See You Soon!

See You Soon!

July 31, 2012

Dear Family

I am looking forward to seeing you all next week!  It is an interesting time for me with going home so soon.  It still doesn't quite feel real but I feel prepared.  I am ready for the next step in my life.  There are a lot of missionaries that say that they hated going home and want to start their missions over... I think that it will be great going home and that rather than wanting to start it over I will continue to use the experiences that I have had to boost me into the next stage of my life.  

I am glad that I get to show you Mom and Dad a little of what the past two years has been like for me.  I have had some more thoughts on our Itinerary and have it pretty much finalized.  I had my departing interview with President Greer this week and he told me that it would work for him to meet you on Friday. 

Thank you Dad for the update with the scholarship and for all your encouragement in past years to help me get the scholarships!

Good news with my back!  It is still hurting but not as bad.  The physical Therapist put me on the program that Joe Montana was on when he was having back problems.  It is helping a lot more than I thought.  He said that I might not want to do surgery for another few years (he said that it might not help the pain as much as I thought) He says that I have some early arthritis that doesn't show up till usually age 60 or 70.  He says that with these exercises I will be able to regulate that problem and get rid of most of the pain.   It will be good to get a second opinion though I think.

Thank you to everyone for all your support on my mission.  I will see you soon!

Love, 

-Elder Bowen

Biggest Hamburger of My Life!

July 23, 2012

Dear Family,

It was good to talk to you today on chat.  I will keep you in my prayers.

This past week was good except for being sick.  We had Zone Conference and that went well.  I gave my departing Testimony there and shared some of the things I have gained from my mission experience.  

We got to go on a tour of Smiths Frozen Foods as well which was really cool.  The Stake President owns it so he gave us a tour and took us out to lunch where I ate the biggest burger of my life!

We also had some more big summer lightning storms and got some good pictures out the back window.  It was loud and kept us up late again.

I gave a talk on service in the YSA yesterday and it went well... thanks to my mission I can give a talk on just about anything and for however long they need me too.  (one of the speakers didn't show up)

I am looking foreword to you coming up to spend some time with me up here and I am continuing to work on the plans.  Also am grateful for all each of you are doing for me:)

Love You!

-Elder Bowen

The Biggest Hamburger of my life!! (2 big patties, 1 inch of ham, 1 inch of Roast beef, 4 slices of Bacon, 2 tomato slices, 3 slices of cheese, and some really good sauce)
I finished all of it but a couple fries:)

 Lightning over the Prison

Another Day in the Mission

Dear Family,

I'm doing really good today.  The weather is pretty nice this morning.  The past week has been in the high 90s low 100s but then last night we had a big rain storm with lots of loud lightning.  Kept us up late with all the noise but its going to be in the mid 70s today so I'm not complaining. My guess is that you will probably get some of the storm we had.

Yesterday at church we received some good news!  I don't know if you remember Natalie that came by the house with her parents when they were scouting out places to live... but she/we have been teaching her friend for the last little while.  We were thinking that she was loosing interest in the church after we had taught her everything and answered all her questions but yesterday she told us that she wants to get baptized!

We had a good day of service on Saturday in Ukiah and a couple good trips up to Walla Walla for meetings.  This Friday we will be going to Hermiston for Zone conference and afterward President and Sister Greer want me to take some pictures of them in some of the wheat fields around... The feild is white already to harvest in more ways than one:) 

Thank you for sending me the pictures Mom... I appreciate them and it makes me feel like I was there! 

I Love You all!

-Elder Matt Bowen

Week of the 4th!

July 9, 2012

Dear Family,

I don't have a lot of time today but Ill hit on a few events of the week.  

We had a fire in our appartment complex, which was a significant part of the week.  We were there when it started and we helped alert people and gave info to the Firefighters.  We made it into the story in the paper (the east Oregonian)  and 3 of my pictures made it into the paper, one on the front page.  Our apartment is ok but has some smoke damage.  We just feel bad about all the loss that everyone else went through / are still going through.  

