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
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!
Monday, April 24, 2017
Hey hey hey! It's fat ashlee
But really, I`m on an active diet as of one month ago. Here`s hoping you guys don`t have to roll me off the plane.
Magon! Thanks for writing me! I love you and your family and have a picture of you guys from halloween tucked into my scriptures. You`re the best =)
I FORGOT MY AGENDA! So I`m going to have to try and remember everything that happened this week.... ummm. okay here we go...
Also, yes, I`m very bad at keeping y´all up to date, I did have a baptism about a month ago. I don`t remember if I already mentioned it. Joaquinn and his family are now super active! We`re just working with the dad now. But they`re awesome, they read their scriptures together and pay their tithing and are a super cute little family. Hermana Rosa is one of my favorite people in Chile. So we`re pretty stoked about that.
Monday/Lunes: We only had P-day until 3 pm because of an activity that was going to be taking place later in the week (hehe) so, we bought our stuff, ran to the house and slept for about half an hour before we had to get out the door and get working. It was a pretty cool day, we found some people who are in need of the gospel, which was neat. Me and my companion are working ALOT on bettering our teaching skills and being guided by the spirit, so we had a really cool lesson with an evangelical lady. I don`t really remember what religious people are like in the USA, but evangelicals here are very.... not worried at all about truth, or authority or things make sense in general. If they feel good they go along with it, and it doesn`t matter if it makes sense or had a doctrinal significance. "God loves us, and we have got to BELIEVE! Just BELIEVEEEE!" But we`re having a fun time teaching truth and calling out all the false doctrines.
Tuesday/Martes: We had district meeting and it was just okay. Elder Gray is my district leader, which is kind of funny because he was in my district in the CCM in Mexico. We had a good time there, but I don`t remember much of what we did as far as working. I am sure that I am working, I just don`t remember many details.
Wednesday/Miércoles: Kind of a cruddy day, to be honest. In Chile every four years they hold a census. That`s okay. The cruddy part is that it`s a national shut down. You are required under law to stay in your house all day so that they can cense you, and we weren´t allowed to leave til the evening. We spent the time deep cleaning our house, and it looks super good now. I testify that a good deep clean brings the spirit in abundance. If you`re looking to have a clear mind and focus, clean your room, your house, your apartment. It makes a BIG difference. At 8 o´clock we went to a members house to watch a broadcast by President Russel M Nelson which was especially for South America. His wife, who spoke before him, told an AWESOME story. After several years and the death of a great friend, she felt inspired to clean her gerage, which was full of boxes contianing years and years of medical papers, all in all over 100 boxes. After four entire weeks she had it all organized and beautiful, but states that her weekly temple attendance had been interupted during that time. She justified and excused herself til she finally finished her project, and eagerly went to the temple to feel the spirit once more. However, when she got into the temple, the first and only thought or revelation she recieved was a dissipointed reprimand. "We`re not very pleased with your priorities of late." She also meditated on the words weighter matters. She was very confused and unhappy with the revelation she recieved. Shouldn`t heavenly father be happy with all the work she had acomplished? Couldn´t he see how spotless her garage was now? After a few weeks of bitterness, she decided to look in the scriptures for the phrase "weighter matters". She discovered the scripture Matthew 23:23 (go and read it). She afterward testified and explained that we must always be engaged en making the choice between the good things and the best things in our lives. The world will ALWAYS look for reasons to justify. My case is special. Heavenly Father understands me. But our vision will always be clearer and our journey much less complicated when we focus on the weighter matters.
Maybe we don`t know why the church and the leaders have decided to impliment this policy or that program. It may simply not make sense to us. But are we going to abandon EVERYTHING we know over one small question? Are we going to doubt the truth of the restoration, the need for priesthood power and the wonder of the book of Mormon all because we disagree on personal matters of no importance? I trust Thomas S Monson. I know he was called of God. I know he`s just a man. And I know he comunicates with God to reveal to us the weighter matters of our day. I hope we can all take a deep breath and remember what really matters.
Gonna skip to Friday/viernes: We had an amazing confernce with Russel M Nelson who came to visit our mission and the Concepción North Mission. I got the opportunity to shake his hand and the hands of other general authorities. He spoke mostly about the wonder and glory that the Book of Mormon is. It teaches things no other church or religion can teach, because it`s true. He promised us, in an apostolic blessing, the health and well being of our families while we are in the lords service. I hope you guys and look for and feel those mighty blessings. He spoke of a number of incredible and important things, and so did his wife. She`s become one of my favorite "not general authority" church speakers. She asked us to remember our companions who are cheering us on from the other side of the veil. They are literally with us when we teach and talk with everyone, cheering us on and helping us know what to say. There are also people on the other side cheering on the investigator. They have alreay met with the missionarys. They too need and want to be baptized, and their only hope for now is that this person, their decendent, can accept what we`re telling them and eventually be baptized for their ansestor. It was a very cool, beautiful concept. I know my grandparents who have gone on accompany me and help prepare the way for my work. It was amazing and a huge spiritual boost.
