Nov 15

Well.... This week was ok.

nah, This week was incredible! I am so glad right now. We found a really cool family. Bill, Belen, and their son Sebastian. Bill is basically a cross between Dan Burton and Dad. They are reading the book of mormon together as a family. I really like them and have high hopes that they will progress. They are interested in doing food storage and emergency preparedness, and lots of things like that. They were asking about how long we could live on our food storage back home. I am glad I've never had to. I really like fresh fruit and vegtables. Home canned fruit is an alright substitute for fresh fruit, but canned vegtables can't compete wtih fresh ones.

We have tried really hard this week to just listen to people and find what they care about, listen to what they are looking for more in their lives. To show them that we aren't about just increasing our numbers or trying to get as many as possible to church. We are really caring about individuals, and seeking for ways to bless their lives. We have seen a huge change in the way that people have reacted towards us as we have shown that sincere love for them as a person, and kept in mind ways to help them see it. We always had the love for them, but now we are trying to show it more and it is really doing wonders.

My trainer is home. Elder Anderson. I haven't heard from him yet though. Elder Gurney is home, Elder Stahle is home, Elder McBride is home(I have heard from him) Elder Johnson, Perkins, Stone, and Daniels-brown of course, are my companions still out. 1/2 4/8. It is kinda crazy. I love it though.

Study Preach My Gospel, try teaching the lessons. You learn so much as you try to teach! I think teaching primary must be similar. I think Steve Robertson would be an awesome primary teacher. Does his wife have a calling? She was a fun lady too.

Love Elder Owens

Transfer Week! Oct 25

News:

Elder Perkins is leaving to go to Greene a little place above Binghamton(a big place) He isn't excited about how little it is, he wanted a city. He is fairly shy still, I think it is where he needs to go.(Greene) I am so excited about this transfer! I get to be the big missionary finally! hahaha- Guess who I am getting though. The biggest missionary in the mission, he's been out about 6 months I believe but he is 6' 8'. Elder Stone. I met him a couple times and he is nice.

Billy Bleyl hasn't really read too much, it is hard to get him excited about it- he has a tough time reading.

Brother Cook(Don't know his first name) Is the blind investigator that we found from the HQ Temple square referral, he is excited because he heard about an operation that can restore his sight. I got him the BOM on CD and he said he would listen to [some of] it this week. (I hope his wife reads along- Magaret)

Keri La Rose- A really nice lady -don't know too much about religious back ground- she has an awesome family two really good kids and a 6 month old. AND a husband- Chris. We are going to teach her on the 31st.

Love,

Elder Owens

A really foggy day

My District. Left to right in silly one Elder West(District leader+From my MTC group+becoming my Zone Leader this transfer from Bountiful area, UT) Elder Rammel(Being trained by Elder West from cali)

Sister Bently(Been out for 12 weeks now- came out at 21 from Arizona)

Sister Mitsula(convert to the church from Cali)

Elder Lyman( From Washington MTC group with Elder Perkins, My new district leader)

Elder Perkins,

Me,

Elder Taylor Gamble(We went to UCAS together, he is being trained by Elder Lyman been out for 6 weeks, From Orem)

Funny green setting on my camera that I thought was a fun picture.

Us with Billy Bleyl. (Lighten the last one and I think it is a good one)

October 11

It is hard sometimes to press forward with a perfect brightness of hope having an eye of faith. The past two transfers have been the hardest to do so on my mission. When hard times come sometimes I really do try to speed up and forget about the struggles I'm having. President Uctdorf's talk was such a needed principle for me to understand. Pressing forward with perfect brightness of hope doesn't mean we have to run. We can still just focus on those most important things rather than try to add more to our lives, we need to simplify and turn to the scriptures and to prayer. I haven't been doing the best at scripture study. I am going to make that my focus for the rest of the transfer. We are finding some solid potentials and new investigators. I am glad to see the work continue to move forward in spite of our weakness. I have been filled with the love of God so much these past two transfers. I have come to know my Father in a deeply personal way and I wouldn't give it up for anything.

September 6th

Some of the Investigators we have here are:

Billy- He is the cousin of the Gardner family. Brother Garnder is the family history consultant here, he is also the teacher for the Preach my Gospel class that we have every wednesday. Billy broke his arm recently while he was racing his lawnmower(I haven't heard of lawn mower races before, but they are big in this area.) We were able to teach him this past week for the first time and we set him with a baptismal date of Oct 16th. We're really going to try teaching him a lot and get him ready for that. He seems like he could very easily keep that date, so we're excited about that.

