Week 51 - Clinton, Oklahoma - June 23, 2013

Mi querida familia,

 

What an awesome week!!! The Worldwide Training Broadcast last night was an especially inspiring way to finish it off. All missionaries got to attend, and our district is feeling especially excited. I think I'll address a few of the insights I had first during this e-mail.

First off, can you believe the size of that missionary choir? It was like an army! I felt so motivated and inspired. This work is real!! I loved how the apostles really focused on member missionary work. We truly are entering into a new day and age where people are honestly getting really busy, and tracting is becoming less and less effective. In fact, its more effective to talk to a random person on a street than to go and knock on their door. We received word that missionaries are starting to be allowed to use FaceBook! Whoa!!! As of right now, our mission isn't authorized...we might have to wait til 2014 because they are going to start off gradually implimenting these new technology features. But this is an exciting time. This week we've especially seen quite a bit of member activity and we've seen very positive results.

 

For example, this week Sister Toland called us up and set up a time for us to come by and help fix her neighbor's fence. We got to meet the nieghbor and set up a return appointment. We then taught them a lesson this past Friday. It didn't go super well, but a few of the kids came to church the next day. 

 

Then this week, we met with another progressing investigator and brought the Relief Society president. She is a convert of 6 years and has a powerful testimony. She also is able to connect with the investigators on a way that us as missionaries simply can't do because we've grown up in the church. The Relief Society President did a great job, and the investigator came to church with her husband and son. The son is very interested and wants to get baptized!!! After church, he was asking all these questions about how to get baptized and missions and stuff like that. He's 14, and has such a strong desire to change. Members must participate in this missionary work. I feel like a hypocrite writing these words because there is so much more I could have done before I came out on my mission. But it must happen!

 

Another miracle we saw this week came from a hispanic family we are teaching. The mom finally opened up to talk with us and you can tell that she felt the spirit of our message. We then had another lesson with the whole family and also a member present. The Spirit was felt 10 times stronger. 

Miracles happen when members and missionaries work together. 

 

Our District is also planning on starting up a Bible Study in the coming weeks. These next few weeks we're going to take time to plan and advertise. I'm really excited for this idea! I felt the idea grow even stronger as we were watching the Training Broadcast. I just hope this doesn't turn into another one of those missed opportunities that Elder Nelson talked about. 

 

Miracles are happening here in Clinton. I wish I could go on and on.

 

But the greatest miracle is the miracle of repentance. Our natures can change when we sincerely admit our sins and repent. It takes courage.

My companion is such a great example of that. I will be forever grateful for his example and his faith.

 

I love you all! Have a great week and I cant wait to write to you again!

 

Con Amor,

 

Elder Powley

Week 48 - Clinton, Oklahoma - June 3, 2013

Mi querida familia,

 

O que hermosa manana, o que hermosa dia, tengo buen sentimiento, todo se ira bien!

 

Great week, as usual! We had a baptism yesterday for our investigator named Pat. She is so amazing, 66 years old, and she was extremely humble enough to teach. The experience we've had teaching her has been incredible. She amazes us everytime we visit her. From reading the Book of Mormon every day, to numerous hilarious red-neck stories (such as burying her cat alive), we have loved every minute teaching her. The baptismal service on Saturday went according to plan even though we were running a little late because we were returning from the city. The spirit was simple yet strong. The best part of the service was at the end when Pat bore her testimony. She kept commenting on how warm she felt and how she hadn't smiled in years until she started the investigating the Gospel. Her tesimony is a great example to me, and she is one of those people you can tell is converted to the Gospel.

