Filled with the Spirit

Dear Family and Friends!

Yes, I labeled this letter "Filled with the Spirit" because as I have been on my mission for the past 7 months one of the greatest blessings I have learned on my mission is being able to recognize the promptings of the Spirit. I have been pondering a lot on the gift of the Holy Ghost and really it's the coolest thing ever! It is evidence of the love that our Heavenly Father has for all of us, that he lets us have His spirit to be with us during this time of probation here on the earth! What a blessing! I have no idea what I would do if I didn't have this gift! I have had a heart of gratitude for my Savior to let me have this miracle and blessing in my life. I had a few different experiences this week where I recognized the promptings of the Spirit and followed through with them.

First off, was the story I shared last week where I had the impression to talk to the group of young adults in the park. There we basically taught the Restoration and now we have 5 new investigators. There are a couple of different experiences I would like to share with you guys this week that were really similar.

But to start off, Wednesday we had our first district meeting for this transfer and guess what?! There are now hermanas in our zone! Normally because our zone is the most dangerous, there have never been hermanas in this zone. But President called 2 companionships of hermanas here in Ochagavia! That's a good sign! Ha ha! And really we have a whole new zone. Before there were a few lazy disobedient missionaries but now we have a new zone with a lot of new excitement to work! It is awesome! Normally, our zone is always last in everything and usually is the ´´curse of the mission´´ but now we are on top leading the mission! Woo hoo!! Comes to proof that obedience and hard work pays off! It was also cool because the assistants were there and one of the assistants came up to me and started to ask me how our sector was and how was the ward Clara Estrella. I told him we are doing great and progressing really well. He then told me that he, the other assistants and President love talking about ´´The Clara Estrella 4!´´ Ha ha, Elder Hatch, Elder Gamboa, Elder Alcaraz and me! Ha ha. He told us that during meetings and especially during the time when they were deciding what they should do with the transfers coming up that they loved talking about us. Ha ha, so that made me feel good! But I don't want to be prideful because I know we are raising this ward so much!!! But I know even more that it's not because of us! It's because the Spirit is working in the hearts of the leaders and members here to help us. It is the Spirit that makes the conversion of our investigators and it's the Spirit that helps our converts to keep wanting more with the church. The Holy Ghost is the best! I am so grateful for it!

This week we gained a lot of trust from the bishop. After the district meeting we had lunch with the bishop and he has changed SO much! He has so much confidence in us and it is awesome! He is a completely different person from when I showed up here! We shared with him all the changes that are happening in the ward and all the miracles we are seeing. After helping him see these great blessings in the ward and sector, he was very grateful for us and for all that we do. I then shared with him our vision that we have with the ward and how that maybe we are receiving a lot of blessings and miracles, but we can do more! I shared with him that our vision for this ward is to open the back curtains and have the seats filled! We have about 90 people attending now and it is awesome! It is double the amount we had when I showed up the first Sunday with only 30 people. It is a miracle. I shared with him that the meeting is filled and we are so close to have the curtains open and have more people.

He expressed with us that he has the same vision of the ward and expressed his gratitude for us. He told us that he is going to write our president and to ask for us to not leave this sector, ha ha! But then he got really serious and really expressed his love for all that we are doing. He shared with us that in December he had no counselors and the ward was horrible. There was a lot of problems and he felt so alone as a new bishop. He had no idea what he should do and decided to pray. . . after sharing that story with us he then pulled out a small wrinkly paper and showed us that after that prayer he wrote down the prayer. He then read the prayer out loud to us and it was a very humble and sincere prayer. Near the end of the prayer, with tears in his eyes, he finished the prayer in which he prayed that Heavenly Father would send angles to help him with this ward. He then continued to tell us that in the next month, Elder Hatch and I arrived, and at this point we all had tears in our eyes, and he testified to us that we are those angles he had asked for. It was such a powerful moment for us, and I don't think I will ever forget that moment. The Spirit was so strong and I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father that He gave the revelation to President to send us here. We are changing this ward completely and it is a miracle! I know God is a God of miracles. He is mindful of our needs and knows what is best!

