4th of July Package

We sent Elder Bowie a 4th of July package….looks like they’ve already started decorating. :)

MTC Week 2

Family & Friends ~

The MTC is the best ever! I have only been here for 9 days now and I have learned so much! I didn't mention this last week but I was made District Leader over our District which has 10 Elders and Sisters in it! Our District is amazing! We're out numbered by the Sisters 6 to 4! Most of the Sisters has I said last week are going to Visitor Centers. It's been great though! We eat all our our meals here in the MTC together and we all get along really well. Sunday here at the MTC is great! Our Branch (Branch 34) is amazing! We passed the Sacrament last Sunday and it was great to hear from everyone’s talk. Next week is Fast Sunday and I can't wait to hear everyone's testimonies! I got called on my our Zone Leaders to teach Priesthood this Sunday and our topic is Obedience. It'll be fun to teach Sunday. My companion and I already got our lesson ready for tomorrow.

Our lessons with Jackie went great last week. We got her to commit to being baptized which was the best feeling EVER! We had our last lesson with her last Tuesday sadly. It's amazing here at the MTC! The Spirit is so strong! You feel the love for those you teach! The Spirit is so strong as you work with your companion together to teach the lesson! And when they use their agency to accept your message, it's just the best feeling in the world! We got two new investigators last Monday, Travis and Zach. Travis was a lot like Jackie and we taught him three lessons (Mon, Tue, and Wed) He wanted to be baptized but felt like he didn't know enough to make that choice. After the lesson while we were preparing for Zach Elder Quinnelly found this amazing scripture in Alma, Alma 32:21 which reads,

"And Now as I said concerning faith -faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."

After reading this we added this into our lesson with Zach. After sharing that with him we got Zach to commit to being baptized on August 1st. It was amazing! We have one more lesson with Zach tomorrow and we will be teaching him the Plan of Salvation and we can't wait to teach him that!  We won't see Travis anymore sadly, but I know he felt the Spirit during our lessons because I did.

Also, the mission presidents are doing a seminar here in the MTC in one of the buildings and many of the Apostles and First Pres. are here teaching them! I haven't seen them yet, but I heard they will be doing a Devo on Sunday! I really hope we get to hear from them! That would even bring more of the Spirit here!

Thank you to everyone that has send me letters (and packages mom) and emails, it means a ton to me! Your prayers are felt here in the MTC! I can't wait to get out in the field in less than two weeks! I love all you guys!

Elder Zachary Clay Bowie

Utah Salt Lake City West Mission

MTC Week 2 Pictures

Almost There

Temple

District Leader

Elder Bowie’s First Letter Home

Father’s Day

Dear Family,

It’s currently Father’s Day, so happy Father’s Day, Dad, Just wanted to let you know that I am doing great here in the MTC and I miss all of you guys! Don’t worry, I’m having fun and I can’t wait to get out in the Mission Field in 16 more days! It’s been great here in the MTC! My companion & I get along real well. I became our District’s first District Leader and I’m in charge of all the Elders & Sisters in our District. It’s been great! Our Branch President is Pres. Williams and he is super nice! We get along well. By this time I hope you found the “surprise” in my room. I wanted to let you know that I love all of you! Have fun with the presents I gave you as well as reading the letters. I look forward to writing you a letter every Sunday!

Next week all the Mission Presidents are doing a conference in the MTC and they said some if not all of the 12 Apostles could be here! They said not to swarm them though. I hope I can get to meet one of them. They will be giving devotionals next week so I’ll be sure to sit on the front row. Anyways, the MTC is awesome. I feel the Spirit almost 24/7 here. It is the best place I have ever been to! I wish you could be here too! We went to the Provo Temple twice and the mountains are beautiful here and I love it so much! I can’t wait to be out in the Mission Field. We also got our first confirmed baptismal date for one of our investigators, Jackie. July 18 is when she is getting baptized. Just after 3 lessons. We also have been working on our street contact and keeping what we say to under a minute. It’s hard, but fun. We teach 2 new investigators tomorrow. I can feel your prayers and I love your guys so much! Don’t destroy my room while I’m gone and have fun with the cows.

I have three scriptures I want you guys to read. First: 2 Nephi 31:10-21, 3 Nephi 11:31-41 and 3 Nephi 27:13-22. These are why I am serving a mission. I hope you guys write me back. I’ll write to you once a week on Sunday. Y’all are the best family ever and I can’t wait to tell you all about my mission.

Have fun and read your scriptures. They are amazing. I have never fully understood the scriptures til this point in my life. Brother LaTurner our 2nd branch counselor taught us Elders things about the scriptures that blew my mind. I am literally feasting on the scriptures out here. I love it. I’ll email y’all some stuff he said on Friday (P-day). He is amazing. He is the one who shared these three scriptures with me.

Tell everyone back in the Ridge that I am doing well. Also, tell them to email me especially the youth. Cailey you tell them to email today. None of them as of now emailed me, so tell them to. I want to share what I learned here at the MTC to them. It is amazing what I learned in just 5 days! I have never in my whole life felt this close to Heavenly Father and his Love. It’s hard to explain the love I have for the people I teach. I care so much about their salvation. It makes me shout out for joy when they accept being baptized. The Spirit is so strong.

