bruh

good week. dunno what time is anymore. I had a monster drink for the first time and felt like fire inside my chin, kneecaps, and lungs. So I'm not gonna do that again. but hey- I did have an excess of energy. 

ASL is coming pretty easy somehow. im remembering everything from School and have been watching general conference talks and primary songs in ASL and its just epic.

my wrist feels fine. it just is inconvenient and makes alot of things really hard.

my comp is going through some stuff and were working together to make things work. thats what most of this week has been about. we also spent a total of at least an hour tryna make a good voicemail message. 

my mom sent my Mint chocolate soylent meal replacement shakes and i love them (yes, i know about soylent green) 

our wards started this new thing called the bowtie schedule basically 

one ward has their sacrament meeting then another ward (Not the other one we cover, another in the stake) meets with first one to do second hour church then the other ward has their sacrament meeting. 

so our whole area got messed up cuz now both of OUR wards are bow tying with other wards in buildings on opposite sides of the area. Also, our keyfobs don't work to get into churches anymore :(

So this'll be fun to see what ends up happening cuz last sunday was a mess.  But it's fun. I love it. It's great to experience new problems and challenges. Rather than being frustrated or disappointed with the way things be, me and elder Scott just laugh or focus on good stuff. Like the smoked Oysters we found at Walmart or looking forward to sharing a can of olives, or that our friend Huseyin, is passionate about being baptized and calls us almost every day.

its good. its real good.

if you know somebody who can go on a mission or is thinking about it do all you can to get them to go. the impact one missionary can have on one person is divinely precious and beyond any understandable value to that person. God knows exactly what He's doing when he assigns us to certain areas of the world. he also knew exactly what he was doing when He told us that every worthy young man needs to serve a mission through his prophets. Also if you're not "worthy" then go talk to your bishop! pornography, drugs, swearing, immorality-- Satan wants you to keep it a secret and try to take care of it on your own. Satan tells you the atonement is not for you and you're too far gone. It's literal crap. Go call your bishop and he can help you find your way to access the infinite and pure power of the perfect atonement. IT'S REAL. It's all real. get out on a mission. girls too!!! If you have a desire to be a part of the most important thing on earth go to your bishop and join the ranks. same with everything else, if you don't feel worthy, there is help and peace and happiness in the gospel of jesus Christ, a lot of it. the Atonement can help with any problem or difficulty, trial, weakness, struggle, pain, ANYTHING. 

ya. 

thats what i got this week.

i love you guys. 

and here is the link for the photos. . . . .again

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DYM8hzqfMfgxUFWZ7

CAST on Him my every care by thy return sweet hour of prayer

 thats right everybody. i fractured my scaphoid. so now I cant do anything. i cant write legibly. i cant eat with a freaking fork. i can barely even tie my shoes. the cast smells like rotting kaka. no matter how many times i spray it with cologne the smell still there. i have to wear a plastic bags and rubber bamds every time i shower. 

but- im doing absalutley legendary happy. i love every single second of missionary. one of my friends out here named Sal stopped us on the way to a members house like "hey, havent i met you before?"

luckily, i recognized him and remembered his name, "yes, Sal, how are you doing?"

and we talked for a few minutes actually about his family and God and the  he got all philisophical and was like "happiness is always there. we just dont always see it." and THAT hit me. he then talked about how he has a mercedes but his friend has a lamborgini but he cant just be wishing he has a lamborghini too cuz he has mercedes. 

anyways. other than that- the other absolute MEME that happened- you can tell this to anybody and they will appreciate it.

president called me.....he asks how my wrist was healing.....i say it hurts......he asks me to join the ASL (american SIGN LANGUAGE) program......i say yes.....he says ok

what?????

so i go home and start packing all my stuff and trying to find out how imma sign with one hand. then next day president calls me and hes like....theres been a change, how would you feel about staying another transfer? you need time to heal that wrist

so im like "ok"

and then president like- no more scooters Elder Owens. 

so then i have to go unpack everything. 

So thas my week. 

At first i had a few thoughts like ...but arent transfer calls inspired? how could they make a cha ge to it? why president not get it right the first time??

but i nrealize- the expirence of thinking imma go be ASL missionary and just that mindset of change even for just one day- i grew a lot and my comp did too- thinking imma leave him. So i know it was part of Gods plan to yank us like that. gave us some good growth and now well be ready when it happens next transfer call. God literally knows PERFECTLY what hes doing. if you find yourself doubting his plan and whats going on i can promise you itll make sense eventually whether its tomarrow or in a year or after you die! Gods plan is perfect, excercise some faith and let God Prevail. 

go on a mission. lookn foreward to hearing where yall get called. mission is the longest ive ever been happy, happiest ive ever been, and most peace ive ever felt. find out thas true for yourself and throw your papers in ASAP.

pictures!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DYM8hzqfMfgxUFWZ7

Asl??

