Another Busy, Cold, Awesome Week...

Dear Family,

This past week was a busy one and we have another big week coming up...  On Friday I was in Pendleton on exchanges with the Zone Leaders there and it was super cold.  The tri-cities have been covered in a dense, freezing fog that has been hard to deal with.  We have had to be really careful on the roads, as we have traveled.  Last Saturday after we got back from Pendleton we drove to The Dalles to be part of a priesthood meeting at their stake conference.  Elder Brinkerhoff of the 70 was presiding there and it was cool to get to meet him and talk with him.  He had us bear our testimonies and talk about our missions in front of the Aaronic Priesthood holders of The Dalles stake.  Elder Williams and I then drove back to the tri-cities to pick up Elder Gudjenov (we left him behind with another elder so that he could go to church in our area and say bye to everyone since he goes home this Friday).  We then drove up to Yakima with the Greers for a recent convert fireside.  It was cool to be able to ride in the car with them and to get to know some of their stories and get their advice on different things.  I look up to them a lot and look forward to continuing to serve with them.  It was altogether a really good, but long day! 

 Oregon takes littering seriously... as you can see

This was actually one of the clearer spots on the freeway!

 The Fog made for slow driving but for good photography! On the way back from the Dalles we stopped by a tree farm and took a couple pictures.  Everything outside was covered in Ice for days and days but yesterday it cleared up a bit.  It is still super cold though!

 The tree outside our house

 Looking down a row a trees in the tree farm

A close up of what everything was coated with

Tomorrow we are leaving to vancouver after doing a training here in Richland.  Then we will be driving right back thursday anternoon so we have have Elder Gudjenov back in time for his friday morning flight!

 

Love you all and thanks again!  I will keep you in my prayers!

 

Love,

Elder Matt Bowen

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I hope that everything is going well and that you are enjoying your day.  It has been a great week and we have had pretty good weather! It surprised us by being really warm this week.  It was up to 65 degrees the other day!  Today is sunny and in the high 40s.  We met with President this morning and worked on transfers and will be having Thanksgiving with them and the office staff at a member’s house at 2:00.  We have another meal at 5:00 and then a quick visit with the family we are teaching.  They are still planning on being baptized on Saturday and they are really excited!

Last week we drove back through the Gorge from Vancouver and hit up some waterfalls on the way back.  I was able to take some pictures so I will attach them in the email:)

Another Busy Week!

A picture of me and elder Gudjenov at the highschool that twilight was filmed at...We had dinner at a house right close by to it last week while we were on exchanges in Longview. 

 

Last night we had a cool experience.  I think it was God kind of giving me a slap in the face:)  ha ha... It was about 7:00 and we had just gotten out of dinner and we had tried a few people but no one was home that we were trying to visit.  We tried this guy who was inactive and he told us he wasnt interested in coming back to church despite us trying to tell him that it would help with the stresses of his life.  After we left his house we decided to knock a few doors.  Since the time change it is darker now and I had never really had much luck tracting after dark so I wasnt really in the mood.  I was thinking that maybe it would be more effective to try some potential investigators or to go by some part-member-families or something.  I was having this battle in my mind when I remembered that we had found a family prepared to hear the gospel about this time of night by knocking on their door.  That thought gave me the modivation to start knocking but then as we were walking up to the first door I got to thinking "so what are the chances that we find someone else like that family?... its not going to happen, there is no way... i dont realy want to go tracting right now..." but I knocked on the door and a 23 year old answered and I introduced ourselves and before I could say anything besides that we were missionaries he said come on in:)  Im sittin there thinking that its a joke because everyone is smiling and im ready for them all to say they are in the YSA or something! we even asked them if they were members thinking that they were but they werent. So we go in and it turns out it wasnt even his house but it was his sisters and brother in laws house so they were a little confused at why there were two missionaries in their home but turns out that they were very open minded and participated in the discussion.  I wish I could tell you all that happend but just in summary we were there till 9:20.  Jesse (the one who let us in) told us things like: I have been praying to have some one to talk to about God and Christ, I have been hoping to get my hands on a Book of Mormon, You two coming by are like an answer to my prayers... It was an amazing lesson even though it was rough at times.  He has a lot of questions from all the anti-mormon material he has received but he also wants to learn what we really beleive and why.  His sister and brother in law were very open and participated.  We all read out of the Bible and Book of Mormon and talked about a variety of topics. Now  I definitely have faith now that God is preparing people to hear the Gosple!