Those were the highlights of the week. But I hope you all have a great week and can make time to read in your books of Mormon. Wuv de Chile!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Monday, April 17, 2017
it's been a long time
I`m so sorry for not replying to anybody or writing or doing any of that fun stuff. I formally extend my deepest apologies.
Well this week goes like this...
Monday: We had an awesome P-day in Concepcion! I bought a super South American jacket that I`m using everyday. Super aztec as a typical white girl would say. We also had cambios, but nothing is going to change. The four of us, Me, Hermana Vasquez, Hermana Bazaes and Hermana Custódio are staying in Arauco! And we are PUMPED! We had an appointment later in the day with our investigator Ximena (pronounced himena) who is really cool. We showed her a video of a story of the book of mormon, and then afterwards asked her, what would it mean to you if the book of Mormon were true. She answered that it would change everything. It would mean a lot of new things to accept into her life, and that was just the best answer I ever could have heard. It was like, "yes. She gets it." We as missionarys tend to look on the bright side of things and talk only about the miracles we`ve seen, but I`m here to tell you that people like that are few and far between. We`ve had to wade through a lot of crappy investigators to find somebody like her. Slowly but surely.
Tuesday: We had a lesson with a homeless guy, which was interesting. Well, he`s almost homeless. About three weeks ago we were walking up a HUGE hill when we saw a super old man walking with a cane down the hill. He told us he wanted to go to church on Sunday, and that he had met with missionarys before. We told him he was welcome anytime. "yeah vale chao." So fastforward to that sunday, and nothing. We forget about him. But last week, as we were entering into the third hour, we look outside and see Luis, the homeless man, walking into the gate of the church. He left his house at 10 in the morning and walked an hour and a half to come to church. It was impressive, so Tuesday we challenged him to be baptized, which he accepted, and started working with him to help him understand just what a big committment it´s got to be. But he`s really cool, and it was the miracle of the week.
Wednesday: Pretty much nothing. Don`t remember a whole lot.
Thursday: Intercambio! I headed off to Curanilahue and got to work with Hermana Poyfair. She`s just the sweetest person I`ve ever met. It was a good time. Also, hermana Curtis is in Curanilahue too! So we`re going to be seeing each other more often! It was cool to meet up again. For those of you who don`t remember she was my companion in the CCM, and we lived together in Gorbea for 5 months.
Viernes: While teaching English class we met a super cool lady who said she`s been praying to find the true church. She`s a little bit scheptical but willing to meet with us which is really cool.
Saturday: We saw Eliana!! She`s so awesome! We invited her to come to church with us on Sunday, but for real this time, and she said yes!!!! We had district conference, so we invited her to come with us to Lota, and she did it!!!
Domingo: ELIANA CAME TO CHURCH!!! Patricio, an AWESOME recent convert came by and picked us up and we all went up together. It was a super cool day, but then my companion got motion sick and we were in the bathroom for a good part of the day =( Poor thing. But all in all it was a great week.
The weather is cooling down and we`re heading into auburn. Hope you all have a great week. LOVE YA!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Well this week goes like this...
Monday: We had an awesome P-day in Concepcion! I bought a super South American jacket that I`m using everyday. Super aztec as a typical white girl would say. We also had cambios, but nothing is going to change. The four of us, Me, Hermana Vasquez, Hermana Bazaes and Hermana Custódio are staying in Arauco! And we are PUMPED! We had an appointment later in the day with our investigator Ximena (pronounced himena) who is really cool. We showed her a video of a story of the book of mormon, and then afterwards asked her, what would it mean to you if the book of Mormon were true. She answered that it would change everything. It would mean a lot of new things to accept into her life, and that was just the best answer I ever could have heard. It was like, "yes. She gets it." We as missionarys tend to look on the bright side of things and talk only about the miracles we`ve seen, but I`m here to tell you that people like that are few and far between. We`ve had to wade through a lot of crappy investigators to find somebody like her. Slowly but surely.
Tuesday: We had a lesson with a homeless guy, which was interesting. Well, he`s almost homeless. About three weeks ago we were walking up a HUGE hill when we saw a super old man walking with a cane down the hill. He told us he wanted to go to church on Sunday, and that he had met with missionarys before. We told him he was welcome anytime. "yeah vale chao." So fastforward to that sunday, and nothing. We forget about him. But last week, as we were entering into the third hour, we look outside and see Luis, the homeless man, walking into the gate of the church. He left his house at 10 in the morning and walked an hour and a half to come to church. It was impressive, so Tuesday we challenged him to be baptized, which he accepted, and started working with him to help him understand just what a big committment it´s got to be. But he`s really cool, and it was the miracle of the week.
