"On Wednesdays We Wear Pink"

Hello!

Fall is finally here in Virginia! 

I wish you could all be here to witness the beautiful leaves and trees. Its amazing!

 Definitely not like Utah. :) 

This week has been busy and a little stressful! I just feel like I'm running around going 500 mph sometimes haha. But busy is good and I know I'll miss the craziness of mission life someday. 

On Tuesday we had zone conference! We had it because the church needed to put black boxes in our cars! Yep. We were not excited hahaha. They monitor our speed, whether or not we wear a seat-belt, and if we are driving "wrecklessly". Its not that bad except for the speeding part. All the time we are driving and the little box says, "Check your speed!" Its funny, but it will be good overall to keep missionaries safe. 

The fun part of the zone conference was that we all wore pink! If you didn't know, a few weeks ago our mission president's wife was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. We were so sad to get the news, but it has been so cool to see all of the support and love that everyone has for her. So on Tuesday we all wore pink shirts, skirts, ties, etc. She is doing fine, but keep her in your prayers! 

Then we had a cool miracle that night actually! Our old ward mission leader and his wife took us out to dinner to a restaurant and our waiter saw that we were wearing pink and had name-tags, so he asked us what the special occasion was. We told him about Sister Wilson and that we were missionaries and then we asked him if he was religious. He said, "I didn't used to be, but I'm working on it." So we gave him a card with our info on it and the church address and we had to run before we could get his info at the end. We didn't expect much out of it, but two days ago he text us! His name is Anthony and we are meeting with him tomorrow! He told us he is excited to learn some new stuff haha :) I love how Heavenly Father just puts people in our path!

We also had an amazing lesson with Gabriella and Brandon again this week! So, Brandon has been searching for a job for months, and when we went over they told us that he had got a job that day! He said that he knew it was a blessing from Heavenly Father because they came to church last week! He said, "Every time we meet with you guys and come to church, miracles happen." 

Ahh we were so happy for them! I love when investigators are able to see the blessings in their life as they live the gospel and sacrifice for it.

 They are the cutest family ever! We also taught them about the Word of Wisdom and they accepted everything! Yay! And they came to church again this week and they loved it because it was the primary program. So they got to see the potential that their little family has. 

So many miracles happening with them :) 

We also went on two exchanges this week! Busy busy! I feel like I never see my companion hahaha :) 

We also got a new investigator named Ta'nique from the elders this week. She is a 15 year old girl who has been investigating for a while. She wants to be baptized, but her dad won't give her permission to. So that's a bummer. He didn't want her meeting with elders either, that's why they had to pass her off to us. But we are going to pray super hard and hopefully her dad's heart will be softened! 

Our recent convert Rashida is doing so well too :) She came to church yesterday and got her first temple recommend! She was glowing and is so excited to go. She is pretty much my favorite human ever, its fine. Haha she is so happy and is just so grateful for the gospel! 

Sometimes I think about what life would be like if I had never gone on a mission and it makes me so sad to even think about it! I would never trade it for the world :) 

I hope you all have a Happy Halloween this week! I will be busy going to MLC, sister training leader meeting, zone meeting, etc. Each week gets busier! But be safe and have fun! 

Love you all so much :)

XOXO, Sister Fowers

Zone Conference in pink!

Sunshine in my soul

Hello beautiful people! Happy Monday!

We have had a crazy but awesome week here in Q-town.

We went on two exchanges this week, so it was pretty busy. I went with Sister Sylvester for the day and we rode bikes! Hahaha it was the first time I've been on a bike on my mission and all I have to say is props to all you sisters out there who ride a bike in a skirt every day. Its not easy! But it was a fun day and I took some comical pictures of me in a helmet,. 

I also got to go on exchanges with my trainee, Sister Mailata! 

She is in our zone, so we got to be companions once again! It was so fun, she is the best. :)

We also had a huge miracle with our investigators Gabriella and Brandon this week! So last week I told you they were having some relationship problems and such. They also have struggled to come to church because of her work schedule. So last Sunday we fasted for them and we've been praying for them like crazy. Well this week we went to see them and we just felt like we should read the Book of Mormon with them, so we read Ether 12. We only got through like the first 10 verses and the spirit just took over the lesson. They had a completely different light about them from last week and they told us how they have had tons of miracles happen to them that week and that Brandon wants to join the military, but they would have to get married for him to join! The chapter we read talked about faith, and they just opened up to us and told us how they knew the next step for them was to come to church and that Gabriella had this Sunday off of work!

