Our Father in Heaven

My Brothers and Sisters,

Honestly I don't have any idea how I can possibly describe the
goodness of our Heavenly Father and the tender mercies I have had the
honor of witnessing these last few years, but I do wish to express my
gratitude and share a few things that can help us come closer to our
Savior.

1. Daily scripture study; yes!! It's important!! Please don't
underestimate how essential this is to our growth  here.

2. Daily prayers; a constant communication with our Father is SO
important!! I can't even think how we can really come closer to our
Father in Heaven if we don't pray every day. Also I invite you to pray
out loud, it brings a very personal aspect to our prayers.

3. Temple attendance; unfortunately for circumstances of my mission I
have not been to the temple since the MTC. But I do know how important
it is to go if you have access to one. I truly believe as we strive to
be worthy to enter the temple and seek guidance when we do go, we will
truly understand what God wants for us.

What a time of rejoicing!! The Lord has done so much for us!! I know
God loves us and His love is perfect. I have come to realize how
merciful our Father in Heaven is. I plead that we all can trust Him
and have the faith to follow His perfect Son's example. God wants us
to do this because he knows how happy it will make us.

I know the Savior lives, I know that God is our LOVING Heavenly Father
and all He does is for our good.

Please, trust Him!!

Please, love Him!!

Please, follow him!!

Because He first trusted, loved and followed us...


Elder Owens

Miracles

My dear brothers and sisters,

I can't express the gratitude I feel for everything I have been given.
Really I thought it would be appropriate to list some of the things I
am thankful for, and I'm sure I am not the only one.

As I think of the plan of salvation and our preexistent life, my heart
fills with gratitude for a loving Heavenly Father who provided a
perfect plan for my never ending happiness. I am thankful for the
knowledge that we shouted for joy at the chance to be a part of this
plan, because even in my hardest trials I know that it is part of His
marvelous plan to bring me eternal life.

I am so blessed to have been sent to such a perfect family. My heart
sobs at the fact that I didn't appreciate them as much as I should
have but at the same time rejoices for the hand of the Lord in their
lives. He has truly worked miracles within our home and has helped me
understand Him better by giving me the amazing example of my parents.

I can't help but worship my Father in Heaven for the chance He gave me
to serve a mission. My stomach curls at the thought of my slowness to
follow His commandments and serve my fellow man. I thought coming on a
mission would fulfill some of my debt that I owe Him, but really I
have realized how much more I am indebted to him and my already
infinite debt keeps getting larger every day.

I honestly feel that I could write a book on how grateful I am for all
the many miracles I have seen and blessings I have received.

Josemi, an investigator the Lord put into our hands about a month ago
is going to be baptized the 22nd of this month. This young man has
changed more than any other person I have ever met. After more
persecution than I could ever withstand, Josemi  will make a lifelong
covenant with our Father in Heaven to represent our Savior Jesus
Christ.

Forever praise the Lord for his merciful hand!

Love,
Elder Owens

Happy Father's Day

Dear family and friends,

As always it has been a pretty busy week. We went down to Fuengirola
to give a training for the new trainers. It went pretty well. I talked
about the importance of being yoked equally with our companions. In
the beginning chapters of Alma it shares the story of Alma and Amulek
preaching to the people. Sometimes we forget the difference of these
two great men. Alma was the high priest and prophet over all the land,
while on the other hand Amulek was a less active member of the church.
But it is important to note that Amulek was the key to the salvation
of many people. Alma had already attempted but failed alone, but the
testimony of Amulek along with Alma's was the key to their success.

I am so handful for my companion and his example for me. It makes me
happy to know that I leave my apartment along side my best friend to
share the gospel.

Speaking of companions, one of the greatest companionships I know is
my mother and father. I am so thankful for my father and his
understanding of being equally yoked with my mother. He is a great man
and is one of my greatest examples.

We are here in Fuengirola for some missionary training so
unfortunately the letter is a little short. But I love you all and
hope you have a good week!

Love,
Elder Owens

A little about Nigeria

Dear family and friends,

What a sweet feeling it is to be a missionary. I tend to take
advantage of it at times, but really it is such a blessing!!
Preparation days always comes too fast.... I blink and a week has
already gone by.

