Moncks Corner

This week was good! We had transfers on Tuesday so Monday we concluded our pday with some final goodbyes. It was rough and I was sad to go
but I am so grateful I had the opportunity to serve there. Tuesday at transfers was uninteresting. I was super anxious and worried about where I was going, who I was going with, all that good stuff. But I am in an area called Moncks Corner. It is interesting because the ward is huge. I think it is one of the biggest ones in
South Carolina. And we are on bikes haha. Our are is super small and we don't have a car. But we share the ward with a set of sisters who are pretty awesome and they do have a car. So they cover pretty much
the whole ward. My companion is Elder Anderson! We were in the mtc together and he is awesome! We have made member relationships and less active a focus which is awesome! Not to much success yet though.

I had some pretty cool experiences this week. I was pretty depressed and anxious about transfers and I did not want to leave Sumter. I told the Lord I would go where he needs me and do the best I can but needed
strength. Then Wednesday  we woke up and I just wanted to get out and do work. I didn't want to think about anything or sit around I just wanted to go teach people. And it was awesome. Since then I haven't really been homesick. I know this is where the Lord needs me and I am grateful to be here. It reminded me of a talk I read a while back. It was by Elder Christofferson and I won't quote to much but there is a part where it says " thank you Gardner. For loving me enough to cut me down." (link here) And I have thanked the Lord every day this week for loving me enough to cut me down. Because I have already learned so much here.

I also had a really cool experience watching the studio c face to face! We watched it as a companionship and one of the answers on how to be happy was to know that bad things happen and sad times will come. But they pass and ultimately the Lord wants us to be happy. It
was awesome.

I love everyone and miss them so much! I hope everyone had a great week!

Elder Dowell (2)


"60% of the time it works, every time"

Headed down river?

This week was pretty good! Only big thing that happened was I found out I am getting transferred! I do not know to where yet but I am excited for the new challenge! I was nervous because my trainer is going home so I thought I was going to be taking the Sumter area but instead I am being transferred. 

At first I was pretty disappointed and I am sad to leave all these awesome people I met! But I know that if the Lord needs me to go somewhere else to learn and meet people then it will be the for the best. I have heard prophesy that I will be down in Charleston but I won't know for sure until tomorrow. As a result of that and my trainer going home we have been going and saying goodbye to everyone we taught and worked with. Which was fun but kind of sad that I may not see them again. 

We did burn a suit for my trainer! We were saying bye to a less active and he asked if Elder Jackson was going to burn a suit before he left. So we got a suit and dressed it up with a shirt, tie, shoes and everything and put it on a big tree branch. Then we lit up a bonfire and threw it on! It was pretty weird but pretty fun! 

All the other goodbyes were pretty routine. We have been working with an investigator that has been going really well! He is engaged and has 2 kids and lives with his fiance who is not particularly interested in meeting with us. But we had a way cool lesson! He was outside watching the kids and we went outside with him and he has some member friends but he said he didn't want to offend them with his questions so he would just ask us haha. He some questions mostly about what we do and some basic stuff. And we answered them and understood really well so left him a Book of Mormon and he is really excited to read it! He said he didn't grow up religious and just wants to know what is true. So it is a good thing he met us! haha. I love everyone and miss you all so much!

Love Elder Dowell (2)

 

"I'm not blind 23 hours a day, I'm blind 22 hours a day. I am blind. 24 hours a day."

Matthew...not so tough

Hi Family and Friends,

This week was interesting! There was a hurricane here and I did die. SIKE. It barely hit the part of South Carolina I am in! We were asked to stay inside and there has been a county wide curfew because half the town doesn't have power. But we do! Haha. We lost for like 4 hours during the storm but that was it. 

The hurricane has been the ONLY thing people down here have been wanting to talk about for about a week. So we tried to visit people but all they wanted to do was ask us if we were ready for the storm!

We did have a fun time with Bruce though. His 63 birthday was this week so we made him a cake! We met him at the other Elders apartment and gave it to him and he put it in his truck and then we just stayed outside and talked to him for a few minutes. Then when he went to leave he looped back around past us, leaned out the window and yelled "WOOOO CHOCOLATE CAKE AROMA. I MIGHT HAVE ME A SLICE BEFORE I GET HOME" It was hilarious and we almost died laughing. 



Another funny thing! We were on exchanges and were biking through a rougher area and a group of guys asked us to stop so they could "holla at us fo a minute" so we did. And they asked us to ride our bikes though again slowly so they could get it in their music video. So we went back and rode through nice and slow and they had a weirdly nice camera and filmed us riding through while they were dancing to some rap music and it was pretty fun. 




Another interesting thing that happened was church got cancelled! So we went out and tried to do some post hurricane service which was nice but the whole day was just off. I love everyone and miss them so much! Hope everyone has a great week!

