Hello friends and family!
I can't believe it! This is already the last week of my first transfer! Because of Christmas the next two transfers are changed. One transfer is 4 weeks and the next is 8... So that will be interesting.
I will most likely get a new companion after this next 4 week transfer, which I am not looking forward too because there is no one better than Elder Wagner.
So Halloween was this week! They celebrate kind of similarly here but there are two factions.
Half the people here hate Halloween because it's just another reason to party(which never stops here) and the other love it because it's another reason to party! They play super loud music and dress up like here and trick or treat. The adults drink all night. But it's super fun for missionaries because all the doors are open that would normally need permission to enter. I love the look on the people's faces when they expect to give out candy to some children but really just end up receiving the greatest message in the world. Hahahaha
This week we did service for the first time. The reason being because no one likes to be served here. There is a guy in our ward who is deaf and by using only charades we helped him move his washer to another piso. It was a little rough going down 5 flights of stairs with a washer, but we managed.
I miss strong solid wards! We have around 30 members in our ward and it's hard. For example there is a man in our ward and his calling is to clean the church. He absolutely loves the missionaries and wants to do things for them all the time. But he is super poor and doesn't have the money to do so. So the bishop, who thinks we are tourists and the only missionaries in the world that actually work are South American missionaries, told us to stop this whole thing with this man. So doing as we are told we stopped letting him spend money on us and he got so angry he turned in his key and is going to the Elche ward instead of the Crevillente ward. That is just one example...
Other than that things are going great! I love teaching lessons, I am learning new things every day and the Malaga Spain mission is the greatest mission in the world!
I can't believe it! This is already the last week of my first transfer! Because of Christmas the next two transfers are changed. One transfer is 4 weeks and the next is 8... So that will be interesting.
I will most likely get a new companion after this next 4 week transfer, which I am not looking forward too because there is no one better than Elder Wagner.
So Halloween was this week! They celebrate kind of similarly here but there are two factions.
Half the people here hate Halloween because it's just another reason to party(which never stops here) and the other love it because it's another reason to party! They play super loud music and dress up like here and trick or treat. The adults drink all night. But it's super fun for missionaries because all the doors are open that would normally need permission to enter. I love the look on the people's faces when they expect to give out candy to some children but really just end up receiving the greatest message in the world. Hahahaha
This week we did service for the first time. The reason being because no one likes to be served here. There is a guy in our ward who is deaf and by using only charades we helped him move his washer to another piso. It was a little rough going down 5 flights of stairs with a washer, but we managed.
I miss strong solid wards! We have around 30 members in our ward and it's hard. For example there is a man in our ward and his calling is to clean the church. He absolutely loves the missionaries and wants to do things for them all the time. But he is super poor and doesn't have the money to do so. So the bishop, who thinks we are tourists and the only missionaries in the world that actually work are South American missionaries, told us to stop this whole thing with this man. So doing as we are told we stopped letting him spend money on us and he got so angry he turned in his key and is going to the Elche ward instead of the Crevillente ward. That is just one example...
Other than that things are going great! I love teaching lessons, I am learning new things every day and the Malaga Spain mission is the greatest mission in the world!
Today I want to talk about change. I have had a lot of time on my mission to ponder a lot of things. I have started to ponder the atonement and realized very quickly that I would have to ponder it for the rest of my life and still I would never fully understand it. But for now I would like to share with you what little knowledge I have of the atonement. Change... It is ultimately the outcome or result of the process of repentance. In my opinion change is one of the hardest things to do. But how necessary it is! Change is the only thing stopping so many people from excepting the gospel. Some people are just not willing to change and that is so unfortunate. It is so important for each and every one of us to daily, yes daily, pray to our Heavenly Father and plead with him to forgive us for our shortcomings and our imperfections. I found this very hard, it is not natural for us to find our mistakes and realize that we need tochange. That is why it is so important to follow the example of the savior. I invite all of you to read and study about the lord or redeemer. He is truly perfect amazing older brother with an infinite love for us and our Father. Whenever I hear the saying "just be yourself" I get very confused and frustrated, because that saying only applies to Jesus Christ. If you are not him you need to change. Plain and simple, everyone needs to change.
I love you all
Elder Owens
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