Good Morning friends and family!
Again, I'm sorry for it being a few
weeks since I've last written to the group. This week has been a
little crazy... So, last Saturday I got the news that I was gonna be
training again and that my new comp would be coming fresh out of the
MTC on Tuesday and his name was elder Trout. So I got him on Tuesday
and he is from Salem, Oregon! He is a basketball player and a tech guy
and he likes to build robots! He is doing really well for being out
only a week. Man, training has been a lot of fun but it is definitely
not easy. It brings back so many memories of me when I was in training
and just being so nervous and not really knowing what I was doing but
I'm definitely trying to be a good trainer for elder trout because I
know what it's like to have a not so good trainer and a good trainer
and the difference is crazy! But overall, we are doing really well and
having a lot of fun! Another thing that has made this transfer
difficult is that we just took in another whole stake so now, we cover
17 wards and that takes in all of Grantsville which is about 10,000
people! It's crazyyyyyy but everything will work out!
In other news, we had a baptism this last week! Trinity Gerritsen who
has been being taught by us for the last 6 weeks got baptized! It was
a really cool baptism because her parents got up during the time that
she was getting changed and they bore their testimony about the gospel
and it was really cool because they are pretty less-active in church
and stuff but they got up and shared that they do have a testimony. It
was pretty cool.
The work is still going really well! We have 5 people on date for
baptism within the next 5 weeks so we are still staying really busy
which is so much better than just going out and knocking doors.
On a funnier note, since my companion is brand new fresh out of the
MTC, I play a lot of jokes on him. Heres an example... So we were out
knocking doors one day and we see a plane go over us and I'm like hey
man, how far do you think that plane is..? And he said ehhh about
30,000 feet and I shook my head and said nope, 2 years. Hahahaha it
was classic. Got em good!! 😂
But anyways, not too much to write, life is good!!!
Elder Bowler
Monday, August 22, 2016
Monday, July 25, 2016
{hello}
Happy Pioneer weekend! So not too much has happened this last week but
here's a few cool things from the week! So the church has this deal
they do with the cars they supply us where they sell the cars when
they reach 50,000 miles or close to it so our last car reached that
limit so the missionary over the cars gave us a call and told us we
needed to come in and switch our car for a new one because the church
was gonna sell our old one. So we go in to the office to pick it up
and it is a Toyota Corolla. So we move all our stuff over to the new
one and drive back out to Grantsville and Elder Case was having
trouble fitting in it because it's a really small car and he is 6'9"
so we called the office and asked if we could get a bigger car for
elder case so they said yes and told us to switch with another set of
missionaries in Tooele so we ended up getting a Chevy Equinox that is
baby Blue and totally looks like a soccer mom car hahahaha! People are
always like "dang missionaries are allowed to have an SUV?! Its pretty
funny but it's definitely better for Elder Case so it all works out.
In other news, this last week on Friday night, we got a call from one
of the members in one of our wards telling us that they had been
working with a lady who was their next door neighbor for a while and
that she was ready to take the missionary lessons and that they had
set up an appointment with her for us to come and teach the next day
at 1pm. And we were just like so pumped because these members had done
all of the work in preparing this lady and all we had to do was show
up and teach and that was just so awesome to hear. Such great members!
So anyways, we went to the appointment the next day and her name was
Tippi and she is about 65 years old and is from Kentucky so she has a
heavy southern accent! Haha she is awesome. She was raised Catholic
but didn't agree with what they were teaching so she decided to
explore other religions and for some reason, she was lead to Utah to
live with her son. And these members that set up the appointment are
so cool. They have really been great friends with her and one day they
were just prompted to ask her if she would take the lessons and she
said yes!! We taught the restoration and focused on answering her
questions and it went so good!! She's doing awesome!
Well, that's all for today folks!
Elder Bowler]
here's a few cool things from the week! So the church has this deal
they do with the cars they supply us where they sell the cars when
they reach 50,000 miles or close to it so our last car reached that
limit so the missionary over the cars gave us a call and told us we
needed to come in and switch our car for a new one because the church
was gonna sell our old one. So we go in to the office to pick it up
and it is a Toyota Corolla. So we move all our stuff over to the new
one and drive back out to Grantsville and Elder Case was having
trouble fitting in it because it's a really small car and he is 6'9"
so we called the office and asked if we could get a bigger car for
elder case so they said yes and told us to switch with another set of
missionaries in Tooele so we ended up getting a Chevy Equinox that is
baby Blue and totally looks like a soccer mom car hahahaha! People are
always like "dang missionaries are allowed to have an SUV?! Its pretty
funny but it's definitely better for Elder Case so it all works out.
