Brown Town

B-burg is still great!  It's interesting...I don't like being senior companion because it's too much responsibility!  Like, we have about 100 miles to last us the whole week and we have to drive to Indy 3 times.  That's not gonna work out.  I need to learn how to budget!  So, we've been tracting a lot and walking to appointments.  Woof!  ;)  

This week we taught Randy, our drunk LARC.  He asked us how we knew he was an alcoholic and we were like, "Randy, you called us and told us you just drank 40 beers!"  Haha!  He's gonna get over this.  The Elders gave him a blessing to help him out!  Yesterday I told him that he needs to take care of his liver. :)

We taught Debbie J. a lot this week too.  She's the greatest!  She was in a house fire 2 years ago and from at least the waist up, her body is scarred and she doesn't have any hands.   We're praying that she will get the surgery that she needs before she can get baptized to help restore her mobility and help her recover.  She listens to the Book of Mormon everyday and she prays with so much faith.  I learn more from her than I will ever be able to teach her.  :)

We also taught Brian.  Brian could get baptized if he would just come to church! He has a strong testimony-he just doesn't come to church because he's a single father of a 2 year-old and a 7 year-old and he thinks they're too obnoxious to bring to Sacrament meeting.  I'm like-"Hello! Look at everyone else's crazy children and see how great yours are!"  He has the sweetest little girls.  We gave them an illustrated Book of Mormon yesterday.  I know they'll love it.  :)

Also, this week we had Disney themed District Meeting.  Sister Griffeth went as Elsa and I went as Snow white.  I just wore a red skirt with a navy shirt and a yellow cardigan with a red headband.  It was so great!  Good stuff.  The Avon Elders came as "Prince Charming" and "The Beast" because they didn't dress up. ;)

It was Sister Griffeth's birthday on Friday!  We had a blast!  That also makes my second companion with a birthday in 2 months because Sister Kitchen's was last month. :)  We celebrated!  We decorated our apartment with Frozen decorations and we got the game, pin the carrot on Olaf. Great times! 

Albert's baptism is on Saturday and we can't wait to go to Indy for it! He asked me to give a talk.  I'm excited because it will be translated into Burmese.  President said he's going to fill the chapel with people to support him!  That's exciting!  I love their family so much.  I'm going to cry when I see them again. :*)

Sister Griffeth has been teaching me how to play the Ukulele.  It's so much fun!  She plays and sings so well!  She has the voice of a literal angel.  She plays and sings for Debbie J. and it always brings the spirit so strongly.  

When Heavenly Father closes a good door, He always opens a better one.  I miss Indy so much, but I guess I have work to do in Brownsburg.  :)

This is why I love tracting in Indiana

B-burg! Hoosier town!

Well, here I am in Hoosierville.  Brownsburg, Indiana!

I hated saying goodbye to all of the Chin people!  It was a very sad time.  The worst part was leaving Sister Kitchen too!  She's amazing! We always laughed and worked hard together.  :)  Transfer meeting was interesting!  When President called my name I was so shocked because he didn't call my companion first.  That means I'm senior companion in a new area.  Woof!  That's too much!  My companion is Sister Griffeth and she's been out for 3 months! We're babies!  I'm technically "follow-up training" her but let's be honest, she knows way more about missionary work than I do!  I've still never even been tracting...

Our Elders tease us and tell us that if you combine our experience, which is 7 1/2 months, you still don't have half of a sister missionary.  Haha!  We really are babies takin' on the work in B-burg!  I've already learned a lot from Sister Griffeth.  She's a homie.  :) 

So, I came to Brownsburg and pulled into our driveway which was covered by 3 inches of solid ice.  If that wasn't enough to make me run away screaming then the water should be.  Haha!  The water here smells very strongly of rust or blood and it's a murky yellow color.  It's nasty!  I have to shower in it! Gross.  We drink bottled water, thank goodness.  However, they used the tap water for the Sacrament and I thought I was being poisoned for drinking even a teaspoon of it! Anyway, there's a Fowler family in the Brownsburg ward here and when they announced that the new missionary is "Sister Fowler,"  their little boy shouted, "That's you, mommy!"  Haha!  It was cute.  

My first night here, we stopped by a less-active's house to share a scripture with him and invite him to church.  Of course, he was drunk, but Sister Griffeth said that's normal.  We asked him to meet us at the Library in a couple of days for a longer lesson. We sat down with him a few days ago and had a word of wisdom intervention.  He was super honest with us and embarrassed that we knew that he had a drinking problem.  Basically, we're gonna get him clean if it's the last thing we do!  We're pretty sure he's already relapsed, but we've given him everything he needs to quit.  He's addicted pretty badly so it will be a long road, but we're going to be with him along the way! More importantly, Jesus Christ will be there with him.  That's the most important thing to remember is that our Savior suffered everything for us so that he might know how to succor his people. (Alma 7:11-13)  

