Expectations

12-5
https://photos.app.goo.gl/DYM8hzqfMfgxUFWZ7


Wow.
Transfer #3 is over.
So i'll tell you the important stuff now so you don't have to read the rest.
I'm going to the ASL program.
It's in Fremont cuz there's a school for the deaf there.


Anyways, good week- well, like yes, but also not really lol.
I got my cast off on Wednesday. I let president know and we texted a bit about the plan and decided i'd wait one more transfer to do ASL(yes, turns out the lord had different plans)
I got a silly piece of plastic with velcro on it that I'm supposed to wear now. I can take it off though- so I do. Alot.





Then we went to the temple and it was wonderful. I gadda see my trainer Elder Prestwich! And my other favorite missionary Elder Davis! And I got to participate in temple ordinances and that's always wonderfully amazing. Then we got on the bus and had sandwiches.

I guess this is worth sharing- we had a member give us 100$ worth for Outback steakhouse and we got there and had wonderful steak and we went to pay but somebody already paid for it. We found the guy and guess what- his son is on a mission in Boise right now! So I'm like "that's where I'm from!" It was mega cool.


Then we got transfer calls.
And despite my huge expectation and desire to be training- i'm going to ASL. I saw the call from the president and i was so happy cuz i thought he was gonna ask me to train.
But nope "Elder Owens, im calling to let you know the Lord wants you to do ASL this transfer" he acknowledged my broken wrist and said i'll learn faster and easier this way. I was feeling pretty discouraged and not great and he could tell so he said we'd call every week and see how i'm doing with it. So that'll be good but also it's gonna be tough.


Then on Sunday I had to tell Huseyin I would be leaving and hebwas pretty sad. He said he'll just come to Fremont to visit me. Then I packed everything into suitcases (why are they called suitcases? I hate putting my suits in those.) I hate packing. Alot. But whatever i guess.


One thing I've learned is how much expectations can affect our emotions. I expected to stay here and train- that didn't happen so now I'm upset. But logically I should be super happy- I'm going to be an ASL missionary! That's what I have been working towards for a few months now! And now I get it! But I guess our brains don't always work logically? Cuz I'm upset. But whatever. I am looking forward to a new comp and a new apartment. That'll be cool.


Anyways. I love yall. I miss ya a bunch. Merry Christmas. Invite every friend you have to your ward Christmas parties. Learn something in ASL and send it to me.

️

Adventures of the spirit.

 Well

We went to a Chinese family and elder Slade taught them in chinese. I caught about 2 words. But they were really nice. They gave us coconut water in cartons. They had such a blast watching our reactions they busted out real coconuts, cut the top of and stabbed straws in then for us. So I got to drink a whole coconut. They also shared some walnuts, the most nutty tasting nut I've ever had. 

We had our district council and the sisters are both mega going through it, lots of trials that we really can't help with going on ( the district is just me, elder slade and the 2 sisters right now).

I kinda without realizing it asked if they wanted blessings and in tears they said ya. These 2 blessings were extra special. I've known one of the sisters my whole mission and the other is one I love hanging out with on p- days past 2 transfers. Since I knew them so well and really cared for them, the words came so easily and everything felt right. Both blessings I gave were totally different but I knew it was what they needed. 

Blessings are mega powerful. If you feel like asking for one- do it. If you don't have a priesthood holder- find one.

If you feel like offering a blessing- do it.

Other experience- teaching Natasha, she was in a very interesting mood. She asked us how many people we've converted then told us she feels like God doesn't love her. She told us she prays to Mary and that doesn't do anything for her at all. So we mega testified of the book of mormon, the atonement, and the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints being Gods restored church. She told us she'd make Converting her new year's resolution. 

Another experience- at church Huseyin introduced me to members of another ward like this " This is my brother, Elder Owens. He knows everything, all doctrine, all scriptures. He's shown me the way"

I was like " huseyin, i don't know everything- you've taught me a lot too!"

In Sunday school they asked me to share Husyein's whole story and introduce him to everybody. It was really tender and the first time I've teared up around people in a while. I love Huseyin so much, he's become one of my good friends. I'm so happy I was able to meet him and teach him.

Then we got invited to dinner! Us missionaries and Huseyin too. It was great. 

Last experience- the talk " adventures of the spirit '' Robert E Wells 1985.