In other news, this last week on Friday night, we got a call from one
of the members in one of our wards telling us that they had been
working with a lady who was their next door neighbor for a while and
that she was ready to take the missionary lessons and that they had
set up an appointment with her for us to come and teach the next day
at 1pm. And we were just like so pumped because these members had done
all of the work in preparing this lady and all we had to do was show
up and teach and that was just so awesome to hear. Such great members!
So anyways, we went to the appointment the next day and her name was
Tippi and she is about 65 years old and is from Kentucky so she has a
heavy southern accent! Haha she is awesome. She was raised Catholic
but didn't agree with what they were teaching so she decided to
explore other religions and for some reason, she was lead to Utah to
live with her son. And these members that set up the appointment are
so cool. They have really been great friends with her and one day they
were just prompted to ask her if she would take the lessons and she
said yes!! We taught the restoration and focused on answering her
questions and it went so good!! She's doing awesome!
Well, that's all for today folks!
Elder Bowler]
Monday, July 18, 2016
{19 months}
Good morning from sunny Grantsville, Utah! Sorry for not writing the
past few weeks... Here's a few things that have been going on
recently! So for those of you not following my photo sharing account,
I have been transferred back to my favorite area called Grantsville.
It is in Tooele County and the town population is about 10,000 people.
So it's a pretty small town with lots of alfalfa fields and lots of
farm animals everywhere and I love it out here!! The work is going so
well. These last few weeks, we've been able to put 3 new people on
date for baptism and next week, we should have 4 on date for baptism!
It's been so great to catch up with the people I worked with the last
time I was here and they're all doing so good! Some of them have
fallen off the path a little bit and lost track of the goal but I
think that's why I've been sent back... To help those people I worked
with before and have those relationships with already!
In other news, my companion and I are doing really well. His name is
Elder Case and he is 6 foot 9 and from Spanish Fork, Utah. He is here
on a trial mission which is basically a 3 month mission not too far
from home to see if he can handle the stress and difficulty of a 2
year mission and he is doing so awesome! He will be getting his new
mission call in the middle of August so I'll be able to be with him
when he gets his new mission call which is sweet. I'm hoping for the
Fort Worth, Texas mission so I can come visit him on his mission!
Haha. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be able to help train him
and to help him prepare for his new mission!
Some funnier stuff that happened these last few weeks... We went to
knock on a door and they had this fancy doorbell that talked to us
when we knocked through the guys phone! The people weren't home so
they told us to come back later on so we could chat with them. And
then we had a dinner appointment with a young couple and we were doing
a little BBQ in the back yard and I see this super nice scooter and so
I asked the dad about it and he said he still liked to ride scooters
and do tricks on it and he is like 28! I thought it was super cool to
see a grown man that still rides scooters so we did a few tricks and
showed eachother our stuff hahaha
So, I wanted to extend a little invitation to my family back home and
anyone else who wants to join in... On July 28th, that marks 138 days
left on my mission so I'd like to challenge up you guys to read 1
section a day from D&C as a countdown to the end of my mission! Let me
know what you guys think and who is in for the challenge! Thank you
for all the support you guys have given me throughout my mission. 19
months down, 5 to go! Love you guys! (:
Elder Chase Bowler
Salt Lake City West Mission
past few weeks... Here's a few things that have been going on
recently! So for those of you not following my photo sharing account,
I have been transferred back to my favorite area called Grantsville.
It is in Tooele County and the town population is about 10,000 people.
So it's a pretty small town with lots of alfalfa fields and lots of
farm animals everywhere and I love it out here!! The work is going so
well. These last few weeks, we've been able to put 3 new people on
date for baptism and next week, we should have 4 on date for baptism!
It's been so great to catch up with the people I worked with the last
time I was here and they're all doing so good! Some of them have
fallen off the path a little bit and lost track of the goal but I
think that's why I've been sent back... To help those people I worked
with before and have those relationships with already!
In other news, my companion and I are doing really well. His name is
Elder Case and he is 6 foot 9 and from Spanish Fork, Utah. He is here
on a trial mission which is basically a 3 month mission not too far
from home to see if he can handle the stress and difficulty of a 2
year mission and he is doing so awesome! He will be getting his new
mission call in the middle of August so I'll be able to be with him
when he gets his new mission call which is sweet. I'm hoping for the
Fort Worth, Texas mission so I can come visit him on his mission!
