Week 33 - Joy

I am feeling a little bit better, I still have a cough. My investigators took a step backward, but are again on track, we have to push the date back two weeks, I fear, but still before the end of this transfer, I think. That's okay though, she came to all of church yesterday (Daisy), and Williams had work. And Williams and Daisy are so great, when we come back, we will definitely visit them! 

When you teach people the Plan of Happiness, you can see light enter their eyes, literally. It is amazing. The people are so good, they just need to let us in the door! I love my mission.

My scripture this week, oh man. I don't know if I brought my paper. Well, 2 Nephi 2:25 I think. Adam fell that men might be, and men are, that they might have joy. At times during life we let really stupid and menial things bring us down, but that isn't our purpose, that isn't part of the plan.  Joy is the plan, and we have so many ways to achieve and maintain it, but we sometimes refuse to keep it with us.

I have to go, love you all and have a great week!

Week 32 - Black Plague and Progressing Investigators

This week was really good teaching wise, but unfortunately I have received the black plague Friday, Saturday and yesterday, but I am feeling a little better today.  Elder Stoker and I have been hanging out today, we went to Burger King. We put a date on Williams and Daisy (their baptism date is June 4th), which is dope, and two other investigators came to sacrament meeting. So, I am happy with the way things are going in my area.

(I told Brad he needed to get an anti-biotic if he wasn't feeling better soon)  If I don't improve by Wednesday, I have to call Hermana Hansen! I had an interview with Pres. Hansen this week, and we laughed a lot, talked a sec about football, and he is a great guy. He gave great advice, and just wants to make sure we all feel like we have a friend in him and that we feel loved. He is a good guy. And I expect a lot more latin comps. Pres told me to prepare for a comp who wasn´t ready to serve a full time mission or who wasn't wanting to keep serving longer... so we shall see in 5 more weeks! Lol. (I mentioned to Brad that every time I look at the weather in Cochabamba it's 80-85 degrees) And I will say that Cocha probably has the best climate in the world. It is consistently gorgeous outside, just the fact that it is in Bolivia is the problem. It is winter here too! But I miss the snow and the fall and the leaves changing and actual pines like crazy. Utah is still prettier.

I hope you all have a great week! Love, Elder Howells

Week 31 - Mother's Day Skype call

Hello all!

Good news! My family confirmed that I don't look any fuller (chubbier) than when I left home. What a relief. 

Yesterday we had the opportunity to have 3 different investigator families come to church, 6 of which are at the age to be baptized, which is awesome. They are progressing, and they are all really happy. I am happy for them. Also, as yesterday was Mother's Day, I got to Skype with my family, which was great! They are doing so good, and I was so excited to be able to see them and talk to them.

This week should be a good one, I anticipate progress with our investigators.  I hope you all have a great week, and Happy Mother's Day, if you're a mom, if not, Happy Monday! 

Talk to you all soon!

(HERE IS A SHORT CLIP FROM OUR CALL ON SUNDAY)

Week 30 - A short email, and that's saying something because they are all short :)

Elder Infante and I had a good week! 

We had Williams and Daisy and their two kids come to sacrament meeting yesterday, and they are progressing.  We had 3 other investigators come to a family home evening last night, so things are starting to look up. I am really excited for them. 

I don't have a whole lot of time this week. I am at a members house right now and they only have one computer, and my comp still has to write and do his stuff. 

I love you all!

Week 29 - Cochabamba Temple

Hello!

This week was great. We got to go to the temple on Tuesday, it was great and the Cochabamba Temple is gorgeous! Thursday we had Zone Conference and I got some of Hermana Hansen's (Mission President's Wife) chocolate chip cookies. They were rather excellent. I had a really good week. We didn't have any of our investigators come to sacrament meeting, but quite a few inactive members came, which was wonderful. We started up mutual for the first time in my ward, and this week I have to organize games from Joseph Smith times. So, we'll see how that goes. I love my area, still. The Mt. Everest aspect is helping me stay thin(ner) than I otherwise would be.

I love my mission. The Bolivian people are wonderful, my companion and I are going, and my Mission President is a great guy. So, I can not complain. But an investigator did give us lettuce yesterday, so we had to eat it. I am a smidge nervous for it, but we'll see. 

I love you guys and I hope you all have a great week!

Week 28 - Another Good Week

Hello!

This week has been nothing to out of the ordinary. We teach, we get rejected, we walk a lot, and I love every minute of it. My comp and I are doing better, with a little lecture on the judge or be judged, and if you are guilty of the thing that you are judging, you've got a problem. So, we resolved our issues, and we are doing much better. 

We have the opportunity to go to the Bolivia, Cochabamba Temple tomorrow morning at 6, and I am so excited. We have two progressing families, one of them has 4 sacrament assistances, and three of the 6 members are old enough to be baptized, so that's exciting. And the other family is progressing, just at a more conservative rate. We teach other people, many others, just some are slower than others and the times when we can teach aren't as close as we would like them to be. 

But my area is excellent, the food is much better, one of my dogs ran away :( But other than that, I am very happy. The mission is wonderful, I love the people and the place, and more importantly the work. I hope that everything is groovy on your end. Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Howells

Week 27 - Wolves and Scorpions

Hey! How are you doing? My week was, for the most part great! The investigators are there and are progressing, but nothing terribly noteworthy quite at this point. My area is dope! The food here is 10 times fatter and I have already gained a little bit of weight...

Here's a story! I snuggle with my wolf, her name is Bianca, and she is the world's biggest german shepherd. And her brother is named Kilay (like keelay), and he has to weigh the same as me.

Oh, we have found three little scorpions in our room, I am sure you can imagine just how well I handled that...

