Brim with Joy

So that´s my subject cuz seriously this week was off the charts incredible!!!  Seriously like Ammon exclaims in Alma 26:11 (the hole chapter is now one of my favorites!).  

Saturday was MY FIRST BAPTISM!! yay!!! Little 9 yr old Josue was baptized :) it was incredible. 

Sunday the mother of two of our new converts came to church.  Bawled through sacrament and afterward told us she wants to start taking the discussions and change her life around. She said she is amazed by our example and that we have been a huge example for her in her life and the life of her children.  She said with tears streaming down her cheeks that this is what she desires for her children and that she wants to be an example for them.  So we start in an hour and a half I AM SO EXCITED!!! We went home and did our studies last night and I practically bawled through my whole personal study reading Alma 28-29 oh this gospel is so true and changes peoples lives for the better no doubt about it.

So besides this past weekend I had some neat experiences as well... I´ll share one that was real neat.  We were tracking in the streets earlier this weak when suddenly we found ourselves walking behind a father and daughter.  I started thinking about dad and walking with him.  That got me missing him and a little homesick.  I smiled at the picture perfect moment and then the words, ¨Today I walk with thee...¨came into my mind.  Although I am far away from home.  Dad it will be another year plus until we meet again but I in that moment I had the surety that my Heavenly Father was walking with me and that he will for the next year and a half.  I am so grateful to have the companionship of my Heavenly Father in the mission.  It is hard at times but man it is rewarding.  Never has my heart been so full.  I am so grateful to be serving at this time and excited for the success we are seeing! P.S. we had a cute girl Sole assistir a la iglesia ayer!! YAY!! Finally someone came to church! 

Much love 

Roheyhuy  (maybe it is misspelled but it means I love you in Guarani)

Hna Owen

                                        LOTS OF PICS

                                                        Me and Hermana T in the Church

                                                        Enjoying a Gelato  "Oh my Yum"

                                                             A Fun Pic (a beautiful pic)

                                         With Hermana T in front of the Asuncion Temple

                                                            Love these Hermana's

                                                                  My District

                                                        We made home made pizza

                                                          A Big Green Caterpillar

                                       Josue's Baptism

A Tool I Thought I'd Never Be

               Okay first off,  Dad, I promise I didn´t forget your birthday!! I sang to you and everything and had an alfajor in honor of Argentina :)  I hope your day was amazing! I love you tons!  Oh and did you get my card?? I hope you did :)

Second, Thankyou Beechers for the fun package!!! It  was the sweetest surprise!  And oh my life ALi is going to ECUADOR! MY COMP IS FROM PUJO, ECUADOR! shut up that´s so cool!  And mom thank you for the hand warmers SAVED OUR LIVES!  Paraguay is BIpolar so bipolar.  I don´t understand the weather.  Well I guess it is kinda like AZ.  It will be super hot for a few days, down poor for a few and the streets become rivers, and then it´s like 45 degrees for the following 3-6 days.  We slept with the heater by our beds again and I wore my thermal garments (need to get more cuz the are the best).  Paraguay is FREEZING right now.  Today was such a fun Pday!  Hna Toctaquiza and I made PIZZA!  I´ll try and send the pic.  And I tried making brownies but I think we burnt out our stove making the pizza... not sure :I   

So A REMINDER: please please please if you can send letters this way with my same address (I forgot AGIAN!) but addressed for Hermana Toctaquiza for her birthday.  I also forgot to mention she is in love with the movies Grinch, Hotel Transilvania, and Shrek.  She quotes them all the time and its flippin hilarious cuz its in Spanish!  The best part is you guys I AM UNDERSTANDING her!!! ahhhh serious my Spanish is the best it has been his week!   I am so happy.  Plus Hna Toctaquiza and I are studying language for 1 hour instead of just 30 minutes yay! We are reading and translating the Book of Mormon.  I think she really wants to learn English; it is so fun! One of these days I´ll write an email in just Spanish :)

So this week we got 20 lessons with members SO STOKED!  Seriously the work really picked up.  The Lord is answering our prayers.  Still strugglin to get investigators to church and SAD NEWS: we didn´t  have the baptism.  Although we are planning it for this week.  

