Happy New Years :)‏

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!! Gosh I seriously am so happy I got to talk to you guys :) It was so good to just laugh and it’s good to know nothings has changed. Sorry if I was a little blunt. It’s just hard when the times so short. I HAVE THE BEST FAMILY EVER!!

My gifts

I don’t have much time to write this week so I’ll sum it up fast. So the other day we were walking really fast past this bar, because we were late to a lesson and it’s a bar duh, and the guy that watches outside (not sure what he is called) said hey, how come you guys don’t say hello to me. I’ve wanted to talk to you guys but you guys are always so serious. That was a jab in the heart and a good lesson to learn haha. But anyway pretty much he has received the missionaries before and has been to church one time.

I was seriously so amazed at how prepared this man was. He said that he would come to church on Sunday, so we waited for him and all and he didn’t show up. After church we were walking to lunch and we saw him. So we asked why he didn’t come and he said that he woke up really early and was all ready to go (he was wearing his church clothes... how cute) and they called him into work.

Anyway pretty much he just started asking us about baptism and he said that he knows that we were placed into his path for a reason. Ahh there is more to the story but I don’t have time. It’s amazing how the Lord literally places each person in our path for a reason. Sometimes it’s hard to realize a guy yelling at you is placed in your path for a reason but maybe that’s what he needed to do to realize he needed to change. 

Ninorshca really is such an amazing person. I always beg her to come visit me after the mission. She is probably one of the most humble people I know. I gave her a picture of the Savior being baptized to look at frequently so that she can receive her answers and the other day when we were in her house I saw it hung up on the wall. Their house is soo small and there are 7 people that live in the same house but they don’t ever complain or ask for more. It’s taught me a lot about the kind of person I want to be. I love these people with all my heart. I love this work. I’m glad it’s hard. I know that I can do whatever the Lord requires of me if I rely on him. I know that God has a plan for each one of us. Not only does he know what is best for us but he anxiously wants us to choose what is best for us. I love this gospel and know without a doubt we have the truth in our hand! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!

Love always,

Hermana Fowler

P.S. I have the best companions ever!!! I LOVE THEM!!!! Sorry I don’t talk more about them. 

December 23, 2014

What a week!! In a good way :) Ahh I’m so happy to hear everyone is doing so well! I love this time of the year! I feel so honored to have maybe 2 Christmas’s as a missionary. I really couldn’t ask for anything else!

Okay so first off I have to tell you all the big news! On Thursday we had our Christmas party with the president. He started off by showing us some Christmas Mormon messages and then we watched a little clip of John Schmidt. I felt very close to home. It was like I was at his concert pretty much. Can’t break tradition. So then president talked to us about tons of great things. Honestly I look up to that man so much! He talked about how all Christ wants from us this Christmas is our sins. He wants us to utilize what he has sacrificed and to lay our mistakes on the table. I can’t express how much love I have for our Savior!

So after that he explained how he came to the country 2 and a half years ago with specific goals. One being to make another mission in Costa Rica. And last week that goal came true!! WE ARE GETTING ANOTHER MISSION IN COSTA RICA!!!!!! AHHHHH I’m so haaaaappy!! It’s really such an honor to be here to watch this country grow in the gospel. So in July there will be two missions in Costa Rica. And we will be getting almost 300 more missionaries. (MAREN)  And the really cool part is that the quorum of the 12 apostles will be reassigning us to the mission that we will serve in. I’m so happy I’m so happy I’m so happy.

So after President told us the great news they gave us this adorable key chain that says Costa Rica San Jose mission. It’s sick because this mission won’t exist for much longer. And then they feed us the best food EVER!!! I love good food. Then we all got to go to the temple :) :) but our zone was the last session so we all just hung out on the temple grounds. It was great to get closer to my zone. I really love where I am at soo much!! My mini missionary got to go through for the first time. I was lucky enough to be there with her. There is not a more peaceful place on the earth than in the temples!! After the temple session it was 9:30 so we didn’t get home until 11:30. It was a crazy day. 