Dang. I stumbled on this after searching "kneeling in prayer" or something. This talk instantly became a favorite. Its full of tender miracles and the incredible blessings of missionary service. It makes you treasure spiritual experiences you have and anxiously crave to have more! I needed that talk so bad.

I have seen recommendations for talks and stuff in emails and texts before- I too almost never actually click on them. So- you mega dont have to- but if you can then you should listen to it:

Adventures of the Spirit

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1985/10/adventures-of-the-spirit?lang=eng

Luv u guysss

Its brutal out here

 11-21

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

Lets see, this week was good. I got to go to the chinese branch's karaoke night. Didn't understand a single word but I had a lot of pumpkin pie. 

A wonderful beautiful break from the norm.

It was the most meh week ever really.

Basically nothing happened. 

I did pass off another set of scriptures with president's wife, Sister Smith. Now i'm working on the 3rd lesson, the gospel and doctrine of Jesus Christ.

I cleaned out all the cupboards and the freezer so that was nice. 

Ummmm 

Be a missionary but as my friend Bishop (President)(?) Griffith always said:

"The first leadership is SELF-leadership, you can't lead others where you're not"

Mega mega truth 

How you gonna invite somebody to read the book of mormon every day if you arent reading it every day yourself? How you gonna invite them to take charge of their testimony if you havent been nourishing your own? How you gonna invite them to let God prevail if you arent making Christ the focus in your life and striving to align your will with His? 

I learned this alot our here. I invite people to make very difficult changes in their lives, it would be impossible to do thst effectivley without having expirienced repentance before. 

I wish and pray for all of you to be effective leaders in the gospel, and that will be because of your self- leadership.

I love you guys. 

Mega miss yall right now

bye bye bean man.*

well🐳

this week was basically just a bunch of garbage. We had interviews and it was great. but my man Elder Scott walked out of there with tears in his eyes and muttered "president is sending me home" basically his meds were hurting his heart and so he gadda go home to get adjusted to new medicine and figure out stuff. Elder Scott is an incredible missionary and while we served together he became my best friend. He is an absolute legend and changed my life. We worked together so well and got along perfectly. So ya- im pretty upset he's going home. I'm actually really, really upset. 

Another missionary from our district is going home too. so now me and his comp are together, covering 3 wards---including the chinese branch cuz they were chinese program elders. 

I don't know chinese. The majority of their work is chinese.

Last night I dropped Elder scott off at the Mission Office. It was really hard. much cry.

President told me he trusted me and knew I could do this. 

With elder scott going home i had a lot of anger at President and even God. The whole time, deep down I knew it was God's will and there's a reason why president has been prompted to do that. Then I remembered Jacob 4:10 especially the part about "taking counsel from His hand. . .he councels in wisdom and mercy" or something. So I decided I need to do that. and since trying to do that I've had mega peace. It's cool that even though I'm going through something really hard and still sad about it-i can still have peace and be happy. 

i also got my wrist casted finally. gonna be in it for 3 weeks. 

so technically. . .I'm in the Mandarin Chinese program. My new comp, elder Slade is incredibly eccentric about the language and teaches me all sorts of things about the language basically nonstop. So I will likely be fluent by the end of the transfer.

i'm continuing to learn ASL and it's just plain incredible how easy it is flowing into my mind and hands. Even with limited use of one hand, I'm still just loving it.

So basically send a lot of prayers to Elder Scott. 

and as always, do everything you can to get out on your mission. start now. Call your bishop. Read the Book of Mormon. pray a bunch. . .whatever YOU need to do, and YOU know what it is. . .do it!

*Elder Scott had a cool way he said "beans" so everybody started calling him the bean man.

the photos:

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

thas what i got. 

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

Cali Things

 Ok. So-

The MTC was absolutely amazing. But now I’m in California and its real and so much better. My last days in the MTC were nonstop blast and also really hard cuz we all knew that we only had a little bit longer together and then we wouldn’t see them for at least two years. 