Love Elder Dowell (2)

"quit playin' with your dinghy!"

Gobblers and Screw Guns

This week was pretty good! So,e interesting things but not to much going on. 

Our investigator that has been on date had to get punched back again because he is having trouble getting married. He is super fun to teach because he is in his 50s and does yard work for a living. But not hard work like you and I know it. I, talking southern yard work. There is a lot more 'hollerin' and some tools I have never heard of. For example: Globbers (hedge clippers), screw gun (drill) blazer (an old chevy blazer that they tie a slack line to pull tree stumps out. Missing a back window because a tree stump hit it haha). So that is always fun to hear about.

We found an awesome new investigator this week! It was another bible referal so we set up a time we could take her the Bible and she loved the message we shared about prophets and said she would love to learn ,ore! So we are meeting with her on Tuesday. We knocked a good deal and found 1 new investigator doing that! He asked us to come back when he his wife was home so we are excited to go see him again!

Elder Dowell trying to manage his weight...Fish and Quinoa

Interesting story. I can't remember if I already talked about Bruce. But he is a super interesting guy. A few weeks ago we had to stop him from saying some stuff about the temple in front of a bunch of investigators and he hermit to the doctor and I think he thinks he had heart surgery even though he didn't haha. But yesterday he was at the church with us during one of the sessions of conference and after wards he was talking to some other members while we were talking to the other elders. I didn't hear the whole conversation but I did hear him exclaim: "I'm stupid but I'm not retarded". It was hysterical.

We have been trying really hard to find new investigators and we found 4 this week I think which was fun! It was pretty cool because we had two bible referrals on the same street. A bible referral is just someone that ordered a free bible online and we go and take it to them. We haven't even gotten to give them bibles yet because they are never home when we are there. We got 3 new investigators on that street though! We knocked into one that was a neighbor of one of the referrals, we met one just while they were out walking, and we starting to the third guy about his car (a Grand Marquis with an aftermarket turbo) and he asked us if we had anything he could read before we were back in the area. All super awesome! It just shows that if the Lord wants you somewhere he will put you there. 

An old shoe store downtown

Another little story. We were at a members house and the kids were outside playing football and they came in because on if the neighbors was tackling one of the other kids and he his his teeth and chipped them on his head. So one had two chipped teeth and the other a cut in his head. They are both fine though so don't worry to much. We were able to give blessings to those who wanted them and talk about the priesthood and why we're doing it with the neighbors which was awesome!

We had a super funny experience with a newer member. He had been to the doctor for some heart problems and they told him he was fine. They basically told him not to go to like the gym and try not to lift anything to heavy but it wasn't a big deal. (another member was there with him and told us that) He took it to mean sit on the couch all day and you cannot cook, clean, do dishes, anything like that. And then he asked us to: "tell the women's society if they want to make me some food they can". It was pretty funny.

I'm guessing Marshall shopped for groceries

Lastly I would like to talk a little about conference! My favorite was President Monson's. I know it was very short and I honestly already forgot what it was about. But I will always remember the feeling I had while he was speaking. Although he is physically weak I can testify to you with all my heart that he is leading this church still with the full strength and power of the Lord. He is called to lead us on these Latter Days and is doing so with the power and authority of God.

Questions:

How many miles are you riding each day on your bike?

Elder Jackson isn't supposed to bike for medical reasons so we don't very often but when we do it is around 10

Do you like your bike? 

Ya it is great!

Do you have everything you need for it?

 So far yes

Has it been getting cold ? 

In the mornings it is chilly but it isn't cold really anytime yet

 

Do you need to buy a coat yet?  

Not yet 

How are the fall colors there?  

Still just all green haha. No changes yet.

When did you feel the spirit teaching this week?

I taught the gospel principals class and it was fun! I did it by myself and I felt like the Spirit was definitely helping me

What have you learned about keeping your apartment clean?  Do you have a routine that you follow for cleaning?  Does anyone check up on your apartment?

Someone checks it every 3 months. The only thing that bothers me is dishes so I wash dishes by hand after I use them and put them up to dry

What kind of progress did you see with investigators this week?  

Billy is starting to understand why needs a testimony of the Book of Mormon which is way cool!

What is the hardest question you have had to answer?

Nothing crazy. We usually don't get past a doorstep version of the restoration so there aren't very many questions.

Are you healthy?  

Yes!

Are you warm at night? 

Yes! Sometimes too warm.

Good scripture!:

2 Nephi 33:6  I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus,for he hath redeemed my soul from hell.

"Everybody listen up. I have just been handed a very urgent and important message. I need everyone to stop what they're doing and listen. Cannonball!"

I love you all and miss you so much! Have an amazing week!

Elder Dowell (2)