Misión de Fowers en California, Newport Beach : April 2023

Queridos Familia y Amigos,

Favorite Bumper Sticker: "I HOPE YOU ARE FOLLOWING JESUS THIS CLOSE".

SPANISH: We just got home from our Sunday meetings. After two or three intense hours of trying to understand what people are saying to me in Spanish. The intensity and focus is so demanding for my old brain that I am exhausted by the time meetings end on Sunday. With that said, I feel that I am making progress. Communication is becoming easier by degrees. I understand more and am able to speak more. I even went on my first "solo" Spanish-speaking lesson with a sister in the ward while Clarke went in another direction.

ZONE CONFERENCE: Many of you back home know President and Sister Carter, our fearless Newport Beach Mission Leaders. They are amazing! We had zone conferences this week and they are masterful teachers. During the morning training they took the missionaries on a deep dive into the scriptures. We search dozens of scriptures during that hour and by the time he finished we were so empowered and motivated to do the work, that you could feel the energy in the room. We all wanted to respond to the promptings of the spirits to be better missionaries! They are teaching these young men and women to love the Jesus Christ. We have now participated in Zone Conference for three mission presidents, President Wood, President Dayton and President Carter who all have very different styles, and come from diverse backgrounds, yet our testimony of Jesus Christ has been deepened by each of them.

President Carter teaching at Zone Conference

Sister Carter connecting with Love

Singing "Called to Serve" as a Thank You for Meal

SENIOR MISSIONARY FRIENDS: One of the best part of our missions has been getting to know other senior couples. They are all so remarkable and we love them all. The Praters live in our same complex. They are on their second mission and serve in english wards nearby. They have become our Pickle ball buddies. Beyond that we often travel together or share a meal. Its so awesome to have friends to share this experience because we are in the "trenches" together.

The Praters, Senior Missionary Buddies

Awesome round of Pickleball

ZONE SERVICE DAY: Last Thursday we gathered the Vista Zone of 20 Elders and Sister for another morning of service in the Vista Manor Trailer Park. As we previously mentioned this is a subsidized non-profit park. Many of the residents are older and unable to maintain their lots. Sister Fowers passed out papers with details for 25 specific jobs at various trailers in the 160 lot park. The Elders and Sisters went to work. In the course of three hours there were 8 pickup truck loads of trash and yard waste hauled to the dumpster. And those sister missionaries can hold their own with the Elders when it comes to yard work. We were so proud of all of them as they worked so hard at each trailer. The residents were very impressed and thankful for the service. This is such a good public relations opportunity to reach out to the community. Later Luci and I stayed and installed outdoor carpet at #73 on their deck and stairway entrance. They called us angels (on bended knee I might add). The next day I returned with Elder Prater to fix a clogged sink drain. Elder Prater is a retired journeyman plumber. We worked and worked with an auger and finally got the kitchen sink drain in trailer #93 unclogged. The older lady who is caring for her adult disabled son asked me how much for our services. I told he we don't charge and that we do what Christ would do if he were here. She gave me a big hug with tears in her eyes.

Photo with Mary, Manager of the Vista Manor Mobile Home Park after a day of Service!

Hermana Fowers installing Outdoor Carpet

NEW HOME FOR THE BUICK: Previously we mentioned Julio, the auto mechanic from Mexico who was so depressed and homesick when we first met him. After giving him a blessing, We got him a white shirt and a tie so he could bless the sacrament. We have given him a few references for auto repairs. Last week our daughter Sarah decided to donate their old 1997 Buick Century to someone in need. I took Julio to Sarah's home in Lemon Grove where she signed over the car to him. Julio was so thankful but could not express himself in English. His big smile and handshake was enough for Sarah. This car will be such a blessing for him to move forward. His hands no longer hang down.

BROTHER ALDOLFO: For the past several weeks I have been helping Brother Arnolfo Bonilla prepare to receive the Priesthood. He is a recent convert but has not been able to attend church regularly due to his recovery from injuries caused by a severe automobile accident. He still has several operations in his future and will be disabled the rest of his life. A drunken teenage driver hit him head on. As I taught him last week, he had a big eye patch on one side. The accident left him blind in one eye and he will receive a prosthetic eye soon. Today in Priesthood meeting the Bishop ordained this humble man a Priest. The priesthood covenant will bring peace and bless his young family. Spiritual blessings to heal physical wounds.

A big shout out and thank you to Kevin and Kathy for watching our home while we serve. The dam behind our home is nearly full to the spillway. With their watchful care and our faith and presence here in the mission field is keeping the waters at bay.

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder and Hermana Fowers

Queridos amigos y familia,

One of the challenges of this mission is setting appointments. Because we work with the immigrant population (in fact sometimes I think we live in little Mexico here in Vista), we find that EVERYONE has to work just to survive. Therefore, setting appointments is very difficult. When we call people to try to set appointments they put us off or ignore our calls, but we know that we need to get into their home in order to try to support and strengthen them. As of late, we have had the most success with our "drop-by" efforts. We start about 4:00 p.m. thinking that they will be returning home and outline a list of people to visit that live in close proximity to each other...then we start knocking doors. We have had so many remarkable experiences as we try to lift the hands and heads that hang down. Following are a few examples from Elder Fowers Journal: (We have changed their names to protect our new friends.)