On Wednesday we woke up at 3 so we could say bye to some elders who were leaving, Then me and Elder Taufer woke up again around 5:00 so we could get ready and go. I felt amazing. I thought I would have been scared, but I knew that everything was going to be ok and that I was doing the right thing and that gave me courage and strength to keep going and not be scared. We rode a big bus, a train, and then another big bus and then we got in a plane and it took us to San Jose

The rest of the day was taking pictures and getting to know missionaries who are already here and we got our comps. I feel real sorry for all the other new missionaries because they didn’t get my trainer. Elder Prestwich is literally the absolute best. He is super bold, really funny, and is so patient with me. He keeps me far enough out of my comfort zone that I’m growing but also close enough that I’m not freaking out. He has a really strong desire to be here and make a difference and Its been like 6 days and were best friends. He’s definitely the exact trainer I needed. 

We had a lot of classes at the mission office, basically just more orientation and making sure we’re all aware of the new rules and stuff. One of the main themes of the California san Jose mission is ‘Love, Consecration, and Obedience.’ Consecration is the one that keeps standing out to me. I already am familiar with the other two, but consecration is a little more new to me. I think of consecrated oil and how it is set apart for a specific purpose and nothing else. I think its important for us as missionaries because we are to consecrate 2 years of our lives. We consecrate our mouths, our actions, our time, and everything. All set apart for our purpose as missionaries. 

SO- while I was in the MTC I was able to get my hands on some Olivia Rodrigo song files. I PROMISE I only listened to then once! And that was while I was waiting for laundry to finish. In my mind I think satan had helped me to validate those songs and think ‘its ok as long as I dont listen to them alot- I’ll just save them for a bad day. I desreve to be able to listen to what I want to sometimes’

ANYWAYS. After learning about consecration, those songs just kept coming to my mind and I KNEW I needed to get rid of them. . .I just really didn’t want to. Well then guess what. My companion, Elder Prestwich talked to me about how he has gained such a strong testimony of obedience and how happy it makes him. So- I told him about the songs. He let me make my own choices and the next day I pulled my phone out and deleted all of them. And you know what- I feel happier and I’m glad I made that choice. 

We’ve done alot of street contacting and tracrting (well, at least alot compared to the amount I did back home) and thats just so tough and uncomfortable for me. About 80% (it feels like) just want us to go away and dont like us. It hurts, of course, because they make it obvious that they dont like us. But also because they dont even know or understand they joy, peace, and comfort that they’re missing out on. If they would just let us talk with them for 1 minute then they would feel the spirit and if they had actual intent to listen to what we say I know it would change their life. But nope. They close their doors, they walk away, they keep saying no. Alot of people give a little speech about how they’ll ‘be honest with us’ because ‘we’re still so young’ and that we ‘should do our own research’ and they ‘respect what we do’ but ‘nobody wants to hear you guys over here’ 

And we just smile. We say “Have a good day!” and we walk away trying to stay happy. Its been super discouraging but eventually we find somebody who lets us pray with them or read a scripture or who will at least talk to us for a bit. So far only one person has let us leave a book of Mormon with them and I love him a bunch. His name is Rodney and he was so enthusiastic. He was totally uninterested at first but he listened and I think the spirit pushed him to be a little curious.

I love being a missionary, even though the sight of my name tag makes people hurry away and turn around, even though being a missionary makes people forget I’m a person and makes them just see me as something to be avoided, even though I spend all day trying to get to know people and have about 5% success–I love it. I have never felt so ALIVE. THIS is what life is about! What could be more important than the gospel?? What could be more important than trying to help people come closer to God? 

OH YA! OK, S Mark Palmer spoke st the mtc. He's this super cool member of the 70 and from New Zealand. Then my first dinner with members....was his brother's family. So guess what. They called him for us. I got to tell Elder Palmer that I enjoyed his talk! He was like "Elder Owens! I'm so glad to talk with you! Tell me about yourself!" It was so cool.

If you're considering going on a mission, don't let anything stop you. If you feel like you need more gospel knowledge, just go! Please just go onna mission! You will learn more about the gospel on a mission them at home. If you feel like you need to earn more money, then just go on your mission now! Your ward and family and friends will tak3 care of you. Sacrifice brings blessings and if you let others help pay for you then they are richly blessed. God will make sure that there's a way for you to be supported throughout your mission.

A mission is the best thing you can do with your life. Don't let ANYTHING or anyone stop you from going on a mission. Go pray about it now.

I love you all and miss you alot. 

It's p-day btw

So text me on messenger or Google chats!