Wednesday: Pretty much nothing. Don`t remember a whole lot.
Thursday: Intercambio! I headed off to Curanilahue and got to work with Hermana Poyfair. She`s just the sweetest person I`ve ever met. It was a good time. Also, hermana Curtis is in Curanilahue too! So we`re going to be seeing each other more often! It was cool to meet up again. For those of you who don`t remember she was my companion in the CCM, and we lived together in Gorbea for 5 months.
Viernes: While teaching English class we met a super cool lady who said she`s been praying to find the true church. She`s a little bit scheptical but willing to meet with us which is really cool.
Saturday: We saw Eliana!! She`s so awesome! We invited her to come to church with us on Sunday, but for real this time, and she said yes!!!! We had district conference, so we invited her to come with us to Lota, and she did it!!!
Domingo: ELIANA CAME TO CHURCH!!! Patricio, an AWESOME recent convert came by and picked us up and we all went up together. It was a super cool day, but then my companion got motion sick and we were in the bathroom for a good part of the day =( Poor thing. But all in all it was a great week.
The weather is cooling down and we`re heading into auburn. Hope you all have a great week. LOVE YA!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Monday, April 10, 2017
alright, take a load off
The keyboard is crappy and I don`t have a lot of time, so buckle up.
Monday: we had an awesome last zoneactivity where the missionarys from each oftheir respective countrys had to make a classic dish and present it to everybody. We from usa west made chicken noodle soup with homemade egg noodles and everybody loved it. The east made fried oreos and funnel cake, the latinos were in shock. it confirmed all their wildest dreams. we in the us are fat slobs that eat pure garbage, but delicious garbage. we went and visited a member less active who lives with her grandchild. isidora is 10 and lives with her grandma because her mom works A TON and her dad is a drug addict =( trying to help the family have some hope.
tuesday: A really cool day over all. My companion and i are really trying to use our time well, and when some of the appointments we had planned fell through, we were kind of left out in the dark without much idea of what to do. we both felt inspired to pray and ask for dirrection and start walking. Before every blessing comes a moment to try our faith, and that is certainly true in the mission. we contacted a few people who were very curt with us, and with one man in particular. we handed him a card for the new easter video, which has an image of Christ on the front. When he saw the card he snatched it from my handand asked "have you seen Jesus Christ? does anybody know what he looks like?? you`re worshipping false images!!" and me with my companion were just like "Uhh... we don`t want to talk to you anymore..." but the next person we talked to was so kind! She let us in, gave us some bread and we found out that her daughters had recieved missionarys before! They we`re a huge blessing.
Wednesday: Not much to say about this day. we found out that one of our investigators was only listening to us because he thought we were pretty. so that wasn`t to fun, but we also found an INCREDIBLY prepaired lady with her two sons. her name is Sonia and she is an absolute doll. very humble and teachable which is all i really ask for in an investigator, that they`re humble enough to ask God if these things are really true. everyday is a good day when you`re working for the lord. we also had an awesome zone meeting where the zone leaders made us remember how it was when we first got our callings and the energy and excitement we had for the mission. I remember walking around the house with Dad the weeks after I got my call talking about videos and websites we had been looking at about chile and what itwould be like. it really is cool to be in such a wonderful place.
ThURSDAy WAS CRAZY: It rained SO HARD. I don`t have an umbrella, it got stolen while i was in San Pedro and we got SOAKED! But it doesn`t matter because we found another awesome lady who let us in and let me borrow some of her clothes (I was wet all the way down to my skin, I`ve never seen it rain so hard) and also gave us some food. she was also SO humble. She asked us why sometimes the things God does appear so unjust when she and her family have always tried to be good. As we explained she was so attent to our words, and said afterwards she would love to be able to come to church and find out more. Really cool lady.
We had a ton of miracles this week, too many to tell in the time I have left. All in all we found 15 new people to teach, more than I`ve ever found before in my mission. it was a really great time. til nextweek!!!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Monday: we had an awesome last zoneactivity where the missionarys from each oftheir respective countrys had to make a classic dish and present it to everybody. We from usa west made chicken noodle soup with homemade egg noodles and everybody loved it. The east made fried oreos and funnel cake, the latinos were in shock. it confirmed all their wildest dreams. we in the us are fat slobs that eat pure garbage, but delicious garbage. we went and visited a member less active who lives with her grandchild. isidora is 10 and lives with her grandma because her mom works A TON and her dad is a drug addict =( trying to help the family have some hope.
tuesday: A really cool day over all. My companion and i are really trying to use our time well, and when some of the appointments we had planned fell through, we were kind of left out in the dark without much idea of what to do. we both felt inspired to pray and ask for dirrection and start walking. Before every blessing comes a moment to try our faith, and that is certainly true in the mission. we contacted a few people who were very curt with us, and with one man in particular. we handed him a card for the new easter video, which has an image of Christ on the front. When he saw the card he snatched it from my handand asked "have you seen Jesus Christ? does anybody know what he looks like?? you`re worshipping false images!!" and me with my companion were just like "Uhh... we don`t want to talk to you anymore..." but the next person we talked to was so kind! She let us in, gave us some bread and we found out that her daughters had recieved missionarys before! They we`re a huge blessing.
