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

Wow

 Hey y'all!

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

An update from last week's edition. The four of us have a new dryer (our 3rd one) & it works! Hurrah! In other news they have a new apartment and they are splitting us up. Hopefully we will have til the end of the transfer but we don't know. 

I'd much rather have a broken dryer than have my sweet sisters taken away. But the transfer ends soon anyways.

Lately (the last two-ish months) I've had lots of people help me ponder on the Word of Wisdom. 

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we have The Lord's Law of Health or the Word of Wisdom. It is what the Lord has asked us to do to take care of bodies. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to take care of our bodies because they are sacred gifts. We are specifically taught to eat healthy and to not use harmful substances. My trainer used the word C.A.T.T.S. to describe what should not enter our bodies. C-coffee, A- alcohol, T- tobacco, T- tea, S- scary drugs/substances (depends on audience).

The blessings for living in accordance to the Lord's law of Health include; health (go figure), wisdom, treasures of knowledge, and protection. These are powerful promised blessings!

[For additional information or to fact check please refer to page 86 of Preach My Gospel or Doctrine and Covenants 89]

There's been so many people that get stuck because of their addictions. 

In my mission there’s a rule where if someone hasn't been to Sacrament meeting in two weeks we can't teach them anymore. This may seem harsh but I can testify that even though us missionaries have to give up on people the Lord never ever does. The Lord is always aware of them and ever preparing them to accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

With this rule things tend to be fast paced because a lot of people don't come to church. 

I've met people that do come to church but we can't continue teaching them because they continue to drink coffee or smoke (that's a big one), or they're alcoholics (this one is so sad). 

One lady I had the privilege of teaching for a short time had been having drinking problems for a long time. She lost custody of her kids when they were little for it. She was meeting with missionaries because she wanted to change because she was about to meet one of her now adult daughters. I won't be there for the happy ending but eternity is long and people have many, many opportunities to make changes so I'm confident there will be a happy ending but maybe not soon.

Two days ago we met a man named Tim. Tim spends $300 on alcohol every week. He was able to stop for 15 months but now it's as bad as it was before. Tim thinks about what that $300 could do for someone that really needs money but he can't stop.

On Friday night when we met Tim he said he knows he's dying. And he is. He has some pretty extreme liver issues. And Tim says everyone he knows is going to heaven. Everyone except him. And he's scared. He doesn't want to burn.

Well, the Lord's plan is far more merciful than that and Tim has a lot to learn. And hopefully I'll get to help teach him but it could go either way. While I was drinking the water that's been blessed by the priesthood, Tim was drinking something else.

If Tim does come to Sacrament meeting I know he'll be blessed with an increase of the Spirit and that'll get him pretty far. 

Tim is a good person and he's not going to burn. But he's still got some work to do. So do I. 

Please never mess around with potentially addictive anything. Drugs, alcohol, pornography. There's just no valid reason to mess with it. There just isn't. 

Addictions ruin lives in so many ways. Tim is physically dying. The woman I mentioned earlier probably will not be in contact with one of her daughters in this lifetime.

I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can and do heal and help fix anything and everything. But if we can avoid needing healing and fixing let's avoid it.

Love ya!

Still holding to the rod,

Sister Owens

Summary: Word of Wisdom= 

Addictions=

Here's the link to my mission pictures album:

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

Greetings from Goldsboro

 Hey y'all!

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

Once upon a time there were four young sister missionaries living together in a city called Goldsboro located in the North Carolina Raleigh mission. Each Sister had different traits, origins, and cultures.

The first, Sister Jones, was very stylish and fun. She came from Seattle Washington and she's a triplet. Before her mission she was a ballroom dancer at BYU. She is trendy, friendly and fun. She is easy to laugh with.

The second, Sister Colasurdo, no one quite knows how to say her name. She's been nicknamed Sister French though her name is Italian. She too is stylish. She loves cheese and if she eats gluten she may suffer for weeks after just one crumb that touched a crumb of gluten. (Celiac is real and it's bad.) She is bold and loving and open and honest. A diligent disciple. 

