New

 

Had Cincinnati Chili with our Branch President. Then I had leftover Cincinnati chili for both breakfast and lunch the next day.

Elder Johnson made 40 waffles.

Had a Deaf event at a mall. Somehow there were like 10 hearing people there and 3 Deaf people. 2 of the Deaf people were pretty clear about how they didn't want to talk with us because they were Christian. I was like hey we worship and love Jesus too. They actually told me we worship a different Jesus. In ASL. I've never had that happen in ASL before. Plenty of times in english. 

The other Deaf person was Aaron, a great fun member of our branch who knows every single thing about every single bus ever.

Went to a legendary Zone Conference. President taught us a lot about prayer. One thing I've been trying to do is start prayers and then not close them. Now I always remember I'm still “in a prayer” so I can just talk with God throughout the day and be more mindful of what i'm doing and thinking.

We started helping out at the Deaf School. They're getting new furniture so all the old stuff is being thrown away. How do they get all of it out of the student housing? Us. We spent nearly 20 hours(so far) moving desks, couches, dressers, chairs, and everything else in there. Pretty crazy. 

Elder Ardinger is Gone. My 4 weeks with him were beyond precious. He was transferred to Washington. (ASL transfers happen between missions now) We are receiving an Elder Reeve and Elder Rowley. I will be in a trio with both of them for these last 2 weeks of my mission. Then come home(!) Kinda tough to have a big change this close to the end. But it will still be very fun.

If you are struggling with anything this next part is for you lol. And if you're not struggling with anything then you probably will be soon.

Jeremiah 3:23

“They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”

Every morning is a restart. Every day is a fresh opportunity. Every time we wake up we can be better. We can move on from yesterday's mistakes and actually improve. Why? How?

“Great is thy Faithfulness” God is 100% faithful to all his promises. He promises to forgive us when we repent. Because he is faithful to his promises- we can be “New” every morning.

So quit feeling down about today's mistakes and shortcomings. Feel down long enough to help you feel guilt and motivation to change then get up and act. When you wake up the next morning you will have the opportunity to be NEW. 

Despite the crap, this is the best

 I love my mission President. I've been having many concerns and questions recently and during interviews I was finally able to dump them all on President Larson. I came out with more answers than questions I went in with. I cried a lot. President gave me a blessing and told me several times how amazing I am. God trusts me. He has given me a greenie! I still can't believe He trusted me to train this Elder.

One completely unrelated pet peeve that's been popping up a lot recently is when people comment on me having the gift of tongues. I don't think I've been blessed with that gift. ASL and Hindi were both insanely difficult for me. I don't have words or phrases that come to mind. I don't find it miraculously easy to use my languages when teaching. I was blessed with companions who supported me (sometimes more than I wanted) in learning these languages. I was blessed with diligence and the ability to study. But most of all I was blessed with Love for all those who were relying on me to learn their language so they can receive ordinances. 

Learning hindi did not just happen. It was not easy at all. It's been an active struggle for over a year and I still don't know what to say lol.

I feel like people completely miss the value and true story of what hindi means to me when they think “oh, he must have the gift of languages” I have fought, and completely exhausted myself, and cried to learn how to speak this language all in hopes that 1 indian family will be able to accept the Truth and be sealed in the Oakland temple. That image helps me to keep going. 

I know God is helping me of course, but he still makes it just about as difficult as it could be lol.

We helped with a miserable move this week. All I would like to mention is that there was an actual turd on a bed we moved and it unfortunately smeared all over the place.

I promise every person reading this that my future home will not have poop laying around. In fact, my home will be clean. I don't care what it takes- my house will be clean. My wife and I will always have a nice, clean organized home.

Fotos:

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

Now this week wasn't all crappy (lol) we also were able to visit Fremont for the baptism of Haripriya, a Deaf Indian whom I was able to teach a ton. Before the baptism, we went to the Gurdwara with the hindi elders and got some incredible free indian food. My head scarf fell off and some precious amazing Indian woman came up and offered to help and retied it perfectly- I looked like an actual sikh. 

