Persistence Pays Off! Greenie Power!

Dear Familia y Amigos!!!

Aww can I just say that I love every single one of you!!!! Woo hoo! Ustedes son bacan!! :) Ha ha! This week was just another great week in the mission and there is not a single thing I can complain about! This week was just awesome!!! I love my mission so much and there is never a reason to be sad out here! Elder Kimball and I are both so excited all the time and we just feed off of each other, it's awesome! I can just feel the power and potencial in our companionship! I can really say that President does assigns these companionships from heaven above! :)

Well, first off I just want to thank the Holt family for their package that they sent! Woo hoo! You guys are the best!!! Even though you guys sent it for Christmas and it just got here! Ha ha, yep, that's right! I got mail last week in the district meeting and I was soo excited to get your guys package but then when I started reading all your guys notes and shouts out to have a Merry Christmas I was a little confused. I then looked on the back of the mail and yep! You guys sent it on time . . . but it just took a little over 6 months to get here ha ha ha! Ohh Chillee . . .whata ya gonna do :) Ha ha! But that normally doesn't happen, ha ha, but it's possible so if any of you have written me a letter (which I know some of you reading this promised to hint hint ;) ha ha) I am not in charge of when it gets to me, ha ha! But don't worry, Mom, with your packages I've never had a problem! But thank you sooo much Sister and Brother Holt, Nathan, Katie, Anna, Megan and Rachael!

Bueno! So this week was awesome as I said before! I had another district meeting and a class I had to teach my district and I decided to talk about forgetting ourselves in the work and the Law of Consecration which are my two favorite things to learn about in the mission! Ha ha. I have really come to learn that if we want to achieve any form of success it's through obtaining those Christ like Attributes. For example, if you found a lot of new investigators that's because your strengthen and work in faith, if you had a good personal study then that's you using your diligence and knowledge, and if you have baptisms that's because your obediente, etc!! So that has been my main focus right now because I know if we want anything to do with the Lords work, we have to be like Him to do His work! It's that simple!!!

And, yes, everyone, Chile did lose in the World Cup. . . .tear tear. ..  it is sad, but as missionaries we are glad because that means we don't have to be in the house for all the games and the people are going to be more receptive to talk to us and for us to teach! So yea spiritual blessings ha ha! Chile lost this last week and basically the whole day we couldn't do anything because all the people were depressed . . .ha ha, so we really couldn't get anything done that day, but Elder Kimball and I were able to get to know each other a lot better so that was a bonus! Woo hoo!

Then as always we saw some miracles this week! And basically all thanks to Elder Kimball! Seriously, he is a machine and is awesome! I love being his trainer! He really does the best with what he has as he is getting to know more and more things in the mission! So the first miracle was with Arecelly! Who was a contact we had last week and Elder Kimball right after the contact just knew that there was something special about her. I didn't think too much about it until Tuesday when he told me that he wanted to pass by her house. So we went right after lunch and she wasn't there . . . So I just thought it would just be a dropped contact and we decided to keep working for the day. Only about and hour and a half later, we had some free time so Elder Kimball told me, "Hey, lets go back to see if she is there." I was like, yea wharves, let's go! So we went and to our surprise!! . . . .No one answered. . . so that is when I kinda just started to forget about her and we went back to work . . . Well! Thanks for the persistence of Elder Kimball it was about 8:30 at night and we had about 20 more minutes till we needed to start heading to the house when he said, "Hey, let's pass by again." A little reluctant, we decided to go and with a doubtful heart we knocked on the door for the THIRD time that day and SHE WAS THERE! And not only her but her WHOLE family!!! It was a miracle and all thanks to Elder Kimball's persistence! With her family that day, we got 4 new investigators!

The Lord is really blessing us right now with the miracles of finding families. That is the third family we have found in just these past two weeks and if we can baptize these three families we could have 11 baptisms!!! Woo hoo! We have our goals set and know that there is going to be opposition in the way, but teaching families is one of my best things in the mission! I love teaching whole complete happy families!! 

We had another miracle when we found Rodrigo! Who was a new investigator we found after Chile lost the soccer match and we were walking all day long and we were really tired. But the Lord blessed us with our perseverance right about till the last minute of the day when we were knocking on doors, but were only knocking on houses that had lights on them because we knew there were a ton of people asleep. We entered a street and wanted to just started from the first house, but the first house didn't have any lights on so we just decided to keep going. As we went down the street we weren't having a whole lot of success when Elder Kimball and I both had the feeling to start contacting again form the beginning of the street, but on the other side.

