Samoan Week 2: Samoan Miracles

Talofa! (hello in Samoan) Brothers and sisters! This week has been ballin! Had a few miracles this week. One of them is with the investigator’s family that we put on date last week. I was on exchanges with Elder Burner the day of our lesson. We were teaching about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Throughout the lesson the mom would cry a lot. She offered the closing prayer and thanked Heavenly Father for the gospel and for bringing her into the light. We talked about how Christ did many miracles and it inspired her to ask for a blessing at the end of the lesson. She has some illnesses she has been battling with. So the senior couple that came with us to translate gave her a blessing in Samoan, and it was awesome! It was a great spiritual experience. She is reading the Book of Mormon everyday and is coming to church. We are very excited for her baptism as well as the ward members.

Saturday was a fairy busy day mainly because we had a lot of members invite us to events. We had a ton of food! After one of our lessons, the senior couple took us out to lunch. Then we had a Samoan party thing at 3 and they gave us a lot of food and our lesson that evening gave us more food! So we had a lot! I also had someone I taught in my last area be baptized which was great! It was Jose Aguilera's son Dominic and his daughter, Emily. So that was great for them to be baptized. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go, but it was great to hear about that! But ya, me and Elder Bingham have been doing good. He's from Nebraska and originally from Utah! He's is a good missionary, and it's been fun working with him!

Thank y'all again for everything! I hope y'all have a great week!

Elder Bowie
Samoan Wards
Salt Lake City West Mission

Samoan Week 1: Brothers and Sisters Talofa!

Brothers and Sisters Talofa!

This week working with the Samoans has been quite the adventure! So we have six wards, and everyone is pretty friendly! We didn't have too many lessons this week. We have two senior couples that we get to work with now which is awesome! On our second day, they called us and they had set up a lesson with someone and wanted us to come. When we went they wanted to be baptized! Haha! So we set the Mom and her son on date for August 12th! The son is married to a member and wants to be sealed as a family. The mom got interested as well. So it'll be awesome!

Our area is huge! So we drive a lot which is fun, and it's great to in a car! Hopefully, it will last longer than one transfer! Haha! I hope I stay here for a while because the members are awesome, and the food is awesome! They cook really well! It's usually rice, mash potatoes, and ribs(chicken, pork, or something good). So it's been good! I'm also going to Vasa again which will help me kept those calories down. haha!

Besides that it's been great! Everyone plays a lot of sports and activities, so we will start going to those! It helps us to get to know the members and to fellowship, too, so it's awesome! Anyways, thanks again for all of the support! The mission has been going really well and I love being out here! I love it!

Elder Bowie
Samoan Wards
Salt Lake City West Mission

Hunter Week 18: Transfers

Well, this week we had transfers, and it turns out I'm getting transferred! So I will be leaving tomorrow! So this area is a little unique because it is a couple of Samoan Wards in the Salt Lake Valley. It covers down to South Jordan to Salt Lake and covers the whole valley from those points. So it's huge. Yes, I have a car again! So I'm excited for that. One of the wards is the one Samoan Ward I covered with Elder Dunham in my first area so that will be fun. This is a really cool area because it goes into other missions. haha! My new companion is Elder Bingham and he came out last January or February, and he is also the District Leader. We are both new to the area, so we are "whitewashing" it. So this will be fun new start.(I guess I'll have to learn Samoan again. haha!)

Besides transfers, this week we have been going really well! We had a ward party/social thing, and that was fun to participate in and to hangout with the members. We also had one of our recent converts come to church this Sunday which was exciting! Since he hasn't came since he was baptized a couple of months ago. So that was great! We also started working with a new less active which was great. We have been doing good in this area, and it's been awesome. Elder Maltos will be staying here with a new companion.  I'll definitely miss Elder Maltos, but I'm also excited to go into this new area! Also, Elder Kozakevitch is my Zone Leader again. So I'm excited for that and to see him more again. Also, in my district their a new sister that is coming into the mission that is from Benton, Arkansas. So that's awesome! And there is another Elder in my district from Branson, Missouri. His dad is actor there, so that's awesome, too! So I'm excited to get to know them!

So I'm doing pretty good, and thank y'all again for everything! I love all of y'all! I hope everyone has a great week! It's been great here on the mission, and I love every second. Hard to believe it's been over a year now. Miracles still happen and it's great to witness them so often. The Gospel is awesome!  Heavenly Father loves all of his children, and it's great to do service for them. I'm grateful for this opportunity to be here. Love y'all!

Elder Bowie
Hunter and Granger South Stakes

Hunter Week 17: Water Running in the Church

Good morning everyone! This week has been great! We had a baptism last Friday for Bella Thompson in the Harman Ward. It went really well and a lot of her family were nonmembers so it was great to met them and to share the restoration with them. Bishop Stewart of that ward did he baptism and Elder Maltos did the confirmation yesterday during their ward. We also did some service this week on Friday for someone in our District Leaders area and we weeded a mowed their yard which was great. We also help some paint and tear off the singles of their roof so they can replace them so that was fun.

It's been pretty hot this week from anywhere from 95 to 105 so lots of water has been consumed. We also had a recent convert devo this Sunday and Bella came with us to it which was awesome! It was good timing for her! Besides that we have been doing great and this past transfer has been going by really fast and I will know next week if I am staying or leaving. So that's always exciting!

I love all of y'all! Thank you for your support and everything! I hope you guys have a great week!  I love all of y'all!

Elder Bowie
Hunter and Granger South Stakes

Hunter Week 16: Happy 4th!

Alright, so the past couple of days since Thursday has been awesome! We had our baptism Saturday for Sunmi Kasai and her son Peter and it went really well. We had a lot of good member support. It was awesome, and me and Elder Maltos and got to confirm them Sunday! So that was ballin! We also had a youth Fireside last Sunday that was awesome! We talked about the Holy Ghost and using it in their lives.

We also hiked to Donut falls today with our Zone which was awesome. and I had a great time! So that's why this was sent a little late! Sorry! But we had a great time. and today is our all day P-Day. So we get to relax all day, and this evening we are doing a Zone BBQ. It's going to be good!

So the mission has been great, and I still can't believe it's been over a year now since it started! I love all of y'all and I can't wait for the rest of the week, because we should have a baptism this Saturday for Bella (one of our investigators)! So I'm excited for that as well! So I love all of y'all! Hope all have a great Fourth of July!

Elder Bowie
Hunter and Granger South Stakes