So neat story... Saturday Hna Toctaquiza and I did divisions (we did that Saturday and Sunday... it is when we split up: I go with a sister or young woman in the ward and so does she and we visit our investigators/proselyte)  Kinda intimidating but we did it!  And Kataryn (the cute young woman who accompanied me) and I had the neatest experience.  We got a new investigator (that means they commit to baptism btdubs) named Reina (rey-ee-nah).  She is about in her 60s or so and lives with her mom (90 mas o menos) who is really sick and crippled.  

So here is what happened:  Reina came to the gate as we clapped.  We introduced ourselves, talked for a bit, and then she said I better go cuz she needed to tend to her mother.  I felt impressed to ask her if there was anything we could do for her.  She looked a little stunned or taken back I think.  haha well gee idk i guess (was the look she gave us).  She glanced up at me with a hopeful eyes and asked if we would offer a prayer.  She brought us in her house and my heart just ached as I saw her crippled mother in the chair (she reminded me of great nana).  You have to practically shout in her ear to talk to her.  We knelt around her and offered a prayer.  Then Reina´s mother asked if we would sit and stay (in really jumbled spanish almost like a moaning).  So we taught the Plan of Salvation (covering our purpose here on earth, the atonement, and the afterlife).  I felt prompted to share one of my favorite scriptures (I have discovered on my mish) John 14:18.  It is so powerful.  After Reina read it she just started to bawl and looked up at us saying Halelelujah (Praise the Lord and all that haha :)  but the Spirit was so strong.  She expressed to us how hard it was and unexpected this was to have her mother this way.  She said they just weren´t prepared.  We testified that through Christ all is possible.  He knows how to lift our burdens (Alma 7:11-12).  She told us with tears streaming from her eyes that we were angels sent from heaven to teach her.  She said bless your hearts for you are doing the Lords work.  I have never been so sure that this Gospel is true and that this work is real.  The Lord our SAvior Jesus Christ lives and we can live with him again someday.  She expressed that she felt so at peace with us and our message so I testified that she can receive this peace forever by following the example of her Savior and be baptized.  She excepted right away as her last tears traveled down her sore cheeks.  A few kisses goodbye... I kissed her mothers hands and felt the love of dear Great Nana oh my heart wasw so full.  What an incredible experience.  I am so thankful the Lord trusted me to be the tool in his hands to bring the Gospel to Reina.  I am excited to continue teaching her.  

Con Cariña (significa ¨with love¨) 

Hermana Owen

P.S.  So I am in love with the sound track from the Joseph Smith movie (is there any way you could get the music and send it to me via email?  And the Narnia soundtrack?  And the soundtrack from Prince of Egypt? haha love you all so much!! Have a wonderful week! Love Hill

Short and Sweet

Ok first off  to explain the tiger eating bambi, haha, we went to the botanical garden and there was this little museum, it was flipping hilarious.  I never thought I would be so grateful for the museums in the U.S. haha!! I was seriously cracking up. They had the oddest things, hence this picture... :)  It explains/defines it all.  

Anyway this week has been fabulous! More contacts, 13 new investigators (but no one at church) and a baptism AHHHHHH I am praying (follows through) this Saturday!!!  A little boy by the name of Josue (the one who reminds me of Briggy/TJ(cousins)  He has so much energy (its hard to keep him focused in the lessons a veces) but he is super excited for his baptism and to follow in his brothers footsteps.  He is 9 and his two older brothers Adrian (13) and Didier (15) were both baptized recently and their mom is Catholic.  We gave him a Book of Mormon (kids version) recently and it´s fun cuz he´ll sit next to me during the lessons and Hna Toctaquiza holds the book and we read together (he is learning to read as well!!)  It helps me being able to teach someone what I am trying to learn.

So a lot of the members have invited us over for Mbyeu or made us some for lunch because they know I´m a huge fan.  haha I swear that´s all Loma Pyta is going to remember me by... my love of Mbyeu.  No importa oh I wish I could just tell you everything but I want to have time to read and reply to emails that I APOLOGIZE I haven´t for a couple weeks.  I get caught up wanting to tell you all everything.

