{Hello}

Good morning friends and family! Can you believe we're already in
mid-June?! Time is really flying by out here. So I just had to start
out my email with saying sorry for not writing a weekly email the last
few weeks. Life is busy out here and emailing isn't really on the top
list of priorities but I promise I'll get better!! So I have been out
in Stansbury, Utah for the past 3 weeks and man it has been so fun!
It's about 10 miles from Grantsville and reminds me so much of Texas!
The people here are so legit and very willing to let us in and talk to
us. Plus, there is a bunch of cool families that I've met that are way
cool as well. The work out here is pretty good as well but we're kinda
in a slow spot right now but we've been getting a lot of referrals
from members so it will be picking up soon! I also found out that a
kid I taught about 6 months ago in Taylorsville is getting baptized in
the next few weeks and that's so great to hear that him and his family
are doing well. And I also met one of my ward mission leaders who used
to live in Harriet Creek. Weve been talking about Justin every time we
meet! Oh man, another thing I love about serving in Stansbury is that
there is a golf course in our area boundaries and the best part about
it is that ITS FREE FOR MISSIONARIES!! So for those of you that
thought you would be able to finally beat me in golf when I got home
(Dad, pops, Tad, Cody, Jake... Think again!! Hahaha in other news, my
companion and I are doing really well. We were in the MTC together so
it's just been like hanging out with a friend. We're both really
different in personality and what we like to do but we still have a
ton of fun together. He is a great singer.. Like I'm not even
exaggerating. People call him the David Archuleta of South Africa in
this area! Haha it's been a fun first few weeks together. Something
cool that stuck out to me this week was in Sacrament yesterday.. We
were attending the YSA Ward and this sister had just gotten back from
her mission and she was from Wyoming but was in Utah for an internship
in something in the Medical field but she gave this story about
herself how one day she was walking through Target and she was just
thinking about he church and the gospel and she was just thinking like
"is it really true?" And as she was thinking this, she thought "well
the gospel makes me happy and I love the idea of having a father in
heaven who loves me and I love the belief of life after death" she
talked previously about how she had never had a crazy spiritual
experience that the church was true without a doubt but she knew the
Gospel made her happy. And I just really appreciated that because
that's all we have to do... We don't have to know the church is true
without a doubt, we just need to have the faith and believe it can
make us happy and bless our lives. So take a look back and ask
yourself, "does the gospel make me happy?" If you get the answer that
it does, that is your testimony that the gospel is true. "All that is
good is of God and nothing evil cometh from the lord" (Omni 1:25).
Love and miss you guys a ton! (:

Elder Bowler

{life}

Hey you guys! So, my emails have been kinda lackin lately and I'm
sorry for that but here's an email for this week! So you're probably
wondering why I'm writing this on a Tuesday... So today we had a zone
temple trip to the bountiful temple and it was seriously the coolest
temple I've been to out here in Utah. I've really come to appreciate
the temple so much while I've been out here on my mission. The feeling
you get inside of the temple is just something you can't get anywhere
else. Just the peaceful and worry free feeling is the best. So we
started off the day at the 7:15 session at the bountiful temple and
then after that we headed over to Bell canyon to hike up the mountain
to a waterfall which was probably the coolest hikes I've ever been
on.. Especially because it was with a bunch of missionary buddies. Me
and my comp are having so much fun this transfer. It's basically like
hanging out with one of your best friends like 24/7 haha.
In other news, ABBY AND ANGEL WERE BAPTIZED LAST WEEK!! It was so cool
to have 2 in one week. Especially because I've had the opportunity to
teach both of them for 2 months and I had the opportunity to baptize
Abby which is always an awesome experience. Well, Life is going really
well out here!! Sorry for the short email but I'll do better next
week! Haha here's some pics!

