The valley of the shadow of death

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Srihari Is back In town! He was baptized just under a year ago and recently traveled to India to go get a wife! So he is back preparing a house and everything for her and in a few months she'll have her visa and everything and will come here! 

He took us out to eat twice this week! First chick fil a and then a स्वादिष्ट biryani place. Biriyani is like Indian fried rice and it's absolutely amazing. 

I was able to go on exchange with my brother, Elder Vest. We stayed up till about 2:00 am watching the Josiah movie in gospel library, talking about college, working out, jumping off the bunk bed, and then having a spontaneous companionship study about how God works in the light while Satan works in darkness. Found some incredible scriptures about it! ( 2 Samuel 12:12 and 2 Nephi 25:23)

Then that morning we had to go start filling a baptismal font up at 7:00 so I ate a carrot (turns out carrots have like 5 calories- so not a very good breakfast) and we got over there quickly. We found out we didn't have the right keys so we had to go to the Chinese elders and wake them up and steal their keys. Then we got there and found out we didn't even need keys in the first place  so now we're filling the font as fast as possible and we took recycling bins full of boiling water from the janitorial closet and wheeled them over and dumped them in. What an adventure! 

By the time everybody arrived, the font was full. Baptisms are so cool. Once everything was over we noticed the font was still full! They forgot to pull the plug. So we made a plan. 

After everybody left Elder Vest basically had to make a make-shift swimming suit out of paper towels. He got in there and yanked the plug. Then I gave him a towel and turned around lol. We went back to the apartment and got him some dry clothes. It was the most hilarious thing I've ever been a part of. 

We were visiting some members and I instantly recognized the home- basically- over a year ago I had visited this family with Elder Rigby and Elder White and we sang “we wish you a merry Christmas” to them! So I asked her if she remembered that and then all these other girls ran out like “that was you?!” Apparently, it was a big deal to them and they talk about it all the time. One of her(non-member) friends living with her ... .was an Indian! So she saw my tag and then freaked out again. We talked in some urdu/Hindi. 

It's so crazy because the night we sang to them was kind of a tough night for me and I barely even remember singing to them. But little did I know, it was exactly what they needed and now over a year later they still remember and treasure that. So crazy.

I figured another cool thing about the 23rd Psalm. 

This might be hard to convey through email, nevertheless, imma try.

“Though i walk through the VALLEY of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art WITH me”

What is a valley?

It's the land between 2 mountains(  valley  )

I was thinking about this a ton- mountains sometimes represent God's presence, those were the temples in old testament times. 

So the “valley of the shadow of death” is in between 2 peaks of God's presence. Ready?

The first mountain is the premortal life, where we lived with God. After that we come to earth  or in other words, the valley of the shadow of death. 

The second we are born our fate is sealed and one day we will die. That truth follows us everywhere we go, like a shadow. Earth life is full of darkness and temptation and trials thus it is called “the valley of the shadow of death” then the next mountain-

It is returning to God's presence again after this life. It's being an eternal being and living with God forever! 

There's more. “Thy rod and they staff, they comfort me” remember the other part “ I will fear no evil for thou art with me” 

God and Jesus Christ are not literally with us. They are with us through “they rod and they staff” 

Rod. Rod. Iron rod. The iron rod is the word of God! You guys, it's the gospel!

Staff. I just see it as either like a shepherd's cane or a wooden stick. The shepherd's cane/staff is used to pull the sheep and lead them; it creates a connection between the shepherd and the sheep. It's covenants. I see Jesus holding one end of the staff and i'm doing everything I can to hold on to the other side. 

So- I don't need to be scared or worried about anything in this life why? Because “you(god) are with me! How? Through thy gospel and my covenants- these things comfort me!”

Boom. So that's what it means. 

Sad news time

Elder Holladay will officially be traveling home. He has served an incredible mission and has been one of the most incredible men I have ever met. He's truly going to be great. I love him so much. 

So, I will receive a new companion this week at transfers and we're gonna attack Hindi as hard as we can. 

Good news time

Pugal's video will be up soon. Please go check it out. And then send the video to every single person you know because it's incredible.

Love you all very much!

