Week 1 in the Mission Field!

Hola Familia!
Thanks for all the great emails! Its great to hear from you all. There is so little time and so much to tell you about....To start Ill talk a little about Uruguay. It is so beautiful here it feels so much more like home. ´Dirt roads´, lots of fiélds and many cows and sheep. There are chickens at the neighbors house behind us and they crow every morning, doesnt matter cause we arte already awake anyways. This week was new and kind of hard but I know it will all get better when I lose mý self in the work. My new companion is Elder Stilwell from Provo. He has been out for 18 months and has been helping me alot. We live in a small house with 2 rooms, a tiny kitchen and bathroom. Its definetly not much but we are never there so it doesn't really matter. I live with an elder (Hudson) that I met in the mtc. He is from kaysville and another elder (fry) is from alsaka. We had a baptism lined up for this week but it fell through because the lady had an asthma attack and lost her voice. Sunday was great, didn't really understand much of the spanish but it was fast and testimony meeting and the spirit was really strong. The members here are great and the church is true where ever you are! We have a member meal everyday for lunçh and a member washes our clothes too! We have a RM in our ward who just got back from his mission in pocatello ID! He talked to me in enlish it was cool! Oh and the stars here are different and I cant recognize any constalations but there are still beautiful. We can actually see them now that we aren't in Buenos Aires. I am in a smaller town called Toledo its like 45 min by bus from montevideo. We ride the bus alot, when ever we don't walk! I don't think I have ever walked so much in my life! Oh and the toilets do flush the oppisite direction here. I am so excited for Conference this week! We do get to listen to it in ENGLISH! I love hearing the prophets voices. Our mission president is a very cool guy! I wouldnt say he is super strict but he is definelty focused on the work! You can send all my letters and packages to the new address that I gave you last week! You can't send anything through the P.O box so I would really use it. Just use the mission home address. And you can send emails to me and they will print them off and give them to me. I can only send and recive one email per week so I will include everything I can in this one and you can send others through this gmail (urumontemission@gmail.com) Sorry got to go! The church is true and the Savior lives! Love you all and thanks for your love and support! Presidente Da Silva said to say thanks for all the sacrifices you are making!
Love,
Elder Bowden

Pictures of the HANDSOME Missionary!

Elder Bowden didn't send any explanation with these pictures due to limited e-mail time, but we can pretty much figure them out! He left for Uruguay this morning at 1:30 am our time, 4:30 am his time! Here are the pictures he took while at the CCM in Argentina! Enjoy! :)

Week 8...Almost in the Mission Field!

Thanks for all the letters, pictures, and HLJ or CTR rings. I will make good use of them by giving them out to all the kids I come in contact with! I hope things continue to go well at home it sounds like most is ok. Yes I heard about the earthquake in Japan, super crazy and sad. I will pray for all those who may need help, I am glad to hear our exchange students are all ok. OH WOW! Time has definitely flown....it seems like the harder I work and the more I enjoy this service of the Lord, and the faster the time goes! Unfortunately I will be home before I know it! I just want to work as hard as I can and continue to serve Him so I leave with no regrets. I want to say I left it all on the field when I get done and then continue to be a missionary when I get home. Only 4 more days left in the CCM! Monday I will have the chance to email you guys again right before I leave. It's kinda like a P-DAY and we have to pack all of our stuff. I am sad to go because there are so many great people here and their example is a huge influence in my life, but then again I can't wait to get out and make a difference in the country where Heavenly Father has called me. We got to hear from a current member of the seventy this week, President Aronald. He is from Utah and related our missionary work to that of a farm. In opposition to a man harvesting wheat with a sickle we need to be huge combines! I can't wait to serve and help the people of Uruguay, to bring them into the fold of their Savior. I also got to hear from a former member of the seventy who wrote a book on the great apostasy. He gave us a very condensed 4 hour version and it was really good. I love the opportunities we have as missionaries to be so close to the Lord, to work side by side with the greatest man who ever lived on the earth. It is definitely a pleasure to be working for Him and doing what He would do if he was here. Tell the Bishopric thanks for their wonderful example and love/help in my life. Keep up the good work at home and always remember who we are....Children of the all powerful, all knowing, and all loving God. I know this church is true and have never been happier in my life than I am right now! I know that Jesus is the Christ and is the center of our church and our salvation. Love you all and thanks for your support! I will wait to hear more from you on MONDAY and will continue to keep you updated. P.S. - I leave to the airport at 5 am Tuesday.
Love,
Elder Bowden

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

Elder Matthew Braun Bowden only has 12 days left in the CCM in Argentina until he leaves for Uruguay. If you would like to send him letters or packages, please hold them or wait for one more week and then send them to the new address listed on this blog page! Otherwise, he might not get them! We love you all and hope you enjoy following the life of Elder Matthew Braun Bowden!

