Simplicity in Chtist

 Hey y'all!

[Summary at the very bottom cuz I know not everyone has the time or attention span to read this.]

This last transfer, my last transfer, we have been focusing on the simplicity found in Jesus Christ. When we know the Savior, we know what truly matters. As we focus on Christ, the gospel becomes easier to understand, not easier to live, but simple to understand. I love the simplicity that comes as we choose to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

In the book of Numbers we learn that, “the people spake against God, and against Moses,” so, “the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.” 

Tough.

The people realized they messed up and they went to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.”

In answer to Moses' prayer the Lord answered, “Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.”

And now we should have a happy ending where all the people repent and look to the serpent on the pole and live happily ever after. But instead…

“because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.” (1 Nephi 17:41)

Yikes.

Why is it so hard to look to the Savior? Because is it so easy to look to the Savior.

It’s so hard because all it takes is reading the Book of Mormon everyday and it’s so easy that I still struggle. It’s so hard because it’s simply praying to Heavenly Father and it’s so easy because I don’t want to kneel or speak out loud. Why is it so hard to focus on Jesus Christ? Because it's so easy.

I’m so grateful that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have incredible patience because so often, I turn away, just like the children of Israel. I forget, I complain, I think I should have more than manna. But I can look to Christ and live. The Savior invites simplicity into my life. Elder M. Russell Ballard promised, “It is in simplicity that [we} will find… peace, joy, & happiness.”

President Russell M. Nelson said, “Whatever questions or problems you have, the answer is always found in the life & teachings of Jesus Christ. Learn more about His Atonement, His love, His doctrine, & His restored gospel of healing & progression!” 

I invite you to focus more on Jesus Christ and allow Him to help you simplify your life. I promise that as you focus on Christ and simplify you will experience increased peace, joy, and happiness, I promise this in the name of Jesus Christ.

Still holding to the rod, 

Sister Owens 

Summary: When we focus on Jesus Christ we don’t die from fiery serpent bites.

Updated (& corrected) information regarding my homecoming talk 

Location 

691 E Cedarview street Tooele  

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cedarview+St,+Tooele,+UT+84074/@40.5563673,-112.2786781,17z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x8752bdb42ab180b9:0xfa04d530fb210631!8m2!3d40.5563673!4d-112.2786781!16s%2Fg%2F11smn8djr_?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQyOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D 

Time

9:00 am 

The last email I sent said 10:30 and that’s wrong. Come at 9:00.

Be there or be square (because you’re not around).

Service Sites & K Pop Demon Hunters

 Hey y’all!

[Summary at the very bottom cuz I know not everyone has time or the attention span to read this.]

Sorry it's been many moons since my last email. I haven't really known what to share. 

I have service sites! Yay!

My first service site is Deseret Peak Seminary. I get to erase whiteboards, which I'm a champ at! I really enjoy being around the students because they're funny and also because high school is such a great time to figure out your relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. To be able to help out is really special.

I also help out on Wednesdays and Thursdays by helping people check into this little class. Or I will starting next week. Woo!

I'm doing training to become a hospice volunteer. More details when I have them.

Lastly, I am an ordinance worker in the Deseret Peak temple! Mostly I'm still being trained but it's been really nice to spend a few hours in the temple feeling the Spirit and helping others to feel the Spirit too. 

It's really special to be able to serve and especially to serve in settings that feel like the Savior would want to come and be there too. I know the Savior loves those that I serve and it makes me excited to serve them.

In other news, I watched K Pop Demon Hunters and I liked it, especially as a missionary. It's so cool to have enough Jesus in me to make gospel comparisons. I won't spoil it but if you haven't watched it you have a treat ahead of you. Okay, maybe I'll spoil a little bit of it. Basically I just love that our identities matter so much and I want everyone to know they are a child of God so that they can put that identity first so that when Satan lies to us we can focus on Christ and on our divine identity. There is power in knowing who you are. There are real demons but we can battle our inner demons.

Earlier on my mission a companion of mine would refer to negative self talk or stressors as demons. She would say, “I'm fighting the demon of ______.” This was a great way to keep me in the loop of how she was feeling and helped us both to help each other. There's a lot of demons out there, some of them are outside forces but most demon battles happen inside us. Fighting against the demons of sin or addiction can be lonely battles. But we don't have to fight them alone. We rarely win in solitude. Jesus Christ is on our side and He wants to fill us with His grace. He wants to strengthen us with His power. 