Thursday was a little awkward. We had a lesson with Hugo and Teresa. Hugo is going to be our future ward mission leader, but his wife is still less active. She is always hard to teach because she never has any excitement and is always droopy. We started teaching a lesson with them but right when I finished talking about the first principle in the lesson it was as if the Spirit hit me with a 2X4 in the face and told me that this wasn't the lesson for her. I immediately followed through with the lesson plan and decided to ask her some questions to really look for her needs. I can testify that those questions were from inspiration. I don't even remember what I asked her, but she then just broke down and started to cry. She shared with us that she has no hope, no strength to continue on. She is tired of this life and is waiting to die. . . I felt so much of the love that Heavenly Father has for this poor daughter of His. It was devastating to see her broken down with no faith or hope.

However, after sharing with us, in one way or another, Hugo and Teresa started to argue. I am not even sure how the argument started, but I knew that Satan was trying his best for us to not help them. It was a little awkward to just sit there while they were mad at each other. My companion got in the argument to try to help calm things down, but it really just made things worse. While this was going on, I bowed my head and whispered a tiny prayer for help of what I should say to them. I was at a loss of words of what I should do. Right then, I had a thought come to my mind of two scriptures, D&C 84:85 and 33:8. I knew that was a prompting from the Spirit to tell me to just open my mouth, so I followed through. I began to talk and after settling down to listen to me I felt the Spirit overwhelming! I can't even describe it and I don't even know what I said. I know that I was following the Spirit and the Spirit was caring it into their hearts. I even surprised myself with what I actually said in Spanish. There were a few things that I didn't even know beforehand. It was a testimony to me that the Spirit will fill our mouth and mind of what we should say. Following the Spirit is sooo critical.

Before Teresa was angry that she does everything in the house and does everything for everyone, but no one ever recognizes or helps her. I then testified of our Savior Jesus Christ. I testified following the Spirit that He did EVERYTHING! And for what? Just for people to kill him? NO!! He did EVERYTHING for us in able for us to continue on everyday with His love and with His light in our lives! I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ! I know He lives! I know He loves us so much!  Mom, I am sorry for all the times that I never helped you around the house. I know at times you would tell us that no one ever helps you, and for that I am truly and deeply sorry! Please forgive me and I will for sure help you after the mission! :)

Friday and Saturday were a little lame because we had to enter the house early because it was the anniversary of a riot that went on last year where the people tried burning all public buses with people inside. So for safety President wanted all all the missionaries to enter at 8. So we didn't really get much done those days.

But that's what I would like to share with you guys this week! Yesterday and today I have had a cold and all my sinuses seemed inflamed. Winter is approaching and it's starting to get chilly. But I know I will get better soon!

Thanks for everything! I have the best friends and family in the world! Follow the Spirit! It will guide you to do what is right! Our Savior loves us so much and He has a plan specifically for us that we can follow as long as we have the Spirit with us each step on the way! 

Love you all!!!

Elder Cowan

Working with Members

Dear Family,

Wow, it was great to hear from all of you! And it was great to see the pictures from your adventure Mom and Dad! I am a little jealous! Ha ha naahhh, who am I kidding?! You guys should be the ones that are jealous! Because I'm in paradise over here serving the Lord! I love my mission so much!

Okay, onto my weekly letter! Well, first off it started off a little scary because last Monday on the news they were reporting a big earthquake to happen Wednesday, but that it could happen any day during the week. So that scared us a little and our district leader called us to tell us to prepare 72 hour emergency kits just for safety. So we got everything prepared and were ready! We continued on with the day and week just waiting. About every house we stopped by they were all watching the news and everyone was telling us to be careful this week with the predicted earthquake. My companion has experienced a couple earthquakes before and he told me some of the signs of when an earthquake will happen and how we can recognize the signs with the weather and everything. One thing that he told me and other members is that when they know a earthquake is about to happen they will cut all the lights in the city for more safety. So! with this knowledge I felt pretty prepared and we continued on with the week until we got to Tuesday in the night . . .we were walking and then . . . pow! All the lights in our city went out!!!! I thought it was the same sign that my companion taught me so I started freaking out a little bit and was squeezing my companion and asking him over and over what we should do!! Ha ha, but it's okay everyone! It was a false alarm! Ha ha, the lights went out because the police were looking for someone and there was a helicopter going around looking and using night vision to look for the people! so yea! You could say I had a bit of a panic attack! But it's alright! Ha ha, but since they cut the lights we couldn't work anymore so we were in the church the whole night basically.