Robin Hood

 I finished 1st Samuel and oh my- Saul's life was such a tragedy. Brother made so many bad choices, it hurts to read it. However, we also read about so many incredible accounts of David's absolutely solid character. He really was a pure legend before the . . . Incident. David was a peacemaker. After first running away (because Saul chucked a spear at him out of jealousy) David pulls a Robin Hood and his Merry Men and takes all the outcasts and men with debt and they start a club. He ends up with 600 guys! On 2 separate occasions David could have effortlessly killed Saul. His guys really wanted him to- but he refused to kill the very man making his life awful. Istead, he ripped off some of Saul's skirt and messed with his water bottle and javelin to prove to Saul that he had been there and could have killed him. 

There's another spot where the David and His Merry Men leave a city they're staying in for a bit and the Amalekites come and burn it and steal all the wives. Everybody is crying when they come back and see the destruction- they cry so hard they run out of strength! David's 2 wives had also been stolen but instead of crying- he prays! God says “go get them!” So he and all the men who can go fight the amalekites and restore everything along with getting a whole bunch of treasures! His Merry Men didn't think the other Merry Men who didn't come deserved any treasure (400 went, 200 stayed) David tells them they're silly and divides the treasure equally in true President-Nelson-Peacemaker fashion.

If only he would've kept being a legend. . .

We were home quite a bit this week. Elder Holladay and I have decided to go “plant based whole foods,” the healthiest lifestyle ever. We had a deep study of the word of wisdom with another Elder who has had unbelievable experiences with Plant Based Whole Foods and the Word of Widsdom. It seems like it will only make things better. So if you have any recipes or questions let me know!

We have been playing alot with “pitch'' Elder Holladay has perfect pitch and he's trying to prove that I do as well. So far it looks like “maybe” 

We play all sorts of games like just trying to start singing a song and start on the right note (I keep getting it right and idk how) and last night we stayed up till 2:30 trying to spell/sing words like “cabbage” or “feed” (just words with the music letters) it was really difficult and used parts of my brian I didn't know were there

We were driving on the freeway and some guy was racing through everybody, weaving in and out around 100 mph. And so I said “what in the criss cross applesauce” 

As I have been home a bunch I have been reflecting on a lot. 1 experience in particular has been on my mind a lot.

Before my mission I attended a self-mastery group for teenage guys called “Sons of Helaman” this group equipped me with all the tools and lessons I needed to free myself from the plague of pornography. I loved recovery so much! Being free felt so good and made every moment of life so much better! I eventually made it past 100 days and was still going so strong. Suddenly, everything in life came crashing down. I had problems with friends, school was more stressful than ever, many other bad things going on and I started feeling depressed. Everything got so bad. Eventually, I had another lost battle. After being clean and free for so long I couldn't believe what I had allowed to happen. I stopped going to group meetings. I didn't want them to know I had messed up. 

The depression continued and I struggled to get sobriety for a while. 

Then one day mom asked me to drive some of my siblings to the school for a play of something. So we got in the car and drove up. We happened to be at the school 30 minutes before Sons of Helaman would be starting. The building where they met wasn't far at all. 

Somehow I drove over there and parked at the end of the street. I fell apart. I was crying and shaking and so scared. I wanted to go in! But I also really didn't! I would build up strength and unbuckle and even open my door- then close it and cry. 

I must have gotten out of my car and back in at least 10 times. This went on for a over a hour and a half. 

Eventually, I did it! I made it all the way to the building and walked in for the second half of the group. With every single footstep I could feel satan and his legions trying so hard to get me back in my car. But, I was being supported by power beyond my own. I walked in and everybody greeted me warmly and expressed how happy they were that I came back. That night was the most powerful meeting I had ever attended and helped me so much to get back on my feet and start recovery again. 

This experience is significant to me because it clearly shows the power of the adversary against the power of God. I know there were demons in there yanking me back to the car and screaming at me to drive away and telling me the group would never accept me. 

There were also angels among whom were certainly some ancestors pushing me and encouraging me and telling me the group still loved me, and that I was a strong, good person. 

The good guys won, but only after an extreme war. 

I know that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can receive strength! Strength to overcome depression, addictions, discouragement. Even strength to get out of your car when it seems impossible. 

Pretty cool.

Have a fire week!

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The Ark, 100%, and 2%

 

Elder Holladay’s migraines have been taking a toll on both of us. Probably Him more than I lol. We were home a lot this week so I was able to get lots of studies in. Being home and basically alone is not easy as a missionary. All I’ll say is as missionaries we tend to be at the top of Satan’s hit list and I was in a vulnerable position. Lucky for me, I’m strong.

