This town ain't big enough for the two of us... (Said no missionary ever in Spain)

Dearest family and friends!

When this wonderful day comes for me to email I am always at a loss
for words. When I think about my passed week a few things stand out.
First, our journey to La Romana. It truly was hard for me to
understand when I first got here how missionaries find those looking
for the truth. Our area is very large for two people. There are around
20 pueblos in our area and all we actually get to are 4... 4 out of
the 20 pueblos... That means there are soooo many people who don't
even get the opportunity to even see missionaries. That was
heartbreaking for me. That I couldn't share this wonderful message
with these children of God. So one day we had an open schedule and
decided to visit another pueblo named La Romana! It took us all the
morning and we contacted around 20 people in an hour witch is pretty
good! But unfortunately 0 wanted to hear our message. Then and there I
figured it out. Missionaries are nothing without members. Without the
light and example of members, missionaries are close to useless. We as
missionaries can only build upon a foundation. A foundation held by
members of the church. There is one work and glory of God and it is us
as members of the only true church to do God's work.

I want to tell you all of an experience I had the other day. For
privacy's sake I will not disclose a lot of information. We have had
an investigator who 1. Believes that the Book of Mormon is true,
2. Joseph smith is a true prophet, and 3. Had a baptismal date. But
unfortunately dropped us this week because he was not willing to
submit himself before God and change. Sometimes we might feel like
things are impossible. We might feel like no matter how hard we try we
will still fail.
But let me tell you. If you think this, you are wrong. With the help
of our amazing Heavenly Father, through the atonement of Christ and
with the constant help of the Holy Ghost, ANYTHING is possible. I
testify that change is the only way back to our father in heaven. If
you are not willing to change then God cannot help you. I love you all
and pray for you daily.

Love
Elder Owens

P.S. Someone hit and ran our car today when it was parked outside...

Poco y poco

Hello friends and family

I'm going to first start off with things I have come to learn about my mission.
1. Time doesn't work the same on a mission: I am amazed at how fast
time flies. Somethings feel so slow but mostly it goes very quickly.

2. You are always tired: I fell asleep saying an out loud prayer...
How?? Don't blink too long or you will fall asleep. I know I am being
blessed every day when I drive to not fall asleep. Missionaries that
have been out for about a year on have permanent bags under their
eyes.

3. Rejection (95% of the time in Spain): missionaries here have been
rejected 1000's of times.
But with that rejection you learn to really appreciate the very few who accept.

4.The light of Christ: It it a very surreal experience to not only
see, but feel the very small amount of Christ's light in the people
here. It truly testifies to me the change that the gospel has on
people that truly devote themselves to Christ.

5. Your companion: Oh how I truly love my companion... He is the only
reason I don't go insane here. Whenever he has a bad day, I have a bad
day. When I have a bad day, he does as well. But thankfully it works
the opposite as well. When we are focused, happy and work hard all is
well.

I am so thankful for my mission. I wouldn't trade it for anything in
this world. Thank you all for being my friends and family. I hope you
all strive to increase your testimony every day.

Love
Elder Owens

Typical Spain

This week, everything has calmed down a lot. Just kidding. Moros and
Christianos is a holiday in Spain celebrating the freedom from the
Moors. They celebrate for a whole week 24/7... It's crazy! We
contacted a lot this week to unfortunately not much success. I learned
very quickly that missionary work is very tiring. I can sleep on
command now with ease.  Contacting is very different here in Spain.
Because most people live in Pisos (apartments) we do our best to have
someone that lives in there open the door for us. The conversation
usually goes like this, us: "It's the missionaries, can we come in and teach you
about Jesus?" Them:"No" us: "Can we teach your neighbors?" Them: "Fine
by us".

We had a zone meeting and ate at Papa Johns. I can't handle buffets...
I eat myself to complete body failure. After the zone meeting we went
to Orihuela to teach Alejandro. I love Alejandro, he is super
interested to learn but he asked way too many questions. So, I told him
that to have faith is not to have a perfect knowledge. Thank goodness
for chapter 32 in Alma. The language is a struggle at times. But it's
all good.

I miss the spirt of where I live. The light of Christ is close to gone
here in Spain. Some of my greatest times here are with the other
missionaries and loving the light that comes from them. We definitely,
as members of the church, stand out to everyone that sees us and we
need to be willing to stand out. I love you all!

Love
Elder Owens

No subject can sum up this week.

                                               ¡WARNING THIS EMAIL IS LENGTHY!

A flash in the future: It is 9:00 at night, Elder Owens, having been in the country of Spain for 4 days is Driving In some weird Spanish car with another elder with the same amount of experience in the passenger seat. We are currently in the streets of Elche the largest pueblo in Alicandre. For those who don't know, (I had no idea) Manhattan has nothing on Spain! The roads are so confusing! If you want to drive down the street 2 miles, you will most likely go about 15 miles before you get there. So anyway,  because of some unfortunate quick thinking, the two senior companions are shopping while we try to get some gas. Turns out that "gas station" was just a dirt lot... Plus!! the other elders were about half a mile behind us, and to get back to them  would take us about 30 minutes... Oh Spain... ¿Por que?!!!!!

It all started when I was given a yellow envelope on a charter bus at the MTC. This journey I was about to about to embark on took me to the airport in salt lake, then to the airport in Paris where me and my MTC comp. handed out a Book of Mormon to a guy named Andrew. Then straight to the Málaga airport where we met our mission president and Elder Ward!! (A guy that i know from Highland.) Then to the mission home where we ate and met out new companions! DRUMROLL PLEASE!!! His name is Elder Wagner!! From Gilbert Arizona!! Hahaha yes I am now companions with my friend from home and I love him!! What a day...

So my first day in Spain was the craziest day of my life. I learned a lot that day. Weird things like: elevators have doors with hinges, front doors don't have door nobs, milk comes in boxes, and people act like you don't exist, there is a lot of sin here.. Unfortunately.. Also I learned that I was to serve in a place 6 hours away from the mission home, and that I was to drive there with one of only 13 used cars in all of the Malaga mission. After a few near death situations, driving white knuckled through Granada and Malaga where the roads are like 3 yards in width and all 1 way roads and paying €10 on a three course meal at a random restaurant on the side of the road  we finally got to our piso(apartment) and had a great night of sleep.

So when it comes to the language I'm pretty much useless... It's one of the easiest languages, but here in southern Spain it sounds German mixed with Spanish. They spit it out so fast! At least I make people laugh. That's always fun... I'm slowly getting used to it, but it still seems like a different language. The "th" is real here in Spain. Like every s,c,z sounds like it.

 

So when it comes to the people of Spain, they are absolutely the nicest people I have ever met! Which actually is a big problem here. They love company but have no intention of accepting the gospel. So they just end up hearing our message and turning it down, which is bad, and sad. It gets rough here in Spain. Baptisms are kind of rare here. My comp has had 0 baptisms in 11 months he has been here. But it's important to have faith and pray that the people here will be humbled. Pray for more floods (just kidding). Haha.

 

I love this gospel with all my heart. We NEED to sculpt our lives around the gospel. Conference is so important!! We need to listen to the words of the prophet and general authorities! My friends and family, these days are the last day. Satan is trying his hardest 24/7 I see every day the effects of his efforts. He has his grasp around entire nations, entire cultures. We need to be aware of all of our actions and desires and be truly converted to the lord. Please, I beg of you, help the kingdom of the lord spread. Start with your families, help and lift up everyone.

 

I love you all and pray for you. Never give up.

 

Elder Owens