Now onto to our lessons! Monday we taught the family Basso who are less actives that we found working with the registry of members and we were trying to teach them about the Restoration, but their daughter was really obnoxious and loud and it was hard to teach with the Spirit. But we had an awesome experience! Right when my companion started to recite the words of the First Vision it went completely silent! Everyone was paying attention and was listening. Right when he started with the First Vision if was as if we got hit by a brick wall by the Spirit! It was such a cool experience! I know that the Restoration happened! I know Joseph Smith prayed and restored the gospel! And I know the biggest and most powerful tool we have is the Book of Mormon and the First Vision! I know that Satan will try everything to distract people, but the power of the First Vision is unbreakable! I love the Restoration and the Book of Mormon!

Tuesday we did a lot of contacting trying to look for less actives. We have the list of members which is about 1000 and right now we only have 89 people attending. So there are a ton of less actives. That is probably one of the saddest things I see in my mission--to meet someone and to see that they have forgotten completely about this grand gospel that we have and how they came to know but they completely forgot and don't or can't recognize the spirit anymore in their lives. I know this mission isn't a high baptizing mission, but I love the opportunity to see someone come to recognize Jesus Christ and to feel the Spirit again in their lives!

Wednesday we had no lessons and it was a hard day. We are still struggling on finding new investigators so we decided to go visit the members. We visited and taught the presidencies of the Young Women, Young Men, Primary, and Relief Society. It was great to motivate them to work with us!" We received a lot of referrals that day! So that day and a little bit of Thursday were basically dedicated to the members!

Friday was another day with helping the members. There was an activity planned for Friday to have a ward dance, but the member in charge did not come prepared! He called us in the afternoon and we helped him the whole day prepare for the activity! At the end of the day I was exhausted!! We made about 1000 sandwiches and cooked a lot of meats and we decorated the church. It was great to be there with the other members and the strengthen our relationship with them! We all feel really comfortable with all our members now! And we have their trust!

Saturday was an awesome day because I finished the Book of Mormon this time. I completed the Book of Mormon another time in my first sector, but I was reading back and forth in English and Spanish. But Saturday I finished the Book of Mormon again, but this time completely in Spanish! It was incredible! I love the Book of Mormon soooo much! I know it is the word of God! It is incredible to me to know that we have such a loving Heavenly Father who lets us read and receive revelation throughout his holy scriptures! I know this gospel and the Book of Mormon are the word of God without a doubt!

Also, we had a district activity to watch the movie of the life of Thomas S. Monson with our investigators at our church! It was awesome!!!  

Yesterday was the highlight of the last week! I know we have been struggling with finding new investigators and so after the transfers meeting (which, no, I don't have transfers woo hoo) we returned to our sector and as we were walking in the street I was thinking about Preach My Gospel and about Chapter 9 on how to find new investigators and right then I got an impression in my mind of the title in the chapter of Talk with Everyone. I then looked around and to our left there was a group of 7 young adults about in their 20s. My first thought was to not talk with them because they are in their partying years and looked liked it too! But I knew that we had to talk with everyone! So after passing them I got the impression again and decided to follow through with it and we turned around and started to talk with them! And they were the most receptive contacts I have ever made in my mission!!! It was awesome! We basically taught all 7 of them the Restoration in the park. We started off just telling them that we are missionaries and we share a message about the Restoration of the Gospel. And then one of the women looked up and was really surprised and asked us, ´´what do you mean restored?´´ And from that point we taught them the Restoration and it was awesome! They were all listening and were all asking really great questions! 

And they told us that they don't have everyone in their ´´hangout group´´ with them at that point and that normally they all meet there at the park. We set an appointment with them for Friday and they are going to invite all their other friends too! It was a confirmation to my testimony to always, always, always!! listen to the still small voice! I know maybe that not all of them will continue with the lesson, but I know we will find at least one new investigators with them! I'm so excited! I know if we really listen to the Holy Ghost we can be guided to follow God's Plan! I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost in my life!

