Elder and Sister Gowans' Missionary Blog

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

This morning, we attended our weekly District Development Meeting. It was a good meeting in that those who were assigned to instruct did a real good job in covering their material. Sister Gowans gave the opening Spiritual Talk covering the subject of prayer and how important it is to pray with those who are studying the gospel.

This afternoon, we spent the afternoon at the Post Hospital getting Sister Gowans' knees checked out. We are hoping that all they need is a lube job. We will find out in the next few days.

This evening, we met two families. The first, we learned has lived in the area for over 5 years. However, they had not been active in the church and apparently the wife/mother just began returning to church and so the ward they lived in shot us their name and address. When we arrived, we were warmly welcomed, but we quickly learned that they are moving to California next month. So we asked if there was anything we could do to help, but as usual the Government will take care of the move; all they will have to do is prepare.

The second family is a new family to the area. Just a very young, but very kind and sweet couple. They were very warm and we had a very nice visit with them.

Monday, November 4, 2013

We had a very enjoyable FHE this evening. Five Soldier came out to enjoy the evening together, to include Brother and Sister Amidan; sister Amidan came out about 3 weeks ago to join her husband while he is in training. After eating a delicious dinner of Dirty Rice, Sausage and salad, we played several rounds of Apples to Apples. We all had a very enjoyable time together.

This morning, we reengaged with the Red Cross. It was a very busy day for us there. We both kept busy doing our separate assignments.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

This afternoon, we had another wonderful turnout of student/soldiers come out to church today, to include 4 nonmembers and one new fellow, brother Larsen. It is terrific to see so many come out and partake of the activities that are offered; it builds and strengthens testimonies to see these good young men and women come out; we know they are there because they have a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A testimony is a miraculous thing; when you think that each of them has had a personal manifestation from the Holy Ghost that the Church is true and then they discipline their lives to live in accordance to the will of God.

We had a real nice visit with Kyle Janssen; he is progressing nicely, his testimony is growing and his knowledge is increasing. We love him, his wife Stephanie and their little Selina. We also had a nice visit with the Johnson family, we see progress being made in their lives and hope they will continue to grow.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

This morning we stepped right back into our usual Saturday morning troop visits. We had the opportunity to see a few of our soldiers, particularly those who are still fairly new. We had a good visit with them and insured that if they wanted to go to the temple that they had the memorandum for their cadre and also were set up to receive a temple recommend if they needed it.

This afternoon we took two of our young Elders to visit a sister who wants to be baptized, but she is still cohabitation; even though they say there is no sexual activity taking place, certainly if she were baptized, the devil would step up the temptation to commit sin, which would cause serious problems, problems that would not exist if she remains outside of the church. Also, she has been under much stress lately, which has caused her lupus to act up, which has caused her to be very sick. We encouraged both her and her boy friend to make serious choices, which may also help her overcome the stress of her current circumstances and help her get better.

We also visited the Sanders family today and gave Crystal another blessing to assist her body in the healing process. She is such a happy, positive person; I'm sure her body will heal up quickly. We also visited with the Stewart family, who live close by. His work schedule has changed which will now allow him to come to church. Hopefully, we can help this family grow and progress.

This evening, we spent our time cleaning the carpets in our apartment to see if we can rid the apartment of its dirty, musty smell, which we are sure was caused by last night's flood. We also cleaned the floors again to make sure they were not harboring any dirty odors too! Currently the fan is running and the windows are open to let things further air out.

Friday, November 1, 2013

This evening, we came home to a flooded apartment! We walked in the door and water everywhere! Apparently, the hot water handle in the bath tub in the apartment above us completely broke out and so water came spewing out filling up the bathtub and, of course, flowing over on to the floor and down into our apartment. The lady didn't know how to turn the water off to her apartment and so she didn't take action until it became critical. So we just spent the last hour and a half cleaning water off the floor and out of the carpet. What fun!

Anyway, we had a wonderful institute class this evening. We discussed the events surrounding the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, the first temple built in the Latter-days, and how the Saints of the time were endowed with power from on high. Then we likened it to our own selves and how we too can be endowed with power from on high as we participate in the ordinances of the temple today.

This afternoon, Elder Gowans took our Augusta Missionaries out to visit a couple who are desirous to turn their lives to God; we left them with a challenge to study, read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We also challenged them to come out to church on Sunday. It is good to get back into the swing of things.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

This morning, we got right to work getting ready for the week to come. We did our laundry and did all our shopping. Prior to shopping, we visited with Sister Sanders who had recently had a baby. We found out that she had some very severe postpartum problems arise. We found her at home with her mother-in-law and baby boy. She is doing much better and we had a real nice visit with her. Their baby, Weston, is a real handsome little tyke! We are happy to know she is doing so much better.

Since it is Halloween, all the missionaries were to be in their apartments. We invited the Meachams over to play a little card game, Crowns. We had an enjoyable visit with them, they brought over cookies and ice cream.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

We returned back today from our quick trip to Joe and Sarah's wedding. We left Omaha late this morning and arrived back in Augusta a little after 6 pm. We are grateful for our safety in all the traveling we have done, and pass on to all our family how wonderful it was to be with each of you. Of course, we missed having Adam there, but we will see him next summer!

As promised here are some photo highlights of our quick trip:

The Wedding