{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

{pictures}

{week 15}

Good morning family and friends! 

This week has been another pretty solid week. Our on-date investigator was at church with us again this week and he will be baptized this Saturday at a stake center outside of our mission! This is a pretty big deal because our mission president doesn't hardly ever give permission to anyone to leave the mission but he did for us! The reason this kid wants to be baptized outside our mission in another stake center is because his mom, uncle, aunts, grandma, and grandpa were all baptized in that building so they wanted it to be special and our mission president agreed to it! His name is Devon and he is 10 years old. (I'll send pics next week) So this week was pretty good! We had better numbers than we have had in a long time this week! The work is definitely picking up since elder Gilman and I got put together! I had an amazing experience this last fast Sunday. So fast Sunday's are usually so hard for me because as missionaries we don't eat dinner on Sunday's until 5pm so I actually was fasting for 24 hours. I prayed for specific blessings and I got specific answers! I fasted that we could find a family to teach and bring to church and on Monday we were riding our bikes around and I saw an old house me and elder Barnes used to go to but they told us they weren't really into it at the moment and that they would call us if anything changed but anyways we rode past that house and something (The spirit) prompted me to go back to the house and talk to them and we had a great meeting! They told us they had been going through some rough times and they think the church is exactly what they need. The mom and dad are members but have been less-active for years! The dad told us that he had been having trouble with smoking so we told him about the stop-smoking program and he was so excited to hear about it. He started crying and so did his wife because she has wanted him to quit for years! We found out that they have 2 unbaptized kids that they want us to teach the lessons too! We set up 2 different return appointments with them and that's all because I followed he prompting of the spirit and I found that family that I had fasted to find! Crazy testimony builder! I've also been having such great studies each morning as well! 2 hours just isn't enough time!! Preach my gospel and the scriptures help me so much with my testimony and teaching! I love both! I can't wait for Mother's Day coming up this Sunday! I love and miss you guys a ton! Keep doing what you're doing and reading the scriptures! (1 Nephi 13:37) Keep writing and sending pictures (:

Love, Elder Bowler

{week 14}

Good day ladies and gents,

So this week has been yet another good week here in the Salt Lake City Central Mission! The weeks are flying by like it's crazy! Me and my comp are really getting along great! We are always smiling and laughing and just having a fun few weeks! We've really come to have a great friendship! We plan on hanging out after our missions are done. He's only 4 months ahead of me so we'll be back around the same time! He's a country boy. He loves fishing and hunting and country music. But he's a big time worrier so I'm always making jokes and teasing him and just trying to get him to relax and enjoy his mission and have fun!! It's definitely rubbing off on him. His other companions have been kinda stiff guys and quiet so he said being with me is awesome and I'm his favorite comp so that is always good to hear! As you all know, we cover 6 WARDS now! We are super busy at coordinating with the wards and ward mission leaders. Ward mission leaders are huge in helping us out with getting referrals and teaching appointments. We had one of our new wards tell us this last Sunday that we are the most kind, fun, and good missionaries they've ever had! Our good attitude and hard work are paying off! We have a boy named Devon on date for May 9th to be baptized so we're pumped for that! The work is really going great. Our stake president told us he's so grateful to have such great missionaries in his stake. So great to hear that from him. The stake is really trying to get us as many teaching appointments as possible so starting next week, the wards will be setting up 4 lessons per week per ward so we will be having 24 teaching appointments per week! It's gonna be a lot of work but we're pretty pumped because it's gonna make us great teachers! Practice makes perfect! We found a family in one of the wards that has twins on missions and they had us over for dinner and they loved us! They told us we could come back any p-day and play ping-pong and billiards with them so we're pretty stoked for that! Some tough things have happened this week too like I lost my planner and I have no idea where it could be and my companion knocked my glasses off my head while we were playing soccer and the lenses are all scratched up. It's been a tough but great week but I'm staying positive! Oh another crazy story this week! So we met this atheist guy who is not a member of the church and he told us not to teach him but he loves us because we're just friendly guys so anyways he took us to Cheesecake Factory last week and he blew $140 just on the 3 of us to eat! So he took us back to our bikes and he said to me "hey do you want a Versace shirt and cologne" and I was like heck yeah! So he have me a $200 Versace shirt he never wore and however expensive Versace cologne is. It smells so good Haha definitely one of the highlights of my week! Missionary work is honestly so hard!! But I've found out that hard work is really the best way to make the time fly by and I'm in a way better mood because of it! Hard work, friendliness, and a good attitude are the key to getting people to talk to you and getting to teach them! If you're happy, people want what you have! Good energy is contagious! 

Love Elder Bowler