Transfer Day

So I thought I would be kind and tell you about transfers first:

I AM STAYING IN MOUNTAIN HOME!!!

What?!?! I was pretty shocked when we got the call. Super excited but really shocked. I will have been here for 7 months and I am really okay with it :) I love it here and the people here are like family now. We came to the conclusion that it will stink to leave because it will be like leaving family all over again! haha I know there is still work for me to do here and people here that I need to find and I am so excited that I have the opportunity to do that for the Lord. I feel so blessed. Now the sad news is Sister T is leaving, she is going to Jerome, but she is going to be with a really sweet sister. Sister Bautista is my new companion. The funny thing is that her and I last time I saw here we were talking and she was like "Sister Owsley we are going to be companions" and I said " Ya we are because it would be amazing!" so the Lord really knows and apparently we were inspired! haha I am really excited and sad all at the same time Sister T and I have been through a lot and I have learned a lot from her and I am so happy that I have had her as a companion.

Well this week lets see....

Monday we met with the Watsons they have been coming to Church and It has been awesome. I love them so much and they have really opened up to us and its been really amazing to see them grown closer to each other and the Lord! I really is a testament that the Lord works miracles in peoples hearts.

Tuesday we met a Lady her name is Mary and she is so sweet her husband was a member of the Church and she has taken all the missionary lessons until her husband passed and she stopped. She said she was going to be baptized. we asked her if was something she still was interested in. She said she wasted to learn it again because it has been a few years. so we have started meeting with her and I am so excited for her she has such a big heart and is the kind of person to help people out regardless and it was really powerful to hear her story.

Wednesday night we met with Jackie she is one of our newer investigators. We talked about the Plan of Salvation. It was so amazing the spirit was really there touching her heart. She is another religion and so she was a little overwhelmed by everything she said it was weird because it went against everything she was taught but she kept saying she felt like she knew it was right! We invited her to baptism and she accepted!! She really has been growing so much it was funny because she told us that she researched for 3 hours on Lds.org before coming because she wanted to be prepared! she also came to church on Sunday!! she sat behind us with a member and she kept saying how much she loved it! WHAT!?!?! The spirit has really prepared her and touched her life its amazing to be a part of her journey.

Thursday was a lot of planning nothing super exciting

Friday I went to Boise for my appointment and it dumped rain we almost didn't make it back in time for the 1st wards missionary activity! But we did and The activity went fantastic! We had an ice cream bar and we showed the restorations. there were some non-members there and we also got a lot of referrals so it was quite a success!

Saturday we met with Courtney and she told us she got accepted to the program in Indiana and she will be gone for 8 weeks!!!!!! AHHH I am so sad to see her go but I know it will be so good for her and that means so much that Heavenly Father has answered her prayers!

We had an awesome Sunday too! we had both the Watsons and Jackie at Church! we had dinner with the Gallup's and they made breakfast pizza and it was oddly Delicious! We have really been working with our wards better. The funny thing was I was talking about what we did as ward missionaries and they wanted to talk to Felicita to know what they should do. I was laughing It has made me so grateful for all the awesome examples I have had in my life. I am so happy to be on my mission its hard work but so worth it. I have learned so much and have grown and I would'nt have traded it for anything in the world! Love you all and I am so happy that everything is going well!

Love you lots

#itsnotgoodbyeitsc-yalater

Love,

Sister Owsley

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Easter

On the way to the Temple....She is on the right

Easter!

Seriously there is something about Holidays that as a missionary you aren't to fond of them. Easter is supposed to be about remembering Christ and what he did for us and I loved it so much being a missionary. But super bowl, Christmas, Spring Break, Easter... Everyone is out of town or cancels because of Family in town! Ughh! Needless to say we had a lot of Cancelled appointments this week. We had more cancelled appointments than lesson..Combined! We did however have a baptism this week and that was awesome as always!