I was just in awe the whole time. It is so crazy to me how Heavenly Father answers prayers so quickly sometimes! I gained a huge testimony of fasting too. They ended up all coming to church, even though they missed sacrament meeting, they stayed for Gospel Principles and they said they will come on time next week haha :) 
They are the cutest little family and I can't wait for them to be baptized!

We also met with our recent convert Andrew this week! He is doing so well :) We taught him more about the Priesthood and he is so excited to receive it! He went on splits with the elders in the ward and he said it was so strange be on that side of the lesson. He is so excited to serve a mission though and is going to do so many great things! 

Biggest miracle of the week though: Rashida got baptized!! It was the coolest experience ever. After her interview on Thursday she literally ran out of the church yelling "I'm getting baptized!" in her cute African accent, waving her arms. Then at her baptism she kept squealing and clapping her hands. She couldn't stop smiling. I don't know if I have ever seen someone that happy in my entire life. She asked me and Sister Canty to sing "There is Sunshine in my Soul" for the musical number. I played the guitar and we both sang, and when I looked up during the song she had tears running down her face. It was so touching and we both struggled to keep it together and finish the song. The Spirit was so thick. After she was baptized as soon as she came up out of the water she squealed and said, "Aaahhhhh I am baptized!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Hahaha it was so cute. The room was so filled with joy and everyone was laughing and crying. :)

I felt like I was at the waters of Mormon when the people of Alma were getting baptized:

"When the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed this is the desire of our hearts."

It was the happiest baptism and an experience that I will never forget :) 

I am so grateful for the gospel! It is the happiest thing on the planet.

 My companion and I were talking about it yesterday and just wondering to ourselves, 
"Do I feel that kind of joy every time I take the sacrament?"
That really hit me. I never want to lose the excitement and joy I felt at my own baptism. We should feel that way each week! We get to recommit, rejuvenate, and cleanse ourselves. That is the happiest thing in the world! 

I hope you all have a great week and start now to prepare yourself for the sacrament next week! Make it the happiest part of your week and your life. 

I love you guys! I hope you all stay warm and see lots of miracles this week! 

XOXO,

Sister Fowers

Rashida

Rashida's Baptism

Andrew's baptism-last week!

Miracle week!

Hey! It's us, the "church chicks" as Brother Caulder calls us ;)

This week was a MIRACLE WEEK. Like woah.

On Tuesday we got home for the night and we had a text from our investigator Andrew. It said, "Sorry to bother you, but how does baptism work?" 

And of course we were freaking out and so excited because that is always a good sign. :) so we told him and asked him why he asked and he said, "I asked that because I feel the Holy Ghost is inclining me to be baptized, but I still want to learn more. What are the requirements for being a missionary, and how does the process of being one work?" 

Then we were REALLY freaking out hahaha. So we told him we could teach him more about becoming a missionary and the he said, "Okay, God, I think, really wants me to learn more about His church super well to spread it to others. That's why I'm sure He wants me to learn more."

Basically at this point we were like screaming, and having a little celebration ha! We had only been teaching him for a week and two days. And he already knew it was true and wanted to serve a mission!? So crazy. Basically we kept teaching him like every day and he has such a strong testimony! He is really into the deep doctrine and had even started emailing a retired history professor from BYU! Hahaha and he ordered a triple combination and a gospel principles book off of Amazon. But even with all of his deep questions, it was the Spirit that inspired him to be baptized and he listened to that voice. 

So we set him on date for Saturday to be baptized and it happened! It was such an awesome baptism. He shared his testimony of how his journey started when he was six years old when the missionaries knocked on his door and ever since then he has been learning and searching for the true church. He has gone to all sorts of different churches and he told us that he had never been baptized into any of them because he didn't want to do it until he found the true church and he found it! And he is super excited to go on a mission in a year and told us that he feels like God wants him to go on a mission to help other people that are in the religions that he was in, so he can relate to them. HIS STORY BLOWS MY MIND. He randomly walked into church two weeks ago and now he is baptized. I'm so amazed by the miracles that still happen every day and that Heavenly Father is preparing His children! 

The investigator that we passed off to the elders, Jared, ended up not getting baptized because of his family though :( but Andrew wants to go to his lessons and help him be baptized! He's already such a missionary already! Keep praying for Jared though. 

