{week 47}

Well good afternoon ladies and gents. So for those of you who are
thinking I didn't put you in my weekly email last week, I didn't write
one... Life is busy as a missionary! So anyways, life is good. It's
been 2 good solid weeks with my new comp elder Ball. He's an awesome
dude. And he is actually from riverside California which is crazy
cool. We know a couple mutual friends back home and he even DJ'd the
Redlands dances I went to! Crazy small world. Missionary work is kinda
slow right now in the bennion west stake but we're really tryin our
best to pick it up. So some news on when my release date is... It got
changed again. It will be moved back one week because the church has
decided that missionaries need to stay in the MTC for 3 weeks instead
of 2 so now I will be coming home December 20th so I hit my year mark
THIS WEEK!! I'm pumped. 1 year down, 1 to go. Life as a missionary is
great. The best decision I've made in my life up to this point. I'm so
thankful for all of you who helped me to get to this point. The love
and support from you guys has been huge. Not too much to write this
week but Christmas is coming up and it will be my first and last one
on my mission! If you're wondering, I love jackets, ties, and socks (;
haha. I hope you all have a merry Christmas and remember the real
reason for the season. Love you guys!

Elder Chase Bowler
Salt Lake City West Mission

{week 45 Happy Thanksgiving}

Lots of new news this week! So once agin, it's that time for
transfers... Can you believe it's already been 6 weeks?! Crazy. But
anyways, My comp Elder Jones is headed out to Tooele and I'll be
staying in the area (Bennion West) and getting a new companion named
elder Ball. So if you lost count, this will be my 10th companion. Lol
He's been out about 9 months so pretty close to me and I've heard
nothing but good things about him and he's from California so we're
gonna be best friends obviously haha. And we'll be elder bowler and
elder ball (Bowl 'n' Ball) hahahaha. It's gonna be a fun transfer! And
I will be hitting my year mark here in the next couple weeks so it'll
be HUMP DAYYYYYYYY! So anyways thanksgiving was freakin awesome. It
was an all day p-day for us but we couldn't email or nothing so we
just partied all day. We got up, went to the park to play some turkey
bowl but it turned out that nobody was there but luckily we brought a
soccer ball and there was some goals with nets so we played some
"hit-the-crossbar" and some soccer version of horse. And then we
called some youth and other missionaries to come out and play and we
ended up getting 12 people out there and we played 6v6 soccer and
football. It was super fun. We did that from about 9-1:30. Then after,
we rode home and ate a quick snack and showered and then we had one of
our families in the area come pick us up and they took us to their
thanksgiving dinner with all of their family. There was like 20 people
there. And just the way they did thanksgiving reminded me so much of
how my own family did thanksgiving so it was awesome for me! I loved
it. It consisted of eating, playing games (spoons, uno, war, and
another Australian game that one of the people taught us), and even a
little bit of football because they said they weren't gonna turn it
off so we couldn't do anything about it hahaha and then we came back
from their families house and hung out with that family until the rest
of the night. It was such a fun day to just relaxe and enjoy the
holiday! We also had our first snow this week and it's a love/hate
relationship with snow. I hate that it is so cold and that I have to
wear such big coats and stuff! But I love watching my companions crash
on their bikes in the snow hahahaha. So we were riding to one of our
appt's on Saturday and I was drifting in the snow on the way and just
having a good time and then my comp decided to try it and he thought
it would be a good idea to put on both brakes and slide so he did it
going pretty good speed and he totally ate it in the middle of the
road!!! Hahahaha I laughed for a good 5 minutes. He was just real
embarrassed about the whole thing and then asked me why I didn't crash
and I told him not to use the front brake hahaha. Oh man, that was the
highlight of the day. Life is going good! Oh and I had a baptism this
week out in Grantsville for a guy that I started teaching and put on
date while I was there and that was awesome to get to see him baptized
and I got to see some of my favorite people while I was out there!
We're teaching a lot more than when I first got to the area so we're
doing our best to pick it up. Patience and diligence is key with slow
areas. If you haven't joined my photo sharing, join it for more pics
throughout the week to see what I'm up to! Just send me your email if
you have an apple device! Love you guys. Thank you for all the love
and support!

Love, Elder Bowler

{week 44}

It's been a great week this week! I got some crazy cool stories and
some crazy funny stories and just crazy stories haha. So this week on
Friday, we were able to finally find some new investigators!!! And one
of our other investigators started reading and he came to church so
he's progressing. Much better news this week than last week. Like I'm
not really a numbers guy, but I love having work to do and teaching
lessons rather than just knocking doors all day. Finding is just
really not that fun tbh.. So I'm pumped we have cool people to work
with now. Oh my gosh, this week during our 3rd sacrament meeting on
Sunday, the sacrament was coming around and they were passing around
the water and I grabbed a cup off the tray and then I dropped the cup
and it totally got everywhere on me and the floor. I'm pretty sure
everyone in the congregation saw... It was terrible. Hahahahaha then
later on in that sacrament, the choir was going up to sing and there
was this middle-aged woman who was going up the stairs and she just
totally ate it on the last step. She tripped and fell hard on the
stage. She got up fine and everything was okay but you could tell she
was really embarrassed so I think she beat me in the prize for most
embarrassing moment in sacrament meeting. What a crazy Sunday hahaha.
Then last night we had a mission musical fireside and our mission
created a mission choir and we use it to bring people together and to
get the to feel the spirit through music and they are always so good.
My companion is in the choir so I get to go to every fireside. It's
awesome! I Also had the opportunity to go back to the Tongan stake for
a baptism. I worked with the guy while I was there and we put him on
date for baptism while I was there and he went through with it! So
awesome. Oh and a few weeks ago, I was at my interview with my mission
president and after I was done, the mission secretary asked me to come
to his computer and he finalized my release date and so it's official
now that I will be coming home December 13th, 2016. So just a little
over a year left. Time is really flying by. It's crazy. Well, that's
all I have for this week. deuces!

Love, Elder Bowler

{week 43 Birthday Boii}

Afternoon friends and family. 

So p-day got changed to today and I had
the opportunity to go to the salt lake temple today! My 2nd favorite
temple. Luckily, I got the package that my mom sent me just in time to
take the names she threw in there. I got the chance to go through the
temple for one of my ancestors and provide that saving ordinance for
them because they never got the chance! Going through the temple for
someone related to you is so cool because
often times, you can feel their spirit there with you and just knowing that you
helped them to gain access to the highest degree of glory is truly amazing. And
what better way to spend your birthday as a missionary than at the temple?!
On a funnier note, there's a guy in my area named brother summers and
he is kind of a fashion guy but he is like 45 and he gives us rides
places when we need to get somewhere and this week we got into his car
and he knows I'm big into fashion because of my skinny ties and skinny
pants and everything slim fit and he was like "Elder bowler, ever
since you've been in this area, you've made me feel insecure about my
fashion and the way I dress because I'm always wondering
if you'll think it looks good or not so I got dressed early this morning to
make sure I matched and looked my best today." Hahahahahahahaha it's
always good to hear that you're making people look better for you! Me and
my comp just about died when he told us that. It's been an awesome
birthday so far and I'm so thankful for all of the birthday wishes.
You guys are honestly the best! Not too much to write this week... If
you ever have questions for me about anything, just shoot me an email.
I love to hear from you guys!