 

The morning of the baptism, we had the chance to hear from Elder Rasband from the First presidency of the 70. He said some very intersting things. He opened up the floor to questions, and someone asked him how he had gained his testimony. He proceeded to tell about his ancestory and how his great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was a convert from Denmark. THe missionaries found and taught him. He left his home to come to Utah, died at sea on the way there, and his wife and children finished the journey. He said that he has "believing blood". I was intrigued because usually people steer away from saying that their tesimony comes from their family; people seem to place a bad light on being Mormon jsut because your family is Mormon. But what's wrong with that? Families play such a large role in our conversion to the Gospel of Christ. I am so grateful for my grandparents who joined the church and how they've raised their children (my parents) in righteousness, which has carried on to my generation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is real. I'm a Mormon because I have believing blood in me, I know Jesus Christ is my Savior and that this is his Church. I've also had countless experiences later on in my life that have confirmed my testimony.

 

Let's see...miracles for this week: On tuesday, we had a member out with us. All our appointments fell through, so he offered to take us to Dairy Queen (even though we had already eaten dinner). I'm sad to report that we almost accepted. As we pulled into the parking lot, I felt sick to my stomach. I knew this was guilt and a withdrawl of the Spirit...a stupor of thought so to speak. I suggested we go try a few more houses. We did so and after a few more houses where no one was home, we finally found an investigator at home. We had a great lesson with a member present. THe member fellowhiped amazingly, and the spirit taught true principles. The investigator opened more about her life, and it was a great experience! Obedience is requiste for miracles!!!

 

We didn't get to see any tornados this week. One did form about 15 or 20 miles outside of Clinton but we didn't see anything because it was dark. We took shelter just before the rain and hail started to hit. Then a major one hit on Thursday, but the sky was bright and sunny and no sign of tornados. We're on the look out this week for sever weather though. We'll see what happens.

 

I love you all! Thanks for the Pictures. I'm so happy for Allie, I hope she got my letter that I sent this week. Jane looks as cute as ever. That little smile of hers seems to get everything she wants. 

 

Con Amor,

 

Elder Powley

Week 50 - Clinton, Oklahoma - June 17, 2013

Mi querida familia,

 

This week has been humbling, and successful. At the start, our companionship, was struggling. We didn't struggle with getting along, but we weren't finding anyone to teach. We also felt like we were starting to lose faith.

 

So we felt impressed to read an MTC talk by Elder McAlister from the presidency of the 70 about being a consecrated missionary. As we read it aloud during companionship study, we felt...kindly rebuked. The part we felt expecially rebuked on was on the fact that a consecrated missionary talks with everybody. We realized that we had not been making all the efforts to talk to everyone we meet. We also had not been expressing gratitude for the miracles we had seen.

So as a companionship, we said a special prayer expressing gratitude for our miracles, and humbly asking for new investigators and people teach. That same day we were riding our bikes and saw that we were about to pass a 15 year old. Normally, I think we would have passed him up, but because he had this prayer in our hearts, we pulled over and talked to him. He was awkward. We prayed with him. WE didn't get a return appointment, because he was a little weirded out, and his mom wasn't too religious. But we asked him for referrals, and he sent us to go visit his friend a few blocks down. We then visited his friend. Turns out, him and has mom had met with missionaries before and had fell out of contact because they moved. The next day we taught them the Restoration, and they seem more ready to accpet the Gospel. I don't know if I'll see them get baptized, but the thing we learned was that you truly do need a contrite spirit and broken heart in order for repentance to count, otherwise I don't think the Lord would have blessed with so many new investigators this week.

 

I also realize, that just because we had a good week, doesn't mean that we are done or even consecrated yet. We need to now endure to the end and keep up talking with everyone we meet.

 

This week we also found two more investigators. They are a mother and her 18 year old daughter. We taught them the first lesson and they accepted the message pretty well. I hate to say it but, we had met them a few weeks earlier but didn't think much of trying to teach them. I guess we judged them. When we judge we really do place a pavilion around the Lord's ability to do missionary work.

 

Life is great. The work goes on. I got to conduct my first baptismal interview this week, with a 10 year old kid from the sister missionaries in our district. It was interesting, to ask him about things like the Law of Chastity and abortion, and such. But as I met with him, I was really impressed with his testimony and excitement to change. HIs baptism is actually really cool because, he is the son of a less active couple and this baptism seems to have helped them return to activity.

