My LDS Mission
It’s hard to sum up my LDS mission in just one blog post. I met so many incredible people, learned so many beautiful things, and really grew to know my Savior Jesus Christ. It was such a special 18 months of my life! I got called to serve in the Texas Houston Mission, speaking Spanish. I was there from March 2013- September 2014.
I remember my very first day in the mission field. I hadn’t experienced Houston weather before, so I was shocked at how much it rained in such a short period of time. Everywhere was flooded, and we were walking through puddles up to our shins in my brand new missionary shoes. I was standing there wondering what I had gotten myself in to when a huge bolt of lightening fell from the sky and hit a telephone pole twenty yards away. I took off running, leaving my missionary companions in the pouring rain. They later found me at the car.
One of my favorite areas to serve in was Bear Creek. One day, my companion and I were tracting in a humble little apartment complex near Katy, Texas. A nice man named Selvin answered the first door we knocked on. He was a few years older than us, and had come from Honduras to work. He quickly became one of my very best friends in Houston. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and baptism. We taught him the commandments, including the word of wisdom and the law of tithing. We was so quick to obey. He just wanted to make God and his family happy. He got baptized while I was still serving in Bear Creek. It was one of the happiest days of my mission! There’s nothing like seeing the people you love most make righteous decisions that bring so much peace and happiness.
There was one day I remember well that was a very difficult day for me. We hadn’t had much success finding people to teach, the weather was crazy hot and humid, and we were having a hard time as a companionship. I remember going to my closet and crying to the Lord in prayer. I just needed some help. That day people still slammed doors in our faces, we still had a hard time in the heat, but ya know what? I felt SO strengthened. God didn’t take aways my problems, but he strengthened me to help me get through them and learn from them. And I think that’s one of the greatest things I learned on my mission. God doesn’t always change our circumstances, but he changes us to that we are able to learn and grow from the circumstances we have been given.
I loved my LDS mission. The good, the bad, the ugly. I loved it all. It was such an incredible experience. I will forever be grateful for the things I learned and the person I grew to be in Houston, Texas.
Megan Owens | Idaho Photographer