Love Elder Bowler

(week 42)

¡Hola! 

Well this was my first full week in my new area in the Bennion
Utah WestStake! This area is going kinda slow but elder jones and I
are workin our butts off to get more teaching going on here. I left
Grantsville with 7 progressing investigators which are all on date for
baptism now so that's my goal  in this stake. To get that much work to
keep us busy because when you're busy, time flies and it's much more
fun teaching rather than just knocking doors! We were
able to set several appointments this week so it's a start. Just gotta get them
to progress! On Tuesday of this week, I was on exchanges with Elder
Stevenson again because our companions do choir and we're both just
like screw that, let's go work so we go on exchanges every Tuesday and
Wednesday in my area and in his area which is my first area so I love
it. But anyways, this Tuesday we were in my area and I had no idea
what to do because I had just got into the area so we decided to try
to contact some former investigators but elder Stevenson forgot his
shoes with the Zone leaders so they asked us if they could
bring them to us so we went to the nearest church building which is about
a minute away in either direction because we're in Utah... Lol. But
anyways, we get the shoes and then head back to the apartment to drop
them off and we go walking back to contact some formers and then out
of nowhere this guy pops out of his garage and is like "Elders!! Are
you the missionaries for the bennion west stake?" and I said yes. And
he said he's been wanting to get in contact with us and he wanted a
priesthood blessing because he was going through a really tough time
in his life and I had the opportunity to give him that
blessing and then afterward he asked us if we could teach him the stop
smoking program and if we could start teaching him the discussions. He's
a less-active member of he church but he wants to get back into church
and quit smoking because he has a baby that is due on my birthday!! So
we are teaching him now! Such a crazy cool experience. The lord really
does have a plan for everything. If elder Stevenson hadn't forgot his
shoes, we never would have found him! THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES! Thank
you for all the love and support. Remember, if you want to see what
I'm up to I have an iCloud photo sharing album so just email me your
phone number or your Apple ID and I'll add you to the album! Oh and
most likely next week, I will be writing on Tuesday
because we have a temple trip which means p-day will be changed to Tuesday the
17th. What better way to spend your birthday as a missionary than having
a temple trip and p-day on your birthday. The only thing that would make
it better is some letters (or packages) from you guys! (;

 Address:
5565 south 3580 west
Taylorsville, Utah 84129

 ~ Stay classy my friends.

{week 41}

Hello friends and Family, 

     What a crazy week!  So for those of you who don't follow my photo sharing, I was 

emergency transferred out of the Tongan Stake because of an Elder who wasn't able to 

come to our mission because he wasn't able to get his visa in time.  So I took his place 

in the Bennion West Stake.  I was pretty bummed to be leaving the Tongan Stake but

I still love Taylorsville so it's all good!

     If you lost count, I am now on my 9th companion and 5th area in 10 months!  Haha

It's really crazy how everything has happened.  My guess is that I will be staying 

here in the Bennion West Stake for a good little while...At least I hope.  I've been

here for about 5 days now and I am loving it so far.  My companion is Elder Jones

from Alabama.  He has been out about 16 months.  He is a great missionary and we knew

each other from my old mission.  We were actually supposed to be companions in Midvale

until my transfer got switched back in May.  So a few things happened and we eventually 

got to be companions.  

     This week I had the opportunity to go back to Grantsville with Elder Brumbaugh 

for a baptism we had out there when we were companions.  It was great to spend some 

time with him and go back out to Granstville to see old friends.  I miss it so much.

I hope and  pray I get to serve there again before the end of my mission!  Life is 

real good here but the work is kind of slow at the moment.  We're doing our best 

to pick it up and I'll let you guys know how it goes!  Oh and my birthday is coming 

up so I'll 


be in Taylorsville for that which I'm super pumped for.

     My new address is 5565 South 3580 West Taylorsville, Utah 84123 so feel free to send some letters and packages :)

     Love you Guys!

     Elder Bowler

{week 40}

Malo lelei!! 

Aka good morning! Haha week 1 in the Tongan stake. It was
my first time driving a car in 10 months and it was a little scary at
first honestly but it didn't take long until I got back into the hang
of it. Oh and I've never eaten so much food in my life. They have this
thing that they make that is wrapped in coconut leaves and then there
is corn beef on the inside of that. It's pretty strange but it wasn't
that bad! I've really been struggling with eating a lot at dinners
though because they put a ton on your plate and they
expect you to eat all of it gone and I'm a tiny guy so that's been kinda tough
trying to get everything down hahaha. Oh and I started a photo sharing
album from my iPad so if you want to see what I'm up to with pictures, send
me your email address or phone number that is registered with apple
and I'll add you to the group! Send it to my email! So the work in
this area is really good! Our area goes all the way up past park city
and down to Lehi. It's crazy! The area is so big that we just drive
everywhere. We can't walk or bike at all so I
think I'll be gaining some weight while I'm here unfortunately /: We go into
all the surrounding missions. So we don't even really have a mission
boundary which is crazy coming from such small areas. Not much to write
this week. Not much new is happening over here. Just doing my best to stay
in shape! Hahaha here's a few pics of me and my comps!

Love Elder Bowler 

{week 39, transfers}

Once again, it's that time for transfers. 

So crazy story.. We got a
transfercall on Friday night from the Assistants and they told me
that I would be headed to the bennion stake with an elder from Brazil
but today while we were playing some indoor soccer and football, we
got a call from the assistants and they said elder Bowler, we will be
changing your transfer assignment. You will be serving in the Salt
Lake City Utah TONGAN stake!! Hahaha I'm so pumped. I get new Tongan
name tags and we can wear lava-lavas to church! I'll be serving with a
2 Polynesian companions too. I'm sure we'll get along just fine. Oh
and I'll have a car in my new area because we cover the whole Utah
county valley!  But besides that, I'm pretty bummed to be leaving this
area. It just might be my favorite area. I've made so many friends and
even people I consider my family out in this area. If I had to live in
Utah, it would be in Grantsville. So laid back and southern
hospitality. This week went really good. Oh and ifyou lost count, I'm 

on my 4th area with my 7th companion. Not too much new going on this
week. We laid someone's floor again this week so I'm getting pretty
good at laying floor! Hahaha well I'm thankful for all the emails I'm
recieving. You guys are awesome.

Love, Elder Bowler

{week 38, 9 months}

Good morning friends and family. 