And another thing that happened Sunday was that we taught Javiera and her less active mom, Claudia. Every time we go over they are never really sure if they want to continue listening to us and we never really knew why. This time we were really direct with them to find out the why. And between our lessons their neighbors molest them and argue with them and try to convince them that the Mormons are bad and from the devil. They tried to changed their minds of what is most important. It is sad to know that people are so against this great and true Church. We reassured them that in the course of our lessons they will receive hard trials because they are becoming closer and closer to their Heavenly Father and that every time when someone is drawing closer to God, Satan wants you to go the opposite direction and will try everything to make it not possible. It was a great lesson! And normally we always have a hard time with Javiera to pray, but after explaining this and promising them a ton of blessings and raising their desire, we asked her to pray and she asked us, ´´When?´´ And my companion told her, "When you want to," which normally if you responded with that response they won't pray right then and there, but I know the spirit was strong and she just looked up with a smile and said, ´´okay right now, Dear Heavenly Father . . . . ´´ Ha ha, it was awesome to see her pray! She is progressing really well right now!

Also before I end my letter, I talked with the elders in Padre Hurtado and they gave me a letter from Valery, my golden investigator, and she wrote and told me that she is going to get baptized! She isn't going to tell her parents because they are really against it, but she knows it's the right way and she also said she is reading ´´Our Legacy´´ about the life of Joseph Smith and is reading in 2nd Nephi 23 right now in the Book of Mormon!!! She is awesome! I wrote president today to ask for permission to attend the baptism service! Let's hope and see!

Thanks for everything! I love you all! I am ready to start another transfer with my son! We are doing a ton of work and I love every minute of it!

Love,

Elder Cowan

Miracle Baptism

Dear Family!

Hooolllyyy cowww Mom and Dad! I know you guys won't read this letter for a week, but you guys are crazy!!! Ha ha, to just jump onto a cruise and get away! Ha ha, that is awesome! Both of you deserve it! I can't wait to hear all about it! 

Okay, I am sending this letter to all you bros because you all told me to send the family letter to you because Mom isn't here!  

But Mom and Dad missed out on a great letter!!! This week was a week of miracles! It was so awesome!! And it all started last Tuesday!!!

Tuesday we went to go visit Camila and Mara and teach them. My companion and I had been thinking of postponing the baptism date for Camila because she is really timid and we just thought she was only listening to us because of her mom. We weren't feeling so sure about her testimony because she is really timid and shy. But Tuesday we went and passed by to invite Mara to a meeting at the stake center with the stake presidency for all the recent converts in the stake. Camila decided to go with us and it was a really short meeting, barley 30 minutes at the most. But the stake president and his two counselors just simply shared their testimonies and shared about the importance of attending the temple and continuing in the gospel. I looked over and I could just tell that Camila and Mara were just eating it up! It was really short, but really powerful!

After the meeting we walked to their house to teach them a lesson. We taught lesson 3 and explained about the importance of baptism. She had a baptism date for this last Sunday and I asked her why she really wanted to be baptized. And after a long time of silence, she finally broke out of her shell and with a very humble quiet voice told us that she wanted to be baptized because she wanted to be happy like her mom and to have God more in her life. She went on to explain these two reasons and I was just taken back! I was so surprised that she was opening up and sharing all the reasons and all her feelings towards baptism!! It was awesome! It was a very great opportunity to see how the Spirit works differently in every person! 

After sharing her testimony basically we asked her if she still wanted to be baptized this Sunday and we told her that we haven't felt the date is right and that maybe she needs a little bit more time, but she looked up at us and yelled out, ´´No!´´ Sunday is the day! Ha ha, and we were just taken back from everything in that lesson! That night we called the district leader to let him know that we needed him to do a baptismal interview and he was just shocked and was so confused because we had just told him two days earlier that we were going to change the date of Camila. Ha ha! He could only do the interview Thursday so that meant we had to finish all the lessons Wednesday! Ha ha, it was pretty crazy, but basically we taught all of lesson 4 in 45 minutes! Ha ha, it was pretty impressive! Ha ha, and she was completely different in that lesson. She was really wanting to participate and learn all that she could. We told her that maybe we could teach her the last couple lessons right before the interview, but she just yelled out "No!" again and told us to continue! Ha ha, it was awesome!

So Thursday came around and we had the interview and she passed it with flying colors! And then we had ward council right after! But during the ward council we realized that we had to prepare a baptism in 3 days! And it was a good thing we were in the ward council because we were able to explain everything to the ward and they were all shocked that there was going to be a baptism in 3 days! Ha ha! Everything was a shocker this week! Ha ha! But the ward helped a ton! The ward is doing so much better and the leaders and members helped so much for the baptism! And this past Sunday we had 89 people assisting the sacrament meeting! It was awesome! Each week we are progressing more and more! I have the goal to hit 100! Woo hoo! And yesterday we finally received a ward mission leader!!!! Woo hoo! Por Fin!! Ha ha, we can now really help the work go along a lot faster with the ward! And the missionary leader is Hugo Gonzalez who I reactivated in the last transfer! How awesome it that!!! It is so cool to see him changed as a completely different person! I am so excited to work with him!

