Today begins my last week in the mission field. It`s been the best, the most incredible and difficult and worth while experience I have ever had and maybe ever will have, in the sense that Jeffery R Holland means it when he says that every good thing that has ever happened to him resulted because of his missionary service. This time has been desisive, and VERY imperfect.
I know that this is the most marvelous and wonderous work that a human life could be engaged in. I know the saviour lives and loves me and that he is pleased with the efforts and work I have made. I testify that that is true. I also know without a doubt that my offering was imperfect, mixed in with a lot of mistakes and regrets. But the cool thing about the atonement is when we TRUELY repent, regrets turn into invaluble lessons and a peaceful knowledge that Heavenly Father does love us, and it`s never too late to work on it.
I heard before the mission from a returned missionary that some people are for the mission. They already have a testimony firm and solid, they want to work and understand and although they`re imperfect they do good work and keep the work moving forward. But then there are other missionarys, and the mission is for them. They`re a little more imperfect than other missionarys. They don`t know how to work hard and sometimes forget why. They do an okay job, but at the end of their service, they`re more changed than their sectors are. I always dreamed of being that first missionary. I wanted to do a good job. I felt I had a testimony. I thought I was ready to serve the mission. But now looking back... the mission served me, and changed me, and I wish I could have done more. I am in peace with my work but I would clearly change some things if I could. I`d love to be able to stay more and give a more compleate offering to the lord. I don`t think there´s not a single missionary who wouldn`t change somethings if they could. I guess that`s another incomrehensable part of the atonement for me. I feel worthy. I loved my mission. It was the best thing that happened to me. I wish I could have done more, but these last few months I have literally given my all. I`ve made righteous choices I never thought myself capable of making. I chose the harder right instead of the easier wrong. I`ve loved this time and the opportunities it`s given me. More than anything I can say without a single doubt or wavering that I know Jesus Christ. I have worked by his side and said what he would have said and done what he would have done. I have studied his life and communicated with him and loved him more than at any other time before. The atonement is real for me. It abilitates me to keep doing good, and liberates me from guilt of bad choices and makes me learn from them. The difference between a good choice and a bad one, and even a good choice and an excellent choice is more obvious.
We had an incredible week finding new people to teach and seeing the fruits of forgetting yourself, but truely forgetting yourself. Nobody except the branch president knows I`m going home, which I prefere, because the work isn`t about me. I don`t want to be spending my last weeks in goodbye parties. I want to use it to look for evey last person that God has preparied for me. It was actually kind of funny because when I told Presidente Brand, he just staired at me in silence for a good while before saying, wow, I had no idea. Hahaha, it was really sad. Pres. Brand is one of my best friends in the mission. He`s doing a great job and it was an honor to help build up Arauco along side him.
I`ll be speaking in sacrament meeting of Afton Second Ward on the 9th of July. See ya´ll soon =)
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Monday, June 19, 2017
OKay I`m sorry don`t be mad jajaja
Hey long time no writting, and that`s because I`m just such a diligent missionary that I haven`t had time to write. (It`s a joke)
Arauco is getting A LOT colder, and maybe it blows your mind but south america isn`t all tropical sandy beaches. It`s kind of like Oregon (acording to how my mom described it.) We may be on the beach but it is definatly below zero right now. Our house doesn`t have any kind of built in heating, and so we have a gas heater in our bedroom that we wheel around from place to place as we do stuff. At night sometimes I touch my face with my hand while I`m sleeping and wake myself up because it`s so cold. (It`s not a joke.) But apart from that, the mission is AWESOME like always. And why is the mission so awesome? Apart from being able to help people make convenents with Heavenly Father (The #1 reason the mission is bomb), you actually, through your own personal effort, progress and become a better person. I was thinking about that this morning a little bit. Before the mission, like in High School and stuff I was what one might call bi-polar. SUPER energetic some days and SUPER emo depressed others. It was a way for me to express myself. But I just realized that I don`t really do that anymore. It`s more natural for me to just calmly talk and listen, still happily, still energeticly (spelling?) but a lot more.... normal, I think would be the word. In other words, the person who I am is different, and I would definatly call it better. It`s WAY easier for me to talk to other people. I`m not afraid of trying new things. I`m not so stubborn haha. I look to be productive and do more good. I`m much more flexible and uneasily peterbed. The mission culitvates, through and active and consistant effort on ones part, to become more like the savior. It`s incredible. I will not be returning the same person, nor will I ever be.
Hermana Scholl is an awesome missionary and is coming along really well in the work. We`re best friends and It`s a very fun experience to be so focused on someone else and look so far into the mission future. It`s keeping me from being trunky for sure ;)
Monday: We went and ate PIZZAAA!! Epic. Kind of lazzed around. I read a talk thing called the Riccardi papers, which were incredible and very inspiring. Merp.
Tuesday: No sé. A lot of appointments fell through. Poor hermana Scholl, the other night talking with our district leader she said "I`d just like to actually have someone be home when we get there." Haha, uhh, the mission is an adventure.