Not too much happened this week except a really good zone 

conference we had with our mission president
and his wife. The main focus of the conference was about obedience to
the white handbook and preach my gospel. Some of the Utah missions
have been known to be disobedient so my mission presidents goal was to
resolve that before our mission was known for that. It was a really
good meeting and they both talked about how us as missionaries are
basically gods mouthpiece in reaching these people out here
who are being prepared for us and the only way we can do that is if we
let Heavenly Father work through us. It really motivated me to be as
obedient as I can and put in that effort. In other news, some other
pretty funny stuff happened this week... At church on Sunday, this
older lady came up to me and grabbed my cheeks and was like "Wow you
have the cutest face ever. I love your dimples and a young lady
someday is gonna be very lucky to have you. You're
gonna have such cute kids." I didn't really know what to say... It was pretty
weird hahaha. My comp looked at me after and was like what the heck
just happened... Well not too much to write this week but we still have 3
on date investigators and 8 preparing for baptism. The work here in
Tooele county is just crazy. Our zone is the highest baptizing zone in
the mission. Hard work pays off! I love the weekly emails and the
pictures. Oh and the pics are from a project we did as a mission to
describe our relationship with Christ in 3 words
or a 3 word phrase describing Christ. You guys are great. If you have any
questions about anything, just shoot me an email! I'd love to hear from you (:

love
you guys!

{week 37}

So to start off, I'm sorry I haven't been emailing some of you guys
back as much as I usually do. Life is busy out here! And I'm so
thankful for all of your letters and support. But anyways; on Tuesday of 

this week, a member asked us to come over and help them with their
floor so we went over thinking it would take a few hours... We ended
up spending 7 hours there doing service but it was great. I learned
how to lay flooring (Like a giant puzzle) and I got 4 mountain dews
out of it so not a bad day if you ask me! I've really come to
appreciate Mountain Dew on my mission hahaha. Not much else has
been happening this week. Conference weeks are really tough because
it's basically all of Saturday and most of Sunday but we still have
our investigators progressing and we did find a few new investigators
so definitely not a bad week in my book! How great was conference
though?! So good. I missed the first Saturday session because we were
helping one of my favorite families in the area move houses.
Thankfully they just moved down the road and not out of town! Haha we
had about 30 people there helping out at both houses. I had never seen
so many people out to help at a move. Such a cool ward
with such great members! I think my favorite talk overall at conference was the
talk given by Elder Von Keetch. Why? Because what he said is so
true.  Commandments, Rules, & laws aren't put there to restrict us but
rather to keep us safe. The lord wants us to be happy, safe, and blessed
and the way he has promised that we will have those things is by obedience
to the commandments! Kind of like how our parents give us rules when
we're growing up to keep us safe. I know I personally struggled with
feeling like they were just rules fencing me in but looking back, all
those rules kept me safe and out of harms way. They give us those
rules because they have had experience in life and they know what
things could happen amd they see the bigger picture. It's the same
with our father in heaven. He knows all. He gives us commandments
to keep us safe and out of danger. Not to fence us in, but rather to
guide us. I know that by living the commandments and doing what our
Heavenly Father asks of us, we will be blessed. It's a promise and the
lord is bound when we do what he asks. Try it out. You never know what
could happen (:

Elder Chase Bowler

{week 36}

Almost October already... Man time is really flying by out here in the
best part of Utah. Not too much to report on this week. As of today,
we have 4 / soon to be 5 progressing investigators, and we just picked
up 2 new this week!  The work out here in Grantsville is just awesome
and the people are so nice.  I'm lovin the small town country feel! If
I had to live in Utah at some point in my life, it would be in Tooele
County. I'm just writing this email on my wayback home from golf with
my landlord. We get to play every Monday morning. Wehave a game goin
where we keep track of all our wins and losses and we add them
up and whenever I get transferred, that's who is the better golfer out of
the two of us whoever has the most wins. I'm down 3-1 right now. But
a comeback is in the works! We had 4 elders in our apartment last night
come down from wendover so it was like a missionary sleepover hahaha
doesn't happen too often but we always have a great time. So a pretty
cool experience we had this week... One of the less-actives we've been
working with has been trying to stop smoking for about 2 months now
and we've been working with him ever since I got into the area.
They're a young family. They have 4 kids. 18,12,7, and 4
years old.  The mom of the family is very active in the church and has
gone through the temple and everything. The only thing holding the
husband back has been smoking. He came to us and told us that he wasn't
proud of the way his oldest 18 year old son was growing up to be and so
he wanted to set and be a better example for his 12 year old son and
ordain him to the aaronic priesthood. About a month ago, we gave him
the stop smoking program we use as missionaries and promised him that
if he followed these steps, he would be able to quit smoking. Craig is
now a non-smoker of about 3 weeks dry. This past Sunday, he ordained 

his son to the aaronic priesthood. They are planning to go through 

the temple next month as a family to be sealed for time and all 

eternity. I love that family. The Wife texted us Saturday evening 

telling us how she has been praying for this for 20 years and now it's
finally happening. One of the coolest stories on my mission so far. 

Thegospel is true!

Elder Chase Bowler

{week 35}

Good morning friends and family! This week has been pretty crazy honestly! So on Tuesday, we were on exchanges and I was with an elder named elder hunt. He's a super chill guy and he is from California. You always learn a ton on exchanges. Elder hunt and I had a ton of fun that day and I had the opportunity to give a blessing to one of our less-actives we are working with. Giving blessings is the best! The spirit is always so strong when you're giving them. My comp and I are doing great. He loves Grantsville just like everyone who comes out here. I've come to the conclusion that I would rather live in a more country place rather than the city just because the people are so much nicer and I love how everyone is so close out here! But I don't think I could live as rural as it is in Grantsville... I think Texas is just perfect hahaha. On Saturday, we had a crazy busy fun day. We started out with a baptism that was an autistic girl who was 8 years old. The bishop just suggested that we be there to show our support to the family because they were less-active. It was a great experience. It was so crazy because the girl was being kind of rowdy in he font but right when her dad started saying the prayer she just immediately settled down and was reverent. It was crazy. She is probably closer to Christ than most of us regular people are. Sometimes we take what we have for granted and we think "I wish I just had this" when we don't do enough at looking at the beauty around us. I know I'm guilty of that and most of us are. When we truly count our blessings, we realize that we have it pretty great (: but anyways, after the baptism we went out and proselyted for a couple hours. Then we had a golf tournament with one of our wards to build some member trust and to get to talk to a few less-actives. We played a 4 man scramble. My team won with 2 under on 9 holes. Not too great but it was a ton of fun and successful! Then after that, one of our ward mission leaders asked us if we could play on his soccer team because they were short players and he said registration was free for us so we decided to play. It was 8v8 and there is actually quite a few non-members on the team which was a plus for us to talk to them about the gospel in a non-threatening way. We ended up losing the game 3-4 but I had the 3 goals so it was a good game! Hahaha then on Sunday my comp and I had to give a talk in one of he 9 wards that we cover and by this time giving talks is pretty easy for me but it's still nerve-racking when you're sitting up there but once you get up its great! My comp spoke first and he's only been out 3 months but he's a great speaker! After he spoke, I spoke and I got up and I was like I've been out about 2 weeks and the crowd laughed but then I said I was kidding and I had been out about 9 months. It's always good to start with a joke to wake up the crowd!! Hahaha it was great. The church is true, the book is blue! Love you guys! 