Wednesday: Not much to say about this day. we found out that one of our investigators was only listening to us because he thought we were pretty. so that wasn`t to fun, but we also found an INCREDIBLY prepaired lady with her two sons. her name is Sonia and she is an absolute doll. very humble and teachable which is all i really ask for in an investigator, that they`re humble enough to ask God if these things are really true. everyday is a good day when you`re working for the lord. we also had an awesome zone meeting where the zone leaders made us remember how it was when we first got our callings and the energy and excitement we had for the mission. I remember walking around the house with Dad the weeks after I got my call talking about videos and websites we had been looking at about chile and what itwould be like. it really is cool to be in such a wonderful place.
ThURSDAy WAS CRAZY: It rained SO HARD. I don`t have an umbrella, it got stolen while i was in San Pedro and we got SOAKED! But it doesn`t matter because we found another awesome lady who let us in and let me borrow some of her clothes (I was wet all the way down to my skin, I`ve never seen it rain so hard) and also gave us some food. she was also SO humble. She asked us why sometimes the things God does appear so unjust when she and her family have always tried to be good. As we explained she was so attent to our words, and said afterwards she would love to be able to come to church and find out more. Really cool lady.
We had a ton of miracles this week, too many to tell in the time I have left. All in all we found 15 new people to teach, more than I`ve ever found before in my mission. it was a really great time. til nextweek!!!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
LO SIENTO PO
BYU is asking that I write four essays while I`m here in the mission as part of my college application process, and so i don`t have any time to write this week, nor did I have time last week. I`m very very sorry, but I´ll send pictures to make up for it. Also, general conference was the greatest thing ever. I burst into tears when Pres Monson began speaking and a clear thought came into my head, stronger than ever before that he is truly a prophet of God, and his words are the words the world needs to hear. The book of Mormon is true and contains the words of our savior Jesus Christ, who lives and loves us. I`ve never been more sure than now that these things are true. The conference was great and i even got to listen in English for the last sunday session. Hope you all, if you haven`t already seen it, will make the time to go and watch even a small part. I know these people are called of God and their words will guide us to eternal happiness. Have a great week and i love you all very much.
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Monday, March 20, 2017
En la obra del Señor
This week was a miracle week. Let me tell you why.
Monday- We had an awesomeactivity where we played Quidditch. I didn`t take pictures because I`m a bad person =( Our team won because we were better =) Then we had a family home evening with Joaquin and his family, and a family from the branch who are super cool. Joaquinn is going to get baptized this Saturday! There`s not a huge conversion or anything SUPER intense when a part member family gets reactivated, at least not like Leandro, who had a HUGE conversion story. But it is cool to see how Rosa, Joaquins mom, is changing and trying to do things correctly to help her family. The mission is loads of fun.
Tuesday - We had a district meeting, and then a choir practice. It was my last district meeting in my old district, because of some complicacions we have to change our district with the other hermanas. It`s kind of sad because a district starts becoming kind of like your family, and you get, I don`t really know if attatched is the right word, but I`m gonna use it because I don`t have much time. We then went on splits with the other hermanas, and hermana Bazaes was my companion again ^^ She`s the best person. We visited Eliana Saez (prayer circle in the temple please), who is INCREDIBLE. We felt, after praying to know what to teach her, that we should explain the importance of repentance and baptism. It was super inspired, because Eliana is one of the VERY few people who I`ve met who WANTS to repent and WANTS to change and wants to do things right. She`s very humble and very sweet. She is also one of the few people I`ve met who wants to get married, because she knows it`s the right thing to do and feels guilty for living with her boyfriend. Pure miracles allí.
Miércoles - Another intercambio, this time with Hermana Guibarra, again! She`s INCREDIBLE. We taught Miguel Briceño, and she just laid it out flat, and with scriptures and everything told Miguel that God doesn`t change, never will change and neither will his doctrines or covenants. We said a prayer together where Miguel asked if he needed to get baptized, and then left right away. We`re hoping that tomorrow when we visit him he`ll have had some kinds of spiritual experiences.