The missionary work was a little slower this week with people being out of town and busy with family but we still got some good things accomplished.  We had ZLC this week which was good as always:) 

Ill send the pics of the fire that made it into the paper:)

LOVE YOU!

Elder Bowen

50 Days If You Can Believe It!!!

I sure cant believe it!  

Time is winding down so quickly. Transfers are next week.  I am pretty sure I would be staying here in Pendleton but you never know i guess.  This week has pretty much been status-quo.  We have been working hard and have been getting lots of referrals lately.  We are trying to pick up the work in the YSA which is going well.  

We went around town last week and took some fun pictures that I will attach to the email. 

Love you all!

-Elder Bowen

June Pressin On

Dear Family,

This week was yet another good one.  It seems like most of my week here on the mission have been overall pretty good.  We had John Dupuis Baptism yesterday and it went really well.  We have a few more coming up and we have found some new people who are wanting to get baptized.  Things are really turning around here in Pendleton.  Our Zone is doing well too and spirits are high.  

This last week has been quite rainy up until Yesterday.  It was down in the 50s but now its back up to the mid 70s.  We had a cool experience last week out in the small town of Pilot Rock.  It was pretty cloudy but no rain yet and we were outside of one of our investigators homes talking.  She has been going through a lot of hard things and we were trying to comfort her and talked about the peace the gospel brings.  Her kids were inside screaming and fighting as usual witch didn't help out.  My comp asked if he could share a scripture as it started to rain.  She didn't want to hear anything out of the scriptures at the time so I asked if we could at least pray with her.  She said that we could so we said a prayer on behalf of her and her family. Her kids came to the door after and I told them they should say their prayers too (meaning on their own) but the mom thought I meant right then so they came out and we taught them how to pray.  My companion said the prayer this time and it started to rain a lot harder.  The two boys came close to me and I put my arms down around them to help keep a little rain off of them as we prayed.  After the prayer they weren't angry at each other any more and were a lot more calm (one of them has autism and is usually running around screaming but was now really calm).  We said bye and walked back to the car pretty wet.  As we left they went back in and the yelling and screaming started up again but it was good to think that that family had had at least a small moment of peace with prayer. Hopefully they will recognize that feeling was there when they were focused on God.  

I am excited about the trip that you will be taking up here.  As you are looking at lodging I will get some information from Dave Stapleton (the member of the mission presidency who owns the Hotels) and let you know next week cause I will see him tomorrow at Leadership Training in Kennewick.  I will also Talk to President Greer about what day you can meet them.  

Thanks for the email Elizabeth! It was fun to see the pictures of you and Michael:)  

I'm glad that you are enjoying the Dakine bag that I sent you Mom... Maybe when you come up we will stop by the warehouse and see if there is anything else.

I took a cool picture of the Sunset on Saturday. Hope you like it:)

The other Pic is of us out trying by people.  The house is actually the same one that I told you the story about.

Have a good week!

-Elder Bowen

2 Years Ago...

June 4, 2012

Dear Family,

I realized that Saturday was 2 years since I got my mission call and it brought back memories of the months before my mission and how fun they were with you all!

It is also just 2 months away from when you will come pick me up!  

  

We have a baptism this week in the Family ward and just had someone who the other elders here taught be baptized in the YSA.  

The weather here has been rainy but its nice to not have it be real hot.

We got to go to Vancouver for ZLC this time so I took some pics of the group and we got to stop by multnomah as well so Ill attach a pic that I took there.  

Elder Gibson and I are getting along well and working hard to find new people to teach as well as to help the people we teach progress towards baptism.  We are working with the Ward Council a lot and trying to get some more member referrals since tracting isn't the most effective way of finding:)

I hope that the first week of summer is fun for all of you!  Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers and for all the other things that you do for me!