We had a pretty interesting week. So just a little fun fact, in our
mission there are just a hand full of dangerous areas, I seemed to
have served in all of them... so naturally I have been in some weird
situations. But the other day we were in somewhat decent area as we
were passing by a few future investigators we stopped a man of about
30 year more or less, as he entered into his building. He was as
defensive as the next guy repeating the very familiar words said by
the majority of the people here stating that he was not that
interested in our message. Naturally we stated the importance of our
message and asked him if we could visit him and explain our message
another day. He stopped for one second and said, ok... so we put his
number down, gave him a ring to see if it was real or not and went on
our way. A few hours later we received a message from the very guy
saying we could come by later that day. We responded positively asking
his exact direction and at exactly what time he wanted us to come
over. The next message he sent started the wave of uncertainty that
would pound my mind for the rest of the afternoon. He said, "where do
you live?" I responded with the general area knowing that it was
against the rules for others to know exactly where we live. Later he
told us that he would rather come to our house, and wondered if there
were others living with us or just us 2? We responded that it was just
us two but that it would be easier to meet in the church located 2
minutes from our apartment. He said no. His house or our house.
Basically we went to the building to his house but after he refused to
come down we knew that this guys wasn't planning anything good. So we
left. I don't know what would have happened if we would have entered
into his apartment but what I do know is that we are guided by the
Holy Ghost. I have been in some of the most dangerous streets in all
of Spain but never have I ever felt the spirt telling me not to do
something so strongly. I am thankful for the guidance of the spirt and
protection I am promised for heeding to the spirt.

One of my favorite parts about Spain is that people from the four
corners of the earth live here. In our area there are a lot of
Nigerians and some people from Ghana. This last Saturday we had our
"Africa day" literally the whole days just back to back appointments
with Africans. In fact, one of the Nigerian guys we met with is the
rightful king of his tribe but isn't now because he is not a fan of a monarchy.
He gave us some Nigerian food called egg roll.  It's literally a boiled egg,
pealed and cooked into the middle of a roll.

I hope you all had a great week, I also hope you all did something to
help someone get closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. The greatest way
to start to get to know our Savior is by getting baptized.

I love you all

Elder Owens

Love at Home

Hey family and friends,

I love you all. This week has been great. I think that the best part
is my companion Elder Jamison. He is so dedicated and loving. I also
am enjoying the work and seeing the fruits of it. I know that as we
dedicate ourselves to the Lord He will make us strong. As we turn to
Him He makes us better. I am so glad for a loving mission president
that always invites us to be better and serve the Lord with a greater
conviction.

Things are going good here in Malaga, unfortunately Brian's and Sara's
mom is not going to let them get baptized, so there will not be a
baptism this week. We have been doing a lot of finding lately. Lots of
contacting.

I officially have been on the mission a long time! Hahaha let me tell
you, I don't feel that way... I actually can't believe it.

We are doing great! We are working with some great people! We will see
what happens!

Love you all,

Elder Owens

Besitos=little kisses

Dear family, 

Everything is doing great! We are seeing I miracles with the people in our area. Bryan and Sara are doing good, Bryan is now on chapter 28 of 2nd Nephi! On intercambios my companion and another Elder contacted some guy and invited someone to our family home evening (happens all the time) and 2 weeks later he came! (Never happens) his name is Josemi. He is a pretty cool guy, so we hope things go well 

I really running out of ideas here for my email... today for P-Day we had a water balloon fight. It was pretty fun! We spent like an hour filling up balloons and 5 seconds throwing them. 

I was studying this morning when Arron teaches the father of king Lamoni. I love when the king asks Arron a question concerning something Ammon said when they met, and Arron doesn't respond directly to the question. He in return asked him if he believed in God. I love that!! I love that Arron knew that the spirt wanted to conversation to go a different way to help the king fully understand! 

I love you all and hope you have a great day! 

Love, 

Elder Owens

really quick message

Hello everyone,

Everything is going great in the land without door knobs or wall to
wall carpeting!

I don't have much time, but I want you all to know that you all are so
great! Sometimes we complicate things. But just simply and quickly I
wanted to let you all know that the Savior lives. He is the greatest
part of my life. Things just go better when we have faith. I sincerely
say that the gospel has changed my life!

I love you all!

Love,
Elder Owens

Paradise in Malaga

Just for a quick update, I am currently in Malaga, it is a city on the
coast at the bottom part of Spain. We just received transfers this week
and my amazing time with Elder Medina has unfortunately come to an
end. I will be staying in Malaga and will receive my new companion
Elder Jamison. I don't know much about him, but I do know he served in
Molina de Segura, one of my previous areas.