Friday we had a zone conference with President from 9 in the morning to 6 in the night!! Holy cow, was it long, but it was an awesome meeting! I love President soo much and I know he is called of  God!!! The next day Saturday we were offering tours at the church when we decided to start with a prayer to have people come and be interested in having tours. I gave the prayer and I have never prayed so specifically in my life! Ha ha, we started at 1:10 in the afternoon and we had to end at 2:15 to go to lunch. I am not even sure what happened during my prayer, but I prayed that Elder Hatch and his companion would find someone and have a tour of the church before 1:45 and that we would have a tour before 2:10. When I finished the prayer the other elders were all looking at me and were all shocked by the prayer and how specific it was. But I can testify that prayer works! We can receive revelation and answers when we pray in faith! We went out to go contacting  and we were talking with a lot of people and not really having a lot of success. That's when I looked back at the church and saw Elder Hatch with the biggest smile on his face with someone who wanted to have a tour. I hurried and looked at my watch and it was 1:42!!!!! Ha ha, and then after that it motivated us to find someone, but we were not finding anyone. Actually there was no one around! We were looking for people when we looked at the time and it was 2:05. We hurried and offered a small prayer again to let us have one tour. And right when we ended the prayer I looked up and there was Elder Hatch with two people. He was waving at us to come in and we went over to find out that it was a less active that we know and one of her friends. And they wanted a tour but asked Elder Hatch specifically for us to give the tour! It was an answer to our prayers! It was such a testimony builder for me! 

And then Sunday came around! And that is when we had the baptism! And it was my first baptism!!! I know Mara was technically my first baptism, but Camila was the first person I have actually baptized! It was such a great experience! The members helped out so much and the service went great! I remembered all the words and her name and it was such a special and touching moment for me to be able to baptize her and to see the big smile on her face! I know baptism is the first covenant we make with our loving Heavenly Father! I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to help others come unto Christ through baptism. And most importantly, I am grateful to help a family be eternal! Mara was so happy to see her daughter get baptized! The spirit was so strong and I don't think I will ever forget that moment! I love my mission so much! Thanks for everything you guys do for me! And for all your examples and for all the love you have shown me! I love my mission and my Savior Jesus Christ! This is the best!!!

Love you all so much!!!

Love,

Elder Cowan

Power & Authority

Dear Family and Friends,

Alright, I am at that point in my mission where I am forgetting English completely, ha ha, so I labeled this week Power and Athourity, but I don't think I spelled athourity right or no se! Ha ha, it just looks different and weird in English! Ha ha! 

This week was a crazy week of earthquakes too! There were so many tiny earthquakes this week! It was pretty cool, to tell the truth! Ha ha! Thursday was a little scary, though! We were all sleeping when there was an earthquake with a rating of a 5 (which is the highest I have ever felt in my mission) at 1 in the morning. We woke up and the whole house was shaking and rocking and it was a little scary. It felt as if a huge airplane was flying exactly above us! It lasted for about two minutes and it was all good! But we were all surprised at it and were all thinking, ´´did that really just happen?´´ We had a funny short conversation after it happened because we were all so tired, it went kinda like this:

Me: Woa Elder, did that really just happen?

Alcaraz: Yea, I think it really did.

Me: sweet. . .

Alcaraz. . .yea right?

Ha ha and then we fell asleep! Ha ha. I think the next time we need to be a little more aware and cautious of earthquake, but everything is all good! No need to worry!

But today was awesome! You know why!!!!!??? We went to the mall this week to do our shopping and right when I was entering the store guess who I saw?!!!!!! Valerie!!!! From Padre Hurtado! The golden investigator from my 1st sector! I was SOOOO happy!! I have no idea why she was here, but it doesn't matter! She is doing great! And she is the best! I got to see her son Bastian and, awww, It was the best! She isn't baptized yet, but she is attending church and is reading the Book of Mormon and the Liahona everyday!!! She is awesome! It made my day! But, yes Mom, I forgot to take a picture! Ha ha. Sorry! But it's okay!