 

So. The Book of Mormon is literally true. It's proved to me every single time I read from it. Whether I'm reading to a stranger or to a member, hearing it in a talk or reading on Facebook, reading with my comp or on my own. The Book of mormom is true. 

Read it every day. Like for real I'm freaking serious, quit reading my email and read it now

And don't think you can't. It's literally a few clicks or taps away. If you don't have the Book of Mormon get it. Straight up.

Anyways, wonderful week! (Idk what kind of week I'd have other than wonderful-im a missionary)

Even though I'm recovering from the scooter fall, it's all epic. I had a tough time sleeping cuz it hurts to lay down but whatever.

We had a zone conference and 2 things happened that will change the rest of my mission.

1. We had a training from the social media team and I realized….I can do that. So I'm taking all their advice and trying to do what it takes to do social media work. That's why I'm posting every day.

2. President had us read matthew 27, Christ's crucifixion. And after that I looked up and see president crying and he says "this all really happened" and he bore testimony of Jesus Christ and it was so powerful.

I will bear testimony of Jesus whenever I can. I will use all the ways God has given me to do missionary work .

So thas that. 

Then…Thursday night/Friday morning I had a dream where I ended up signing ASL to some deaf guy. I woke up and realized I had used signs that I had totally forgotten about. Like what?! Then the rest of the day I had signs come back to me. So I talked with my comp. I prayed and I think imma talk to president about the asl program. Then later that day we read the book of mormon to a guy with als( which is asl backwards almost)

It was very tender and special.

Then on Sunday I signed with a deaf member and it went OK. Then at our member meal one of the kids was learning sign and I signed with them. 

So I think I'm getting my answer. Now I just have to talk to the president. 

Its all been epic

On Sunday my man Sam came to church with his dog. First time ever. He loved it. So pray for him and Giovanna. They are so close to their clicking moments.

Go on a mission. Do it. I've been putting reasons in here every week, go pray about it and find your own reasons. 

Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/DYM8hzqfMfgxUFWZ7

well🐳🐳

 This morning me and elder Scott went to a really cool hill we found a few days ago. It has a nice pavement path and it's fenced off-so no cars, we both love skateboarding and scootering, so today we brought them to this hill. It looked much much steeper than it had a few days ago. . .

so we were like, we prolly outta try out them scooters first cuz they are easier than skateboards. went down it once, it was absolutely exhilarating. it felt like i was going 30mph and i was scared the whole time but also having a ridiculous blast as the world legit flew by me. It was incredible. we reach the bottom...and see that after that decline, there was an even larger decline. It was two hills next to each other. this one was a lot longer and way steeper and had a few plants growing through the cracks. So... with some hesitation, but not enough to stop me...we started walking up this hill. we get to the top and....start going. I had my back foot on the brakes as I started and quickly accelerated to the speeds I had reached before...but even with putting as much force as I could on that back wheel I was still gaining speed and I wasn't even half way down the hill yet. So I smile as I realize the truth: I'm going to fall. and it's not going to be good. so I started praying and singing the song that was stuck in my head "heaven help me" by zach Williams LOL

and then it happened. bruh i have no clue how it happened. I just heard the ground scraping my flesh off and my body hitting the ground, flying a bit, then hitting it again and sliding against the ground. The scooter was waaayy behind me so I know I must have slid and bounced at least 15 feet. I laid on the ground and first just said a prayer thanking God that I was ok and then asking to actually fr be ok. so i started with my feet, and my left one hurt pretty bad, continued up. yup- my knees are definitely bleeding. along with my back and my arms hurt really bad. my hands just felt like empty tickles and shakes. BUT! my head was completely fine- no pain at all in my head. so i sit up and check, my shoes are freaking destroyed. The scooter brakes got so hot it melted my shoes and the ground scrapped them real good too. My jeans have a big hole. 

so. ya. Elder Scott drove us home and we fixed me up real good. 

So I'm in a lot of pain but I'm really lucky- there are so many things that could have gone wrong and what did happen is basically the best possible outcome. Even though I'm mega roughed up I know God protected me. I know I need to make better choices and I should be more aware of what's going on. I know the rules are in place for a reason and this wasn't really following all the rules. I learned obedience and commandments literally protect us sometimes...and when you rebel you get hurt.

