Monday November 27, 2011: Elder Bowles

Dear Mom and Dad. 

 It was a good Thanksgiving.  Before Thanksgiving two families wanted to feed us.  I was like oh oh that is not good.  We will get fat.  The first house we ate at was a Somoan house.  They had the big turkey dinner.  Turkey,ham, potatoes and gravy, stuffing all of it.  and cheescake.  My district leader is ELder Otis and he is a little chubby.  All the Elders are trying to make me turn into a mini Otis.  They add a lot of stuff to my plate.  I ate all of it.  At the end I ate cheesecake which was good.  The members almost made me eat another one.  I was like aaaaaa I am really full!!!  I didn't have to eat it.  That was close.  Our second dinner was at a Mexican house.  After the first dinner we had about 3 hours for our stomachs to rest.  The next dinner came and aaa I am not hungry.  But we have to go in because they invited us.  It was another big huge dinner and they had cake at the end.  I ate so much food and probably gained 5 pounds.  Christmas is around the corner and I will get fed a lot there.  So right now I will work harder in my exersises in the mornings so I can lose a few pounds from thankgiving but I will gain it all the way back.  Good thing I liked staying in shape from cross country.  I will run when I get back home.  I am not a mini Otis just yet but they are trying.  I am watching them. 

You said you went to the office.  The Elder that you met was Elder Atherton.  He was in my district at the MTC.  I can't believe you were really close to my area.  I was like ten minutes to 20 minutes away from the mission office.  Elder Atherton is a good missionary and I really like him, he is a very good person.  Compton is going good.  The previous missionaries were doing good.  They baptized people but they never took the time to find new investigators.  So right now we just have one investigator.  He goes to church on saturdays and knows the prophets in the Book of Mormon are true.  We are helping him to know for himself that this is the church that he should belong to.  It was good  still in the progress on finding new investigators.  Happy Happy Birthday dad.  

This Christmas is going to be good.  Our ward is having their Christmas party this Friday.  We are invited of course   They are going to have the Christmas dinner.  Then have a little show.  Then right before santa comes in the missionaries us are going to read them a christmas story.  That way it will make the children calm down before Santa comes.  We have a part to play at the ward christmas dinner.  It's going to be fun reading a christmas story to the kids.  Now that's christmas.  I can't wait.  I am going to have Christmas in Compton    That's  this week--  I got fat gained 5 pounds, you came to California which is scary really close to me, And we get to read a Christmas story to the kids.  Merry Christmas and a happy new year. 

 Love Elder Bowles

Monday November 21, 2011: Hermana Bowles

¡Hola Familia!

Cambios came and went.....AND I`M STILL IN MOYO!!!!  Hooray!  Hna.
Nuñez and I weren`t too worried about transfers, but it`s officially
official that we`ll be here together in Moyo through Christmas.  Feliz
Dìa de Gracias!  Won`t really be celebrating here, but thought I`d
make a list with my twenty-two years of life of twenty-two things I`m
thankful for here in Moyo:

1. Misiòn Perù Lima Norte/ Presidente y Hermana Blunck
2. mototaxis
3. a mosquito net
4. el mercado
5. la bonita lluvia (rain!!!!)
6. giant statues of orchideas
7. my defined foot tan lines that only come from Moyo
8. unlimited supply of fruit
9. mi compañera, Hermana Nuñez and her unlimited patience
10. having a district of hermanas!
11. my parents
12. serving a mission the same time as Garrett
13. the Book of Mormon
14. internet...emails from home!
15. bug repellant/sun block
16. Spanish
17. miembros de la rama Belèn
18. music
19. beautiful, tranquil Moyobamba
20. cartas
21. cold showers
22. my Savior, Jesus Christ

Spanish rolled in on the list.....as much as I sometimes complain
about it, I really am grateful for my Spanish.  Learning a new
language has stretched me more than I thought possible.  It`s amazing
to read things in two different languages and to talk with families
about the gospel in Spanish.  I learn everyday how we`re really all
the same....families are families all over the world .