So currently back in my trio and my mini missionary went home. She has been having back problems and just felt really sick. The president said that he is looking for another mini missionary but for now we will be in a trio. It’s crazy covering both areas but everything will work out. I love my companions soooo much! They really are like my sisters!! They are so sweet to me! 

This week we had our Christmas activity for our branch. We all sang and the president of our branch talked to us in between each song. I love my branch so much. Everyone is so nice and humble. I’ll never forget these people! 

Funny story... So one of our investigators, who has some mental problems, didn’t come to church the other Sunday. I was studying a lot on how I can help my investigators keep their commitments and I remembered this part in preach my gospel that said that the first thing you should do when your investigator doesn’t keep a commitment is to be devastated.

So I saw Ramon walking on the other side of the street so I yelled for him to come over and then I explained to him how sad we were that he didn’t come to church on Sunday. He then started bawling. And just kept saying macha macha (means blondy). Then he gave me his pamphlet of the plan of salvation and his bread he just bought and laid in the middle of the sidewalk bawling. I told him I forgave him a million times but he wouldn’t stop crying. Then a policeman came by so we had him take care of him. Poor guy. I hope everything works out. 

I’m running out of time so I guess I’ll just have to tell you all more on Thursday!!! AHHHH I’M SO EXCITED I JUST CANT HIDE IT!!!!!!!! I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!!!!!! Please answer your skype. I love you all so so so much!! 

Love always

Hermana Fowler 

P.S. Sorry mom but I left my camera at our house. Just know that our house is decorated adorable and that the temple is beautiful. I’ll send them next week no worries :)

Pura Vida ;)

Hi hi hi! :) I love my family soooo much! This week was crazy but I’m grateful for all the things I learned! So on Wednesday I got a new companion. But she’s not a missionary just a mini missionary! So it’s a big change for me. It’s kinda like training but not because she’s only here for one more week. And then after that I’m not sure what will happen. I’m just happy to be here! I love Costa Rica. It’s sad how much of a white girl I am but I hope by the end of my mission I’ll be more of a tica :)

mini Bananas soooo cute!

So a few times this week my companion has had to leave and do stuff, like for school and stuff. And while she does that I’m with the other Hermana’s in their area. So it’s stressful because my area needs more attention. But everything will work out :) So one day my companion returned limping because she decided to go play soccer after her appointment :/  so she can’t walk very well I feel really bad for her. She just kept saying, so this is what happens when you are disobedient. hahaha yep sorry :/ She calls me Emma. Ya I don’t know why but its chill. Oh ya it’s because she says I look like Emma Watson (or however you spell it) LOL no. 

Lots of miracles this week. So I have been really bad at updating you guys on my investigators. I’m sorry I’ll be better. Anyway, Agustin is a boy who is 17 years old and he kinda lives with the family that we harvested coffee with. He have been teaching him and preparing him for baptism. One day this week during a lesson he told us how he feels like he isn’t ready for this step in his life and he needs more time to prepare. And to be honest my first reaction was oh no oh no oh no. This lesson was with a member (which seriously is amazing, So everyone help the missionaries) and the member could completely relate to him. He still felt iffy about it.

I then told him that in the night to knee in his room and pray specifically to know if this Sunday is the day he should be baptized and after to wait for 2 minutes. We promised him that if he will do this he will receive his answer. I know with all my heart that those were the words Heavenly Father wanted me to say.

The next day we came back and he said that he had never felt so good about a decision in his life. I feel so blessed to be able to feel the love God has for these people in Costa Rica. 

Agustin's Baptism

We had another great experience with Ramon this week. We started the lesson by asking him how he has liked about how church so far. And he said that he loves all of it, he just can’t give up coffee. He had been drinking coffee every day for 37 years. He went off for like 10 minutes on how much he loves coffee haha. After I really don’t know what we said but he said that he doesn’t want to drink coffee anymore. It was incredible how the spirit taught that lesson. And if I would have doubted that he would live the word of wisdom the spirit wouldn’t have been able to teach. So I’m grateful I learned my lesson with Agustin. Fear doesn’t come from God. 

