Sister Jessica Bowhall

'ello love!

This week went by so quickly-it's weird how quickly time is passing now! This week we went to Lansing for our monthly trip for a leadership meeting. We had a blast in Lansing. It is so fun to have a little change of scenery every now and then-but don't get me wrong-the scenery of Petoskey is absolutely gorgeous right now! In Lansing we were trained by the aps and the Jacobsens. We got home late Tuesday, but we had a great time with the missionaries from Traverse City and down in Lansing. Later this last week we saw some less actives and also went on trade offs.

I was with Sister Tongi from Tonga who has now been out for 5 months. I went on her first trade off with her when she had only been out for 5 weeks, and it's crazy to see how much of a missionary she has become. I'm so proud of her! 

We ran into a part member/less active family this week and we are having dinner with them this week. We were so excited, and we're able to teach them a lesson on the spot. Love it when that happens! 

Patrick is doing well. He went to the branch shooting activity-even though we couldn't! He sees the large commitment this Church is, so he is a little more hesitant, but is still on date for another month. We'll see! 

Ok, so now for the SUPER exciting news...JESSICA WAS BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Isn't she just beautiful!?!?! We are already planning her trip out to Utah when we are home. On Wednesday we had Jessica's baptismal interview, and she is what we refer as "golden". She is so stalwart, and we couldn't be more thrilled for her. The service was held after church yesterday, and even visitors stayed. President and Sister Jacobsen came, and it was such a fun experience. She cried the majority of the time, and once she came out of the water she said, "man, that felt good. I just feel good". It was awesome!! She'll be confirmed on Sunday, and we are hoping to get to the temple before transfers. She is such a blessing and has changed my life. Welcome to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We love you!! (I'll have to write more later!)

Have a wonderful week!!! This church is true!

Sister Ensign

Happy Father's Day

You know that Snickers commercial with the horseless headsman that says "You're not you when you are hungry" ? What I didn't know until this week was that when someone's blood sugar drops, they change into a completely different person. We were visiting a woman who went a little crazy for a bit. After I asked her to check her blood sugar, and found out it was 49 (which I guess it's supposed to be in the 140s?) we were able to take care of the situation with a jam packed (pun kinda intended) PB&J. Ohh the things I find myself learning each day on a mission. Ha!

We had a fabulous week here in Petoskey. I don't know if I have slept better at night in my life. I can't even count until 30 before I am out.

We were literally running from appointment to appointment this week all over Northern Michigan. It's so fun to serve up North! I wish everyone could serve here!  As we visited a less active this week, she ran out the door, and said, "today is just not a good day!" and cried in my arms. I just held her for a while, and once she was a little more calm, she said, "Oh I just love you. Thank you for coming over". We talked for a while, but mostly she showed us her flower garden. We didn't teach much of a lesson, but one of my favorite lessons I've learned is that sometimes the Lord needs us to be His listening ear for others.

On Wednesday, we had our District meeting up in Cheboygan which is at the very top of the lower Peninsula. We were running to try to see a recent convert, a less active, and then make it back to our appointments here in Petoskey. We had a lesson with Jessica and she is doing so well! We have been talking about my lack of cooking for a while and she wants me to learn! She had us over for dinner this week and she taught us how to make a spicy stir fry. It was so good! Then she said, "I have a gift for you girls". She bought each of us a cook book, and wants us to come up with our favorite recipe to try. She is so cool!!!!!!! WE LOVE HER!!! She'll be baptized on Sunday and we all can't wait. I can't thank the Lord enough to have had the chance to get to know her!

OH!!!! As we furthered our journey in meeting our neighbors this week (though it didn't go AS well as we had hoped last week...HA!), it turns out a 16 year old less active lives underneath us! She is a foster child, and said she was offended at church. We talked about which members of the branch she could remember, and then talked to those members throughout the week. One of the members talked to us for a while, and talked about the hard life this 16 year old and her mother have had. Long story short, not even an hour after we had talked about this girls mother with the member, she was sitting behind us during one of our lessons! The Lord placed her in our path, and it was SO COOL!!! We called the member back and said that we had met the mother of this girl, and the member laughed so hard! It was awesome!

This town may not have a Target or a mall, but it does have an Irish store-Another highlight of the week.(Is that not the most random thing?) We walked in, and I almost cried. I LOVE IRISH DANCE!!! We talked to the workers for a while, and one said she plays the fiddle. We then talked about how she wants to play at feis's, and it felt so good to see some Irish things. Two of the workers are now potentials, and I got to see some overpriced sweatshirts with "Ireland" written on them. I felt like I was back home.