Alex and Nicole- I believe that Alex is getting disability, and Nicole works at a store around here( Hannaford I think) They have been "investigating" for a while. They like us but don't really keep their commitments too faithfully, they say that they will, but don't follow through. Alex just had an uncle die, we were going to teach him the plan of salvation, left him the reading for it, and wehn we came over to teach him he said it wasn't a good time. It always makes me wonder- "not a good time? It is the best time to learn of the plan of Happiness! when you need it!" But oh well I guess we've gotta respect his agency. They said they would call us after his birthday+funeral for uncle on thursday.

J.R. Spicci- Married to a member who just moved out to Utah in July to be by her family- She doesn't like it-her family and her aren't getting along, so she wants to move to idaho or Arizona now. He is staying here and working every hour that it is light. We have been really blessed in being able to catch him at just exactly the right moments, he probably spends about 10 minutes at his house every 3 days(During the hours we can work) 10am-9PM We caught him last night and talked to him for 8 of the ten. It was awesome. He knows that the church really teaches good things and that it helped him when he gave up coffe and tea, but then he kinda got upset at someone, and since then he has been really slow at progressing(went back to drinking coffee and tea) and now he doesn't want to join until he feels he can put his heart into it, he thinks that the way thats gonna happen is through a sign(witness) we talked to him last night about the parable of the pickle, and what it would mean/how you could tell if the church were true. But I think that the way for him to get his answer is to use the light he already has, to start praying, reading his scriptures again, give up those bad habits that he knows he should, before expecting more. God's not going to open doors you aren't ready to go through. I was thinking about the opening of China for missionary work. I realized that there are a whole lot of people in China! I wonder if we would even have enough missionaries to cover that area! I realized that China will open when the Church is ready to care for it. We probably need lots more missioanries, and that should be what I pray for first, then when we are prepared, the door will swing open. Same thing with JR, When he is prepared and willing to be baptized, the Lord can witness that it is the right thing, and open the door.

Mimi- Mimi has a simmilar story. She still smokes, she is older and fairly set in her ways, luckily some of those ways include personal revelation. She loves to know that she is doing what God wants, she just doesn't immediately accept what He wants her to do. She knows that He wants her to quit smoking but she is kinda fighting if she wants to or not. She is an interesting Character, I am not sure what we are going to do. Write more next time.

Elizabeth Baez- We found out that she just lost two sons and their friend in a swimming accident, they both had girl friends, on the funeral for the two boys, the 19 year old's girlfriends had a baby, and the 17 year old brother's girl found out that she was pregnant. Crazy huh? But Elizabeth wants to learn more so we are going to get to teach her sometime with a member(Her husband drives truck and so is never around.)

August 30th

Things are going well. Working hard is the way to success. In order to find the Lord's strength, you've gotta use all of yours. I really saw that this week. I have been trying to help Elder Perkins to be excited about missionary work. He always seems tired and isn't the happiest. I asked him to plan for us on Saturday, so he planned a great day. I just followed his lead and was along for the ride pretty much. He had energy, and he was a lot happier than usual, I on the other hand was a little grumpy and tired and not too excited. I hadn't put my part in, I didn't do my work, so the Lord didn't give me as much of His strength either. It was a powerful lesson on planning and being diligent if you expect to receive the blessings. It reminds me of a scripture that I have been memorizing:

Helaman 14:30 and now remember, remember, my brethren that whosoever perisheth perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity doeth it unto himself; for behold ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold God hath given you a knowledge and He hath made you free.

That's all for this week I guess. Hope you're all doing as wonderfully as I am!(as members say all the time at dinner appointments: "if you leave hungry, it is your own fault. Help yourself." We do that with our happiness. We choose what we do, and if we want to be happy choose to follow God. If we work for it, we'll get it. Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened. We strive for something, desire it, work for it, and we receive our wages from who we list to obey, God is a much more merciful master, much greater gifts come from following Him. Wickedness never was happiness. who are we working for?) ;) hahaha. Take care and have a great day!