Anyway!!! Onto my week real quick! Let's start with Javiera, who was an investigator from a less active that we found in the past week. The first two lessons went super well and she was super interested! But then on Tuesday we went by to visit her and she didn't want a single thing with us. It was really strange and we have no idea what happened. She has a baptism date and we were nervous that we lost such a prepared investigator! But we just decided to let some time pass and to see how she was in a few days. We passed by again on Friday and she was all normal and ready to listen to the lesson! We were so confused! Ha ha, but I know it is an answer to our prayers because we have been praying that we wouldn't lose her. Friday, in the lesson with her, we decided to watch the movie, "How to Find Faith in Jesus Christ." But we had a little bit of a problem. . . they don't have a remote so when we got there we couldn't change the movie to Spanish, but Javiera, Claudia (her mom who is less active) and the two little brothers all really wanted to watch the movie and begged us to watch it anyways. I told them that they wouldn't understand a thing but they asked me if I could translate for them. . .  And let me tell you that I know the gift of tongues is real! I translated the whole movie while we were watching it and I just couldn't believe that the words were just all coming out of my mouth! I got a little teary eyed in the movie because, well, for two things, because the movie is a really powerful movie about the life of our Savior, but at the same time because I realized how much I have progressed in my mission and I couldn't believe that I was able to translate the whole movie for them and for all of them to still feel the spirit! It was such a testimony builder to me!

This week was a little difficult for us. We realized that we don't have hardly anyone progressing and we actually decided to drop about 3/4 of all our investigators. We went to about 15 other investigators to just now 4. We went from having 6 baptism dates to now just 1. But I am not discouraged at all. I know a lot of them were really great people, but they just didn't have the desire to really progress in the gospel. We realized that everyday we were passing and visiting the same people who wouldn't really let us in to teach. So we "killed" them all--in missionary language! Ha ha! We need a big new group of new investigators that the Lord is preparing right now for us. That is our goal this next week--to search, find, teach and to put fechas!!! It will be hard this next week, I know, but at the same time I know the Lord is preparing people who are thirsty for this gospel in their lives and for their families! We will have to do a lot of time in the sun, contacting and knocking doors! But I know we will find people! We just need to be diligent and we will find them!

Wednesday there was another tiny miracle where we went to the bishopric meeting and we now have a full bishopric with a bishop, and two counselors and a secretary! Aww! I have no idea why this week, but this letter is really hard to write! I just can't remember anything in English and it's cool and also really weird! So sorry for all the errors! But back to all the changes in the ward. This ward is changing so much! We had 84 in the meeting sacrament yesterday. 15 less actives attending (including the mama de Javiera) and we had 14 priesthood holders in elders quorum, which is the most we have EVER had in this ward! Woo hoo!

We are helping change the ward so much, but the problem we are having is that the members themselves aren't seeing these changes and are still bagging on the ward and the leaders and still think that there is no hope for the ward and that the ward is really crappy. But it is changing so much! They are just all negative! We had lunch with some members yesterday where the entire time they just talked bad about the ward and the leaders and how they wished they were in a different ward. My companion and I couldn't take it anymore, so we got a little in their faces and testified to them that if they really wanted to be a member in this world wide church they better accept the Restoration. And if they really believe in the Restoration then they should believe that there is only one Church! And when people want to change wards or change where they live, they are participating in Apostasy because they themselves are creating ´´two different churches.´´ 

That is part of the reason I named this week Power and Authority because I have come to be really direct with people. Never have I been so direct and bold with people in my life! I know it is because I have been set apart as a representative of Jesus Christ with His power and priesthood to declare His gospel and repentance to these people. There is a phrase that maybe Blake and Dad know in Spanish, it's ´´Bajar la caña´´ which is a term used to really bluntly and boldly declare what your really want to say. We bajamos la caña todo this week! With all the investigators that we dropped this past week, I bore my last testimony to them with all the power that I have to help them realize that they are missing out on the most important thing in their lives! 

We have been really light on our investigators that have baptism dates because we didn't want to lose them, but really they aren't progressing and none of them are attending church so my companion and I were really direct with all of them and they all were taken back of how direct we were with them. But this is the work of Salvation! This is the bring to pass the immortality and ETERNAL LIFE of men!!! This isn't just a game or to just pass the time with the missionaries! I don't want to waste any of my time in my mission with people that aren't willing to follow their Savior! What's more important is to help the people that actually want to accept Him in their lives! And for that reason we have been really bold and direct and have taught with all the power and authority that we have! We lost a lot, and it is sad, but the time in the mission is sacred, and there are others waiting for us! I know it! We will find those this week! I know it!

