Week 102 - Last week in Bolivia

This last week was awesome, we worked hard, had some success, but nobody is gonna get baptized this week. We had like 7 new investigators, with a baptismal date, and only 2 came to church this week which stinks, but they just need to follow through with commitments and then they're going to be baptized. It still doesn't feel real that my mission is over, I kinda don't believe it, but at the same time, I know that I've done my best and I'm grateful to have had the opportunities I had to have loved people, companions and other missionaries like Christ would've done it. I love Him, and I am grateful for Him. I hope I made Him proud with this little tithe of my life.

This week we have some appointments, and on Friday morning I should be going to Cochabamba for my last interview with Pres., then on Saturday morning we'll go to the temple, in the afternoon we'll have a self sufficiency capacatation, Sunday is a free day to visit people, and then Monday we have a Family Home Afternoon in Pres.'s house, last dinner there, then we'll go to the airport and head to Santa Cruz! Tuesday morning, I fly out of Santa Cruz and Wednesday morning I'm home!

I love you all, thank you for the love and support you've given me throughout my mission!  See you all soon.

Love,

Elder Howells

Brad will land in SLC Wednesday morning the 27th. 

We will be having a homecoming party on Friday the 29th from 6:30 - 8:30 at our home (2421 Brook Lane in Sandy). 

Brad will give his talk in Sacrament Meeting on October 15th at 9:00 AM at our chapel on 11570 S. Wasatch BLVD.

Week 101

A UTAH MAN SIR A UTAH MAN AM I!!

Well on Sunday we had 5 people come to church, just none of them were the 5 we needed to get baptized this week, so we had to postpone the baptisms till the following week, but I leave Potosi next Friday (9/22) and I go back to Cochabamba for my last interview w/ President. Then I get to go visit people, say my goodbye's and all that fun stuff. So I won't be able to see any of the baptisms, but I know that they will all get baptized this month, so I can sleep easy knowing that!

Today we went into the mine on a tour, and needless to say, I don`t like mining very much, that would be a sucky job!

Here's a picture of me at the mine.

Week 100

I'm glad she's doing well (his sister Ellie broke her jaw in Lake Powell last weekend and had surgery Tuesday night to fix it). Pres. called me yesterday afternoon and told me that you sent him a text saying everything went well and she only has to be muzzled for 3 weeks! That's sweet!

(I asked Brad why he was going to Cochabamba again on Friday) And you remember when they robbed me? They took my Bolivian ID and I have to go get a new one before I go home! And our investigators are doing well. We have 4 with a date, we postponed Fernando from the 16th to next week, and then we got a guy yesterday and he commited for the week of the 24th on the first appointment, which is cool. And then the other two, I don't know how sure they are, but we'll see what happens there!

I love you all. Have a great week!

Elder Howells

Week 99

I'm doing good, the last week was great. But I cannot sleep at all. My comp snores, grunts, and makes all manner of terrible sounds in the nighttime hours, and I have been sleeping so little these last two weeks, goodnight. But other than that, I'm happier than a pig in a puddle :) I'm glad to hear that things are going well! And yeah, we have the same two brothers on date for baptism, Juan Pablo and Fernando for your birthday (September 16)! They're excited and making good progress. We have a zone conference with Sucre and Tupiza Zones here in Potosi tomorrow, and I think we have our regular interviews scheduled for this Wednesday, so that'll be neat to be able to get to know the Mission President a little bit more! And my comp is doing well, and he is opening up and starting to enjoy the things and get used to it a little better, so I am really happy for that and for his progress.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Howells

Week 98

This last week was cool, we went to Cochabamba on Wednesday, I got to go with Elder Gumucio (former companion) to Colcapirhua (his last area) and visits all of our converts there on Wednesday night, and on Thursday we went to get our new comps, flew to Sucre, and got a ride back to Potosí. My new companion is Elder Machaca, from Buenos Aires Argentina.  He is a great guy and tries hard, I'm proud of him for these last few days. We have one person on track for baptism on the 16th of September, Fernando Rios is his name, he is a great guy, and we're going to work more with his brother Juan Pablo Rios to help him towards that goal too!

I hope you all have a great week.  I love you all.