Then the baptism. Wow. I love every single person in the ASL branch so much and my heart was full as I was able to sign with all of them again and catch up. The baptism was beautiful and full of the spirit. My friend Pugal (the almost 1-yr convert with the amazing video on fb) came to the ASL baptism just so he could see me. Before the meeting he whispered to me “Elder Owens…..I am receiving the melchizedek priesthood tomorrow” I hugged him and told him how awesome that really is. Then I remembered my first time meeting him at church, then I remembered his baptism. He's come so insanely far. I could not hold back tears lol. I just looked at this incredible Indian man and saw him as a son of God full of sincere desire to serve the Lord and cried. 

There is nothing like this. There is nothing as precious as seeing people's lives change. God changed these people and trusted me to be a part of it! 

I cannot believe it's been 23 months.

Love you all!

Buses amongst planes

 A few weeks ago Elder Lewis and I drove past a little airport thing. There was a big plane lot with at least 20 pretty cool, large planes. Next to all these planes was a single bus.

We both noticed this bus and talked about how it would be really tough to be a bus amongst so many airplanes.

I imagined this bus watching the planes around him go flying and landing and all he gets to do every day is drive on the ground.

It would be kinda tough.

My eyes were opened and I realized I was the bus. 

When I started my mission it felt like I was driving on the ground while my trainer and all these other incredible missionaries flew in the sky.

When I joined the ASL program I was trying so hard to sign but no matter what I just couldn't fly like Elder White or Elder Rigby. 

It's hard to be a bus when you're surrounded by airplanes. Sometimes you feel like you're failing because you can't fly. 

We are too hard on ourselves.

Good news tho- I would now consider myself an airplane when it comes to missionary work or ASL. I think it's natural for us to grow if we're trying. If you feel like a bus- keep trying. Keep going. Ask the airplanes around you for help. 

And ask the most incredible airplane, Jesus, for help.

I know he can give you wings and change you and help you fly.

One sister told me “enjoy the process of becoming.” I know as we include Jesus Christ in our “process of becoming” we will find joy and we can become planes! 

In 1 Chronicles 22, King David is talking to his son, Solomon, before he dies. David's whole mission was to prepare Israel to receive a temple. He was not allowed to build the temple himself because of sins but he was promised that Solomon would build it. David saved gold, silver, and brass- all so that when the time came they would have stuff to make the Lord's house. 

The very last verse has been on my mind since I read it : 

“Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God; arise therefore and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God. . .”

I love the feeling in the phrase “SET your heart and soul” like SET. “Set” concrete will not move, its solid. We “set" nails Into wood. 

My heart and soul are SET on seeking God. I will not be moved. My discipleship is set for life. 

I also have pondered in how I can “arise. . .and build the sanctuary of the lord” 

I remembered my body is a temple- so I could work out a ton. Maybe it has more to do with my spirit inside my body? Building that up. Or it has to do with getting the actual house of the lord inside of me? Making and keeping covenants? Lemme know what you think.

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

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)

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

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

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

Giants and Miracles

 

There's this super cool “regional park” called “Vargas Viewpoint '' it's up in the mountains and so of course it has a very striking view. We went up there this week to film a bunch of videos in ASL for our facebook page. Very epic. Elder Howes has a beautiful video he's working on and Elder Johnson is the director and filmer and editor of everything. I just know a little bit of ASL so I can help here and there lol.

We also stopped at the Post office and had a tender mercy followed by an unfortunate experience. Everytime I go to the post office the people at the desk are not very nice or helpful and they’re also really difficult to understand. Howeva, this time we got one of the kindest women I’ve ever met. The post office wasn't busy, and she was effortless to understand. She asked us all about our families and mission and it was so wonderful! 

Well, then a Deaf man walked in and I knew he was Deaf because of his voice and watching his hands. So ofc I offered to interpret for him (he was struggling to communicate with a lady and I knew I could help) he said thank you but insisted on continuing to yell at her and have her yell at him. We took care of our stuff and were getting ready to leave when he came back into the post office to ask if we were “Mormons” so of course we responded “Yes, we’re missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!” and then he went off for a few minutes about how awful our church is and that we need to leave the church because it's a cult. We were able to leave on a kind note. I was really upset about it for a long time because I was just trying to help my brother out! and he responded by attacking my beliefs! I’ve decided to be ok and Love him regardless. It was still cool that a Deaf person happened to walk in at the same time we were there!

