Mollie #20 in Angol, Chile - 'Gypsy!' 'Angel!' and Two Profiles

Activity Day of Chile- Concepcion South Missionaries in Renaico, Chile (Click to Enlarge)

Hey All,

     In the past three days, I have been called a gypsy, a mermaid, an angel, and a siren. Let me explain. I went out the other day in my long flowy, orange-peachy skirt with a my green knit top. Evidently that is what gypsies wear here because when I went to approach a man (contacting) to introduce myself he called me 'Gypsy!' before quickly scurrying away.

My new companion - Hermana Urizar from Guatemala

    We called out we were missionaries, but I don´t think he believed or heard us as he was running away. My companion has now banned this outfit from ever being worn again. She tried to ban just the skirt from ever being worn as well, but I changed the shirt, and she let me keep it.

     This past Sunday was fast Sunday. All of the missionaries bore their testimony. Mine went something like:



I know, bold of me - Right?

The children, that were playing and running up and down the aisles, all stopped in their place to listen. I am fairly certain it is because I was praying the entire time that I'd find a way to bring reverence.

I ended with:

     For the reasons of singing and bringing reverence, I was called an angel, mermaid, and siren. And hence the work goes on.

     The truth is that everyone sings terribly here. They sing much lower and rarely hit the notes. This is what gave me the confidence to sing.

      Speaking of singing, we went caroling on Sunday. I really enjoyed it. We go to people's houses and  tell them we are missionaries of Jesus Christ and ask if it would be all right if we sang a short hymn for them. They enjoy hearing us sing, so it was a lot of fun.

Our Bishop

    I drew two profiles for you. When I listen to and assist in lessons, often times there are periods when I have no idea what is going on. Spanish can be a struggle.
      I spend a lot of these moments memorizing the features of their face. The bishop speaks very quickly, and the man is someone we are teaching whom speaks a lot about war -in which my vocabulary is small to nonexistent.

Teaching him about Christ. Haunted by war.

    A common saying around here is that 'There is one God.' People often let us sing and pray together, even if they are not of the same religion. It is because it is recognized that there is one God, and He is important to everyone.
      I hadn´t realized how anti-religion-ish the US is until I came here to Chile. There are directions to church and a chapel in the local airport, for example (I mean it is not like you have to go, but it is there if you need it), and people don´t mind talking about religion. It is important to the people.

   4 Nephi 1:15     
           And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, 
           because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts 
           of the people.

       I think this is true about religion here. God is important.

       We found an inactive member through caroling. We invited her to church and asked her if it would be all right to drop by again to talk with her and her son (who isn´t a member) about God. No tension at all. It was a lovely conversation. She collects cacti.

      Oh, about receiving letters through DearElder. They get to me in 1-2 weeks, I think. We had a batch of them come in today to everyone that had someone use it.


                                                                                       Love,

                                                                                        Hermana Bowman

Fun Giant Ball Game during Activity Day in Rianco, Chile