Anyways. It was definitely a week. We met so many people who were not only not interested but also heavily against us. It made me really appreciate the people who just say "I'm not interested" because these people like to tell us awful things about the church and really like to rub it in that we are bothering them. They try to make us feel like we are in the wrong by simply being in their apartment complex. There's also a lot of people who feel like they have to say yes but really have -5 interest thus they accomplish wasting our time and theirs as well. We had a few people set up return apts and then they arent home or just tell us they actually don't want to talk to us. 

When somebody 1. let us teach them something 2. gives us contact info of some kind and 3. set up a return appointment with us, they become what is called a "new person" (new person to start teaching)

 I realized that as a missionary it is my job to FIND new people. not MAKE new people. if somebody is not interested--I'm not gonna have success trying to tell them to be interested. My job is to seek out those whom God has prepared to receive the gospel. 

Well

I love you guys. I love being a missionary. I'm grateful I'm alive lol. 

and ofc, plz get out on your mission. If I'm talking to you I'm talking to you. Finish those papers and begin now becoming who God wants you to be. plz read the bom every day. And fr fr fr if you have questions text me! email me! lemme know! 

"It's all here in the book of mormon"

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/10/17rasband?lang=eng&id=p15#p15

I promise I'm not a wimp

 Here are the photos:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DYM8hzqfMfgxUFWZ7

Well. It's been crazy. Absolutely crazy. I've been missing friends and family a lot recently, especially all my friends who are getting ready for missions. Sione, Jonah, Grant, Logan, and especially Liz. You guys are absolutely legends and I can't wait to start getting your weekly emails.

The week started out with a phone call from some guy telling us he wanted to join our community and come to our church

So we met with him a few times and put him on date for the 2nd of November!(for baptism) He still has a lot to learn and we're helping him learn English too.

One of the guys the sisters are teaching asked for a blessing so we zoomed over there and the first thing he said after the blessing was "did you guys smoke weed before you came over?"

I have no clue why he asked that, but it was hard for me and elder scott to not burst out laughing. He also wouldn't take his hat off, so we just…let the oil seep through. Blessing the sick is always amazing.

Then exchanges the day after that. I had 2 incredibly humbling experiences. One is so humbling I'm hesitant to share but….whatever 

We were biking around. We had gone about 1 mile and stopped to talk to somebody. And after we stopped I experienced every symptom I have heard of that accompany fainting. My vision tunneled and continued till I couldn't really see, I started sweating A BUNCH. I was Maaadd salivating. I could barely talk or think and was struggling to breath so im like "elder……I think imma faint….." so he helped me get off the bike and sit down and held a water bottle on my back(I love my zone leaders so much) and just sat with me till I was back. 

When I was back the first thing I said was "elder Spiers, I promise I'm not a wimp"

He said "elder Owens, I didn't think you were"

I felt nauseous the rest of the day. Some lady offered me some beer.

Oh, the other one was that we gave a lady a blessing way later that night I was consecrating and when I went to get the oil I spilled almost my whole vial onto the floor.

.

The dog came and ate all of it.

So I said "well..your dogs gonna live forever now"

It was a beautiful blessing and even though it was In Spanish I still felt the spirit and knew that the words were from God.

Because of meetings and busy mornings, exchange, and other crap that doesn't actually matter I was not able to have personal study every morning and lemme tell ya. There was a difference. I was not as happy. It was harder to have the courage to start contacts and share scriptures. Having your own personal study of the book of Mormon will completely transform your day(and eventually your life)please experiment on this. If you are already reading every day in the morning then you're a legend. If you're not reading every day, in the morning. Sacrifice some time. Wake up earlier and eat faster, shower faster, get ready faster so you can have at least 10 minutes of just you and the book of Mormon. I can absolutely promise you your day will be 100% better than if you hadn't given those 10 minutes to God. Try it out. Please. We need the holy ghost with us in order to spiritually survive. 

Anyways.

Then conference woooowww what an experience. Pretty incredible. I loved hearing Elder rasband talk about the Book of Mormon that one really stuck with me.

But ya

Go onna mission.

Read the bom every day "it's all here" 

Eat healthy and drink more water.(that ones mostly for me)

Get enough sleep(also for me)

Read your patriarchal blessing(or go get it)

Bible dictionary is actually worth your time.(stuff in italics immediately after the bold word is the literal meaning usually in Hebrew of the word, waaay cool)

The gospel brings more joy than anything else so jump in the scriptures and service.

I love you guys. I miss you all.

And thank you so much Martin Stewart for praying for me and the other missionaries.

Thank you to everybody who prays for me. I know it helps and blesses me.