Elder Howells

Week 97

The trip to Uyuni was sweet, it was really cool, but I don't know if I'd go again. So Elder Gill got transfered to Cochabamba and they asked me to train a new missionary, so on Wednesday morning I'm flying to Cocha, picking up my comp, and on Thursday afternoon I fly to Sucre and take a bus to back here to Potosi! I am excited, I think it will be a cool way to finish my mission. I'm glad your stake conference was good, we had one yesterday too, so that was nice.

My week was good, Benita was baptized and it was a really special moment. She asked me to baptize her, and that was a great opportunity! And we have 2 other investigators that are fairly close to getting baptized, so that will be fun to see how they progress!

I love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Howells

Week 96

I'm doing good, tired, but really good! :)  Right now we are in Uyuni (World's largest Salt Flat) as a zone, we had to leave Potosi at 4:30 am to get here, and we will get back at about 11 tonight, (4 hours of travel), so this is the only email I can send, I'm so sorry! But we still can write 6 more times in the future ;)

We are only going to have one baptism of Benita this week, but that's okay, she is really prepared and a sweetheart! With transfers coming up this weekend, I think Elder Gill will leave, he's been here 6 months now with three comps, so he should go, and I have no idea who will kill me.  I think my legs are fine, they just hurt when I step wrong, so yeah, new shoes are in order, lol. But don't worry about it, I'm fine :) Elder Gill decided he wants to be a pirate some day, #I'm a sailor, I sail LOLLOLOL. (Inside family joke)

I'll talk to you next week! Be safe, I love you!

Week 95

I had a good week, we worked hard, and we even put another person on date for the 12th, and this newest one, named Benita, I think she is the surest of the three. :) This week should be a farely normal week, we want to find about 7 new, real investigators this week, that's our goal! And just in case you were wondering... we are only going to write 7 more times, then on the eighth my flight leaves Cocha for Santa Cruz. Not bad, time is flying by, my goodness. I am excited to get home too, but am sad to leave here. I'm glad we'll all be able to come back soon in a couple of years, I will miss Cocha a lot!

I love you all!  Have a great week!

Elder Howells

Week 93

I can't believe Brennen is on the way home and Chase too. Have you thought of a theme for my homecoming talk?? My week was great, I loved the zone conference, it was sweet. The new president is a great guy, he has no clue how to do missionary stuff yet, but he is a doctrinal wiz, so that's sweet. What he lacks for in mission knowledge and how to teach the way missionaries do, he makes up for it in the spirit, so I'd say he's just fine. I still miss Pres. Hansen though. Elder Gill and I are getting along good.

The work is going well, 7 investigators came to church yesterday, and we probably will have some baptisms the middle of August. Lately, I've been studying Sec. 93, there is so much more before spiritual life, and so much more after this life than, unless you look for it, you never find or even think of. It's sweet. I have gotten good at teaching specific principles, especially in a class setting, and or applying them into the plan of salvation, I love that kind of stuff.

Toady, we went on a tour of some old cathedrals from the 16th century, they were neat, but not one ounce of the spirit in those buildings.

Well, I love you all.

Have a great week! Elder Howells

Week 92

We are doing great, no broken windows this week! ;) We worked hard, but nothing amazing this week, awesome gospel experiences, like always, but nothing off the walls! Today, we have been here and there, cleaned the house and now we are emailing our families. I can't believe how quick this is coming to an end, less than 80 days! Geez. Tuesday afternoon we are traveling to Sucre for our first Zone Conference with our new Mission President. I've heard he's a nice guy and a great teacher, so I'm excited to meet him. We will go in a bus tomorrow (Tuesday) at five in the afternoon, get there around 9 at night, more or less. Sucre is a lot closer than Tupiza (Tupiza was part of Brad's first area). The Tupiza Zone are going to be there too, so that will be cool.

Thought for the day.... The Prophet said if we read the Book of Mormon everyday it will make us sin resistant, and I feel that it's true, I've put it to the test and I can't deny it.

Well, I hope you have a great week.