Also - funny story – our Zone Leaders pretended to have an Australian accent and we bought into it for the first three days! It was so funny. The sisters didn’t believe it was a lie when they came clean. They charged them and demanded answers. We have this black sister, Sister Stephson, and she freaked out. It was so funny. She something like, “Oh no he didn’t.” but in like a African American accent. The was the best ever. I laughed so hard.

So ya, Cailey tell them to email me. They need to be edified by the Spirit. Also, I hope everything is going well in sacrament without me. I miss everyone, but I’m having fun. Til two years.

Love,

Elder Bowie
Salt Lake City West Mission

MTC Week One

Dear Family and Friends,

I arrived to the MTC in Provo last Wednesday and have officially begun my Missionary journey! The MTC is great! I have a great companion, Elder Quinnelly, and he is from Southern Alabama! He is also going to the Salt Lake City West Mission! In our dorm we have a Missionary from Arizona, Elder Moltas, and he is going to Salt Lake as well. His companion is Elder Milburn and he is from London! He has the great British accent and everyone in our District loves to hear him speak and say weird words. It's great. Our District by the way has us four Elders and six Sisters. All but one of the Sisters are going to a Visitor Center in California(and one in New Zealand) The other Sister is going to Salt Lake as well. It's been great to met everyone and to get started in the MTC. The Spirit is very strong here! We already taught our first Investigator, Jackie. Our first lesson went great! We talked about the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost and how to recognize it. She had a little difficultly knowing how to pray and hear answers so later today we will be doing a lesson about the power of prayer and how to pray to Heavenly Father. I can't wait for our first devotional because they say usually some of the general authorities come to talk, and I can't wait to hear from them!

Today we went to the Temple next to the MTC. It was great and I did a Endowment for someone and it was awesome to go through the Temple again! The Spirit was very strong throughout the whole meeting! In the Celestial room I had a opportunity to pray to Heavenly Father, which I took. I prayed to know if I was making the right choice by serving a mission and how I could teach the people effectively with the Spirit. It's hard to describe the feelings that you get in there. I was overcome with a feeling of joy and love. I felt like I belonged there. I got my answer and I was so glad to be there. Afterwards we met outside with the rest of my District and took some group photos by the Temple. It was a lot of fun! The Temple there is so huge and amazing! We took some great shots and then walked back to the MTC. After lunch we're gonna play some volleyball and see who the best team. The Brits vs the Southerners, we won't keep score though.

So, ya it's been a blast at the MTC even though it's my third day! It makes me look forward to going on the real deal in Salt Lake! I can't wait for all the great miracles that I will get to see! I highly encourage everyone to come and serve a Mission! It is the best thing that has ever happened in my life. I love you guys! Keep writing me!

Elder Zachary Clay Bowie

Utah Salt Lake City West Mission

Elder Bowie’s First E-Mail

Dear Bowie Family,

I made it with all my arms and legs in the MTC! I had a great guide that was able to guide me to where I needed to go, so everything ran smoothly for me. I just wanted to let everyone know that I already miss them! Don't worry, I am having a great time so far in the MTC even though I just got here. After a few weeks I'll be out serving in Utah! I hope everyone can behave in the meantime!

Elder Zachary Clay Bowie

MTC Drop Off

Before we dropped Elder Bowie off at the MTC we stopped by the Provo City Center Temple. We said a prayer in the car. We all were pretty emotional. Ugh! We held it together pretty good for the drop off! It was packed! We said goodbye, & he was off! He didn’t look back. Then we lost it! See you in 2 years!

Provo City Center Temple

Temple Square

We had a few hours to kill before the big MTC drop off once we got into Salt Lake. So we headed to Temple Square. :) We had a yummy breakfast at The Nauvoo Café. Then we walked around Temple Square.

Funny Things

Did you know that suit pockets come stitched shut? Yep, they do! ha! We stopped by Walmart to get a seam ripper to open them up, and I accidently opened the wrong seam! Ugh! Thank goodness Elder Bowie had a sewing kit. We were all stitched up & on our way! ha!

leaving on a jet plane

Here we go! MTC or bust!

Elder Bowie’s Setting Apart

Hello! It’s Elder Bowie’s mom, Ginger! We aren’t exactly sure how the mission blog will work. Hopefully, Elder Bowie will be able to update the blog himself once he’s in the field. In the meantime, you have me! :) This past week has been a roller coaster of emotions for our family. We are so proud & happy & excited for Zachary to serve a mission & at the same time our hearts are breaking just a little bit at the thought of not seeing him for two whole years. It’s a sacrifice our family is willing to make! We know the blessings the Gospel of Jesus Christ has brought to our lives, and we know it can bless the lives of so many others. We are so grateful for the opportunity for Zach to share this awesome message with those in the Salt Lake City West mission. On Monday night at 9:30 pm Zachary was set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by our stake president, Pres. Chandler. Pres. Chandler encouraged us to go home & write down the things that were said in the blessing. So we did! Zach wanted me to type them up & post them here.

Zach’s About to Split

We had such an amazing turn out to Zach’s farewell party! He had school friends, church friends & family there. Annnnd the ice cream was a hit! We love you, Elder Bowie!