We took Sana and her family to the Oakland temple and watched all their cool visitor center videos. Everybody was either crying or about to cry. After teaching about eternal families and showing them pictures of the sealing room they all set a goal to be sealed as a forever family in the House of the Lord. That was one of the most powerful special things I have ever seen. The spirit was so strong that whole evening. Every time I have been upset or annoyed since that evening I have caught myself and thought “We got Sana and her family to the temple- that's more important than whatever is bothering me right now” and it has worked every time.

And….that was really kind of it. But that's ok because the experience with Sana and her family was worth the whole week. 

I made a roux for some cheese sauce. We had no milk but I had already started- panicked,  I texted Meta AI and asked if there were any substitutes for milk in a roux cheese sauce. She said “chicken broth.” I didn't have time to boil some cubes or powder so I grabbed a can of chicken noodle soup and strained it and just used the broth. It worked. I mixed it in with some spaghetti noodles and had spaghetti and cheesy sauce. It was amazing! 

This week I read from the end of Judges all the way to the end of 1 Samuel. Very very good. I think one thing that stood out to me was the part where the Philistines steal the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel 4). Usually God just kinda makes it so that the Israellites win—except for when they are wicked. This was a point where they were wicked- so in the first battle they lost pretty badly and everybody was upset that God didn’t make them win. Somebody had a “wise” idea to bring the ark out to war with them because a long time ago Joshua brought the ark to some wars so they thought it was going to work for them again. It didn’t. If God was gonna win the war for them he would have done it the first time. The fact was that he wasn’t with them because they were wicked. So they brought it out and they lost pretty badly again and the Philistines grabbed the Ark of the covenant and brought it home and set it at the feet of their giant pretend god. (eventually they all got the bubonic plague and everybody was either dying or screaming in pain so they return the Ark along with 5 golden rats and 5 golden “emerods”[also some Israelites look at the ark with lust and so they all die])

Then some guy from the tribe of Benjamin rips his clothes up and puts some dirt on his head and runs around and tells everybody that the ark is gone. When Eli (the old priest who basically adopted Samuel) found out that the ark was stolen he freaks out and falls backwards out of his chair and breaks his neck and dies. Everybody was freaking out soooo bad and they all thought all was lost.

I tried to put myself in their situation- like if somebody bombed a bunch of temples or something like that how would I respond? Of course temples being bombed is different than the ark being stolen- but- I know that God is in control. Especially with the things that are His- like the Ark. So, I would've been ok. I would probably be a little sad- but I’m not going to assume that means God is angry at us or that he’s not real.

I was telling Elder Holladay about this and he helped me catch a way better lesson. I hope a lot of people feel the same way- like “oh ya-my faith is 100% set. Not even the ark being stolen would shake me.” Elder Holladay was saying “How are we ever going to be ok when something as drastic as an Ark being stolen- when we get upset at something a family member says at dinner? Or get offended by something someone does? Or get annoyed at somebody’s opinion?”

That struck me pretty hard. I think often we really want to believe we are willing to give 100%. . but we’re not ready to even for the 2%’s of discipleship and life like being a peacemaker, reading the Book of Mormon, showering every day, drinking enough water, waking up on time,  saving money, keeping our thoughts pure, doing family history.. . . . .

How are we ever going to be able to give 100%? Give our lives? If we cannot do these little things I choose to call “2%’s”?

There's something to consider as we start a new year.

Love ya!

Fly Free

 

Merry Christmas! 

We had our big Christmas Zone Conference and one of the coolest parts was when President Larson disappeared and then a few minutes later Santa Claus came in and said he had presents for us and started giving every missionary their very own physical copy of the brand new Preach My Gospel! Too bad President Larson missed that. 

It was pretty cool. 

Later, some other missionaries, including the ASLders, and I sang and signed “Silent Night" with a piano and a cello! I'm glad President Larson saw that. We did amazing!

Later that week there was this one evening we were out and we had just finished contacting all of our friends in the area. It was almost 9:00 and Elder Holladay needed to go destroy the toilet anyways so we headed to the car. We got to the car and I asked “is there anything else we're supposed to do while we are here?”

We decided we'd go find a indian house and give it a knock. The very first one we checked had everything we were looking for so we gave it a knock. A man (आदमी) came to the door and we introduced ourselves and told him we were there to share a message with him and his family (परिवार)

He said now's not the best time, he left for a second and came back with his whole family curiously staring at us. So we ask “when would be a better time?”

He says “no, here's my family, now is good. Come in” so we step in. And begin testifying of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. We leave one with them and get his phone number and we'll come back after the holidays. The spirit was there and I know they felt it. We also used up all our hindi and they were shocked. Incredible. I'm so glad we didn't go home early!