Haha. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be able to help train him
and to help him prepare for his new mission!
Some funnier stuff that happened these last few weeks... We went to
knock on a door and they had this fancy doorbell that talked to us
when we knocked through the guys phone! The people weren't home so
they told us to come back later on so we could chat with them. And
then we had a dinner appointment with a young couple and we were doing
a little BBQ in the back yard and I see this super nice scooter and so
I asked the dad about it and he said he still liked to ride scooters
and do tricks on it and he is like 28! I thought it was super cool to
see a grown man that still rides scooters so we did a few tricks and
showed eachother our stuff hahaha
So, I wanted to extend a little invitation to my family back home and
anyone else who wants to join in... On July 28th, that marks 138 days
left on my mission so I'd like to challenge up you guys to read 1
section a day from D&C as a countdown to the end of my mission! Let me
know what you guys think and who is in for the challenge! Thank you
for all the support you guys have given me throughout my mission. 19
months down, 5 to go! Love you guys! (:
Elder Chase Bowler
Salt Lake City West Mission
Monday, June 27, 2016
{good week!}
Good morning! What a week this week! Last week's letter was kind of
boring but I promised this week would be better and it really was! So
this last Wednesday, we had a lesson with a family of investigators
that I had only met once but the elders in this area had been teaching
them on and off for a while... Anyways, they have 2 teenage kids (Boy
and Girl) who do not get along very well and just have been having
some personal struggles lately. So I was kind of nervous going in to
teach them and Elder Vizzini didn't really know what to teach them
because they had been taught for a while but just weren't really
progressing but we went in anyways and we let the spirit guide. We
went in and we talked for a bit with the parents and then the two
teenagers came in a little later and we kind of directed the lesson to
be about families and why family is so important even though it can be
challenging at times. And we had each of them say one nice thing about
eachother as a family and my companion and I did the same and it went
SUPER well!! After the lesson, the teenage boy had told us he really
liked to ride scooters so I told him I used to ride and so we went
outside and I did a few tricks with him and he thought that was the
coolest thing ever that a missionary knew how to do tricks on a
scooter hahaha. I even tore up my shoes on the heel a bit from the
wheel with no brake because of it but it was worth it to just get him
to be comfortable with us! Then we left and the mom texted us the next
morning with this text "Thank you guys so much for coming to our home
and focusing so much on our kids. It's like you guys knew exactly what
to say. After you left, they continued to get along and our son even
said that he was really starting to like the missionaries! I know that
we are kind of slow with all this but thank you for not giving up on
us. I wish you guys could stay and teach us forever." We called it the
miracle of the transfer. It's experiences like this that make being on
a mission so worth it! We are so pumped to see where things go from
here! Hopefully a baptismal date will be coming up soon for the family
but we'll see! I'll keep you guys posted!
Another cool thing we did this week was play some baseball with
another one of our investigators who is a teenager. We had a home run
derby win 5 of us. Elder Vizzini, me, Brighton (Investigator), his
dad, and his cousin. It was so fun to play some baseball again after
so long. It went really well and Brighton was really able to see that
we aren't just here to teach him and get him baptized but that we care
about him and we like to have fun! We have a lesson with him next week
and I'll also keep you guys posted on that!
Me and my comp are still getting along really well. Sometimes he gets
mad at me because I tease him so much but he knows it's all fun and
games. Oh my gosh... The other night, we were at our apartment and it
was about 10pm and we are sitting at our desks just talking and
winding down a bit and then my companion sees a huge spider on the
floor and he starts freaking out! And he was like screaming and
telling me to go kill it so I did but I made him clean it up because
he saw it first and so he did and as he was going to the trash can to
throw it away, I just kinda yelled a little bit and he freaked out and
threw the spider remains in the air and screamed and I was just
sitting there dyingggggggggggggg Hahahaha!!! I thought of Pops when
this was all happening lol.
The work out here in Tooele valley is the best. I love it so much.
