because once the holidays end it's back to work, school, and all other activities. But i do want to share an experience that definitely has strengthened my testimony of prayer.

 

The sunday before Thanksgiving i don't know if you guys will remember, but we were sitting in the back of the chapel with Karen Foreman and we noticed the couple with the little girl wearing jeans and they headed out right after the sacrament was passed. Well... WE FOUND HER:] that night after church and almost every week since i have been praying that Heavenly Father would lead us to her somehow. I knew it was a righteous desire and i knew wholeheartedly that He could do this thing, so yes i absolutely prayed in faith. One night after dinner we were out in a neighborhood and we turned down a street thinking we could find this less active person, well as we started walking i saw a mom and daughter walking out of a house and crossing the street to get to theirs and instantly before i even got close i knew it was going to be her. and it was. as we got closer she was smiling at us and i said oh my gosh, i know you. She was just beaming and i couldn't help but at the very moment thank heavenly father for answering my prayer. We know where she lives and i feel in my heart that she is wanting to know about the gospel, it's just working with her parents who don't seem to be too enthused about us missionaries:] It just reminds me of the sons of mosiah in alma 25:17. as we are specific in our prayers i know he'll be specific in His answers. I'm SO grateful to know that God is mindful of us no matter where we are or what circumstances we may be in. 

 

Well transfers are tomorrow and i am super bummed to announce that Me and Combs will no longer be companions:/ I don't even wanna talk about it because everytime i think about it i just wanna cry. The cool thing about me and combs being companions is that honestly we're best friends first and then were companions and it has seriously made all the difference. I have felt that i can be honest with her and that we've grown so much together! I'm still in Katy just gonna get a new comp haha let's all cross our fingers that she isn't crazy and that she's just ready to get some work done. I honestly feel some pressure to be serving in this area and also be expecting to baptize weekly. I'm gonna have to do lots of praying and lots of trusting. I know that it's possible i just gotta make sure that i'm doing all that i can and encouraging the ward to do all that they can! Here's to a new year full of miracles and more conversion for this girl. I love you all and miss ya all the days:]

Love Sister Bowden

Week 36- The War of Heaven is Currently the War of My Mission

Well hey there family:]

So even though a part of me doesn't really even feel like emailing today i decided i should because well.. i don't get to skype EVERYBODY back home! Can you believe tomorrow is christmas?? Is it just me or did 2013 FLY by like lightning?? ah i'm so grateful to be where i am at at this point.

This past week has been pretty good! Ok it was pretty slow to be honest but in it being slow i had a lot of my own personal conversion time. One night we were at the church and i got to have a little heart to heart with my zone leaders. We were discussing the mission, missionaries, and well how we can be better. Our president has decided that for 2014 we're going to raise the bar and he is expecting us to baptize weekly. WEEKLY. haha sounds pretty crazy seeing as we can barely find 1 investigator. but i do know that as we follow what he says and work with the ward miracles will happen:] We talked a lot about how the work starts first with the missionaries. It blows my mind that missionaries are out here just to i don't even know hang out..? Some don't realize the importance of the work that we have been asked to be a part of. But in saying that i've been able to make some connections within myself. You can't force anything on anyone. You can show them, you can give them a perfect example, you can love them, but it is always their choice whether or not they will follow the savior and become converted.. or just stick to where they are at right now. It kills me when i see people not changing or not even trying of course i never know what's going on in their heart or mind. but man! I know that things are a million times better when we do the things that we have been asked. These past 9 months have meant everything to me. They have changed my life forever and i can't help but look forward to what else is in store for me. I love the savior the more i have studied about him and his life the more i've realized how imperfectly i have lived mine. I'm just a work in progress but i'm so grateful for the trust He has in me. I know that the atonement is real and it is there for everyone:] It's been pretty crazy being a missionary during this time of the year. This past week our zone put on a christmas devotional for all the members and their friends and it ended up being a really powerful meeting. Me and Elder Leavitt actually sang a song together hahahaha ah i don't know why suddenly on my mission people think i can sing. I remember last year i went to church with Tyler Thomas and a lady turned around and said hey do you sing and before i could answer he jumped in and said oh no no she is NOT a singer! haha so so nice. but it was definitely a new experience, i MUCH rather would have been dancing in front of those people instead of singing at least i would have been confident in that! We had put scripture from the bible and the book of mormon to tell the story of Christ's birth and then we had a recent convert and President Pingree share their testimonies. It was amazing:] 