 

The family we have been working with is still doing great! they are planning on getting baptized on the 26th which they were pushing to set a date before we even asked them! Their daughter was getting some flack from her friends at school but now she is already sharing the gosple with them and telling them that she is Mormon!  they are great:)

 

The Elder Christensen Conference is this friday and then next monday as well!  I will let you know how that goes!

 

Have a good week!

 

-Elder Bowen

 

November Already!

Happy November to all!
It sounds like the party was a lot of fun last night!!  It made me think back to past years and the great gatherings we have had in the past.  Last night we went in early at 6:00 to avoid the Halloween festivities and did our weekly planning.  Also I thought it would be a good Idea to make a temple wall to go along with the Jesus Wall so we worked on that for a while before bed.  This morning we were able to go to the temple! I learned a lot and really tried to pay attention.  I was also able to receive some impressions on how to help the mission but more specifically how to best handle some sticky situations that we are dealing with right now.  Things have been pretty stressful but I am learning a lot and hopefully being a positive influence on the lives of others.

The family that I told you about the other week is doing great! we will most likely be seeing them tonight.  They came to church Sunday and they enjoyed it a TON!  I am excited to be able to teach them some more. 

I will most likely still be emailing on Tuesdays but there are some weeks that will be different but I have no way of knowing before hand.  P-day will switch to Monday starting in December though...Shhhh...that's a secret till Thursday when we tell the rest of the mission:)

We are busy preparing for Elder Christensen of the 1st Quorum of the 70 coming on the 11th and 14th.  I will be interviewed by him which will be cool:)  We have a lot of things to get coordinated for his arrival and the conference schedule.

I have had the opportunity to do several trainings and I will be presenting at ZLC Thursday as well.

I continue to enjoy the package that you sent to me Mom! Thank you again for that and everything else!

The weather here isn't too bad yet.  It stays in the high 50s to low 60s the past few days but it probably wont be long till it gets cold! 

I haven't taken any more pictures this week but I will be headed over to Vancouver Friday - Sunday so I will probably have some to share next week!

Love You all soooo Much!

-Elder Matt Bowen

                                 Walking on Water? :)

                                    Abandoned Boat on Lost Lake

   Windmills (they are all over driving down the Gorge)        

                              A cool Shot of the river and Falls

An Adventurous Week

October 27, 2011

Dear Family,

This Week has gone by quickly and again I am late on emailing.  We have been super busy with things across the mission which it looks like that is the way it will be from here on out till I get released from being assistant. 

Elder Gudjenov and I have been traveling a lot for the trainer/trainee meetings on both sides of the mission that we have presented at.  we also are busy with the logistics of upcoming events as well as planning more trainings.  This Morning we drove to Selah and Back to transfer a missionary and tomorrow we will be back up there for a specialized training.  This past Tuesday we were able to take our preparation day in the Dalles/Hood River area and we went on some fun hikes! we started the day at Lost Lake and then did a 14 mile Hike to tunnel falls (the same trail as punch bowl falls that I did a year ago. it was fun to be able to take some pictures and get some good exercise:)  

We did get to meet with the family we found last week and things are going really well! 

                                  Lost Lake

                                 Tunnel Falls

                              Punch Bowl Falls

 

I appreciate your love and concern for me.

Love,

Matt

PS Sorry I cant give much detail but We are always pressed for time! 

A long move...across the hall:)

October 20, 2011

Hi Family! 

So I guess you heard about the new assignment that I have!  I wasn’t aware that President Greer had contacted you about it. It came as a surprise and at first it didn't seem real but it is starting to sink in.  I am working on learning all my new responsibilities, which are way more than I had thought or expected.  I have kept super busy this week so far and because of the new missionaries coming in and the old missionaries going home on Tuesday I was unable to have a p-day to write you.  We will most likely be taking our p-day tomorrow and since there is no one else to do it with we will probably drive somewhere and go on a hike or something. 