Jueves - Not to much. We visited a less active member whos wife died about a month ago. I think I`ve written to you about him before. He really opened up this time and just told us how sad he was. I`m kind of a cry baby haha, and we we`re able to help him put some goals to get himself to the temple. It was super intense. Then we visited Joaquinn and taught him the word of wisdom. There`s a type of Coffee down here that isn`t real coffee, it`s made of wheat that members can drink, and Joaquinn wanted to promise to live the word of wisdom tomorrow because he wants to keep drinking the fake coffee lol. Then we took a bus to San Pedro because we had a multi zone conference with president.
Viernes - the conference. I don`t have a lot of time to go into details. It was really cool and me and my companion learned A LOT. It`s always fun to see the other missionarys again.
Sábado - We had a brainstorming session that took up a lot of our day. We`re going to plan a SUPER cool activity for the branch to help the members be more unified and work harder. I encourage all of you to go watch a video called something like Missionary work and the atonement. It has talks by Henry B Eyering and Jeffery R Holland.
Domingo - Joaquin went to church in another ward because he was with his dad for the weekend, and then we traveled to lota for a missionary attack, something like that in English. We found some cool people to teach, and there was a competition for who could find the most people and me and hermana Vasquez won haha. Good times.
Hope you all have a great week! love you and we`ll see ya next time.
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Monday- We had an awesomeactivity where we played Quidditch. I didn`t take pictures because I`m a bad person =( Our team won because we were better =) Then we had a family home evening with Joaquin and his family, and a family from the branch who are super cool. Joaquinn is going to get baptized this Saturday! There`s not a huge conversion or anything SUPER intense when a part member family gets reactivated, at least not like Leandro, who had a HUGE conversion story. But it is cool to see how Rosa, Joaquins mom, is changing and trying to do things correctly to help her family. The mission is loads of fun.
Tuesday - We had a district meeting, and then a choir practice. It was my last district meeting in my old district, because of some complicacions we have to change our district with the other hermanas. It`s kind of sad because a district starts becoming kind of like your family, and you get, I don`t really know if attatched is the right word, but I`m gonna use it because I don`t have much time. We then went on splits with the other hermanas, and hermana Bazaes was my companion again ^^ She`s the best person. We visited Eliana Saez (prayer circle in the temple please), who is INCREDIBLE. We felt, after praying to know what to teach her, that we should explain the importance of repentance and baptism. It was super inspired, because Eliana is one of the VERY few people who I`ve met who WANTS to repent and WANTS to change and wants to do things right. She`s very humble and very sweet. She is also one of the few people I`ve met who wants to get married, because she knows it`s the right thing to do and feels guilty for living with her boyfriend. Pure miracles allí.
Miércoles - Another intercambio, this time with Hermana Guibarra, again! She`s INCREDIBLE. We taught Miguel Briceño, and she just laid it out flat, and with scriptures and everything told Miguel that God doesn`t change, never will change and neither will his doctrines or covenants. We said a prayer together where Miguel asked if he needed to get baptized, and then left right away. We`re hoping that tomorrow when we visit him he`ll have had some kinds of spiritual experiences.
Jueves - Not to much. We visited a less active member whos wife died about a month ago. I think I`ve written to you about him before. He really opened up this time and just told us how sad he was. I`m kind of a cry baby haha, and we we`re able to help him put some goals to get himself to the temple. It was super intense. Then we visited Joaquinn and taught him the word of wisdom. There`s a type of Coffee down here that isn`t real coffee, it`s made of wheat that members can drink, and Joaquinn wanted to promise to live the word of wisdom tomorrow because he wants to keep drinking the fake coffee lol. Then we took a bus to San Pedro because we had a multi zone conference with president.
Viernes - the conference. I don`t have a lot of time to go into details. It was really cool and me and my companion learned A LOT. It`s always fun to see the other missionarys again.
Sábado - We had a brainstorming session that took up a lot of our day. We`re going to plan a SUPER cool activity for the branch to help the members be more unified and work harder. I encourage all of you to go watch a video called something like Missionary work and the atonement. It has talks by Henry B Eyering and Jeffery R Holland.
Domingo - Joaquin went to church in another ward because he was with his dad for the weekend, and then we traveled to lota for a missionary attack, something like that in English. We found some cool people to teach, and there was a competition for who could find the most people and me and hermana Vasquez won haha. Good times.
Hope you all have a great week! love you and we`ll see ya next time.
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Monday, March 13, 2017
POR FIN
Some pictures. Sorry It`s been so long haha! I got to chop wood and help a family stack it. Service is the BEST thing. And when we went to the beach haha. Also, one of the less active members we visited had a cockerspaniel, which is the dog my dad had as a little kid.
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
LO SIENTO!!!
I`m sorry but It`s already time to go. I spent a lot of time trying to send pictures. Next week I`ll send you all a more detailed inform about what`s up down here in the Chile. LOVE YOU ALL THANKS FOR WRITING ME I FEEL THE LOVE
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
woop
There`s a blog for the mission called CHILE SOJOURN where you guys can see what the mission Chile Concepción Sur is up to.