Best news of the week is that Presidente Blunck and sus asistentes
vinieron over the weekend!  They visited Tarapoto Friday and held a
zone conference with us Saturday.  Incredible. incredible.
incredible.......Presidente Blunck taught us alot about the Doctrine
of Christ and how we need to pray and fast to make it our own (how
Christ made it his own of his Father).  The Spirit of Zone Conference
is amazing, especially to be with this little army of missionaries in
a capilla.

Hna. Nuñez and I organized an activity with the Rama yesterday where
we cut up the directorio by calle (street) and had the members help us look for
people.  It was so effective!  Of course, 30 minutes before the
activity, the rain downpoured right on cue.  BIG.  Wet. Drops.
Luckily it let up just after 3:00 and we could still work in the
rama.With the few members that came, they were able to look over the
lists for people they knew and then divide and conquer in the streets.
 The directorio is gradually becoming an organized reality.

I went with Hna. Raquel and her sister Blancita around Moyo.  Want an
example of the ever-frustrating directorio.  AFter finally verifying
that the street one house counted with was the opposite calle of the
front door, we asked about her house number in the front of the house.
 "Oh no, that number isn`t valid.  Alguien me regalò la puerta." In
other words....the door was a gift and still had the number of the old
house....their house actually doesn`t have a number!!!  Wow oh
wow....sometimes I don`t know whether to laugh or cry with the
directorio.

The primary program was a hit.  They sang all their songs and everyone
remembered their discourses (talks).  Little kids and fast fast nervous Spanish
are about as cute as it gets.

Hna. Sanhueza is now training a newly released sister from the CCM gringa,
which means I have officially become old and no longer in the "newbie"
category.

I`m grateful for everyday I have here in Moyobamba and know it`s where
I need to be right now.

love always,
Hermana Bowles

Monday November 21, 2011: Elder Bowles

Dear Mom and Dad:

We have a lot of work to do in our area.  Right now we are just getting to know the leadership of the ward.  So once we know who is in the leadership then we can visit them and have them participate in some kind of missionary work.  We did not teach a lot but this week we have 8 set appointments with some of the leadership of the ward.  So it is slowly progressing.  My companion is from Idaho Falls and has been out on his mission the same as me.  Yes we cover two wards.  5 hours of church........  Can get kind of sleepy at the last hour.  First one starts at 8:00am in the morning and the second one starts at 12:00pm.  First one is Tongan and I don't understand a word in Sacrament Meeting.  And the second one is English.  Thank goodness I can understand in this ward!

It rained so much it was pounding like it was never going to stop.  Luckily we were in church.  During the last hour in Priesthood Meeting we forgot something in the car.  So we go out of the the room by the gym and we see that the floor is wet.  We are like oh no the roof is leaking.  Then a couple minutes later there was water coming out of the lights.  Just like a waterfall.  There were a couple of lights and water just starting coming out of those lights too.  It was a waterfall in that room.  The floor was getting pretty wet.  So we got some trashcans  to keep it from dripping on the floor and got the floor cleaned up.  That is my crazy experience in church.  We had a waterfall in the church building.  At the same time it is not a good thing for water to come into the building.  So hopefully they are going to do something about it.  That was the one experience that happened this week.  We are still getting used to the area.  Interesting things can happen when you are a missionary.  Tell Spencer to stay strong and it will go by fast.  I want to express my love to everyone and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Yes we are getting fed on Thanksgiving.  We have 2 dinner appointments and I am going to be so full on that day.  I am going to gain lots of weight on that day.  I will just run harder!!  I love you and again have a great week.  Happy Thanksgiving. 

Love Elder Bowles

Monday November 14, 2011: Hermana Bowles--MUD

¡Hola Familia!

Today is cambios....no news on the changes yet, but I´m feeling confident that nothing is going to happen with the hermanas.  Let you know next week.