We also had another fire lesson with Sana and Sandeep and their family. After being offered some tea (चाय) we taught a quick word of wisdom. Sandeep looked at his mug of tea almost with disgust and promised us he would never drink tea or coffee for the rest of his life. 

Then we ate a स्वादिष्ट indian breakfast and taught them about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, one thing you need to know about Sana is she talks…a lot. But this time it was like she almost couldn't open her mouth until we had finished our message- that's pretty cool. We testified to the point of tears and made each of them promise they'd read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it's true. It was amazing. I love this family so much! And guess what- they came to Christmas eve church! 

Also, I hit a little piece of metal on the road and then the tire was flat. I didn't see anything on the road, yet I still suffered the consequence. 

Sometimes there's traps Satan lays for you and you will not see them unless you're looking for them and always ready to righteously avoid them. You must watch and pray continually or else you'll get a flat tire.

In Leviticus chapter 14 we read about the ritualistic cleansing of Lepers (Ex-Lepers). It is deeply symbolic:

 “4 Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:

 5 And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: 

6 As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:

 7 And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.”

What this means to me is the atoning blood of Jesus Christ (the 1st bird) sets us (the second bird) free and allows us to fly. When we are cleansed by His blood (repentance) it really feels like flying. And I know that cuz I've done it. I continue to experience it every day. I know that Jesus really did suffer the price of all sin. He bought us with His own blood. And His blood is the most precious substance ever to exist. That means we are of infinite worth as well! 

So, remember that Jesus Christ paid the price for you so you can fly free. So my invitation to you is to fly free.

Love you!

-Elder Owens

Dedicated to Edwards and Edwins

 Ok. Well transfers came in. Hindi transfer 2! As of today I have been in Fremont in the same apartment for 1 year and 6 days. Nothing surprises me anymore cuz I've been here for so long. 

Last pday eve we found a guy who wanted to buy our neon open sign for 50 bucks. So now we have an extra 50 dollars to spend on indian stuff

We had interviews with President. I barely mentioned possibly extending my mission and President Larson looked at me like he was confused and was like "are you going to college? You have to go to college, you're to smart"

I almost started laughing because- of course i'm going to college. . .i just might wanna be a missionary for another 6 weeks before I start that.

So then we talked about college and careers and he said I should maybe consider 'Technology'. . .

Then we met a cool friend named Sana- she is literally ready to be baptized. She is very indian and also Christian! So we taught her family for a bit then they started feeding us and so i started crying because there were just sooo many spices. My entire mouth was just overwhelmed. Then they gave us 'rose-milk' and it took the pain away…

So I bet somewhere in South India where the church is more prevalent that somebody went up on a fast Sunday and talked about how rose-milk is like the atonement of Jesus Christ because it stopped the stinging and helped them to stop crying.

Friday was a BREAKTHROUGH day. I started reading the Bhagvad Gita a while ago and working on someway to use that knowledge to contact and teach indians. Oh wait- some context- bhagvad gita is the Hinduism scripture kinda thing. 

So we saw a big truck full of tools and stuff and we had a moment of like "well…should we go talk to them even though they're probably not indans…."

Then we headed over and- surprise- there's a huge word in hindi on the back of the truck!

They all walk out and have like- zero English. So we use all of our hindi. They're not interested at all.

A sudden burst of inspiration and passages of the gita come to my mind and I open my mouth with faith.

I start comparing the gita to the Book of Mormon and Lord Krsna to Jesus Christ. I compare ईश्वर to God as the creator of the world and talk about how Jesus Christ suffered for our bad karmas so we don't have to suffer in our next life.

Suddenly he's pulling out mail and pointing at his address, we give him the Book of Mormon in Hindi and set a time to come back. 

Epicccc. The gita gave us a door and reading it is helping me to open it. 

So now we've been trying something similar in our other Indian interactions.

We performed "Silent Night" at church elder vest and I sang, Elder Holladay pianoed and Elder Smalley cellod. Everybody cried. 

We did so good we were asked to sing at a relief society party later that week. But this time we also did "the first noel" and "what child is this"

So now I am a legend at singing In my chest and doing duets. 

We're performing again tonight! 

This next part is dedicated to all Edwins, Edward's, Eddys, and anything else with a 'Ed' in it!