Thank you for your prayers for my eyes. There is no more pain but the virus won’t be gone for another week or so.  I can’t wear contacts because when I put them back in the next day it would re-infect my eye.  I wore them yesterday so I could drive but I just threw them away afterwards.  I still have quite a few contacts left.  I will be able to make it through the rest of my mission with being able to change them out on schedule.  I did have to throw away all of the containers that I have kept my contacts in to keep me from getting the virus again.  I will have to get some new ones but that wont be a problem. 

This past week I have:

Sunday Night: did numbers for the mission... we collect all the zones numbers and update all the baptisms and such

Monday: we did transfer preparations... who goes where, who drives; what areas are being changed, opened or closed; who needs new phones; what cars are being retired and who gets the new cars; how many seats we need for each transfer site; and a bunch of other little details.

Tuesday:  We took the departing missionaries to the airport and saw them off and then when the new missionaries came in we helped them get all their stuff the van and trailer. We then did orientation an the Greer's home and President, Elder Gudgenov, and I chose who would be trained by which missionaries etc... 

Wednesday:  We left Kennewick at 8:00 ish and drove to the dalles transfer site with all those who were going to the other side of the mission.  It was a pretty drive and it was good to get some trailer driving experience:) 

Mist coming of the Columbia while driving down the Gorge yesterday morning

                                                   Me driving :)

                                      A tree Farm on the drive

Thank you all for the many prayers and thoughts that you have for me as well as all the other things you do! 

Love you tons!

Matthew

Happy October

October 4, 2011

Happy October!

Dear Family,

Today is my 14 month mark!   It is cloudy and rained last night here as well.  The mornings are cooler and there are more clouds in the sky.  It kind of reminds me of Vancouver!  The leaves haven't changed color yet but I’m sure they will soon.  I am doing well and things have been going smoothly.  This past weekend was an enjoyable one.  I was glad to be able to hear all the general conference messages and to learn a lot from them.  We also had Zone conference yesterday, which was an uplifting experience. 

My photography was used in the presentation at Zone conference which was pretty cool:)  I was also asked by the Greers to take pictures for the Couples Mission conference with Elder Risenmae.  Our apartment went down to the river to take a picture by the bridge, which was fun to do again.  I was also able to get some more good pictures of the Temple. 

With Fall coming we are getting some unwelcomed visitors in our apartment... quite a few actually:)  None of us have gotten bit yet though.  We caught 4 spiders in one day last week and I got a picture of one of them:)

I hope that all is going well with each of you back home!  I think of and pray for you often!  I love you tons!!!

-Elder Matt Bowen

Week 3 of the transfer already!

Hi All,

Everything is still all gravy here in the WKM and the Kennewick Stake:)

We just had our 32nd baptism this year and we have more on the way.  The stake total last year was 31 so everyone is pretty happy about the success we have been having. 

The new missionaries are doing well.

                       We took another apartment picture

The weather here is getting cooler here every day.  It is weird that it is fall already.  The apples are being picked and all the farmers are harvesting the feilds.  People give us a lot of fresh produce.  We get apples, pears, peaches and corn mostly (we got a bunch of cherries earlier in the year).  Tree Top Apple juice has a lot of orchards and I got a picture climbing up the barrels.  We get all our dinners provided by members and we are on our own for breakfast and lunch. We dont do anything too fancy but we do eat pretty well.

I also attached a picture of the most recent activity our stake did.  On the 17th was the day of service and we hosted a huge giveaway.  We spent a total of 10 hours loading and unloading as well as organizing the stuff and then on Saturday the church was opened to the public to take what they needed.  It was an awesome activity that helped a ton of people. 

I love each of you!

-Elder Bowen

New Transfer - Same Place

 The cable bridge at night...I tried to stand still and it worked out ok:)

Dear Family,

So I actually didn't get transferred this week as I thought I was going to.  I will be staying here for another one, which will make it 6 months here.  It is hard to believe that it will be that long already. We are getting 2 new missionaries in the zone so that will be fun.  It will be good to be up to full companionships instead of having so few missionaries cover a lot of wards. 

