Happy 13 Months - April 15, 2019

This week has been crazy, we had 2 intercambios and i´ve been a little stressed and now I´m kinda sick. But! The work of the Lord keeps on going with or without me, so i choose to try to keep up with everything. :) 

This week was Kids Day in Bolivia, so we went and did a service in a poorer part of the city where we brought them food and toys and we painted faces. It was super fun :)

I´m so sorry for keeping it so short but today was dad´s 48th birthday and my grandparents were there to talk too, so i haven´t had time to write because i talked so much... i really am sorry. I´ll try to be better in the coming weeks :)

We are entering winter right now since there isn´t really fall here, so...  (We are finally having some sunny days so we asked her about her weather.  She said it is chilly in the morning and gets hot in the afternoon and cold at night...)

Lots of Love and Bipolar Weather from Cocha,

Hermana Rowe

Pics from the intercambios 

These are some things she found funny...

Intercambios and Fun - April 8, 2019

Sorry that sounds like a really good title but there isn't going to be a lot of text behind it...

I got to see Ronal (the one from Sucre) an extra day because he went to the temple on Tuesday, and we got permission to take him to lunch with us after since the temple is close to our area.  The smile on his face when he came out of the temple was the biggest one i´ve ever seen on him. I know the temple really brings peace and happiness into our lives. :)

We did 2 intercambios with some new hermanas, and i have pics :) We put some fechas this week, and we are still working super hard to get 10 contacts in every day. :) Today for p day we played volley, sorry no pics from that.

Conference was the BEST!! I seriously feel like the 2nd coming is coming QUICK, and we need to get prepared and repent NOW ;) I´m excited for when our zone leaders will give us the liahona from this month so i can go back and read all of the talks. I love the Becky Craven's talk about true happiness and things like that-You can´t buy happiness for just 15 dollars :) There were a few of the Sunday talks that i thought about some family members who have left the church, and friends who aren´t members. I hope somehow these inspired messages get to them.

I love this gospel, i know it´s true. I love being a missionary :)

Hermana Rowe

PS  The last pic is because i love you all :)

New Cambio, New Comp! - April 1, 2019

It has been a pretty good week! I was super sad to see Hermana Curtis go (she went to Sucre, but it was a fun week with my new comp Hermana Navarrete! 

I didn´t really feel like a lot of things out of the ordinary happened, but it was cool to see her teaching style and how it compliments mine. I like that she is very direct, and that she really asks a lot of questions so that she gets to know the investigators.

Today a YSA from my first ward in Sucre came to Cochabamba because he is going to the temple tomorrow because he is going on a mission to Portugal (yes, that´s Europe) in May. It was fun to see him and talk with him a little bit. 

Sorrrrrrry for being a short email writer now. I just REALLY enjoy chatting with my family :D

Lots of Love from Cochabamba,

Hermana Rowe

This has been an awesome crazy super full week, but i´ve talked with a lot of people this week and i´m out of time so sorry!! (I guess this is starting to be a common theme... yikes rip sorry sorry lo siento y lamentoi mucho no soy perfecta pero estoy tratando mejorarme!!)

To start out the week we had the zone conference which was awesome!! I love Presidente Montoya, he really knows like everything! (She said he knows the old testament really well and has a great understanding of gospel principles.  He had a question and answer session and she said he explained some things in a way that she had never heard and it made perfect sense.)

Then we also helped out some of the sisters in the zone to switch houses, and I got to help a little even though with latinos feminism isn't much of a thing so a lot of the latino elders didn't want me to help with the heavy stuff, even though i´ve got it... but whatever it´s all good :)

A sister that is going home this week stayed with us for a few days which was fun!

Today we went back to the same water falls from a few weeks ago, but with other people. Still fun, but i´m tired :)

The person they were teaching and hoping would be baptized this last weekend had to travel for work so they are hoping he will be baptized this weekend.  Sister Curtis is being transferred today and Jessica will get a new companion but that is the way it goes with missionaries...  Jessica is still doing well on her goal to contact 10 people everyday.  The woman they found last week through this extra effort couldn't meet this week so they are hoping she is reading the Book of Mormon and that they can meet with her in a few days.)

Basically my week! Love you all! Hope it´s a great week!

Hermana Rowe 

Happy 1 Year to Me! - March 18, 2019

This week I hit 1 year in the mission! We made french toast for breakfast that day to celebrate, so i´ll send a pic! 