This week I finished Joshua! Chapter 22, Which has a very Alma 60 type story, was especially good. The tribes of Gad, Simeon, and Manasseh(half of it) built a big Altar and all the other tribes of Israel were confused. They sent the 3 tribes a big letter saying they were so disappointed that they were worshiping false Gods now and were gonna come and beat them up. So the 3 tribes sent a letter back saying that's not what's going on! We didn't build this altar for sacrifices! (The children of Levi are in charge of that) we just built it so that when we look at it we remember to worship God and so when our kids and their kids and their kids look at it they will remember God. 

So the other tribes were like ohhh ok ok I see. We won't beat you up then. That's a cool idea.

So they were all friends again and they got together and guess what

They decided to give the altar a name…

And they named it…Ed

Satan is the author of Confusion, misery, and violence. This little misunderstanding nearly led to the destruction of 3 of the tribes of Israel! I think more than half of all contention stems from a misunderstanding of some kind. If I took time to understand why somebody did what they did before I reacted, I would save myself and others soooo much trouble! When we react in anger without thinking- we are actually just acting in Satan's Will. So- when somebody upsets you- take a second. Always Remember Ed. Remember Ed and you'll be on the safe, peacemaker side. 

If you wanna read this, it's in Joshua 22! 

Love you!

You don't have to read this one, it's not very good

 Ok so I know how to sing now. Elder Holladay is a prodigy with music. He's got perfect pitch and plays piano and organ like a pro so he helped me get my voice in my throat rather than up in my mouth. (It's a music thing) so now I've been practicing a bunch and singing as loud as I can. 

It's been fun and humbling to mess up and be corrected and then do better.

I went on exchange with Elder Tien and we woke up at 3:30 and worked out till 6:30 then went back to sleep and had some crazy dreams. 

Talked to a bunch of indians and they freak out every single time I say anything in hindi and I love it so much.

Went to the temple and some old guy sat next to me and cried the whole time. We talked afterwards and he told me every part of the endowment is perfectly beautiful. While we waited for our turn, he told me his whole life story and how he found the church, all his trials, but he said he never ever lost his faith and he never will. I only was with him for a few hours but I love him so much. He was gone by the time I made it to the Celestial Room. I hope somehow we're able to meet again. 

I watched all the 12-step addiction recovery videos on gospel library and dannnnngggg they go hard. 

I called Elder Holladay a "joke" in hindi and Tracy, our friends teaching us hindi laughed so hard she couldn't stop and then was super embarrassed because she couldn't stop laughing. 

Met a guy who served his mission in INDIA and then married an Indian woman! They have been in the Tongan stake so that is how we don't already know them. But they are exactly who we need.

That's all I can think of

Keep the fire burning and have a good week!

Just Try.

 On Thanksgiving Eve we went to Costco and grabbed everything that was expired, filled up several carts, and brought it all to a church where the whole community came and took whatever they wanted. 

It was a blast. The man in charge of the project had a very cow-boy accent. Also, the whole time every single fork-lift the Costco had was beeping and cruising around. We also grabbed 12 Pumpkin pies.

I accidentally ate corn dogs before Thanksgiving feast because I figured it'd be at dinner time but it actually started at 2:00. 

That evening we started handing out all of our pies to our neighbors and friends. One family was very excited about the pie and their son showed us a picture of the solar system he made. They're from Tamil Nadu which is the most southern part of India. They don't speak Hindi down there but they're still cool.

We went back to Tracey and Twinkle and they gave us the corrected versions of our flashcards along with several new ones! So we have a lot of homework now

We hopped on a call with President Larson. He said he had sunk into our Preach My Gospel App to see what all we've been doing and I felt a lil uneasy- that tells me I know we can do better than what we're doing right now. The call actually went really well though. He said we're doing exactly what he thinks we should do. So we're gonna keep going!

Some other Elders found a cool Indian woman who homeschools her son- so she already knows how to teach hindi and was overjoyed at the idea of teaching us to- so we went over for the first time and she is pretty serious. It felt like I was in an actual class. 

I went on an exchange with Elder Smalley and we had some beautiful talks about the gospel and life and "playing to win instead of playing to 'not lose." 

And then this morning we hiked mission peak. Very long. Very fun.

Ok. Now Leviticus chapter 5:6-7, 11 PART 2

So last week we talked about the lamb, the 2 turtle doves, and the handful of flour and how some people may have a lamb and be fully capable of giving it to God yet, choose not to because a lesser sacrifice is still acceptable and that's easier and more convenient for them.

This week is kinda the opposite.