Love, Elder Howells

Week 89 - Life at 13,400 Feet

How are you? :) Not a lot of air out here, my goodness. My comp (Elder Gill) is awesome, he has been out 4 months and lives by the Seare's (Katherine's Sister in Gilbert, AZ) kind of.  It does get real cold at night, I put on my thermals and I have a double blanket, so I'm pretty good. Being up here has already caused me to start losing weight #thankgoodness. The area is big, but still half the size of my last one. The ward is big too, it's a ward of a 1000 members, but about 100 attend... sad. So, I don't have to iron my shirts anymore because I always wear a little sweater dealio, hahaha.

(I told Brad about our Father's Day activities) Haha, I wish I could've watched Poppy play ball! HAPPY FATHERS DAY to everyone!!! My area is big, but the other senior comps who were there before worked stupid while trying to work smart. So we've tracted a bit and are just trying to help everyone here. We have one guy that should get baptized this week. He didn't want to, but we had two chats, and now he's ready, I'm happy for him, his name is Juan Pablo Rios. And in my last area, I don't know what happened, but no one got baptized (He had 2-3 people ready for baptism when he left on Tuesday), which stinks, but there must be a reason...
Well, I hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Elder Howells

Week 88 - Transfers

I had a great week, and the baptism on Saturday was wonderful! I am going to go to Potosi, Centro 1 (area), with Elder Gill from Arizona as Senior Comp.  I'm excited, Potosi is at like 13,400 ft. normally, so not bad! Yeah, it's winter so there should be pretty good weather (He's hoping for a little snow), supposed to be cold there, I don't know!  I passed through Potosi when I was in a bus coming to Cochabamba or Sucre for immigrations. Just google it, and you'll get the jist of it from the first picture. The big hill is called Cerro Rico, or rich hill. Got a crazy story about the gold and silver, supposed to be a pretty haunted city, a lot of devil worshiping and crap. Don't like that at all, lol.  

I miss Dave Alcorn (Dave is a family friend who just passed away), he was one of the greatest in the Kingdom, that I know. 

Today we went to a barbecue, I made bratts, then lunch, and now we're here emailing! Tonight we have just a few appointments, then getting my bags ready. My flight leaves tomorrow (Tuesday 6/13) at 7 in the morning, only a half hour flight!

I love you all!  Have a great week.

Week 87

My week was good, we were busy, had things happen that weren't expected, but all in all, a great week! My companion is great, we are getting along just fine! And yes, he (President Hansen) is wrapping things up, he leaves here on the 31st of this month :( I promised them Texas Roadhouse when I get home, and they laughed and said it would be great. :) I love him!

(The unexpected things that happened?) Just some investigators who have cancer out of nowwhere, one who got raped (She is just 13), just sad stuff. But they are getting better! :) I feel great! And just preparing two people to get baptized this week! We have made great progress with them!!

I hope you all have a great week!

Love,  Elder Howells

Week 86

I am doing pretty great, just chugging along. Elder Gumucio and I are happy, working hard, no complaints. We have 6 ready for baptism, 3 on the 10th and 3 on the 17th :) We played basketball and soccer today.

(Brad shared two conversion stories that stand out to him)

I don't know.... There is one named John Lennon, and his brother is named Kevin. The mom is a convert for a year now, no dad in the picture. John, when we met him, was atheist, but when we taught him why repentance was necesary, and we had him read Alma 39, he started to cry and wanted more than anything to change. He was baptized with his brother in February, and he is the most repented, humble and God seeking person I know. I love that guy. Every time he sees me (he is about 6' 6") he hugs me and says "hola house, como estas?" (no one can pronounce my last name). I love that guy.

Norma was receiving the chats for a couple of months, but she wasn't sure and was scared of messing up after her baptism. She came to General Conference, and the message by the Argentinan 70 changed her mind, and she and her daughter got baptized together, I baptized her and Elder Larrea baptized her daughter, Lindaly!!

When the members bring people, they are all referrals. In this area, knocking on doors yields very few results, the members bring us people and we teach them and try to baptize them, and we usually suceed! :)

I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Elder Howells

Week 84 - Mothers Day & I got robbed

Hey pops, somebody robbed me and my whole wallet, so can you hurry and cancel my credit card so that they can't take any money out! I love you, talk to you later!  (That was the email Brad sent first thing Monday morning, I had to wait until later to find out if he was okay)

I'm good, just upset! ;) They only took 80 b's (Boliviano's; local currency), but I lost my Bolivian ID (200 b's to get replaced), my church insurance card, church and home credit cards, Temple Recommend, notes from you and mom, and my Sportsman's Warehouse frequent customer card (real upset about that one), and my pride, but that's okay!

