Day of Children

Dear family and friends,

This week was a long week and a half without a p day! but there were many great experiences that made the time fly. Elder Deeble and I have been working with some references that members had given us when we got here and 2 of them are going to get baptized this week! They both have strong testimonies in the restored gospel and it has been such a satisfying experience being able to teach them of the truths of the restoration and helping them to recognize an answer from Heavenly Father.

To help the branch get active in missionary work, we have been having some activities at the church. In Latin America they celebrate the Day of Children so we did an activity with the kids and had a great time. We have gained the confidence of many of the members in our ward, to the point where they have given us references of their family members. That makes me feel good about the work that we are doing because even some of the members have worked harder to bring their friends to church. Recently it has been hard for us to get people to church.. but yesterday we had 7 investigators show up to church and they seemed like they loved it! I even got to give the principles of the gospel class and we talked about what happens after death. 

This week one of the members of the church passed away from old age and sickness.  I was asked to give a short message on the resurrection at his funeral. I thought that only family members would come, but it turns out he was a very popular man so we had about 150 people or more come into the chapel. I got a little nervous, but truly felt the direction of the spirit as I spoke about the resurrection to many who had never even been in the church before. That helped build my testimony more about the direction of the spirit.

On Tuesday we had a visit with Elder Alonzo of the 70. It was a peculiar experience. President Bush was asking us some questions and passing the microphone around. Eventually some elder said that he was a ¨natural man¨ and Elder Alonzo stopped him and in front of everyone told the missionary to have an interview with President Bush after the meeting. He took the microphone from there and humiliated the Elder a little bit. Then told us that its not ok to teach false doctrine. I felt really bad for the kid and I was too scared to open my mouth for the rest of the meeting! haha so was everyone else. 

We were able to have many spiritual experiences teaching and helping others. My heart feels so much better when I am helping and serving. I am so thankful that I am a missionary in these latter days. I watched a video this week with my companion on the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. My heart was filled with gratitude for my family and friends who have taught me and showed me the way. My love for the Savior and testimony of Him as our Redeemer has grown much because of these experiences. I love you guys so much! I hope you Have a great week!

Love

Elder Dowell