 

I cannot explain fully in this email how this week has been so transitional in my mission. Repentance is real. It requires effort and courage. Even when you think you are doing a good job, repentance still may be required. Always be repenting!

 

I love this Gospel and my Savior Jesus Christ who has the power to help us overcome feelings of guilt and shame. We can change and leave behind our sins.

 

Have a great week!

 

Con Amor,

 

Elder Powley 

Week 49 - Clinton, Oklahoma - June 10, 2013

Mi querida familia,

Hola! Que tal? It's been a long hard week here in Clinton. We haven't been able to contact our baptismal dates that often, and just this morning we got a text message from one our progressing investigators saying (paraphrasing here): "Hi, a gentleman I'm seeing has requested that I stop visiting with you guys. Thank you for your sincerity and good luck with the rest of your mission."

NOOOOOOO! I called this lady right back after she texted this. She didn't answer, but I left a voicemail calmly explaining how we want to visit her at least one more time to see if she'd been praying and reading about the Book of Mormon and such. It was pretty bold, and I think I kind of scared my companion a little bit. They think I over did it, which I might have. But it's just really hard for me to give up on someone just over a text message!!! It's a delicate situation, because we don't want to create a negative experience for this lady by annoying her, because she might accept the gospel later down the road. But, if she is making this decision based on a guy she is seeing...there must be some misconception that needs to be addressed.

Anyways. That's the extent of drama for the week. Things are slow right now, I honestly think it's because we need to work harder and talk to more people. Perhaps we also need to try a few more finding techniques.

Miracle for this week: we found Stetson! What a cool guy! He's a young adult , a little older than us and he is very interested in listening and learning about the church. He's a  Free Mason, so he is very spiritual and open to new ideas. We had a great first lesson with him, he seemed intrigued by our message about the restoration of priesthood authority. We invited him to read the Book of mormon, and pray about it. And right when we were about to invite him to baptism....He had to leave!!! Man, it's so hard. But he said we can come over anytime.

We met another free mason this week who had investigated the church when he was younger. We talked with him and he is very interested in family history. He showed us this huge pedigree chart that back to the 1600s. It really helped him open up to us. We're going to try and visit him again and share a message on family history and how the keys to sealing the hearts of the children to their fathers has been restored through Joseph Smith.

Tornado clean-up is officially over for the mission. There aren't too many more projects for us to do, the rest I think has to be done by professionals or something like that. But it's been a once-in-a lifetime experience to help with Disaster Relief. I'll remember this expereince for the rest of my life.

Now we have to deal with the heat of an Oklahoman summer! We're ready to go! I just got a flat tire this morning, but that's ok, its only the 5th or 6th one!

I know this gospel is true. People can change. The responsibility we have as missionaries can be a little daunting at times, but the Lord works miracles regardless of our inablities. We were recently approaced by a pentecostal preacher, and he proceded to preach at us a little asking us if we preached about Jesus. What a sweet sensation it was to testify that we know Jesus was the Christ and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. He disagreed about the latter part, and I asked him if he wanted to know if our message was true. He said no and we parted best of friends. You feel empowered when you stand up for your beliefs.

Estoy agradecidos al Senor por darme este experiencia a servir una mision. Habra muchisimos milagros en los proximas meses si yo soy listo y disponible a trabajar.

Que Dios les bendiga!

Con Amor,

Elder Powley

Week 48 - Special Message from Mission President - June 1, 2013

Dear Parents: 

Your sons and daughters are safe.   Thursday and again yesterday we experienced severe storms and additional tornados in our mission area.  Yesterday’s storms were more dangerous and destructive than Thursday’s storms.  Our missionaries were never in any danger on Thursday but yesterday caused us more concern because we had missionary relief crews out working in the morning.  As is my practice, I sent the work crews home well in advance of the approaching storms so they could be near their local weather contacts and shelters.  My practice is to personally monitor the storms and alert missionaries directly and through our mission leadership.  Local weather contacts are also very helpful to us. 