I love this time of the year! I love Christmas in Costa Rica. It’s been such a great experience to learn more about Christ. Something we have been asking a lot of people is "what would you give Christ this Christmas?" After all he has done for us, what can we give back? I’m so incredibly grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission. I’m grateful for my difficulties. Thanks to our hard times, it’s possible for us to understand peace. I know this is Christ’s church and that this gospel provides a sure and solid foundation. I love you all AND CAN’T WAIT TO TALK TO YOU ON CHRISTMAS!!! Best Christmas gift I could ever ask for! Be safe and do something nice haha :)

Love always Hermana Fowler

December 9, 2014

Hello peeps:)

Okay so this week was craaazy. We had the opportunity to do a lot of service which really made me sooo happy. First we got to harvest coffee haha. Kinda ironic. At that point our investigators that we were harvesting with didn’t know about the word of wisdom. But it was a good setting to do so :) It really was so fun. I saw bugs that gave me nightmares but over all I was so happy they let us help them.

coffee woohoo 

One of our investigator families harvests coffee every day for their job. All of them. Even the 8 year old. They are so humble it’s unreal. Gosh I love that family. Vamos a bautizar ellos :) After a lesson with that same family, we asked if they were going to be coming to church on Sunday and they said that they probably couldn’t because they haven’t had water in their house for 2 weeks so they haven’t been able to wash their clothes. So after literally 20 minutes of begging (I’m not kidding I went to drastic measures hehe) they gave us their dirty clothes and we hurried home to wash it all. Walking away from that house with a bag of clothes was probably one of the happiest moments in my mission so far- just being able to do something for them that they couldn’t do for themselves.

This week we went to price smart to get food and right as we got to our house the assistants called and said that my companion needs to pack and be ready in 10 minutes. After that horrible goodbye the assistants called again and said that they had someone in the office that wanted to talk to me. GERMAINES DAD AHHHHHHH!!!!!! So then I cried more obviously. We talked for a while and honestly it was soooo nice to hear a familiar voice. And I can’t believe he will be in Panama tomorrow the same night Germaine gets there.

(Kendra- Our friend Hector Morazan delivered Anna's Christmas to the mission home in Costa Rica. Thank you Hector!!!)

So pretty much long story short my companion forgot stuff so we had to hurry and get to the mission office. And there I got my PACKAGE!!!!!!!! 

Ahhhh Mom I can’t explain to you HOW HAPPY I AM!!!! to have a little piece of  you! Gosh I bawled when I saw all of it. Of course you went all out you always do!!!! :) Mom I seriously can’t thank you enough for how much time you put into my package. Like seriously I just cried and cried. I don’t deserve it seriously!!!!I love you so much!!!

I SERIOUSLY HAVE THE BEST MOM IN THE WORLD!!!!!!! But at the same time I told you not to send anything you little stinker. When I saw that there was stuff for my companion my heart broke a little more. 

When we were returning to Santo Domingo we were walking in San Jose and I SAW MY MOM (mission mom so my trainer) I seriously miss that girl so much!!!

All the Hermana’s in my Zone :)

So before my companion knew that she was going to leave she started this joke with all the members that I got changed. So when we went to a family home evening with all the recent converts they were all very surprised. Ana (my first baptism) started crying. It broke my heart. I seriously love this area sooo much!!! I want to stay here for my whole mission. But at this moment I don’t have an official companion. I’m with the other two Hermana’s in our house and we are covering both areas ahh it’s so insane. 

Last day all together :(

But the thing is after all is said and done I know that my companion is where she needs to be. She has taught me SOOO much!! I really love her and I can honestly say that she has changed my mission for the better!!! I’m so sorry I don’t have time to explain more things I would like but next week I’ll try to fill you in!! I love this gospel with all my heart! I know that this is the Lord’s work and he needs us! entonces vamonos!!!!! I love you all!!!