Wow!  A week of weather that put a damper on things.  Zone conference was cancelled because President Blunck´s plane (with his counselors, the mission doctor, their spouses, and the asistentes) couldn´t land in Tarapoto because of the huge rainstorm and had to return to Lima.  We were all really sad not to see them, but luckily Christmas is only a month away and they´ll try again then.

The primary program was moved to next week.  I think maximum, there are only fifteen kids in the primary.  Little Johnny is still screaming "Sigue el profeta!" at the top of his lungs during the chorus of "Follow the Prophet" so it looks like we´re in good shape next week to perform in front of the ward.  I get the giggles every time he starts to "sing" and hope hope hope that he screams just as loud next week so the branch can laugh, too.  This Sunday was the Sunday of Sundays as far as stress in Spanish.  Us Hermanas spoke in church with the Elders on the obra misional in service, charity, joy/obedience, and unity.  My tema was la caridad (my topic was charity) and the highpoint is that Hna. Nuñez said people could understand me.  After learning that charity is the pure love of Christ, Hna Nuñez showed me an amazing scripture in the end of 1 Juan 4 that says those who love God and not others are liars.  Wow.  That´s about as blunt and direct as it gets.  After speaking in Sacrament Meeting it was my turn to teach the investigator principios del Evangelio clase.  Luckily, Hna. Nuñez and I worked it out so my week landed on "El Albedrío".  Translation, anyone?  I can´t think of the word in English......woohoo!  I had a spanish breakthrough this week.  Went on splits sunday and I visited less-actives with one of the youngwomen in the branch.....I actually survived with my spanish!  The gift of tongues is real and I am so grateful for it.....I need to work harder to have it all the time.

We started having weekly intercambios with the other hermanas in Moyo.  Every week we switch companions and areas.  So far we´ve switched twice and I have learned so much!  I´m glad that we have changes again this week.  It´s nice to see how other people teach and explain things and listen to the Spirit.....yeah, still working on listening to the Spirit. 

con amor,

Hermanita Bowles

Dear Abuela Dew:

Sounds like you´re staying busy with genealogy.  They´re trying to get family history started here, but it´s hard when the only computer is at the church and not very many people know how to use the programs.  Hna. Blanca, the branch missionary, though, is preparing family names for the temple since she plans to go to Lima in December.  How exciting is that?!

We´ve had lots of rain and cold weather here, too.....which means TONS of mud. I learned the parable of the muddy road this week.  Wow....my poor shoes.  The elders are lucky that they can wear hardy combat boots beneath their pants, but the sisters are left to fend for themselves in the mud.  Hermana Nuñez and I were walking up a muddy hill to a member´s house for lunch.  My shoes were squelching in the oopygoopy brown and my shoe even stayed in the mud at one point and my foot came free. We looked ahead to a section of the road that looked completely impassable because of the mud. I sighed and said, "well, I guess it´s a question of which side has less mud to pass through." Hermana Nuñez laughed and said, "No, it´s a question of which side has more hard earthmounds/rocks to use as a path." I had this cool moment where I realized that that´s like life. We can sit there and look at the mud, when really we need to concentrate on the rocks that will safely get us to the other side. It doesn´t matter how much "mud" (hardships, trials, sin, etc.) we have in life, as long as we use the surefast steps in life to keep us clean from the "mud." Haha.....I guess I´m thankful for muddy roads some days to teach me lessons like this.

con amor,

Monday November 14, 2011: Elder Bowles

Dear Mom and Dad:

A crazy week.  My companion Elder  Tabbit has been having some knee problems just right above the knee.  It hurts when he walks long distances and hurts when he climbs stairs.  It just hurts all the time for him.  My companion like 5 days ago talked to President Bubert about his knee.  The church does not like doing surgery on the mission and since Elder Tabbit only has two months left the church told him that he is honorably released.   He does not have to come back and make up the time.  It's like a medical release.  Elder Tabbit was really shocked about him going home.  He did not know what to do.  He asked me if I could give him a blessing.  He said you need all the Revelation from god right now you could get.  I gave him a blessing.  I said what the Holy Ghost wanted me to say.  At the end of the blessing Elder Tabbit said.  Thanks, that is what I needed to hear.  It is so cool that whenever we are worthy of the Holy Ghost it can be with us forever whenever we need it--  Night or day.  President told him that he goes home this Monday wich is today.  My new companion and I dropped him off at the Long Beach Airport and President was waiting right there.  We took his bags said our goodbyes and we were off.  He was with President Bubert and ELder Tabbit left today to go back home to Idaho to get his leg fixed up.  I was stuck in the apartment for the week.  My new companion Is Elder Warmoth and he is also from Idaho.  He loves Basketball and football.  SO I am excited.  I only knew Elder Tabbit for a week, but he went home and a week later I get a new companion Elder Warmoth.  Both of us really don't know the area and we are basically whitewashing it.  Whitewashing means we don't know the area, don't know what doors the missionaries knocked on and we are just basically starting from scratch.  We will have to use both of our brains to get the work rolling back in and pick up for the lost time.  There are a lot of good potentials and me and ElderWarmoth are going to work hard because we know we will get a baptism.

Have they started on the Provo Tabernacle Temple yet?  I saw the artist drawing of it.  It is really cool.  That is my crazy week.  Food is good we ate pig yesterday.  The pig was on a stick and was cooked and ready to be eaten.  That is tongan culture.  It was fun. 

Thanks I love you all.

Love,  Elder Bowles

11-10-11Hermana Bowles

Excerpts from Kristin’s letter received 11-10-11

There are lots of stores here in Moyobamba.  Imagine St. George or Jackson Hole.  Really inhapited, outskirts are jungle.  Funny, but there are more stores here than where I was at in Lima.  For a living, most people teach in colegios, drive motos (basically a 4-wheeler taxi), vender en el Mercado, or sell from their chakra (land/garden they own in the jungle).  Hermana Nunez and I don’t cook anything here, but today I took eggs to a lady in the ward to hard-boil them for me in meals.

  Random thought—but I was just thinking about my awesome fruit deal this week.  Gave Hna Blanca (lady in the branch) money to go to the Mercado for bananas and oranges for me (since she can get good prices and I can’t as a gringa).  I am now the proud owner of around 60 platanos (bananas) and 25 oranges fresh out of the jungle.  The bananas were cut off their stalk and day by day ripen in the back room.  Breakfast is a “banana cereal”:  4 sliced bananas, milk, sprinkling of cereal on top.  Absolutely delicious.  Hna Nunez only eats lunch for free with members.  We’re on our own for breakfast and dinner, but it is so much better this way! 

One of the main downers with food is ants.  If it is not in the mini-fridge, it will get eaten.  Last week I had my box of cereal closed on top of the fridge, but the package open inside .  We left for the day and came home that night to find a trail of ants leading up the fridge and the side of the box into my cereal.  Opened the box and the inside was swarming with ants.  Gross…….wasted 6 soles.

We get mail as often as people come from Lima so letters come at least once every four weeks.  There are 14 missionaries in our zone with 8 in Moyobamba, 4 in Nueva Caja Marca and 2 in Rioja.  We have meetings in Rioja because it’s most central—30 minutes each way in comvee.  Our district is half elders and half sisters.  Out of the Elders, one is zone leader and the other is district leader.  I think it must be really strange for them considering there are some zones that don’t even have one companionship of hermanas.  Even if just to have a hug or smile, it’s nice to be around more hermanas. 

People and their dreams here never cease to amaze me.  Hermana Nunez always wakes up in the morning and tells me about the dream she had the night before.  Last week she dreamed about President Hinckley and the week before last about President Faust.   I sleep like a rock. 

Hope all is well at home.  Hna Nunez says my hair has lightened a lot and is blonder and redder and my foot tan line is definitely starting.

Love you both,  Kristin.