  

I found this cute book in our apartment that I just have fallen in love with and I want to keep but probably should leave it where I found it.  It´s called ¨Daily Reflections for Missionaries¨ by Garry P. Mitchell.  Anyway, thought I would share something I loved from my reading today.  This week I have been pondering what makes a missionary great... well I have been pondering a lot of things lately: prayer (a lot), the Book of Mormon, faith, etc.  ¨Remember, by the process of faith, thoughts produce an effect as literal as physical exertion.  Your thoughts more than anything else, will be the determining factor in how many people you see join the Church during your mission, and for that matter, throughout your life.¨¨(pg.201-202) I have recognized the importance of heartfelt prayer, it effects our thoughts and actions especially our faith.  So that has been my goal to increase my prayers and increase my faith.  I know that our faith is essential.

For it was our beloved prophet Thomas S. Monson who said, ¨the future is as bright as your faith¨ :) one of my all-time favorites.  ¨Your effectiveness as a missionary will be determined by your faithfulness, not your natural abilities.¨(195)

Okay and now the favor :) So it is Hna T´s bday next month (AUGUST 22) and I want to surprise her with a ton of letters!!! I seem to receive mail every week and she hasn´t had one letter while I have been her comp.  She says it is hard for her family and friends to send her things. I have been sharing my packages with her but I want her birthday to be special.

SO I am asking everyone who reads this to write (it can be as simple as a Happy Birthday and Keep the Faith) a letter this week or the next to her.  It takes a few weeks for letters to get here so send em this month!  Some people have said that their letters get sent back (not sure why) but maybe try pouch to be more safe (i think it takes the same amount of time).  The address is exactly the same as mine just substitute her name (Hermana Toctaquiza).  I think this will literally light up her world.    Oh I love her she is seriously an amazing companion!  We laugh all the time and love exchanging stories about our lives.  This would be just wonderful if ya´ll could help me out to make her first b~day away from home a special one! LOVE LOVE LOVE you all thank you thank you thank you!!

Oh and btdubs, i am learning guarani!

Con Cariña,

Hermana Owen

Hermana _________
Paraguay Asuncion North Mission
Casilla de Correo 1871
Asuncion 1831
Paraguay

(Use a Global forever stamp)

P.S.  Got a little taste of the U.S. today! We had McDonalds and FROZEN YOGURT!!! for lunch!  Oh life I miss my frozen yogurt.  It was outside of our area in a chuchi (rich) part of town. :)

Be Still My Soul

So the rest of the story to Hillary's first picture below, of the lovely tiger eating Bambi is...

                                She went to the Batanical Garden and they have these stuffed animals.  Lovely huh

Isn't She Lovely

Hola!
It´s overcast again! Halelujah because this week was hot!  Noooo!  I really don´t want it to get hot.  One of our investigators (Niko- 15)  said that winter is over and it is only going to get hotter from here on out.  Yikes! Although the rain cools it down a bit.  I am sending some photos this week! 

This week was so fun!  First off, Wednesday was jam packed and we were running 2 hours late for lunch which was at a members house in the outskirts of our area (He lives in a shack like wooden house with literally only the necesities) His name is Hno Arcenio.  The sweetest and jolliest old man.   He served us like the biggest thing of meat, a loaf of bread the size of my forearm, and a WHOLE plate of white rice... Hna Toctaquiza and I had planned to eat in 10 minutes and run.  Ya not happening... so Hna Toctaquiza had an upset stomach and literally couldn't  put half her serving down.  She looked at me expecting me to do something... ¨No no you seriously want me to eat yours too???¨ She nodded in reply.  haha uh ya no sorry there´s no way.  Well Hno Acenio was watching a soccer game on his little television while we were eating.  I had an idea... I found a bag in my backpack and while he wasn´t looking Hna Toctaquiza (it is pronounced Toe-k-tah-key-zah) gave me the go and I threw a whole handful of meet into the bag and the rest of the loaf in my back pack.  I was chewing a peace of meat in the moment... Hna T. and I couldn´t hold it in, we just bursted out in laughter but then I started choking.  Hno Arcenio turned around with a huge smile on his bony skinny little face, ¨¿Que paso?¨haha  uhhhh I tried to explain I took a ¨really big bite¨ and I was choking.  We finished and left asap with a bag of meat a half a loaf of bread in my backpack... I think he was amazed at how fast we put it all down.  haha it was hilarious.  

