{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