Hey everyone it seems like it's been half a week since I last emailed you because it has. But it's been a party here for sure!!!
We were really blessed to have 5 people that we're working with come to church on Sunday and I want to highlight 2. The first is a girl named Giulia, the girl from English that we have been working with a bit. We talked with her at English on Saturday and invited her to church again and she told us she was already thinking about coming. So she came and she told us she was really really glad she came. We are meeting with her tonight and we hope the same desire to follow Christ will be there from yesterday. The second is a woman named Tamara. She was a new English student on Saturday and in the middle of the class, she asks a question completely off-topic. She asked about the church and what all this was so I explained that we are missionaries teaching about Jesus Christ and serving others through English. She loved the idea and said she wanted to know more. I invited her to church and she came! The greatest part was that the members immediately jumped to help her and befriend her. One of the members came up to me after church and said that Tamara would like to come to district conference. So we are going to work with her, with English and the Gospel, and we'll make sure she gets to watch district conference.
We also were blessed to visit a less-active family Sunday called the Munteanu's. Fratele Munteanu was the branch president about a year ago, but has since become less-active due to some issues. We visited them and we focused our message on Elder Holland's talk from this past conference, The Ministry of Reconciliation. We wanted the family to realize that we can come back, even if we have made mistakes or have been wronged. We must forgive ourselves because God has already forgiven us. We read this talk and the spirit was very strong. The family was in tears and they really felt that they need to come back. We explained that God needs them in order for His church to grow. They were really grateful for the visit and they told us to call them Sunday mornings so they can make sure to come to church. It was a super awesome experience that I will not forget.
We also had exchanges this week with the Zone Leaders in Oradea and I was with Elder Thomson. It was a pretty great time reliving the glory days back in Pitesti. We had a pretty solid day, even though it was rainy and cold for most of it. We found the most success actually doing a call session with a list of potentials from notebook given to the Zone Leaders. We managed to set up 3 or 4 lessons with people and had a bunch of people interested in coming to church. It was really successful and it was a good use of our time.
I received a call from a friend here in Romania who told me he's not going to church anymore. I'm pretty devastated of course and I was trying to understand what the reason was. He told me that the church is too restrictive, that he can't live his life the way he wants. God's commandments are not restrictive, but liberating and guidelines for us to be free in the life. Yes, they aren't the most fun at times, but they help us so we can have joy and happiness in this life. Follow God's commandments. They will help you be safe, be happy, and be worthy to be in His presence at the last day. This is my invitation for you all, including me. I hope you all have a great week!! Loves!
Va iubesc,
Elder Bowen
Video of some of the music at the festival
Another video from the festival
We were really blessed to have 5 people that we're working with come to church on Sunday and I want to highlight 2. The first is a girl named Giulia, the girl from English that we have been working with a bit. We talked with her at English on Saturday and invited her to church again and she told us she was already thinking about coming. So she came and she told us she was really really glad she came. We are meeting with her tonight and we hope the same desire to follow Christ will be there from yesterday. The second is a woman named Tamara. She was a new English student on Saturday and in the middle of the class, she asks a question completely off-topic. She asked about the church and what all this was so I explained that we are missionaries teaching about Jesus Christ and serving others through English. She loved the idea and said she wanted to know more. I invited her to church and she came! The greatest part was that the members immediately jumped to help her and befriend her. One of the members came up to me after church and said that Tamara would like to come to district conference. So we are going to work with her, with English and the Gospel, and we'll make sure she gets to watch district conference.
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| Wine Festival in Timisoara |
We also were blessed to visit a less-active family Sunday called the Munteanu's. Fratele Munteanu was the branch president about a year ago, but has since become less-active due to some issues. We visited them and we focused our message on Elder Holland's talk from this past conference, The Ministry of Reconciliation. We wanted the family to realize that we can come back, even if we have made mistakes or have been wronged. We must forgive ourselves because God has already forgiven us. We read this talk and the spirit was very strong. The family was in tears and they really felt that they need to come back. We explained that God needs them in order for His church to grow. They were really grateful for the visit and they told us to call them Sunday mornings so they can make sure to come to church. It was a super awesome experience that I will not forget.
We also had exchanges this week with the Zone Leaders in Oradea and I was with Elder Thomson. It was a pretty great time reliving the glory days back in Pitesti. We had a pretty solid day, even though it was rainy and cold for most of it. We found the most success actually doing a call session with a list of potentials from notebook given to the Zone Leaders. We managed to set up 3 or 4 lessons with people and had a bunch of people interested in coming to church. It was really successful and it was a good use of our time.
 |
| Elder Thomson |
I received a call from a friend here in Romania who told me he's not going to church anymore. I'm pretty devastated of course and I was trying to understand what the reason was. He told me that the church is too restrictive, that he can't live his life the way he wants. God's commandments are not restrictive, but liberating and guidelines for us to be free in the life. Yes, they aren't the most fun at times, but they help us so we can have joy and happiness in this life. Follow God's commandments. They will help you be safe, be happy, and be worthy to be in His presence at the last day. This is my invitation for you all, including me. I hope you all have a great week!! Loves!
Va iubesc,
Elder Bowen
Video of some of the music at the festival
Another video from the festival
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| More Pics from the festival and concert |
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