Monday was Sister T's birthday an we celebrated true missionary style with Spaghetti and Scatterball at the stake center. Tuesday we had a district meeting and we were supposed to meet with Lisa afterwards but she cancelled again and so we went over to Courtney's. She is doing awesome however but she did just tell us on Saturday that she is leaving for 8 weeks to go to Indiana for Treatment so I probably wont see her till after my mission which makes me REALLY sad! We also me with he Spencer's on Tuesday night. they cooked us amazing BBQ and dad could have been impressed it was so good! We didn't teach a whole lesson because 2 of the Kids were out of town and they wanted to wait for them. But both Bobbie and Jason were at church on Sunday! Wednesday was rather boring lots of planning because we had to move it up a day We had a lesson with the Elders at Tereas' and it went well she really is taking steps in the right direction and she is growing closer to her Savior which is so amazing to see. Thursday we got to go to the temple which is always awesome it makes me really miss working in the temple and being there every week it really was such a huge blessing in my life and I see that now. We rode with a member from the Sisters area and she was so funny we had a blast and she was so kind to us. Friday was awesome! we got to do yard work in the morning at Sister Parsons, never thought I would say I missed doing it but it was so fun. I also got to go to Boise!!! whoohoo it was funny I went with Sister Baxter while sister T stayed here because we had an appointment. Sister Baxter had to stop at Costco and that was probably the weirdest thing ever to be there and be a missionary. lots of funny stares Hehe! Saturday we had Brandon's Baptism but the best part was on Sunday when his mom came up to us and told us that since Brandon's baptism the day prior that she had seen so many blessing since then. Her oldest son CJ told her that he wanted to start passing the sacrament! and that Brandon had been so nice to his siblings and all these other crazy things. It was so cool to see her see the blessing from being faithful and obedient. It was so amazing! Sunday we had dinner at Sister Parsons with her family and it was nice. There was a non-member there too which made it even better Really even though the week was hard and not the most busy it really made me reflect on why I am here and to look for all those little blessings. It reminds me of having that Attitude of Gratitude and it make me think of how grateful I am to be here and how my Testimony has grown so much and how I really know this is where I need to be right now. I love you all! sorry for the short letter this week, hopefully more next week (its transfers eeek!) LOVE YOU ALL!

#itsnotgoobyeitsc-yalater

love,

Sister Owsley

Oh the places you'll go...

Sister  Owsley and Sister T

This week has been madness... in a good way. We have been so busy and I just love it so much! haha are we shocked, not really :) We have been teaching so many people and have been getting so many lessons we are having a hard time keeping up. On the other hand though Satan is working really hard to stop people from progressing and really embracing the gospel but it only means that this is true and its the right thing to do!.

Monday: nothing really too exciting happened we played games down at the church building and what not.. we did get the car back for this past week which was fantastic! We also met with the Fosters and challenged Gabe to actually take the lessons and then decided on baptism he said he would and we were so excited! 

Tuesday consisted of a lot of changed plans which kind of stressed me out but the Savior knows what he is doing and it all worked out. We went over to Connie's house she is a non-member who we go over and do service for and she is so sweet to us. We talked with her about God's love for us and how much he really cares for her. She is a member of another church and she was really opposed to us talking about religion but after we have gotten to know her some more she has really opened up. Lisa unfortunately cancelled on us :( boo! and The spencer's had to as well, and Madison wasn't home when we went by darn it! Agency man what are you going to do? We did have dinner with the Clarks though they are a part member family that we have been trying to get to church the funniest thing was we had Deer stew and Sister Tiongson was a little ( a lot) weird out by it. It was really funny. We also got to meet with the Stinson's again it has been a long time since we have been over there and it was really awesome to go and talk with them.

Wednesday we had Zone Conference in Jerome so we were gone most of the day. it was a long day to say the least. We were gone from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m and we were inside all day! Uhgg but it was good we did get a lot out of it and we able to take a lot of new things home and ways to improve our work so it was worth it. The best part of the day though was we came home and went right to a lesson. We went to a members house and they set up an appointment to meet with one of there friends and her mom there names are Jackie and Jennie (her mom) and they are awesome  and she sat through the whole lesson Jackie had a lot of questions she really has been searching for a religion for a while and she feel like God has been leading her here. She is awesome and we committed them both to be baptized and they BOTH SAID YES!!! it was amazing!