Thirdly, Sister Tingey, she recently came to the mission from a historical site where she had to wear pioneer dresses everyday, where she wasn't allowed to have braided hair so that people would be less likely to see her and think ah yes Mormons and polygamy. Sister Tingey is a Sister of great style and of great love. She has charity and can easily identify the miracles we are blessed with. She's a delight.

Finally is Sister Owens. You know her. She's a hoot and a half.

Each of these Sisters have a few wonderful common traits. Each are hard working, loving, missionaries. Each have their own challenges and each strive to do their best and to become better each day. You may notice I mention their styles and that is because we all wear clothes. We love clothes, an appropriate amount. 

Alas, here the challenge comes in. We four, together face the great and terrible adversity of not having a functioning dryer. It's been weeks. 

The lack of dryer paired with the humidity leads to some woes. 

But we four are facing it very bravely. We begin now to understand the Law of Consecration and have been borrowing one another's clothes. 

The four of us through this unique challenge have become more unified, more united. 

While not having a dryer is tough, we know that like Joseph Smith in Liberty jail, “[our] afflictions shall be but a small moment,” indeed the Lord has said, “My [daughters], peace be unto th[ine] soul[s].” (Doctrine & Covenants 121:7)

We will look forward in faith and in wet clothes as we go about the work of salvation!  

“Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ [even if all ye have is wet clothes], having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life [and dry clothes, eventually].”

(2 Nephi 31:20)

And so we press forward with a steadfastness in Christ and in our wet clothes. 

Still holding to the rod,

Sister Owens

(Also featuring, Sister Jones, Sister Colasurdo, & Sister Tingey)

Summary: The whole email is me being melodramatic about not having a dryer.

Here's the link to my mission pictures album:

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

Thanks ♡

 Hey y'all!

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

Some exciting things that happened this week:

♡ There was an air show on Seymour Johnson Airforce Base. We live right next to the base and the traffic was crazy for the air show. We saw 4 jets flying next to each other and that's the only part we saw, it was really cool though.

♡ I witnessed a car crash (twas mild and no one was hurt)

♡ I was called Cinderella (in a derogatory manner) and many other things by a guy who asked if the ring I was wearing was a wedding ring.

♡ I knocked on a guy's door and said we offered messages of joy and hope and he said he was a Satanist then he saluted at us and closed the door.

♡ I told a lady I knew the Book of Mormon was true and that it testified of Jesus Christ and it made her very mad and then she yelled at us.

Anyways, thanks for praying for me because your prayers really do protect me. I like to think I'm intelligent and that I avoid doing things that would put in me in dangerous situations. Alas, the world is kind of crazy but I know the Spirit and your prayers have really protected and blessed me. Thanks for being so involved in my missionary efforts! Your prayers are working. 

Love you! 

Still holding to the rod,

Sister Owens

Summary: Your prayers for missionaries really make a difference! Thanks for praying for us!

Here's the link to my mission pictures album:

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

Have I Already Titled an Email Faith?

 Hey y'all!

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

This week I want to talk about faith. (Again.)

Faith in Jesus Christ is one of my favorite things to teach because there is so much flexibility. There are so many different ways to teach, explain, make a metaphor for faith. I compare it to trust falls, stairs, picking your nose & sucking your thumb at the same time. There's so many scriptures you can use to teach about faith. I love it. 

This week at zone conference Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt of the Seventy shared with us Alma 5:15. This is the Prophet Alma testifying to His people, he says, “15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?” Elder Corbitt broke it down to look, forward, with an eye of faith, view or see (the Lord's promise fulfilled), imagine to yourselves (begin with the end in mind), works of righteousness. 

We are to go about missionary work (& life) as though the Lords promises have already been fulfilled. Would your life be different if you knew, really knew that all of the promised blessings in your patriarchal blessing would be fulfilled? They will be as you are faithful. Would your life be different if you really knew that your family would be together forever as you faithfully keep temple covenants? View those promises as though they have already been fulfilled. 

Live as though every good thing is in store for you. Because every good thing is in store for those that make and keep sacred covenants.

We can expect miracles because we have the type of faith that allows for miracles to happen all around us. 