Elder Bowler

{transfer week}

What a crazy past few weeks!!! So there is kind of a lot that has
happened! So on a funnier start... We had the opportunity to go down
to conference on Saturday with a recent convert and it was so freakin
cool and good. So on to the funny part, after the priesthood session,
we took Trax down there so we start walking down to the Trax station
and I see Brittney Erbe. A girl I used to hang with in California at
stake dances! That was crazy cool but anyway, we get on to Trax and we
go to the next stop after temple square Which is just a few blocks
down from temple square and there is this Group of girls that are
standing there at the stop and then one of them comes up to our window
and strikes a pose to take a picture with us and so obviously I had to
pose for it too and then all her friends started laughing and then the
train left. Hahaha.
On a more spiritual note... on Sunday of last week, we had one of the
guys we take to lessons with us ask us for a blessing just because he
was feeling super discouraged and so out of place in the church and
feeling inadequate and he just said he was really struggling with
direction in his life. So me and him have had this connection since I
met him. Like he is from California and he used to go to super cross
and he loves sports too so we connected instantly. The spirit was
basically yellin at me that I needed to give him the blessing So I
told him I would do the blessing and it was seriously the strongest
blessing I've ever given. The words were so clear as to what to say
and I don't remember all that was said, but it was one of the coolest
spiritual experiences I've ever had.
Oh and transfer news, I'm staying in my area and getting a new
phillipino companion!! (:
Another thing that has really been on my mind this week that stuck out
to me in a conference talk and it came up in a lesson as well and I
know it just really ties in to some of you guys that might read this
email back home. "It is not requisite that a man run faster than he
has speed" what does this mean... Basically we're not going to be able
to be perfect and we all have things that we struggle with and
sometimes we just throw ourselves in the middle of things without even
being fully prepared with what we're getting In to. Heavenly Father
doesn't expect us to all of a sudden go be perfect in one day when we
wake up. All he cares about is that we are trying to improve. We all
run at a different pace. Just do what you can and Heavenly Father will
bless you. We taught a guy this last week who was having issues with
feeling too guilty to go to church because he smoked and hadn't been
to church in several years . Now is guilt a feeling from God? No.
Absolutely not. And I've struggled with feelings of guilt in the past
and I know how it is and we just explained to him that Satan is doing
all he can to make him feel guilty about his past so that he won't
come to church. He will do whatever it takes to work on you to keep
you away from the good things. Heavenly Father and Christ are and
always will be calling out to us with open arms trying to get us to
come back to them with feelings of peace, joy, happiness, and love
(Galatians 5:22-23). So for those of you back home who might be
feeling this way and struggling with this, I urge you to read elder
Holland's talk from this last conference. WE GET CREDIT FOR TRYING.
Forget the past and look forward to the future. The longer you wait to
forgive yourself and continue to not move forward, the harder it will
be. Christ suffered and died for us and HE WILL ALWAYS forgive us of
our mistakes because he loves us so much. He will never hold back what
he did for us. Don't let Satan hold you back. Get back on the path
that leads to eternal happiness and joy that is the gospel of Jesus
Christ and just focus on running at the speed you can do and you will
never regret it.

Elder Bowler

{Happy Easter}

HAPPY EASTER!!! Since being on a mission, I've really come to
appreciate the true meaning behind holidays and just to appreciate
Christ and what he did for us more and more. As we know on this day
2,000+ years ago, Christ rose from the grave and made it possible for
all of us to be resurrected and get our bodies back in a perfect
state. I've got this picture of Jesus above my study desk that I like
so much. It's my favorite picture of him that I've ever seen. The look
on his face just shows this love and this compassion that just sticks
out to me more than any other picture of him I've seen. Because that
is how I picture our savior looking down upon us as he watches down on
us and that's how I believe he will be when we see him again. His arms
are always open and extended towards us inviting us to follow him!
Anyways... This week has been great. Well, mostly... So we had 21
appointments set up at the beginning of this week and we were pumped
because we were gonna have such a good week but it turns out that 10
of them cancelled.. Roughhh. But you gotta remember that everyone has
their free choice and we can't change that so no reason to get upset
over something you can't control! And the lessons we were able to
teach this week went great! As for investigators... We're not doing
too great. We have a few but they just don't come to church but our
work with less-actives is going great!! We have a bunch were working
with to get re-activated. It's not all about baptisms. Heavenly Father
loves all his children. His arms are extended to all! Oh and something
that brought back some memories this week... We went to Costco with a
member to grab some pizza for lunch because it's such a good price and
while we were there, I just remember going on Costco trips with my
parents and my dad would just have to touch everything and then
breaking candy in the bags just to do it and then mom just looking and
shaking her head laughing. Hahahaha man I love my parents! And since
we had so many appointments cancel this week, we ended up having to
walk so freakin much because our area is pretty big so we calculated
it up and we probably walked around 50+ miles this week which results
in a tired freakin missionary hahaha. Well that's all for this week!
Love and miss you guys!!

Elder Bowler

{15 months}

Week 4 here in the kingdom of West Valley! Hahaa So to start off,
crazy thing that happened this week... So we had decided to go down to
Temple square and the family history library with one of our recent
converts to teach him about family history and getting him involved in
it. So anyways, we get there and he forgets his temple recommend in
the car so we had to go out and get it and on your way back, we were
walking by the conference center and I hear someone yell "Oh my gosh,
CHASE!!" and I turn and see Emily Lambert!! She was a girl I knew
pretty well back in California. Hahaha it was crazyyy!! Turns out
she's engaged! It was crazy cool to see her. The rest of the week has
been pretty good! We are struggling to find new investigators but we
are finding a ton of new less actives to work with every week so it's
cool that we have some people to teach. Oh and this week after p-day
was over, I started to feel like I was getting real sick so I told my
companion I needed to go in early and then I fell asleep at 10 and
then didn't wake up until 4 in the afternoon the next day. And I felt
like crap so we ended up staying in again and then we also stayed in
on Wednesday too... It freakin sucked because as a missionary, we
can't hardly do anything when we're inside and I hardly ever get sick
so that sucked too. Life is good out here. Can't complain!

