One week Left

I survived this week!! its all down hill from here and I"m trying to wrap everything up to go home next Monday-Tuesday. today we are going to Collique to say goodbye to the members there.


Tuesday we had a special meeting with the pres to sort out some of the new changes that we are making to the program. these include divisions with the sisters in the mission during the week, divisions when we go to the temple, and that elders can come with us.


Wednesday we then presented that plan in the leader meeting in the mission, to all the zone leaders, assistants and the sister trainers. it was my first and only time to go to one of these types of meetings so i was thankful for the opportunity to see how it all is and be able to see some old friends.


Thursday was our trip to the temple, and it was so much better than the other trip that we had. the west stake helped us out a ton, and well there was some minor setbacks and scheduling miscommunication, but it all worked out in the end, we brought a big group of 24 converts to the temple and Pres Erickson went to greet our converts and see how it all goes!


Friday we did divisions and I was able to go out into the field for a while and dust of my authority and power in preaching ah ah ah. it was good to stretch my legs.


Saturday I stayed in the center while my companion left, and I was able to teach the Sister Bueno about how to do her family history and what new features offer family search it was fun, and its always rewarding to hear the "no way that is possible?" when we teach them about how cool is family search.


Sunday was church like normal, but a day full of meetings. in order to communicate about the program that we have, and get the help of the different stakes, we presented ourselves and what we do an dhow they can help in the bishops meeting with the stake pres in one stake, and then we had a full fireside in another stake where we had a power point and were able to talk with all the leaders of the stake which was really cool! we celebrated in the night after all our nerve wracking meetings with chocotón which is one of the things that I will miss soo soso so so so much from Peru.


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Ya so that is the weekly mission report of what we did and how busy it was!!!!! the bus was soo full with converts that we had to stand on the way there an back because there wasn't room, it was a super success.

Lots of Pictures!

Trying to take selfie's

               

Happy Father's Day!

Today at 7:33 AM

Last Temple trip of the Mission 

This week was awesome, and one that I will never forget. Thursday we were able to take a trip to the temple,

but personally, and it was a super spiritual experience. As we were finishing and leaving the last room, I just
couldn't help but look around in awe. The Peru Lima temple is so beautiful, and it was my last time for a good
long while to go inside. It was a bitter sweet moment but I really felt the love of my Heavenly Father there and
was able to get some personal revelation that I was needing.


Sunday was a very special day for all of Peru here, because it received its second working temple in Trujillo.
The stake centers were converted into mini temples and nobody could enter without their recommend to the
dedication. Inside, the dedication was transmitted and we were able to hear from Elder Bednar, Uctdorf, and
the area presidency (Wadell, Uceda, y Godoy {the three of which I was able to meet personally here in the
mission!!]) and from other leaders. The spirit was soooo strong and it was the first dedication of a temple that I
could attend in a long time, so I just drank it all in. At the end of the dedication we all stood up and began to sing
a well known hymn "like a fire is burning" or in Spanish "tal como un fuego (el espiritu de dios)". As we were
singing and rejoicing I just had a really cool moment in which I was thinking of my circumstances where I was,
who I was with, and with in what language we were singing- and how i never thought in my life before that i
would be in these circumstances, and i was just overwhelmed with such a sense of gratitude for God and what he
has given me. Uctdorf talked about how this Sunday was fathers day, and how we were celebrating with giving a
gift to our Heavenly father with the new temple and how we should always live our lives with a an active temple
recommend.


Later in the night we had a missionary fun fireside in which we talked about ordinances and covenants and
how we can live our lives in a way that we can return back to our heavenly father. But not just us, but as
families. And I´m just so grateful for my family, and especially this week for my father Terry Bowers.


He started a tradition with my other siblings, he wrote a postcard each and everyday and mailed it to them.
And he continued this tradition with me. To the envy of all the other missionaries in the mission I received


postcards pretty much every week (except when there was a mail strike here in Peru. )I appreciate his full
support and love. His daily mundane information that helped me feel like I was there and still connected to
my family. The sacrifices that my father has made for me, really can not be expressed, but his love is this
simple but momentousness act of daily thought and love really has helped me in my mission and helped me
know that I not only have support from God, but from my parents as well. And for that I couldn't be more grateful. In this week I hope that we can continue with the spirit of Fathers day
from Sunday but also all the week all the year have this love and appreciation for our fathers and our parents.



I hope all is going well, and well we will see each other soon!


Hermana Bowers

Could it be a Cucaracha?