We´ve been working really hard at contacting lots, which has been awesome!! (My mom will fill in some blanks here... sorry!!)   (She went to leadership council on Tuesday.  It is where the Mission President meets with the zone leaders, assistants and the Sister Training Leaders.  She said it was a great meeting and that the meeting the President said every missionary should be contacting at least 10 people everyday.  So she and her companion have been working hard to meet that goal.  Since it is a goal they have really worked to talk to everyone.)  WE had consejo de lideres, y yo canté con una otra hermana ---- aaah sorry Spanish. I sang with another hermana, and it just so happens that we have the same clothes from missionary mall, so we dressed up the same. She is going home in a week, her name is hermana Ballard. (She´s the best!!) 

We´ve had some awesome lessons this week (mom... sorry!) and we´ve just been rocking the area this week! When we show the Lord we are willing to work hard, he uses us REALLY WELL :) And it´s the best. (They have a man that they have been working with that is scheduled to be baptized this Saturday.  There is a possibility that he will have to travel for work and they are anxious to find out if it will happen this weekend.  Her comp will be transferred next week and may miss it if it has to be postponed (as often happens with missionaries...)  Also another sister that has worked with him would be in their area (because she is going home this transfer) and could be there for the baptism if it happens this weekend.  One of the great discussions she had this week was with a woman they met as they were pushing to make their contacting goal.  As they taught her about the restoration and Joseph Smith she starting crying.  She was also so excited to learn about the Book of Mormon.  She serves in her church and is dedicated to Jesus Christ.  They are so excited to meet with her and teach her more about the gospel.  Jessica is seeing instant rewards from being obedient and opening her mouth to talk to everyone.  She said she and her companion are still trying to work out how to do it some days.  If they stop and contact on the way to appointments then they are late so they have to set aside time to contact.)

(She also said that she was so excited to be able to do laundry.  There are sisters that are in the area next to theirs that have a washing machine.  So they went over and did a couple of loads.  They don't have dryers there and everything is hung up to dry.  So she said they go over and do laundry while studying in the morning.  Then they do their errands and go to the internet cafe.  On their way home to change and get ready for evening appointments they stop by and pick up their wet clothes and take them home and hang them up to dry.  She is also feeling much better.  She has finally kicked whatever illness was lingering for 2 weeks.  I asked about parasites and she said they have them there and lots of missionaries get them.  They have been given counsel about what to eat and drink but sometimes members give them things made with regular water (instead of bottled) and it is rude not to eat it.  She said she is fine and doesn't have one but she said she has eaten a few things that her system did not agree with...)

I know Joseph Smith really is a true prophet of God, and that the Book of Mormon is true, and that it really changes lives.

Con amor,

Hermana Rowe 

Jessica and Sister Curtis

Jessica in a trufi (local cheap transportation)

This Week:) - March 11, 2019

This week has been pretty crazy, but I talked way to much today (like every week) so the letter will be short again, but Mom told me that she´ll fill in some stuff, so that´s good. :)  She and her companion had a scary experience this week.  They were in one of the other sisters' zones for the day.  On the way home they had some guy follow them (they didn't realize that until later.)   When they got back to their area and were walking toward home this man approached them and started talking (which she said is unusual.  Men don't approach them and try to talk unless they are drunk.)  Her companion recognized him as the same guy (from when she served in the other area) that she had had a run in with (he acted inappropriately...)  They immediately ditched him and called their district leaders.  The Elders told them to come to their pension and not go home.  As they redirected where they were going they saw that this guy and turned and was on a path to intercept them if they had continued the course they were on.  They made it home safely eventually and they haven't seen any sign of him in the area since.  They are definitely on high alert.  Jessica hasn't ever had an experience like this so it has opened her eyes.  She (and we) are very grateful for the Lord's protection and the Spirit that warns of danger!

I was pretty sick throughout the whole week, but we still went out and worked hard, so that was good  (but maybe not for my health haha). We went to the clinic to get more meds, so now I´m getting better little by little :) She said she has been to the clinic 3 times and been given different medications each time.  She has had a bad cough (exacerbated by climbing hills in her area) and it moved into her sinus.  She is finally felling better and is happy to not have that distraction.

I´m grateful for the little miracles that God gives us everyday. Really we can find people if we just open our mouths and talk, and God really does protect us. I´m so grateful for my many many blessings. I know God loves us, and wants us to be happy!  She said that they have a great girl that they are teaching.  She has lots of thoughtful questions and they are excited to continue teacher her.  They have a few others learning about the church that seem to be interested but maybe aren't too serious.  So they are always looking for more people to teach.