Love, Elder Trezor Sheen Owens

Delhi

Dear Family,

Delhi is awesome, we are doing really well- Elder Johnson and I. He is from California(Bay area). I am really loving serving with him, I'll send some great pictures next week. I am really enjoying the work with him. He is really good at talking to people and connecting with them fast. He loves them and I am learning a lot from him. We found a lot of people to follow up with this week. One couple in particular stands out to me. They attend the Assembly of God church. They were a very nice and she was talking to us outside for a little bit and then we her husband drove up, she said "now my husband is really mean so if he comes out of the car with a shotgun...." Meanwhile her husband has already smiled and raised his eyebrows while waving. So that brought some laughs and we were having a great conversation about the book of mormon, and then we started talking about what they liked about religion, they asked us if we had any songs so I pulled out my hymn book and showed it to them. I said that one of my favorites was # 116. She opened to it and started reading, after the second line I started singing it as she read it, she stopped reading and listened while I sang the rest of it. The Spirit came. I said that I felt the Spirit and asked if they did too. He responded that he did. I then testified that: "This is the reason that I am out here sharing these things with people. I know that the book of Mormon is true and that as you read, ponder and pray, this feeling comes. Will you allow us to come back and teach you more?"

It was awesome. I love missionary work. There are so many nice people here. The branch is really close and most are excited about the work, they just don't quite know how to go about doing it. So we are going to take them out hometeaching and teaching our investigators. I am really excited. (about 65ish active)

In all probability I am going to go on exchange over to Norwich soon, It is still in the district. (Delhi, Oneonta and Norwich) and I felt like I had done my part there so I am just filled with hope and joy and excitement about the future. I don't have any regrets about leaving Norwich. I want to be able to say the same thing at the end of my mission, I still have a ways to go though.

Last night was pretty cool, the car died(The battery did something wierd) and it wouldn't start for a while. But it finally did start and we were able to make it back home. I know that the Lord is watching out for us. I am glad that Lovetta and Tom were able to get jobs. It is interesting to think about how merciful the Lord is to all of us. It is indeed really hard to have a child die young. Joseph Smith and Emma had so many of theirs die very young. But thinking about it in the eternal perspective, what a blessing that must be now, they are all saved in the celestial kingdom, they have the chance to raise them now in righteousness, while their posterity who did live fell away from the church. I don't understand why all things happen, nor do I think we can in this life fully, but I do know that God loves His children, that His plan is perfect. I am so grateful for the many things that I don't understand which seem hard and difficult but make me grow.

Hope you have an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Trezor Sheen Owens

Dear Family,

Here are some fun pictures of us from this past week. We are really enjoying working with Teresa and have shifted our focus-just because they are so distracting- and are going to be teaching her children at the same time as her, so we have held off on the baptism. She is having so many AHA! moments. She continues to say: "I know that! but she hasn't ever heard it before. It is so wonderful to see the spirit have an effect on people's lives. We have also been working with a brother in the ward who has had a really rough childhood, and his grandma took him in and saved him from it. He has struggled with his testimony and with any desire to come to church or participate. It was so cool to be able to see how the Lord knows each of His children. We have been able to teach him the missionary lessons and he is excited now to read from the Book of Mormon, he loves to pray now, and there is a new light in his eyes, more hope and much more joy. It is so wonderful.

We ate dinner at Brother Lopez's house(on his roof) And then threw the blanket off. While we were up there his dog dissappeared so he was searching all of friday night and saturday for him. He hasn't found him yet. But I shared my testimony in sacrament meeting about how each of our trials are personally geared towards us. I am so grateful for all of the things that I have gone through and experienced because I am so much stronger because of it. Brother Lopez got up right after me and was still worried about his dog, but bore a simple testimony that the Lord has a perfect plan and that no matter what happens, it will be all right. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from President Hinkley: Everything will turn out in the end. If it hasn't turned out yet, it isn't the end.

Love, Elder Owens

Dear Family,

It sounds like you had a good memorial day yesterday. We spent all of our P-day cleaning, just like we have every p-day since I got here to Norwich. The Appartment at first glance looks worse than it did when we started, because we are doing a deep clean. The bathroom really smelled, the oven and fridge, the sink, the car. Things that you don't see at first. But I am really excited for it to be a clean place again. I really have gained a testimony of the spirit being able to be more abundant in places where you invite it through trying to clean and lighten up the place. Teresa is having a crazy time trying to learn the gospel at the same time as moving and raising 5 kids by herself and being in the Air Force reserves and going into a nursing program. We hope to be able to teach her soon. We got permission to teach her at 9 A.M.(usually comp. study) because she said that was the best time due to Nehemiah being a 3 year old who is grumpy by the time 10:00 comes around.