Based on preliminary reports, yesterday’s storms caused substantial new damage and sadly, additional lives were lost.  103,000 homes in the City (including the mission home) are without power.  The damage, downed power lines and traffic have prevented me from communicating with you earlier this morning.   We also had all our missionaries in South Oklahoma City this morning for a meeting with Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy.  Now all of our missionaries are out working on tornado cleanup projects for the day. 

I will generally not communicate with you after every storm.  I will reserve these communications for storms that strike near where we have missionaries stationed.  If power is out and I am prevented from emailing you I will call the Church operators and let them know the missionaries are safe.  I will also inform the Missionary Department of the safety of our missionaries.  As you can imagine, we have a lot going on out here right now.  The safety of our missionaries (your daughters and sons) is our paramount concern and priority.  We will tend to them first and inform you once I have verified their safety and tended to other priorities related to the missionaries.  Thank you for your patience and prayers.

We are grateful for the Lord’s protection and your prayers.  Many miracles are occurring through these events.  The Lord truly does make all things work together for the good of those who believe. 

Warm Regards, President Taylor

Week 47 - Clinton, Oklahoma - TORNADO REPORT & PICTURES- May 27, 2013

Mi querida familia,

What a crazy week!!! When I was writing my last email, I had no idea that later that afternoon an EF-5 torando would hit Moore, OK. I was in Clinton, and honestly is was bright, and sunny, calm, and the coulds were normal. Yet only and hor and 30 minutes away mass destruction was happening. They say this is the biggest tornado to ever hit Oklahoma...and it literally followed nearly the same path as a tornado back in 1990.

Needless to say, the missionaries were enlisted in the clean-up efforts. This last Saturday, our zone drove down to Moore where we met up at the Stake Center. As we drove to the Stake Center, we didn't see any damage, infact most of the surrounding neighborhoods were untouched. We got our yellow "Mormon Helping Hand" T-shirts and headed over to  park like 5 blocks away.

And what we see blew our minds. It was as if we were looking at a town hit by a bombing raid. Trees were uprooted, refrigerators in trees, houses gone save a flat slab of concrete. Debris was everywhere. WE spent the day raking, carrying logs from fallen trees over to large piles (I'll includ pictures in a later email). It was a wonderful experience, that honeslty helped strengthen my testimony of the truthfulness of this Church. The Church was sooo organized. literally 1 or days later after the storm hit, their were organized teams out there helping people out. The Priesthood is real. It truly is what gives the leaders of the church the abilites to organize massive relief efforts like this.

So we helped clean the community park. correction, we helped transform the park. I wish I took before and after pictures but I'll send a picture of what it looked like after. We also went and helped clear the backyard of one of the citizens who wqas affected by the tornado. It's incredible what a few rakes and wheelbarrows can do.

Then just yesterday. we went down to help out again. this time we went to go help clean an 80 acre ranch. WE helped clear debris (mostly roof insulation, plastic and fiberglass) because this type of stuff can hurt the cattle. WE had a team of 40 missionaries, and few members from another church. We mingled and coordinated the service efforts and the outcome was wonderful. The man who owned the ranch was touched. Without us, it would have been just him and his wife clearing 80 acres of pasture. It was also rewarding to work with other faiths and see how service really softens people's hearts.

We even heard that Presdient Taylor sat in a meeting with the heads of other churches including the United Methodist church. They asked him how the Mormons were so organized and effective. They were just astounded. President Taylor then took time to share the Gospel specifically condcerning the Priesthood organization of the church.