That is when we passed by the first house on the street that we didn't start on because there were no lights on, but then I heard singing! Someone was singing an English song really long in that house. Because it was English, we decided to go knock on the door when we found Rodrigo who was the person singing and opened the door and yelled out, "Hey, you guys finally came back!" A little confused, we asked him what he meant and then he told us that about a year ago he had talked with missionaries because he was going through a really hard time, but when his reference got passed to the elders of the sector where he lives, they passed by but he was really sick and couldn't answer the door and felt really bad. So he told us that he has been waiting for the missionaries to pass by his house again, but they never did, right until Elder Kimball and I did! 

It really was a example of planting the seed, and luckily for us we are the ones that get to receive the fruits from that contact those missionaries made over a year ago! He is really prepared and is awesome and is only 22 years old! Awesome! I'm so excited to teach him more!

The last miracle I would like to share with you guys is with Alan and Erika, who are two old investigators that the last missionaries dropped because they didn't want to get married, so they couldn't get baptized. We decided to pass by one time just to see if there was any room for progressing that we could do with them. We really had the idea of just having one lesson to check if we wanted to keep going or not and probably drop them just as the other missionaries did.

We passed by and had a lesson in about 15 minutes. But it was the most powerful lesson in 15 minutes I have ever had! Seriously! Without even knowing them I just went straight to the questions and asked them if they know the Book of Mormon is true. They both said "yes." I then asked them about baptism and they were a little taken back because we had only been in the house for about 3 minutes when I asked them that, but they both said they want to be baptized, but they have to get married first and they aren't sure. Elder Kimball and I then just testified with so much power to them that they were making a huge mistake and that if they really really did know the Book of Mormon was true then they would know the importance of baptism and how essential it is for their salvation. We shared with them 1 Nephi 3:7 and told them that there was a way that they could be baptized and they will get married. By then they were really taken back, but I know that they felt the spirit as they realized the importance of baptism. 

We left and decided that we should probably just drop them, but then Saturday night we ran into a member who knows them and she told us that she was talking with Alan and he told her that he wants to attend church without a doubt Sunday! So we woke up Sunday and sure enough there they were! What a miracle! I know the spirit testified to them and even though I don't know if they are going to get married or not, they will soon! 

Well bueno! That was my week this week! I am so excited for this next week and for what's in store for us! Thank you guys soooo much for your letters and most importantly your prayers in our behalf. May the Lord be with you and the Spirit guide you through this week! I love my mission!

Love Elder Cowan

P.S. FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS A BLAKE!!!!! WOOOO HOOOO!!!

Greenie Power!

Dear Family and Friends!

Wooooooo hoooooo! Wow has this last week been something!!! Ha ha! I really don't even know where to begin! I guess first off is just to let you know, Mom and Dad, that I had to use my debit card today to buy the things for my new companion because his mission card isn't working right now! And that I also just got sprayed down to the floor by a HUGE army swat car! HA ha ha! Ohhh man, well if you guys don't know that World Cup is going on right now and Chile is actually doing pretty well! HA ha normally president has always made us stay in the house for our protection during the game because the people go crazy for their soccer! Wow, I always knew that Latinos like soccer but here it is really do or die with it! HA ha! Especially during the world cup! But Chile played today and president let this day be the only game we could go out and do stuff because it's p-day! So we went to the Plaza of Maipu which is a big plaza and they had a HUGE screen playing the game for everyone to watch. We had to go in early because I had to give my district's numbers to the assistants today, but as we were leaving we saw a huge crowd of people and right then something huge went down in the game. And that meant the people went crazy. . . And I mean crazy crazy ha ha! And that's when the big swat army cars came and started spraying the people to calm them down. And this isn't just a dinky hose, I'm talking about full power hoses that will blow you away! Ha ha, luckily my companion and I ran out just in time! Ha ha, but that is how we started our day today! HA ha!

Now onto the big news!! Drum roll please! . . . My new companion and my second son in the mission is!!!! ELDER KIMBALL! He is from Laguna Beach California!! And he is a stud! He really is like a California beach boy and super chill and relaxed, but at the same time in aspect for the missionary work he is a fireball which I love!! Ha ha, he graduated from high school early and went to one year of college at BYU. He is only 18 years old too! But such a stud! I know we are gonna go to work here in this sector! He came in Tuesday night and I got to know him and I let him know that we are going to be whitewash and that we need new investigators. He just smiled at me and just said, "Lets get to work!" HA ha! He knows Spanish really well for being a new, new missionary and he has a huge desire to work and give it his all! Woo hoo to my first American companion!