Love always,

Hermana Fowler

December 2, 2014

all the hermanas in my zone :)

Hi Family!! :) First off I would love to hear from Sam Thomas and Jake!! I haven’t heard from you guys in a while and I feel like if I don’t make this public they won’t email me. :) love you! Anyway… this week was good. It looks like everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that makes me really happy. :) I smiled very big when I saw all the pictures. Wow you guys got the lights up already!! Very proud of you :) Will you send a pretty picture of our house when it snows so I can show the members? They want to see our house and snow haha.

Sooo Thanksgiving doesn’t exist here... I actually forgot it was Thanksgiving until I wrote in my journal that night. How sad I know. But before you cry for me you have to know that I really had the best Thanksgiving EVER!!! Gosh Thursday was such a sick day!! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!

So we were walking down the street saying hi to everyone that passed by. Then this family across the street said hi to us so we said hi back and then they like wanted to talk to us so we were like ahh okay sweet. So we crossed the street and went to talk to them. We ended up going to their house and teaching them. Heavenly Father has definitely prepared this family. Wow they are amazing. They live in a house where the floor is dirt and not a lot of space. Which is reeeaaalllly unfortunate because the rains like none other and so it’s like you are living in mud. But it was so cozy I really loved it. Anyway pretty much this family was the most receptive people I’ve met in my mission so far. They listen. Which doesn’t happen a lot here. Ahhh I love Costa Rican people!! But as we were leaving their house and a dog that is like the size of my companion almost ate us I’m not kidding. It was probably one of the scariest moments in my life. And now that I have told you about it I don’t want to think about that dog ever again.

This week was Rogers Baptism :) The spirit was so incredible strong. And now they are preparing for the temple in a year :) Yay!!

On Monday as a zone we went to Monte de la Cruz. I went there my first transfer but they wanted to go again. It’s like a mountain with a big cross on it. I don’t really know what it stands for but it’s a very pretty place and it was fun to get to know my zone more. This month we had a huge goal for 200 baptisms in the mission. And on Sunday we got a text from the zone leaders saying that we were short 2 baptisms and to pray really hard for these two specific people. That night we got a text saying we made our goal yaaaaaaaaaayyyy!!! :) Not one more or less!! Exactly 200!! Every missionary in Costa Rica got on our knees at 10:15 that night and thanked our Heavenly Father for this miracle!! I know that mission calls are truly inspired from God. And I’m so glad Heavenly Father wanted to send me here :) I love you all so much and am praying for you always :)

Dame ese monte

Hermana Fowler

I'm alive!

Santo Domingo Missionaries woohoo

HAPPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!! I loooooove you tons and tons and tons. Have a great 17th birthday!! Sorry I forgot to tell you guys that my p-day was going to change. Well not my p-day just the day we write our family. So now our p-day ends at 5 on Monday and every martes we email together as a district so that people don’t do things they shouldn’t. And email time is shorter now sooo I’m going to need to learn how to type faster! 

This week went pretty well. Nancy’s husband Roger (the investigator that got married last Saturday) is getting baptized this Saturday. We are so excited for them and even more excited for them to go through the temple in a year. Satan is such a stinker though and is working really hard on this family. But they are holding strong. Roger lost his job at Taco Bell this week. Nancy is pregnant so really this was very hard for their family. But I know that God has a much better job for him. Plus Taco Bell is nasty here. 

One day this week we were looking for new investigators so I felt like we should go into this house that Hermana Cuevas and I used to teach but they weren’t progressing so we had to stop teaching them. Anyway we asked if we could use the bathroom, it’s the best way to get into the house, and we started talking and such and set a time to come back. After we were talking to some other people on that same street and a little girl came up and told us to come get some fresco in her house after. So we did and oh my goodness. Probably 15 little girls attacked me with questions about one direction. No worries I smoothly transitioned it into talking about the gospel. But yes I now regret not paying more attention to the movie. All kids here are obsessed. So send me a report on one direction. I really needed Germaine in that lesson!