Alright! I finally remembered to bring the cable to my camera! So I have at least a couple of pictures.
Monday: A relaxing p-day. We spent almost the entire afternoon in the house playing card games and writing in my journal. We also made an agenda for an Elder in our zone who is going to end his mission in April. Elders for their last transfer ask Hermanas to make them an "agenda trunky" full of pictures of couples and cheesy things like "wow, you`re ending your mission! Go home and get married." It`s super fun. So we spent the day cutting out pictures of Elder Fetters and pasting his head with photos of pretty girls and stuff like that. Hahaha it`s really dumb actually, but kind of a tradition in our mission. I don`t remember anything else.
Tuesday: INTERCAMBIOSSS!! I went to hermana Bazaes` part of Arauco, and we had a dandy time contacting and teaching. She really is an incredible missionary. I love her to pieces! When we got home, Hermana Abalos with Hermana Custodio found a family of 5! So overall, epic day.
Wednesday: We had a full day of citas and people to visit! The highlight of it all was Miguel Briceño. He. Is. Awesome. We taught the restoration of the gospel and he had all kinds of questions, and was really listening. I love it when people ask questions, it shows they actually are trying to learn and understand. He shares his point of view and is very teachable. Really awesome dude.
Thursday: We climbed up the STEEPEST HILL I HAVE EVER WALKED. We found a little grandma who`s the sweetest thing, but VERY evangelical. It`s kind of hard to teach them because they`re so caught up in the idea that all roads lead to Jesus and stuff like that. We teach them and they say that`s great for you! Yeah, I`ll bet Jospeh Smith was a prophet! But you know what, I feel good in my church and that`s where I`m staying. I guess you could say they`re a little stubborn. But hey, I`m stubborn too, so that makes two of us. We also taught our little Golden family, Guierrmo and Natalia. She kind of has the same attitude, like, " well it would be interesting to know if Jospeh Smith was a prophet." But the true intentions aren´t quite there. Hahaha she even said she would get baptized, but never ever wants to come to church. So today we`re going back to visit them, and the plan is to explain D&C 20:37 and WHY baptism is important, and what we need to do to be worthy. Something that Jhonny said in his email from the Netherlands is that people are suprised when we don`t obligate people to do anything. We only invite and persuade. I`m trying to work on my persuassivness. (spelling? Who needs spelling?) But they`re a special bunch of folks. Being in a mission really is a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn to love unconditionally a group of people. I really do love the Chilenos with all of my heart. They`re very kind and very loving, and even with all their faults they`re still incredibly important and loved.
The weekend was pretty great, and yesterday we visited Miguel again, and explained a bit about the book of Mormon. He is beginning to change and it`s so cool how we have the privilage to be a part of an eternal change in the hearts of God´s children. He promised to read it so we`ll find out how it went on Friday.
This Wednesday we`re going to have a conference with Elder Packer from the 70, the son of President Packer! It`s going to be awesome and we`re going to spend the night in San Pedro! Woo!
Wish you all a great week! Bye bye!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Note from Karen: I couldn't find the blog Ash was talking about but when I do I'll be sure to link to it.
Alright! I finally remembered to bring the cable to my camera! So I have at least a couple of pictures.
Monday: A relaxing p-day. We spent almost the entire afternoon in the house playing card games and writing in my journal. We also made an agenda for an Elder in our zone who is going to end his mission in April. Elders for their last transfer ask Hermanas to make them an "agenda trunky" full of pictures of couples and cheesy things like "wow, you`re ending your mission! Go home and get married." It`s super fun. So we spent the day cutting out pictures of Elder Fetters and pasting his head with photos of pretty girls and stuff like that. Hahaha it`s really dumb actually, but kind of a tradition in our mission. I don`t remember anything else.
Tuesday: INTERCAMBIOSSS!! I went to hermana Bazaes` part of Arauco, and we had a dandy time contacting and teaching. She really is an incredible missionary. I love her to pieces! When we got home, Hermana Abalos with Hermana Custodio found a family of 5! So overall, epic day.
Wednesday: We had a full day of citas and people to visit! The highlight of it all was Miguel Briceño. He. Is. Awesome. We taught the restoration of the gospel and he had all kinds of questions, and was really listening. I love it when people ask questions, it shows they actually are trying to learn and understand. He shares his point of view and is very teachable. Really awesome dude.