Love You

-Elder Bowen

Mothers Day Week!

May 9, 2012

Dear Family,

This week was another busy one that had some fun things that happened.  We had ZLC and exchanges in the Tri-Cities.  I was able to meet up with the Manderscheids again and see how they were doing as well as some other past families I had taught.  We ate dinner at Texas Road House which was a lot of fun.  Some of the Servers and Hosteses are members and they are always happy to see the white shirts come in;)  I can't remember if I had told you or not but back around the new year we went there for lunch somewhat often. 

 

Elder Fletcher and I had a cool, out of the ordinary, teaching experience this past week.  We were asked to go the the Seventh-Day-Adventist Academy in College Place, WA and teach a World Religion class for a professor.  It was a lot of fun and the students there asked a lot of good questions.  I think we represented the church well and adequately presented our main doctrines.  

 

Elder Fletcher goes home next week and he is heading up to the Tri-Cities on Sunday so he wont be there when I skype but I will be with Elder Bush and Elder Torgeson who are also serving here in Pendleton.  I also found out that the begining of June we will be moving out of the members home we are living with and we will be going to an apartment.  

 

I am happy to hear (but not suprised) that the dance concerts went well and that as usual each involved were amazing.  I will enjoy attending those when I return home.

 

I found a member that has offered to let me skype at there home on sunday.  They are able to do it at 6:00 our time so that would make it 7:00 for you. I hope that is ok.  If not you can send me an email and I will check it tomorrow just in case:)  I am sure excied to see you all!

 

 

LOVE YOU!

 

-ELDER BOWEN

 Last night we found a cool little lake in the Indian reservation in our area

The temple last week

99 Days!!!!!

Dear Family,

Happy May to you as well! 

This past week was a good one!  We had a day of service for the Walla Walla Stake up past the small town of Dayton at a place called Teancum Timbers.  It is a church owned recreation site that is used for girls camps, ward activities and such.  The YSA's of the stake were assigned to clear a mile and a half of trail and we went up with them.  It was a pretty cool experience but it was super hard too.  Most of the missionaries in the stake were there to help as well.  

We also are now teaching a new investigator who is a family friend of the Branch President  We had a really good lesson last night and she had a lot of really good questions.  She has a good knowledge of the bible from her past religious background.  It is nice to teach an investigator who is truly searching for truth and has knowledge to work with as we teach.  The Perks family is actually heading down to Utah on Sunday and will be there for a while.  They said that they were going to look my family up.

Tyler and his friends were in a school play this week so we weren't able to meet with them but hopefully this next week:)   We found another new investigator this week named John and he is on date to be baptized on the 12 of may.

I am excited to be skyping with you in two weeks! it is crazy this this will be my last time!  I will let you know the details as soon as I get them:)

Good luck with the concerts upcoming! I will make sure to pray for you! I'm sure you each will do well as always!

Love you TONS!!!!

-Elder Matt Bowen

PS: 99 days till August 7th!

Teancum timbers

The trail from a distance

Another lightning storm we had

Another Week Goes By...

April 23, 2012

Dear Family,

Pendleton is still treating me well. We were able to put three people on date this week for next month which was awesome.  We went up to Walla Walla for p-day this past week but we are staying in town this week and checking out some of the things around town.  

We had a cool experience in a little town called Ukiah that is in the middle of nowhere!  There are probably 250 people in the town at most and we teach one recent convert up there each week.  We have been trying to teach her son Tyler for a while and he had some questions about the Three Kingdoms of Glory so we were planning on teaching him that last Friday.  Our usual ride canceled on us so we drove down there and got there a little early.  We tried to find something to eat but the one diner in town closes at six so we were out of luck:(  We stopped by the ridiculously over-priced grocery store... I just bought a soda seeing how i didn't feel comfortable eating the other food since it had dust on it:)  We went out and tried some former investigators but no luck.  We saw Tyler playing basketball with his friends and so we went over and joined them.  We invited them afterwards to come to the lesson and one of them came and we will start teaching him as well.  Were hoping to get the rest of the boys over too and get the young men of the ward to come out to Ukiah and do some kind of activity.  

