Dear Family,
Okay, I am a tad bit overwhelmed right now since I didn't have p-day last week and I had like 20 emails to catch up on! But I did read all of them and thank you all for the letters! They were all fantastic! I love you guys so much and thank you, Trevor and Blake, for your letters every week--no matter what they are or how short they are--I love hearing from you guys! Oh, yea, and you too Kiersten. . . haha just kidding! I love hearing from all of you! And I don't have time to write all of you separately so this will just be a big letter for the whole family talking about each of your guys' letters! And I am trying to write as fast as I can so hopefully this letter will make sense and hopefully my spelling isn't too bad! Mom, you can help me out there haha!
Alright! So, yea, general conference was the best thing in the world! I loveeeed every single minute! I did have the chance to watch all sessions even though the priesthood session didn't end till 11 o'clock here, but it was great! And I got so much out of it! My plan was to write about my favorite talks but it sounds like you guys all enjoyed it and we all heard the same stuff so I am not going to write about it specifically for time's sake! I loved how they focused about conversion, keeping the faith through troubling times (which was perfect for me to hear since I was struggling with my companion) and how important it is to work with the members and how crucial their role is! I just loved it! I can't say that enough! This is the first time that I have gotten so much out of conference! Being a missionary really changes your view on conference and about everything! It truly is amazing that we have a living profeta de Dios today and that we can have the oportunidad to hear from him! Oh, and real quick! Do you guys get the Liahona? Well, you should for November because I might be in it! After conference we were walking around the temple grounds when a man came up and offered to take our picture for the Liahona! Haha sick huh! And we had to sign all these contracts and everything! So hopefully I am! That would be so cool! It was weird too after priesthood session to not go out and eat with the boys and Dad and eat at Chile's. But then I thought, Hey, I'm actually in Chile! haha It was funny! Or at least for me! Haha! Thank you all for your insights on general conference!
So, yea, the reason I didn't have p-day last week was because I was traveling to the mission office! woo hoo! And Dad just for your information, it took about 50 minutes by bus from the temple to the mission office. There we just had a bunch of orientation from the assistants while President pulled us out one by one to have an interview and, yes everyone, I did follow Trevor's and Blake's example, of course, and told my President that I wanted to be the best missionary in the mission but in order to be that I would need the best trainer he has for me! And I think he really did give me the best trainer in the mission!! My trainer is Elder Contreras from Punta Arenas the southern part of Chile like down by Antarctica! Haha crazy! But he is amazing! We have only been together for a week and I already love him so much. His English is pretty good too so that helps a lot! We get a long just fine! And for Dad's information, President is awesome! He is really funny but also has such a strong testimony in the gospel. If you remember the movie Deck the Halls of Inspector Gadget. . .he looks like that actor haha it's funny! But who is also awesome too is his wife! I already feel like she has been my distant aunt or something my whole life! She is soooo kind and sweet! I love both of them!
Now onto my first week in the field! So yea as you guys know I am in Penaflor which is a really nice area or at least I think so--I'm not sure what the rest of the mission looks like. This place reminds me so much of Argentina and more specifically the neighborhood in one of Blake's areas where he got the phone from and with the two twin little girls. So hopefully that helps with an image of what I am living in. I think it might be a little nicer though! And our area is huge!!! We walk so much and I already have blisters and I am so grateful for that moleskin, Mom! But it really isn't that bad! My companion is the district leader in the area too and is very calm about things and has a super strong testimony in the gospel. It's crazy and awesome! I love it! He is going to ask president if we can have bikes because our area is so huge! Oh, yea, by the way I give mad props to you Blake! I seriously don't know how you survived your mission walking everyday with your ankle all messed up! You're such a stud! Haha Wednesday was my first official full day in the area! It is awesome! The schedule goes like this, we wake up at 7:30 and then exercise for half an hour then personal study at 9 and then companion study at 10 for two hours and then an hour of language study at 12. So basically the first half of my days are all studying, which I did not know missionaries studied that long! And since I am new I am doing the 12 week program where we come back to the pench in the afternoon and study the language again for an hour. It is a lot of studying, but I love it! I love learning more Spanish and even more about the gospel!! Elder Contreras is new to the area too so we are both trying to get used to everything since the area is huge!