As we were downtown near the bay front this week, a woman stopped us and said, "Aren't you those Mormon girls? Tell me, what do you believe?" Well...people rarely come up to us and ask, so it was cool! She kind of threw down on the trinity, but it was still a good experience. We also met this girl named Kasey who is so sweet!! She ended up giving me a Petoskey Stone, and it so nice. We met with her at the park again yesterday, and it is so fun to be around so many people in such a beautiful part of the world.

I am currently in the war chapters of the Book of Mormon, and the overarching theme seems to be that we can never over prepare. I am seeing that we can never be too prepared, or have too much faith in Christ. I am seeing how much comfort the Gospel brings to people, and I know that He will be there. Happy Father's Day. I know the Father of us all loves us and I testify that He lives!

Love you!!

XOXO

Sister Ensign

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-01-1020-fathers-day?lang=eng

This link is all about Father's, and it made me especially grateful for mine!

Another week in Paradise of Petoskey

Ok, get this.  The funniest part about my week was that as we were door knocking an apartment complex, we were PROMPTLY escorted out by a 60 year old man who sternly walked us out of the building. The funniest part?...it's our apartment complex. Moral of the story-we know where NOT to go when we need a cup of flour. I laughed so hard I couldn't even look at him as he walked us out. HAHAH!!! Poor guy. 

This week was so great! A major highlight was that our investigator Jessica taught the Relief Society enrichment activity on Saturday. The gal is a miracle. She is so funny, and we are having dinner with her this week because we have told her about our lack of cooking ability. She is a dietitian, and she said, "we need you to know how to cook so we can get you married". Hahah!!  You better believe she's coming to my wedding! She is doing so well, and she is excited for her baptism in 2 weeks. 

Another fun thing was having FHE with Mary's family. Mary has moving to Illinois for a month to live with her daughter. She knows when transfer calls are, and she said she would be back to say goodbye. As our final lesson, we played Pictionary with her and her two grandkids, and we all laughed so hard. I love the Eaton family. I'm sad to say goodbye to them for a few weeks. 

We also had an amazing experience as we talked with a less active who lives with her boyfriend. She told us that they aren't married because they will lose $300 a month from government aide if she's married. I told her that losing her salvation is much more important than $3600 a year, and she started to bawl. I love moments when people feel the Spirit testify to them that they need to change. It's a unique situation for me (19 years old) to tell a woman 65 that she needs to either move out of her boyfriends' home, or get married. But it's also definitely a memory. We all love her. 

We met with a woman this week who told us she was so excited to meet with us and had some questions for us. We were so excited after we talked with her on her doorstep, but that excitement turned just a tad as she began her lesson with "Well, you do know that I'm a Jehovah Witness, right? I won't join in your prayer, unless it is to Jehovah God". ....and then things turned south quickly. Our member, a returned missionary, and our dear Jehovah Witness friend began a bash of the bible. After a while, I said, "It's obvious that we are all convinced that our doctrine is correct, and nothing we say today will change our opinion. If you are interested in learning about the truthfulness of our doctrine, you can do as we have all done by reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know if it is true." It was much better afterwards, and the longer I am out, the more I am realizing that adults are just little kids in taller bodies. oh man.... 

Another super random thing that happened this week was as we were walking home one rainy night, a woman with 3 little kids ran up to us and said "Can you pray with us? I was just in a car accident, and I need help". It began to rain cats and dogs, and we talked to this woman about how we know God will help her with her trials and that He loves her. I said a prayer as we all held hands in a circle on the side of the road. The woman's mother came (who is a retired nurse) and helped. The woman said, "Wait, we have to take a picture because you are so cute!" She then proceeded to ask us if we make bread all day long. Just to top off the situation, we were confused as Amish. Ha! The picture is on the bottom. 

Overall I am doing really well! I can't believe that June will be half way done this week. It's crazy how quickly time is picking up. Thank you for all of the prayers in my behalf as well as in behalf of the Petoskey area. I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that They love us. I know that He is aware of you, because I can see Him help me. 

Have a great week! Love you!!

Xoxo

Sister Ensign 

Another Transfer in Petoskey!

Hello hello family and friends!!

Congrats Molly!!! I am so excited for you!!!! You are constantly in my thoughts and prayers, as well as my new niece!!! AH!!!!!!!!!!!

We had another wonderful week-in fact probably one of the best I've had on my mission. We finished our 40 day fast as a branch and it is amazing how the power of the Lord works when people are united.

On Monday after P-Day, we walked on the shoreline talking with people. It is so fun to live by water! Man, this place has my heart! I was a little nervous with transfers coming up this last week, but I am lucky enough to be staying one more. I am pretty positive I'll leave in the middle of July, so I am STOKED to be staying here for a bit longer!!