Transfers are coming up next week so I'll keep you guys posted on my
photo sharing as to what is happening! The gospel is true! Love you
guys!
boring but I promised this week would be better and it really was! So
this last Wednesday, we had a lesson with a family of investigators
that I had only met once but the elders in this area had been teaching
them on and off for a while... Anyways, they have 2 teenage kids (Boy
and Girl) who do not get along very well and just have been having
some personal struggles lately. So I was kind of nervous going in to
teach them and Elder Vizzini didn't really know what to teach them
because they had been taught for a while but just weren't really
progressing but we went in anyways and we let the spirit guide. We
went in and we talked for a bit with the parents and then the two
teenagers came in a little later and we kind of directed the lesson to
be about families and why family is so important even though it can be
challenging at times. And we had each of them say one nice thing about
eachother as a family and my companion and I did the same and it went
SUPER well!! After the lesson, the teenage boy had told us he really
liked to ride scooters so I told him I used to ride and so we went
outside and I did a few tricks with him and he thought that was the
coolest thing ever that a missionary knew how to do tricks on a
scooter hahaha. I even tore up my shoes on the heel a bit from the
wheel with no brake because of it but it was worth it to just get him
to be comfortable with us! Then we left and the mom texted us the next
morning with this text "Thank you guys so much for coming to our home
and focusing so much on our kids. It's like you guys knew exactly what
to say. After you left, they continued to get along and our son even
said that he was really starting to like the missionaries! I know that
we are kind of slow with all this but thank you for not giving up on
us. I wish you guys could stay and teach us forever." We called it the
miracle of the transfer. It's experiences like this that make being on
a mission so worth it! We are so pumped to see where things go from
here! Hopefully a baptismal date will be coming up soon for the family
but we'll see! I'll keep you guys posted!
Another cool thing we did this week was play some baseball with
another one of our investigators who is a teenager. We had a home run
derby win 5 of us. Elder Vizzini, me, Brighton (Investigator), his
dad, and his cousin. It was so fun to play some baseball again after
so long. It went really well and Brighton was really able to see that
we aren't just here to teach him and get him baptized but that we care
about him and we like to have fun! We have a lesson with him next week
and I'll also keep you guys posted on that!
Me and my comp are still getting along really well. Sometimes he gets
mad at me because I tease him so much but he knows it's all fun and
games. Oh my gosh... The other night, we were at our apartment and it
was about 10pm and we are sitting at our desks just talking and
winding down a bit and then my companion sees a huge spider on the
floor and he starts freaking out! And he was like screaming and
telling me to go kill it so I did but I made him clean it up because
he saw it first and so he did and as he was going to the trash can to
throw it away, I just kinda yelled a little bit and he freaked out and
threw the spider remains in the air and screamed and I was just
sitting there dyingggggggggggggg Hahahaha!!! I thought of Pops when
this was all happening lol.
The work out here in Tooele valley is the best. I love it so much.
Transfers are coming up next week so I'll keep you guys posted on my
photo sharing as to what is happening! The gospel is true! Love you
guys!
Monday, June 20, 2016
{18 months}
Happy 18 months!! Crazy to think I'm 3/4 of the way there! It's really
been flying by these last few months! So something cool that happened
this last week... So my comp was asked by a guy in his old area to
participate in a musical fireside on the east side of salt lake and
the family we went with took us to Nielsen's afterwards and for some
reason, it looked super familiar... And then I realized that we had
gone there when we used to go on vacation to St. George!! Haha and
then after that, they were like, "well since we're up here, may as
well go see President Hinckley's and President Monson's house!!" So we
got to go and see both of their houses and man, you wouldn't think
that a prophet lived at either of the houses! They're just humble
little houses which I thought was kinda cool to realize they just
lived in normal neighborhoods even though they are such high up people
so that was pretty cool! Besides that, the work is going good in the
area... We had a few people that we were teaching move away which
really freakin sucks but we know things will all work out! Tonight
I'll be burning some pants for the 18 month mark. I'll put a video up
on my photo sharing! Love you guys and thank you for all the love and
support!!
Elder Bowler
been flying by these last few months! So something cool that happened
this last week... So my comp was asked by a guy in his old area to
participate in a musical fireside on the east side of salt lake and
the family we went with took us to Nielsen's afterwards and for some
reason, it looked super familiar... And then I realized that we had
gone there when we used to go on vacation to St. George!! Haha and
then after that, they were like, "well since we're up here, may as
well go see President Hinckley's and President Monson's house!!" So we
got to go and see both of their houses and man, you wouldn't think
that a prophet lived at either of the houses! They're just humble
little houses which I thought was kinda cool to realize they just
lived in normal neighborhoods even though they are such high up people
so that was pretty cool! Besides that, the work is going good in the
area... We had a few people that we were teaching move away which
really freakin sucks but we know things will all work out! Tonight
I'll be burning some pants for the 18 month mark. I'll put a video up
on my photo sharing! Love you guys and thank you for all the love and
support!!
Elder Bowler
Monday, June 13, 2016
{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
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
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
{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
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
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