I love you all so much!!  Thank you!!! 

-Elder Bowen

                                                Tracting in Ukiah:)

                                      The Gravel Track they have there

                                          Lightning Storm last night

April Showers

April 16, 2012

Dear Family,

This past week we had some good weather but today we woke up to lots

of rain and there is more on the way but after serving in Vancouver for so long I don't really look at rain the same anymore cause it is nothing compared to what I had there:)

I'm glad to hear that you all enjoyed your vacation to St. George.

That is cool that Grandma Abegg is being home taught by Brother Hovorka.  I was able to meet Maddison when she came in to the mission. She is serving over in Vancouver though so I wont be able to let her know that.  Small world.

Thank you for sending the pictures.  You all look good and happy. I'm looking forward to being able to Skype and see you all on Mothers Day. I am still enjoying serving with Elder Fletcher and Serving in Pendleton.  We cover a few other small towns such as Ukiah and Pilotrock.  We will be driving up to Walla Walla today for P-day with the rest of the zone.  Walla Walla is a cool place. A place so nice they named it twice:)  I miss the office some but it feels right to be here and I am having a lot of fun.  It is definitely an adjustment though:)We are working with some good people right now and there are 4 of them that are close to baptism.  We will keep working with them and I will let you know how they progress.  We have done a lot of service as well which has been fun. The Pictures that I attached are of a spring field on the way to Walla Walla.

Love you all!

-Elder Matt Bowen

Happy April :)

April 2, 2012

Good Morning,

I hope that all is well for each of you! I am doing well and staying busy as usual.  The transfer is a big one this time and there are a lot of details we are still working out but mostly it is ready for wednesday. 

On wednesday I am being transfred to Pendleton in the Makay Creek and Pendleton YSA wards.  I will be serving with Elder Nathan Fletcher from Provo.  He and I have talked about people that each of us knew and we have a lot of mutual friends.  He goes home next transfer and will be the 6th missionary I have "killed off" (been their last companion).  I am excited for the opportunity to go back into the regular swing of things.  The area and Zone will be a challenge though I hear.  It has a reputation for being a slow area but that can change:)

This past week we had ZLC wich went well.  I also enjoyed General Conference a lot as I'm sure you all did as well. I took a lot of good notes and I am looking foreward to getting the ensign next month and reading them all again. 

I love you all.  Thank you for the emails and letters that you constantly send me and all the other countless things that you do and have done on my behalf!

I love you!

-Elder Matt Bowen

                                              Keeping Bees!

                                      A goat trying to eat my camera!

Ready for April Showers?

March 26, 2012

Hi Everyone!

Can you believe Sunday is April?  I will be out 20 months but it sure doesn’t feel like it has come already.  I remember looking at the past missionaries and how they seemed to be home so soon after they hit 18 and how some days it felt like I would never be out that long.  Because of all the time I have had to observe missionaries going home I feel like I am prepared to be able to work hard and sprint to the end!:)

We started working on transfers and it looks like this one will be a big one:) I have tenitively been assigned to my new area and companion and I am very excited for it but my assignment could change in the upcoming week... you never know till transfer day.

This past week I had a Unique and cool experience.  Spencer Larsen (FB for the Denver Broncos before this week, now going to play for the New England Patriots) came to our mission to speak to us.  He is President and Sister Greer’s Nephew and they were able to talk him into coming up even though he was in the middle of negotiations with New England.  Elder Williams and I went around the mission with him and the Greer’s and so we were able to have a lot of time to talk to him and hear his thoughts on many things. We had a lot of interactions with him with other missionaries but also things like eating lunch together and traveling.  He shared a lot of experiences from his mission and how they have affected his life since.  He talked about his trials and how they were meant to guide his life to where he is now.  One of the main points he made is that God will grant us our desires whether they be good or evil (Alma 29: 4-5) although the may not grant them to us the way that we envision it happening.  He had a good perspective on life and I gained a lot from it.  Its good to see someone who could so easily be distracted from the gospel, choosing to remain strong in their faith. 