As we look forward with an eye of faith and see theLords's promise fulfilled we don't have to be afraid. We can better walk towards Jesus Christ. We can be more obedient and repent each day, we all need to repent each day. 

Do something that requires faith. Here's what I did.

About a week before Zone Conference we had zone council where we were invited to memorize something called the Treasure Program. Which consists of Raleigh North Carolina mission specific advice and a lot of parts of Preach My Gospel like the different sections of lessons, how to begin teaching, the baptismal invite, and more. The treasure program is about 5 pages when written nicely in my notebook. I'm not sure how many pages that translates to on a Google doc but it was a lot and we were given less than a week to memorize it. I had a bit of a head start because I had been trying to memorize it since… the beginning of my mission. But I couldn't seem to keep it all in my head. 

After zone council I made a weekly goal of seeking and expecting miracles specifically seeking and expecting the miracle of memorizing the treasure program. So I prayed about it and I prayerfully made a study plan and then I acted on that plan. And guess what?

Five minute before Zone Conference I passed it off. Miracles are abounding. Maybe it's kind of a silly miracle and it sure took work on my part but it really is a miracle. 

I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will help us with our righteous desires. I know there are miracles everywhere. 

Love you all!

Still holding to the rod,

Sister Owens

Summary: Alma 5:15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?

Faith. Have it.

This week I exercised faith by memorizing the treasure program, 5 pages of good things missionaries ought to know. Being able to memorize this was for sure a miracle that required faith.

Here's the link to my mission pictures album:

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

merry Easter

 Hey y'all!

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

Hope you all had a really wonderful Easter! 

One of the questions on a Holy Week study guide yesterday was, “What part of easter sunday service brought you the most joy?

My favorite part was yesterday. We walked into our church building and down the oddly long hallway and turned the corner into the foyer just outside the chapel. We were surrounded by fantastic Christ centered art beautifully displayed all around the foyer. This art was fantastic and helped everyone more fully focus on the Savior. My companion, Sister Jones & I took our place by the doors of the challenge and watched everyone walk in to the foyer.

I loved to see them notice the art and think of their Savior. More than this I loved how everyone greeted one another. There were just so many happy reunions. I know that's what heaven is going to be like, filled with joyful greetings of people that we haven't seen in a long while. 

People would hug each other and welcome each other and then look to the Savior. They would admire Him together. They would worship Him together. 

I loved to see the joy they had from being with each other and being with the Savior. 

My other favorite part was when people would accidentally say Christmas. It felt just like Christmas. It felt celestial to me. My Easters in the past haven't been too Christ Centered but this one was and my future ones will be.

“May we honour Easter in our hearts, and try to keep it all the year. We will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.”

10 points to anyone who knows what I'm referencing.

Love you all! Merry Easter!

Still holding to the rod,

Sister Owens

Summary: Easter. 

Here's the link to my mission pictures album:

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

It's an email

 Hey y'all!

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

I have a new companion, her name is Sister Jones. I live with three other Sisters. Tis fun.

I'm quite tired perhaps even too tired to write. 

I'm going to confess something now. I actually do write an email every week, sometimes two or three emails but then I don't send them because the devil tells me not to. 

Perfectionism ruins lives.

It's not necessarily that I think my emails are bad but I sometimes just think they're not that good. Or I start and then I'm like this isn't going anywhere so then I give up. But this week I'm going to actually send this email. (Yay!)

It's Holy week. That's wonderful. I love this week. I love Easter. It's new development that's come from further studying the Savior. Isn't it lovely that we can grow our love for the Savior by studying just a little more?

I love my Jesus and I think I will dedicate this email to Him. 

In conference we got the challenge to pray about what the Savior may say to Heavenly Father about us. He truly is our advocate with the Father. As I acted on this invitation I knew how keenly aware the Savior was of me. 

We are so loved. Jesus Christ knows every experience we have faced and have yet to face. He is with us in each challenge. He leads us through them. 

It's been so wonderful to be able to be a representative of the Savior and help lead others out of midst of darkness and to the light and life of the world. 

I am trying to be like Jesus. I love you!

Still holding to the rod,

Sister Owens

Summary: my current assignment & Happy Holy week

Here's the link to my mission pictures album:

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