Speaking of eating a lot... Friday at a ward activity (we brought investigators!! score!)  I had 3 Mbeyus (pronounced: M-bay-you) Mbeyu is a popular Paraguayan food... it is my favorite (when it´s cooked well and served hot)!! It´s like a corn/flour pancake not sure exactly.  It is amazing though. 

Also this week I realized the importance of following the promptings of the Holy Ghost, as well as the power of prayer.  We had a lesson the other day with this young man Nicholas (hna Tocatquiza had felt a little unsure about entering the gate a talking with him but I thought she was joking and then not thinking much of it we did.  Nothing bad happened so don´t freak out. He just said he is ¨Agnostic¨.  He doesn´t deny there is a God but he says he is happy without one.  He laughed at my testimony as I started to bear it.  I have never felt so rejected.  The spirit literally left the second he started laughing,  you could feel it... I have never felt such a contrast.  I tried teaching him about the plan but he just wore this ¨sincere¨ yet empty cold smile on his face.  My heart ached for him,  to know the truth and for the fact that he didn´t have faith in his Heavenly Father.  Hna Toctaquiza started bearing her testimony and started to cry (cuz of the spirit) but then he places his hand on her head, she shook it off, but it was the most bizarred lesson we have ever had.  We prayed and left asap and Hna T. suggested we stop and say a prayer.  That´s when I lost it.  Not sure why, I think the situation just weirded me out and I have never met someone like that.  The fact that their was no faith in his heart and no desire to return to his Heavenly Father.  Hna Toctaquiza and I had a little heart to heart (I love her) and she asked me to offer the prayer.  The spirit was so comforting.  I finished the prayer, looked up at the stars and recieved an overwhelming feeling of peace.  The words ¨be still my soul¨ were played over in my head.  I am so grateful to know I have a Heavenly Father who loves me.  He lives as does our elder brother Jesus Christ.  We are children of God.  What a blessing to know.  Here is a quote I love from Pres. Hinckley about prayer, ¨Missionaries should get on their knees and plead with the Lord... if they will do this, a new light will come into their lives... they will come to know in a very real sense, they are servants of the Lord, speaking in his behalf.¨   Also another that mom sent me on a magnet: ¨May the sun bring you new energy by day, May the Moon softly restore you by night, May the rain wash away your worries, May the breeze blow new strength into your being, May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life.¨ -Apache Blessing

Con Cariña,

Hna Owen

                                                                          Companions ~ Hermana Owen and Herman Toctaquiza

Nigel's Baptism

Nate, Nick and Bambi

The brother's got letters so we'll share those.  We sure miss Hillary.  She's so cute with her brothers and they look up to her so much...

NICKI!!! Shut up the ¨brain storm¨ store is back!?!  Hey I have been meaning to ask you how is passing the sacrament?  You hold a special special gift buddy... that is the Authority of God.  Always remember it is the power to act in the name of your Savior Jesus Christ.  Every Sunday you pass the sacrament, you are standing as a witness of Him.  Remember Him this week :)  Glad to hear Cali was fun and that the weather is cooling down.  Give nate a kiss and hug for me and tell him happy late birthday for me :) love you so much bud!! xoxo love Hillary

NATE!!!! DOOOOOGGG!!!SUp man seriously stop you´re growing up so much!  You´re starting to look like a young flippin man instead of a little boy!! what the what the what the!! Well... HAPPY 15th!!! I sang you Happy Birthday yesterday morning just for your information and celebrated by eating some birthday cake... it was Nigel´s birthday and baptism yesterday (a cute little boy in our ward- his mom is the one that reminds me of Tiff Burbige)  Awh bud I love you so flippin much!!  How is faith in God ?  isn't that what the young Men work on??     SHUT UP!! We got Nate´s big red suburban!!! ahhhhhh YES! Please keep it until i get home!!! What no no your drove it!??   Love you bud!  thank you for your words of wisdom and encouragement xoxo