When I started serving in the Fremont ASL branch I didn't know ASL. I wanted to serve and teach but I couldn't because I legitimately didn't know the language. But I still tried! I did language study, I paid attention during church, I said my prayers in ASL! 

I gave what I had. 

And that was ok! It was good!

Both of my companions were fluent and able to give so much more than me. 

I was only able to give a small handful of flour. My companions had much more than me, so they were able to give God sheep. 

Now, a year later, I am proud of what I was able to give God. Back then, I felt awful. I would watch Elder White and Elder Rigby teach entire lessons without a stutter (because you don't stutter in ASL lol) and then I would mess up my little part and feel like I failed because I wasn't as good as them.

Now I know that's a foolish and silly way to think. 

God expects us to do our best. He is pleased with every bit of effort we give. It doesn't matter if everybody you know is giving God sheep and you're stuck with nothing but turtle doves and flour. As long as you're trying your best and being honest with yourself He is pleased and He loves you!

Don't compare your sacrifices to the sacrifices of others. We are all unique. God has a unique and percent plan for all of his children. 

The most important sacrifice we can make, regardless of what you have or who you are, is our life.

Now, I don't mean to pull an Abinadi in Mosiah 17:10. I mean to really serve God every day, to be obedient to his commandments, to make and keep covenants! All the big things and more importantly-the small things! Waking up a few minutes early so you can read the Book of Mormon and pray, smiling, expressing gratitude, unloading the dishwasher for Mom! (And loading it if the sink is full!)

I hope this makes sense! God is pleased when we try! If all you have is flour it is ok that you're not giving Sheep! Keep going! 

God loves you and you make him happy when you try!

(flour)

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Flour and Sheep

 I lost my son this week. Elder Johnson flew home to Minnesota and will be back in 5 months. Training is such a special opportunity because you think you're gonna be teaching them and then they actually teach you more. That was true with Elder Johnson, Elder Howes, and Elder Searle(, and Elder Porter too!) I will always remember those days.

I think some Hindi program things really picked up this week. We had lunch at chick-fil-a with Srihari and just talked hindi the whole time. He's going back to India to pick out a wife. So that's…..cool…

Then we gadda go do language study with Tracey and Twinkle, the indians. They looked at our FAT stack of flashcards and grabbed markers and corrected everything. Then Tracey was even like "I will make more cards for you" so we're gonna come back to like 300 more.

I think you only need 10,000 words to be fluent so- at this rate we'll be there in no time. 

On Saturday we went to an Indian Buffet with one of our Indian members and we…ate like Indians.

Hands. 

No forks.

It was….an experience. 

We drove to San Jose and had some training/planning on how to run our own Social Media Page. And then we created the "Indian Followers of Christ" page. I'm very excited to use it and see what all we can do!

Elder Holladay converted me to frozen pizzas and they're cheap and yummy so. 

But then right after he converted me I had another Elder teach me all about "plant based whole foods" so now I wanna be a vegan. 

We had a fire member meal and they invited their non-member family to come too so it was a little bit of stress. We turned our charm and humor up and it was actually perfect. I felt like we were all friends at the end. We shared Leviticus 6:13 with them and how to "keep the fire burning" so good. 

Then Monday morning was zone conference. President Larson showed us all our mission statistics and how the most effective finding is all about MEMBERS. Knocking doors is kinda silly compared to social media or visiting members.

The problem really is pride and impatience. Missionaries think THEY can do it and they want instant results. But that's not how it works! As disciples of Jesus Christ we're in this work for the long game. (These are things I learned and thought about, not necessarily things President said)

Elder Holladay and I have been thinking alot about that and how when we chose to pursue hindi we were choosing to not really baptize very often. This will be a very long process and we are simply laying the foundation so that members and missionaries in 10 years can baptize all the indians. 

But if we never plant the seeds then the tree will never grow. 

That afternoon we met with Pugal, my best friend/ recent Indian convert. He literally wouldn't stop talking about how badly he wants to serve a mission. He's counting down the days till he's been a member for a year and can go to the temple! He even said he is moving to a new apartment so he can get away from his roommates and just focus on reading the Book of Mormon. 

He is such a pure example of faith! I love him so much and can't wait for him to serve a mission either!

That evening we performed "My Shepherd will Supply my Need" at a Tri-State interfaith celebration. Everybody else had some really cool stuff. There were prayers and scriptures and speeches and other dances and songs but….I think ours was the most powerful and striking. 

I love the 23rd psalm so much, you can ask Elder Holladay, there's almost never a day that goes by where I don't recite at least 1 verse to him. So, this was a really special song to sing and I enjoyed it alot. 

