The Faith

Dear Family and Friends,

Ohh wow! This last week was incredible! Really what made it the best was yesterday at the transfer meeting. Just to let everyone know Elder Alcaraz and I are still together! Woo hooo! And the other two elders didn't have any changes as well! There are soo many things happening in our mission right now! You can really tell that the Lord is hastening His work a lot right now!! It's such a blessing to serve at this time of life!

Some of the big changes in this new pilot plan that we are testing out is to focus more on the less actives! It is sweet! We have a goal from the Seventy that we have to increase the sacrament meeting attendance by 20% next month! And we are going to do it! Woo hoo! It will be awesome! I love working hard! It is the best! And another thing is that President changed all of his leaders in the mission around. Basically he lowered all his assistants to be zone leaders and the zone leaders to be district leaders to basically "divide and conquer" the mission and not to just keep them doing the same thing. And for the strong leaders to really make this mission work! I love it! Our zone leaders are two of the assistants and they are studs! I know we are going to have so much success these next two months! President said yesterday that these next two months are the most important months of our mission in all history!!!! Wow! We have a lot to do but yesterday President talked about the faith and I have never realized the huge role that faith has in our lives! I am so pumped up right now and feel my faith has increased ten fold! Seriously, after the meeting yesterday, I was just on a spiritual high! I felt like Goku in Super Sayan 3 ha ha ha! Ha ha, and I don't know how to describe it! I just KNOW! I just know we are going to have so much success! Elder Alcaraz and I are dedicated to give it our all this transfer and to be 100% obedient and to never lose the excitement! We are so pumped up right now, it is awesome!

We also had another meeting with another seventy! I hope you guys realized that President has felt to talk with us, Elder Gonzalez from the last week from the seventy and now this past week we got to hear from Elder Di Giovanni! Another seventy! I'm pretty sure that's a sign that the missionary work is hastening! Now is the time! Just as the scripture says in DyC I think it is in 84 or 88 but it says something like this in English, ´´I will hasten my work in its time´´ and from what the prophet has said before. Now is the time!!!! Aww it is so awesome to be a missionary right now!!! Woo hoo! But the meeting with Elder Di Giovanni was awesome! Seriously! I have had a lot of questions that I made on a list for General Conference, but they all didn't get answered or at least I didn't feel like they did. But with Elder Di Giovanni it was as if he went exactly in order of my question, ha ha, it was incredible how specific it was for me! I loved it! Just another testimony to me of how Heavenly Father always answers! In one way or another! In the meeting Di Giovanni really talked about conversion and how to be a better missionary and the power of the setting apart as a missionary! I know I am set apart as a representive of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I have the power with me! And I only have it for 16 more months and I better use it all because I know if I return home (which I never want to :) ) I don't want to have anything at the end! I want to give it my all!!!

Talking about conversion. . . that was the only problem we had this week with Camila. I feel really bad, but to tell the truth, she just isn't converted to the gospel. She doesn't have a testimony and after being really direct with her Sunday night she told us straight up that she has never felt or received anything in her prayers. I then asked her why she got baptized and she got up and left and we have lost contact with them now. I am really worried. And I feel bad that I was the one that baptized her when she wasn't ready. Well, I didn't know she wasn't ready, she just lied in the baptism interview for a secret reason that Elder Alcaraz and I have no idea. Please please pray for her! I think that is another reason why I stayed here in this sector to help her one last time to be converted completely to the gospel. 

But on a brighter note! We opened the curtains Sunday!! Woo hoo! Two Sundays ago we hit 101 in the attendance of the sacrament meeting! How incredible! So we opened the curtains and we put chairs out! Only about 5 of them got filled, but in time and with the faith I know they will be filled. The bishop came and looked at the chairs and had a look of surprise and asked us if we were having a stake conference or something and he started to doubt us. . . I simply went up to him, put my hand on his shoulder and asked him, ´´Do you have faith´´ then smiled and continued to put more chairs out, ha ha. He then thanked me for the chance I have to be here for another transfer. The bishop has changed so much! He is a stud!

But I don't have anymore time! I do want to wish DAD FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE THE BEST DAD IN THE WORLD AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!

There's a lot of new changes that our passing in the mission right now and a lot of enthusiasm to work! Lets get it done! I know that Heavenly Father is preparing the coming of His Son! The time is coming and we all need to be ready! And yet there are still millions who don't know this great blessing of the restored gospel! Every time I think about that it just drives me to work harder! I am so grateful for Mom and Dad who always taught me how to work hard! It is now coming into practice! I realized that my past 8 months I haven't given it COMPLETELY my all! But now is the time! I can do it! And I will do it! The month of May will be awesome! A lot of success, a lot of reactivation and my birthday and I will be able to celebrate the birthday of Alcaraz before the transfer ends which is in the first week of June, like the 5th. And much much more! It will be awesome!

Oh! I just thought I would finish with a funny story . . . last Tuesday we had divisions and we were at a less actives house eating when we heard a noise . . . we looked around and saw a rat! Ha ha, he chased it and chased it and then finally the brother in the family got a rod iron stick and basically timed it perfect and did a gold swing and splattered it onto the wall, ha ha! It was so weird! But we returned to finish eating when I saw another rat in the kitchen. This little guy was a little trickster! Ha ha, after a lot of time we finally corned it and then the brother started to gab at it to kill it, but I have to give this rat some props because he was dodging every blow, ha ha, it was pretty impressive I'm not gonna lie! Ha ha but then he yelled out at me to get a broom to help him. So I did and then while the rat was dodging his blows he yelled out “Elder Cowan slay it, slay it!” ha ha, so I went at him and right when we was dodging the iron rod I gabbed him in the head and knocked him out, ha ha, and then the brother stabbed it . . . I feel a little bad, but IT was crazy! We actually found 4 rats in this house and we killed 2! Ha ha, ohh the crazy things you can find in Chile! HA ha!

I love you guys so much and I am SOO  excited to talk to you guys next Sunday!!! Woo hoo! I can't believe the time has already flown by! Can't wait to talk to you all! I love you!!!

Elder Cowan