In the hymn, Master the Tempest is Raging the chorus says, “The winds and the waves shall obey thy will: Peace, be still. Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea Or demons or men or whatever it be, No waters can swallow the ship where lies The Master of ocean and earth and skies. They all shall sweetly obey thy will: Peace, be still; peace, be still. They all shall sweetly obey thy will: Peace, peace, be still.” Jesus Christ is with us in every demon hunt, even when it feels more like we are being hunted. With Christ we can win each battle and slay every demon but we will need Christ. As we pray for His grace and allow more of His power into our lives through Scripture study, sincere prayer, and covenant keeping we can do the impossible. 

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Still holding to the rod, 

Sister Owens 

Summary: I get to serve at places. K pop demon hunters is . With Christ everything is gonna be just fine.

Here's the link to my mission pictures album:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZMqcVg4i6kAMWJVH9

Some Minor Updates

 Hey y'all!

[Summary at the very bottom cuz I know not everyone has the time or attention span to read this.]

In preparation for the long awaited halfway mark of my mission, I've decided to change a few things for the remaining 9 or so months. For example, I've been reassigned to be a service missionary in the Salt Lake City West mission. 

Being a missionary in North Carolina was a wonderful experience. I was able to help others learn about Jesus Christ and become a more devoted disciple of Jesus Christ too!

Sometimes I felt a little sad, but actually a lot sad. Sometimes I felt a little nervous, but actually a lot nervous. And then those times became a little more frequent and then a lot more frequent. 

So now I'm going to try out being a service missionary. I'm not sure what assignment I'll have yet but I know I'll end up where the Lord needs me. I know Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ are aware of me & aware of you. 

I know we can be confident in Jesus Christ!

Here's what I learned from my time in Cleveland North Carolina:

Sertraline, a common drug used for mental health is quite the ride, one of those rides at the fair that you're happy to get off of.

Humidity is great for your skin. I felt like a cute slimy frog some days, a cute slimy frog with very clear skin. 

Jesus Christ lives.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days is Jesus Christ’s Church.

Some churches are like social clubs and I have a really hard time with that.

Anyone can participate in missionary work. 

Oreos with peanut butter are wonderful.

Companions help you do things even when you're scared.

New testament is good stuff.

 Some of the most powerful testimonies are given through music.

Black mold is crazy and sometimes it means that you live with 6 people in an apartment for like, 2 people.

 Members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that are originally from Utah, are all about pasta & casseroles.

Love you!

Still holding to the rod, 

Sister Owens 

Summary: I'm in Utah now. I learned stuff. I love Jesus! I love you!

Here's the link to my mission pictures album:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZMqcVg4i6kAMWJVH9

 

no subject

Hey y'all!

[Summary at the very bottom cuz I know not everyone has the time or attention span to read this.]

I'm in an area called Cleveland now. It's an in between place. Like it's not an actual town or city but the outskirts of towns & cities. The houses are pretty, like homes or apartments you might find in a movie. Even the trailer parks have HOAs. Sometimes I feel like it's a toy town, just doll houses everywhere. 

I'm living it up in the trio life again. (Yay!) I'm back with Sister Job (my trainer) & her mtc comp. Sister Marchant. I really enjoy being in a trio because I feel like everything is easier when there's one more person to help out.

There's the little update. Love. 

- Sister Owens

Happy Hurricane Season

 Hey y'all!

[Summary at the very bottom cuz I know not everyone has the time or attention span to read this.]

Here's some low quality acrostic poems I wrote about my new area:

What

Odd

Old

Dearies

In

Grand

Tobacco fields 

Opposums

Near

Where?

Out

Of

Densely populated

Inhabitation

Nothing

Grass

Trees

Opposum

No things

What is this place so empty?

Only the locals can tell.

On errands the Lord has sent me

Devil still tries to derail.

I stand with heart, strength & might

Not an actual building in sight.

Glorious fields both left and right.

The congregation will grow as the corn.

Onward we work spreading light.

Now rescuing souls once forlorn.

Happy Hurricane season! Hurricane season started on June 1st! This whole weekend felt a little bit like a hurricane though.

I arrived in the new area on Thursday and found out there would be a baptism on Saturday. Hurrah!

On Friday I began inquiring about the details of said baptism and we found we had much to do. So we tried to do everything. Also on Friday we had the baptismal interview.

After the baptismal interview we found out we were not having the baptism. :(

So then we unplanned a baptism. But we had a very hard time un-planning it.

So then on Saturday people showed up for a baptism that wasn't happening.

Then we thought we ruined our relationships with all the members (I don't even know the members yet but this was an unfortunate start.) 

It was sad and my companion and I cried a lot.