{week 34 Miracles!!!}

Hello, 

This week has been an awesome week! So to start off, Elder Brumbaugh
got transferred out of the area and I am now with my 6th companion and
he is a greenie. He's been out just over 3 months and he is as green
as they come hahaha but we still have a ton of fun and I'm doing my
best to help him work hard and have fun. So last week, me and elder
Brumbaugh went to one of our favorite members house so elder Brumbaugh
could say bye and tell them he was leaving. And we went over there and
we got to be really good friends with some of their kids and their
daughter came up to us and told us that she needed to talk to us.
She's about Chloe's age... She told us about all her struggles and
challenges in her life and I'm not gonna say because they were pretty 

personal to her but this girl has gone through more than any teenager
I have ever met. And she came to us and said that she was on the brink
of choosing to stay in the gospel or not because she wasn't sure if it
was true because of all things she had been through in her life. So we
asked her if she had read the Book of Mormon and she told us she
hadn't so we told her to read 3 Nephi and Mark scriptures that stuck
out to her and we bore testimony and then we left. Afterwards, elder
Brumbaugh and I just didn't feel like we said what we needed to
because she didn't seem too thrilled about it but we said a prayer
and went on with our p-day. Later that night, we came back and she opened
the door and she had the biggest smile on her face. We were so
surprised but she told us she read like 15 chapters and her day just
went great and the thing that stuck out to her the most was prayer and
it turns out that 3 Nephi talks a lot about prayer and me and elder
Brumbaugh had no idea it was all about prayer, we just knew 3 Nephi is
when Christ came and she told us she didn't want to pray but she did
it anyway and she had the greatest experience. It was such a huge
testimony builder to me about studying the scriptures and how they
do give us guidance in our lives. She is now happier than ever and doing
so great! Definitely One of the best/coolest/most spiritual moments on
my mission. So as of today, Elder Blatter and I have 2 people on date
for baptism with 1 soon to be. We're doin work and having fun! Life is
good. If any of you are having a tough time back home, I promise that
Heavenly Father will help you if you come to him with a sincere heart
and pray for help. I've seen it so many times with myself and so many
times with others. Love you guys! Keep writing. 

I love the weekly emails (:

Love Elder Bowler

{week 33, 8 months}

Transfersssss & 8 months out! 

Well, once again the time has come to transfers. And once again, I am getting another new companion. If you lost count, this will be my 6th companion in 6 transfers.. Hahaha. Elder Brumbaugh is leaving the area and I'm definitely gonna miss the great times we've had and all the fun times. He is headed to West Jordan and it will be his first time outside of Tooele Valley which I think will be a big culture shock for him. We're definitely gonna keep in touch because we're both from Texas and we might be rooming together at BYU-I so we'll see! I will be staying in the area and I will be getting a new companion named Elder Blatter and he has been out on his mission for 3 months. So I'll be his greenie-breaker and it will be my first comp that I've been out longer than! Hahaha I'm pumped because I love this area and it will be cool to kinda show a greenie the ropes. Seems like I was just there! So anyways, this week we had the opportunity to go to the Salt Lake Temple with our stake and a few of the people were teaching and I got the opportunity to do initiatories for the first time after my own endowment which was super cool. I love the temple! After we were done, the people we rode with decided to take us out to dinner at a place called Rodizio Grill and it was SOOOO good. I got to eat chicken heart which was kinda weird but hey I did it! So one of the coolest things happened yesterday during the ward we were in. It was fast and testimony meeting and there was a kid that had got up and his name was Garrett and he had been in a bad snow-mobile accident in the last few years which paralyzed him and gave him pretty bad brain damage but with the help of his mom, he got up to the stand and he stood up there and gave his testimony about how we are all given trials for specific reasons and we may not know why but they're all for a reason. And the spirit was so strong. It brought me to tears because I often think that I have it pretty rough out here and it really just humbled me and made me remember my purpose out here. I'm not out here for me; I'm here to be an example to my siblings (Especially my 2 brothers), invite others to come unto Christ, strengthen my family members back home, and to show gratitude to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for all they have done for me. I love this gospel. I love my mission. If any of you youth are questioning going on a mission, DO IT! It's the best thing I ever did in my life. I love you guys! 

Elder Bowler

{week 32}

This week has been really good!! The Sturgell's were baptized this week! The baptism went really well and also the confirmation. Elder Brumbaugh and I had the opportunity to baptize brother and sister Sturgell. It was an awesome experience! Sister Sturgell grew up Jehovah's Witness and she was actually ordained by one of her priests as one of the 144,000 who are going to be saved. (Jehovah's witness believe only 144,000 people will be saved into heaven) but she still ended up converting to LDS which is just so cool to me. She was crying the whole time during the baptism and confirmation! It was so cool. Elder Brumbaugh and I are still getting along super well and having a ton of fun and working hard! We have 2 more people on date and we're working with another family named the Moore's and they are an active family but the father has some w.o.w issues he's trying to work out so we go over there and teach him and check up on them quite often. So anyways, we went over to their house last night because we didn't have a dinner appointment and they told us that we should come over anytime that we didn't have dinner so we took them up on the offer hahaha and we went over there and they made this super good BBQ and they grow their own Jalapeños so if you know me, you know I love hot stuff and I had to go and try some. They were super hot but really good! But anyways, after we had got done eating, we went outside and shot the bow and arrow for a little bit and we played "Horse" with it which was pretty cool since I'd never shot a bow! Then after that, we took it inside and the mom gave us a message about the atonement and we bore our testimonies about the atonement and then the husband told us that he payed his tithing for the first time in a long time and he ended up finding ply-wood the next week for 85% off the original price and that is what he does for a living so he Recieved a huge blessing for paying tithing and that was just a big testimony builder on its own for me! It was an awesome night and we gained a ton of trust with their family. It was such a fun and good week this week! I'm writing this a little early because I'm headed off golfing with brother Bingham!