Finally, inbetween all  this tornado clean up, on Sunday we had a baptism:) We baptized Sade' and Xzaylia, the grandchildren of Sister LoneBear (who was our recent convert at the beginning of the transfer) it's incredible how the gospel brings families together. I had the privilage of peforming the baptism for Sade'. She's a cute, spunky 9 year old who calls the missionaris the "superheroes who teach people about Jesus". She's awesome and her enthusiasm infectuous! AFter I said the baptismal prayer, she literally leaped backwards as I submerged her under water. It was such a sweet, simple moment for me as I felt the Spirit and power of the Priesthood when I perfromed the saving ordinance for Sade'.

The Gospel is so true. I look forward to this next transfer. Elder Masters is still with me and I'll be gaining a new companion named Elder Hirshi (who came out with Elder Masters). He's spanish speaking too so I'll be training these two new missionaries in spanish mostly. I'm excited! They also assigned me to be the District leader. I'm a little daunted by this as well, but I know that its a blessed opportunity to develop leadership skills and greater love for those I serve. Dad, any leader ship advice would be much appreciated.

La vida es excellente! Tendremos otro bautismo este proximo semana. La mujer quien vamos a bautizar es un milagro. Hace 3 semanas cuando ella nos llamo y nos dijo que quisiera ser bautizado. Se llama Pat y ella es increible y muy chistosa. She's almost read the whole Book of Mormon and has such a strong testimony.

I look forward to see what else is in store. Every day I think about how blessed I am to be a missionary. I can't wait to keep learning and changing into the person God wants me to be.

Les Amo mucho!!! Sigan adelante!

Con Amor,

Elder Powley

Week 46 - Clinton, Oklahoma - May 20, 2013

Mi querida familia,

 

Its been an insightful week for me. We're seeing some incredible success here in Clinton. We are teaching our recent convert's three grandchildren (Sadie and Xzaylia) and its so much fun to see their enthusiasm for the Gospel. They are choice spirits of our Father in Heaven. While we were teaching about the Book of Mormon Sadie piped up and said how she believed it was true even before she saw the book. She was just so ready to accept the Gospel. My only concern is that her parents have no desire to listen. They won't object to her being baptised, but it's going to be very difficult for Sadie to progress if she doesn't have parental support. We pray that the mom's heart can be softened. Rose (the grandmother and recent convert) is going to be so critical in helping this family progress.

 

Oh we've had so many fun experiences this week. We found some prepared people for the gospel. We met a man (Terry) who is the roomate of one of our investigators. He hadn't listened to our lessons before but he'd caught little snip-its of our lessons before. As Terry opened up with us we felt impressed to share the 2nd lesson about the Plan of Salvation. As we unfolded the plan...he was mind-blown. We answered so many questions he had such as what is the relationship of the spirit and the body, our purpose in life, the resurrection. We invited him to baptism. At first he was weary because he had been baptized before, but we explained authority and he thought about it for a bit.

 

And then just as the spirit was really working with him....Bam the door opens and in come a group of people. A crazy lady sat down and wanted to listen to our discussion. We obliged. Then Terry asked us if the baptism he had was valid.

 

Me: For a baptism to be valid, it must be performed by someone who holds proper priesthood authority--

Crazy lady: Thats a lie. You don't need no (beep) baptism. all you need to do is believe and represent. 

Terry: Yes you do, Jesus Christ was baptized by John.

 

Then this lady really broke the spirit with her arguing and the lesson ended. Man, the Spirit is soooo delicate. The slightest disturbance, especially just a word of arugument, just ruins the environment. We can never argue the truth with anyone. Truth is manifested by the spirit, and the spirit is driven away if we are contending. Even if we are stating truth, if its done out of an argumentative tone, the spirit can't bear witness as strongly to people's hearts.

 

We must be bold, but not overbearing. This has been my biggest insight of the whole week. Alma 38:12 says we must "bridle our passions." I always thought this only referred to cnotrolling your thoughts in regards to morality, or controlling your anger, but I realize that this phrase can even apply to sharing the Gospel. We must bridle our passion for sharing the Gospel. If we are overbearing with sharing the gospel with people, they will turn away. We were in a lesson with a lady named Mitzy and that's one of the things she commented on. It is possible to be too bold (I had never thought of this). And she mentioned how that's one of the reasons she likes us coming over. We aren't focing here to do anything, we are inviting her to feel the truth for herself. Because we have this frame of mind, she feels the spirit. 