Well this days marks my 17 month mark here in the mission, and thus the beginning of the end, or the beginning of my last month in the mission. This week was full full full! The last p-day we had we went to Plaza Norte, close to my first area in the mission, and went piddling around buying doodads, and taking pictures with some famous locals that were visiting. We were able to buy food and get prepared for the week. This week we had the opportunity to go to the different zones during their zone meeting to be able to present my new companion, get the new missionaries excited about Historia Familiar and remind them about the program that we have to be able to help their recent converts and rescued members to go to the temple! It’s always an exhausting day using the public transportation here in San Juan to get around town, but we survived! Wednesday we did divisions, permitting my companion help out in a wedding of a family in San Carlos that got married so they could be baptized. She was a witness to the event, she got to sign the official documents saying that the event took place and it was an awesome experience, because this was the first family that she has ever married in the mission! Wednesday in the night was a rush to get everything in place, calling the converts-printing names- trying to find numeros de cedula to get their account working, to go to the temple Thursday.

It was our first trip to the temple this transfer, and boy was it a fiasco. There was a problem and the bus and the priesthood team that were going to help us with the work in the temple… never came. We found this out while we were waiting outside the chapel with our converts at 6 in the morning. So after some tense moments of stress, desperation and fervent prayer we found a solution and made our own way to the temple via train. With some miracles we got there, the temple let us in, the temple workers helped us out and the converts that came were able to enter and do baptism for the dead. We owe a great deal to an awesome convert, Miguel, who helped guide us through the train system and what buses to take, because neither my companion nor I knew how to get to the temple from where we were at. I can say with all certainty that Hermano Miguel was an answer to our desperate prayers that morning.




Friday was a dreary drizzly day, buy nothing that a Peruvian churro can´t fix (the best churros in THE WORLD), and these churros got us through the panic of trying to find keys to the chapel and the family history center. We were informed the morning of that the stake center had gone under a type of bug bomb treatment and that nobody could enter until the afternoon. So we frantically try to call everyone to tell them that were not going to be able to be there. But as we pass by to pick up keys from a nearby house, we see people inside! We ring the doorbell and a custodian comes and lets us in. We ask about the bug bombing and he replies "What bug bombing?". So it was all a big rumor, and we had to cancel everything for nothing. We were realy frustrated and tired of running around to try and find keys for the stake center, however the day ended well with a big group of converts that came to learn about thier Family History and find some names. We have a big list to go to the temple this 02 de Julio and were still 3 weeks out! I hope we can bring a huge group this next time.




This week, we also had an adventure with hot chocolate. My companion brought the swiss miss hot chocolate packets and was pouring my hot water for me, but while she was pouring i noticed something black escape from the pitcher into my glass. By now with the chocolate powered, the water was opaque and so I couldn't see if it was my imagination or not, and with my spoon i was trying to frantically stir and find the object. I couldn't, my companion doubted if i saw anything in the first place, so I started to drink with trepidation. about halfway through the glass, i found it... and it wasn't a cucaracha like I feared, but was just a harmless over-sized raisin that was there. So it was mystery solved, i finished my glass, and my companion and I had a good laugh.




I´m excited to see you all soon and hope that you all stay safe!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Bowers

Harry Potter T-Shirts

My companion and I

All of us together

Our "Harry Potter" shirts

Hey there is limited time this week because we need to drop of my companion to the offices early so she can be ready to go for her activities ending the mission-- so enjoy the pictures of Munidal this week! Our zone decided on Holland jerseys (my idea!) and we ended up wining the tournament and the prize for the best jerseys (I'm just brimming with pride if you cant tell (haha). Ill receive my new companion tomorrow and begin my last 6 weeks of the mission! Viva Peru!

Our Team

My Favorite Senior Missionaries!

Use Your Voice As a Trumpet

Me and my Hermana's

Hang-in with the zone on Pday

This week went incredibly fast, maybe its due to the fact that we're writing early but wow! So p-day we bought lunch at a local grocery store, went to the chapel and watched the movie "Up" as a zone. Afterwards we had time to run some errands and take a sweet blessed nap. Good stuff. Monday and Tuesday we were super busy with all the recent converts that the missionaries were bringing and us trying to add some family history decorations to the offices to get the vibe and fung-shway on our side :)

We were blessed this week to have a special training from the President and his assistants in which we learned about the importance of using your voice as a trumpet (literally raising your voice and not being afraid to be bold) and how important it is to use inspired questions and teach clearly the gospel. To emphasize his point, the president at one point asked a sister to come in front of everyone and with the voice of a trumpet begin to teach lesson 3. It was interesting to see how maybe we are shy and timid to make waves or are scared of the reaction and rejection of the people we teach. However, now it is the goal of mine to try and liven things up once in a while with the "muertos" or all the dead people here in La Historia Familiar and see if I can wake a few people up with my "trumpet voice". I tried it yesterday and I think it went ok, sometimes I feel bad raising my voice at these sweet little grandmas that they bring, but I figure that maybe they can't hear well so its ok. Ha-ha.

