Brian has arrived!

Brian is now safely in Washington. He has landed in Vancouver (which is right next to Portland, OR). Here is his address:

Elder Brian Bowler
1108 NW Sluman Rd.
Vancouver, WA 98665

You can always send letters or packages to the mission home. Brian is doing much better - not so homesick anymore. He has a great companion who he says is twice his size (well, isn't everyone?). His name is Elder Anderson and he is from Delta, UT. He said that he could use washable ties for Christmas seeing as his are getting all wet. Brian also said that he would love to find out that there were some chronic letter writers in the family. :0)

Brian is headed for Washington!

Just to update everyone - Brian is headed to Washington tomorrow. I can't believe that it has been almost 3 weeks already since we sent him off. I will let you all know if he is going to be able to communicate via email or just snail mail after he reaches Washington. For now, the address for the mission home is:
Elder Brian Bowler
Washington Kennewick Mission
8656 W. Gage Blvd., Ste. 205
Kennewick, WA 99336
He will be able to receive anything you send him via USPS (US Postal Service) if it is sent to the mission home. I will update his actual address on this blog whenever he gets a new one, but you can always refer back to this address if needed.

Brian wrote this past week that things were a bit harder his second week in the MTC and that he was a bit homesick. That is to be expected and his branch president told him that he was a normal missionary. He met another elder that was going through some "homesickness" also. He said that the other elder was kind of quiet and had a close relationship with his mom too. So, they got along really well. Other than that, he said that he was enjoying his time at the MTC but really looked forward to getting out into the field. When I return home next Monday, I will put up some pix for y'all. Brian would love to hear from you! Love ya!

Elder Bowler's Address & 1st letter home!

Brian's MTC address is:
Elder Brian Kaleb Bowler
MTC Mailbox #131
WA-KENN 1119
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, UT 84604-1793

Brian's MTC departure date is November 19th. Here is his 1st letter home:
Dear Family,
My first day in the MTC was crazy! It was also extremely amazing. My mission companion's name is Elder Gittings and he is such a great elder. I think that the MTC will be much better tomorrow though. I'll really enjoy my time here. There are four, including myself, elders that are going to Kennewick Washington Mission. Thre is no place on earth I'd rather be right now. Everyone here is really nice. The Lord knew what he was doing to help me know that a mission was for me. So, my first day here and I was made a senior companion for the week. I really feel at home with the other missionaries. We've already had lots of fun and mom you're gonna think we're all nuts. We all like the window open at night and a cold room to sleep in. Nobdy needs to worry about me, I won't be coming home any time soon. The spirit is really strong here. I can't believe it. I love y'all and don't have too much fun without me.
Your Missionary, Elder Brian Bowler

MTC or Bust!

Here are some pix from Wednesday - you all knew it as Halloween, but we knew it as MTC Day! Brian with his pre-mission comp & going out to breakfast. The blonde girl is our friend from our ward - Emily Henrie - she & her husband are "wannabe" Bowlers. We love her! She took a bunch of pix for us. We will get those up as soon as we get them from her.

We all had a long day full of great emotions! We will all miss Brian, but it hard to be sad when he is sooooo happy!

Mission Call Day & Temple

Here are the pix that I never got put up of Brian opening his mission call and going to the temple.