The Highlight of Thursday was we went over to see Courtney Thursday evening and she Was really stressed out she had been having a lot of panic attacks because of her tumor and she was really stressed out. I was talking to her and telling her about my experience a few weeks ago and I brought up a priesthood blessing and she had gotten one a while back and she told us how she felt like she needed one everyday and so I told her that the blessing wasn't just for that one thing that it is for her life and it rally helped her. we did have the elders came over and give her a blessing of comfort and it truly did help her! she is awesome and it has been so amazing to see her turn to the Lord in such a critical time in her life and it has been a huge blessing to me to see it!

Friday was Perfect outside we did some service for sister Parsons and cleared out her whole front yard and It was awesome because we got to wear pants!! haha we also went to lunch with the Watsons and They told us at lunch that they were planning on coming to church this Sunday! and they did . Sister T and I had to keep out mouths from dropping on the floor! Best Feeling ever!

Saturday we had to finish some planning and lots of paperwork stuff not really fun but hey thats the work part of it right?

Sunday was truly amazing we has 3 investigators at church who had never been before! and We had 2 Less active families at church as well one of them there son got the Aaronic priesthood it was amazing!

Truly the Lord has blessed us here and he has given us so many of his children to bring the Gospel to and it has blessed my life even more! Love you all and hope you Easter week is beautiful!

This is a video that our Mission President Sent out to us: Watch and feel the Spirit of knowing that Christ is our Savior and that because of him we can live again!

http://easter.mormon.org/

Love,

Sister Owsley

#itsnotgoodbyeitsc-yalater

Maybe she really likes this drink??

Ummm OK...heheh

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So this week....

Ya for fun P-Day's @ the Dunes

Wow can I just start off by saying I have been out for over 5 months now! is that crazy or what!?!?!

I just Love it so much more and more everyday. Yes there are days I really don't want to get out of bed or talk to people, but the second I pray and get up and go do it, my day is a hundred times better. I really am amazed with how much I have grown to love the people here. That's awesome that everyone has been in contact with you guys I am sure it eases Mom's mind.

Well lets see this week was long!!! Monday we had P-day It was also Elder Howard's birthday so we had a birthday party of sorts, lots of superhero stuff. We then went to the Sand dunes here. Adam would of loved it so much! we took sleds out and surfed down the dunes it was a blast.

Tuesday was crazy. the day went really well. We met with Lisa and talked to her about baptism and why it is so important, she doesn't think she needs to be baptized because she already was but she did say she knows there is a reason for us being there and her letting us in. She told us she was a devote Catholic and she never does stuff like this. That was really amazing experience for me because it truly lets me know that there are people on the other side preparing the hearts here. We also met with the Spencer's on Tuesday night. Seriously they totally remind me of home they are hilarious and very sarcastic which is awesome! We taught them lesson one and invited them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and the Church. They said they would and we are so excited to go back this week because they watched conference and we are going to talk to them about it. 

Wednesday was crazy a lot of appointments and cancelled appointments.

Thursday we had weekly planning which took forever and a lesson with Teresa which went really well. We also had a lesson with Brandon who has a baptismal date it went well and He is just an amazing kid and has so much Christ-like love for everyone he is so excited about his baptism.

Friday we had Zone meeting in Gooding. It took forever and a day!! we did get something out of it though. Really good lunch. we found a really good sandwich shop and it was delicious. We didn't have a lot of time when we got back so all we really did was go to dinner at the Baxter's. Teresa came over there and we talk to her for a little while. She is doing amazing right now and its really listening to God and wanting to know what He wants her to do.

Saturday was Conference and It was amazing we really felt like we needed to be at the stake center for the morning session at least so we went and we found out why. One of Lisa's friends was there and we were kind of talking about Lisa and she asked us how she was doing, well after conference she came up to us and gave us this beautiful letter to give to Lisa it was amazing. Small and simple things! We went back to the stake center for 2nd session and then we had dinner at the Freers .Willow their daughter had a friend who is interested in the gospel and they invited her over she has already been reading the Book of Mormon and has some really great questions for us. It was an awesome experience. Afterwards we went over to Courtney's and talked with her and her Sister in law. The miracle is that her Sister in law always leaves whenever we come over but this time she stayed and asked us a ton of questions it was awesome we went back Sunday night to Courtney's she invited us over for dessert and her sister in law stayed again and asked us more questions. It has truly been a miracle and Courtney has seen that also and it has increased her faith.

