Sweet Is The Work: Happy Father's Day!

First off, HAPPY LATE FATHER'S DAY DAD!

If you all didn't know, I pretty much have the best dad ever.

I'm so grateful to have a earthly father and a Heavenly Father who are the greatest examples of Christ-like love and service.

I love this Mormon Message :)

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-01-002-earthly-father-heavenly-father?category=mormon-messages/mormon-messages-2013&lang=eng

This week was busy and interesting.

On Tuesday we had some lessons during the day, and then some sisters in a family ward gave us a referral for a YSA they had taught and told us they set up a lesson for us that night.

So, we show up at the church and this guy named Michael is sitting outside reading. We talk to him and go inside and see that he has a Book of Mormon, a bible, and a Latin bible. I could tell he was a pretty devout Christian, so I asked him why he decided to meet with us, and he straight up said,

"I want to convert you to Catholicism."

And we were like, "Well.... we want to convert you to Mormonism so....." hahaha.

Finally our member showed up and luckily he was super smart cause this guy just went off about the Catholic church, and Latin, and how the Book of Mormon was written by Joseph Smith, and proof, and writing styles, etc and it was pretty clear how he just wanted to bash with us.

So, I started to get bugged because the Spirit was just not there, so I pretty much said, "look dude, you're never going to be able to prove if our message is true by facts or worldly knowledge, so if you actually are seeking for the truth,
just pray and ask God and He will let you know.

That is our purpose as missionaries, not to argue with you, just invite you."

He didn't like that very much, but we kind of just ended the lesson because it wasn't going anywhere and invited him to read the book he was so sure wasn't true, before he made judgments. Then he went off about some ceremony he wanted us to come to.

THEN, best part. We asked him to say the closing prayer and he said, "Sure, but is it ok if I sing it?" "Uhh... sure..." So he sang the closing prayer. By himself. In Latin. Full blown, no holding back. For like 3 minutes. It was interesting............. haha. #THEAPOSTASYISREALGUYS

Then on Wednesay I went on exchanges with Hermana Ward! It was so fun to be a 'mana for the day, she translated for me so that was nice haha :)

Plus I was out in the boonies, surrounded by tractors and felt right at home.

Then the next morning was our tri-zone conference with with Elder Perkins of the Seventy!

Before the meeting, Elder Perkins requested that all of the missionaries prepare a talk, a testimony, and be ready to teach a 10 minute lesson on the Restoration, and then he would just randomly call on people from the audience to come do them. So no one knew who would be called on to do it. Nerve wracking!

I had my talk and testimony all prepared, but Sister Weber and I didn't have tons of time to prepare our Restoration lesson, so we figured we would just wing it because the odds that we would get chosen were pretty slim. Ha. Bad idea.

So we get there, and neither of us have to give a talk or share a testimony, but then we get to the part of the meeting where two missionaries would have to role play in front of 3 zones and President, and a General Authority.

Just my luck, Elder Perkins says, "Alright, now we will hear from Sister Fowers and Sister Weber."

..................................oh my goodness. I have the worst luck hahaha.

So he timed us, and we were supposed to teach the whole thing in 10 minutes and we didn't quite get through the whole thing :/ Then everyone evaluated us while we sat there. Fun stuff right? Haha :)

I did learn a lot though, especially about teaching simply and powerfully.

So, even though that was like my worst nightmare come to life, I learned a lot and I guess it just shows that there's no growth in a comfort zone and no comfort in a growth zone. :)

Missions are just like one huuuuge, 18 month long growth zone hahaha.

Then, that night Elder Perkins held a fireside for recent converts and investigators and we went because we had a recent convert there with us. But two other zones were there, including the Woodbridge zone, so guess who walked in!

Rosa!

Ahh I just about died :) She was so happy to see me and kept kissing me on the cheeks and saying "I love you" in French hahaha.
So I got to sit by her during the meeting and it was the best.

Then on Friday we had a lesson with our investigator Austin and it was so awesome!!! When we were on exchanges Sister Weber met with him and he pretty much said, "How do I make this official?" So they told him to pray about a baptism date, and on Friday he said that he wants to be baptized on July 18th, the day after his birthday :) Yayy!!! He has been reading and praying and just changing his life so much. He said every day he relates less and less to Laman and Lemuel and more to Nephi. So cute. So keep praying for him!!! He is trying to quit coffee and alcohol and is doing great.

Then that night our ward mission leader had a BBQ and we got to go and meet lots of non-members and just get to know everyone, it was awesome.

YSA's are the best :)

So many good things are happening! I love being a missionary :)

Thanks for all you do! Love all you lovely people.

XOXO, Sister Fowers

ps. Here are some pics of me and Sister Weber after we got drenched in a huge rain storm :)