Mom of a Missionary.... The weekly email...That can't be written and sent fast enough.

I'll be honest on E-mail day, I carry my phone around with me and check it constantly.  I can't wait for that e-mail from my son to arrive.  It's hard to only hear from your child once a week, and only by e-mail.  You get into a pattern of thinking you know exactly what time the e-mail will arrive, and when it is late...Like really late in your mind....Well that is hard... But here is the next e-mail from Elder Bowlby Somewhere in Mexico...
Whether you wanted to invite them in or not,
 you´ll be hearing from a Missionary these next two years!

It´s me, Elder Bowlbot! Boop bop, would you like to hear a message?

Just kidding! It´s yours truly, Elder Bowlby. Had some spare time, a cardboard box, and a sharpie today, so I made a little TV head for myself. The other Elders in my Casa thought it was pretty funny. In all seriousness, Missionaries aren´t robots, and we´re not just giving out carbon-copy messages. I´ve got to learn how to understand the needs of the investigator so that way the spirit can work in our discussions and bring others closer to Jesucristo! (That´s how you say Jesus Christ in spanish, by the way).

So in class, we´re practicing teaching people, not lessions. We´ve been practicing with our teachers as investigators since week one, and since last week, we practice with volunteers on saturday mornings. This week, the students are going to practice being investigators to better understand how the spirit works with a person. We were asked to choose a person who we know really well and take their role, being authentic as possible. In my mind, there was nobody better than my Dad, because I know his conversion story, likes, wants, and history with the church pretty well. In a sense, I want to re-live those discussions he had with the missionaries to get a better understanding. Quick! Send me some things my Dad would say so I can translate them into spanish! I just hope my spanish to english dictionary has words like "Carbuerator".

Last week, we went to the México City Temple! This is the view from the front. It looks like a huge fortress!

Oh, and by the way, I went into Mexico City today to get my green card! I can officially live here now, fellas! Mexico City is a crazy place, and while I wasn´t able to bring my camera with me to Immigration, I was able to bring it with me to the Temple, of course. I'll send a bunch of photos in a secondary e-mail so I have space, but most of them are blurry reference photos... Wonder what I'm up to behind the scenes, yet?

Speaking of behind the scenes, one of my struggles I´ve had in the past week is to stay focused! Oops! I'm not accustomed to long days of studying, and there's often nothing I want more than to draw... but if I want to bring others to the Savior, I have to bring myself there first! Don't worry, I'm getting better. I´m almost at the point where I can have a discussion in spanish and not have to stop because I don´t know a word.
That being said, it doesn´t hurt to have fun every once in a while. 


I´m also learning how to consecrate my talents to the Lord! I used this in a discussion about the Plan of Salvation (And yes it´s all in Spanish). Notice that Jesus and his atonement are the center of the plan. That´s the most important part!​

Thank you all for your concern over my loss of cash, by the way. I´m grateful that you all would like to send something, but the postal service here in Mexico is inclined to open all letters that 1: Are adressed to anyone with the first name "Elder" and 2: Don´t have a picture of the Virgin Mary on it. Don´t know why, but apparently having the Virgin Mary on your mail will keep people from opening it unjustly.
But, please, refrain from sending me things ;)

And, as you all are excited to hear from me every week (at least I hope), I too look forward to reading all of your e-mails every week. I´m overjoyed to hear how you are all doing, and It´s definitely the highlight of my e-mail hour. Thank you all so much for your love and your prayers, and most of all, thank you for your time! It means a lot to me that you´re willing to read and send messages.

The next e-mail will mostly be photos. Love you all so much! Stay strong, and God Bless!

-Elder Bowlby
​¡Más Photos, otra vez! 


So, Ciudad de Mexico has a lot of funky structures, parks, and buildings! I have no idea what this was for, but it looked nice!

Love the colors and funky designs on the buildings. The city seems to have a shop for just about everything! Guitars and ice-cream... you name it! (I even saw a piñata in the likeness of President Trump (Uh oh!)))


Captured very poorly here, Oxxo is the Mexican equivalent of 7/11. You can find one on pretty much every block (Or at least every block that I could see). Also, Mexican taxies are a bright pink and white! Imagine that!

Apparently, this housing complex was so ugly, that CDMX was like "Okay we´re just gonna paint your house a color and you're gonna like it." It looks beautiful from afar on the CCM campus.


​A solemn MYSTERY CHARACTER (who will probably be talked about later) reminds me to not forget my things in the AM. Very forgetful. If I forget my name tag, I´m pretty much nobody!

Bought some colored pencils with money that wasn´t stolen (More reason for you not to send me money), and I´ve been doing what I do best! Making confusing-looking trading cards.
This one is "THE TWISTER OF TIME"

And this one is "SNAKE OF BREAKS" (Like, taking a break.) 
​Next time, I might have one or two based on the 10 commandments or a scripture or something ;)Love you!!
It always a relief to get the weekly email.  To know my son is doing well.
G.G.