This week we had a multi zone conference. Holy no words to describe. It was a huge testimony booster that’s for sure. I felt like President was talking right to me. Something I loooved that he said was "teaching is not speaking." I love that because speaking is hard ya know? But it’s sooo true. An elder did a practice in front of all of us where he invited President to go to church on Sunday. I don’t really know how to explain it but the spirit was soooo strong. It wasn’t because of the words he said or the tone of his voice it was the fact that he is truly a representative of Jesus Christ. After the conference I felt so nourished and definitely needed that for the rest of this week haha. No but everything is going really well. We are seeing sooo many miracles. I’m extremely grateful for all the lessons I am learning. I really love it here sooo much! I love Costa Rica! It really is the best mission in the world. I promise!!!! Thank you for all the prayers and emails they really make the bestest difference!!!

DAME ESTE MONTE

Hermana Fowler

My friend from the MTC

November 17, 2014

Hi peeps. I’m extremely jealous of the snow you guys are getting so please enjoy it a little extra for me! It’s actually pretty cold here. Nothing like Utah obviously but for here I get a little cold. Some days I’ll where a sweater and my raincoat and still be cold. But I’ve always been a baby with the cold so nothing’s changed :) Okay so first off Ben you are so cute for retyping mom’s essay. But you better be more careful with Deb. She’s used to being treated like a princess!

This week we had divisions! I learned soo much. It was my first time teaching with a gringa here. It was nice to be able to talk about the lesson after to fully understand. Hermana Tripp and I have like the same life. It’s seriously so freaky! But really it was good for me to have a full conversation in my native language with someone who knows exactly how I feel. It’s funny because when I’m really really tired at night I’ll just start talking in English and the Hermana’s will just be quiet for a minute and then start laughing. Bless my heart. 

selfie. i love my camera it's the best with the rain :) thank you dad!!

So this week was pretty good. Every companionship you have to learn how to adjust to so we are in the process of figuring that out. But it’s really good because she is teaching me to talk things out not just keep everything to myself. I get really antsy when we aren’t being exactly obedient because if I’m not exactly obedient I can’t have the spirit and if I don’t have the spirit I literally can’t talk. Plus being obedient is really fun!! 

Nancy´s wedding and baptism went really well. A member made her dress and a cake that turned out sooo beautiful!! I feel so honored to watch her make such great decisions that will bless her life forever. Her husband was soooo cute to her it melted my heart. She was just glowing on Sunday! I love this gospel so much! 

Baptism :)

This week we spent a lot of time planning for the wedding and baptism. It was pretty crazy. I wanted everything to be so perfect, the Hermanas just kept laughing at me because I spent like 5 minutes trying to put this balloon in the exact place. I’m the worst.

But really this week in my mission I learned A LOT. I’ll be honest lots of things went wrong but I don’t really care to talk about it because it’s not important anymore. The important thing is what I learned from it. I learned that when something bad happens we need to ask ourselves what’s the worst thing that could happen? If the worst thing possible is something we can live with or the Savior can help us with, we should move on without fear. We all are imperfect and it really is so great!! I realize that I was getting so caught up in every single rule as a missionary that I wasn’t taking the time to think about my companion. I didn’t know anything about her family or her decision to serve a mission. I still feel horrible for not taking the time to really get to know her. And now that I have, things are totally different.

One night this week I opened up my scriptures and read the scripture that says something along the lines of "condemn me not because of my imperfections but rather give thanks to our Heavenly Father that he has shown us our imperfections, that we may learn to be more wise than we have been." I’m very grateful to know my imperfections. But I also learned this week that I need to be nicer to myself. So yes lots of things to improve obviously haha. I love it here so so so much!! I’m running out of time so I better go but thank you for all your emails. I love you I love you I love you!!!!!!

Love always,

Hermana Fowler

P.S.  I can now do that thing Thomas always does with his hand. So yep I’m pretty much a tica now!!

Letter from Anna

Just to warn you this is the first week I didn’t write down a list of things I need to tell you guys so sorry in advance.

