September 25, 2013

Hey Mom

Transfers were yesterday and I am in the same spot for another transfer, my new companion is Elder Mickelsen from Idaho. He is pretty great. He was in our district before so I know him and we did service together a lot. Elder Lee was probably the worst trainer ever. Hopefully this transfer will be a lot better. and hopefully I can be a better missionary too, I wasnt to great last transfer. ill do better tho. I love hearing about home and all the things going on. we have a baptism coming up that im really excited for. hopefully it pulls through. our last ones didnt. and lately weve been doing alot of service for a family in the ward who really needs it and they have a helper thats catholic and weve been talking with her a lot about religion and its funny because i can totally see her being a mormon. shes a great person tho. and she is reading the book of mormon and what not. but shes great. theres lots of work here to do and im excited to do it all.

Alec getting some dinner at the Well's home

September 17, 2013

***Preface to this letter...I asked him if he had gotten any flooding because of all the flooding that was going on in other parts of Colorado.***

the weather up here is nice. we havent been dumped on too bad. but everyone says that it was really dry all summer and september has been the hottest theyve had in years then we just got the most rain we've had in years. so its cool. and they said that this winter in gonna be the coldest winter in 80 years. i love the cold. everything is going great tho. this transfer is almost over and it seems like time is just flying by. i love the other elders in my area that we hang out with. its a great group of guys for the most part and we have a lot of fun. i got sick on sunday from food poisoning and had to skip church and the ward mission leader and the elders quorum came and gave us the sacrament. but ive been doing alot of sleeping wich kinda sucks but ill enjoy it while it last tho. im feeling alot better today tho. not really much else to talk about tho. i saw my blog it was awesome haha i loved it.

A letter to family...

Alec wrote a letter of letters.  So, I am just going to type what he wrote and hopefully those he mentions are reading his blog and will know he is thinking of them :).  

"Dear Grandma Nyquist-
I am so glad to have had the chance to see you before I left on my mission.  I am so glad to still have a great grandma that I know!  Thank you so much for all that you do and have done for me in my life.  I love you and miss you a ton.
     -Love, Elder Bowler"

"I loved the Steurer's letters (Rod and Mary's family).  I loved Tessa's rainbow and tell Tessa my favorite color is blue and sorry I took forever to respond"

"Szymanski's, I loved their package and everyone's letters.  Especially Collin's: "Hello Alec, I have nothing to say, so ya.  We have to do this for family night".  Hahaha!  It made me laugh so hard and I loved the sweets.  It'll take a while to get through them!"

"Nana and Grandpa - I love their ties they send.  I always love new ties and thank you so much for your letters and the Dear Elder letter they sent.  I love letters.  Makes me feel less home-sick.  Keep 'em coming."

"Kathie, I just got your letter and I loved it and normally I would give her crap for taking so long to write, but I loved her letter."

"I think that's everyone.  I hope I didn't miss anyone.  Thank you so much for the letters.  They keep me going.  And for all those just tuning into my blog...I'm loving my mission!  It may be hard and slow sometimes, but its so worth it.  This Church is true without a doubt and we have PLENTY of fun out here.  I know that it's a must to have fun or I'll die and I'll be coming home for usre, but I don't want to be coming home!  1 month down...23 to go!"

"The work is hastening! and I'm a part of it!!!  How great is my calling?!?  Go look up Ouray and Ridgeway Colorado.  Probably my favorite place, now!  So we needed an egg to bake my "cake" [I sent him brownie mix for his birthday cake] and instead of asking someone for one (everyone has chickens), we went to Walmart and ended up with 60 eggs!  Little bit of an over-kill, so now we eat eggs a lot!  Not complaining, though...just thought it was funny!  LOVE YOU GUYS!!!"

Here are some pictures he sent of the MTC and Delta area.  I am not sure what all of them are about, but I thought I would post them anyway so that you can see what he is experiencing!

The "Spiritual Stuff"

This is a picture copy of the letter Alec sent to his cousin Emily.  You'll have to open the picture to read it.

Jumping right in!

hey sorry i didnt email yesterday it was labor day and everything was closed. and tell Calvin not to worry about that music. its all good. i just wish i got some off my laptop before i left. i had some good missionary stuff. our mission president is way awesome. he is so chill about everything. i sent a letter today so hopefully it gets there soon. its the wierdest letter ive ever written. i included my sd card from my camera. theres some good pics. i sent emily a letter about all the spiritual stuff thats happened cuz she asked for it. i told her to share it. so i didnt have to write it again. you should get it its pretty good. ive been doing pretty good out here. im loving it. i try to stay positive about everything and it really helps. i laugh alot and im just jumping right into things and it been going good. i miss you guys and love you alot. i might be needing a bike soon. but not sure yet. but i thought id give you a heads up. ill call you if i need it tho.

talk to you soon. love ya

First I'd like to appologize because I dont remember how to spell your last name. Second I would like to introduce myself. I am Jill Harris from Montrose/Olathe, CO. My husband is the bishop if the ward yiur son is serving in now. What a good, sweet young man he seems to be! He is striving to be a good missionary.  I have just been called as a ward missionary and I will be able to work more with your son. I have been asked to make sure our missionaries are being fed. Today was my first day over that & I couldnt find anyone to cover today as it was the only one open for the week. So in my crazy schedule I met the elders at Subway to buy them dinner before they went to their appointment. Thats when I found out it is your sons birthday today. I just wish I had known before. So here is a photo of your 19yr old son on his 19th birthday. 

Thank you for sharing him with us!

Jill Harris