Sunday was awesome, We went to the Baxter's for Conference and she made us breakfast and everything! Just like home... but no bingo :( It was great they have a theater room on there basement and we got to watch conference in there... and I didn't fall asleep! Really conference though was amazing and I got so much out of it. some of my favorite quotes were; "when you are wrapped up in yourself it makes for a really small package" haha that one was funny and the other favorites were "we are made of the stuff of eternity" and "its worth it!" I really cant wait to go back a reread the talks. its funny how excited I am for that!

 Its amazing how much happiness you can find when you serve others. Everyone says it but when you get up and do it, it becomes addictive and I love it so much! 

Really serving with all your heart, might and and strength and being totally immersed in this work and not worry about anything else is amazing!

 I love you all and hope you know the Lord loves you even more than I do. ( and I love you a lot! haha)

hope you week is amazing!

Love,

Sister Owsley

p.s. LOVE Sarahs package!!

P.s.s the ristines sent me a great package with an awesome cd! also Hannah K. sent me a letter which just made my day and made me smile! LOVE THAT GIRL!

Spring Beak!!

Wow this week was not what I thought it was going to be. AT ALL! It has been going good and we have more and more investigators every week. The wards are really helping us out and we have been getting so much help and support.

Monday we emailed but none of you were on :( sad day! We ate lunch with the sisters and played volleyball later that day. That night though we had an appointment with the Fosters and the Gallups in 1st ward came and we had a BBQ it was so good and it was so nice outside that day it was a balmy 70 degrees on Monday which is AMAZING!!

Tuesday we had district meeting in the morning then we all went out to lunch at Smokey mountain pizza (which is good by the way) We had an appointment with Lisa at 2 but she had to end up cancelling because of spring break. Honestly holidays are no fun on your mission because everyone in gone! But we were walking back home and Brother Oguard saw us and pulled over he told us he has a lady that he wanted us to meet. We walked over to her hair salon and he introduced us to her and we ended up talking to her for an hour and we went back later in the week and talked to her again and set up an appointment. We also had a lesson with Madison on Tuesday and with the Spencer's. The Spencer's are a part member family they're dad is a member but Bobby there mom and they 3 kids aren't so we went over for dinner and they had a lot of questions for us this time and it was awesome we told them we were going to come back and teach a lesson and they were pretty excited as were we.

Wednesday we met with a less active family and they were so nice. On our way home from there house though we met this really awesome lady Jerrie she was gardening and we stopped to talked to her ended up talking for 30min and she said she was interested and that we could come back! We also had a lesson with Steve which was interesting he read 1 Nephi 8 about Lehi's dream and he tried to interpret it and it was... interesting. He has so much knowledge and wants to know the will of the Lord which is awesome and he is so nice to us.

Thursday was supposed to be our day to plan for the coming week but it totally got interrupted when we got the most glorious phone call ever! WE GOT A CAR!!!! Woohoo just when the weather starts to get nice... Well there is a catch though we have to split the car with the Elders. We get it one week then they get it the next. But the fact of the matter is.. we have a car! and its brand new ( like right off the lot new) and it is way nicer that any other care here (I'm talking touch screen and hands free! ) haha.

Friday we had exchanges to Sister Tiongson went to Filer and Sister Dodds came here. We had a good time and that was also the night we went to Bishop Rheads house. We wentt over to Mandys and talked to her for a while about general conference. We also had a lesson with Brandon Harman who has a baptismal date and he is so excited and ready we love teaching him.

Saturday we went to Twin Falls and Picked up Sister Tiongson and we had a lot to catch up on here so we didn't do much. We did go to the Womens Brodacast and It was amazing and I cant wait to go back and re-read all those talks!

Sunday was crazy we had like 5 appontments after church which was awesome. The best lesson though was with the Watsons we talked with them and got to the bottom of both of there concerns and it really was amazing Sister Tiongson was so awesome and we both really felt the spirit working though us.

Over all this week was a whole lot more exciting then I think we thought it would be. I really love this work. Don't get me wrong it is so hard and many times I don't want to get out of bed in the morning sometimes but it is so worth it and I am so glad I am here right now when I know the Lord needs me!  Love you all and hope your week is Amazing!

#ITSNOTGOODBYEITSC-YALATER

Sister Tiongson and Sister Owsley at dinner with the Rheads