My scripture for the week is, Jacob 2:17-19.   It really is rather great, here it is:

17 Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you.
18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdomof God.
19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.

I hope you all have a great week!

Here are some pictures over the last month or two.  The last one is of the two wolves (German Shepard's)

Week 26 - Cochabamba

Hello! This week was good. I arrived in Cochabamba on Tuesday afternoon, and for the first time, I have a pensionista. A gal who cooks your lunches, and all the elders and sisters have them, but my old area was the only area in the whole mission that didn't. 

My new house is great, the food is good, and my area is a mountain side, so I am expecting big calves anytime soon. Lol. I love Cochabamba, and if you took Newport, California, and mixed it with Mt. Everest, that about describes my area. I am oneish streets away from the Cochabamba Temple, which is spectacular. 

The teaching has gone well, I love the work, General Conference was especially excellent this year, and I love my mission.

I hope you all have a great week! Until next time. And to those who I haven't been able to write yet, I am so sorry! I do happen to live in Bolivia, and the internet is quite sub par. But thank you all!

Week 25 - Transfers

First off, this week we had 3 sick days, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  We were in bed all day long on my birthday, pretty much a crappy birthday, but that's okay. I have a lifetime of awesome birthdays, just after my next one! Haha. 

I got a transfer... I am going to Cochabamba, Zone Universidad, and Area Colon 1. It is the wealthiest area in the mission.. I am coming from the poorest and humblest to it's literal polar opposite. Wow. I am going to have culture shock bad. Saying goodbye to my friends and the people whom I grew to love in Quiriza was really difficult, I love those people with all my heart, but I am excited for the opportunity to go and try my hand at another area with a new type of people, in a new environment. Lol. 

My new comp is from Peru, I know him a little bit, his name is Elder Infante! He is a good guy from what I know. I will leave from Tupiza tonight on a bus to Sucre, and in the morning I will fly from Sucre to Cochabamba. So... Here we go, I suppose!! 

I love you all and I hope you have a great week! I am sorry if I couldn't respond to some of you, the internet is very slow and we don't have much time. But have a swell week!

Week 24 - Big Pumpkins and Brad's 19th Birthday!

We harvested pumpkins this week, and man, let me tell ya, some of the pumpkins are enormous. Like.... Enormous. The biggest was like 128 pounds, and I got it up ontop of my shoulder and carried it to the truck all on my own. Then we harvested corn, planted more fields of garlic, and yeah, more pumpkins. Everyone wants me to carve a pumpkin, haha. But other than that, that was literally how my week went.

(Katherine asked Brad how the work was going and how the kids are there) No, no converts, we have actived a guy who was inactive for a couple of years, now we are working on his family, we shall see how that goes. And the kids are dang cute, but rowdy.

Katherine shared her scripture for the week with Brad, and he shared his, this is Brad's scripture this week:
Right now, my favorite is D&C 84:88, you oughta read it!! I like it, and I do believe President Monson has used it in a few of his talks if I remember right.

D&C 84:88 "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

Brad's 19th Birthday is Saturday the 26th of March.  It will be weird for us and for him.  You are welcome to send him an email for his birthday, he would love it.  Here is his email address:

bradley.howells@myldsmail.net

Week 23 - More Garlic & Pictures!

Hi guys,
This week was a good week. We got to our area Wednesday night in time for curfew, so we didn't have the opportunity to teach, but Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we spent all day both days planting garlic by hand, which, if you don't know how that works, I'm going to explain it to you. Ha. You take a sack of little garlic bulbs, and you make a little hole with your finger, and then you place it one by one, pointing up, every 3 inches, for about 100 yards of a furrow. And then you do the next one. So you are basically in the toe touch position all. day. long. I don't know if you all knew this, but I am just about the most unflexible person I know. So it is really a task to maintain that pose for hours and hours and hours. The fields have about 70 furrows on average all at about 100 yards, so you have a lot of work to do. It is not hard, just very tedious and leg demanding. Getting out of a chair is quite the task right now. Lol. But I am so happy in my area, with the people, and with the mission. I probably only have 2 weeks left in my area before I get transfered, so I plan to make the most of it. I hope you are all doing so well. I love you guys. Until next week!

The following pictures were taken by Brad's Mission President's wife, Sister Hansen.  We sure appreciate her taking and posting all of these pictures.  We are lucky she's seen Brad quite a bit over the last 5 months.

The Road to Quiriza

Brad & Elder Wren (his companion)

Chapel in Quiriza & where Brad lives

Sister Hansen w/ some local children

President & Sister Hansen

The Quiriza Branch

Week 22 - Threesome for the week in Tupiza

How's it going? just to let you know I am eternally jealous that you are in DisneyWorld without me..... This week was a whole lot of nothing. One Elder had to go to Cochabamba for an interview with President so we had to stay with is companion in Tupiza all week. It was really slow. But not bad though.  I taught a lot this week, but not once in my own area. its okay though, not a big deal. Our attendance yesterday (In Quiriza for Sacrament Meeting) was still 34, which is what we want.  (I asked Brad why 34 people and if Alejandro was progressing)   Just have to be at 30 or higher.  And no, we can`t even visit him because of the river, so President Hansen said to focus on my side of the river.  (Because of the rainy season the river is too high and too strong to cross)

(I asked if it is still raining quite a bit and if it was getting colder) And the rain is like every other other day now, and it isn't cold. And there are lots of blankets I can buy if it does start to get colder. But I am fine, I have slept in a lot colder, lol. (Camp Tracy)  (Brad and I have had many cold nights out camping for scouts, Camp Tracy was a memorable one for many reasons)