I don't have anymore time! Please pray for us to find a lot of new prepared investigators this week! I am really pumped for who we will find! Thank you all for the letters! This week I received letters from everyone in the family and I feel so loved from you guys! I have the best family in the world! Thank you so much for everything you have done in my life! I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Love you all so much!!!

Elder Cowan

Teach People Not Lessons

Dear Family and Friends,

It was all so great to hear from all of you! Congrats to Mom and Dad doing the 10K! Woo hoo! Yea! And lucky ducks! You guys got rain :/ I have been dying in the hot here ha ha! And wow!!!!! Dave and Kelly are really moving!!!!! That is so exciting but at the same time it is so sad to say goodbye to the Macdonald mansion and the Washington berries! Ha ha! And I had no idea that Trevor and Kiersten are going to Boston! What the??? Thanks for the update fam!! Ha ha, just kidding! 

Alright onto my week! This week we had a lot of meetings and other things so it was a bad week for numbers, but at the same time I have really come to learn more about the power of humility. A lot of times this week we were losing a lot of appointments and I was so worried that we weren't going to have great "numbers" for the week. I was getting all stressed out when it just hit me on Saturday that it doesn't matter; we are trying our best and the Lord will provide for the rest! I had to really humble myself and not just go from appointment to appointment just to check it off. I realized more this past week that God has a plan for everything and it is so precise and to the dot! It's crazy how planned out He has it all for us!

And before I begin, yes, I did hit 6 months and I hate it!! Ha ha, I don't want this mission to ever end! Okay, to really quickly explain my week: Tuesday we had a service to do for a hermana who told us that we just need to come to move some clothes and a bed to another hermana.  But she didn't tell us how much clothes and how big the bed was, ha ha. We thought we could get it all done before lunch so we went over with our normal white shirts and ties and then we found a HUGE bag of clothes. Really, I never knew that they made that big of bags before! It was up to my chin and it was thicker then two of us! Ha ha, it was weighed A TON!! And the bed was the frame and all and was a queen bed!! And then she told us that we had to take it to a hermana that lives of the other end of our sector :0!!! ha ha, aww man!  So we each took a corner of the bed frame, threw the heavy bag of clothes of top and started marching to the hermana's house, aww man, it destroyed our shoulders! But the hermana that we gave it to has been struggling a lot and it was so great to see the joy in the eyes of the kids that hardly have anything. I love serving!!!!

As well, on Tuesday we passed by and visited with Alejandro who the last lesson we had with him ended really bad and he felt like God doesn't love him and he is super confused why God permits suffering. We were having a really hard time planning a lesson for him and that is when we read in Preach my Gospel about adapting the lesson to the needs of the person. That was another great experience and a humbling experience for me to not just teach people the four lessons before baptism, but to really teach FOR them and not TO them. We went into the lesson without a game plan and we just had the goal to listen and to ask inspired questions. We just took one question at a time that Alejandro had and helped him to really understand and to help him know the "why" in the gospel. It was an awesome lesson. I know that inspired questions is the way to find the needs of the people. It really makes them open up and really think. After listening and asking for a while, he finally shared with us a dream that he had where is was really sad, but in the dream he saw his grandpa and he touched his shoulder and was wearing just normal clothes. Then in the dream it changed again and his grandpa was in white and the happiest as he could be. It was a powerful dream. We  were able to share with him that this was an experience that proves that God loves him and is with his grandpa. Even though he personally suffered when his grandpa passed away, he has the chance to help his grandpa to literally be in white and to be as happy as he can be and that is through the gospel. It was a very powerful lesson! I know that each and every one of these people I am teaching have problems and doubts, but I know that the Savior and His gospel can help everyone as long as we help them and listen.