We got a few referrals from the people in the ward who have missionaries out. The sons wrote home and said that we should talk to some of their friends, so that was cool. One of them (stephen spitner) said that we could talk to him some more, and he is our age, keeps the commandments, so we are excited to teach him.

Haven't been able to see the Bitners(With the 6 month old who was in the hospital)

Robert and Diane Rogers are progressing well, we see them every sunday at 3, and they are liking the book of mormon.

We helped Paint Teresa's house. Brother Lopez is awesome, he comes with us whenever we want, he is 62 but looks 39. He is a painter and had a paint sprayer so we were able to paint her whole house in a day, which was incredible. We spent 2 saturdays ago painting half a wall. Teresa's Children's names are Noah(15) Caleb(12) Micah(10) Yo'hanna(6) Nehemiah(3) Hanna is amazing. I got to talk with her a little bit and she saw a picture of Christ and said: "I love him" I showed her a picture of Joseph Smith seeing Him and Heavenly Father because he prayed, and she kept saying: Do it! Do it! I want to see Him. So I was able to teach her about the spirit and how we can feel their love even though we can't see them yet, we live our life so that we will get to eventually. It was so cool. little children have so great understanding and faith. I learn a lot from Knee-High and Hanna. :D

I love you all!

Elder Owens

Dear Family,

Wow, that sounds like is has been eventful and is really exciting. It is hard to hear about the baby. I am glad that Lovetta is still doing ok though. She is a strong woman. I have been telling Elder Gurney about her this past week and sharing with him all of the things that I have learned from her about what really is important. One thing that I still remember about her is when she got upset one time-she didn't hurt me or anything, she just got upset and went to her room- but she came back in a few minutes in the depths of humility and appologized. It was amazing to me to see how fast she changed her attitude, and really how much love she had for me. It made me want to be a much more caring brother/father/ faithful priesthood man.

We are going to get some flowers today for our appartment. We have been cleaning near every day a little bit, and we just really felt the spirit tell us that we needed to take some time yesterday and clean. This appartment belonged to some people before the missionaries. There are lots of stories about it. Elder Stahle cleaned it before I got here, but he didn't get it all, and the Spirit needed us to clean it if we wanted it to continue to dwell with us.

These pictures were from Elder Gurney's camera card. The computer recognizes his. So you get some this week!

We are really seeing a whole lot of blessings. Teresa is coming along, we pushed her date back to the 19th of June, because she has to go out of town, and teaching with 5 kids and all the stress that goes along with it is not too quick and easy. But she is really loving and learning by the spirit. It is amazing. The Bitner family is also doing great. They have a daughter Nyia who has gone to the hospital twice now because she stopped breathing in the middle of the night. As we were thinking about what to teach them, Lovetta's story came to mind as a good example of faith in the Lord no matter what happens. I think that it would really hit home and touch them. I'd like permission to use it though, and it would be more powerful in her own words too. To Lovetta: Could you write up something for me to share? Just your feelings/testimony even in the midst of your trials? I love you all and hope that you will have a wonderful week!

Love,

~Elder Owens

P.S. I didn't get sound for the movie, but it looked like a lot of fun. Telisa's testimony would be awesome to have recorded, I wish I had written mine down as an activity right when I was baptized and confirmed.

