September 17, 2013...two days shy of his ONE YEAR mark!!!

Hey mom,

Thanks for writing!! The fair sounds like it was a ton of fun! I can't believe two puked it all up! Ha I don't remember the last time I threw up... JK I do, It was scout camp at Jacob's lake in '08 sorry.. off subject. Sorry I didn't write you and dad like I said I would.. To be honest I totally forgot what I was even going to write about so we'll see if any of it gets included here.

So Hilliard is seriously such a dud... And It's hard to stay motivated sometimes here. And honestly most days we're not. It's something I'm working on. We went to the temple today. (first off, LOVE the new video!!) I learned quite a bit there today and it was really good. I also got called out when I was in the Celestial Room asking for help with all this. So scriptures helped on that one! So it's good. This area I feel has been more for me than anything else. Learning a lot of deep life lessons and figuring things out there. Omer Sanabria is such an inspirational guy. He inspires me almost as much as Beecher does. Us being here has also helped the ward for future missionaries. The one Elder that burned this area frustrated the crap out of me and I seriously just wanna punch him when I see him cause of what he did, But... that's not what Jesus would do ;)

This last week we haven't been able to be too successful here. We've been working with members and less-actives and helping them out. We've been sticking close to a couple families who are struggling a little bit. I can't think of what we did on a day to day basis, but I'll just talk about a couple experiences.

We were able to celebrate Mikes birthday and that was fun. I made Chicken Crescents.. (I don't remember if I wrote about that...) Wednesday we had Zone Meeting.. (they all seem the same to me personally) But after E. Young came and hung out with me for exchanges. He's getting burnt out with his comp so we relieve him. It rained on us and was pretty stormy Wednesday and Thursday but it's fun! Sometimes... Tomorrow I'll prolly have Elder Park. He's a good kid. Just needs help. Elder Cornia came down with us on Friday to Saturday. It was way fun and A nice break from everything. I like pray we could serve together cause it would be the best haha. I'm getting a little burnt out on things but I keep going and learning. So I can't complain. :) Saturday we had a hog roast (which was a ton of fun and I love the ward a ton and would love to be a part of it like as a normal dude, but missionary wise.. it's getting there..) and I just kicked and threw a football to a bunch of kids.. Ha then the sole of my shoes came halfway off (sorry Nana!!! I'll still use em when I buy shoe goo! haha) anyways so the ward like felt really bad (and I didn't think anything of it. It was my fault and I was just gonna glue it when I got back. It was funny actually) anyways so Omer took us home and drove past our house and went to famous footwear and bought brand new shoes....It pissed Monahan I think and I seriously felt bad... (And Mike I feel bad with you too, even if you don't think so) I didn't feel like I didn't deserve it cause I'm not a good missionary. I'm just trying while I'm out here. But he loves us and I use them as motivation to "earn" them. Cause Omer has already done a ton for me personally and I love the guy for everything already. He's so funny to and I swear He'll be an apostle. Just you wait guys you'll see him up on the pulpit one day!! We went over there on Sunday for lunch and we just talk a lot about life. We also had dinner with the bishop which was good! He had a guitar so of course I played it. I played Fever Dream by Iron and Wine and now he wants to learn it! haha I thought that was cool :) We then went over to the Fowlers and also taught their F.H.E. last night too. They're a sweet family. I hope things get better for them. They're great. I haven't been able to talk to Mike as much as I've wanted to but I miss that guy. I can't wait to hang out with him after all this. Honestly I love the relationships I've been able to create out here. These people will always have a place in my heart. Last night we had dinner with the Howlett's (first time we've really talked to them) They're kinda weird... He's lonely and she's kinda crazy... We got there and they just finished putting the Lasagna together and threw it in the oven for like ten minutes. I think the only thing that cooked was the cheese... The joys of being a missionary sometimes... Ha mom.. Send some Lasagna please.. Thanks..

Well I hope things continue to go well and actually I do miss doing the Mortuary Drives. I always see Acadia's out here and I think of that! It's fun telling people I drove dead bodies around. Most people's dad's don't go from General Contractors to Funeral Directors... It's good stuff :) Don't worry bout the pictures. I figured that was the case. But thanks for the Card, I needed that too! Well Back to riding around Hilliard getting honked at yelled at cause I'm the weird kid on a bike ;) I have fun though. I jump over what I can :) like the Sanabria's boy Diego's bike yesterday. E. Monahan got everyone to make me do it. I swear he thinks I'm like this prideful arrogant kid who likes to show off on his bike when I'm just trying to enjoy things but it's all good though. It's fun and it's his problem. Anyways. I love you all and miss you guys more than you know. But I'm doing great out here too :)

Love,

Elder Derrek Bowler.

The pics I have I'll have to send next week cause the computer is being dumb... Sorry!