Samoan Week 15: Facebook Friends

Brothers and Sisters, Talofa!!

Good morning, everyone! I hope everyone’s week went well! We have been doing good here in the Samoan area! This week we had the confirmation of Roy, the investigator that was baptized last week! It was a great to finally have him confirmed and he is now officially a member of the Church! So, that was fantastic!

This week was a little slow, but we had a baptism interview for the Tongan Sisters which was fun to do! I did the interview, and it was out in Sandy. So it was fun to drive out there! We also had District Meeting Friday which went well! We talked about finding and how to do in our areas, since it’s a little different here in the Polynesian area. So, that was a lot of fun!

Facebook has been an interesting tool as well. We are able to share Gospel messages on it and talk to people about the church. So, it’s been really fun to do that! We can also talk to people that we worked with in past areas and see how they are doing. It’s been really good, and I love it. So if anyone hasn’t friended me on Facebook, please do!

I love all of y’all and thank you for your support through email, prayers, letters, etc.! I hope all of y’all have a great Halloween! Also, today is an all day P-day so I am open all day if you want to talk to me! Love y’all!

Elder Bowie
Samoan Wards
Salt Lake City West Mission

Samoan Week 14: Place your trust in God.

Good morning brothers and sisters, talofa!! This week has been a week of miracles! This week our mission got Facebook, so now we can post things and talk to people about the gospel on there and on P-days we can use it to talk to family and friends. So, it’s been super cool to have this tool now and to use it for spreading the gospel! So, if you haven’t friended me yet, please do! My profile name is Zach Bowie.

The other great thing that has happened this week is that we have picked up a ton of new investigators! So, we recently picked up two brothers who’s dad was less active. They have been coming to church with their grandpa, and the dad is trying to get active and wants to get them baptized. So, now we are teaching them! Another one is a nine year old of a less active family that wants to get baptized! So, now we are working with the whole family to get them to be active! Sunday we got another one as well! It’s kind of the same situation as the rest. A less active starting to come to church and they have an 11 year old daughter that wants to get baptized. We are now teaching her as well! So, it’s been awesome. We still have gotten some referrals, too. So we will see if we can get a few more people to work towards baptism! So, it’s been awesome so see this many people come to us at once!!

One of the coolest things that happen this week is that I was able to be part of Roy’s Baptism this Saturday! It was awesome, and our mission president, President and Sister Palmer, were there as well! I was able to be the one who baptized him which was amazing! It was an amazing experience! I’m very proud of Roy and for his decision to be baptized!

We credit a lot of this success to the goal setting we did at zone conference when we got facebook. They talked a lot about it, and we prayed about it and set some goals and prayed about it again. And it’s a miracle to see Heavenly Father’s hand in our lives and in the lives of those that we are teaching! I love all of y’all, and I hope everyone is having a blessed week! If you’re not, then turn back around and look for God’s hand in your life and I can promise you that you will see it without a doubt! Love y’all and stay safe!

Elder Bowie
Samoan Wards
Salt Lake City West Mission

Samoan Week 13: Set your goals high.

Brothers and Sisters Talofa!

This week has been fantastic! As y’all know we had transfers last Tuesday, and I am now with Elder Miller! It’s been a good, yet hectic week here in the Valley. Transfer day is always crazy and it took us most of the day just to move everyone and to get situated. Most of week has been mainly going by some of the leadership in our wards and introducing, Elder Miller, and talking about the work and getting referrals. It’s been good and everyone, of course, is super loving and have been doing their best to help us out.

Friday we had District Meeting, that was a lot fun. It was cool to prepare for it and lead the discussions we had. We mainly talked about goal setting in our areas and how to apply that to our areas here in the Polynesian wards. So that was a lot of fun. It went really well, and it was a lot easier then what I thought in my head! So I’m looking forward to next week! Friday we also had a lesson with Roy and we talked to him about the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chasity and it went really well! He is a great kid and he is still on track for being baptized next week! So we are looking forward to that!

We will be getting Facebook next week on Wednesday. So we will be getting some training on it this week. So, I’m super excited for that and to see how it all rolls out. I will be using my one from home, and it’s going to be fun! We are already having a few people friend request us! I’ll be sure to tell y’all about it next week!

Besides that, I just want y’all to know that I love all of y’all! Hope everyone has a great week! Thank you for your support and everything!

Elder Bowie
Samoan Wards
Salt Lake City West Mission

Samoan Week 12: Transfers, Exchanges, and Leadership.

Brothers and Sisters Talofa!

Well everyone, I have some very exciting news! So turns out (unlike what I thought) I will be staying here in the Samoan area! My companion, Elder Bingham, is going to Kearns! I’m going to miss him! My new companion is Elder Miller for St. Louis Missouri! He is short and is an awesome guy so I’m looking forward to being his companion! Also, I’m now the District Leader of our district which was surprising for everyone! Haha! So, this is going to be a new adventure. I’m looking forward to it! My roommates have changed as well. Now the new English Elders are Elder Rebarchic (from Alabama), Elder Keith (He was here last transfer from NC) and Elder Skelton. So it should be a fun household. haha!

Besides transfers, my week here has been awesome! We went on exchanges twice! Once with Elder Oliphant on Wednesday which was fun! I went to his area and I got to know him more! We had our lessons kind of fall through, but it was still fun! Then with Elder Bailey on Friday! He is a great guy and a football player. He is pretty fun and we saw a few people and had a great time together! In our area we have been working with some of our members, and had a few correlation meetings. So it’s been good. Our Investigator, Roy Moa, has been doing good  and he is still on track for baptism this transfer so I’m looking forward to that!

Besides that not too much going on here in Utah, hopefully we will see some snow in the valley in the next month or two! Looking forward to that again! Haha! I hope all ya’ll have been well! Thank ya’ll again for everything and for your support. It does mean a lot to me! I love ya’ll! Stay safe, and keep reading your scriptures!

Elder Bowie
Samoan Area
West Valley City, UT

Samoan Week 11: Conference Weekend

Brothers and Sisters, Talofa!

The past couple of days, since Wednesday, have been great! We were able to attend General Conference yesterday which was a great experience! We also had District Meeting last Friday, where we talked a lot about the Restoration. So, it was a pretty sweet week!

Going downtown to Temple Square for General Conference was probably the best thing! I really enjoyed listening to the speakers and just going to the conference center which is huge & amazing! We went the Sunday Afternoon session, and we were on the terrace towards the ground level so we were pretty close! I hope everyone got an opportunity to watch conference! It is great to feel the Spirit that comes from it! I’m sad that one of the apostles passed away this week end as well, Elder Hales. So, be sure to keep his family in your prayers.

Besides conference weekend, we also had a great District Meeting in which we talked about the Restoration, and it’s impact on our lives. The Spirit was strong. We also set our new investigator on date for October 21st. So, that was awesome! Besides that nothing too much has been happening here in West Valley. Oh! We get transfer calls next Saturday. So, I will know if I’ll be staying here or leaving by next P-day! So I’ll be sure to let all of y’all know if I do or not! Also, tomorrow is my Mom’s birthday! So I want to wish you a Happy Birthday! I love you, mom! Thanks again for all of your love and support! It is appreciated! I love all of y’all! Hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Bowie
Samoan Wards
Salt Lake City West Mission