Saying good-bye to Chuy! **Lots of Pics**

HOLA FAMILIA
Wow! Everything is really crazy right now! I have so much to tell you and don't worry I wrote a rough draft! Sorry dad if I don't answer your questions....I always try. I am not for sure why they closed our area. I think it was because there wasn't very much progress and it was more effective to put them in another area. It was closed for about 3 months. It sounds like you are continuing to stay busy like always, especially with the break this weekend . Sorry about the short email last week it was really crazy with changes and saying goodbye to everyone in Chuy. There are a lot of really good people there and I am going to miss them just as I will all people in all my areas. We went to the beach it is in a place called the Barra de Chuy, it is beautiful! That is where Daniel and Shirley who got baptized last Saturday live. I went to say goodbye to them and them saw the ocean it was really cool! I had a long bus ride to Montevideo last week with all my suit cases. It was a bus that was chartered by the mission so it only had missionaries on it and stopped in the other areas, that's how they do it every time we have changes. Then I had another pretty long bus ride to my new area of Villa del Carmen in Durazno. It is in el medio de nada (middle of nowhere), but I am sort of enjoying it! It was really weird when we got to our new house because the missionaries that were here before us were hermanas or sister missionaries. They had left lot of ´´girl stuff´´ in the house to say the least. That wasn't even the worst part though. They were told to unplug everything before they left so it would use power. Ya....they unplugged the fridge don't worry...but left it entirely full. Ya, a fridge full of milk and food, unplugged for three months equals mold monster! Don't worrry after cleaning it 3 times it kind of smells good. The area is really good but really small. I am pretty sure it is smaller than Mantua with only about 3000 people. Church was good on Sunday me and my comp presented ourselves. There were 10 members there! Ya we are going to do some sweet reactivating in addition to baptizing! AHHHHH! I cant believe it! I am already out of time! As a rule for missionaries we have to be in the house by 9:30pm and we have to go! I know the church is true and the book is blue! Love you all so much and I promise that I will finish writing this email and more next week! The problem was that there is only one cyber here or one place to do email and it was closed cause of the rain and opened late! LOVE YOU TONS! Sorry and thanks again!
LOVE
Elder Bowden

Moving to a new area with a new comp!

HOLA FAMILIA
WOW! This week was amazing and also super duper CRAZY! First of all the good news. We had the wedding and baptisms of Daniel and Shirley which went really well! I was so happy for them and we all felt the spirit very strong! I cant wait until they are prepared and can go to the temple! Second it was a pretty good car weekend because we saw a stinkin ferrari and a camero! Two really cool cars right here in Guay...well they were technically from Brazil. The bad news about that is that I wont be very close to Brazil anymore. We got changes yesterday night and I am leaving my amazing area of Chuy to go to a place called Villa del Carmen in the department of Durazno. I am kind of sad cause I was only here for a very short time and have already made a lot of good friends. I am also leaving an area where you can find a lot of cool stuff and is pretty big, to a small city thats basically in the middle of nowhere. I´ll let you know how it goes! My comp (E´Denny) is staying here in Chuy for six months and my new comp is Elder Taylor. I believe I know who he is but I am not for sure so I´ll tell you next week about that too! I have so much to say and so little time! I have so many thoughts and my mind is going crazy right now! Thanks so much for sending me all that I asked for....you guys are the BEST! I love my family so much and they are definitely the best one on the whole world! Oh by they way my new comp and I are actually opening a new area that has been closed for a couple of months so it should be a fruitful place to get some baptisms! Vamos a ver! I really wish that I could remember all the I wanted to tell you guys but my mind is honestly going wild! Tell Ash and anyone that has sent any gmail´s that I haven't got any for a whole change cause the offices were having problems so I will get them this week and respond next week! Sorry I will write a letter and some more next week I promise! I really have to go though! I LOVE you all SO MUCH! THANKS for everything!
LOVE
Elder Bowden




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Big Baptism Week!