We have an awesome investigator that could be baptized soon if he only comes to church!  He's a single dad of two little girls, a Colts fan, and one of the funniest people I've ever met!  I asked him if there is anything we could do to help him out and he replied, "You can come and clean my house and do my laundry. Aren't you the Molly Mormon Maids?"  Haha!  Oh man, that's a good one.  :) 

I've been trying to memorize the people in the area book and it's funny because my first district leader, Elder Owen served in Brownsburg last January.  He literally taught and dropped everyone in there.  It's messed up!  That's why I felt inspired to do missionary work in a more creative way.  I asked the Relief Society President for a list of sisters in the ward who haven't been visit taught in the last couple months.  She gave us a list with probably 150 women on it.  Granted, about half of them aren't in our area.  We're going to visit these sisters to help them feel loved and then we're going to ask for referrals and teach their friends!  It's  a fool proof plan and it helps me avoid tracting for just a little longer.  

It'll still be awhile before I'm totally adjusted to normal mission life but I have a great area and companion to help me.  :) Kan dawt tuk!  Have a lovely week! 

Albert's Family! Aren't they precious?

Brother Merrell's Family! He was my Ward Mission Leader! They're so great!

Transfers

Dear peeps!

I am so sad!  I got my transfer call.  I'll be going to my second area this week.  I was supposed to stay in Little Burma for 6 months so I wasn't expecting to be transferred.  I guess it's all up to The Lord though, right? 

The worst part is that we have our first Chin baptism coming up here in a few weeks! Albert is going to be baptized and I don't even know if I'll be here for it!  He's the greatest soul I know.  He's my hero!  He has a strong testimony and he will be great!  I just hope I can love the people in my next area as much as I love the Chin people.  Probably not though, because I've heard from other missionaries that white people are mean.  I'm gonna get eaten alive!!  :)

Our amazing ward mission leader works at a children's hospital and he works 28 hour shifts.  Last night we asked him how he stays awake for that and he replied, "Coffee."  We awkwardly chuckled and began rummaging around our bags for a Word of Wisdom pamphlet.  I totally believed him! Brother Merrell is so great!  Then he busted up laughing!  Haha!  That was a good one.  His secret is an entire box of Lucky Charms!  He just eats it across the 28 hours...:)

I love my COMPANION!! Sister Kitchen has never failed to make me laugh and feel loved! She leaves little post-it notes for me in my planner, scriptures, and other places.  She's so dang cute too!  I'm going to miss her the most!  I've learned a lot from her.  She's very diligent and has a strong testimony!  But, she's from Arizona so she's dying in this cold!  Brrrrr!  

The other day we were helping 4 OLD ladies bring their groceries in from the car and one of them had me carry their bright pink cane.  I started pretending to walk like a grandma with it and then I started tap dancing with it as my prop!  I'm glad that I can still be myself and be a missionary at the same time.  Heavenly Father called me, Sister Jessica Gelien Fowler, to be a missionary. So, that's exactly what I'm doing!  :) 

Pray for me as I deal with my new area!  Also, keep Albert Mang in your prayers!  He's incredible and he will be the pioneer of many conversions in this area!  Thank you all!  

Psalms 117  Praise ye the Lord!  :)

Welcome to 2015!

Hey all y'all!

So, welcome to 2015! My blackout year!  I will spend all of this year as a missionary!  I love telling people that I get to go home in March.  March of 2016!  Haha!  

This week was interesting.  I was still super sick for most of it.  I feel super disobedient because all I did was sleep when we weren't teaching lessons.  I was so tired all the time!  Then I got a nasty rash on my arms.  It's still here too.  Yikes! The mission nurse and I became good friends this week.  Haha!  However, we taught a good amount of lessons despite my illness.  We even taught a couple of lessons over the phone.  

On Saturday we left our apartment for literally 30 minutes to teach a lesson when our Elders texted us and called us to get home because it was "URGENT".  We got home and found two couches on our patio!  What the heck!  Apparently a member left them for us.  They were kinda gross but we had the Elders move them in anyway.  We decided we didn't want them so we had our other Elders take them to the dumpster.  We kept the smaller one and we're just going to cover it.  Haha!  It's so random.  

I'm going on exchanges today!  I'll be in Franklin Indiana. Also, Sister Kitchen and I have a feeling I'll be transferred to a new area next week.  That's scary and intense!  I feel like I'm ready to be a normal missionary though. I will miss my Hermana Cocina and my Chin people though!  I just hope I don't go to South Bend!  It's way too cold up there!  Brr!

We had an awesome New Year!  We got to hangout with our missionary friends at the church.  I realized that I've been in Indy 1st for too long because I have my area completely memorized! I know who lives where and I just need to experience something else.  I feel confident with being transferred.  Hopefully I can actually do it!  

Wish me luck!  Better yet, pray for me!  ;)

I love you all!  Have an awesome year! But, I guess I'll talk to you next week.  :)