We have a lot of appointments this week, so Elder Larrea will go home with a bang! :) The baptism was great, Javier is a special needs youth, mentally, and he was scared of the water, so the fifth time baptizing him was the charm.

We were able to Skype w/ Brad on Mothers Day.  It was so good to see and talk to him.  He is doing really well (other than getting robbed on Monday morning).  

Week 83

How are you?? :) This week was a hard week, a lot of doors and very very few answers, but we saw little miracles and tender mercies each day, which makes it all worth it. Today we played indoor volley ball, called wally, and then we went and ate, changed, and now we're here emailings. As far as calling on Mother's Day we haven't even found a computer to use yet, but we will email you during the week to let you know. It will probably be in the afternoon, I think!

Elder Larrea is pretty worn out (He has 2 weeks left), but giving it his all, which is admirable. And transfers are the Sunday after Mother's day, I don't know what day that would be!

I love you guys!  Talk to you on Sunday!

Week 82

My day has been good, I went and bought some souvenirs... It's weird that I'm to that point to buying stuff to take home. Then we went home, my comp took a shower and I accidentally fell asleep for two hours, and now we're here! ;) Elder Larrea is doing good, finishing strong! If these three planned baptisms for next Saturday happen, we will break records of baptisms together in two transfers for his whole mission!

That went on National news (The video below) and the newspaper. It was a holiday activity, and the stake president wasn't there for an interview, so, seeing as I'm ZL1, they made me do it, and then the clown wanted the one in charge, and the missionaries decided to shout my name, and there I was...


I hope you all have a great week.

Love, Elder Howells

Week 81

My day was good, we took a nap, got our hair cut, and now we're here! This last week was great, and this next week should be too. We've been trying to find more people to teach, and so far I'm happy with the people we've found.  2 of the new ones have a baptismal date for the 13th, and one other older investigator has a date for the 13th too! I am feeling pretty good, no complaints!

And this week is going to be pretty standard issue! And the only difference here in the fall is that the mornings are a little bit nippy, but really, not bad at all! It still can get hotter than sin and you can get burned in literally 5 minutes if you don't stick to the shade. For the high altitude the sun has a stronger effect.  And Pres. is great, I saw him yesterday in a stake/mission president meeting with the zone leaders. It was cool, he drove us home! I think he might be a little trunky, but he really doesn't show it at all!

Well, I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Elder Howells

Week 80 - Baptisms

I am doing great. Better than a pig in a puddle. The baptisms went great this weekend, in fact, it was the first that actually started within 15 minutes of when it should. Usually everything in this country starts about an hour or 1.5 hours after it was supposed to start. That means everything, general conference, church, whatever. Hahaha. 

Today we went and played soccer, I'm still no good, and this week looks to be a pretty laid back week as far as administrative stuff is concerned. Elder Larrea and I have a pretty great rythim, our area is buzzing and we've got the zone firing on all cylinders. We're excited.

Week 78

General conference was awesome, I really enjoyed it! I'd say my favorite talks were by the counselors in the First Presidency in Priesthood session, and by the Australian guy, with Elder Rasband as well! I liked em all, I guess. Haha. This week we have two scheduled baptisms of Norma and her daughter Lindalee. They are about 85% percent sure for this week, and if not this week then the next. The temple was great and the interview was great! President asked me about the status of the mission, how I thought we could meet our goals of 900 baptisms a year (Currently at 670 in 2016), and how I thought we could improve the work. In conference, what stood out to me was that I heard, John 3:16 4 times and "Perfect love casteth out all fears" 4 times as well, if I'm not mistaken (I probably am ;).

I went pretty hard on indoor volleyball today, so we're a little tight right now. And transfers are on Sunday! I was trying to send some pictures and I just got a virus on my flash card. I hope it didn't delete all of my 1500 pictures! I am going to see in the offices because they have virus killing software!

Have a great week!

Love, Elder Howells