Amazing Week

Dear Family,

Alright, so here's the news on my ankle. It's still fat like a balloon and it's bruised up a little bit. I have been taking care of myself, but I haven't let it affect my work. I keep working on it no matter what. I'm not sure what exactly will happen with it, but I'm able to walk. I sometimes get really swollen and I have to put icy hot on it and rub it down and ice it. It's about the same though after a week. ha ha! But better than when it happened last week. But I wanted to thank you all for your prayers. I definitely think the Lord has blessed me to be able to work strong until the end. He knows it's my desire and I feel like he's blessing me on behalf of all the prayers. Thank you.

So this past week was amazing! We got to work a lot more and I loved it! My area is so prepared! So here's an update on Ovidio; he finally made a decision!! He's getting baptized on Saturday by his son. His daughter in the mission will come home for the baptism and then return to her area. It's going to be really special. I'm very excited! It's going to be one of the best I've had yet. He was still uncertain with baptism until yesterday at church. Elder Romero looked at him in the eyes and said, "look, it's not a game, are you getting baptized or not?" He said he wasn't sure and then my comp, who kind of gets mad easily, said, "alright fine! We won't pass by anymore." Ovidio then looked at his wife and she told him, "You're just playing games here. Why don't you be a man and make a decision?" Then he grabbed my comp before he walked away and said, "Fine I'll do it this Saturday, but I want my son to baptize me." It was awesome! For a second I thought we had lost him, but he's super certain now!

We were able to find the Parodi family this week which is a miracle in itself, because they are always super busy with dance. We had an amazing family night and we shared a great story that teaches us that we are all children of a Heavenly King and for that, we have some attributes like him and we should become more and more like Him every day through small actions. Then, to our surprise, they came to church! If we could just have more time to teach them, we would have two, maybe three more baptisms.

President Stapley came to one lesson with us on Saturday. There is a poor lady, Hermana Ramona Montenegro, who is just a lovely person. She has been a member for 36 years and she does so much for the church. She washes our cloths, she is constantly sharing the gospel, and she always offers to help with whatever. She is married to a man who is not a member because he has a severe addiction to alcohol. He's not like other alcoholics though. He doesn't want to drink, in fact, he hates drinking. His body asks for it though, so every so often, he has to go and get a sip so that his body doesn't go into an attack. So this poor sister asked President Stapley about two years ago to give him a blessing and he finally made it around this past week! (We insisted a lot. :) ) It was a really spiritual event and it was really cool watching President in action. He's a very, very calm person, but he is very in tune with the spirit. Now we're going to see what happens with this man. We're praying that he'll be able to overcome this addiction and be baptized.

The Montaño family is amazing. Only they did not come to church yesterday and we think it was because of Fathers Day. We're going by in a few hours to see them. They are just an amazing family. I'm so excited for them. They will be getting married on the 12th of July, baptized on the 13th, and confirmed on the 14th. It's been my dream since the beginning of my mission to finish like that! A whole family, married and baptized on my last week! I'm so happy or them! Keep praying for them. There's still a lot of time left and I want them to make it so bad! They're so prepared, but I know the adversary will always try to get a hold of this type of situation.

So today my companion turns 28 years old!! He's such a funny guy. I honestly don't see the age difference. He and I are so alike! I've come to realize on the mission that adults are just like teenagers still. They just have more responsibilities and that makes them look more serious.

Before I sign off, I wanted to wish my fatty daddy un Feliz Dia del Padre! and a Feliz Cumple for my sister Kiersten! I hope you're still sane, I know Trevor is kind of nuts . .. :) And Felicitaciones Justin with the internship! I'm proud of you!

Well, I better get going. I love you all and I am so grateful for your prayers, but pray more for my investigators! They need more blessings than I do.

Love,

Elder Cowan