Saturday was the most wild day of my entire mission. We got up and we went to the Oakland temple and did baptisms with the Deaf Branch! In ASL! I was able to baptize Elder Searle and be baptized by him. It's still the same ordinance, of course, but it was all just so much more exciting! Then we embarked on the long adventure of a “San Francisco Trip” truly an adventure- I’ve only done it once before and it was back with Sheperd Rigby and Hyatt White. Now it was 3 guys that are still learning ASL, 1 who was fluent and then me…with somewhat decent ASL all in the same car. We killed it though. 

Ok, this part is crazy though-

We stop at an apartment where apparently the guy were looking for lives and at the exact moment we are out of the car and stepping on the side walk, 2 women step out of a building directly across the sidewalk from our parked car. We’re practically all in the same sidewalk square. We exchanged “hellos" and “how are yous" and one of them says “not good” which I have never really heard anybody say in response to “how are you” when a stranger asks. 

So we started talking. We find out they’re inactive members of the ward in that area and a family member had just passed away. So they give us their apartment number and ask us to go give everybody a priesthood blessing. We follow them up and go in and just listen to this family as they dump their hearts out to us and how much they loved their father/grandfather/god-father. Then we took turns giving beautiful blessings. It was amazing. 

God is very aware of every single one of His children and sometimes he sends missionaries a hour and a half north just so they can step out of their car at the exact same time as you step onto the sidewalk so they can bless your family. What a cool thing!

We were out till about 9 visiting Deaf people all over the Bay and luckily Brother and Sister Gad are literal angels- they bought us 3 amazing pizzas and had them delivered to the church at the exact moment we needed them (we ate breakfast then hit the road so we were reasonably hungry)

One scripture I would share with you is Deuteronomy 3:22. I finished Numbers (YES!) this week and started Deuteronomy- so far it's just Moses repeating everything that happened but with a little more context and commentary. For example in chapter 2 we learn that there's actually a handful of stories where God led people to a land that had “giants” and each time God prepared a way for them to beat the giants. These stories were known by the Isrealites- this makes their fear and denial of the Promised Land a lot more of a “big deal” and way more unacceptable. (Deuteronomy 2:20ish-23ish) because they already knew that God had taken care of Giant problems before but they for some reason chose fear rather than very logical faith, all except Caleb and Joshua. 

ANYWAYS- Deuteronomy 3:22 says “Ye shall not fear them: for the lord your God shall fight for you” 

We don't need to fear. Nothing needs to scare us. We know the truth. We know the plan. We know that Jesus Christ will not only fight for us, but he has, in fact, already won every single battle you or anybody could ever face! That certainly gives me hope! He's already helped others get the giants to leave or destroyed them! Choose to believe He can help you get the giants out of your life as well. He already promised he can! Let's choose to be like Joshua and Caleb. 

I don't want to wander in the wilderness till I die. lol. But hey- it's my choice.

The last thing I have to report is truly a miracle and something I know is going to change the history of the church, something that you all should know has been coming for a long time now. We had interviews with President Larson on Monday and he told me “It's time to get the Hindi Program started” we counseled about where a good place to start it would be and a lot of other stuff. It's finally happening! it's going to be truly difficult and really hard to get traction, but I know this is the right step to take. I know there's going to be an immeasurable amount of good that comes from this. So- Please pray for the Indians. 

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

Repentance is great

 

Sorry, this gonna be short. Today been busy busy. Well, this whole week was busy busy. It feels so wonderful to be busy busy, we've been double booked at least once every day and out till 9:30 every night. I love being busy.

Anyways. This week I learned alot about humility and repentance. All I'll say is that we were helping at a move and we were the only people there to help. Nobody else showed up except a very grumpy old man which added negative help. It was pretty miserable. Hottest brightest part of the day, and were carrying dolly-fulls of stuff from one side of the complex to the other over and over and over. But I decided to he happy, and actually was the basically the whole time. Nobody else was. But I told my companion that the spirit was teaching me about repentance. Every time we unloaded our load it felt so great. Suddenly you have 200 pounds less to pull around. It's great. That's repentance. We related it to sacrament and daily repentance. Well this thought prompted some actions and changes to the way I'm being a missionary and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. With my year mark coming up in less than a year I really don't want to waste any more time. I want to be a pure legendary missionary now. I want to give everything to God and let him prevail every second of my life. I wanna be like Nephi and just have so much Trust in God that I keep the commandments no matter what is going on around me. I wanna be like Abinadi and just keep doing what God tells me to no matter what and just deliver the message from God. 