Wednesday: We had an AWESOME multizone conference. It was incredible and I learned soooo much, but the best/worst part was sharing my "last testimony." It was nerve wracking but I managed to say what I wanted to. The other testimonies were incredible and very inspiring. Elder Bauserman, whos in our zone, gave an AWESOME testimony about the development he had in the mission and the testimony he gained. It was all in all a really good day, but I took up the entire night. It got out at 7! (It was supposed to end at 5) and the bus ride back finished off our day. But at least contacting in the bus is my favorite =)
Thursday was pretty cool. We finally had an apointment that was home haha. Luisa Hooper is an investigator we`ve got whos married with two children. We had an awesome disscussion about the restoration of the church and what a prophets role is God`s plan. She shared some interesting details about her life. Chilean people have a very different idea of God and of churches than most americans do, and it makes teaching an adventure. She`s not very able to come to church though, because every weekend she goes and visits her family who live WAAAy out in the country, about 2 hours from Arauco. She`s very sweet but maybe not so prepaird right now to fully accept the gospel.
Friday: Intercambio! I don`t know if any of you guys are looking up what`s going on close to arauco ever, but on friday I went to Curanilahue, which is a small city about an hour south of Arauco. It was raining soo much that the river that runs through the city overflowed and flooded some parts. (the sisters sleep in a 3rd floor apartment that`s a good ways away from any part of the river.) We just spent the day helping out people and trying to serve. I`ve always wanted to serve in a place with extreme weather and my wish came true! I was with Hermana Da Silva, who was also an old companion of mine! We had a super fun time =)
Saturday and Sunday: Not much to mention here apart from more spiritual experiences and growth. It`s fun to work as hard as you can, no matter the results and know that you did your best.
Hope your week is a good one and you can do small things to come closer to the Savior. CHAO!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Arauco is getting A LOT colder, and maybe it blows your mind but south america isn`t all tropical sandy beaches. It`s kind of like Oregon (acording to how my mom described it.) We may be on the beach but it is definatly below zero right now. Our house doesn`t have any kind of built in heating, and so we have a gas heater in our bedroom that we wheel around from place to place as we do stuff. At night sometimes I touch my face with my hand while I`m sleeping and wake myself up because it`s so cold. (It`s not a joke.) But apart from that, the mission is AWESOME like always. And why is the mission so awesome? Apart from being able to help people make convenents with Heavenly Father (The #1 reason the mission is bomb), you actually, through your own personal effort, progress and become a better person. I was thinking about that this morning a little bit. Before the mission, like in High School and stuff I was what one might call bi-polar. SUPER energetic some days and SUPER emo depressed others. It was a way for me to express myself. But I just realized that I don`t really do that anymore. It`s more natural for me to just calmly talk and listen, still happily, still energeticly (spelling?) but a lot more.... normal, I think would be the word. In other words, the person who I am is different, and I would definatly call it better. It`s WAY easier for me to talk to other people. I`m not afraid of trying new things. I`m not so stubborn haha. I look to be productive and do more good. I`m much more flexible and uneasily peterbed. The mission culitvates, through and active and consistant effort on ones part, to become more like the savior. It`s incredible. I will not be returning the same person, nor will I ever be.
Hermana Scholl is an awesome missionary and is coming along really well in the work. We`re best friends and It`s a very fun experience to be so focused on someone else and look so far into the mission future. It`s keeping me from being trunky for sure ;)
Monday: We went and ate PIZZAAA!! Epic. Kind of lazzed around. I read a talk thing called the Riccardi papers, which were incredible and very inspiring. Merp.
Tuesday: No sé. A lot of appointments fell through. Poor hermana Scholl, the other night talking with our district leader she said "I`d just like to actually have someone be home when we get there." Haha, uhh, the mission is an adventure.
Wednesday: We had an AWESOME multizone conference. It was incredible and I learned soooo much, but the best/worst part was sharing my "last testimony." It was nerve wracking but I managed to say what I wanted to. The other testimonies were incredible and very inspiring. Elder Bauserman, whos in our zone, gave an AWESOME testimony about the development he had in the mission and the testimony he gained. It was all in all a really good day, but I took up the entire night. It got out at 7! (It was supposed to end at 5) and the bus ride back finished off our day. But at least contacting in the bus is my favorite =)
Thursday was pretty cool. We finally had an apointment that was home haha. Luisa Hooper is an investigator we`ve got whos married with two children. We had an awesome disscussion about the restoration of the church and what a prophets role is God`s plan. She shared some interesting details about her life. Chilean people have a very different idea of God and of churches than most americans do, and it makes teaching an adventure. She`s not very able to come to church though, because every weekend she goes and visits her family who live WAAAy out in the country, about 2 hours from Arauco. She`s very sweet but maybe not so prepaird right now to fully accept the gospel.
Friday: Intercambio! I don`t know if any of you guys are looking up what`s going on close to arauco ever, but on friday I went to Curanilahue, which is a small city about an hour south of Arauco. It was raining soo much that the river that runs through the city overflowed and flooded some parts. (the sisters sleep in a 3rd floor apartment that`s a good ways away from any part of the river.) We just spent the day helping out people and trying to serve. I`ve always wanted to serve in a place with extreme weather and my wish came true! I was with Hermana Da Silva, who was also an old companion of mine! We had a super fun time =)
Saturday and Sunday: Not much to mention here apart from more spiritual experiences and growth. It`s fun to work as hard as you can, no matter the results and know that you did your best.
Hope your week is a good one and you can do small things to come closer to the Savior. CHAO!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Monday, June 5, 2017
Just so yall know
I`m doing really good =) That`s my companion in the middle! She`s THE BEST!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
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!
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!
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!
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
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