I also was able to take some pictures of the mission and I will attach a couple. 

I will let you know next week when it is finalized where I will be headed!

LOVE YOU TONS!!!!

-Elder Bowen

Hello from Kelso Washington

March 12, 2012

Hi all,

Today has been a rainy one but the past few days have been amazing!

We don’t have a lot of time here at the public library but I thought that I would send a quick email to let you know how I was doing and I will be sure to send more detailed info at a later time. We had the opportunity to hear from Elder Nelson of the quorum of the 12 Apostles this weekend.  Saturday we had a missionary meeting where each of us got to shake his hand and hear him speak for an hour. Saturday night we attended the adult session of the Longview stake conference where he spoke again and also the Sunday morning general session of stake conference.  I took many notes and learned a lot from him as well as the other speakers.  At the end of the missionary meeting Elder Nelson pronounced an Apostolic blessing upon us and that included the following:

1.      Come to love Jesus Christ and His Atonement for us.

2.      Be a true disciple.

3.      Feast upon the word and always apply those teachings in your lives.

4.      Have health, strength and safety on your missions.

5.      Continue in a lifetime of service to the Lord

6.      Love our families and bear testimony to them to bring them closer together.

7.      Have a shield of protection and to avoid accident and injury.

8.      Be a force for good.

9.      Be completely obedient

10.    Know God lives.

11.    Finally, he blessed us with his testimony as a special witness of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

I will let you know some of the other things that I was able to learn and write down when I email you next.

We weren’t able to get to Mt. St. Helens because of snowpack still being there but we thought we would try to get to some waterfalls instead so this morning we drove up the Lewis River and were trying to get to some waterfalls but as we got higher up in elevation the downpour of rain turned to snow.  We still got a few good pictures so ill send you a couple.

I am glad that you are having such a fun time celebrating and I hope that the rest of Elizabeth’s birthday goes well.

I love you Tons!!!

-Elder Bowen

Happy Leap Week!!!

Good Morning Family!

This past week was a busy one!  We had transfers as usual but we also had the opportunity to have Elder Craig A. Cardon of the 2nd quorum of the 70 in our mission at the end of the week.  Elder Williams and I met with him Saturday night at the Greer’s home and he gave us some really good "words of wisdom" and gave some advice for our mission as well.  Saturday morning we had a half-mission conference where he spoke and that was very good as well:)  Stake conference was also this week for the Kennewick stake.  

We also had good visits this week and found 2 new investigators.  We are excited to continue to work with them and hopefully see them progress...

I’m heading into a quick meeting now so I have to go!

LOVE YOU ALL!

-Elder Bowen

Happy Presidents Day!

February 20, 2012

Good Morning,

It is snowing here this morning and the flakes remind me of Utah because of how big they are... I don’t think it will last long though.  Last week it was decent weather and like you all I am sure ready for spring. 

I hope that you all enjoy the holiday today... it is P-day here so I guess I get a little bit of a day off too:)

We are all ready for transfers.  Elder Williams and I have put in the long hours this week to get everything ready and to make sure everything goes smoothly this transfer.  This is will be my last transfer serving in this assignment so I will have to make it count:)

 Elder Williams and I standing on the I-205 Bridge from Vancouver to Portland.... the bridge is Gigantic! (It’s over a mile long, over the Columbia River)

Fun picture taken in Washougal WA

A picture one of our roommates took of me the night that we had freezing rain a few weeks ago and we ordered pizza and watched the Testaments and the Theater at our apartment complex.

I love you all!

Have a good Day!

 

-Elder Bowen