But then on Sunday it was fast and testimony meeting and the whole meeting ended up being about… missionary work and how they (the members) and the Lord loves missionaries?

People still loved us and never didn't love us. And everything is actually okay. 

Woodington! Yay!

My companion is Sister Senior and we were friends before and we were both very, very happy to be companions. We both like poetry and good music and letting emotions exist and we love the Lord! And I think with all the crazy circumstances we have been in we really needed each other and so we are very grateful we are together. 

Also this is my first out-of-city area and my first not a military base in my area area. And everyone is trying to give us diabetes and there is always biscuits at every meal and they always do their very best to send us home with dessert. I also can't understand people's southern accent. Also in our missionary meeting they laughed at my questions and told me it really is a foreign mission. Everything is different but I'm excited to figure it out.

I hope you enjoyed this hurricane of an email & I love you!

Still holding to the rod, 

Sister Owens 

Summary: This email is a mess. There's bad poems and slightly unfortunate stories and a brief update on my new area and my companion.

Here's the link to my mission pictures album:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZMqcVg4i6kAMWJVH9

Stay Gold (Goodbye Goldsboro)

 Hey y'all!

[Summary at the very bottom cuz I know not everyone has the time or attention span to read this.]

Some updates from last week:

☆The quad moved to a new apartment. It's brand new and it's nice. It comes with a brand new washer and dryer.

☆ Sister Jones and I gave talks on Sunday and it worked. We wanted to strengthen our relationship with the members because, basically nothing we do matters without them & people felt the Spirit and really enjoyed our talks. (Hurrah!)

☆ I went on an exchange with my trainer and she was like, wow you talk now and I was like yeah. Kinda cool.

☆I'm getting transferred to a new area (don't know where yet, only know I'm leaving Goldsboro)

For my last big move in the mission I talked about all of the things I had learned in Fayetteville and I think I'll talk about some of the things I learned from my time in Goldsboro.

♡ Waffle house is great place to go find characters to write into a story. 

♡ Prayers of safety work & so long as I am obedient to missionary standards and rules, so long as I listen to the promptings of the Spirit I will be safe. There are certain areas we have been advised to be very cautious of, or even to avoid… but mission leaders are supportive of us going there when we have a purpose. So we go & it's a little sketchy and people are very confused about why we are there and people also tell us we will get robbed but, so far so good. There's also been times where I knew that if people tried to do something to us they wouldn't have been able to. I know the Spirit protects.

♡I'm so capable of talking to people, like, just saying hi is not that much more than the wave and smile I was already doing.

♡ I'm so grateful for priesthood power. The priesthood is one thing that sets our church apart, its one thing that makes it the one true church. People don't really like when I say that but I know it's true. Lots of churches have lots of truth. And that's awesome. But the best thing is to have the fulness of the gospel & in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we have it all. I'm grateful to be a missionary and to have power and authority within my sacred calling. I'm grateful to partake of the sacrament each week which if not for the priesthood would be just bread and water. The power of God is on Earth today and there are many, many, many, miracles because of it.

♡ A friend in need is a friend in deed. My great grandma used to say that but I didn't really understand it for a long time. Then I met Shamond (one of our new members here) & her best friend Jamie Brown (she's in the ward & she's awesome). They help each other out so much in so many different ways that their friendship just runs so deep. They have love for each other like I've never seen for friends. I can't describe it but they make the phrase a friend in need is a friend in deed make sense. 

♡ If you are seeking and expecting miracles, you had better be willing to act on spiritual prompting. Miracles take a little work, you need to be where you are supposed to be and you need to be doing what you're supposed to be doing, if you do this then you'll stumble on miracles.

♡ Fasting works. On some level I was pretty sure fasting worked but I had never really had any personal experiences with it. One of the miracles from this transfer is a new member named Frank. As missionaries we get to work with people that have recently joined the church and help learn more and continue to progress. The majority of my time here we were unable to contact a new member named Frank. We would stop by, text, call, leave notes, and send emails. We were like crazy stalkers and we simply couldn't get in contact. I didn't know what to do anymore so I fasted for Frank, last fast Sunday. And, one day we were in Frank's area and I knew we needed to stop by. We were a little behind schedule and my companion was a little hesitant but the Spirit was very clear to me that that is where we needed to go. So we went and we met Frank and he attended Sacrament meeting this last Sunday. 

♡Trios and quads mean you have more people taking care of you and more people to take care of and they are awesome! 

♡Charity will get you pretty far. About as far as the Savior would get. Jesus was still rejected even with his perfect love. And as a missionary, people definitely still don't care to hear our message or talk with us but having charity I also have confidence and it's much easier to feel love for people even when they are rude than to have resentment begin to build up. Choose to be charitable. Assume people have good intentions.

