P.S. It is alright for me to receive emails from anyone but I can only email my family. If anyone wants me to write to them, send me a letter or at least your address, and I'll do my best to keep in touch!

P.P.S. I can't wait to hear about Issac's call so send word as soon as can be! I love you!

On Mon, Feb 25, 2013 at 11:31 AM, Elizabeth Bowen <elizabeth.bowen@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Hello everyone!

I am so glad to say that this week was better in many ways, though still a struggle in others. I have finally gotten to a point where I am okay being here because every day I am learning little things that help me do good. On Wednesday we had district meeting where our district (4 companionships, my companion and I are the only sisters) gets together to talk about the work and have a lesson to help us do better. For some reason, before that meeting, I hadn't realized part of the reason why I don't feel like I did much good whenever I have left a person's house and it is because I didn't focus on teaching a lesson or in some way emphasizing my purpose! Sometimes it's hard learning to work with someone who is so different from you but so long as you love them and see them as Heavenly Father's child it's easier to learn to handle them:)

I have had some interesting experiences, though not a lot of success. We knocked on a door the other day and about 15 little dogs (mostly little poodles) came barking! I have never seen so many dogs in one house! We also knocked on a guy's door and he said he was "too smart" to believe in God. All I could do was shake my head and think: Incredible. People here are very closed off and hard. I feel like the curiosity doesn't exist anymore and openness is a rarity. These things are rare in most of the world anymore, but I am determined to find the people who possess these qualities. I am learning to be more tolerant of people who are so different from me and to fully love and appreciate the few who I share an understanding with. These people are the ones who have brought me the most comfort, and the more of them I have met, the more I have been able to tolerate this place.

We drove out to a place called Fabius and I was filled with joy as the houses became few and far apart and I saw actual fields and animals (besides cats and dogs, which EVERYONE has.) I never knew how much I love the West. Amazingly, I miss the openness and brightness and freshness of the land where I have grown up. I haven't seen a single horse or cow either and that is strange to me. I can't wait for the spring!

Yesterday (Sunday) I cried a lot at church. I felt the Spirit more strongly than I have in a while and I am glad to have clearly felt Heavenly Father's love fill me up and surround me. I was glad to be reminded that the weak things of the world are made strong and able to do the Lord's work; I truly have been humbled and feel like the Nephites in Mosiah 4 (verse 2.) I am amazed by how much Elder Butterfield (an Elder who came to the field when I did and is in my district as well as my ward) and I know about teaching and how anxious to teach and be missionaries we are; even though he is one of the 18 year olds, he is incredible. All of the missionaries who came out with me are just as amazing and I miss them every day. My companion told me that Sister Richardson, my MTC companion, is in my zone and I will get to see her at zone training next week! I'll probably cry when I see her because I miss her so much every day and night, in fact she is always my companion in my dreams. Oh and about dreams, I have vivid dreams every night and my family is in all of them. It's hard to wake up know that the adventures I just had weren't real, but I strive to focus on having a good day. I don't sleep so well (I wake up at about 4:50 every morning and don't go back into a full sleep again) but I am grateful that I don't fall asleep when I do my morning study anymore. Personal study time is precious to me and I am striving to use my time more effectively.

Missionary work is hard, but the thing that makes it the absolute hardest is when you don't follow the rules and commandments exactly. I like the quote by Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith's mom, that says "Obedience brings blessings. Exact obedience brings miracles." If you want the Spirit to be with and to guide you and if you want success, you have to be obedient. Even if the rules don't make sense to us or we have to give up don't something that we have done for a long time, the Lord has given them to us for a reason and we can be sure that if we follow them, He will bless us with blessings that we never knew we could receive.

I love all of you and I think of you every day. I always pray for blessings to be poured out upon you and for you to feel the love I have for you.

Always,

Sister Elizabeth Bowen