One thing that I felt I needed to tell mom was that I am indeed grateful for the lessons that she has taught me about loving animals. I remember when I was little I was capturing ants and using a magnifying glass to try to burn them with the sun, and mom scolded me. It really made an impression and since then my love for all animials all life has really grown. Carissa has also helped. The pictures were fun, I am glad that you sent them. Telisa's party looked like a sucess. The successes that I have found from the Lord have really been higlighted in the phrase: "Find Joy in the Journey. I am definetely sure that this life is not ment to be full of sadness and misery every single day. But when those days do come, I am glad for the humility and closeness to the Savior that they bring. I am glad that she likes interviews. I agree with her, those men are so kind and they are really there for our blessing. The Bitners asked the other night about the priesthood, and if it were only the men who were able to hold it. I answered: "The priesthood is the power of God given to men to serve as He would, Elder Gurney and I have had a whole lot of fun experiences this past week. It has been great to serve with him so far. We helped Teresa paint her new house, we gave her another blessing. He spoke in Sacrament meeting, and Brother Lopez had us over for dinner. He is fixing up a house(a big old one) for someone else, and they are letting him stay there while he does. He had a bonfire and invited the owner of his house and a friend over for ice cream. The friend had just gotten cancer, was in the hospital about to die, and his mom asked many congregations from different churches to pray for him. Miraculously his cancer disappeared, the doctors couldn't explain it, he just got up and started walking around. He kept asking us: "is that possible?" Do you believe it? Was that an answer to those prayers? He kept saying "but I don't understand, is it because I lived a good life before, and tried to help the poor and give of what I had?" I have tried to live a good life, and when the mormons came and visted me in the hospital they prayed with me and had me say a prayer, they told me that it wouldn't be selfish just to ask for that blessing. Then just so quickly I was up and walking around and the doctors were looking at me as if I were a god." We weren't able to teach him much. He isn't the type to listen to us, even when he asked us questions, he didn't really want to know the answers. "Be comforted" "have faith" "repent" "come follow me" The way to understand sprititual things must be done BY us, not done TO us.

Love, Elder Owens

Bye!

Dear Family,

I offered to play hymn number 142 Be Still my soul- but I can only play the right hand, and I am not that great at it. It will be such a blessing for Skyler to be able to play the piano. (We ended up singing A-cappella in Gospel Principles.) Writing things down is definitely something I have learned to do as a missionary. I carry a notebook with me everywhere so that I can write down Spiritual promptings when they come- otherwise I forget way too easily and quickly. Anyway we are going to Oneonta to play some sports with my district today, so I've gotta run, :D but I am glad I got to hear from you. Thank you so much for all you've done. I love you so much. I love You mom. I love you Dad, I love all of you Melody especially has been in my thoughts and love. Lovetta and Tom are such great examples of love and fun. I love them, I love Skyler and his obedient Spirit, I think he is blessed with the gift of knowledge and wisdom from what I remember. I love Telisa and she is such a joy to our family, I love playing with her and she is so much fun and is always so happy at the important-but seemingly small things in life. Have a great week!

Love, Elder Trezor Sheen Owens

We learned about inviting the Divine Companionship of the Spirit by our conversation. I gave a talk yesterday to our branch about being unified. I told them about Pres Bulloch's three questions to ask before saying anything. "Is it true? Is it Necessary? Is it kind?" As I have tried to do that this past week we have gotten much closer as a companionship. We are more unified than ever. I am so grateful for all that Elder Stahle has taught me. He has really been a strength. We were talking with a lady who was trying to make fun of me. She was like "is he new at this? He doesn't sound very sure" Elder Stahle told her: "No. He know what he knows, and I know that he knows it and that it is true." I felt the spirit testify to her of the truthfullness of what I was saying as well. I know that God does love us, that He cares about what we go through, and that He answers our prayers. I have prayed about the Book of Mormon and know it to be the word of God. This transfer has taught me to be a more powerful servant of the Lord, and I am able to lead out effectively. I feel much more confident in the strength of the Lord. I know that I am weak and not able to do anything of myself. But I am led by the Spirit frequently to do things in power and with authority from God. I turn to God for help when I need Him, and I do all that I can to put His will before mine. I feel that Teresa is very prepared and is going to overcome the things life has thrown at her since she committed to be baptised. We see her on wednesday and are going to set her with a date then. I know that the love that God has for His children is infinite, and I was able to feel a little bit more of that love which He has for the saints in this branch. I am going to do my very best to only grow in that love, and extend it to more of God's children, and not let it diminish, for I know that as my expectations-and I would say that those are linked to love for the human soul- decrease, so does my effectiveness. May you have as great a week as I've had, In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen
~Elder Owens.

