This past week has been amazing!
On Tuesday a member of the Spanish branch was cutting a tree down in preparation for putting up his
fence. We were helping him out but because of how dangerous clearing
trees is. We were at a very safe distance as he was cutting it down and
were going to help move it after it was on the ground. The tree fell and
when it hit the ground it then came back and struck his thigh. We ran
over to help him and he asked for a blessing. We then laid our hands on
his head and gave him a priesthood blessing. He went to the hospital and
they did x-rays and not a bone in his leg was broken. It was bruised
very badly of course but it is a miracle that his femur isn't broken. We are so blessed that the power and authority of the priesthood have been restored to the earth. The same
power that Christ healed with is available for us through the
priesthood. I've been so blessed to have that power always available to
me. Thanks Daddy for always having and being worthy of the priesthood.
I've taken that for granted my whole life.
This week we have met with D and have gotten to know his brother J better. We really hope to start teaching him and his girlfriend S soon. They are great! The gospel would help them so much and it would help D and his mother if all the people living in their house were all trying to live the same standards. I'm excited to see the Spirit come into their lives more.
We had a miracle happen a week
from last Sunday. A man named Antonio came to the Spanish branch with a Spanish investigator. He doesn't speak any Spanish though and the English
he does know is very broken. He speaks Burmese, which is a very
interesting language. It's letters look like swoops and swirls. When we
was at the Spanish branch the Spanish missionaries found us and asked us
to teach him for one of the classes. We talked in very basic English and
shared the message of the Restoration as best we could. We then ordered
a Burmese Book of Mormon for him and we are hopefully getting it this Wednesday! We went by his house last Saturday and invited him to the English ward and got him a ride and he came to church! I'm excited to
continue sharing the gospel with him! And so our teaching will be very
simple but I'm excited to help him learn!
We had an amazing 5th Sunday
lesson! Our bishop shared an amazing lesson on member missionary work!
He started off by saying what was always his first thought when he
thinks of missionary work. He walked up to a brother of the ward and
shook his hand and said, "Hey Matt would you like to come to church and
get baptized and start paying tithing and go to the temple and make more
covenants." That's his first thought when thinking of missionary work.
He then explained that many people look at missionary work this way and
that we really need to change how we think of missionary work. He then
talked about how we may not have been good member missionaries before but
that that can change. He taught with the story of Ammon, and reminded
us that Ammon had not always been the best missionary. At one point of
his life he had gone around with the sons of Mosiah and were destroying
the church but then over time he became an incredible missionary. It's
the same principle for us. He then talked about how the first
thing Ammon did was serve. He started with serving and being a friend.
He was there to preach the gospel but he didn't start off by asking them
to be baptized. The bishop then said, "We need to serve others and develop a relationship with them." He then invited every single
person in the room to go and make a friend. One friend and develop a
relationship with them and that is where missionary work starts!
Elder Stufflebeam in answer
to members questions about missionary work has been, "We don't convert
people. That is the spirit's job. We are only supposed to help them feel
the spirit and then invite them to do something. And that something
could be really small like come over to my house and have dinner or for a
FHE." It's so true.
It is such a blessing to serve
as a missionary in the Texas Dallas Mission! I love it so much. There
are challenges but it is so worth it. The amazing experiences and
blessings just keep flowing! Today I got an unexpected one. It truly was
a Tender Mercy for me. I received an email from a member of the church in
the Philippines today! She said that she has been preparing to serve a
mission and that she was looking online for missionary blogs and reading
them to see what missions are like and more importantly to be uplifted
and inspired as she read them. She bumped into mine apparently and
thanked me for serving a mission and gave me some words of
encouragement. It was an amazing experience for me! The Lord has amazing
children all around the world who are preparing to serve him and who
are living examples of how much the gospel blesses us. Thank you Mommy
for all the hard work you do! Updating that blog is helping others too. I
forgot all about it but it was a blessing to know that the experiences I
have can also help others too.
Well I love y'all and I hope everyone has a fantastic week! Keep up the great things that are going on at home. I love y'all!
Your Missionary,
Elder Drew Bowen
Here are some pictures of Elder Bowen and Elder Stufflebeam.
No comments:
Post a Comment