Also, me and Elder Holladay received permission from President Larsen to start the Hindi work fr fr. We can rake study time, do exchanges where we just do Hindi work, basically we have full permission to start pursuing this dream of ours. 

Watch our Facebooks because we're working on a special post in Hindi. 

Love you all. Have a fantastic week!

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

My Hindi powers are growing

This week was pretty important. On Tuesday I got to go hang out with my brother Elder Holladay and learn Hindi for an hour and it was wonderful. I have learned alot about myself on the mission and recently one thing that I've learned is I get frustrated when I don't understand why I don't understand something. If there's a way to figure it out and I have a rough idea how to get there then I'm ok. But if not then it makes me pretty upset. And when I see a character In Hindi that I have never ever seen before- there's no way to even begin guessing what sound it makes. That made me kind of mad. 

Turns out they 'borrow characters from Sanskrit' sometimes…? 

But it's ok because now I know.

But the same thing is happening with driving and training and ASL and all sorts of stuff. So this week has been that kind of frustrating → but it's ok because that means I learned alot. 

I really want to be able to accept constructive criticism better and I want to be more meek. It would be so much easier to learn of I just already accepted that I don't know everything AND I WILL make mistakes. It makes sense here as I'm writing it but when it is actually time to apply it in real life its like- nope.

ANYWAYS

We picked up Elder Noah Searle. My man, what a legend. He knows a pretty good amount of ASL (prior to mtc he knew 0) → that shows how powerful the spirit is in helping us learn. He's pretty cool. He's from West Jordan and is the oldest of 4 brothers. He went to college for culinary arts- so he's a chef. He loves Indian food! Which is epic because there's Indians all over here. He also did not have a mtc comp! He had one Elder who he was sometimes assigned to be with from a different district but most of the time his companion was a trio of sisters! I'm really excited to become best friends with him.

The day after that we drove all over the place to visit Deaf friends so Elder Rigby could say bye. I learned that I actually know a whole lot more ASL than I thought I did. I was able to carry the conversation pretty well! I also learned the sign for dialysis. One of the members brought us to a pizza place and we ordered a margarita pizza- they told us they had no basil and asked if that would be ok my mind was like "duh- that's not ok. Then it wouldn't be a margarita pizza dude" but our member said yes so we had a cheese pizza with tomato slices on it. Luckily, we also got a MEAT-E-OR.

Sunday was good, all 3 of us Elders went up and shared our testimonies in ASL church. In English church. . . .oh guys it was so bad. 

Everybody bore their testimony on how America is true. It was like fine for a minute- but when you go 10 minutes without hearing about Jesus Christ and all you hear is people crying in red white and blue and the founding fathers and the secret combinations and eagles. . . .it's not ok.

The last one to go up started out surprisingly well (one of the only ones to actually mention the Book of Mormon being true) then he invited everybody to pray for him and come to a protest against drag queens with him. And he was loud and proud. Our poor wonderful bishop didn't know what to do. 

So

Ya

That was something. And THAT was Elder Searle's 1st Sunday here! 

Well. After church we had another Hindi lesson and man I love it so much. I am 100 percent going to India later on in my life. Maybe I'll go live there!

Monday was NOT PDAY.  because it's Wednesday now.

We had our zone and district council, held a funeral for Elder Rigby. It was tough. I've been with him since December. I love him so much and look up to him more than he'll ever know. He has taught me everything I know about ASL and has helped me become such a powerful missionary. He is literally the coolest ever and I really hope we continue to be friends. I am going to have a really tough time after he goes home. 

There's this thing he says often, "why you gonna let something stop you from having a good day?" Or something like that. And he is a living example of that. Every time something dumb or frustrating happens or every time we have a 'disagreement' I am in a bad mood for a bit, meanwhile he's smiling and making jokes and singing random songs. He just doesn't let anything stop him from having a good day. I'm really gonna miss his influence and power.

Well, then that night we brought our friend Pugal to the Oakland temple for a temple tour. The temple sisters never saw our appointment and luckily there were 2 that were still at the visitors center and they were willing to give a tour real quick. That was a miracle. It was incredibly powerful. There was one part where we were sitting in front of the Cristus statue and the sisters asked Pugal who Jesus Christ was to him.