We have started teaching a lady named Maria Del Mar. She is a very
sweet lady, and has a lot of desire to serve God. There are a lot of
traditions and cultures of worship that have been changed dramatically
over the past years. She greatly desires to serve God but does not know
what to do with it. When we teach her of the gospel of Jesus Christ
and that her desires should be actions of faith and repentance to
change her life and come closer to the savior, she wisely uses her
agency to do exactly that and she comes to know the Savior better. We set
a baptism date for the 21 of May, and if she keeps up the faith all
will be well.

My first week here we taught a lady named Elena. Because of insane
work schedules she had not been able to meet since then. Fortunately
this last week we had the chance to speak to her and invite her
to make certain changes in her life that will allow her to follow Jesus
Christ. We set a baptism date for the 28 of may. Hopefully she
will choose the right and come to church instead of work.

Today we played some basketball and got destroyed by the other Elders.
It goes to say that I had good scout leaders. Haha.. well anyways, we
are on our way to a national fair in Fuengirola to see some cool
stuff!

It's been a great fast week!! I am excited for the adventures to come.
I hope and pray that we can all strengthen our testimonies by being
obedient and diligent to the commandments of the Lord. I promise that
it is a better life. It is a fuller life. A life of joy and growth. I
testify that God loves us and that the Savior lives.

I love you all and pray for you always,

Elder Owens

La Semana Santa

Dear family and friends,

I tend to just say "it's been a good week" at the beginning of every
email! But It's true so I guess it's all good.

We just finished watching a Holy Week parade here in Malaga! I won't
lie they are super cool but they freak me out a bit! I will attach
some pics so you can understand what I'm talking about!

This week we had changes with Elder Bushman and Elder Rich here in
Malaga! It went pretty well! I went with Elder Rich and we just
basically talked with everyone! We also got the chance to teach a
Nigerian woman named Ester and show her the new Easter Video.


This Friday we went down to the other church here in Malaga to a
missionary conference that we have every transfer. This transfer we
have been focusing a lot on the importance of receiving revelation by
reading the Book of Mormon, praying, and attending church. I'm sure
it's hard to believe that over 70 missionaries were counseling
together for 4 hours talking about these simple primary principles.
But I can assure you that I learned a lot more that I ever thought
posible.

Something that really stuck out to me was when our mission president
spoke to us on why we pray, why we read the Book of Mormon, and why we
go to church. After the many memories passing through my head of the
times I invited someone to do these things and even when I did them
myself, President Anderson helped us understand that we should do
these things to come to know Jesus Christ. Do I read the Book of
Mormon, go to church and pray with the end in mind to come to know
Jesus Christ better? Do I help the people I teach to know that this is
the reason they should also be doing these things? Well I definitely
had some repenting to do!! I hope we all can have this goal in mind as
we do these things!

I love you all,
Elder Owens

A busy week is a good week!

Hello friends and family!

I just wanted to tell you all how much I loved general conference! It
amazes me that so many people would put so much time and effort just
to help me have a more successful, happy and fulfilling life. No
matter who you are, if you apply the teachings taught in this
conference I promise that you will be able to see a dramatic change in
your life.

This week we went to Fuengirola again to stay a little time with the
mission president and his wife to receive a little of council on how
we can be better missionaries. It was great! It always impresses me
how much they care for us.

Unfortunately this week we didn't have much time in our area because
of meetings and interviews. But it's ok, next week we will be getting
a lot more time to work!

I love you all and I hope that we can make the extra effort this week
to start making it a habit to read the Book of Mormon every day! I
mean look! The Book of Mormon is a ancient account of the writings of
prophets in the American content 600B.C - 500A.D this book helps us
remember our savior and gives us the spiritual strength to fight
through the day! I love you all and I hope that we can all find peace
in this ever darkening world.

Love ya!

Elder Owens

Back to Malaga

Dear family,

Yep, I'm going to Málaga! I'm going to be with my good friend Elder
Medina from Uruguay!
These last 3 transfers in Sevilla flew by... I honestly can't even believe it.