¡Hola familia!
Well....what should I say this week? Thanks for you email, I always love hearing from you guys and it makes my whole P-Day! This was an interesting week and actually pretty successful. We received a reference from a member of a family whose parents are members and the kids are not. They have been less active for a while so we are going to try to reactivate them and them baptize the rest of the family. I am super excited for this week, we are going to have the wedding and finally our two baptisms! The other two missionaries here in Chuy might be able to have 4 baptisms, so I will let you know next week how our six baptism Saturday went! I had some other pretty cool stuff happen....what first? Oh? I had a family here in our ward who didn't know where I was from yet and they asked me. I told them to guess and they didn't really know. I thought for sure they would guess Utah (everyone here thinks that all missionaries are from Utah or the factory) and be right on the money, but they had no idea. I told them where I was from and after they told me they thought I was from another South America country from the way/accent in which I spoke Spanish! YAY! My Spanish is actually improving and the whole world can't tell that I am a ´´grengo.´´ Then I think it was a few days later, but it was raining really hard with lots of wind. Luckily we had lot of charlas set up and a member to drive us to all of them in his car (which ended up kind of dying...actually the gas pedal cable just broke so we had to fix it in the dark). When we got home the power went out. I think it was the first time that I have been in the house at night and the power was out. It reminded me of the the time the power went out at home and we would always get out the lantern and play card games. It was so much fun! Something that I have realized in the mission is that it's always the little things like that, that make me happy! I love my family, miss them tons, hope they are all doing well, and can't wait to see you all again. We also had to travel to Roche this week to have interviews with Pres Da Silva. We also had a small zone conference while we were there. It was really good and I always love going. I always leave feeling excited and ready to work, I wish we had them more often so it could balance all the hard times. I also loved General Conference and cannot wait until the talks come out in the Liahonna/Ensign! There were so many good ones and I know I will learn even more when I study them again. Changes are coming up next week (18th of October) and we receive the calls this Sunday so I will let you know next Monday if I am staying or going and with which comp. I can't believe that another six weeks has already passed....before I know it I will be calling home, having my birthday, and then hitting a year! CRAZY! I can't wait to go to the temple next change and will let you know how it goes when it happens. Thanks for all your love and support, you guys mean more to me than anything in the world. Thanks for helping me out with the packages and I will we watching and waiting! I love you all so much and know that this church is true! I know that our Heavenly Father and older brother Jesus Christ love us more than we can understand! They want us to be happy and lead back to their presence. I know that through the promptings of the Holy Ghost, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Atonement, and living prophets we are guided! I know if we diligently follow and seek this things we will be blessed more then we thought possible. I know the Book of Mormon is true and feel the power of God every page I read. I know it also can guide us. I know that families can be together forever and it happens through sacred ordinances in the holy temple of God. I cant wait until next week!
LOVE
Elder Bowden

Chuy is eligible to become a WARD!!

¡HOLA MEJOR FAMILIA DEL MUNDO!
WOW! This week and weekend were definitely amazing! This has to have been one of the best conferences I have ever listened too! I honestly think that they are all great, I was just more prepared for this one which made it that much better! I definitely felt the spirit, received revelation, and was edified! I felt like they talked a lot about missions and the importance of them. The way they prep us for the rest of our lives and help dedicate ourselves to the Lord! I definitely know that this is true. I have been learning so much and the mission has already changed me for the rest of my life! I see the tender mercies of the Lord daily and I am so grateful for His love and patience. I got to see them put the Angel Moroni on the BC Temple! It was playing in between sessions of conference! I cant wait to come home and be able to go inside! I am also super excited to have our baptisms coming up on the 15th! They came to conference and of course loved it! I cant wait to see them become sealed as a forever family in a year either! They are super great and these are the unexpressable blessings of the mission! We are eating lunch at a Brazil meat buffet today! It is with our branch Pres and his wife, I am super excited! After we are playing fùtbol or soccer, it should be fun! I got a letter from Chris this week and it sounds like he is doing good. The next good news on the agenda is that our branch here in Chuy is now qualified to become a ward! I am so excited! I got to stand in on two Mel. Preisthood ordinations that gave us two more priesthood holders to give us enough to become a ward! Now they (Pres y Hna Davidson) are working in our zone, 33, to make the district a stake! We are really close and I hope that I can do all that the Lord expects of me to help Him in this work! Well I am definitely loving the mission and cannot describe to you guys how much it means to me to be serving the Lord full time! I am so grateful for the amazing parents and family I have who are supportive in all that I do! I could not possibly expect or ask for anyone greater than you! I love you all and I am so glad to have the gospel in my life! I am so grateful that I know that I NEED the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life to be TRULY happy. I am grateful for the chance to be sealed to my family in the temple and be able to live with them forever. I know that if we LIVE the gospel of Jesus Christ, follow His teachings and example, and strive to share it with others, it will bring us blessings and happiness beyond comprehension. I know that this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true one on the earth today. I know that He is our Savior and Redeemer. I know that no matter how hard times are or what trials we are having, He knows exactly how we feel. I know that He lives. I know that as we strive to do the Fathers will just as He did, we will be lead back to His presence, to receive eternal joy and peace. I know that we are all sons and daughters of God and that He knows us better than we know ourselves. I know His desires are our desires, and He wants nothing more than for us to be happy, now and forever! I love you all and cannot thank you enough for all that you have done and are doing!
CON MUCHO AMOR,
Elder Bowden