This week was great. Nothing bad comes to mind :) We have had divisions a lot because I’m teaching Hermana Vasquez her new area and Hermana Perez is teaching my companion our new area. It’s been sad to not be able to visit our old investigators but it’s okay. I’m trusting that it’s for the best. Our area was been struggling a little bit so Hermana Pacheco and I set a goal this week to talk to every family that we see.

One day we saw this family who was in their house with the door open pealing corn. We both felt really awkward approaching them for some reason so of course we approached them since Satan obviously didn’t want us to. After begging to let us help them they gave in. It seriously was so great. As we pealed corn (I don’t know if you call it pealing corn but that’s what I’m going to call it) we explained why we were in Costa Rica and taught them about the restoration. I love that family so much. Some random guy came to watch and was just saying things to me that to be honest I wasn’t really listening to because I could tell it wasn’t very uplifting. The dad of the family then asked if he was there to help or just to watch. And he responded by saying, “I’m here to watch the gringa (white girl).” Gave me the heebie geebies. But really it was so fun to serve that family. I found lots of bugs that I hope to never see again but I just smashed them with my shoe and moved on. Mom I hope you are proud :) 

This week one of our Investigators came to us and said that she was now ready to get married and that she wants her wedding to be this Saturday. Ahhh. So yep we will be really busy this week. She will be baptized that same day. I’m so happy for her. It has really taught me a lot about where my priorities should be. She doesn’t care about all the fancy wedding stuff. All she wants is it to be special for her soon to be husband and to finally be able to be baptized. I was worried she would care about her hair getting all ruined but it didn’t even cross her mind.

I’m really so grateful for the people in Costa Rica. They all are so humble and are always looking outside themselves. I’m hoping they rub off on me. But really everything is going great. I love this mission and am so grateful to be able to watch the spirit work through these people. Spanish is getting better and I’m so grateful for the help I am receiving.

I love you all so much! I know that this is the Lords work and he will always guide us to those who have been prepared if we will listen. Thank you for all the prayers and support!!! :)

Love always,

Hermana Fowler

P.S. We were walking down the street and this guy whistled at us and said… “Happy Birthday to you.” Probs the only English sentence he knew. hahaha Bless his heart. :)

Sorry it’s so short this week :/

My companion got a haircut from a member today!

Mom <3

I told my companion how me and you would sing in the car at the top of our lungs, “I don’t want to miss a thing.” Awe Mom I love you so so so much! I really am so grateful for you! You are my best friend in the entire world! Don’t you forget it. Ever!

            My companion and I had a laughing episode while singing the hymn before a lesson. Luckily it was with Hermana Ana and her family and they laughed with us. My companion started laughing at my singing and then it just got worse and worse. It made me miss our moments J. The future is bright because no matter what happens it’ll always be fun with you.

Mom I seriously love my quilt so much. It is the best gift I’ve ever been given. It’s so beautiful and it is a little part of home I get to see and sleep with every day. Thank you so much for putting all that time into it when you had so many things to do. I was thinking the other day what a huge blessing that was that your hours for coding got shortened. Seriously Mom! Heavenly Father is the most loving being. I’m so grateful for the time we got to have together before I left. You really are my best friend Mom! You have always been! You have always been the most loving and caring person in my life. Whenever I needed correction you always did it out of love. You’ve always been so patient with me. You are incredible Mom.

Thank you for raising me the way you have.  But most of all thank you for raising me in the gospel! Mom this is the Church of Jesus Christ! We have the authority on the earth today, to act in the name of Jesus Christ. As a representative of Jesus Christ it is my responsibility to invite others to come unto Christ. It’s my privilege to share with others what has blessed my life. Heavenly Father is our literal, loving father. He wants us to talk to him. He wants us to ask for blessings. He wants us to ask him questions about the Gospel so we can further our conversion, so that we can convert those who God has placed in our path. The Lord needs us to be His instruments and there is nothing greater we could do than share what we know!

I love Costa Rica so much Mom. I am grateful for this time to dedicate to the Lord.    

I love this work Mom! Thank you for letting me serve and for providing a way! I love you with all my heart!