Our companionship really reminds me a ton of my companionship when I was in training with Elder Contreras. First off, I have the same time Elder Contreras has in the mission when he trained me and Elder Kimball knows Spanish fairly well and has a lot of desires to just get to work, and just the way he acts and the stuff he says to me is the same exact stuff I did and said as a new missionary! It feels so weird now to be on the other side of the training and to see him progress! Oh, and just to let you know, he isn't related to the President Kimball, but he is related to Heber C. Kimball! Woo hoo!

This week we really needed new investigators so we just started from the beginning and started knocking on doors! But as we went out this week, we would get ready for the day and as we would get ready to leave the house he would tell me, "We are going to find 4 new investigators today." And each day he said a different number and I don't know if he has the gift of future telling but whatever the number he said in the morning he accomplished! So this week he had 9 new investigators that we really only found in 5 days which is the most I have ever found in such a short time! This companionship is going to be awesome!

And we have had so many tender mercies from the Lord this week! Really! All those 9 new investigators we found were just put right in our path! We would be contacting for hours and wouldn't really have a lot of success, but then we would just be walking and someone would yell out to us or run into us and tell us that they would like us to pass by and to listen to our message! It was incredible! Really, about more than half of the new investigators we found this past week were just blessings that Heavenly Father put in our path to help us out! It was overwhelming and awesome!

I have had to really humble myself to the Lord this past week and I love being whitewash right now. I know last week I was really nervous, but I never back down from a challenge! And I have really turned to my Savior a ton this past week for help. Those 9 new investigators are proof of that, as well on Wednesday when we had our first district meeting which meant I had to teach my district. My district includes Elder Chacon and Elder Gutierrez from Chile and Peru and then we have Hermana Kemmy from California and Hermana Mena who lived in Texas for a lot of years and knows English perfectly. The hermanas are machines! They are awesome and just give it their all! 

But as I was preparing for my district meeting I was completely lost of what I should do for my class. . . during my whole personal study I was trying to make a lesson plan and just got frustrated and felt like none of it was what needed to be shared, but I didn't have any more time and we went to the meetings. After the opening things for the district, I started my lesson and I can honestly say that the spirit directed that meeting. I didn't say one single thing that I planned in the morning and just shared with them the importance of unity with the Lord, then with your companion in order to find the elect chosen one the Lord is preparing for us. It was a great lesson and I felt the Spirit the whole time. I really can't remember anything else I said, but I had the confirmation of the Spirit to help me know that I did what I was supposed to do! Every day this past week and I know for all the time ahead, I will be trying to draw myself to my Savior. He can do all things. I know it. I know that faith is based on the principle of power and action. I know Heavenly Father has a plan prepared for us and He is right next to us every step.

Another spiritual experience was when I was able to do my first baptism interview!!!! Awww, which I will probably never forget! The sisters in my district told me that they had a mom they reactivated and now her two daughters and one son are going to be baptized. So I was a little nervous of what I should do for the interview and how I should know if they are prepared or not. One night, I was talking with the zone leaders and one of them told me, "Just start the interview and let the Spirit do the rest, you will know what to do, it's a pretty awesome experience." So I followed his advice and it was incredible! The baptismal candidates were Marion, Barbara, and Sebastian. The first was with Marion which was my favorite interview! I was still nervous of how I should start the interview and how I should help her feel comfortable. She entered the room and I tried doing the usual small talk conversation but it wasn't really going. Anyway, I offered a tiny little pray in my heart to help me to not make this interview awkward for her. She then sat down and gasped a little bit because she told me she has back pains from swimming . . . and right then I was just dumb founded and was thinking if that was a joke that she just mentioned something about swimming. I knew Heavenly Father was probably just smiling, letting me know that He was there helping me out. After that we were able to talk up a storm about swimming and all of our experiences. Then we got into the interview and it went great and they all passed! But what a tender mercy of the Lord that she just so happened to swim and that I just offered that prayer to help me get to know her better to feel more comfortable! It was great!

Alrighty! I have to go! This has been a hard, humbling, exciting and successful week! And Ï am excited to see what the Lord has more in store for me! I love my Savior so much! I know we can be cleansed through His Atonement! He loves each and every one of us sooooo much! And I am so grateful for this chance to take upon His name in my life for two years. I love Him and His work so much! May you guys be able to feel His love this week! Love you all!!