Love, Elder Bowler

{week 31}

Really good week this week! Not much of anything new really though... Just doing the same old, same old! Teaching, baptizing, saving souls, and enjoying every minute of it!! Haha so this week, as a mission we had a "Mission tour" which is basically a hype up meeting to get us going on missionary work. We had elder Ringwood from the first chorum of the 70 come and talk to us which was crazy because he spoke at the last general conference!! And then we had an area 70 named Elder Keech come as well. It was an awesome meeting. Then on Wednesday, Elder Brumbaugh was sick all night with the Flu so we had to stay in which is never fun because there's really not much to do as a missionary but a day with a nap isn't too bad every once in a while. Haha So the Sturgills are still progressing really well and they are getting baptized this weekend! I'm excited for them. The area is doing really great right now. There is so much potential here and so many people that could be ready to be baptized if they would just commit! It's hard knowing that the gospel can change these people's lives and they won't even take the steps to get there. But we've gotta be patient and everyone does have their agency. I've realized how important agency is on my mission because we have to let people choose for themselves because if we do everything for them, they won't truly have a testimony and they will most likely fall away when things get tough. Agency is crucial to proving our way back to our father in heaven. Then on Saturday of this past week, we had exchanges with another companionship in the district because elder Brumbaugh is the district leader so he has to go on exchanges with each companionship in the district. I went with Elder Blaylock in his area and it was an awesome day! Elder Blaylock goes home in like 2 weeks so he is pretty ready to go home but it was still a cool day! I met a lot of awesome people over in that area so hopefully someday, I'll be able to serve over there! I love it out here in Grantsville and I love my mission! If any of you young men out there who are reading this letter are questioning about going on a mission... DO IT! It's the best thing you could be doing in your life! I love you guys and hope you're all doing well (: 

Love Elder Bowler

{week 30}

What a week! So if you guys didn't know, last Monday I had the opportunity to attend the Jordan River Temple with my zone. So since I'm all the way out in Grantsville, we had to get out of the house by 6:30 a.m so we could make the 8am session. We also had the other elders out from wendover come stay the night at our house because they would have had a 3 hour drive into salt lake if they left that morning and they're both foreign missionaries so we drove with them into the city. Missionary sleepovers are the best hahaha. So we ended up leaving later than planned in the morning and we were late to our session but it actually turned out to be a cool experience because we got to see 2 couples going through the temple and it wash h a cool experience to see them! My comp got kinda trunky because he has a girl waiting for him who he's gonna marry when he gets home so it made him think of her so I teased him for it. What also made this temple trip better for me is that I went in with a question for the first time and it was answered!! Crazy testimony builder. Easily the best temple session I've ever been to! I LOVE the temple. They're all so beautiful and the spirit is always so strong in the literal house of the lord. How lucky are we to have them so close to us?! Out on a mission, one of the things you learn besides church stuff is how to dress classy, how to play basketball well and how to budget your money. All necessities for life to come right?! Haha On Wednesday this week, we sent out a group text to all the youth we knew in the area and we got together for a sport activity and we got to play indoor soccer which was super fun. There was about 10 of us there and unfortunately 0 non-members but our goal is to get trust from the member kids and eventually have em bring their friends. It was a ton of fun and just nice to kick back and have some fun playing soccer with the youth. We had the chance on Saturday to do some service for a less-active guy and we went there and he showed us his backyard and it was full of weeds in their garden and I hate picking weeds but I knew that he needed help so I remembered the scripture in Mosiah 2:17 - "When you serve others, you serve God" and that made e work so much easier. After it was all done in about an hour or so, he ordered us pizza and thanked us a ton. Service is great and you always feel good after doing it! Those are the highlights from this week ladies and gents. Have a great week and don't forget to always chase what matters (; 

Elder Bowler

{week 29}

My life be like... So this week was another good week out here. I had the first opportunity this week to go on splits with some priests in one of the Wards and it was great! I went out with a kid named McKay and he just turned 16 and he is a pretty shy kid and he is 6"3 and he can dunk!! It was super cool because I got him to open up and talk about the gospel and you could tell how much fun he had that night. He's gonna be a great missionary someday. He's already got plans to go right after high school! Such a cool kid and such a cool experience. I wish I would have gone on more splits with missionaries before I left! Also this week, we had the baptism of brother Beech. I only got the chance to teach him twice but he is a super awesome guy and I'm happy I was able to see his baptism! He was confirmed by a patriarch and it was one of the coolest blessings I've heard! It was a great Sunday. Elder Brumbaugh and I have been having so much fun together and he's an awesome missionary and he is really teaching me a ton! I've truly learned how important it is out here to get along with and love your companion because when you do, teaching is so much better and the members love you and when the members love you, that equals more referrals which results in more people to teach which results in more baptisms and re-activations!! It's a complicated cycle but trust me, it works! (; haha. This morning we are going to the Jordan river temple for an 8am session so that's why I am writing this so early to you guys! What better way to start off your day than a session at the temple?! I love getting your emails every week! If there's ever anything that you guys have questions about anything, just shoot me a quick email and I'd love to answer any questions you have! Love you guys (: 

Elder Bowler

{week 28}

Week 1 in Grantsville, Utah and 7 months out in the mission field! Crazy. Almost 1/3 of the way there! But anyways, here's some news about the area. My companion is Elder Brumbaugh and he is from West Texas and we get along great. We're pretty much like best friends already which is awesome. We have a ton of fun every day and we get a ton of work done too. I love it out here in Grantsville too because it's like small town country and the people out here are so nice and welcoming! Our area is so much bigger than any of my areas back in Taylorsville which I love and we cover 9 wards out here which is crazy. A few of the wards out here remind me a ton of the Justin Ward back home just because there's a ton of youth and the building is built the same as the one in Texas. This week on the first full day I was here, we taught 5 lessons and we put 3 people on date for baptism! Grantsville was originally part of the salt lake mission so I don't know anyone out here but they're all super cool guys and it's just crazy how much differently they do missionary work compared to how my last mission president made us do it. They prayerfully select baptism dates and make sure they're progressing before they put hem on date for baptism which I like better than just putting everyone on date and then they just go less-active after we baptize them. It's great to be out here. So on Saturday, we went over to this referral we've been trying to contact for a while and they were finally home so we went in and talked to them and they were building a BBQ so we went out and helped them and then they said they had to go talk to someone real quick so we just stayed out there building the BBQ and they were gone for like 45 minutes and we built that whole freakin BBQ and then they came back and were like "wow guys, thank you for building our BBQ but we're not really interested in coming to church" like dang we were so bummed out because we thought for sure he was interested but it's all good haha. It's been an awesome week! Love you guys

Elder Bowler

{week 27}

Hello Everyone

TRANSFER WEEK!! So to my surprise, I am getting transferred once again as well as my companion elder Kelley. They are pink-washing us out which means they are taking both of us out and bringing 2 sister missionaries into the stake. It's weird because I was only here for 9 weeks so I really didn't even get to know anybody accept this one guy named Rick and his daughter is The girl we baptized a few weeks ago. He's pretty bummed out about us leaving the area just because sometimes were the only ones he can vent to and talk to and now we're leaving and sisters are coming in so he can't really do that anymore... It's sad to leave but not nearly as bad as my first move so it's not too bad. So guess where I'm headed!! Wellllll... I'm going to the Grantsville Utah stake which is about a 45 minute drive out here. It's in the middle of nowhere and we still don't have a car haha but from what I've heard from people, they say it's like small town Utah kinda like Texas so I'm pretty excited but pretty nervous too. My new companions name is Elder Brumbaugh so I'm guessing he's foreign so we'll see how it goes! Not much has happened this last week, the work has been pretty slow over here but the thing that sucks is that we just found a family of 6 who are from Iraq and they just started reading the B.O.M and they came to church yesterday! Like just our luck that we find a family of 6 that can all be baptized right as we leave \uD83D\uDD2B  not too much to write about this week but hey I love the emails! And I love all of you! Thank you for all the love and support (: 

Elder Bowler

{week 25}

Whazaaaappp friends and family! 