            Your Anna

Letter from Anna

This week a lot of things happened. My new companion is such a sweetheart. It’s really taking some getting used to a new companion but there was been lots of blessings that have come from this change. And a lot of frustration haha. 

So at the beginning of this last week we were at lunch and Ivette told me that her daughter didn’t want to receive us anymore (that sounds weird in English I don’t know). Ahh people and their agency. Anyway, my companion said no I still want to go and meet her at least. Ivette just kinda looked at us weird and told us we probably shouldn’t. My companion was determined to anyway sooo we did haha. I felt really weird when we first got there and she was very standoffish. We started teaching the first lesson and it just didn’t feel right at all. I started talking and an experience came to mind that was totally off subject. I thought what in the why I would I talk about that, especially since I don’t like talking about it and I’ve only told a few people about it. But I just opened my mouth and told her. She started crying and the spirit was so strong. She then opened up about why she didn’t want us to visit with her anymore. We talked about it and we still are going to go visit her :) 

So on Thursday we had a zone meeting and I don’t know I just get really insecure about my Spanish in front of a bunch of people, so the days we have zone meetings I get a little quiet. And being in control of our area has been a little stressful so I just was thinking about stuff and not talking. We were on the bus and I saw someone in a costume and then realized it was Halloween. How sad I forgot it was Halloween :(. So my companion was trying to cheer me up and was asking what I usually do for Halloween so I told her and then she asked what my favorite food was so I said hamburgers obvi.

Anyway the day went on and we were at a member’s house and they were showing us all their costumes. Gosh I love Halloween. So we were walking home and my companion was walking slower than ever haha. We finally got to the house and turned on the lights and the other Hermanas had decorated the whole house in Halloween stuff. Haha it was soo cute. That’s why my companion was walking extremely slow so I felt bad after. Then after planning they made me a hamburger haha. It really was the cutest thing ever. My companion had planned the whole thing. She really is such a sweetheart. Best Halloween ever :)

Clearly my companion is better at acting scared than I am.

The house all decorated for Halloween :)

So we have an investigator named Rammon. He is the cutest and he reminds me of Grandpa Shaw. At the beginning he said I would love to listen to you guys but I can’t go to church because I have bad knees. So I told Hermana Pacheco that and she said, “Na we are going to get him to church”. So we went to visit with him and he invited a girl (Flor) who lives in another apartment above her house. With the help of Flor and the spirit he committed to come to church. So on Sunday we went to get him to walk to church with us and there he was in his white shirt and slacks. Sooooo cute. I love that man sooo much. He took a huge handful of bread during the sacrament, he’s adorable. During Sunday School he was sharing his thoughts on the holy ghost and started to cry. I have so much love for that man. 

Sooo yesterday was interesting. The President of our branch called and said we had a meeting in the chapel. So we were waiting for him and this hobo walked by and threw a card board box at us from across the street. Thanks homie. Then a few minutes later my companion says the crazy guy is coming back. So we hurried and crossed the street and then he started running toward us. Oh my goodness I’m horrible at handling situations like this. So we just casually started running too. He was on the other side of the street still but then he was about to cross the street and I told my companion to start running the other way so we did and he yelled something at us and just kept walking. So we hurried to hide in a store until president was in the chapel.

President started talking to us about how he had been praying about branch and felt the impression to do emergency changes. So he got permission from President Wilkinson to change our areas. Sooo now half of our old area is the other Hermanas and half of theirs is ours. I know it’s for the best but I’m just really sad about all our investigators in that area. We are opening an area on Tuesday pretty much. I’m nervous but I’m also really excited. President then asked us to show him our planners. Usually missionaries here (or everywhere I don’t know) laminate the front and back of their planners and put pictures they find in pamphlets and stuff to decorate it. But I hadn’t had time to do it yet so mine was just normal. President then explained that we should never cover the compass that is in the front of our planner.

We then read in Alma 37 where it’s talking about the Nephites using the Liahona as their guide. "If they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle and also many other miracles wrought by the power of god, DAY BY DAY." Let’s do this thing!!! Im excited for the challenges that are ahead mainly because we are going to really need to rely on the Lord. I know that we are closer than we think to our Heavenly Father. He is always there to help us and hope give us anything we can’t do.

