November 2nd

Something fun about Elder Bowers is that he really enjoys e-mailing back and forth. Last Monday, a few of us did some back and forth chatting for a minute and today we got even more of it! I got an e-mail asking if anybody was on and then we actually e-mailed for a good two hours. He said that this was very unusual and not to get used to two hours but that it was transfer day and so he was almost done and the zone leaders showed up saying wait for us and so they all got to stay on longer! Each exchange was relatively short, which I liked because it felt like a real conversation. He did send a family and friend e-mail as well.

Dear  Family and Friends back home,
     This last week has been both a challenging and rewarding experience. I have grown in ways that I couldn't have even imagined before my mission. I hope to continue while I am out here. Being new to the area can be extrememly scary sometimtes and very disheartening but I know that the Lord is giving me great opportunities to grow and learn more about missionary work. The members here are great! We pass out a feeding list every week and we already have almost everyday of the month filled out already. My companion and I make sure we get sufficient exercise to stay healthy but I don't know if it will be enough for long. We have trouble finding new investigators at times but it should get easier as the branch members help us. The branch members have all made it very clear to us that they want enough people to form a ward and they want it SOON. We are working to their expectations. The branch has aboug 250 members with 130 of them active. We just need to get reactivating! I heard about Ken Redding becoming the bishop back home! That is fantastic! I knew he would get a calling like that soon. I sent a letter last week hopefully you get it soon. It has my memory card with a bunch of pictures and a post card and a very extensive letter. I am looking forward to more of your letters. I love all of you and pray for each of you everyday. God be with you till we meet again! 
Love always, Elder Tanner Bowers

Here are a few highlights of the back and forth conversation. Some I have to edit as a sisterly duty to not confess all of his secrets. So here are a few...


>The branch is full of Tongans who are very loud and very spiritual. They feed them very well! Sometimes they will have rice and beans but mostly they drop off KFC or Domino's
>He wants more pictures! (note to Tanner.... so do we!)
>Zone conference is themed Christmas and so they will watch a movie and sing carols. Anything change up the day to day grind! He says it might sound lame but they are sooo excited for it!
>There is no Mexican food there if anyone wants to send him some rice or a burito (coincidentally, we were having tacos for dinner tonight and so I may or may not have sent a picture :/)
>His address is 11A URE Street, 9400 Oamara New Zealand
> He plays rugby on his PDAY

Here's the view from his balcony