♡Crockpot Chicken 10/10

♡There is joy in daily repentance if you aren't repenting everyday you are missing out on joy everyday.

Still holding to the rod,

Sister Owens

Summary: I'm leaving Goldsboro. I learned stuff while I was here. Yay!

Here's the link to my mission pictures album:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZMqcVg4i6kAMWJVH9

🤍

 Hey y’all!

[Summary at the very bottom cuz I know not everyone has time or the attention span to read this.]

Here are some updates as far as my mission goes!

🤍 I am in my third transfer

🤍 I am now serving in Goldsbro 

🤍 I have two new companions (I'm in a trio)

🤍 I am over 2 wards

🤍 The three of us gave talks yesterday

🤍 My mission President, President Stevens is having surgery today

Lots has happened. I am excited. 

Goldsbro is a bit like Fayetteville but less sketchy. Still a lot of military people because there's an air force base here. 

My new companions' names are Sister Cutler and Sister Colasurdo. They're both really cute and fun. I think we're figuring out how to navigate being in a trio pretty well. Sister Colasurdo's mission scripture (the scripture on her plaque is Galatians 5:9. She has celiac disease. And Sister Cutler has a super contagious laugh.

The wards I'm over are called Goldsbro 1st ward and… wait for it… Goldsbro 2nd ward. We gave talks in the second ward yesterday and they told us the title of the talks were to be: I Stand All Amazed- The Awesome Atonement of Jesus Christ. People said we did really well. I enjoyed how different and how the same all of our talks were.

Here's a snippet of my talk. “I invite you all to more fully invite the Savior into your life and especially into your Easter celebrations this year and for years to follow. As you focus more on the Savior I promise you will know how focused the Savior is on you. You are his sheep and he is your shepherd. He has always and will always love you. Knowing this can change the way you feel about yourself, other people and the world.”

Kinda fun. 

I’m honestly not too worried about President Stevens; he has over 200 missionaries praying and fasting for him.

I think I figured out how charity never faileth. I think I didn't fully understand that phrase but I've gained some more understanding now. 

First here is this scripture:

1 John 4: 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

When we have charity we can do things even if we are afraid. I imagine the Savior was scared as He went to Gethsemane and that is the reason He brought His friends with Him but Jesus Christ still took on every pain and sin and all of it because of the great love which He has for each of us. 

I can do scary things when I have charity. 

And by simply trying to do the will of Heavenly Father we are never failing. Heavenly Father always makes up the difference. 

Hopefully that makes sense! 

Still holding to the rod, 

Sister Owens 

Summary: lots of things are happening. Yay. Charity never faileth. Yay.

Here's the link to my mission pictures album:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZMqcVg4i6kAMWJVH9 

March Fo(u)rth

 Dear friends, family, & foes, 

(Just kidding about the last one, it should really be, dear my mom’s facebook friends & family)

Yesterday was march 4th. A date I thoroughly enjoy. No other day (that i know of) is a command like that. I certainly feel like it was a good mantra for my last 24 hours. March forth.

Yesterday we found out transfer news. I leave Fayetteville tomorrow. This was not the expected result but we all expected me to stay and take over the area. That's alright though. I have completed my training. Here are some things I have learned so far. 

1 John 4:18

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

Charity, that perfect love, really does cast out fear. Talking to people is so scarrrry. For me. But it's a lot easier when I feel genuine love for the people I am approaching.

Being a missionary isn't a normal calling. I don't do normal and natural things because my call as a missionary is not normal and natural. My message is not normal and natural. It's excellent and extraordinary. Heavenly Father can do excellent and extraordinary things through someone small and simple like me.

Heavenly Father values the title of Father. He loves his children. He is our literal Father and he is so proud of us.

You gotta do your part for miracles. Miracles follow faith, a big part of faith is action. 

Perfectionism will ruin your life if you let it.  Let good enough be good enough. (I'm still learning this one.)

March forth. Keep going. If it takes you longer to reach a goal you can absolutely still work towards that goal. 

Gelato is pretty good. 

My companion is probably the person I have the opportunity to serve the most as a missionary. Even if we don't get to help a lot of people I get to help her.

Every attribute of the Savior helped him prepare for and go through with his suffering in Gethsemane and death on the cross. Every attribute helped him be perfect to help each one of us.

I gotta wrap it up. It's p-day. And today that P stands for packing. 

Love ya'll! 

Still holding to the rod, 

Sister Owens

No summary today because I'm both lazy and stressed.