This week for P day we had a zone activity where basically we hiked and then we had a barbecue. It was fun! I´ll send a pic of the whole zone next week if I can get it.

I´m grateful for the mission and the many things the Lord is teaching me :)

Lots of love and weird weather from Cochabamba, (She didn't say anything about weird weather so I'll have to ask her about that next week.)

Hermana Rowe

She said... 

since we can wear pants. one day this week we decided to dress up like the elders,

 and they gave us ties to take the picture haha!!

The group picture is all of the missionaries from my zone that are going home in July.  

And that is just my zone.There are a lot of missionaries going home in July!!

(Her mission pres gave her the choice of coming home a full transfer early so that would

be July 31/Aug 1 or to come home mid transfer in Aug. I think she has decided to 

come home a whole transfer early.)

So fun I was SICK (literally) - March 4, 2019

This was a pretty fun week. I started it out PRETTY sick, and actually was sick all week (she said she was achy and feverish.) Sick enough that I had to go to the clinic to get antibiotics (and they gave me a shot... in the butt!! I didn´t know they even did that anymore!!) so that wasn´t super fun, and I was pretty achy and had a fever for like the whole week, but it was pretty fun because we did 2 intercambios! The bad part is that we were working HARD this week, so i didn´t really get time to rest up. The bad part about my area is that it is one big hill, so my body has been working a lot. I´ve been nonstop coughing for the whole week too. BUT! It´s not getting me down. 

I think one of the things i´ve been realizing about myself is that I really have the spiritual gift of bearing a very firm and strong testimony. I´m grateful for the spiritual gifts my heavenly father has given me. I know he has given spiritual gifts to everyone, we just have to search them out!

Amo la obra misional, estoy tan agradecida por mi compañera y por este area. Sé que este es un gran obra, y ¡¡cualquier persona que quiere participar está bienvenida!!

Hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Hermana Rowe

We got to visit with her again this week.  So Great!!  It is Carnival so they have to be a little more careful.  She said it wasn't bad over the weekend.  Just that people in the streets randomly spray you with colored foam (or maybe silly string?) or water.  She said they like to go after the gringos even more.  She is having fun with it.  She bought her own can to spray back.  HA HA.  She said they expect today (Tuesday) to be the worst of it and so they have been told to stay in all day today.  She bought some ingredients so she could cook something great and make some no bake cookies.  Apparently that is what the missionaries there make (most likely because their apartments don't have ovens.)  She talked about how much she is enjoying this companion.  They are both pretty easy going and they don't have to work on getting along.  It comes naturally.  She LOVES that this comp is obedient and they don't have drama and can just focus on the work.  

I asked a little more about her area.  She said she is about 20 minutes from the temple it isn't in her area.  She said it takes about 20 minutes to walk from one side of her area to the other.  She loves this time in her missionary service.  She has a grasp of the language (but is still trying to learn and improve.) She loves her companion.  She is a seasoned missionary (although I don't know that she would use those words to describe herself) and she loves the people of Bolivia.  I have reminded/asked her to continue writing longer letters so that you all can still get insight into how she is doing.  I think we are still adjusting to the new communication guidelines and she is also feeling that her mission is winding down and it is natural to write less.  

On P day they had other sisters who are serving around them come over for breakfast.  They made pancakes.  Apparently one sister was disappointed that Hermana Rowe wasn't making eggs (because she is known in the mission for her love and mastery of making eggs many different way.) :)

Sobreviviendo... (Surviving...) - Feb 25, 2019

This has been a pretty good week! A little crazy, but we´re making it through!

This week I got to do my first intercambio (exchange) as a capacitadora,(Sister Training Leader)  and it was super fun because I got to be with one of my past comps Hna Piguave! Super fun, she told me that she could see a big difference in who I am now versus who I was 6 months ago, so that´s super cool!  

We had interviews with Presidente Montoya which is always the best, and he helped me understand why he thought i´d be a good capacitadora (because I was doubting a little bit) and we talked about a lot other good stuff. 

This weekend Hna Curtis and I have been pretty sick,  but we are getting better little by little! God helps us when we need it! (because without His help i don´t know if I would have made it through!) 

