Elder Carson Bowen Kiribati Islands in Marshall Majuro Mission

Heeeeeyyy!!! I got moved to the village right next door. I'm training again for the 4th time. I have done so much training and getting to know my new companions is cool.  We have much work to do together.  He is about as thin as a paper and 6 foot 6 inch tall.    I moved here and they have 5 investigators and he knew about 3 of them and out of these 5 investigators 2 are kids. I am basically white washing and it's been hard since he doesn't know anyones names or any members and the area book hasn't been touched. We role play I have to wait 5 minutes for him to speak.. its rough!  I must have been the same but he is cool and trying.  I will get to work and help him.  Till next week! I'm working in Bikenibeu 2nd ward   Elder Bowen    

This week we worked very hard trying to finish the transfer out strong. Our people have been progressing and some are preparing for baptism. I have truly learned that fellowshipping is key in missionary work! I am sad to be leaving this wonderful area with these amazing members. Some of these people have taught me great life learning lessons to prepare me for what life has yet to dish. Story time: One evening we came back to the house so that we could get in language study before our dinner. As we were studying a member came to the house and said" Elders is it ok if you come now?" We asked "how come?" Then he explained that the food was ready and they were just ready to start the party. So we went to the party and ate, gave a spiritual thought/family home evening, then asked if they needed any service. They then asked us to bless their sick baby. So we said "sure no problem!" SO they held the baby and it cried the whole time. Af...

  Hey, I'm doing good.  This week flew by.  I'm definitely looking forward to a change/transfers which are next week.  I've been wondering why I'm here in Eita until I had an incredible recent convert lesson with our recent converts.  Our RC's and fellowship were both in tears.  It was way cool and apparent my purpose.  My 'son' is doing good.  I am teaching him language everyday.  he is a good guy and we are working well together.  The water has not gone back into the ocean.  What an experience resulting in many lessons learned. Two outer islands were hit really hard by that storm and the government went straight to the church first for aid. The church got $20,000 dollars of food and shipped it out to these two outer islands. These two islands both have rocks that say "mormons not welcome" or like "we hate mormons"  or like "we will kill mormons".. there is only 1 religion out there and elders have not ...

Wow what a crazy week!   So if you don't know there were two big storms that just hit the pacific islands. There was 2 storms, and on my mission I have never seen so much rain in my entire life. The first storm hit and we were all stuck in the house. The rain and winds were very strong. Shortly after, Elder Farner (another elder in the house) and I, wanted to go out in the huge storm to go see if we could help anyone. Everything was crazy flooded: streets, houses, stores, and basically everything. As we were biking through the storm the rain was pelting us in the face and we were getting blown around pretty good. It reminded me of The Other Side of Heaven movie. If the Wind was a little bit stronger it would have really caused some damage. Luckily only a few houses were destroyed from the powerful winds. Anyways, after helping as many people as we could (soaking and actually a little frigid) we got to this other village and there were so many houses flooded, washing ...

Christmas SKYPE 2018 Review!!! December 25, 2018 A wonderful family reunion began on Christmas Day 2018 at 1 pm as a family we gathered around our computer for our Missionary Christmas Skype!  Our whole family together at last for 45 minutes of pure happiness, even at times of bad connection and all.  Here is a review of some of the detail he shared! Elder Bowen is currently on the island of Tarawa with his companion who is newer on the islands, Elder Richins.  We enjoyed a fun visit with Elder Richins who is from Idaho and loves playing basketball at Moroni High School which is a 10 minute bike ride. Elder Bowen celebrated a great Christmas receiving his family Christmas box and enjoying a Christmas party hosted by President and Sister Larkin and all the helpers!  They are soooo good to them! To see Carson's face on the computer took my breath away for a time as I saw this changed boy turning into a man.  Each of us in the family began by taking a momen...