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!

¿¿¿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!

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!

The beautiful zone Coronel

The repentance week

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

We had a very spiritual reunion with our zone today, and we are looking to increase the number of baptisms the zone has. 

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

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

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

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

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

-- 

Sister Ashlee Bowling

♥ from Chile!

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!

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!