Betty and Marco: This evening we visited Betty and Marco. This is a couple who joined the church about a year ago and have only been to church a couple of times since then due to Betty’s condition. Some 5+ years ago she suffered from some type of brain tumor which required surgery which left her blind, partially paralyzed and slow of speech. They have been together for 20 years, but only married for 9. Marco is her faithful husband who cares for her everyday after a full day of work along with cooking and cleaning. (I think they have someone to care for her while he works.) He is such a happy, positive man and treats her with such tenderness. Marco has not received the priesthood yet and does not understand it. He has drifted with the Word of Wisdom. So we began at square one with the apostasy, restoration, etc. He is obedient but just has not been nurtured since his baptism. He wants to progress and go to the temple. Luci and I have decided to teach them weekly. I felt the spirit as I nurtured the “hands that hang down”. In reality, we always come away enlightened by his unfailing faith in Jesus Christ.

Jansey: In the afternoon, we followed a reference from the young missionaries to visit Jansey. We found this beautiful woman in her late 30’s in a nearby trailer park living with her mother who is also a member. Jansey just recently reached out to the church for help. She is suffering from depression, anxiety and panic attacks which come from two abusive and broken marriages. She has lost custody of her only son to her first husband. In addition she is illegal, being brought from Mexico at 2 months of age. She knows nothing of Mexico and is afraid of deportation. We comforted her. Luci is really good at this, giving hugs amid the tears. We set up an appointment with the bishop to refer her for LDS social services to receive counseling. We will get her set up with the Pathway online education university. We are bringing over the Relief Society sisters for ministering. This is what we do as senior missionaries.

Marta: We accompanied the sister missionaries to drop by Marta who has been a living in the home of her boyfriend's parents for the many years and has a 14 year old daughter with their oldest son. Marta is illegal, and is on kidney dialysis 3 times a week, and she has had a stroke. She has been taught for generations of missionaries but because of her situation can not be baptized. Her boyfriend is not sure he wants to marry her. It’s a sad situation. I felt guided by the spirit to counsel her. I gently told her that her salvation is more important than her legal status and more important than her medical problems. I counseled her to move out, begin to live a chaste life and that the Lord would bless her with peace and better health. She could join then join church, which she has wanted to do for many years. She took the counsel to heart. The spirit was strong. We will follow up. Another hand that is hanging down

Alex and Malan: We have been trying to find Alex and Malan for sometime, and have dropped by their apartment several times, but finally one cold rainy night they answered the door and let us into their TINY apartment. They both joined the church about one year ago but fell into activity. They were living separately at baptism but now live together and not married. I think they feel embarrassed to attend church. They received us openly and we could quickly see their sincerity and desire to return to church. I told them that we would hold everything in confidence. We then began to ask them what was keeping them from getting married. It appears that Alberto has a wife in Mexico along with two daughters. He needs to divorce her and then marry Malan. It is a little complicated so I offered to help him initiate divorce . He is going to try. But in the meantime we told them that this was a common problem and that it should not keep them from coming to church. Christ will love them just the same if they continue to work to keep his commandments. Luci bore strong testimony with her best Spanish. The spirit was there and I think they will follow through. We invited them to come on Sunday and listen to the general conference. This is where senior couples are at an advantage. The younger missionaries are great at teaching and baptizing. But when it comes to these intimate issues senior couples can guide them along the road back.

Cezar Family: The R.S. Society President in the Buena Vista Ward suggested that we drop by the Cezar family. Bro. Cezar was in an industrial accident many years ago. He is a relatively young man left with pinched nerves in his back that affect his ability to walk. He is on full disability but continues with such a positive attitude. He told us about how he thought he would die much earlier and not be able to see his sons grow up. He is so grateful for the additional years. He talked about how he knew that the Lord had a purpose for this challenge and that he would serve until he could no longer move. He was just released from the Bishopric. What a remarkable, humble man.

This is just a sampling of the beautiful people we find when we are out seeking for His lost and hiding sheep. We pray for his guidance everyday as we try to lead them back to the fold.

Our Young Men's program continues to grow. Last week we organized a missionary preparation night and taught them how to tie a tie, spoke about how to prepare for a mission and shared missionary stories. Along with our regular boys Jason came for the first time. We have been working to bring him back for two months and we even got his registered for FSY. There were 11 Young Men in the room! Our boys along with a few friends. We have seen our new Young Men advisor really stepping up.

Update on our friend Hector: Last night we got into the Gonzales home after a 2-week pause because the family has had a round of illness. I took a pot of soup over a couple of days ago just to have an interface with the family. However tonight they seemed excited to see us. So without a lot of chit-chat we dived right into the lesson on the Plan of Salvation. We had a wonderfully balanced lesson with each of us taking rotating topics as we laid out the basic truths. Their children stayed for the entire lesson. We find his wife remembers very little about the gospel principles due to her long time away. The spirit attended us; giving us the words we needed. Hector is inching ever closer to baptism. I challenged them to read the scriptures everyday and to pray together each night. They accepted the invitation.

Kathy and Kevin came to visit! YEAH. I am afraid we weren't very good hosts as we tried to work our fun in between our missionary duties. Brad and family and Kathy's daughter Jennifer joined us for Easter lunch, and an Easter Egg Hunt. The sweetest moment of the day was our special Easter FHE with them. They just left this morning and I already miss her!