I talked with my family before writing all of my letter so i´m sorry it´s so short!! This is one of the best changes I´ve seen as a missionary, I´m so grateful for it! 

She bought a camera to plug in at the internet cafe so we actually got to see her this week while we chatted.  Brad even got to join in (because it was during his lunch.)  She told us a little more about where her area is and I looked it up on a map.  You can google Cala Cala Cochabamba Boliva and look at maps to see where she is.  It always helps to have a visual.  The people in this area have a little more money so it is a nicer and more established.  She showed us some fruit that she bought and loves.  It is called cherimoya.  We talked about how inexpensive things are there.  We asked a little more about her day to day life.  They eat the main meal (lunch) at a pensionista who prepares it and cleans up after.  She is known in the mission as "the sister who cooks eggs..."  because she prepares them lots of different ways.  They don't have an oven and only have a cook top stove so they don't do a lot of cooking.  She loves all of the fruit and was saying how much she will miss it.  It was wonderful to see her and talk to her.  It was great to get questions answered on the spot (because sometimes she forgets to answer them in the email.)  I am so grateful for the new communication guidelines.  They are the best!!  The only downside is that the letters are much shorter...

Next week is carnival, so we´ll see if I get to talk or not. :) 

Love you all!

Hermana Rowe

The Best and Craziest Week Ever!! - Feb 18, 2019

ok so I just got done talking with the family that´s so crazy!!!!!!! I believe in revelation, I know that God wants us to be happy even in the small things!! 

This week was an absolute BLAST! We were helping out other sisters the whole week so there were other sisters with us all week except yesterday and today. Today we went to some really cool water falls which was SUPËR cool. (She said it was a 5 1/2 hour hike but it was soo worth it!)

The picture is to show how far they went.  In the picture you can see the cloud layer.  She said that is where the waterfall was.

This picture she sent to show how lush it is.  She said that it isn't that way in Cochabamba but only as you get out into the jungle.

Spiritual experience this week: We were teaching about the restoration and i was sharing my testimony about the Book of Mormon, and I felt the spirit SO SO SO strongly. I almost cried, and that doesn´t happen a lot. It reaffirmed to me that testimony of the truth of the Book of Mormon. I know the Book of Mormon is true, and that whoever wants to know its true and asks God, they can know :)

Sorry out of time. Lots of love and Sunshine from Cochabamba!!

Hermana Rowe

This is a picture from the first week of her mission in this area

This was taken this week 

We got to talk to her (she could see us but the computer at the internet cafe didn't have a camera so we couldn't see her... but she sent us a picture:) ) for an hour and it was heaven!  

It was great to get questions answered on the spot.  She and Jacob got to converse in Spanish for a while and she seemed more comfortable with that.  It was harder for her to find words in English,  She loves her new companion.  In her new capacity as Sister Training Leader she has a lot of opportunity to help and be an example to other sister missionaries.  They go on exchanges (intercambios) a lot with the other sisters.  There are apparently 4 sets of STLs in the mission.  So she and her companion have responsibility for about 1/4 of the sister missionaries.  She loves her new area.  She spent her first week in the mission in this area because when she got to Bolivia the airports were shut down because of civil unrest.  She said it is very hilly and she loves it.   This new communication policy with missionaries is so wonderful.  As we get used to having more personal contact with her I am sure our weekly visits will change a little but yesterday felt like Christmas all over again but better!  It was great to talk to her and hear her enthusiasm and love for Bolivia!

She tried this fruit this week.  It is called rambautan here (I only know because I have a friend who likes them... Thank you MaryAnn) but she couldn't remember the Bolivian name.  She really liked it.

BIG HUGE CAMBIOS :D :D :D - Feb 11, 2019

As of today Jessica has a new email address.  It is jessica.rowe@missionary.org.  She will still have access to the ldsmail.net address throughout her mission.  

Welcome to my week! It´s been crazy with transfers and everything, but I´m SO excited for this next week because of my transfer...