Wednesday was an interesting day, one of our investigators, Israel and Kevin kept calling us  during our district meeting and we were so confused of why they wanted to talk with us so badly. We finally called them after the meeting and they told us that they wanted to meet with us at 7 at our church and then hung up! Ha ha but Elder Alcaraz and I were really excited because we thought they might have received an answer or wanted to really progress in the gospel.. . . but ohhh were we wrong!!! Ha ha, we were waiting at the church when Israel and Kevin with two of their friends showed up. . .. all with their Bibles. . . .ha ha ha. Oh, and at that point I was just a little upset that this was the reason they wanted to meet, just to Bible bash. But as we did in the lesson with Alejandro we just listened. I thought of the the phrase,"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" because I was a little upset and I wanted to prove them wrong, but I knew that wouldn't do any good and would not definitely invite the spirit, so I just sat and listened. That is when my machine of a companion went and started asking them questions and maintained the appointment in an orderly manner. Ha ha, it was really a waste of time and they were just shocked that we weren't arguing with them. They are Adventists and I am almost positive that they were sent to battle with us because their preacher told them to do it. But we just testified of everything and responded to every single thing using the Book of Mormon, which is the big problem with them. We will probably have to not visit with them anymore. It's sad to see that their spiritual eyes are soo blinded from the truth, but I know and am so grateful for the restoration of the gospel. Because of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, we have EVERYTHING! Everything for salvation--joy, happiness, help! Todo! I know the gospel is restored and I am so grateful for it!

Thursday there was a meeting for the new missionaries in the field so we had to go to Maipu for the meeting at the mission office. They told us it would go from 10 to 1, but it ended going from 10 to 6 at night. . . so basically we had no lessons or anything that day. It was still a really good meeting. It was the exact meeting the assistants gave for my group when we were new in the field. I felt so weird and old. We all had interviews with Presidente and in my interview it was a very special moment. I know my president is called of God! He shared a scripture with me and then we started to talk about how I hit my 6 months and I just shared with him that it's not something to congratulate and shared with him how much my mission means to me and how this is the best time in my life right now and I don't want it to end. As I was testifying about the mission, I couldn't help but to burst into tears for the joy in the mission. We both ended the meeting crying. This mission means EVERYTHING to me!!! 

Friday we had our planning for the week, which was a couple of hours, and then after we taught English class, so once again another day with no work. But then Saturday was AWESOME!! We had a conference with Elder David F. Evans from the seventy who is the head director of Missionary work and it was with all 4 missions in Santiago! So I got to see all my good buddies form the CCM like Elder Ogden and also some good buddies from Mesa!!! Elder Isaac Strong and Elder Joe Sherman!!!!! Wooo hooo!! It was so awesome! Elder Strong is in Santiago East and Elder Sherman is in Santiago North! It was awesome to see them!

For this conference we woke up at 4 in the morning because I knew there would be a ton of missionaries and I wanted to get good seats . . . and we got really good seats right in front! It was awesome! Elder Evans talked for 4 hours about missionary work and about the Doctrine of Christ! I learned soo many things and I wished I could share it all with you, but mostly he talked about how missionaries aren't to just baptize, but to strengthen the ward where they serve. It changed my mindset completely on a lot of different things! After the meeting, Elder Alcaraz and I were soo pumped! The Lord is truly hastening His work. The time is close, we need to prepare now!! It is such a privilege to serve during this time of the Lord really hastening His work because I know the "field is white and ready for harvest." This is the last time the Lord is hastening His work! We have his gospel in our lives, but there are millions who still don't know and that's why we are here! All of us! To all work in the work! It saddens my heart to know that there are soo many people that don't have this gospel in their lives! Please! To all that our reading this! Share the gospel! And to those who aren't members who are reading this, go to the missionaries!!!! IF you want all the blessing and happiness that this world has provided for you, it is in this gospel!!! Really it's just the obvious and smart thing to do!!! If you think you have other things to do that our more important, change your mindset and get on your knees till you have the desire!! Because this work is about the salvation and eternal life of our brothers and sisters!!! This is the most important thing!!!!  And if you don't agree with me, I would love to talk with you face to face and to help you to see why what I am saying is true!!! Get that all in your heads!

Alright, I'm sorry for the rant! I get a little too pumped up sometimes when I talk about missionary work! I know this gospel is true without a doubt. I know Jesus Christ LIVES! He is always with us! He answers prayers; He wants the best for us and He loves us! This is His gospel! I know if we are obedient to his commandments we can receive true happiness in this life and eternal life in the life to come! I love my Savior and this Gospel. I love the Book of Mormon and I know it is the key to all of our questions and doubts and problems we have in this life! I love you all so much! I wish and pray for the best! Have a great week!!!

Love,

Elder Cowan