I love this work with all my heart. And love these people more and more every day. I fear the day of transfers. But for now the people in Santo Domingo need us and we are going to work work work. I love my family soooooooo sooooo much. Thank you for all the support and for all of your prayers. I pray for all of you by name and hope everything is going just great!!!

Love always,

Hermana Fowler

    

Bye bye Comp :(

Well my mom left me today ;( (Your "mom" in the mission is your trainer). I got a new companion today, her name is Hermana Pechco. She is from El Salvador and she is 24 years old. She seems like such a sweetheart. We´re going to work this area until it just can’t handle it anymore. (I don’t care that that didn’t make since.) She actually has a boyfriend who is in our same mission. Crazy crazy. But yes I’ve got my eye on those two. Anyway it was really rough saying bye to Hermana Cuevas. She really has taught me sooo much. Things that will help me for the rest of my life. She is now a specialista somewhere in San Jose. She will do great things.

Bye Mommy!

This week went well but our area is still struggling a little. Buuuut really this area has soo much potential. Our Branch President is the bomb. I couldn’t ask for a better Branch Pres. Anyway I’m determined to make this branch a ward and we are going to make it happen :)

My homie!

Oh my goodness I cannot believe I didn’t tell you guys that I had my first earthquake last week. I wish I could say that it was crazy and we ran for shelter and I saved a dog or something buuut no I actually at first thought I didn’t even feel it until I remembered thinking that my companion kicked my bed. So yaa woohoo first earthquake. 

So funny story of the week... we had an animal in our house. One night we came home and the trash that was in the garbage can was everywhere. Just imagine 4 girls who are terrified of rats or any type of creature. It was bad. So pretty much what happened was we all sat on our desks and tried to get courage to find the animal and kill it. We ended up outside our house and calling every couple in our ward we could think of. Unfortunately no one could help us. So then the scripture Joshua 1:9 came to mind. I got this burst of courage and walked into the kitchen. Yep it was a bat. I immediately thought of Dan, Jake, and Sam and thought okay what would they do?? So I got the knife on the counter and threw it at its wing. Then got another knife and threw it at its body. Bye bye bat. I really don’t know what came over me. 

Us hiding from the animal. At this point we thought it was a rat but really sitting on our desks wouldn't have stopped a bat from biting us. I wasn't really crying.

So you know that soup that I almost threw up my first week here? Well it’s like my favorite thing now haha. Bless my heart. Oh and my companion isn’t the only one that holds my hand, literally everyone does. Am I like a dangerous person or what? I don’t understand. But I’m safe crossing the street so its all good :)

This week I learned the importance of being grateful. I realized how much I ask for help and when I receive it I don’t thank my Heavenly Father enough. It made me think about how when times are hard we always pray more, but when times are good we so easily forget to thank our Heavenly Father. How wrong that is. But really I´m becoming more and more grateful for lessons. We used to be able to have lots and lots of lessons and now its rare people let us in or follow through. Lots of times missionaries just care about numbers but really how dumb is that. These are people. Yeah it would be great to have an investigator progress really fast but the most important thing is to teach through love not teach because you need another lesson to tell your district leader that day. I´m very nervous to lead the lessons and teach my new companion this area. But every time I feel scared I need to remind myself that fear doesn’t come from God, and if I can survive an earthquake and kill a bat anything is possible :) hahaha no but really life is good.

Ice cream! Yummy!

I’m more and more grateful for this opportunity every day. Serving a mission is the best decision anyone could ever make. I love this gospel and am so grateful for the relationship I have with my Heavenly Father. I know that missionary work is inspired of God and that every companionship is put together because the Lord knows what is best for us. Thank you for your prayers and thank you for your support!! 

Love always,

Hermana Fowler

P.S. I didn’t really kill the bat hehe.  Gotcha! But there really is a bat in our house. Our walls don’t go all the way to the ceiling so it comes and goes. Pray for me.

Food that my comp made me.