 

And I've realized the same thing. i hate it when people are too pushy with me (ex. my companions trying to get me to hurry up on P-day) but I feel more motivated to act and repent when I'm taught correct principles and then invited to act (such as General Conferance, Zone conferances, reading the scriptures etc.) 

 

So I apologize to my siblings now if I in any way seemed overbearing when I told you to read the Book of Mormon when I called last Sunday. 

 

Ok, other miracles. Elder Masters has a crappy bike, and he got a flat tire two days in a row this week. On the 2nd day he got a flat tire, (we had replaced the tube the day before, fixed everything) he was really frustrated, we would have to be on foot for the whole day throwing off all our plans. But in my head I had an impression: we could not have in anyway controlled the flat tire, this must be part of the plan.

 

and it was. The flat tire was inspired and we ended up seeing many miracles that day. We found some new potencial investigators. A lady drove up to us and asked us to drop off pamphlets at her house ( if we weren't on foot she wouldn't have stopped us), and many more.

 

Other fun experiences: I played piano at a baptist church on wednesday. Fun stuff! I accompanied a guitarist while he sang some christian accoustic songs. It worked out pretty well. It didn't feel that reverant or sincere though. It was a fun service and they asked me to come next week. I might do that. Our investigators come first though.

 

I want to keep going, but this email is already getting really long. I just want everyone to know that this is the the church with the fulness of the Gospel. Even though it's the truth, we can't force it on anyone. And honestly, there are people our there who are not going to recognize that this is the true church, and it's because they aren't prepared to receive the Gospel. Our job as members is to NOT BE PUSHY or OVERBEARING! WE don't have to prove or convice others our Church is true because we already know it's true. We must simply invite people to feel the same joy we have that comes from the REstored Gospel. The commandments bless not restrict. Make sure your testimony is anchored in the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ, rather than believing because its the popular thing to do. Especially for those living in places where the church is prominant. Don't just go with the flow because everyone else believes in it, because I can tell you that once you leave your places of comfort, the Church is not the most popular thing. If you are swayed by what people think, then your testimony will falter. We must stay praying and reading our scriptures in order to withstand doubt.

 

I know this church is true. I love you all so much. Missions change lives.

 

Con Amor,

 

Elder Powley

We received this message after Andrew had sent his P-day message:

--------------------------------
Message from President Taylor:

Dear Parents:  All of our missionaries serving in the Moore, Oklahoma area are safe.   The City of Moore, Oklahoma located just south of OKC sustained heavy damage and loss of life today as a very powerful tornado cut its way across the city during  about 3:15 pm CT.  Our hearts and prayers go out to the people who have lost so much today.  Again, all of the missionaries serving in the affected area are safe.  The rest of our missionaries checked in safe earlier today.  We were blessed again today.

In the coming days our missionaries will be called upon to help with the cleanup from this devastating storm.  We are asking the missionaries who do not have leather gloves to buy some in the next couple of days.  We are also asking those who can afford to buy work boots to do so.  These boots will help prevent foot injuries (from nails) that could be sustained during the cleanup.  There will be some ability in the future to reimburse missionaries for the boot purchases.   As future storms occur, I will keep you updated (provided we have power).  If you do not hear from me by email after the storms clear following a tornado outbreak, call the Missionary Department.  I will have notified the Missionary Department by phone and confirmed the safety of our missionaries.  Thank you for your prayers and for your wonderful sons and daughters.  President Taylor

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Week 45 - Clinton, Oklahoma - May 13, 2013

Mi querida familia,

It was so great to talk to everyone yesterday. I'll admit I was kind of tearing up on the other end. I love you all so much. Your progression in the Gospel is very dear to me and I hope you all are striving to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon and be converted to serving the Lord and your fellow man. I'm so glad Jane was awake this time and I got to here her talk. It was so cute when she said "Po" and that she wanted to read the Book of Mormon.