We got a lot of referrals from the hermanas in our district which is awesome and we have a couple investigators right now but I will talk about them later! I want to talk about the people here! They are sooo nice! Yesterday was my first day in the ward and I got up and introduced myself in the ward and they are all so very loving. It is sad that the missionaries in the United States are not this central in the wards and stakes! Here everyone knows the missionaries and talks with them! It helps so much! We have gained a lot of referrals from the members already in the ward! And every day we have a sister in the ward that makes us lunch, so you don't have to worry, Mom, I am getting fed every single day! It is awesome! And the food is great! We just have a lot of chicken, meat with potatoes and rice! And bread!! A ton of bread! Haha it is sooo good! Haha but I am watching myself because I do not want to get fat! That's like my number one fear! Oh, random thought . . .Dad could you tell Brandon that I am sorry for not writing him to give some insights for his talk. Just let him know that I already knew he was going to give a great talk anyway and wish him the best for me!
The weather here is not much different from home. It feels like another August day in Arizona. So it is very normal for me for it to be bright, hot, and sunny all day but my companion hates it since he lives down by Antarctica! haha! It's funny! Oh, and for an update about the language! I haven't really had any problems with the language! I know I am not making sense and I don't know a lot and still have a lot of room for improvement, but I can understand usually the main ideas of what everyone is saying or when they are talking to me and I can talk really well. All the rest of the missionaries are super surprised that I know so much and some said they were jealous and wish that they could have known this much Spanish when they entered the field. And I'm sure my companion loves it too. There are a few times when I don't understand him, but then he just says it in English. So, yea, I am not that worried about the language. I am doing great in the lessons and I even teach most of the lessons sometimes or I start and lead the conversations when we are out talking with people. My companion has already taught me a lot and we try to talk to every single person that we see! It is awesome! He is a great example to me and I carry this little notebook around and whenever there is a word I don't now I write it down. Also the people here are very accepting! It's awesome! We have figured out that the best way to have people start trusting us is by talking about our families and showing them a picture. So I show every single person we talk to everyday, which is a lot, your guys' picture! Haha! They all think that we are all twins because we look so much alike haha!
Thursday we had district meeting which Eler Contreras lead and that was my first time getting to know all the elders in our district. There are three companionships of elders and two companionships of sisters in our district. They are all great! Oh, another random thought, guess what Mom?!! Every single meal that we have been fed they feed us ice cream! Haha It is sooo good! I am such a Dennis! Haha Also we had to go shopping for food and it was so stressful, another example that I'm Amy Cowan's son haha! But I got only what I really needed. It was a little difficult because here they have a medium size breakfast and then a huge lunch and then we don't get back into the pench till 10:30 so we eat a tiny little thing before we go to bed. But I have already adjusted! Oh, by the way, Mom, my ears are fine and my knees haven't had any problems.
Okay, now onto our investigators! We have one with a baptism date! But we haven't even met her yet! Haha! It's because the hermanas have been teaching her and our area is new because they changed some of the boundaries around and she fell in our area! But our next investigator is Felip! He is 15 years old and at first kinda looks like an emo punk rock kid. He has really long hair and always wears black, but he is actually really kind and shy. I love him! He is great! He and I get a long great! We still have to teach him a bit more and the family isn't really supportive with him listening to the missionaries but we are praying that will change. Our other investigator is Margarita another reference from the hermans. We met with her the first time and she is very nice! She had a son that went on a mission and she has a hard time believing in a living modern day profeta, but we are helping her with that. And Rodrigo who is the husband of a less active women. He is very Catholic but we focused this past week in our lessons about how everything relates to Jesus Christ. We are having him highlight every time Christ is mentioned in the Bible! That should spark some interest, hopefully! Okay, I have to go! I will try to send some pictures! I am loving the field! I got sunburned today and my feet hurt and I come home exhausted every single night, but I know that I am doing the Lord's work and it's awesome!!
Thanks for updating me about Blaze and, hopefully, he will be okay and that's crazy that you just left and went to Utah, Mom! Haha! And Dad I am glad your meetings went well and thank you for your advice. Trevor and Kiersten have fun with tests! And that's awesome about the internship! Blake. . . I love hearing about this girl! Haha! I want to met her so bad!! Haha but from what everyone has said and how happy you are in your letters she seems pretty dang awesome! Can you let her know that I say hi and that I approve haha! I wish you all the best this week! Mom and Dad, good luck with the general authority coming! I'm sure it will be a great experience! I love you all soooo much!!!!! Have a great week! Thank you for all the prayers!
Love,
Elder Cowan
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