Love Hillary

Besides the boys emails, this picture below was all we got this week :(   There was no caption.  We don't know what this is about. We think it's hilarious.  We are just laughing that this is all we got this week.  Hahahaha.  There was a note about pictures, but this is the only one that came thru.  Poor Bambi.   So, stay tuned until next week when we'll share "the rest of the story" !!!

Chipa! Chipa! Chipa!

It’s awesome when we catch Hillary on line.  These were some quick interactions and answers to our emails.  It takes 5-10  min to receive anything back and her time is so limited… (as most of you know).  But I thought I’d share, it shows some cute insite… (and as you see her typo’s you know she doesn’t have much time J )

1.

and i´m on!  but reading and writing you guys while hna toctaquiza and i enjoy a random combination of chipa (a popular cheese bread here) and caramels :)

2.

Dad thank you so much love you tons oh and my mish pres knows the Burtons!! i went to school with zach burton (jaren´s age)  i think his dads name is dean? They live in mesa, i thought they were in our stake maybe not.

3.

have so much fun in Cali! i miss you!  surf some waves for me!! sometimes i get wiffs of california here, not sure why, it is weird but i love it! and sometimes the weather is just like CA!  choa bud! I’m eatin chipa (a popular cheese bread here) and caramels as i sit here and write ya haha love hillary

4.

:Nate, ) xoxo enjoy cali for me!! so jealous! but not really this work is incredible and paraguay is so cool.  i am learning more and more each day!  the language is still in the running.  i understand about the same (15-20%)  but all is well.  i recognize if i am obedient i can be a better tool in the lord´s hands. :) love hillary

Week 10 Letter:                   Chipa! Chipa! Chipa!

Okay just met our new mission presidents today!  President and Hermana McMullin (I think that is how you spell it) and they are wonderful!  Pres. McMullin looks like what´s his face on… oh now i am forgetting the movie ... oh yes parent trap.  He looks like the dad. (I can never remember songs or movies down here).  

Today the sun is shining and not a cloud in sight! It is just beautiful!  The past three days have been perfect.  A nice change from the cold overcast days.  Plus, the best part is the stars come out at night. Oh the stars are absolutely one of my favorite gifts from Heavenly Father.   

This week has been wonderful!  So every week we set seven goals and if we achieve all seven goals all seven days of the week it is called siete por siete. We got siete por siete this week!  I got 75 contacts as well!  Oh we were so excited.  With each of these goals comes promised blessings.  For example, with the 7x7 we are promised more baptisms and with the 75 contacts we are promised that we´ll have someone at church every sunday! :)  Yet there is no way we could have achieved these goals on our own.  It is by and through the Lord that these goals were met.  Through prayer and submission to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  We are teaching a little boy (whose name is Josùe) and we have him set for baptism July 13th!  Crazy right!  It is kinda hard teaching a youngster after getting used to teaching people my age and older, but so fun.  He makes the lessons entertaining. He is so anxious.  He cracks me up. Reminds me of Briggy or TJ Mortensen(cousins).  His two older brothers have both been baptized and they live with their mom who is Catholic.  She is adorable, her name is Clara and last Tuesday we made dinner at their house and shared a lesson.  It was quite the adventure.  We made an Ecuadorean dish (from Hna Toctaquiza) yet half the time we were cooking with the light from two candles and our cell phone because the power kept going out.  It always does at their house.  The dish was delicious: rice, chicken, some sauce NO IDEA what, corn, peas, onions, peppers, carrots, and some other stuff. yum. 