He sat there for a few minutes and was nervous at first cause we were all watching him and then just started going off trying to express his love for the savior- but he couldn't. Words can't demonstrate what a relationship with Jesus is like plus, his English is still kind of a lower level. But that didn't matter. The spirit was there and made it very clear to all of us that Jesus Christ is our savior, He loves us, and Pugal loves and knows Him. 

We got to walk around the temple and the roof garden, could see all of the bay area from up there, and got some pictures. It was a beautiful, wonderful experience. 

Then yesterday we were knocking and contacting and we ended up meeting an epic Indian woman. She had शुभ and लाभ on her door and I explained I was learning Hindi and the read her door "shubh and laabh" she was freaking put and then I said "it means goodness and prosperity right?" Then she was freaking out even more.

Then I pulled out my favorite book, the Book of Mormon in Hindi and opened to Alma 7:11 and was like could you help me read this? 

Then! I read it! First time ever doing it in a contact! And she was freaking out so much there were only a few words that she had to help me with! 

My companions were watching like 'wow. I knew he was good but not THAT good' Elder Sealre actually had like no idea I was learning Hindi so he probably was pretty confused.

Anyways, I asked her to read verse 12 and then we kinda talked about it, she wants us to come back on Saturday! Oh, and get this- her husband plays cricket! 

So that was perhaps the most wonderful coolest thing ever.

So that's what's up with me. 

I invite you all to try and take Elder Rigbys advice and choose to not let things ruin your day. Sometimes that's pretty difficult and I understand that- but for the little things and maybe even medium things- just don't let it make you have a bad day. You all deserve to be happy. But it's up to you to be happy. I will be working on this with you all so lemme know how it goes.

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

Top-Secret underground Hindi speaking

 Good week. Except that I'm not doing incredibly well. So I spent all my free time on Duolingo absolutely GRINDING the Hindi Language. 

I now with 85% confidence know every single letter/syllable in the Hindi alphabet. That means I can read Hindi things (but I would have no clue what I'm saying) I do know a handful of words though! This is their word for book: किताब (ki ta b) 

Pretty cool right?

We don't have a Hindi language program here even though 80% or more of the people we talk to are Indians that know Hindi. That actually kinda frustrates me. The rule is you need a unit of that language in the area before you can start a missionary language program of that language. And we don't have a Hindi unit anywhere. But we can't ever have a Hindi program if there are no missionaries teaching Hindi speaking people! We do have 1 member that knows Hindi in our ward. So maybe if I can get like 5 more that'll be enough and they can send Hindi assigned missionaries. 

There's another Elder in my district who feels the same way and we're learning together. The idea is we're gonna grind it till we're legends, eventually be companions and start an underground Hindi program and just baptize every Hindi speaker we see. I want that sooooo bad! That is my dream! Just thinking about it makes me happier than I've been in a while lol. I guess just like Alma in chapter 29, I sin I'm my wish. For I ought to be content with the things which the lord hath allotted unto me.

(Alma 29:3)

ANYWAYS. In Tuesday we met the most prepared man in the entire mission. His name: Akash (आकाश) that's right- he's a Hindi speaker!!! (Thats also fluent in english) we've been trying to meet for a bit and finally did! Basically some sister from New Jersey have been texting him on Facebook and he's incredibly interested! He saw missionaries all the time as a kid in Northern India and always wanted to learn more but his family wouldn't let him. He's always wanted to be religious but he said he let the world distract him and wasn't sure how to start. We gave him a tour of the church house and there was one super epic part where we were ready to keep going, but I stopped at a picture of Jesus Christ during the atonement in the garden. And I mega testified of Jesus Christ and the Atonement. Akash loved it. That was one of those moments I talked about last week where the spirit was there and it just brings so much peace and joy to know that you did a good job letting the spirit guide you. So powerful.

Also I asked Akash if he can teach me Hindi and he said he'd love to! 

Then the next day we had Zone Conference. . .the last one with President and sister Smith. . .

So powerful. We studied the priesthood together and the history of authority. All the way back to Adam. Pretty epic. Also President and Sister Larsen, the soon to be leaders of this mission sent us a like 15 minute long video where every member of their family introduced themselves. 3 out of 4 of the kids were "sim- coming" (simultaneous communication) that means they were signing and talking at the same time! That got us pretty excited. I will have access to soooo much help with ASL when they arrive!