Dear Family,

I thought of you often during conference, and was so glad for the things that you have taught. I think that you did apply the 2nd thing that Sister Lant talked about- Testifying spontaneously. Things like light houses turning our vision to the Gospel. Things like my name reminding me to search for that light. You testified subtly all the time of gospel truths, and I didn't realize it. We have an investigator here in Norwich who loves light houses. (Ruth Sutton) Everything she owns has either Pillsburry doughboy, snowmen, flip-flops, or light houses on it. Hahahaha, she is interesting. We had 36 investigators here when I arrived. Elder Stahle is a very solid missionary, and I am so excited to be working with him. There is a lot going on in Norwich right now. We are finding many people to teach. I am still un-familiar with the area and many of the streets. I haven't been out of the city of norwich to tract or do anything other than go to dinner yet. (The other cities in our area I couldn't tell you yet cause I haven't gone there) It isn't too big of an area though. There are Elders in Greene, and there are some in Hamilton, and some in Delhi. We had about 8 people committed to come to conference, and 1 watched it online(Ruth) and 1 came(Melissa) Melissa is an awesome story. She heard about my space a while ago, created an account, and then one of her friends from utah told her that he could get in touch with the missionaries for her. She said that would be fine, so the MTC called her, and the missionaries said something that touched her so she decided to come to church. She walked from her house(about 1-2 miles) to church. (That was the week before I got here) After walking in she said "I want to learn more about your church." She has 4 children of baptismal age(And a husband). We asked her about conference and she said "it was ok". what stood out to you? "Well, it was a lot of information" (That was Elder Stahle talking to her) -I was still writing down what the spirit was telling me- I then had the opportunity to bear my testimony to her of the atonement, of the truth that I know. I know that Heavenly Father does hear our prayers. I know that we can be forgiven, and that through the atonement we can find peace, have joy, in the midst of our trials. I know that it was true when they said we need to calm our lives to be ready to listen to the spirit. Not just external, but internal. I know that as you do so, you will also feel the spirit teach you, and it will be an experience unlike any other. -I saw the spirit testify to her of what I said

Week 21

Not much time this week. The library closes early on tuesdays. I am also packing for transfers! I am going to Norwich to serve with Elder Stahle. (Stay- lee)

I was glad to get your e-mails this week they were great! I am sending a few things back home that I don't use and that don't fit. Hope you have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Owens

Week 20

I don't have really any time but this past week has been awesome! I have really enjoyed it! We taught 19 lessons! On friday and saturday we found 3 new investigators and we really felt the spirit strongly when we were teaching a man who we have a language barrier with but brought a member with us (Bro. Pierre- who wants to move out to Utah to live) He read the first vision in french (brought by bro pierre) and we just sat there and watched him read it, but we could feel the spirit testifying to him that it was true. After he finished he said ok a couple times and thought a little bit longer and then said "This is very important". That simple phrase is so true. I loved it. Then after the lesson was over we walked out of his apartment(a tiny place with his wife and 5 kids living in 2 rooms total) and it was like walking into a different world. The spirit was so strong in the one, and so apparently absent in the other, it was powerful. Hope you have a great week! Thank you for the pictures and for the stories and e-mails, I really appreciate them and your support. We went to Howe caverns today for our district activity. (I didn't think to bring my camera) oops. It was a lot like Timp Cave, I will send some pictures next week(Transfer calls this weekend! already!) So that will be on tuesday.

I am going on exchange with and Elder(Vogelsane) Who is from southern CA Right next to where Melody is living(Adjecent city- Lake Forest) today. But I am out of time now, so talk more next week!

Love,

Elder Owens

Week 17

My Companion- Elder McBride and I have really tried to focus our daily planning sessions more and make it a time of revelation, a time where the Lord can tell us were we need to go. On friday night we choose some streets based on what felt right, and then compared streets. We tracted the next day the ones that were in common, and one that we each felt more strongly towards. So we started tracting, and Elder McBride felt inspired to start talking about family at the second door we knocked on. This 70 year old man has lost a wife, and ~3 kids, so family was a very sore spot for him, and he told us that if we hadn't choosen to talk about family, he wouldn't have been receptive to us at all, but we were able to testify of eternal families and left him with a family proclamation. This is just one example, we have had quite a few of these experiences, but this one was especially cool because when I shared it in Sunday School it tied into the lesson really well and I think that the members of the Branch needed to hear it. They feel like this is a hard area and that not much progress can happen. I have been trying hard to keep my expectations and my faith high, and I hope that they will start to have a greater zeal for missionary work soon. We started teaching a family- Stephanie and John who have 3 kids. Neither have a religious back ground, and they were really open to having us teach them. I see great potential in them and know that they would be an awesome addition to the branch and it would help get the members excited if they were to see a little success. There does need to be work put in though, I think that sometimes they feel like it should be handed to them on a silver platter, Because I feel that way a lot of times too. We have zone conference tomorrow, I am way excited for it! We have a lot of lessons planned for this week, I hope to pick up a few more investigators and help those we have start to progress.

