Elder Owens' Guatemalan Mission

December 28, 2022 Merry Christmas!!!... it doesn't feel like Christmas here. It's been 70° and sunny, they don't really listen to Christmas music like we do in the states, and there's not a ton of lights either. What they do is eat tamales and blow up fireworks  . So that's cool. Anyways, we had a lot of really good visits, mostly with members. Lots of food. We've been living off of Christmas food, and we've got enough to last until Saturday. Story time: Alright so we got a few things. We found a guy last week and his name is Fernando. He was born in Guatemala but moved to Bay Area California when he was 5, and grew up there. He grew up part of the gangs and then went to jail for ten years. Found Jesus, then was deported back to Guatemala. So he talks to us in fluent English, but 80s Cali gangster English  . He's actually awesome though, he's had a really rough life, and he has such a desire to change. He respects us a ton, and he listens intently to...

December 21, 2022 Oy... so I've been in my new area for a week now... it's been a very, very, busy week. We're both new to the area so we're struggling to pick up we're the last Elders left off, and we're technically covering two areas. So two wards, two phone numbers, two sacrament meetings, all that. Luckily, the members are really nice and have been helping us move along. I also get along really well with my companion, so that's helped a ton. He also has an insane memory, which has been crucial. I'm horrible with names and the way that the apartments are set up here is slightly repetitive and confusing. But he somehow remembers everything, I'm just trying to write everything down. It's a little weird, this is my first Christmas away from family so it honestly hasn't felt much like Christmas. It's also still hot here, so that doesn't help. But sometimes you just set your mind to what you need to do, then give yourself some extra tim...

The district. December 12, 2022 Alrighty, got some changes coming up. The area I'm in is being merged with another nearby and my companion and I are getting sent to different parts of the capital. I'm going to a place called Nimajuyu (nee-muh-who-you) and I honestly don't know anything about it, but I kinda like just getting thrown in somewhere and figuring it out anyways. I absolutely love this area and the people here, and it was a great learning experience, but there wasn't a lot of progress. It was starting to wear on me a little, so I'm glad I'm getting to "start over" somewhere new. This past week was really uneventful, almost all of our appointments fell through, so we honestly didn't get a whole lot of teaching in, but at least we were able to say goodbye to a good number of our friends. Spiritual thought: Life isn't always what you expect it to be. Sometimes things pile up just one thing after another and it starts to get difficult. I ...

December 8, 2022 Alrighty then. This week was actually really uneventful. I say uneventful, but that means nothing out of the ordinary. We work 10am to 9pm everyday, sometimes 9:30, so there are more then plenty of events transpiring in any given day. But we did have one really cool experience yesterday. One of our appointments, as well as our 2 back up plans, fell through. So we just started wandering around, going down streets we felt like we should, listening to the guidance of the spirit, normal missionary things. Well we ended up finding 2 families consisting, in total, 5+ inactive members, which is super cool. So we'll be working to support and help them in any way we can moving forward. Lessons learned:  - ALWAYS listen to the Spirit - EVERYTHING happens for a reason Spiritual thought: I've been really studying hard in the old testament lately, specifically around the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What I've noticed, is that they, as well as most others written a...

November 30, 2022 So... this one's going to be short. It's already really late, and I'm not feeling super great right now, to say the very least. Just physically, so it's alright. Anyways, good week, plenty of work. We found a ton of new people who are not only willing to listen to us, but are actually curious, so that's awesome. We put two more people on date (meaning they have baptismal dates) as well as extended two more baptismal invitations, so that's been great too. Spiritually, I've never been better; physically... that's another story... but I'm still breathing, so that's a plus. If you're curios about that, lemme know. I've got some fun stories... and possibly some broken bones... side of nausea helps... anyways... Spiritual thought: Everybody makes mistakes. You can ask any of my close friends and immediate family... I've made a good number of oopsies... I am a trouble magnet... everywhere I'm at something goes down... e...