Then exchanges. I was with Elder Francom, what a beautiful personality he has. He has genuine humility and real fire burning for missionary work. His trainer was Elder Slade, whom I was with a year ago! So I had a blast hearing many wonderful stories about their time together. 

Ok. Last thing. In Leviticus chapter 5 there's a sequence of scriptures where God asks us to sacrifice a lamb and if you can't afford to sacrifice a lamb then sacrifice 2 turtle doves and if you can't afford that then you sacrifice a handful of flour. (Look at verse 6,7, and 11) 

There's 2 ways I wanna look at this and the first requires some imagination and we'll do the next one in a week. 

So, knowing the children of Israel were not always the best and sometimes actually really bad, imagine an Israelite man on his way to go Make a sacrifice and he's looking at his sheep and thinks "I really don't want to sacrifice any of my sheep- others who don't have sheep sacrifice turtle doves….maybe this time I'll just sacrifice turtle doves instead" 

So he goes and gives the priests some turtle doves. They assume he can't afford to give a sheep because he brought turtle doves and it goes great.

Soon it is time to go offer another sacrifice and he looks at his sheep….then some turtle doves. In no time at all he is bringing turtle doves again. A few sacrifices later he's looking at some flour and thinks "flour is also an acceptable offering…it would be so much easier than turtle doves…"

And boom. Now he's sacrificing handfuls of flour while he has a yard full of sheep. 

I'm sure this or things like this happened all the time with the children of Israel. And it happens with us today too! God has defined very clearly the sheep we are supposed to offer him and one flaxen cord at a time Satan tricks us into offering turtle doves and flour when we are fully capable and able to sacrifice sheep. 

Please recognize that turtle doves and flour are still good things! God accepts these offerings and they are still technically righteous things. It's a battle of Good, Better, and Best or rather Flour, Turtle Doves, and Sheep. 

So please find some turtle doves and flour that you're giving right now where you know you can be giving a sheep and come up with a plan on how you're gonna give a sheep.

And also

Keep the fire burning (levi 6:13)

Love you!

Fire

 

This week we spent a lot of time fixing the apartment and converting it from the 6-man mess it was to a nice, clean, open 2-man. I've tried so hard to get rid of the smells yet they still prevail.

There's a sweet lake near our apartments with a 2 mile sidewalk that goes all the way around and we started running around it in the mornings. 

We found a few more Indian member legends! First was Aparna. She gave us a culture dump and some background on what the Hinduism beliefs really are. Then we met Tracey and Twinkle. They are super Indian and converted from Sikhism! Their first language is Hindi and that's what they speak at home, so they're mega helpful and important for us. Tracey called us her sons and then hugged us. . .so that was cool.

We took our car to Wheel Works and then sat outside for 4 hours. I destroyed our flashcards and Elder Holladay managed to fall asleep. 

We were invited to a Diwali party up in Dublin (far away from where we live) and that was fun. All the Indians there knew Hindi but had a very “white” culture- so it was really weird. All the food was Indian so that was an epic. We counted dinner as our language study. Elder Holladay and I saw an ancient Indian woman sitting on a couch and thought surely she's Indian Indian and knows Hindi and we went to talk to her and she replied in full-on english! We had more of an Indian accent than she did! 

So- anything can happen and every person is unique I guess. 

Sunday was incredible. We had a friend who had been telling us he was going to come to church and then teach us some Hindi after church and then right before church started we got a text saying that he had a sudden change of plans but still wanted to meet with us. So we left that church and headed to Dublin becuase we had some indian friends potentially showing up there too. Right when we're about 1 ⁄ 2 way through the canyon we got a text from the elders in the first ward saying our Indian friend showed up to church. We thought we had really messed up- turns out it was actually a completely different Indian friend and he's also not an indian! Just a guy we had talked with on the streets! Crazy.

In Dublin a recent Indian convert had brought his cousin to church with him and so we sat with them at the Linger Longer and pulled as much Indian culture and Hindi as we could. Then we had a lesson with Brother Neff and his neighbor and just chatted about Hindi, Temples, The Word of Wisdom, and Indian culture. 

That evening we had a choir practice for “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need" which is actually my favorite song. There's a mega interfaith choir thing happening and we got pulled into the choir!