Love,

Elder Cowan

PS Okay mom this picture makes me so proud! Elder Alcaraz just sent it to me it and I made a legend in my last sector! Ha ha, because the ward was so bad Elder Hatch and I decided to make the Clear Star Cuatro! With the four elders in the ward, we always said and yelled it out all the time. And now in honor of Elder Hatch and me on the ward bulletin where it did say Barrio Clara Estrella, they changed it to CLEAR STAR in honor of us! It makes me so happy to know that I did everything that I could have possibly done for them! Woo hoo! Lets keep the legends going! :) 
Love Elder Cowan

BIG NEWS!!!!!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

Hoooooooooolllllllyyyy coooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!! Okay, okay, I have so much to write to you guys and I have no idea where to start! Well, to first start off, yes, we did have transfers and that's why I'm writing today! But I was COMPLETELY overwhelmed at the changes! I knew it was my time to leave Clara Estrella which was a little hard to leave! But at the same time I have so much love for that ward and for the members there! It truly has been a 6 month time of miracles serving in that ward! From the very first day I arrived there with a tiny little ward of 35 people attending without a bishopric and almost nothing to now leaving with a full ward full of callings and leaders with an average of 100 attending! Cualquier milagro!

It was hard to say my goodbyes, especially to Carolina and her family who are the family we had the miracle with--with finding the new furniture for them. And, of course, it was hard to say goodbye to mi hijo, Elder Alcaraz! But he is a machine and I love him so much! 

But now onto the BIG NEWS!!!! Ohh mannn!! This last 24 hours I have been a little panicked and stressed out! And a lot of humbling and relying on the Lord for help! Well, I will just get straight to the changes that have happened! Yes, I left Clara Estrella, leaving Elder Alcaraz behind and now I am in the ward 4 Poniete in Olimpo which is in Maipu which is where the center of the mission is. It is WAY nicer than my last sector . . . well, as much as I know of it because I'M WHITEWASH!!!!!!!!! And, Mom, if you don't know what that means, it means the two elders before left the sector and two new missionaries go in without knowing anything! BUT THERE'S MORE! I'M TRAINING AGAIN!!!!! AWWW!!!!! That is why I am writing today because we got to go to the temple today and I'm actually writing at the MTC! Ha ha, which is super weird! But wait! THERE IS EVEN MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess the Lord has a lot of trust in me to train again and to be whitewashed because now I'M A DISTRICT LEADER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Awwwww, yea, you could say I'm a little scared!!!! I can't believe it! Whitewash, training, and district leader right off the bat! And only with 9 months in the mission! HA ha! When president announced it in the reunion de cambios the whole mission just flipped out! Ha ha, but a funny thing is that Elder Hatch, who was in Clara Estrella with me for the past 6 months and who trained at the same time I trained Elder Alcaraz, is doing the same! Ha ha! }

But luckily, I have had a couple of tender mercies from the Lord today. (Which by the way I haven't received my new son yet! In about 3 hours I will) But one of the tender mercies was from Elder Bustos who is a missionary who is going to train today as well and we are companions today as we wait to receive our new misisionaries but the thing is that he served in the sector I'm going to. So yesterday after the transfer meeting we rushed to Olimpo and he started showing me stuff and who lives where and everything which was a blessing! And this sector is a whole lot bigger than my last sector! So I really don't know where to begin because I looked in the area book and there's almost nothing in them . . . there are only about 2 investigators! So! My new son and I are going to hit the streets and maybe we will be able to make it back to the house at night! ha ha!

Okay and another tender mercy was the temple today! I have never felt so much peace in the temple before! This past day has been crazy and my mind has been spinning like you wouldn't believe! But right when I was walking through in the celestial room the Spirit just hit me so strong! I was just overwhelmed with the Spirit and just a wave of energy just hit me and just told me, "Lets do this!!!" And I was like, Yea! Let's go! Ha ha! I don't really know how to explain it, Normally, I feel the spirit in small and still feelings and promptings but this time in the temple it was just like a pump up coach motivating me to keep going strong! Ha ha, that's the best I can explain! But I love the temple soo much! It really, really, really is the house of the Lord! He knows us better than we know ourselves and knows our strengthens and weaknesses. I also know that the Lord qualifies who he calls. I know I may be a little over my head with all these new things I have to do, but I'm ready! And even though it will be a challenge, I never back down from them. I know where my faith is and I know the power and help from our Savior and Redeemer.

I love you all so much and I know you guys are always praying for me. I have the best family and friends in the world and those prayers are so helpful to me, especially right now! I hope you all have a great week! Sorry this letter is a little shorter, but we don't have much time to write! I will write you next week with my new son! (Oh, and I still don't know who will be my companion, but president told us that there are 6 Americans and 1 Argentine. So it looks like I will probably get my first greengo compañion! Ha ha!). Thanks again for everything! Love You!

Love,

Elder Cowan