{week 8}

Great week this week!! Had another baptism and confirmation! His name is Hayden Richards! His grandpa baptized and confirmed him and we were able to stand in the confirmation circle. I gave a talk and it went pretty good! He was my first 100% baptism like i was here when we found him, i taught him every lesson and i was able to see him be baptized and confirmed! We are teaching another guy right now who is a less-active. He is a very strange guy but i love talking to him because he has so many crazy stories and its so funny! He loves me because i like talking to him and we could talk for hours haha unfortunately Elder Barnes doesnt really like going over there because he doesnt really like to talk much but i stay usually about 30 minutes or so and talk to him and teach him a little bit. In my book of mormon reading, i am in Alma 28 and its so interesting like the book of mormon is really interesting once you really get into it! In elders chorum this past week, there was a great lesson given. He gave the lesson about how we need to be able to make ourselves happy and it felt like he was talking to me personally the whole time! It was exactly what i needed to hear! i really took it to heart and really decided that only i control my happiness and i really dont have anything to be upset about... sure my companion isnt the best missionary and is very quiet and different from me but being with him has taught me to be more independent and learn to do things on my own. The guy giving the lesson said that if you can trick yourself into thinking that youre super happy; eventually you will be happy. You need to appreciate the little things. Like ive got the best family, the best grandparents, the best parents and such a great ward and great friends like dorian and dawsen cook and especially Jake Frandsen. Without all those people, i really dont know if id be out here but im so grateful for all of them! I really dont have anything to be upset about... and everything to be grateful for! AFter church on sunday, we were biking across a street and we saw an orange Bentley!!!! Like it was probably worth a million dollars at least. It was the coolest car ive ever seen!! In my mission district, we have a lot of guys who love playing with nerf guns so i decided to get a new nerf gun and it is sweet!! So much fun playing zombie nerf wars!! hahaha. This past week, i was able to have exchanges with 2 other elders in our district and theyve both been companions with elder barnes and they both said he is probably the toughest companion theyve ever had! So it only gets better from here! We go through tougyh times so we can appreciate the good even more! Being happy and praying has been a huge help in teaching and finding. Id just like to add my testimony and say that i know this church is true and i know that heavenly father restored the true gospel on to the earth through the prophet joseph smith and i know that by reading the scriptures and praying daily, we can receive help for any sort of struggles we are going through! Have a great week!! Love, Elder Bowler