We are also still teaching our investigator Rashida! She is getting baptized this Saturday!! Yay! I'm so excited for her :) She reads the Book of Mormon and prays every morning and loves it. She is so ready and it will be so great. She has come so far and there has just been such a change in her countenance and she seems so much happier now than when we first started teaching her.
 I love how the gospel can really change people! It always amazes me. 

We also met with our investigators Gabriella and Brandon this week. They are the ones that have a little daughter and need to get married. This lesson was a little different though, we found out they are having a little rough patch in their relationship and things aren't going very well for them :( but we are going to keep working with them and help them to figure things out so they can be baptized. Pray for them! 

We also had zone workshops this week! We learned a lot about working with members and how to hasten the work. I am so grateful for members that help the missionaries. This ward is amazing, they buy us groceries every week, feed us, come to lessons with us, fellowship our investigators, bring their friends to church, etc. I have learned so much on my mission about being a member of the church! I feel like I knew nothing before haha :)
But there are so many people who have been such great examples to me of sharing the gospel fearlessly and serving whole heartedly. 

Speaking of members, Brother and Sister Ferrell made us roasted squirrel last night! Yep. No joke. We ate it. I was really nervous, but it wasn't bad!
 I'm now a true Virginian ;) 

I also hit my 15 month mark this week! What the flip? 

I just really, really love my mission. It is such a treasure to me and I have never been happier. If you haven't read it, go read "The Miracle of a Mission" by Jeffrey R. Holland. :) 

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY TO MY MOM!!!!! I love you so much and hope you had the best day! 

This week was great. This next week will be great. Life is great. Y'all are great. :) 

Love you!

XOXO,

Sister Fowers

hurricanes, squirrels, and men of God.

Hey lovely people. 

Hope you had as good of a week as I did :) 

It's been super rainy here! If you haven't heard there has been a hurricane on the east coast. So we got a lot of rain and wind, but nothing too crazy. Kind of exciting though! But the sun finally came out today, so hallelujah. :)

This week was our Book of Mormon read-a-thon! It has been so good. We had a ton of appointments, so it was a struggle to find time to read, but it has been so awesome to just feel the spirit even more because of it. I love the Book of Mormon so much. I knew it was true before my mission, but I had never truly studied it. I had never let it sink deep into my heart. That's one of the blessings from serving, that I now know it's true because I have read it and put it to the test in my life and in my investigators lives. 

One thing that stuck out to me as I read it is that pride is just the worst.

I've decided that humility is just the key to life!

And that means I have a long way to go, but I guess we all do.

 One verse that I love is Alma 26:12:

"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

On Tuesday we met with our investigator Andrew again! He is doing so great! We meet with him almost every day and he is progressing really well. It's so funny, every time we meet with him he has like 50 questions and we try to answer them but he always has more haha. But it has been so cool to see the spirit work in him, despite the things he has heard about the church. He told us that after our first lesson he read the Book of Mormon and he felt a warm, comforting feeling in his heart and that he didn't know what that was. We were like, "umm, THE SPIRIT!" Haha and then at a different lesson he said as he was going to sleep he kept hearing something tell him to "read the book, read the book, read the book" over and over, and he even prayed about being baptized and said he got a chills type of feeling. When he was telling us he seemed so excited and I asked him what he thought those impressions were and he said, "Well, I'm pretty certain it was God talking to me." And I testified to him that I knew it was God talking to him and guiding him to know the truth and act on it. He even watched all of the sessions of general conference and loved them. So it's been pretty much miracle after miracle with him. SO COOL. We are hoping for him to be baptized this Saturday! So keep praying for him :)

On Wednesday we also had MLC and spent the day in Richmond. I learned a lot, as always. Then on Friday I trained in zone meeting on keeping our temple covenants by being obedient. It went really well and I learned a lot. There are so many good things happening in our zone and we are going to have an amazing transfer! One quote that Sister Canty shared in her training I really love. It's from the talk "Tuning Our Hearts to the Voice of the Spirit" by Linda K. Burton. It says:

"As I share the following questions that President Spencer W. Kimball asked a group similar to this, consider your own humility and the sincerity of your own prayers: “Do you want guidance? Have you prayed to the Lord for inspiration? Do you want to do right or do you want to do what you want to do whether or not it is right? Do you want to do what is best for you in the long run or what seems more desirable for the moment? Have you prayed? How much have you prayed? How did you pray? Have you prayed as did the Savior … or did you ask for what you want regardless of its being proper?”