Week 7...12 days til' URUGUAY!

Hola mi familia!
Thanks for the great messages and updates of home. It always makes me happy to see the blessings God is giving to you guys! He is truly blessing me as I continue to serve as He would every day. I love being a full time missionary, I love being able to say I am a representative of Jesus Christ and I have a wonderful message from Him to you. I am very anxious to go to Uruguay, only 12 more days! YAY! At the same time I also love the CCM, I know I will never have the same feelings and experiences that I am having here. I am not for sure where in Uruguay I will be serving but I will let you know as soon as I know. Time has definitely flown, the sad thing is the more you work and enjoy your mission the faster it seems to go. I often think of things I want to do when I get home and have to remind myself to focus and remember the most important time is the present. The more I am here the more grateful I become for the many blessings I have. Two of my room mates this transfer are the only members of the church in their family. I don't even know how hard it would be to serve for two years if you didn't have the support of anyone at home. Also, there are a lot of missionaries that have been baptized only a few years ago. There testimonies are so strong for the short time they have had this knowledge. I love the spirit of everyone here, learning about different cultures and communicating with them all. It is nice to actually speak enough Spanish to have a conversation. It is kind of weird to be the oldest group in the CCM and the ones that everyone looks up to. I got a letter from my mission president today, Presidente Da Silva, I have only heard great things about him and cant wait to meet him in the future. We started using our resources this week....the picnic tables actually make nice workout machines. I took some pictures so I will have to send some to you guys when I can. I had another awesome experience this week I want to share with you guys. Hermana Geroge (President Georges wife) took the time to read with us in Spanish this week, she helps us to pronounce all the words correctly. She said I was doing really well and told me to continue to listen to the native speakers and say things the way they say them. Then she said that she had a really strong feeling that I would be using
Spanish after my mission, and probably related to the church. I thought this was really cool and think it might have some correlation to some things in my patriarchal blessing. This makes me want to learn as much as I can and work as hard as I can to learn the language. I also know the rest of my life will be shaped be the things I do here on my mission. I want to work as hard as I can so that the Lord can continue to bless me! I know that the church is true and Jesus Christ is our Savior. I love you all and thanks for your love, support, and motivation. I will keep you updated! Love,
Elder Bowden

Week 6! Only 19 days left at the CCM,,,

Dear Family!
Thanks for the great words of love and encouragement. It really does help me to do better when I here from the ones who love me back home. Things here are going great as usual, I always forget to tell you things that I want you to know so this week I made a list! It was really asombroso, we had steak and onion rings for lunch last Friday, definitely reminded me of the food back home. Proselyting went really good last Saturday, Elder Bentschneider and I have 3 appointments this Saturday. We talked to a lot of people and really tried to teach by the spirit and not our memorized phrases. I am starting to get the hang of actually communicating with people and I can actually understand a lot of what they say. It is cool to learn more and then get to apply it on Saturday unlike those at the Provo MTC. It was kinda scary last week while we were proselyting...we ran into a couple of drunks and witnessed a case of domestic violence. I felt really weird cause I didn't know what to do. Luckily the fighting stopped and the drunks did nothing to us. I know that as missionaries we are protected and have no need to fear. I heard Argentina is a lot worse than Uruguay though so looking forward to that. A lot of the places here are kind of run down and it seems like they drive there cars until they die. It makes me realize even more how grateful I am to have been raised in the US and Utah above that. It was cool just to have the 12 or so North Americans here again for a couple days. Everyone is showing up today and things are pretty crazy, there are 75 missionaries in this group which is considerably larger than the last one. We practiced sewing with Hermana Geroge this Sunday, it was fun. We sewed on a button and learned how to fix the hems on our pants. Then she gave us cake that she had made for President Geroges Birthday, it was so yummy. If there is anything I really miss from home it is definitely the food made with love. All the Sunday dinners and the foods that bring back memories. Its all ok though, these next two years are my life and will effect me for the rest of my life after. It is so cool to receive all of the blessings and hear the promises of things we can receive if we keep of the good work! I am excited to go to Uruguay but also know I will miss it here. I love this work and all the Lord does for me in my life. We got a new teacher that served her mission in Temple Square and returned only a month ago. It is cool to think she was there when I was and now shes here when I am. Weird. Most of the teachers here know how to speak English but only speak Spanish to you to help you learn. Sorry I am all out of time. Thanks again for everything, keep up the good work. You guys are a spiritual booster for me!
Love,
Elder Bowden