We had our first zone conference as the new west mission this last week. For those of you who don't know what's going on, as of July 1st I am in the Salt Lake City west mission. All the mission boundaries in Utah were re-drawn to make them more equal in boundaries. I have a brand new mission president and instead of just 3 zones , we have 9! And we have missionaries from 4 different Utah missions trying to come in and be one mission which is really tough because we all came from 4 different mission presidents so we all have different ways of doing missionary work but it's fun to get together and meet the other missionaries. I met a missionary from Bakersfield named elder Franco and I asked him if he knew the Galyan family and he said he knew Jill and Neil! Haha it was awesome. Maybe we will be able to be companions some day! Our new mission president is so much different than my other one... He focuses a lot more on loving the people and doing your best and just having a great mission rather than my other mission president who was all about numbers and chastising us all the time lol. In other news, our investigator Alex is progressing really well and she is being baptized this Saturday by her dad and I will be confirming her on Sunday which will be my first time confirming someone so I'm pretty nervous but I've gotta have courage like the stripling warriors in Alma Ch.56; Rely on the lord and everything will be alright! Then on Friday we had the chance to take Alex to temple square and it was awesome. The spirit is always so strong at temple square! The sisters who gave us the tour liked Alex so much that they asked us if they could come to her baptism and we didn't know that they could do that but of course we said yes! We're excited to have Alex's baptism this week and everything is coming together great! 

Love, Elder Bowler

{week 24}

Good afternoon ladies and gents! 

     Sorry for the letter so late. Interesting week this week haha so on Tuesday, we were 

tracking in some apartments like we usually do, and this guy answers and he's like
I'm Roman Catholic boys, don't bother and so we were like do we hear a accent? And he 

immediately smiled and was like haha yeah I'm from New York and we just started talking to him and then his wife pops out and is like don't talk to them honey, you know what your
mom told you about them, if you talk to them they will talk back and then she
slammed the door. And we were like what the heck, like we are
human beings, of course we're gonna talk back to you. Hahaha so many people
are scared of us and they hate us out here but it's whatever. We tried.
Then on Wednesday we were tracking again and this chick answers the door with
the most mad dog face I have ever seen and she opens and slams the door right
away and right before she answered, we were cracking jokes so we were both
smiling and she still slammed it! Then we went outside that building to go to
another one and we saw this lady sitting on her balcony so we waved and it was
that same lady, we just didn't realize it and she just flipped us off and
walked inside. So as you can tell, we've had a pretty interesting week haha.
But on other, better news; Alex is our on date investigator for July 18th
and she is so golden that we don't have to worry about her at all!
We're stoked to be able to go to temple square with her next week and to
get her baptized in 2 weeks! I also had the opportunity to meet the
new mission president and he is like night and day from president Moffat.
He is so kind and nice. We met him at a baptism and we went to say hi
and shake his hand and he's like "Nope, we hug around here" and he
gave both of us a big hug. It was great. I can tell the rest of my
mission is going to be great! If any of you young men out there are
questioning the decision to serve a mission, DO IT! If any of you knew
me before my mission, nobody thought I would serve a mission but I did
it and I don't regret it at all! Well I hope you guys have a great
week! Write me some letters! 4592 Balsam Avenue (: Love you guys!

Elder Bowler

{week 23}

Good day friends and family! 

As of today starting at 12pm, I am now apart of the Salt Lake City WEST mission!! Instead of being in the smallest mission in the world, I am in the 2nd biggest mission in Utah. Provo is still the biggest. I have a brand new mission president from South Jordan Utah. He has never been a mission president before and from what I hear, he sounds like an awesome guy! So cool news, all the 9 missions in Utah are getting new boundaries so that it is a more equal amount of stakes in each mission. In the new west mission, we have 190 missionaries with 9 zones instead of 75 missionaries and 3 zones. We will have about 65 stakes instead of 22. There will be missionaries from the west mission, the central mission, the north mission, and the south mission. Four different missions & missionaries coming together into one mission which is the new west mission. My mission president said nothing like this has ever been done in the missionary department where so many new and different lines are being drawn so I'm excited to be apart of history. I'm not sure when I get to meet the new mission president but I will keep ya posted. I bet you're wondering why my letter is a day earlier than it usually is.... Well starting today, all p-days will be on Monday instead of Tuesday which is great! So anyways, this week has been pretty good! Crazy story, so we're in this apartment complex and we here this kid like crying pretty loud so we go over to see what happened and there's this like 5 year old kid who's stuck in one of those baby swings and he couldn't get out because his legs were too big so elder Kelley and I picked him up and we lifted the swing upside down and let gravity do the work and he got out! Hahaha his mom was so thankful for us being there. She was already a member so we couldn't teach her but it was a pretty funny experience. Unfortunately Benson didn't come to church this week so he is off date but we found another new investigator who is the daughter of a recent convert and we got her moms permission so now she is preparing for baptism on the 18th of July. She is as golden as they come. We are not worried about her at all. She is 10 years old and her dad who is the recent convert will get to baptize her which is even better! Not too much going on this last week but the coming week should be great! Keep the emails and pictures coming! Love you all and miss you tons! 

Love, Elder Bowler

{week 22}

Happy Tuesday friends and family! 