Highlight of my Grandpa Bowers

This same day, after the training from the president, we gathered up another group of recent converts and were able to go to the temple. We went with a big group this time of 16 people (plus some regular members) and for 11 of them it was the first time EVER that they had been at the temple. Some of them stayed outside with us, and we were able to show them the beautiful temple grounds, the distribution center, have a temple photo shoot (this temple is so gorgeous that nobody can help themselves and everyone has to have some type of mini photo shoot) and the we showed them some of the shops that if you know where to look you can find. It was fun to be able to share our testimonies about the temples with the recent converts and be able to be a spiritual tour guide. After wards we were able to get everyone home safe and sound, and one of the recent converts contacted the bus driver and now has a reference to give to some of the elders that are in our zone. How cool is that?

After the Temple -tired and hungry!

Friday was a crazy run around day but it all turned out well. After the late night at the temple, we woke up nice and early to be able to be in the offices in time for my companions English test. To all the Latinos there is an opportunity to take an English exam in which they ask you questions through the computer, and a test proctor listens to your voice and then gives you a score. My old companion, Hermana Osinaga from Bolivia, scored a 6 out of 7, 7 being the highest score! Hermana Inca later this next week will find out her score. We were practicing on the bus ride there, and it was amazing because she was answering really well, and then later I was told that she never before the mission had studied English. Wow how cool is that with how much that she has learned! And to finish the night, we were having problems with getting our laundry washed. The sister that usually does it has been without water for two weeks, and we tried washing some stuff by hand but there just really isn't time as a missionary. So we tried to find solutions and the bishops wife let us borrow her machine to wash the essentials and we sent the rest to a close lavanderia. We were like, oh its going to be so expensive.. but no! it was surprisingly cheap so we were super grateful. But at the end of the night, after running around all the the town trying to drop of the clothes in different places we went to buy yogurt from our neighbor, I put the hamper down for one min to give her change... and a DOG comes and starts TO PEE on the freshly washed clothes. I yell and we go chasing after the dog, and it was just soooooo bad that after ALL the hassle to transport- beg- and plead favors to get laundry of 2 weeks washed, that a dog had to come and do its business. Thankfully I think we scared it off before it could really get anything wet, and after a carefully sniffing test we decided that everything was good to wear. Oh count your blessings!

I mad my Comp a crown for her 18th month

Hope you all enjoy this week and know that the Lord loves you!

Hermana Bowers

16 Months and Still Going Strong!

Celebrating at Chili's

16 months and still going strong!

All is well in Zion this week, and serving as a sister missionary consultant of family history has been rewarding. As we traveled to the different stakes this week, we had the opportunity to meet lots of new people this time around and start new accounts, and reserve lots of new names. This is really exciting, because its a new wave of people that we want to help make it to the temple and of course that means that their ancestors can progress as well. Thinking back on the week, there was an older gentleman Saturday, named Santiago who was very prepared! He came with the missionaries that were teaching him, and he only had one year as a member, but was super gung-ho to be able to do his own family work in the temple. As we shared the discussion with him and two other brothers that were in the room, he knew all the answers and we had to call on the other participants specifically by name to give them a chance to answer the questions. Santiago was so thrilled and so excited to answer all the questions that you just couldn't help but smile and share in his enthusiasm. He diligent reads the Book of Mormon everyday (re-reading it now because he`s already finished it) and studies his principles of the gospel Manuel as well- what a great conversion this man has had! He told us that his wife still will have nothing to do with the church, but with his contagious enthusiasm and spiritual spunk- I believe that all things are possible!

We also had a great opportunity this week to hear directly from our President and his wife. I absolutely love multi-zone conferences and the messages that President Erickson and Sister Erickson really touched home with me! I loved Sister Erickson`s talk as she described the joy she recently had to have ALL of her family (minus the president because he stayed in Peru with us) enter the temple to be there for the sealing of one of her sons. As she showed us the picture of their family together, she reminded us that she has TWO families and wants the same success and same results from the family that she has here in Peru (us the missionaries). She talked about how in her early marriage years, her husband and her put goals on how they wanted to cultivate their family and how they looked to other examples in the church congregation to see how it was done. Some interesting "techniques" mentioned were:


The son/daughter can not drive until they have their eagle scout/ young woman medallion

Everyone sits together in church, and we go EACH Sunday

Monthly father interviews with each member of the family

Family home evenings and prayer

*This next one I actually heard a while a go from a brother that was talking in a stake conference I think but its deserves a mention here: You can not use your phone as scriptures for church meeting etc. until you have read ALL of the scriptures yourself physically.

President Erickson talked about the different attitudes and influences that the spirit, or Satan can have on us. It gave me a lot of insight on some past behaviors that well, I need to repent of and how I can better recognize the influence of the spirit to be who Heavenly Father wants me to be.

This upcoming P-Day will be a special "mundial" pday and so we will be using internet Saturday. So for those who write me, this week I ask that you mail it Friday night so there is something to read that day. Thank you all so much for your support and I hope to hear from y'all next week!

Our laundry lady did not have water- So we are doing it ourselves