Earlier this week we got another referral for a guy named John Hawkins. We met up with him and he is a middle aged man who got in an accident in high school. He's really hard to understand at times and is kinda well scary.. haha after we had talked with him and invited him to a couple things we were walking out of the neighborhood when we see him driving up the street. haha all of the sudden combs yelled RUN! and started running i busted out laughing and said combs we can't run from him he's an investigator! She stopped and said oh right. haha heck that girl, one of these days it's gonna click, i just know it:]

Well it's christmas eve and with that being said i did already open the presents you guys sent me:] hahaha i'm sorry i couldn't wait!! But i think you guys should know i loved them. When i saw the bag of cheetos i busted up.. i think i got 16 bags of those last year. At one point i'm pretty sure i woke up in my bed with orange fingers and orange sheets. Classic cheetos coma:] Mom you know me pretty dang well and it was pretty funny cuz as i opened it i was thinking oh i hope she sent one of those giant banners that i freakin made for jordan every dang holiday but the picture book was a lot better:] I started tearing up going through the thing! i don't know what's wrong with me! haha you guys are great and i am SO grateful for the time you put into making that! Everybody is still looking in tip top shape, quinn i loved the cat in your family's picture:] haha ah i miss you guys! I hope that this christmas has been a neat one for all of you, that you have come to know of the savior a little bit more. We be skyping tomorrow and you have no idea how excited i am:] I love you all and we'll talk to ya soon!

Love, Sister Bowden

Week 35 - Learning to Love and Having Fun Along the Way

Hey my family!

ok so i just wanna say this right at the beginning a LOT happened this past week so if you're not in the mood to read a novel about how much i love being a missionary and yada yada yada just skim on through and read the end of this:] 

So we got to be on the radio!!! and it was honestly probably one the coolest things i have ever done! haha i loved it, in fact i loved it so much i think it would be so fun to study public media when i get home. The lady started it off and seriously all i had to do was talk and laugh and it just went really well! She said she was going to email us the finished product so when i hear it i'll send it on by:] but really it was so sweet.

 We had specialized training this week which because we have such a great mission president it was exactly what i needed to hear. He talked a lot about gratitude and internalizing our purpose as missionaries which was pretty spot on because the night before me and combs were having a little talk about why she is out here.  i asked combs why are you out on a mission? and she said i have no idea.. haha i then asked her ok well what are you wanting to gain by serving a mission, she once again said she had no clue. BUT after specialized training i think she felt better about why she is out here. I know that the longer she stays out the more she will come to understand why she is needed out here. I know that honestly i have needed her. She has been an answer to my prayers and has made serving in this area SO much fun.. and you'll understand how a little later:] 

The alzheimer's place had their christmas party this past week and we were asked to come help get things ready for it. While we were there one of the employees came up and started asking combs if we were really sisters or not.. haha i busted out laughing and told her to start talking to him. She ended up inviting him to church which he was so stoked about but right as she invited him another employee walked up and said "oh trust me you don't wanna go to their church" aahhh! why? haha why can't we just have a golden moment? We were also put in their monthly newsletter which was awesome! i feel that even though maybe we aren't having a crap load of lessons coming our way we still our finding ways to share the gospel.. haha whether that's through the radio or newsletters, i know that we are being noticed in the community and hey, i'll take whatever i can get. In Alma 24:27 it talks about how the Lord works in many ways to bring out the salvation of his people and i just know that that is true. He'll work with what he can get and so will i:] 

After we finished up we headed over for mission correlation. Me and combs had decided that this week instead of just sitting in a circle talking about a list of people where nothing ever changes we were gonna make the ward missionaries go out and try to visit these people. at first only 3 other people showed up and my frustration starting rising but as we were getting ready to leave more came and things actually ended up working really well! i was so excited to see that we did have some support in our efforts to reach out to the less actives in our ward.