This week has been gooooood! Some pretty cool experiences this week... So on Thursday, we had another exchange with the district leader which is when one of us stays in our area with the district leader and he tells us what we could do better and what we do that is good and then the other companion goes to the district leaders area with his companion. So this week I had to stay in my area with my district leader but he's a really cool guy so it's actually really fun to go on exchanges. But anyways, it was my first time leading out the area because I have only been here for a few weeks so I was pretty nervous but it ended up being really good! We knocked on a lot of doors but unfortunately we weren't getting any answers... It was a rough start to the day but we kept up a good attitude because discouragement weakens faith so the day went on and we had an appointment scheduled with a potential investigator named Craig. My companion told me before he left to the other area that Craig never shows up for appointments so I wasn't too sure what was going to happen so we go to his house and there is no answer so we start walking away and we see this guy sitting down on the grass so we decide to talk to him. We ask him where he's from and all this stuff and then we get to talking about baseball and he loves the Detroit Tigers and I told him I was an Angels fan and he told me all of the standings in the MLB which was kind of nice to hear hahaha but I ask him his name and he says its Craig. I realized that it was the guy we had an appointment with. I had never met him before so I wasn't sure what he looked like. But anyways, I didn't bring up the appointment we set but I just slowly started talking to him about religion and he is Christian and has a strong belief in Christ. So I ask him, "Craig, what would it mean to you if I told you that through love, God has called another prophet to the earth today?" He said that would be great and that it would make sense. I told him that God loves us so much that he wouldn't leave us alone on this earth without someone to communicate to him. Then we read Amos 3:7 which says that God will do nothing accept he reveals his secrets to his servants, the prophets. I told him that times are constantly changing and God wouldn't leave us on our own. I could tell he was really interested and engaged in what I was saying. Then we told him how after the death of Christ and his apostles, that priesthood authority that Jesus had and gave to his apostles had been lost. And then we read Amos 8:11-12 which talks about a great apostasy where people will Go without the word of God. So I told him that if something is lost, what needs to happen? Or in other words, if an old car is broken down no dead, what do you need to do to it? "You need to restore it" Craig said. "That's right! You need to restore it. So in 1820, a young boy named Joseph smith was wondering which of all the churches was true as he was pondering in the bible in James 1:5 which reads if any of you lack wisdom, ask God! So he went to a grove of trees and asked God and he describes his experience..." Then I recited the first vision by memory and I asked him "Craig, who did Joseph smith see?" And he said "God and Jesus." "That's right! God and Jesus. So if you heard a 14 year old boy come up to you and tell you that he saw God, would you believe him? Probably not. And God knew this, so he provided evidence of what Joseph smith was saying is true and you can know this through the Book of Mormon." And the spirit was so strong that I invited him to be baptized and he said yes! It was such a great lesson. Unfortunately he didn't make it to church this week but we will be teaching him again soon! I'll keep ya posted. We are really so lucky to have a living day prophet on the earth today to lead and guide us in a changing world. If any of you are wondering about investigating the church and wondering if what I'm saying is true, read the Book of Mormon! And pray to know if it's true. Oh and we currently have 1 person preparing to be baptized on Juky 11th named Ben! Thank you for all the love and support! I really appreciate it.

 Love you guys!
Elder Bowler

{week 21}

Happy day family and friends! Hope you are all doing great! Crazy story this week! We had a guy show up at church who was not a member so we decided to teach the 2nd hour class which is gospel principles and he was there so we taught the restoration and he loved it so much that he accepted a baptism date on the 11th of July! It was so crazy and such a great experience! But yeah, Another good week in blazing hot Taylorsville, Utah. The weather has been crazy out here! It's already in the mid 90's and it's so hot wearing slacks and button ups all day every day but nobody said it would be easy, but it WILL be worth it! Keep that in mind when you're going through a tough time! I finished the Book of Mormon a few weeks ago and what do you do when you finish the Book of Mormon...? You start over again!! I'm taking this reading slower and really pondering the messages given int he Book of Mormon. It's crazy how much you can learn just from the stories in the Book of Mormon as you search, ponder, and pray! Just like the primary song tells us to do. I hope you are all reading the Book of Mormon and praying for the lord to give you the confirmation that along with the bible, it is the fullness of the gospel! The introduction in the Book of Mormon is powerful! It promises us that as we read, ponder, and pray if the book is true, we WILL gain that testimony by the power of the Holy Ghost. That's a pretty bold promise right? So why not try it out?! Just as an experiment... Because if it is, then it will change your life! If it's not true, then I guess you'll never get those 30 minutes back. Which one outweighs the other? I challenge you all that aren't members of the church or even those that are members of the church that if you haven't read the Book of Mormon, to read it and put that promise to the test! For those of you that knew me before my mission, you'd know that I wasn't ever a person to be super religious or anything but because I know how much it can change lives now, I try to give everyone that opportunity to change their life just like I did! I've only been on my mission for 5 months, but I've learned more in these few months than I ever have! So that's my challenge to all of you. Read the Book of Mormon! Get in contact with missionaries in your area! We love referrals and teaching the gospel to those who are ready to hear it! I challenge all you members of the church to fast and pray for a friend you think who could be ready to hear the gospel and give that name to the missionaries and go over with them. I know it can be scary to talk to friends about it, trust me I know... Haha but d&c 49:27 promises us that Christ will be with us always and he will not let us be confounded! Lots of pretty bold promises in the scriptures so put them to the test! I promise you'll see a difference in your life as you share the gospel with others. And it is one of the covenants we make when we are baptized to take the lords name upon us and always remember him so that means talking to people about what the gospel has done for you in your life. Sometimes a single phrase of testimony can set events in motion that affect someone's life for eternity! I'm sacrificing 2 years away from my family so other families can be together forever! I love you guys! Sorry I didn't talk much about what happened this last week, sometimes the spirit just takes over! Have a great week! 

Love, Elder Bowler

{week 20, 5 months!}

Good morning ladies and gents, 

     Its your boi Elder Bowler coming to you live from Taylorsville, Utah. It's been a crazy good, busy, crazy week! So this week, a member in one of our wards came up to me and was like hey do you want some lights on your bike rims? And I was like Heck yeah!! So he ordered them and he put them on and it makes my bike look like it's from Tron! It looks so sick!! On Saturday morning, me and my comp and a non-member got the opportunity to play in a Ward 3 on 3 basketball tournament and we did great! We actually only lost 1 game which was the championship game but it was so much fun! I still only sit on the 3 point line and just knock down 3 pointers and my companion plays on the inside so we're a good combo! We have so much fun together. He is actually a lot cooler than I thought he would be... Hahaha. We are really having trouble to find people this week but the last few days have been pretty great because people are just like appearing out of nowhere telling us they want to be taught and stuff which is quite a coincidence because as of Monday, we are no longer putting new people on date for this mission and instead it will go to the new mission whichever one we are in. I still don't have any new news on where I will be going but I will know on the 17th! I can't believe it is already June! I hit my 5 month mark on Sunday. Time really does fly by when you're working hard and having fun. I'm doing great and having fun! Not too many cool stories this week but it was still an awesome week. I'm very thankful for all the love and support from friends and family. You guys are the best! Oh I almost forgot... One thing that is pretty cool is that we have mission Olympics today and we will be playing soccer, basketball, football, and a bunch of other fun games as a whole mission and we won't be doing missionary work at all today. Just having fun and playing games! But anyways, gotta run! Love you guys! Stay classy San Diego 