And not much else really happened. Except we did go down to San Jose and worked in the sun weeding a forest of thistles for 3 hours. And then I got to film my testimony in ASL for pur ASL Facebook page (with beat up sore hands) so that was. . . Fun. I spelled my name wrong the first time and the sun was layering into my eyes. So much fun. So when it's posted and it looks funny it's fine- I will do better next time lol.

Oh! And we had our open house for the church on Saturday. We've been passing put flyers and inviting everybody for about a month now. We even had a huge sign in front of the church inviting everybody to come! And the ONLY people that came. . .were people that were walking past the church and we invited them to come take the tour real quick AND a few members(? Idk why they wanted to come take a tour of the place they go at least once a week?) So in total about 15 people.

There apparently was one woman who a missionary ran up to to invite her to take the tour and I guess she had a pretty big problem with it cuz she called the number on our church's Google maps (which, is ours) and left a message about how she felt very unsafe and scared and with all the crime happening we shouldn't do that. So we prayed for her. The missionary that scared her was one of my comps and I can see how she may have gotten scared. . .(I love my comps!)

Then fast Sunday! I bore my testimony in ASL Church so that was good. I saw way more people nodding this time than last time. So I hope that means they understood. 

Well, I love you all. This week I just wanna te-extend all invitations I have given before; serve a mission and help others to serve their missions, read the Book of Mormon every day no matter what, set lots of goals and put them in places you will see them a few times every day, re-commit to taking charge of your own testimony, and be healthier. That's basically it. There was also study "This Day" from Elder Rasband and "Adventures of the Spirit" from Elder Robert E Wells. 

So hopefully, you have a busy week because you'll be busy doing all these things.

This church is incredibly true. If you don't know that with your whole soul then pray to know it with your whole soul, act on what you receive, and then you will! 

Love you all so much!

Also, I just hit 300 days. So that's cool.

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

I am not afraid of the dark and goals

 4-24

Hello everybody! This week I got to go on exchanges with my brother, Elder Holladay! His MTC comp was Elder Scott, who I was with for 8 weeks. Also we were both trained by Elder Prestwich. We were friends as soon as the exchange started and just had a pure blast. We had a really good talk about all the trials we were going through and helped each other. It was great to be away from my companions for a little bit lol. I hope I get to be comps with Elder Holladay.

After exchanges we had interviews with President Smith and that was incredible. The first thing he said to me was that I had a brighter new light on me and to do all I can yo make it brighter. I know what he's said is true because since conference I've been trying to create more healthy good stri g habits and I've been having alot of success the past week. It's incredible how much light we can add into our lives by stopping g bad habits and adding good ones in.

President also shared with me that we have 1 new missionary coming in June, and 3 coming in August. . .I will be training all of them. And one of the 3 in August is DEAF! That will be incredible! That means he already knows ASL. Plus you have to have cochlear implants to go on a mission, so he can hear too. I have been thinking about what kind of trainer I want to be and I've started making a list of all the things I want to do. I pray for those 4 guys every night. I hope they're all legends.

Going back to those habits, I started legitimately working out every day. I really want to become strong and ripped (so I can help serve people more of course). I've stopped eating snacks unless it's fruit or protein and I'm cutting out everything with added sugar and drinking mega water every day.

It's all because of the power of goals. And then placing those goals in places I can see them. 

The mission is the perfect environment for growth. I want to take advantage of all the growth I can. If you don't have goals set up then set goals. If you don't know what kind of goals to set then pray about it and talk to those that are close to you. I know goals are divine because the children and youth program is: GOALS. I know God supports us and helps us when we set goals. He loves it when we do anything that helps us grow and become more like him and his son. Goals, when properly set, are the best way to do that. 

Remember the 4 areas to set goals in are spiritual, physical, intellectual, and social. 

Well, that's what I felt inspired to write. Soo imma leave it there.

Also, we have this referral guy. We reached out and texted him and he just started sending the most random texts ever. It was like "I am not afraid of the dark" and "your church looks like it survived the Civil war" and "I am an organist. I pray the bass guitar" Then he sent a picture of a car engine.

He did actually come to church though! I asked him what he thought of the talks and he was like "It was good. But you need to clean your carpets" 

And during the second hour he just walked around the church the whole time. After church we checked all.the rooms to make sure he had left. 

A few hours later he sent "I much prefer catholic"

So. Well see what happens I guess. 

This is a picture of our area Elder Rigby drew our for me. Just in case you were wondering. Fr fr If there a deaf person anywhere here then it's ours.