On Thursday we had the relief society ornament exchange which ended up being hilarious. We of course were walking to the party and when we finally got to the neighborhood low and behold it was another gated community and mmm shocker the gate was closed. There was no walk in gate and i'm sure we could have called someone for the code but then i realized hey there's like a foot gap between the ground and the bottom of the gate hahaha so yes we army crawled our way into the neighborhood and it was stinkin hilarious:] only me and combs would do that. So we don't really have a lot of money to go blow on christmas ornaments so we had decided to buy these little felt penguin frames and stick that super cute christmas picture (the one of me and combs with the tree you sent me) in it haha as the people started choosing their present i got pretty nervous.. what if a nonmember opened ours and thought it was so weird? what if the stingy president opened it and didn't think it was too funny?? well luckily the 2 ladies who picked ours were super funny and everyone thought we were hilarious:] which.. we are. it was just a really funny night and we definitely have had some requests for a copy of that picture.

We were supposed to do exchanges this past week but our bathroom has been invaded by ants!!! I woke up to get in the shower one morning and bam! ants were everywhere! it was nasty and when we told our apartment people they just said oh yeah we'll have someone come spray next week... wait next week? what am i supposed to do til then? just hang out with all my ant buddies?? haha good news though, did you know that ants won't cross chalk?? yeah well we found that out and fortunately for us we had some sidewalk chalk in our apartment:] we have managed to contain most of them!

Saturday morning we went over to the church to help start getting things set up for the christmas party.. mmm we ended up being there ALL day! it was so hectic and so many last minute things and la la la but hey good side is that if i'm ever put in charge of one of those bad boys i'll kinda know what to do! Haha me and combs had made thee cutest turtleneck sweaters i have ever seen. We took a stocking that our zone leaders had given us, and the ornaments we won at the party and wa-la sewed those bad boys onto our shirts and it was a christmas treasure! haha i think the ward is starting to understand how dorky me and combs are:] we got a lot of comments... and a lot of stares.. haha but we were also told we looked like super models so hey can't fight that! 

The members brought a lot of their friends to the party which i was so excited about! when people were finishing up eating they put on this short video about the birth of the savior as it started no one was really paying attention and all the kids were going buck wild.. i started saying a prayer in my head that the spirit would come in and soften some hearts. There was a really neat moment when everything seemed quiet in the cultural hall. I hope that it had some impact on the people that attended:]

And to top it off last night i got to sing in a catholic church! Our stake and the catholic church that is right across the street tag team every year a christmas concert. They put together a choir and have an orchestra and it really seems to be quite a big deal in katy! So a bunch of missionaries serving here decided we would do it haha well it was awesome.. not as good as dancing in front of a huge crowd but hey i'll take what i can get:] it was a really neat experience to see 2 different faiths come together to worship our savior. I will never forget this christmas because for once in my life it has all been focused on the Savior. 

I really do love this ward. It has been so neat to see them start to see that me and combs are working hard but we are also enjoying it along the way. It's been awesome to see how now they are excited when they see us and they almost all fight over who we should come and visit.  Haha it's almost starting to get hard because they just want me and combs to come hang out with them. It's hard being so cool sometimes:] hahaha i'm kidding. But seriously, i love this gospel so much. I know that as we serve all those around us it helps us to forget about ourselves and feel the happiness that the Savior wants us to have. As i was sitting in sacrament meeting this past week it hit me that i never want this to end. Can i just stay out here and keep doing this? Even though it definitely is hard i just love being a missionary:] It's the best decision i think i have ever made i will forever be grateful for all the people who guided me to make this choice.

I love you all and i hope you have an awesome week!! Do you even realize next Wednesday we will be skyping!!! AH! oh ps my next p-day is gonna be on Tuesday instead of Monday because we have our mission conference going on. so i'll be able to throw down the details on when and where and what then:] Love you and miss you all the days!

Love Sister Bowden