Christmas season

Hello dearest family and friends,

'Tis the season to be jolly! It's weird to think that it is already
Christmas again here in the land of the sun! It is getting a little
cold here in Sevilla I'm not the biggest fan of the cold but it could
be worse! We had a pretty good week. Monday we went to the center to
see some cool things and eat Taco bell! That's really all we did...
it's a shame I'm not the biggest sight seeing guy.

This week we also had the usual district meeting and later taught one
of our investigators that works as a hair dresser. It is pretty cool
how we met her, I might have already shared this story... if I have
I'm sure my mom will edit it out. But anyways, one day as we were on
our way to an investigators house we passed by a hair place
where a less active lady works. As we went to go see who was inside we
saw another lady who we didn't know crying. So we knocked on the door
and asked her if everything was all right. It turns out that she had
been diagnosed with cancer and was very scared and worried about the
future. But in that very moment when we knocked on the door she had
prayed to the Lord to bring her comfort. We ended up teaching her the
gospel and how it can heal us and bring us peace. This week we taught
her the restoration and invited her to be baptized in January, to
which she responded yes!

I am constantly reminded of the pure goodness of our Father in Heaven
and how mindful He is of each one of us. I am thankful that this
Christmas I get to do my favorite thing. I love being a missionary! It
really is the most rewarding work I have ever done. I wish everyone
could see the wonder of this work! It has opened my eyes to the beauty
of the plan of our Father.

I wish everyone the greatest Christmas ever! Find some time to serve!
Find some time to remember the real reason we are all here! Let's
remember Him and love He who loved us first!

Love
Elder Owens

Hey everyone!

This passed week was amazing! Last Monday we bought some Christmas
decorations from a Chino (basically a store ran by Chinese people that
sell bad quality stuff for dirt cheap!) we also ate thanksgiving at
TGIF Fridays! An American family here in Sevilla invited us to eat
with them!

We spent some time in Malaga and Fuengirola doing some intercambios
and doing my residency! I got to see my good friend Elder Pearce! He
is such a boss! I love getting to see my old areas!

This week we talked with a lot of people and have been working a lot
more with the members. We have been helping the members recognize all
the people they know and how they can help them invite their friends
to learn about the gospel. Things are pretty calm here in Sevilla! A
lot of good people! We are having a lot of fun! I love Elder Hirst a
lot!

Christmas is coming up and there is a new initiative for the month of
December! #lighttheworld
I invite you all to participate in this great activity and do your
best to be a follower of Jesus Christ!

I wish you all the best week! Keep going strong!

Love,
Elder Owens
owens.christopher@myldsmail.net

Padre Pedro
Ayala 68 Bajo D
41005  Sevilla,
España.

Fun times in Sevilla

Dear family and friends,

We are having a great time here in Sevilla! We are on our way to
Malaga right now and will be back tomorrow! So I apologize for the
wimpy email... just kind of like all my emails...

We had some fun adventures this week! We were sitting down looking up
some directions on my companion's iPad and out of nowhere a man come
running by and swipes the iPad out of my companion's hands. We didn't
feel like losing the iPad so we started chasing him. The man wasn't
following the word of wisdom so we quickly got to him, got ahold of his
jacket and ripped it off his back. He freaked out and dropped the iPad
and took out a knife because he thought we were going to beat the snot
out of him. So we got the iPad and got out. Haha some people are not
that smart here in Sevilla! We will be more careful with our iPads
from now on.

We have been trying to help the ward a lot this week! We cut out snow
flakes and and we are going to put them on the doors of the members.
There is nothing more important than a unified ward! Hopefully the
Christmas spirit will help us be better missionaries for the lord!

At times, back at home, I didn't take advantage of the great
organization of the church where I lived. Now that I serve in wards
with such few members, I really understand the importance of the
church. We need a place to go where we can feel the love of others to
build us up with the good word of God. It's so important that we truly
and genuinely help the great family we have in our wards. I love the
church and the goodness that comes from it. I wish you all the best of
luck!

Love,
Elder Owens

My week

Dear family and friends,

This week we unfortunately haven't been in our area as much as we
wanted, but you get what you get! Monday and Tuesday we spent the
whole day in Fuengirola at the mission home to do some mission council
stuff. We had a good time and I got to see Elder Salcedo my old
companion from Barcelona he will be finishing his mission in a few
weeks. I doubt it will be the last time I see him considering he had 5
companions from Arizona and will want to give them all a visit one of
these days. Wednesday we did our weekly planing and did some family
history for one of the recent converts of our ward from Nigeria. On
Thursday we had a super sweet Christmas lunch for the ward. I was
honestly amazed! Considering spain is still in its early years of the
church this activity was a pretty big hit! While everyone was eating
there was a talent show going on with a lot of the ward members! They
were some pretty awesome skits, one including the primary singing and
dancing to supercalafregalisticexpialadoshisa... ya I have no idea...
but anyways, there was also a flamenca band! That afternoon we spent
some time with Morrison (the member from Nigeria) I even ate some Foo
Foo! It's a special dish from Nigeria.
Friday we had zone meeting! It went pretty well, we decorated the room
with some Christmas decorations to give it a little Christmas spirit!
Afterwards we ate Costco pizza and cookies!! That afternoon we had
intercambios with the Elders From Córdoba and got the chance to find
some cool people! We met a girl from China that came to Spain to
study, so hopefully we can get with her some time this week! Saturday
the ward hosted a orchestra concert for the skate of Sevilla and
invited a local school to preform there. Sunday we had our
investigator Isaac in the church and got him to sign up for the ward
temple trip to Madrid!

As a missionary there are a lot of things that need to be done
temporally speaking and spiritually speaking. The same goes for anyone
really. The important part is where we put the focus on in our life.
Is the spiritual aspect of our lives the number one thing? Do we go to
church to increase the social aspect of our temporal life? Do we seek
praise? Where is our heart? One thing I have learned on my mission is
that we need to accommodate our temporal life to increase our
spiritual life. I don't set goals and make plans, study preach my
gospel, and study the mission language because I don't want to be on
the street. I set goals and make plans and do all of these things so
that i can be a better and more affective missionary. I invite you all
to ask yourselves where your heart is. Why do you go to work every
day? Why do you have a family? Why do you go to church to take the
sacrament? What is the purpose of this life? All of these questions
have answers! So seek the scriptures for them! You will be surprised
what happens!

I love you all,

Elder Owens!

Elder Christopher Owens
Padre Pedro Ayala 68 Bajo D
41005, Seville
Spain