We saw quiet a few less actives this week-which always includes a good story. One of the saddest parts of the week was when we visited a woman in her early 60's named A in the hospital. She is from the Cheboygan group, but is down in Petoskey because we have the main hospital. We visited her in ICU (she has a lot of fluid around her lungs, and probably won't live much longer). She looked at me (and her eyes remind me of Kelsey's) and said, "I am so scared to die. I've never done it before. Help me". ...uh....Well, I've never before given a "final speech" to someone as they are facing death, and it was quiet the experience. My companion was talking with the nurse, so with a pray in my heart, told her about the place of Salvation and God's love for her. She said, "That does sound alright. I'll be okay". She was taken from ICU this week back home with a hospice nurse. I don't know if I'll see her again in this life, but it comforted me also to know that things will be okay when we pass away. 

We spent some time in St. Ignace this week (which is in the Upper Peninsula) and it was fun to see Mackinac Island, and am hoping to go there one day! 

We also met with some of our solid investigator this week!! We met with Jessica, and she pretty much taught us the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. She invited us over for dinner this week to teach us how to cook a super yummy and healthy meal (since she is a dietitian). Those are the most difficult lessons, so it appears we are smooth sailing for her baptism in three weeks. She even came down to district conference in Traverse City (and hour and a half away) BOTH Saturday and Sunday! She met President and Sister Jacobsen and all of the missionaries. She also said "I feel like I have been preparing my whole life for this. I know this is exactly what God wants me to be doing". She's also teaching a part of the enrichment activity this weekend with the relief society. Too good to be true? It seems like it, but she's 100% real-and ready. It's so fun!!

Mary is doing well, but is going to Illinois this weekend to stay with her sister for the remainder of the transfer. It is sad to see her go, but she said she would try to come home early so she could say goodbye to me before I get transferred in July. 

I am so so happy here. I don't know why I was called on a mission, but I am so grateful for it. I love the Branch, I love the area, and I love serving the Lord. The amazing moments far outweigh the more difficult times. I know that Jesus Christ lives and love us. One of the talks that has stood out to me from this last conference is "Do I Believe?" I feel we often do things in the church because we either see it as tradition, or something we grew up in. But as we come to understand the message our church has to share, the reality of it is much more apparent!! This is actually all real! And it's so cool to study it each day! I love my mission.

Have a great day!!!

XOXO

Sister Ensign 

Pictures from Michigan

 11 Months
I look awfully tired

 My favorite view from my apartment

My zone

A group of Sisters

I haven't changed all too much

 My MTC Companions

 The Northern Gals

A day at the Dunes

I saw this and thought of Huntie!

 Saying Good Bye to the Jones Family

Sister Mathis and Me

 The Beautiful Sister Bowhall

The Beauty of Michigan

The BoM

The Search for Summer is over

Another view of Michigan

Love this view

Oops, I forgot to take my 10 month photo

Zion Up North

Wonderful Busy Week

Come to Petoskey, come to Petoskey!
May 23, 2016

We had an amazing week!! OK, so info from last week: The apartment is awesome!! The car is a Nissan Frontier. What is that? Yeah, I have no idea. But it safely carries me from point A to point B, so I'm good with that! "J!!!" (Before writing this, I'd like to thank the Petoskey Branch for their assistance in the 40 day fast. It is so fun to be your missionary because we get to see the results of your sacrifice! Thank you Branchies!!) While we were in Traverse City, we met a woman named Jessica at church. She lives in Petoskey and has had LDS friends for over 10 years. When she was put in our hands, she was already reading books about the Young Woman's theme, already had the Teachings of the Prophet book for this year, and already had the gospel library app on her phone. She could be baptized tomorrow if she already had all of the lessons. She said that she has noticed how her friends are different, and wants to change her life around to be like them! Does that happen in real life? Nope. But it sure did! We put her on date for June 11th, but she called and said, "Some of my friends can't make that date, how about the 26th at 1:30?  We're planning on having a little get together afterwards, so would that work for the branch?" uh.........I mean we may have to schedule you in, but we'll check our calendar and see what we can do........OOOHHHH YEAH!!! She is Heaven sent, and is EXACTLY what the branch needs right now! The fast is working, and I love seeing the results of it! So for Huntie's 18th Birthday, Petoskey will have another baptism.  We also met a guy named "P." while we were walking this week. We taught him the resto on the spot, and the plan of salvation the following morning. We talked about him coming to church, and he said, "Sure, I'll be there!" and I thought "SSSUUURREE!" But he actually came! Some members invited him over for lunch afterwards, so we had a wonderful time being with an investigator in a member's home. After, P. said, "Thank you SO MUCH for inviting me to church! I loved it!" We had trade off's this week, and I stayed in Petoksey. We volunteer every Tuesday at the Catholic church to help with the food pantry, and it is fun because people are recognizing us when we knock on their doors! It is so fun to have people react differently when they have previously seen us serve! We taught one of our investigators the Law of Chastity this week-and it was one of the easiest LoC lessons I've ever been apart of.  She said, "Yeah, the pamphlet was pretty cut and dry, and let's face it, I live with my boyfriend. I have been conflicted with this as a Christian, and I do feel guilty". Sweet! Thanks for saying the hard part for us!  It went so well, and I was so grateful she was already prepared for us! We also are having AMAZING WEATHER!! It is so fun to walk outside and see flowers and have the air not hurt. It is just turning spring (a little bit later than normal for me) but it is so, so fun. Instead of eating lunch, we sometimes go window shopping in the little stores downtown before all of the tourists come in Petoskey for the season!  The branch is going through a hard time right now. Would you mind keeping them in your prayers? These are some of the kindest and most dedicated people I've met, and I truly love them. Thank you in advance! We have been running in the mornings out on the pier, and I am literally living a dream. There are multiple parking lots, so this morning, after running on the shoreline, I practiced my daily hardshoe, but on the shore. It was SO FUN!!! Petoskey is definitely challenging me, but I am loving this. I truly can't believe I get to serve and live here. Have a wonderful week. I testify that Jesus is the Living Christ. His path is the way that leads to happiness in this life, and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son. Love you!! XOXO Sister Ensign

