Mi Querida Familia,
So President Taylor allowed us to have email time today even though its not P-day. I just wanted to thank you all for the wonderful phone call and the many pictures and videos you sent. Out of all the gifts in the world, hearing your voices yesterday was the best of all.
I don't have much time to write today because I've been busy watching the videos from Christmas Eve, but here is a quick little update on our area.
I have a new companion, his name is Elder Mendoza and he's from Ecuador. This guy is a such a fun companion. We don't have too much in common, but we are really able to connect when it comes to the missionary work. I've found that as long as I focus on the work, its impossible to have a bad companion. And Elder Mendoza has a lot of optimism and faith. Literally after every lesson that is in the least bit successful, he comes away saying "they are going to get baptized." Its awesome!
I am going to relate two lessons to you all that we had this week: the first was with an awesome family, very religious and have great values when it comes to church. The were very accepting of having us come in and teach them, even on a Saturday Morning. the lesson was by the book, Preach My Gospel worthy, and the Sprirt was there testifying, but something was slightly off. We invited them to baptism and they flat out rejected it. As the lesson came to and end we realized that they weren't really interested in looking for a new church. Oh and we taught the lesson in English.
Later that weekend, we taught another family, in Spanish. Right off the bat, something was different. We got to know the family before the lesson started, we asked them questions such as what the kids liked to do and such. We taught the Restoration and as i related the Joseph Smith story, the Spirit especially testified to everyone in that room. The parents were interested, the accepted the baptismal invitation as long as they knew these things were true. the father asked a question about the trinity, and we were ableto answer his concerns using the Bible, and they came away understanding the doctrine of the God head and accepted it.
What do we learn from these two experiences? Apart from the fact that teaching in Spanish is a lot more effective than teaching in English, we learn that it doesn't matter how effective we explain the Gospel as missionaries, it always boils down to the agency of the people we visit. The Spirit can only truly testify when the investigators are listening with an open heart and mind, humble enough to accept that there is something better out there in this world. I've taught many Restoration lessons on my mission, and the latter experience I realted ranks probably as the best discussion I've been a part of. We are super excited for this family and hope they will progress.
Anyways that's all I have time for today. I love you all and wish you a Happy New Year! Jane is such a cute little sister! Make sure you let her do stuff on her own though ok? Let her excercise her agency a little bit.
Have a great Christmas Break. I can't wait to get back to work and start seeing a few more miracles this next transfer. All of it depends on whether or not we will get members out with us.
Con Amor,
Elder Powley
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