Thursday: We climbed up the STEEPEST HILL I HAVE EVER WALKED. We found a little grandma who`s the sweetest thing, but VERY evangelical. It`s kind of hard to teach them because they`re so caught up in the idea that all roads lead to Jesus and stuff like that. We teach them and they say that`s great for you! Yeah, I`ll bet Jospeh Smith was a prophet! But you know what, I feel good in my church and that`s where I`m staying. I guess you could say they`re a little stubborn. But hey, I`m stubborn too, so that makes two of us. We also taught our little Golden family, Guierrmo and Natalia. She kind of has the same attitude, like, " well it would be interesting to know if Jospeh Smith was a prophet." But the true intentions aren´t quite there. Hahaha she even said she would get baptized, but never ever wants to come to church. So today we`re going back to visit them, and the plan is to explain D&C 20:37 and WHY baptism is important, and what we need to do to be worthy. Something that Jhonny said in his email from the Netherlands is that people are suprised when we don`t obligate people to do anything. We only invite and persuade. I`m trying to work on my persuassivness. (spelling? Who needs spelling?) But they`re a special bunch of folks. Being in a mission really is a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn to love unconditionally a group of people. I really do love the Chilenos with all of my heart. They`re very kind and very loving, and even with all their faults they`re still incredibly important and loved.
The weekend was pretty great, and yesterday we visited Miguel again, and explained a bit about the book of Mormon. He is beginning to change and it`s so cool how we have the privilage to be a part of an eternal change in the hearts of God´s children. He promised to read it so we`ll find out how it went on Friday.
This Wednesday we`re going to have a conference with Elder Packer from the 70, the son of President Packer! It`s going to be awesome and we`re going to spend the night in San Pedro! Woo!
Wish you all a great week! Bye bye!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Note from Karen: I couldn't find the blog Ash was talking about but when I do I'll be sure to link to it.
 |
| Me and my darling hermana Abalos!! We`re on top of a giant hill in Arauco called "El mirador" (The lookout) That`s the ocean behind us. |
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In the back of a van going to lunch. Merp. Those are the bishops kids =)
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| The best day of my life, when Leo and Romina found us in Arauco. Leo got baptized and they`re getting ready to be sealed in the temple! |
Monday, February 13, 2017
So, the work keeps moving on. I forgot my agenda so it`s not gonna be such a detailed report this week. But now that I think about it I`ve hardly ever sent very many detailed letters. Sorry bout that 
Monday: We had our zone activity where we played water volleyball and mafia and games like that. Our zone is literally like a great big family. We in this zone are made up of Elders from Lota, Coronel and Camilo, and then the four hermanas from Arauco. We all get a long but just splendedly, and it reminds me of my first sector in Gorbea. The zone over there was also really unified and super fun, and its been one of my favorite cambios and sectors so far. Afterwards we ate completos, flippin sweet, and I got to sleep for an hour! We then went and visited... umm people. Hahaha I honestly don`t remember anything I``m sorry!
Tuesday we had our district meeting, which was really Chill. My district leader is Elder Bausserman from Virginia, and this is his first time as a district leader, and he`s knocking it out of the park. His old sector was in Los Angeles where an ex president of the mission was in the ward, and it seems like he did a number of capacitations with the missionarys over there. We played mafia again, which I think is THE best game missionarys can play. Its funny how racisim is a little bit of a joke here in Chile. Not just among the missionarys but the culture. People aren`t offended when you ask them where they`re from and stuff like that. It`s a breath of fresh air to be far away from "political correctness" and stuff like that. Anyways, back to the mission haha. We got some really cool contacts and visited a lot of less active familys. Something I`ve learned here in the mission is the importance of being an active participant in the church. Going inactive is just the worst thing. You miss out on so many blessings. And there`s a lot of people here who could use the blessings the church brings.
We also got stopped in the street by a young man who asked us if we were mormons. He told us he had been a member since he was 8 years old and that lately he had been feeling a lack of spiritual experiences in his life. More than anything he also remembered that the Elders who used to visit their family gave him a few priesthood blessings, and that he would like to recieve another one. Miracles! I really do love working with less actives. So we visited with him and invited him to come to church and he said he would!
Wednesday: Intercambio! Hermana McGreggor came over and she is just the freaking best. I saw her when she started the mission and it`s cool to see how much she`s grown. She`s a contacting machine, and we met a really cool family that have been experiencing a lot of death and saddness, and we were able to tell them about the hope and joy the restored gospel brings to familys and how it can help unify them and explain the purpose of our life.
Thursday: We took a bus down to curanilahue to help out some of the sisters with their sector. The investigators they had been focusing a lot on turned out to not progress and they ended up without hardly anyone to teach. We went on splits again and I and hermana Guibarra from Bolivia went a serchin´ for needy people. We met a few cool people and got a lot of good contacts. And I got to see Elder Sanchez again! He was in my first zone and we started the mission at the same time! He`s a zone leader now! Ugh, they just grow up so fast.
Friday: Not much happend friday. A very sweet old lady named Ema passed away thursday night and in Chile, the viewings are normally held in the houses. The husband of the sister asked me to sing, and so I stood in their livingroom and sang hymns while the visiters quietly conversed. It was kind of funny. Funny in the sense that it was uncomfortable.