Elder Bowler

{life of Chase}

Good morning family! Sorry for not writing last week... I wasn't
around wifi most of the day so it was tough to send off emails. But
anyways, so what's been going on the last 2 weeks... I FOUND MY
WALLET! Here's the story: So me and my companion were walking home
from a lesson for dinner and my comp was like "hey man I'm thirsty..
Let's go to sonic" so I was like alright. Then on our way there, we
see these 2 chicks on the side of the sidewalk and they stop us and
ask what church we go to and so I take off my sunglasses to talk to
them and then she's like "DUDE I FOUND YOUR WALLET IN MY APARTMENT
COMPLEX" and so I got it back from her. #Miracles #Blessings. It was a
super cool experience. I prayed so hard for it. This last week was
really good too. We had like 25 lessons set up from teach but
unfortunately we had 12 cancel which is one of the toughest things
about missionary work. But the lessons we were able to have went
really well. Me and my companion are getting along pretty well. We
definitely do have some differences in how to do missionary work and
were pretty different in personalities too but it's all a learning
experience. We both love to play soccer so that's usually what we do
on p-days. Oh and this last week I got to go to a freakin JAZZ GAME!
It was so cool because it was my first NBA game. One of the members I
worked with in my second area called us on Friday morning and asked if
we wanted to go and me and my comp were like heck yeah, that'd be
dope. So we called our mission president to ask if it'd be okay and he
was down with it! We had to wear our missionary clothes which was way
weird but still an awesome experience. We definitely got judged and we
got tons of looks while we were there from the members but it was
still a good night haha. Oh and another thing, last week we had a zone
meeting just like normal but in this zone meeting, we talked a lot
about Rutts... So what are Rutts? Basically it's when you get into
this groove and you're just doin the same thing day by day and just
going through the motions. Basically, you're really comfortable with
where you're at... And if any of you know me, you know I love to be
comfortable so it was a really good meeting for me. Why is it bad to
be comfortable? Because if we're comfortable, it stops us from growing
and progressing. So that's probably been my biggest struggle out here
on a mission.. Like leaving areas that I love so much and then trying
to adjust to a new one so that's kinda my challenge to you guys.. Look
for ways to reach out to those around you... It might be a little
uncomfortable but no growth occurs in the comfort zone! Well that's
all for today!

Elder Bowler

{west valley}

This week has been pretty cool out here in west valley! Definitely
much different than Taylorsville haha! We actually got to teach about
15 lessons this week which was awesome. And the people out here seem
to be a little more genuine because they don't have that much stuff
and they're truly looking to better their lives so that's definitely a
plus. My new comp elder Erdman is a pretty cool guy too. He's real
quiet but he just loves what he does out here. He truly loves being a
missionary and helping these people out which is so cool. When I'm
struggling to find motivation to work, he just says alright let's go
to another house hahaha. I got a lot of respect for him. So a few
things that happened this week... We went to visit someone this week
and we go up to the door and this older lady is like "the bishops are
here!!" And then our dinner on Tuesday.. Oh man I had to say a prayer
that I wouldn't get sick from it. So we're just sitting down getting
ready to eat and then I taste the soda and the salad dressing and they
taste a little funky but not like bad but just a little weird so I
look at the label on them and they were like years out of date. And
then I started to look around at the other stuff on the table and it
was ALL out of date by like 6 months - 2 years! Hahahaha so
sketchyyyyy. Afterwards, I told my comp and he didn't even notice. He
was just like oh my gosh... Haha! Then on Thursday, my comp and I went
on splits with a few guys from one of he wards and I was like what the
heck... Because I had just gotten into the area and I didn't know any
of these people and I didn't even know how to get around but we did it
anyways and it went awesome! I went to a couples house and we had to
guess which house it was because it was a fourplex and my comp didn't
tell me the number so we guessed and we got it right on the first try!
But anyways... I went into the lesson with a little bit of a lesson
plan but not really much to work off. So I got in there and just
started talking to them and it turns out that they are trying to get
back to church but the biggest reason for it is because of their 5
year old who pushes them to go to church every week and they go
because they said they will do anything for their daughter. And then
the lesson got a little more intense when she told me as to why she
stopped coming to church in the first place and I'm not gonna say the
reason but wow... This lady has been through so much. After she laid
it all out on the table, I was just kinda sitting there and I was
kinda tearing up and I told her just how much respect I had for her
and how I knew that the lord would bless her if she did her best to
come back to church and she was just in tears. Such a cool experience.
I truly learned that you always have to follow the spirit in what to
do and say because if you don't, you won't know what they truly need
to hear and you won't figure out what they need. On a different note,
I lost my freakin wallet this week... It sucks. So as of now, I'm
trying to figure out how to get a new drivers license and I've got to
get all me cards and stuff. Well, that's all for this week! Keep it
real.

Elder Bowler