Elder Owens' Guatemalan Mission

 September 28, 2022 K this week has been very eventful, to say the very least. It starts with transfers last Tuesday. We showed up to the offices around 10am; the offices are where we group up with our new companions, grab whatever we need in terms of resources for the house (water filter, plates, books, etc.), and then take off to our new area. My companion, Elder Ellsworth, shows up around 1pm, tells me we're opening an area in Santa Rosa de Lima, and also buying a house. So right off the bat we got a lot to do. Opening an area is kinda crazy. So we get to the house and it's brand new, fresh concrete, hardly anything in the house. So we spend the rest of the day unpacking everything; our luggage, the fridge, the pila, everything. Next day we meet with the owner and we're like alright so we're renting the house. We negotiate the terms, all that, sign the contract, cool, we're legal now. Also by the way you guys are a little early so the house is not hooked up to th...

  September 20, 2022 Alright, another 6 weeks ahead of me. Except this time I'll be chilling in a neat little town area called Santa Rosa. I'll be leaving the busy city for the nice tranquil, rolling hills of the Guatemala City outskirts. City life is cool and all, but it ain't my cup of tea. I'll be much more in my element in the boonies. Couldn't be more excited. Really I was originally going to stay here, but something happened this Saturday and Elder Jenson and I, as well as the two elders in the neighboring area, tenemos que salirnos. Basically we were having an activity over in their area trying to find new people, and it was going really good. Until one of their investigators pulled up on his motorcycle. This guy was a gangster back in California up until he was deported, now he lives here. This guy was pretty upset because the other two elders were gonna meet with him at some point, but then had to cancel. His wife had prepared food for them and he said if s...

 September 16, 2022 It's funny when people ask how much time we have in the mission, Elder Jenson will say one year and I get to say, "yeah I've been here maybe 4 months." Crazy to think it's already been a little bit. I can confidently say I've got a hold of the ropes now though. I can speak confidently in Spanish to whoever, lead lessons, introduce a new missionary to the area, all good things. If being able to have a normal conversation in Spanish after 4 months isn't a God given miracle, I don't know what is. My P-day is on Friday this week because our district was able to meet the mission goal to baptize as many people as are a part of the district; 8 missionaries, 8 baptisms. So we got to go to the temple. Absolutely amazing. On Tuesday as well as Thursday we taught our curious friend Juan Francisco about the Plan of Salvation. While at the temple I was also reminded of this topic. The Plan of Salvation, also known as The Plan of Happiness, is by...