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