There are no real updates besides transfers.  Things are just missionary work as usual:)   We have some baptisms coming up soon so I'll keep you posted!

Love -Elder Bowen

September Here We Come

On Thursday when we were tracting we had a pretty out of the ordinary experience.  We were in the back yard of a less-active member and we heard a loud pop.  We went out front to find out what it was and across the street behind a house we saw a fire in the brush.  We ran over to the house and rang to doorbell. The owner came to the door and the loud pop had just woken him up from sleeping (he works graveyard shifts) and he had just noticed the fire when we rang the doorbell.  We ran out back and I grabbed a shovel and started throwing dirt on the fire.  I got the side towards that house contained but it spread and caught a trailer on fire.  At first it wasn't too bad but then the trailer exploded out the side because of the propane lines inside.  The fire spread out across the feild next to the house towards the rest of the neighborhood.  Another neighbor went over and turned on all the sprinklers down there to keep it from getting to the houses.  The fire department finally showed up and got it out.  The guy was pretty apreciative as was his wife.  When we left, things were still pretty hektic so we didnt get to ask them about having us come over an teach them but we are planning on going back soon and talking to them. 

Besides that things are just the norm here.  We are going golfing again today so Ill let you know how it goes next week!

Love you all! Elder Bowen

Middle of August 2011

Zone Leader Conference

                                    Our Appartment of Missionaries

                                             Our Companionship

                                 

Half Empty or Half Full?

Hey Family,

Im glad to hear that all of you are back safe and sound from the Yellowstone.  I miss the days of being with you all and going on family vacations.  I hope that you all recover quickly from the mosquito bites:)

 

It is crazy that I am half way through.  I can look at the cup half full or else half empty... do I have 12 months to 0 or 12 months to 24?   I will be there in 1 year 2 days and 3 hours:) ha ha  sending elder Olsen made me think about that a bit. 

We got to go over to President and Sister Greers home on Sunday after church and have a study session with them.  I have learned a lot about the Gospel, The church organization, the Scriptures, and such on my mission so far and look foreward to the next year to continue to grow and progress.  My biggest fear is to come home unchanged. 

 

We got to go to the temple today and the picture I attached is of our zone outside.  It was a good experience as always to get away from everything and to feel the spirit. I was also able to receive answers to some questions that I had on my mind.  I am also looking foreward to the 17th when I will be able to meet Elder L. Tom Perry and learn from him.  There will be about 100 people there when he comes to this side of the mission.The missionaries on the west side will be going into Portland and joining their mission to hear from Elder Perry since he is short on time. 

 

This upcoming week we are having another ZLC.  It will be on thursday and will be a great way to spend my year mark.

 

I hope this week is a good one for all of you as summer is winding down fast.  Keep me updated on school and everything else going on:)

 

Love You all!!!

 

-Elder Bowen 

Down by the Yakima river

Our Zone(Left to right): 

Top Row: Elder Trout, Elder Henriksen, Elder Reeves, Elder Dixon, Me, 

Elder Torgeson

Bottom Row: Elder Hardy, Elder Morgan, Elder Richey, Elder Dresden, Elder Metz, 

Elder Segmiller, Elder Bogdanawitz

                      Rollin in the Malibu while the van is used for transfers

July is flying by!

Dear Family (and everyone else)

Im glad you got my package mom! I am also glad that you liked it all.  I am supprised it took so long but i'm glad it funally got there.  I was able to get a signed one from Walter Ranes sister who lives in one of the wards that we cover.  They are a really cool family.  Thank you for sending the pictures.  My room looks a lot different but I like it a lot.  It looks like a comfy bed and I love the picture of George Washington.  I will look foreword to staying in that room in the future:)  Thanks also for the pictures last week.  They brought back a lot of memories from past years with the family. 

This past week was pretty uneventful overall.  We continue to work to find people to teach, teach those we find and baptize those we teach:) 

Thanks for your email of support Dad.  Thanks in advance for the letters you will be sending!

I love you all and keep you in my prayers. 

 

-Elder Bowen

 

Golfing last week

Elder Bowen - Elder Hendriksen - Elder Olsen - At the Temple

Chillin with myself :)