Saturday: We went to the funeral of Ema, and I was again invited to sing in front of a crowd of about 150 people haha. Really awkward again, but I did it because the family is really special and they love the missionarys a lot. Hermana Ema was paralized from the earthquake in 2010 and although understood and was perfectly sound mentally, didn´t have the ability to do anything for herself. She was around 85 years old.
Afterwards we went and visited a couple of less active familys. Really, being less active is the worst! I also got to know a really cool lady that hermana Abalos and her old companion were visiting before, who said that she was looking for the one true church of God. This is something really rare and awesome! Satans lie here in South america is that all the churches are good and lead to Christ, no matter where you`re at. It`s just what people prefer. We as members of the church know that that is not true and that we need to complete covanants through god`s priesthood to be able to live in Gods presance again. So we invited her to pray and ask God if what we`re teaching is true.
Sunday: Yasser Sebastián who stopped us in the street on Tuesday came to church and recieved a blessing! He said that this is what he had been missing from the last few years of his life. He was taking pictures and audio and all kinds of stuff and sending them to his mom haha. Kind of funny. We also went back to some contacts we`d made and got to know Miguel! Miguel had been having doubts about the church that Christ established and what happend to it. Another miracle! I love when people actually think about things because if they thing long enough they`ll begin to realize that there was an apostasy. A period of time when revelations and prophets and priesthood power ceased to be. We explaind a bit and afterword he told us that that was the best and most clear explanation that he had ever heard, even from pastors in his church. That really stroked my ego haha.
No pictures again! I^M SORRY! I KEEP FORGETTING THE CABLE TO MY CAMERA BUT WHEN I SEND PICTURES BE SURE THAT YOU´LL BE GETTING A TON.
A bit of info:
The branch of Arauco has about 40-50 active members, but hundreds of less actives. We have a ward mission leader who just recently, about 2 months ago, returned from his mission in Mexico. Our branch president is Guierrmo Brand, (he served a mission in New York, in the gangster part with Queens and all those places, and speaks very gangster english). We have an awesome relief society that come with us to visit people often and a lot of love and support from the branch. Our sector inclues three little pueblitos that you can only reach by bus: Carampangue, Laraquete, and another one to the south, don`t remember como se llama. ALL of our money goes towards locomotion, taking buses and taxis to get to the outer hard to reach spots of our sector. The chapel is about 3-4 blocks from the beach. We`re literally right on the edge of the pacific ocean and Arauco is a well know tourist spot. The cheese here is famous. There`s quite a few returned missionarys in the ward, and the members are wonderful. We`re going to move our house soon to a sector a little safer and a lot closer to the main part of town. Curently we have to walk about 30-40 minutes to get to our house on time at the end of the day. Arauco has, I think 50,000 people, including all of the surrounding country.
Have a great week! I love you all so much!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Monday, February 6, 2017
Facebook Messenger Extra
I got a friend request on facebook last week from Alejandro Aguilar and when I looked him up I discovered he lives in Ashlee's current city Aracuo. I accepted his request and he has sent me a few messages, photos and even some video about Ashlee so I'm going to share it all here.
Here are the videos...
Here are the videos...
Los Araucanios
Alright, I have a little bit more time this week to tell yall what happend
Monday: we had an activity with the other hermanas, and one of my ex compañeras, Hermana Lobos, where we went to the beach and buried our weapons of war (all the things we were doing that were keeping us from being concentrated on our missions) it was a cool opportunity to reflect on the things I`m doing that may not be so bad in the worlds perspective but keep me from having the spirit %100 of the time. If there`s something I`ve learned in the mission, it`s the importance of the spirit in our work. We literally couldn`t get anything done if we didn`t have the spirit guiding us. We taught a little mini english class to a family who are really cute, but don`t have much true interest in the message we teach. We`re hoping that teaching some gospel basics will help them realize the impact the gospel could have in their lives. Til then we`re just talking english haha. People ask me ALL THE TIME to help them with their ingles, and it`s a really cool opportunity to find more people and get them interested in the message.
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
VERY FAST!!
I am in Arauco! It is a small beach town about two hours south of San Pedro. Our sector is huge! My companion is Hermana Abalos from the Phillippines! She`s from the same island as hermana Galiza!!! There have been 3 filipinos in the mission so far and I`ve lived with/been companions with all of them! I love Arauco! It is much easier to find new people to teach here because they`re alot more relaxed than in San Pedro. I live with HErmana Bazaes from Santiago and Hermana Custòdio from Brazil. More info next week! We went to the beach today and took pictures, but the other hermanas still need to send them to me. Hope you all have a good week! I`ll let you know more about Leo next week!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
Sister Ashlee Bowling
♥ from Chile!
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