The work here in Ingavi is getting better. We are getting a lot better at talking to more people in the streets so that we have more new investigators. BUT! Sadly that doesn{t affect their agency, but we do all we can! The people in Ingavi aren´t that humble, but every once in a while you can find somebody ;) There is a new investigator that we found last week named Jhordan, and he is super cool! We were contacting in a park when we saw him sitting reading a book, and we felt like we should go talk to him, so we went and he is super interested about learning about the church! He likes to read, so we invited him to start reading the Book of Mormon, and he ACTUALLY started reading it!!! That actually really doesn´t happen almost ever, so we were super excited about it. Sadly I won´t be able to see his progress (you´ll find out why in a sec), but if he gets baptized i will be there :) 

We got our cambios last night!!! AAAHHHHHH I´m so excited. Ok ok drum roll please..... (*drum rolls*) I´m going to be a Sister Training Leader in the area called Cala Cala!! AAHHHH I´m super super excited!!!!  I don´t know how many of you remember this, but Cala Cala is the area where I got to stay for a week when I was waiting to go to Sucre!! (My first week in the field!!) I am VERY excited. VERY haha. My comp is Hermana Curtis, and she is from Utah :D YAY my first north american comp!!! I´m so excited. I hope this email is dripping with excitement because that is really how I feel. :D :D :D

This week wasn´t the best of weeks... I was sick for a few days so that made things hard, but I´m all better now :) This week has been a hard week for our companionship, but I feel like we are leaving it in a good place today. I really have learned so much from Hna Muñoz. She has helped me so much to be a more charitable person, to not judge, and to not criticize. I think the reason it´s been hard to be with her because she really has a hard time trusting in people, and she has chosen to trust a little more in others than in me. I´m excited to be with someone a little more open :) (But I will miss her, she loves to laugh which has been fun. I feel bad, I feel like I´ve painted her in a really bad light, she really is great, just that sometimes I get frustrated at the bad things and forget to mention all the good things that are happening)

We had the Zone Conference this week which was awesome. Pte Montoya knows what he´s talking about. The Old Testament is super cool.

Having matching dresses and ties made for zone conference is a thing in her mission.  

This week I´ve been trying to be better at reading Come, Follow Me. It was cool to read about Christ´s baptism this past week (I think that´s where we´re at, right?). I´m also reading the Book of Mormon at the same time, and trying to study for investigators. There´s not time to study it all every day, even though we get a whole hour every day! That is probably one of the quickest hours that I have every day. I love studying the scriptures! I learn so many things each time. I know that as we read the scriptures with a prayer in our hearts, the Lord will reveal His will for us through the scriptures. He loves us. :) 

That´s been my week! Next week I´ll let you all know how Cala Cala is!!! 

Hope you all are enjoying the snow, we´ve had lots of rain, and hot weather ;) 

Hermana Rowe

Intercambios de emergencia y mucho mucho mas... Feb 4, 2019

This week has been a pretty crazy and also pretty fast week!! 

This Tuesday was pretty normal. We found some contacts from like 3 months ago who said that they went to Peru to visit, but now they are back and TOTALLY willing to listen to our message! We´re pretty excited about them :) 

Wednesday: CRAZY because we had emergency intercambios! The 2 sisters that we share a pension with have been having a SUPER hard time together, like they really don´t get along at all, and the american sister has been crying for like 2 weeks straight!! Super sad. So I was in Cobija for a day with her comp. It´s hard to be in the middle of other people´s problems when all I really want to do is work in my area, but it´s ok because they were both feeling a little better the next day. I´m trying not to take sides with this, but it´s kinda hard. The good part is that Hna Muñoz and I are doing fine :) I probably get along with her better than the rest of the comps I´ve had. It might be because I´m learning how to get along with different types of people better, but she is also super awesome :) (I was a little surprised by this statement because she has written many letters talking about her struggles with her current companion.  I am glad she has a short memory and is learning to get along with different personality types...)

Something we´ve been focusing on a lot this transfer is contacting in the calle. As we street contact, we´ve seen more progress in our area. Before it was pretty much just knocking doors, but we realized that it wasn´t working well for us here in this area, so we talk to people in parks and things like that, and it works a lot better! It´s super cool, this week we´ve had 7 new investigators!! For our area, that´s super awesome!! I ´ve felt good about the work that we´re doing together. We´ve only got 1 week left together, and then her training will be done and I´ll probably be heading to another part of Cochabamba! I´m excited, but I´m also going to miss being here with Hna Muñoz.

Today was fun because we went and got our nails done for the zone conference tomorrow, and it was super cheap!! mine was 12 bolivianos!! (That´s like $1 75 for a manicure!!!!) It was fun, we´ll probably be doing that again haha. I´ll send pics.

I´ve been hearing a lot of things about home lately. Apparently the cold has been super bad, I hope everyone´s doing alright!

Also I´m sending a pic of our lunch the other day...