Then, since Sunday was the height of Diwali, we went to the sikh temple and there was hardly room to hold your hands out. Every single place people could be was full. There was no parking anywhere- even the entire neighborhood surrounding the Gurdwara was absolutely full- every conceivable place a car could fit, had 2 cars. So- we didn’t get any food. But we chatted with a few people, read some posters. got a map of Punjab. 1 girl came up to us and started getting kind of heated. She thought we were there to proselytize which makes sense cuz we are missionaries lol. She went off about how many of her people are killed and all the oppression from other religions that Sikhs get every day. Honestly, we were there to learn about sikhism and Diwali and hopefully get a bite of curry. Eventually Elder Holladay got us out of there and we headed straight for our car which was a considerable distance away. 

Monday was San Jose day. We got training from the Social Media Sisters for some new ideas for FaceBook finding indians. We tried to visit a few Indians in the area but just met Spanish people instead. 

Tuesday just didn't exist. Elder Hollday had one of his mega migraine days so he stayed in bed and I tried to be productive and ran out of motivation fire real quick and ended up doing basically nothing.

We had a district council this week and I led a discussion about the Provo City Center temple and how we're all city centers right now, which is a very good thing. Many blessings come from the city center. But God plans on us becoming temples so He's gonna burn us down with life and trials and pains so through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can be rebuilt into a beautiful temple. 

I know for me the process of being burnt down and rebuilt was my experience with addiction. Addiction is so harmful and destructive to a person's mind. It degrades the way you see yourself and others as well. It changes how you see God and convinces you He doesn't love you. 

Feeling all of that and so much more for a few years really burnt me down to almost nothing. 

But when I made the choice to talk to bishop and read the Book of Mormon every day and start praying for real- everything changed. 

Turns out, I'm not worthless. I'm worth everything to God.

I also learned I can make my own choices regardless of how I'm feeling and whatever happens around me. 

Most importantly, I learned that the atonement of Jesus Christ is real. He has power to free you from anything. 

I am for sure not a temple yet but I do know I am on my way. 

I am thankful God loves me enough to burn me down.

I am a Indian.

 I picked up Elder Holladay on Thursday and we headed to our new apartment except that we actually didn't have one. So we we're like- guess we'll stay with the ASL Elders. So we have been living in the 6-man for almost a week. 

The

apartment smells awful. But! It was super fun. 

Elder Holladay and I have been absolutely destroying our flashcards. I feel so amazing when I can go through an entire stack without even hesitating. We're actually gonna do it! We're gonna learn enough hindi to go out and talk with all the indians. 

We started by contacting as many Indian members as we could and tryna figure out how we can help them and be friends with them. So my man, Brother Ramjl Kohli pulled up to church for the first time in a long time and met our Indian recent converts and they are all tight with eachother now. He kept telling us "Elder Holladay, Sunday IS a holladay."

We were invited to dinner by a legend in a ward from a different city, different stake and he's like "so have you guys met Shiva?" I knew the name because he's a indian recent convert up north and so we were like "nah" then he's like "well, you will tonight, I invited him over!"

Legend.

So we gotta eat dinner and talk Indian with my new best friend, Shiva. 

He converted from Hinduism- which is shocking because every other Indian member of the church I have met has come from Christian beliefs of some sort before joining. His faith is so strong. His family and friends have all abandoned him because of his faith- but he has only grown stronger and stronger.

We also attended the funeral of Richard George Dean King! some of you might know him?? He was the president of the Rotary Club at one point. Rotary is this worldwide organization that is all about helping people and organizing service projects and helping the world. His family also donated all of his ties to all the Elders who helped with his funeral! So now I have a few ties that have been all over the world and worn by the president of the Rotary club! 

We went to the Sihk temple in Fremont and got some free Indian food. "Gurdwaras" serve free food basically 24/7. Anybody can come and eat whatever they're serving. All you need to do is cover your head, take your shoes off, and wash your hands. It's not bad either- it's some really good Indian food and they always have an indian dessert! So- we talked to them and will be volunteering there! Diwali is this weekend (the celebration of light overcoming darkness.) 

It's a big deal celebration in hindu religion as well as sihk religion. They celebrate for a little different reasons but it's on the same day! Regardless, many many people will be at the Gurdwara during Diwali so they are happy to have our help. 

There's been alot of really cool miracles and beautiful things happening since we started. I know that this Hindi program is the right thing and I am so excited to be serving God in a different way and serving a different group of his children. 

Also the ASL elders got a new apartment yesterday, so now it is just the 2 of us (it already smells better) 

Love you all!

Keep the fire burning  levi 6:13

-Elder Owens

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