Speaking of food, that´s all I think about!! haha No, psych but I definitely look forward to meals here cuz we go along time sometimes before we receive any.  Yet this week was exciting... Hna Toctaquiza and I grabbed some dulce de leche ice cream on the way home one night!  holy yum.  I have some pics!  Also thought you guys would find it funny... every two hours or so you can here a car or motor bike riding around yelling ¨Chuuuuda Chuda Chuda, Chuda!¨ through their little microphone things.  Or ¨Chipa Chipa Chipa!¨  I have been practicing saying it like they do through the microphones and Hna Toctaquiza thinks I should get a job selling Chipa or Chuda.  Not sure what Chuda is but Chipa is this popular cheese bread everyone sells and makes here.   

The Spanish is still in the running.  I feel like no one understands my questions but that´s okay all is well.  I just gotta work harder and maybe make my language study more beneficial.  

Oh I wanted to tell you all about an investigator: Martha Rosa Correa Perez.  She is one diva.   She is hilarious!  We love her though!   She was a reference from the Elders in our district.  They told her about conference and she like wants to go this coming year!  haha She has 3  no maybe 4 small dogs and like who knows how many cats.  They are like her children (although she has real ones) and there is fur everywhere.  Okay but the first lesson was amazing!  She accepted baptism right away.  She was so accepting and agreed to almost everything we said.  We watched the Restoration video the other day with her, which was really powerful.  She recently came out of surgery so hasn´t been to church yet... so the baptism will be postponed a bit.  We teach her by her bed side usually and she always has her daughter make us chocolate caliente.  :)  We are excited though because we have a few others committed to baptism this month and she is one we are really praying will follow through. I can tell she is ready.   I know the Lord prepares people for us.  In fact, mañana a sweet sister in the ward is going to accompany us to our visit with Martha.  This is one thing we have been implementing in the last week or two: missionary work with the members.  It is not only helping the mission work increase, but strengthening the members as well.  I love the ward more and more every week. They are all so wonderful!

I have been teaching Hna Toctaquiza ¨Come Come Ye Saints¨ in English as we walk in the streets.  It´s a ton of fun! :)

Here´s a quote for the week.  I have been reading about Humility in this cute little book I found in our apartment (speaking of which I totally deep cleaned today and it felt amazing!):      ¨How does one get humble? To me, one must constantly be reminded of his dependence.  On whom dependent?  On the Lord.  How remind one´s self?  By real, constant, worshipful, grateful prayer.¨ What a a blessing prayer is.  What a privilege.  The Lord God all-mighty, all-powerful, all-knowing invites us to communicate with him on a daily basis and address him as one of the apostles put it, ¨As Father... and there is no appointment to be made.¨  We can pray to him anytime anywhere.  May you know how much I love you all yet most of all how much our Heavenly Father loves you.  You are all in my prayers. xoxo

Con Cariña, 

Hermana Owen

P.S.  I need some ideas for a simple yet fun ward activity that we could do this coming month with our ward. we are in charge of planning or coming up with the activity and my mind is completely blank.

P.S.S.  I was curious if any of you have a neat experience with tithing or the word of wisdom (two things I have a testimony of but no stellar experience to really make it apart of my heart) you would be willing to share??  

Freezing and Well Fed

It is freezing here!!  Well this past week we had a couple freezing days!!  I literally had 6 layers (shirts) on.  Plus rain on top of that, on and off.  The weird things is that it just like ¨mists¨ all day long. Sometimes it is like soft rain but tons!! Its bizarre.  No bugs so far.  I am praying i don´t find any but I am pretty sure we have a mouse in our apartment.  Our apartment is freezing when it is freezing outside and hot when it is hot outside.  Last night Hna(hermana, which is sister in spanish) Toctaquiza and I slid our beds close together and put the heater in between (I slept in my thermals, sweatshirts, pj pants, two pairs of socks, and three blankets.  haha but I finally got some sleep! We have been exhausted cuz we freeze every night and can´t sleep.  Last night was fabulous though!  So we have a heater we use when we study.  We turn it on down by our feet... it is wonderful.  My favorite part about our study is that we have little french doors/patio (it´s all off of our front room)  that lets in a ton of light (on sunny days) and you can see trees and tops of houses.   Our apartment has a kitchen, two bathrooms, study/living room, bedroom, and room with closets for clothes.  It´s pretty nice.

