Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Una semana de Milagros!!!

So, I`M TRAINING! And something I think is pretty niffty is that my hija (trainee) is from..... WYOMING!!!! Hahaha, so my first companion in the mission was from the states, Hermana Kleinman, and my LAST companion too, with a filling of peruanas, argentinas, brasileñas, and philipinas. She`s awesome, she`s so excited to get to work, but I`m sorry, I don`t have my camera on hand. We`ve been workin our butts off to get the work moving forward, and we found a TON of people who are really prepaired, which has been really cool. Eliana is doing okay but couldn`t come to church, which was kind of sad, but she`s still taking those baby steps to come closer to christ.

Little quick miracle that happened. We were working thursday night in a sector called Pehuen, which is REALLY far away from our house, half an hour walking and on a major highway. We found a really cool couple there, but it was getting close to eight o`clock and we had to walk back to central to an appointment we had there. As we were walking the appointment called us and canceled. We walked a little bit more before I said, you know what, why don`t we go back to Pehuen for a little bit and visit some other people we know there. Well, we get back into the sector, and I just turn down a random road, and after a second I think to myself, just like "why did we come down here, we don`t now anybody. Well, I have to be an example. We might as well do something here." So I say, we`re going to knock on the first door that has a light on. So we do that. And a mom answers the door and lets us in. And she`s awesome! She`s got two little kids, Matthew and Mateo (lol) and is MARRIED! She loved the message we shared and has a sincere desire to get closer to christ. So I just know big things are going to happen with her. IT`s been good in the hood and I`m loving the mission more everyday. See yall later =)

Sister Ashlee Bowling
from Chile!

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

¿¿¿SUPER MOM???

Last week was an INCREDIBLE time of growth for me and my companion. I love her a TON, and we just barely had transfers, which will come into effect tomorrow. So for my very last cambio in the mission, I´m going to..................... STAY IN ARAUCO!!!!!! I AM SO HAPPY! And what makes it even better is............... HERMANA VASQUEZ IS STAYING IN ARAUCO TOO! But there´s a catch. So, there´s four missionarys in Arauco, right? Hermana Bazaes AND hermana Custódio from Arauco 2 are BOTH leaving. Hermana Bazaes to a small town south of Temuco called Cunco, and Hermana Custódio to Los Angeles. Hermana Vasquez is going to go to Arauco 2 (her and I were sector Arauco 1), and, last but not least, we´re both going to train new missionarys! So we´re in the same branch, we have almuerzo together almost every day, and we´re going to live in the same house! It´s literally the BEST thing that could have happened, because I LOVE hermana Vasquez with all of my heart. It´s true that when companions get along the spirit is there in more abundance, and I´ve felt the spirit a TON these last three months. I´m so excited to be able to have another opportunity to train (this is the 3rd time) and help out hermana Vasquez, who is a little bit nervous to be training for the first time. It´s going to be awesome and I ask for all the prayers you can send me so we can keep this work moving FORWARD! I love the lord and his work and I love you all too. Hope you have a great week =)

Sister Ashlee Bowling
from Chile!

Monday, May 8, 2017

Super quick

We had a much better week, thanks to a few miracles, and the amazing opportunity we have as God`s children to repent of all the awful things we do haha. We applied the healing ointment of the atonement and have been working much harder and effectivly this last week.

So, we had a kind of cool experience while contacting on Wednesday. I even said, as we entered a long street of our sector, that I wanted to see a miracle. Well, my companion needed to go to the bathroom really bad, and we were in a more or less sketchy part of town at night, so we carefully looked for some kind of guidance as to which house to knock. Well, we aproched the door of a simple white home, and the lady inside, with a lot of hesitation, let us in so my companion could use the bathroom. We talked for a bit and she told me some of her story. About a year ago she got divorced, which forced her to move from a beautiful home with her 3 children to a smaller and much less glamorous place which she pays for working as a nanny. Her two oldest children chose to live with their dad, and her youngest son has more or less sever autism. She invited us to eat with her, which was a cup of a kind of hot chocolate they drink here called "Milo" and two little breads, which she cut in half. She didn`t have a lot but wanted to share it with us, as we began to explain a bit of the gospel. We left for her a book of Mormon which she very greatfully accepted and with a little more happiness invited us to come back another day. Little things like that are the biggest miracles here in the mission and it`s always when I feel like I`m doing my job, and not just because I have to, but because I really love these people. Me and my companion are best friends and we work together wonderfully. Sorry I don`t have more pictures meh, but I hope you all have a great week and life. Til next time =)

Sister Ashlee Bowling
from Chile!

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

The beautiful zone Coronel

The repentance week

We just changed our house!!!! We used to live on the very edge of town, and would have to walk 20-40 minutes to get anywhere, and head off home half an hour early to get back by ten o´clock. Well, we finally moved to the old house of a member, and it is HUGE! For a house in Chile it`s also very beautiful haha. It has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen about as big as my living room. It`s pretty fantastic, and the best part is we have much more time to visit and work. That took up a big amount of our week because we had to leave the old house absolutly spotless, but we`re more animated than ever to work hard and baptize everyone we can. 

We had a very spiritual reunion with our zone today, and we are looking to increase the number of baptisms the zone has. 
Eliana Saez Aburto is a wonderful investigator we have who WANTS to get baptized and wants to be able to repent. I`ve never met anybody so humble in my whole life. Last week we invited her to watch the video (20 min) of the restoration, and she did it!!! So yesterday we taught her about what it means in her life, and in the life of her boyfriend. She believed it`s true, and in reality the only problem there is is that... she and her boyfriend, Jefferson Bravo, live together but are not married. They`re progressing wonderfully and want to get married but see it as a kind of far off thing, in Febuary next year, things like that. I would apreciate it sooo much if you could place her name in the temple prayer circle. More than anything I ask that we as missionarys can be guided in our lessons and teachings with her, and be diligent in verifying and checking up on her. 

It rained ALL NIGHT last night, and our beds are right by the window, so I didn`t get a very good sleep, but it`s at the same time very fun to be in such an extream climate. I`ve never seen it rain or hail like it does here in Arauco. 

We also found a gigantic slug about the size of my hand in our back lot and we killed it with salt which made me very sad, but they say here that slugs cause deseases. 

Hermana Custódio the other day made strogganoff with chicken, ketchup, mustard, and rice instead of noodles. It was AMAZING! 

As far as missionary work not a whole lot happened, just what I already said about Eliana. You win some and you learn some, and this was definatly a learning week for me. Love you all and hope you can do small things to grow to know the savior. It`s during the hardest trials that I`ve learned the most and discovered more things about myself and about the infinate love Christ has for all of us. 

-- 
Sister Ashlee Bowling
from Chile!