President Kimball then continued: “Do you say in your prayers: ‘Thy will be done’? Did you say, ‘Heavenly Father, if you will inspire and impress me with the right, I will do that right’? … Did you say, ‘Father in Heaven, I love you, I believe in you, I know you are omniscient. I am honest. I am sincerely desirous of doing right. I know you can see the end from the beginning. You can see the future. You can discern if under this situation I present, I will have peace or turmoil, happiness or sorrow, success or failure. Tell me, please, loved Heavenly Father, and I promise to do what you tell me to do.’ Have you prayed that way? Don’t you think it might be wise? Are you courageous enough to pray that prayer?" 

I love that quote! I've tried to pray like that lately. It makes a big difference to try and pray with that kind of faith. 

We also taught two of our investigators this week, Gabriella and Brandon. They are the sweetest little family ever. They have a little baby named Elsa. Basically they really want to get baptized but their work schedule keeps them from coming to church :( Also they need to get married, but they are really willing to do that. We went to teach them with Curtis and Christina Ferrell and we had an awesome lesson on eternal families and the temple. Brandon's grandmother had passed away that week too, and he started crying as we sang Families Can Be Together Forever. The spirit was there and then at the end we all knelt and Brandon prayed to be able to come to church and be baptized, it made my heart so happy. So pray that they will have Sunday's off by some miracle! 

We have been teaching Frank still, but he isn't progressing super well. And he didn't come to conference so we'll see! 

We also haven't been able to teach Rashida very much. We had a few lessons with her, but she doesn't have a phone right now, so it's been hard to reach her. She really wants to be baptized though, just needs some encouragement. :) 

Also, our investigator Jared that we passed off to the elders last week is getting baptized this week! He came to all of the sessions of conference and loved them. I guess the elders told him to write down a question that he wanted answered from conference and his question was "Why can't I get Mosiah 18 out of my head?" And then the answer he wrote down was "Because I need to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Haha he is awesome. :) So that is exciting! 

Also, GENERAL CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING. If you didn't watch it, go to lds.org and watch! I seriously loved it so much. 

I am amazed by the prophets and apostles and how they give their entire lives to this work. 

They stand at that pulpit and testify until they literally can't stand anymore. 

Plus it was so cool to see three new apostles called! I know they are all men of God. There is no doubt in my mind! I love listening to them. But here are some things I learned and jotted down in my notes:

-the gospel is simple.

-we don't need to be more of anything, we just need to have a willing heart, a desire to believe, and trust in order for  God to work with us and make us better.

-God does not give up on us.

-"it will all work out."

-can we love Jesus Christ and His way more than we love ourselves and our own agenda?

-with Him, we are going to make it! 

-if you are there for the Lord, He will be there for you.

-no matter how dark our doubt is, we can choose to not let it overwhelm us. 

-smile!

-He can heal anything.

-the Lord will qualify those He calls.

-the Lord needs covenant keeping women who makes things happen because of their faith.

-we need to make our life a constant quest to have the spirit.

-God's commandments are a safe harbor.

-the Atonement doesn't leave tracks or traces. what it heals, it heals for good. 

-faith is letting go of the outcome. 

I'm so grateful for the gospel and that the Lord is hastening His work! I could just sense it as I listened to the talks. There are so many big plans He has for us and we need to step up our game! 

The church is true! Haha :)

Funny story of the week: Brother Ferrell skinned a squirrel and we are going to eat it. Yup. I will officially be a Virginian when we do. Hahaha. Super gross but we're doin it! I will send pictures and a video :) 

Also, two shout outs!

1) Happy Birthday to my mission president, President Wilson! He is the greatest example and the most loving, wise, smart, devoted man I know. 

2) Shout out to Kevin in Chippenham who will read this! Can't wait to hear about your baptism! 

Haha ok I'm done now. Longest email ever, you're welcome mom. 

I hope you all have the greatest week ever. Love you lots :) 

XOXO,

Sister Fowers

Here are some fun pics for yooouuuuuu. 

Leesylvania state park! We were in Maryland, woot woot! 

And the dead squirrel..... gross.

It rainied alllllllllll week.

We are eating squirrel for dinner ?!