This week has been absolutely amazing!!  We found a new investigator (Aida and her son Matias)  They are amazing!  We taught her the first lesson and gave her the Book of Mormon.  We went back the next day to find she had already started reading it and said she felt such peace as she read it.  Ahhhh yay!  We taught her about the Holy Ghost and the Plan of Salvation.  She wasn´t able to attend church (it is so hard to get people to attend down here)  but she and her son said they would prepare to be baptized on July 13!!! What!?  No I am serious!! I have never been happier!! Oh my life it is the greatest thing in the world to see the gospel take effect in one´s life.  Oh I am falling in love with the mission.  This week the Lord helped me focus and I didn´t miss my family like at all.  I wasn´t distracted with thoughts from home or anything.  Oh, life is wonderful.  The ward (area of members that total anywhere from 100 to 200 members) is just fabulous. They feed us TONS!  I am eating a lot.  I am going to come home twice the size I was haha, nah but I eat a lot.  I am hoping to walk it all off.  We walk everywhere.  

Which reminds me, I wanted to say thank you thank you thank you for the shoes, the gloves (megan and nana), the rain coat, and everything that I came prepared with.  My feet could never be happier.  The streets are rough: literally dirt and rocks the size of your fists just spread everywhere.  It's especially bumpy when riding the bus.  Anyway the ward... I love the members.  One family we eat dinner with every Sunday... the mom reminds me of Tiff Burbidge.  Hno Pablo (her brother) drove us around the other day (we were in the bed of his truck).  I was so thankful cuz it was the FREEZING cold day and I couldn´t feel my feet or face anymore.  He came and picked us up to accompany us to our visits with invesitgators.  He also brought us this meat on a stick (azadito- which was so flippin chewy i was working one peace of meat for like 3 minutes!) with mandioca (a root like potato).  Then some members gave us these hot corn pancake fried things called Mbeyu which warmed our tummies as we drove around in the cold.  After not much success with investigators (not one was home and it was freezing) Hno Pablo treated us to Lomito Arave (burrito type things).  They are delicious.  They don´t have much sauce or salsa down here.  Mainly mayonaise and/or coleslaw.  But the Lomito Arave burritos were amazing!  I was definitely stuffed by the end of the night. haha  

Oh  the past few days have been extremely wonderful.  Hna Toctaquize and I are growing in our companionship.  I am learning how important communication is, especially when you both speak a different lanuguage. She is helping me a ton with the language because all we speak is Spanish.  I feel I am comprehending about 15-20% which is exceedingly better than a week or two ago. Ward members say I am doing exceedingly well, having only been here for 20 days which makes me happy :)  Also Hna Toctaquiza says she sees me improving every day despite the fact that those we teach never seem to understand me (which can be frustrating).  The past few days I have had a special prayer (speaking of prayer mom ;)) in mind for each day.  First was happiness, then faith, then strength, and today gratitude.  As I have focused on one thing a day I realize it is possible.  I can do this.  I am loving the work and the Lord is helping me see the joy in this work.  Here is an incredible quote our district leader shared with us this week:  ¨I cannot promise you fun. I cannot promise you peace and comfort. I cannot promise you freedom from discouragement from fear, from downright misery at times.  But I can promise you that you will grow as you have never grown in a similar period during your entire lives.  I can promise you a happiness that will be unique and wonderful and lasting.  I can promise you that you will reevaluate your lives, that you will live closer to the Lord, that prayer will become a real and wonderful experience, that you will walk with faith in the outcome of the good things you do.¨ -Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

I know without a doubt that as we give ourselves to the Lord we find Him and he WILL make us a new self image.  Our countance will relfect the light of Christ.  May we all remember our Savior this week and what he has done for us so that we might be more willing to give our lives to him as he so willingly did for us.  Love you all so much. I apologize this letter is so long and I feel like I didn´t even get to tell ya´ll everything I wanted.  Esta bien!  Choa Choa!

xoxo

Hna Owen

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"We become what we want to be, by consistently being what we want to become."

                   -Richard G. Scott