Riley #31 - Lomita, CA - Haircut photo, Apartment, People moving in
August 20, 2013
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the letters. It's nice getting to see Michele's blog.
The photos I am sending are mostly old ones of Elder Hsiao that I don't think I have sent before. I didn't really take any photos this week.
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The one of me I did send was taken in the parking lot of the library where I am emailing. You can notice I got a new haircut.
The ones of Elder Hsiao also show the apartment where we lived when we were companions. It was pretty nice, larger than the one we have now. Elder Hsiao is going home tomorrow, so these will probably be the last I send of him.
Transfers were last night. Elder Bergeson and I didn't change at all. We are both pretty happy with that as there is a lot going on in the Branch and we want to be a part of it.
The one change we did have was the creation of a new zone. The new zone is called the International Zone and, as we understand it, contains the language programs with the exception of Spanish of course. That should mean Korean, Chinese, and Tongan. Also, probably, ASL and maybe Samoan. I am not sure if there is a defined Samoan program right now.
We don't know who our district leader is yet, but the zone leader should be Elder Kuo. As far as we know, he is the only zone leader, which would be weird as there is always two. The new zone should help us coordinate better for English class and finding techniques.
As the Chinese program grows, we also could have a Chinese district which would be neat as we could then hold our meetings in Chinese. The new Chinese missionary should come tomorrow. From what we have heard, the next one will probably come during the transfer. I think both of them should be fluent in Chinese.
A lot of things have been happening here and we have been able to find Chinese people who are interested in being taught. There seems to be a lot of Chinese people moving in around the Branch. It really feels like there has been a big change we have seen in the past month in regards to our work. It is easy to see the God's hand in the work we have been doing as he guides us and those we teach. We have made a lot trips to the Visitor Center lately. Every time we are there, Chinese people will unexpectedly come in and we will be able to talk to them.
Love,
Elder Bowman
Mollie #41 - San Pedro, Chile - She makes up songs, Marijuana, and The Athenians
August 5
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| Good bye to my Angol Zone! |
Hey all.
My new sector is called The Marina. It is in the city of San Pedro which is just south of Concepcion. It is actually warmer here in the day but colder at night. Go figure.
My new companion is Hermana Van De Merwe, who is 20 years old. She is from Draper, Utah, and was studying public communication and art history before her mission. She makes up songs and sings in the street, the shower, while cooking, etc.. needlessly to say, I love her.
She has been in Chile for 3 months, making me the senior companion. It ends up that I can speak Spanish a lot better than I thought I could, because we ended up teaching alright here.
Our sector is one of the most ghetto sectors in the mission. Just last week, sisters from the ward next to ours were robbed.
The members and people we have contacted in the street have banned us from going into certain sectors (pretty much our whole sector) at different times of night.
There is a big problem with drugs and alcohol here. It is terrible and really hard on the youth. The other day I had a conversation with one of the youth that was accompanying us on visits about whether it is bad to try out marijuana. Just to try it you know.
I think I explained it in the way that you explained it to me.
Me: Is dirt good for you.
Youth: No
Me: Why not?
Youth: It can make you sick
Me: Exactly, you know it isn´t good for you
Youth: Is marijuana good for you, a good thing?
Me: No
Youth: Why not?
Me: It's obvious.
Youth: They say it's healthy, like medicine.
Me: So if everyone was eating dirt -which you know is bad for you- you would it it too, right?
Youth: No.
Me: Exactly and it is the same with marijuana. You know it is bad for you, so don't take it. You don´t need to try it to know its bad for you. You don´t need to eat dirt, just because everyone else is.
Youth: Yeah, I know but my brother he´s having trouble with it with his friends. He doesn´t have good friends. And he´s just not as mature as me (younger brother by 2 yrs)
Me: Alright, what night is good to have a Family Home Evening with you and your brother and the bishop? ( The dad drinks a lot and they don´t have a mom)...
This was like my second day here. I didn´t even know the kid.
Needlessly to say, things are as interesting as always.
There is lots more I could tell you guys-.
Life here is always interesting. But I don't want us to be like the Athenians - if you don't know what I mean look at Acts 17:21.
I was studying in the New Testament this week.
That will be my spiritual thought - Do! - Don´t just talk and listen.
Love you lots,
Hermana Bowman
PS. Thanks for the letters
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| Another photo of my Angol Zone. I will miss them! |
Riley #29 - Lomita, CA - English Conference to Share our Program
August 5, 2013
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Dear Family,
Thanks for the letters. First off, don't worry about the recorder, Miss Donna sent me one. Be sure to pass on my thanks to her.
The genealogy conference you went to sounds interesting. Lately, I haven't really been thinking much about how I would use genealogy here, but it certainly is something that could prove to be useful. It has been a little busy lately, but maybe as we near this fireside I will have some time to give it more thought.
A lot happened this week, more than I probably have time to talk about, but I can give you some highlights. First of all, this is the best week we have had for attendance at English class with 18 students on Tuesday. The Korean missionaries have a beginning class they have started now so not all are Chinese, but most are. Wednesday, we had a special conference about English class presented by Elder Hsiao and Elder Kuo.