{week 19}

Dude week 19!! Crazy how fast time is flying by! This week has been a week filled with good, bad, crazy spiritual, old area sickness, comp withdrawal, and harsh bashing experiences.  So I got a new companion and his name is Elder Kelley. My new area is the Taylorsville North Stake which is at the very top of my tiny little mission haha. This area is definitely much more low-end than my last area. It's taken a lot of adjusting to get used to. The first few days were crazy rough just missing Elder Gilman and my old area and the people I left behind in my first area. I miss them all so much. My last day, we went around talking to the people I wanted to say bye to and It was almost as bad as saying goodbye to my family back home. I'll always be thankful for the time I had in the Bennion East Stake and all the amazing people I met there. But I'm still continuing to chase what matters and make the Taylorsville North stake my new home and loving the people! My companion Elder Kelley has been in this area now for about 3 months so everyone knows him so it's really hard trying to talk to people because he knows just about everyone! I've really been relying on prayer and the spirit to help me feel comforted at this time just because it's so hard with a new comp, a new area, and new people and it's helped so much like it always does!! I know father in heaven has sent me to this new area for a reason, it's just my job to find out what that reason is but I'll know soon enough! So crazy spiritual experience.... We went to visit a former investigator and she was really not feeling well and she's going through a rough break up right now so we got there and she asked for a blessing and she asked me to do it and I had no idea about her or her story but I said okay and I said a little prayer before to help me to know what to say and be guided by the spirit and I gave the blessing and afterwards she was nearly in tears and she told me "Thank you, that's exactly what I needed to hear." She told us she felt an overwhelming calm peace go through her. It was a crazy great experience! It really helped me to know I'm in this area for a reason. I'm doing great! Working harder than I have before. Im always so exhausted but it's worth it! I love the letters! Keep em comin! Love you guys! And have a great week! Love, Elder Chase Bowler

{week 18, transfers}

Good day mates! 

So this week has been pretty good! So first things first, (I'm the realist) haha jk, jk. But I just got called last night and I am being transferred for the first time! I am going to the
Taylorsville North Stake.  Unfortunately Elder Gilman and I are being separated and my newcompanion will be Elder Kelly! Yes, I'm gonna miss this area and the people here like crazy
but the lord has other plans in store for me in this new area! So on Wednesday, we got the
opportunity to attend the Salt Lake City Temple!  It was awesome to get to go there as a 

mission. The live session was a little different (I prefer the video) but it was still an awesome 

experience. The Salt Lake Temple is beautiful inside! I can cross that off my bucket list ✔️ 

haha. This Friday at dodgeball, we had a really great turn out and had about 35 people
there and they all stayed for the lesson! It was great. We taught about keeping the sabbath day holy! It was kinda sad to say goodbye to everyone there because I kinda knew I would 

be getting transferred. All the teenagers were disappointed to see me go but it's a new start,more people to help! Today after p-day is over at 6pm, I am going to several members to 

say goodbye and tell them I'm being transferred. I really loved this area and the people in it.
I'll always remember it for Sure! On Sunday, we gave talks in sacrament at a missionary 

homecoming and I talked about "No effort is wasted". Basically it was a talk telling the 

members that if you talk to a friend, or offer service to a less-active or non-member, your 

effort is not wasted! Heavenly Father knows the desires of our hearts and being generous to one of his children could plant that seed for them to take the missionary discussions. I 

challenge you all to look for opportunities to serve those around you and just show them
kindness and charity and who knows what could happen! (Mosiah 2:17). I shared the story 

of Rick in my talk and how he had been less-active for over 5 years and how all we did was stop by his house occasionally and offer service and just be someone he could talk to and 

Rick is now fully active in the church and doing better than I've ever seen him before! The 

new mission is starting In just 5 weeks and word on the street is that my mission will be 

going to the 4 surrounding missions.  Im excited because the next mission will be the 

majority of my mission so I'm excited to see where I'll be going! I love you guys and I thank 

you so much for all the letters of support out here! You guys are great!

Love, Elder Chase Bowler

{week 17}

Good morning friends and family! 

So this week on Wednesday, I was on exchanges with our district leader and we were in my area which was nice because I know it so well. But anyways, our district leader is an awesome guy. He actually lived in San Bernardino and went to citrus Valley high! So we were talking all about things from California that we missed like bakers and Miguel's and we even had some mutual friends from Redlands! Exchanges with him went very well and he told me that I am very good with people and he could tell that I have a sincere desire to be here so that's always great to hear from a leader! I often feel discouraged out here because my area is struggling but I know that through diligence, Heavenly Father will put people in our path to find and teach! Did I ever tell you guys about Rick? So Rick has been less-active for 11 years and we've been visiting him a few times a week just to stop by and see how he's doing and he's told us several times that we don't need to come by because he doesn't want to go to church and if he did, he would do it on his own. Rick is now fully active in the church and has been coming to church for 6 weeks straight! He told us that all it took was for us to keep stopping by and just listening to what he had to say and just bring the spirit into his home and now he is a totally changed guy! Such an awesome guy. He brings us a 12 pack of Mountain Dew every other week! Haha but anyways, this week has been super rainy and not fun to be riding bikes... But I'm still staying positive! Me and my companion also spoke in one of our wards sacrament meetings as well this week! We spoke on joy In service to others and it actually went really well. I still don't like public speaking too much but through prayer and humbling ourselves and realizing that we can't do anything without the help of the savior we can make weak things become strong (Ether 12:27) Have a great week and keep sending pictures and emails (: love you guys! 

Love, Elder Chase Bowler

{week 16, 4 months}

Good morning friends and family! 

It's a beautiful day out here in Taylorsville, Utah! My week was pretty great! Getting to call my family on Mother's Day was definitely the highlight of my week! It was so great to hear all their voices and see their faces. All the babies are getting so big! It's super hard to say goodbye to family but after the call was over, I prayed afterwards for help from Heavenly Father to help me to use the call as a pick-up rather than a reason to be home sick and he totally answered my prayer and we had 3 great lessons that night! Oh and I hit 4 months this week! Crazy how fast the time is flying by already. Pretty funny story.. Last week on Wednesday, we had a zone training meeting which is when our whole zone (15 companionships) get together and have training on what we could improve on. The meeting was excellent and I really learned a lot. Afterwards, one of the senior couple sister missionaries came up to me and said "Wow, you have such nice hair. Enjoy it while you still have it!" It was super funny and definitely one highlight from the week. We also had a stop-smoking lesson this week which is always great to help someone to quit smoking and he is a father of 15 kids so it makes it even that much more special! We also had a baptism this week for Devon Rowlind. He's an awesome kid and he is 10 years old and his parents are less-active. We're hoping that by him being baptized, his parents will come back into activity in the church. His mom cried almost the whole time at the baptism and at the confirmation. Such a great experience to be a part of (: it has been raining a ton here in Utah! It really sucks having to ride a bike in the pouring rain hahaha anyways, I hope you are all having a great week and I hope the next week is great! Love you guys. Don't forget to send emails and pictures! 

Love, Elder Bowler