May 16, 2016 Hello beautiful family of mine. I love you all!!! Thank you for the packages and the letters I received this week!! I feel beyond blessed to have such a strong support group. Thank you for loving me. This week was full of change-including a NEW APARTMENT!!! We're back in Petoskey baby!! Our new address is  1293 LaChaumiere Drive Apt. B-203 Petoskey, Michigan 49770 You can also always send things to the mission office, and I'll be able to pick things up there. I got everything from when I was in Traverse City, so THANK YOU AGAIN!!! The apartment is probably too nice for missionaries. I nearly cried once I saw it! We each have our own bathroom, AC/Heat, a washer/dryer, dishwasher, AND...the lights can be dimmed. Need I say more? I am so grateful. It is such an answer to so many prayers, and I can't wait to be back to work here in Petoskey!!!  We also got a new car this week!! We are now driving a 2015 Truck. It's pretty big, and it's awesome.  We had 8 less actives at church this week. we are doing a 40 day fast, and we are seeing so many miracles! 1/3 of the people at church yesterday were less actives!! SO FUN!!!!!  Jessica is also on date (I'll write more about her next week) I know this is the true church! I am loving it out here!! Have a great week!!!  XOXO Sister Ensign

POST MOTHER'S DAY

Last week, May 2nd, Sister Ensign sent an email at 7:00 PM that said:

Hello beautiful family!!!  This has been a crazy week, so I'm sorry that this letter will be short!!!!

This week I picked up my new companion, Sister M., and we had a great day on Tuesday and Wednesday.  On Wednesday, we received a call from Sister Jacobsen saying that our apartment was sold, and that we needed to move out by 11:00 AM on Thursday.  We spent the rest of Wednesday and all of Thursday packing and moving.  We moved to Traverse City, which is about an hour and a half away.  We are living with the Sisters that are there...  So is all of our stuff.  It is a tight squeeze, but we are making it work.  I am currently in Lansing, and it is so fun to be with all of the missionaries down here.  We have met some amazing people here in Traverse City, and it is fun to help the Sisters here!  We have seen so many miracles this week, and it has been a full and fun week!

I'll tell you more about it on Sunday!! Talk to you then!!!  Love you!!  Sister Ensign


Today she wrote:

Hello beautiful family of mine!!  It was so much fun to see all of you and talk with you yesterday!!  Thank you for all that you do for me!!  Nothing too much to update on since yesterday but I am happy and loving life!

THE COOLEST THING HAPPENED THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Sister M., and I were on a street close to the Sister's apartment here in Traverse City this week when on the last house we knocked on, the woman said, "Oh! LDS! I used to live in Utah!  Long story short, she was one of the teachers that taught at my Middle School while I was there!  (She remembered that Camille had dressed like another teacher for Halloween)  Right before I left on my mission, one of my friends told me that this woman had moved back to Michigan and that I should go find her... and I ACTUALLY was led to her!  Isn't that so AWSOME!!!!!?  I don't know all of the reasons why I was sent to Traverse City for 2 weeks, but that was a miracle and reminder that He has got a plan for all of us.

We now have an apartment in Petoskey!!  We'll be moving back on Wednesday, and I can't wait!!  Petoskey feels like home to me, and I am excited to see the work pick back up again there!!

It was so fun to be in the Petoskey Branch yesterday and to be with everyone again.  Summer people are beginning to come back, and the little building was full!!

I will be address-less for the net few days.  If you wish to send a letter, the best address would be to send it to the mission office in East Lansing and they will forward it to me.

Thank you again!!  Love you to pieces!!!!

XOXO Sister Ensign