It was a fantastic conference. Elder Hsiao is simply unbelievable. I still don't know Elder Kuo too well, but Elder Hsiao speaks very highly of him and says he is the most organized person he has ever met. In any case, the conference they held was really impressive. The purpose of the conference was more or less to present Los Angeles English. They went over the benefits of teaching English, how to run an English class, and the current organization of the English class we made. President and Sister Weidman were present for the majority of it. Also, the Korean missionaries were there as well as the ASL missionaries and three companionships of Spanish missionaries. Apart from ASL, they are all planning to start an English class using the organization and material we prepared.
Elder Hsiao is now in charge of the English class program in the mission. Before the missionaries can open their own English class (or English Unit), they need to go through a Startup checklist and run it by Elder Hsiao. These Spanish missionaries will be the start of incorporating the Spanish program into English class. Our English class is going to be officially mission sponsored and run mission wide. Back when we were first starting English class, when I was first in LA, Elder Hsiao told me that this was the eventual goal. It is hard to believe he actually pulled it off.
We also had some other successes this week, which I am out of time to tell you. Maybe next week.
Love,
Elder Bowman
Mollie #40 - Angol, Chile - Going Away Party, Canteras, Momita
July 29
Hola everyone,
SO, cambios and I am changing. BOO... :( but at the same time. I am glad to reflect back on all of the changes that have occurred in my time here.
The ward is stronger and better able to retain members. About five families have been reactivated. We have a mission leader. The sisters in the house are working better together. We have a whiteboard and a map. We have cleaned up the phone, the menos activo list. We have members that work with the missionaries. We have regular Family Home Evenings where we can invite people. There have been a plethora of changes. In the moment, progress seems so slow. But really a lot has happened in the time I was here.
Here is a picture of me and Keila. (
Click here to learn more about Keila). It's from my going away party they held for me spur of the moment last night.
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This is my ward missionary group. This is what we started with. We have a lot more now, but these three have always been ready to help us when we needed them for arranging activities or coming to lessons. This is Keila, Victor, and Diego. Diego is now our ward mission leader. He is 17 and a fantastic leader.
They went with us to the canteras, which are small lakes. I've been wanting to go since I came here, so I am really glad I got to squish it in. The canteras were mines, but then one day they struck water and filled up. Supposedly, it filled really fast and all of the machines are still down there under the water, which is evidently really deep.
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These are some of the families I helped reactivate and Sergio was baptized. This is from the party they threw for me.
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Meet Momita, also known as Hermana Pati. She is fantastic - just a beautiful and wonderful person. She has taught me a lot about discerning needs of others and then teaching them how to act to fill those needs. Hard to explain, but she is wonderful at discerning the needs of others and then straight out questioning them. She uses questions beautifully.
Things like asking sisters in the ward...
Momita: How are you?
Hermana: Good.
Momita: (Looks in Hermana's eyes) No you are not. What is wrong?
Hermana: Nothing.
Momita: (Long hug) You are important to me. How can I help you?
She sees things, and then she finds ways to invite people to act - to change in order to feel better. She is one of my favorite people here, and I WILL MISS learning from her - a lot!
Love you all lots,
Thanks for the letters,
Hermana Bowman
Riley # 28 - Lomita, CA - Elder Bergeson, Tsaio vs, Hsaio, A Group
July 29
Dear Family,
I ended up not buying the voice recorder because they looked expensive, and I wasn't sure which one would work well. Could you order one online? It needs to be small enough that I could put it in a pocket and it would be nice if it could use a memory card I could save recordings to. Other than that I leave it in your hands.
The Chinese Family History chart sounds fine. We are still preparing for our Family History Fireside in September. We want it to be big so we are creating flyers to hand out at the places we normally advertise English class at.
I think I have told you this before, but I am now companions with Elder Bergeson. In fact, I have been for the last nine weeks. We are living in Lomita, which is just south of Torrance. It is an apartment owned by a family in the branch. It is nice albeit a little small. Elder Casey and Hsiao were still living in the old apartment up until this week.
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| Elder Bergeson |
There have been a lot of changes this past week. Before I go into that, Elder Hsiao's name is with an "H" and not a "T". In the Taiwan romanization, "Ts" would be "ts" as in cats, whereas "Hs" would be an "sh" sound. Also, it is "iao" pronounced "ee-OW"
Alright, now for the changes. A week from yesterday, Elder Hsiao and Casey met with the Bishops and ward mission leaders in a number of wards up north to discuss creating a Chinese group up around USC and UCLA. A group is a church unit smaller than a branch and, in many cases, a precursor to a branch. As a result of this meeting, Elder Casey and Elder Hsiao moved up North and we split our areas. Therefore, only Elder Bergeson and I will be covering the Branch and the other Chinese companionship will cover the Northern part of the mission.
President Weidman also moved another missionary into the Chinese program. His name is Elder Kuo, and he is of Chinese descent, but doesn't speak it fluently. He was a Spanish Elder before and only has two transfers left in the mission. His Chinese is probably at least as good as mine, which is to say, overall lacking.
Elder Casey is going to be with Elder Kuo's companion for much of the rest of the transfer. He is going to be in an city called Watts, which has a reputation as the most dangerous area in the mission. His first night there, they had a drug bust across the street from his apartment. Still, I am sure he will be fine. The areas that are too dangerous are red zones, in other words areas missionaries aren't allowed to enter. Elder Casey's area has three, and he is smart enough to know to stay away from them.
Tell Michele I loved the picture of Madeleine and the Cheetos...and those animal heads are creepy.
Love,
Elder Bowman
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