Do you have any questions for me? Anything specific you want to know about Elder McBride? Have a great week!

Love,

~Elder Owens

P.S. Funny story- That man that we talked to about families, His name is Ed, as we said that it was a pleasure talking to him and were exchanging names, I said Elder Anderson was my name. hahahaha, it was funny, I was like "wait, no it isn't!" it is Elder Owens!

Week 15

Dear all who read this-my Beloved brethren and sistren ;),

I am excited about this next transfer. Elder Anderson is getting transfered to Syracuse, it will be his first walk area. (he has been out for about 14 months.) I am staying here in Hudson/Claverack, my new companion I meet tomorrow- Elder McBride. I don't know much about him other than he is a little quieter than Elder Anderson(Who isn't very loud) and about my height with blond hair, and he is an awesome-or as Elder Anderson said: "solid"- missionary. I am loving being here in Hudson, when we first got here, the missionaries before us probably hadn't been as diligent as they could have been, and so the area was suffering, we didn't have much to work from, so we have done a lot of finding by ourselves, and really trying to get the trust of the members, and their excitement about missionary work up. There is a big difference from when we first started, there is an excitement in the air, a different feeling/spirit here now. I went on exchange to an area that was less diligent than ours, and when I came back I could just feel a re-newing, a greater zeal for the work, a love and power. It was indescribable, but things are doing awesome here. We saw a lot of miracles happen this past week. There were some people we ran into who were spiritually dying/dead, and because they allowed us to come in and teach them, we saw the spirit work in their lives and touch their hearts. (John and Stephanie-who have 3 kids a 4 year old daughter, a 2 year old daughter and an 18 monthish old son-) One of the things that I think we often don't understand or focus on is faith. Faith being a principle of power. Faith isn't just a belief in Christ. When we have True faith we are able to do things otherwise impossible. Faith is the way by which we overcome. All things-sin, physical barriers, emotional challenges, percieved barriers for the work, all these can be overcome with faith. Something from a general authority that I really liked from the 1975 october conference- You mean you are going to convert the world!? Yes. But that is impossible! Perhaps, but we will do it anyway.

You are going to find people to teach and baptise in New York, in a "hard area"? Yup. But that is impossible! Perhaps, but we will do it anyway. In God's own way and time, we will do it. That is the message that I share with you. Do it. Find those opportunites for Missionary work. We are out to preach the Gospel to the World. There is always something to be done, and a way prepared to do it. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love, Elder Owens

Week 14

Some of the things that Elder Anderson really appreciates are good sunsets and Music. So we stop and take a few pictures during dinner of the sunset sometimes. These two I thought turned out the best.

I liked the silohette of him taking the picture, and then the other one was another day, it doesn't really capture the effect unless you are there, but it was amazing. I love how everything can point to Christ. Sometimes it is fun to make connections. How does a rock point to Christ? Well, moses getting water from the rock-water being life giving substance- had to smote it. So too did people smite Christ, and He brought forth the Living waters. How do trees point to Christ? The tree of life is the love of God, Christ is the olive tree which we are branches of, etc. Everything can point to Christ, sometimes we just don't immediately see how. I love music and the spirit that it brings. I bought a hymn book in the mtc(a mini one) and since Mom sent me mine, I was able to loan mine to an investigator who wasn't progressing(So we don't see her regularly-Barbra-) but needs comfort, and I am so glad that music is available to bring comfort to our soul when there is no one else around. Thats about all I think.- my E-mail account still wouldn't upgrade, so this e-mail address is still fine until further notice.
Have a great Vallentines day!
~Elder Owens

Week 13

Here is a news update from Trezor. Trezor is in the city Claverick. It seems somewhat rual compared to Albany He goes to the Library to email which is the size of a house, and they don't charge late fees for books. He says it has been mild weather the last two weeks and he hasn't needed gloves or a coat on a few of the days.

He and his companion where with the Branch Pres. I think, The Buhler's They went over some misssionary tools and goals. such as share a pass a long card with someone, have a gospel conversation, but really the key is to listen, love, and build a relationship. You can testify of things that will make them happier. Have you set any missionary related goals? Would you like suggestions? Preach My Gospel Pg 167.