Yesterday we got to teach this family of 12 from Honduras. It's the
greatest thing ever explaining to 12 children of God sitting
attentively learning about his plan for all of us and the restoration
of his gospel. Unfortunately I had to say my goodbyes. I'm thankful
for the opportunity I had to see God work so many miracles here in
Sevilla.

Speaking of miracles, Maritza was baptized this last Saturday! She
shared her testimony at the baptism and shared with everyone her story
and her love for the gospel.

We just played soccer this morning with some other Elders from Dos
Hermanas. It went well! On the way back we were crossing the street
and this guy didn't want to stop so he just shifted his car so it
wouldn't hit us and in the process slashed both of his tires on the
curb. We went to go help him but because it was 2 tires and he had no
spare there was nothing we could do. I guess the lesson learned is
that we should follow the law...

I love you all, I invite you all to share the gospel this week! If you
don't know how, just give it a shot! It will all work out!

Love,
Elder Owens

Share to care and care to share

 

Dear family and friends,

It has been one of those crazy weeks this week. This last Monday we had interviews with president and did some fun things like go to the center of Sevilla and play some board games. Wednesday and Thursday we had intercambios in Malaga and when we got back Thursday night we assisted a district leader training meeting and gave a little workshop thing. Friday morning we had a tri-zone missionary conference with a third of the mission.Saturday evening we had the stake conference priesthood session and the adult session with Elder Suarez of the quorum of the 70. Sunday morning Elder Suarez spoke to all the missionaries in the stake and later to the whole stake in general. So yeah... pretty full week!

Well even though all of these activities were pretty fun and exciting, I personally would like to share what I treasure the most out of all of this, and that is what I felt and learned throughout it all. Well I honestly don't know who all reads my emails considering it's my mother who sends these emails to everyone, but for all those who are not too familiar with the church,  the fist paragraph of this email probably makes no sense and I apologize for that, I do wish to explain the purpose of a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Also, for all of those who are missionaries I would like you to take note as well.

As a "set apart" (or in other words set apart from the world) missionary of this church, you are called to invite others to come unto Christ. Now with this said I want us to all think, why?

Now really there is no exact answer, but I do wish to share something that I feel could be one of the answers.

In Moses 1:39 it is God speaking to Moses and it says that "For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

We learn in this scripture that our Father in Heaven receives glory when we do the things necessary to receive eternal life. So when Jesus Christ died for us so that we could repent and revive eternal life he was giving glory to our Father in Heaven. So as missionaries, even know we can't pay for people's sins, what we can do, is help them receive eternal life by teaching them the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and inviting them to come unto Him and receive eternal life and in turn we are giving glory to God. I hope I am explaining myself well. As we help bring soles unto Christ we glorify our Father in Heaven.

Now with this said, as missionaries we share this message with EVERYONE. Did you notice that I capitalized the word EVERYONE? Because it is important. We talk to EVERYONE, and we don't justify the word EVERYONE. EVERYONE is EVERYONE... The reason we do this is because we love God. We love our Savior Jesus Christ. We know this message we share will bless EVERYONE who will listen.

I hope this email doesn't seem too strong but I do wish that everyone that reads this email knows that I love my Father in Heaven and I am not afraid to share this gospel with everyone... so look out Spain....

I love you all! Be safe and do what's right!

Elder Owens

Pure Love

Dear family and friends,

I would say it has been a pretty normal week! Aka an amazing week! My
companion is Elder Maldonado! He is from Brazil but has lived in
Zaragoza, Spain since he was 8. He is the best!

I just got out of my interview with president, and what a privilege it
is to speak with such an inspired man and see what a great example he
is of a diligent servant of Christ.

We have been focusing a lot on the Holy Ghost lately as a mission. The
gift of the Holy Ghost has been running trough my head a lot lately.
As I have studied and prayed about this gift I have gained a greater
understanding of the absolute need for this gift. When we repent unto
baptism, we then, in turn, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the
laying on of hands. This constant companion has played one of the
greatest roles in my life. As I have striven to be worthy of this
gift, it has amplified all functions of who I am. When I say that, I
mean that the Spirt has led greater light into my heart and sole and
has literally changed the way I think, see and feel. I testify that
God lives. I testify that the infinite sacrifice of Jesus the
Christ, our Savior and Redeemer is more powerful than we can even
imagine. Trust and have the faith that It as as real as the world is
round. I love you all and forever will be my greatest desire that you
all take apart of this great gift!

Love,
Elder Owens