This week has been pretty miraculous to say the least. One of our investigators was smoke free for nearly a whole week! We were so happy for him. I think the most fondest lasting joy you can feel in this life is when you witness other people changing their nature. How happy must our Heavenly Father feel when he sees everyone of us changing, repenting and becoming more lke Jesus Christ! That's what this life is all about! We had a Zone Conferance with President Taylor (probably his last one sadly with our mission) and he talked a lot about the House of Israel and how God has created a system, or plan, that "develops ordinary men into celestial beings." He uses the faithful valient spirits from the Pre-life to come to earth with the responsibility of sharing the gospel and being the tools in HEavenly Father's hands to guide people into becoming like Jesus Christ. It's incredible how organized and perfect God's plan is. He did all the planning and organizing, all we have to do as missionaries is be willing to accept it and follow the Spirit.

Other miracles: We had a lady call us up this week and leave, probably the most shocking message on my mission--"Hi, my name is Pat and I think I'm ready to join your church now. I'd like to set up a time where we can meet with the Allisons (members of the ward) this week. Give me a call back!"

Woah! I guess people have to be ready to be baptized. We met this lady and she is solid. She accepted a date, along with another friend of hers, and she came to church, knows the Book of Mormon is true, and has immediate member support. It was a cool experience. It almost seemed too easy. It was a testimony to me that baptismal experiences on the mission are blessings from God...not experiences due to our merits or because as missionaries we did anything special. Baptisms don't define missionaries...obedience and faith do.

We also had a great contact experience. As we were riding our bikes, we drove past a park and saw a man sitting on the tables there. My companions and I decided to go talk to him. We had pleasent exchange. We learned he was down on his luck due to a nasty divorce in which he lost everything. We said a prayer with him. He loved to read, so we asked him if he'd read the Book of Mormon. He replied that he hadn't but for a long time had been really wanting to read it. We gladly obliged in giving him a copy on the spot and bearing solemn testimony of that Book. He didn't live in Clinton so not much happened out of it in terms of creating a new investigator, but we know we were led to talk to this man sitting in the park.

We've had trials, but the miracles seem to outweigh them. I love teaching the gospel even when the people you are teaching are trying to convert you to their religion. Our message is entriely based on having people act in faith rather than proving a point intellectually or through bible bashing. We had a lesson (in Spanish) with a 7th day adventist a few days back and he went off on how the sabbath day is on Saturday and how the true church is one that keeps all the commandments. It was frustrating, but we testified, left a BoM and promised to come back and discuss more the following week (on condition that he reads). The Bible does actually testify that the Sabbath day is on Sunday, and it makes sense because that was the day he was resurrected (see Colosseans 2:14 or Acts 20:7). Modern Revelation also reveals and clarifies the Sabbath day. 

There is a deep desire in my heart to want to show this man these scriptures in the Bible, but I feel like it could be more of a drive on my part to want to prove our point rather than inviting him to come unto Christ. I'v learned from experience that trying to clarify doctrine using the Bible doesn't always work. It usually turns into a bash and itALWAYS boils down to the same question: "Is the Book of Mormon the word of God?" If so Joseph Smith was a propeht and he recieved modern revelation in regards to the Sabbath. 

The gospel is Perfect! This church is true, and I know it because of the blessings I've seen come from it, and the protection I've seen from living the commandments emphasized by the prophets.

There is so much more I need to work on. I'm kind of  worried I'll leave the mission without having done enough; the mission is a once in  life time opportunity to really change your nature and build attributes you'll need for the rest of your life...especially leadership attributes (aka Christ-like attributes).

siga adelnate mi familia y mis amigos! Jesucristo vive! El es la vida,  y esperanza en lo que todos los hombres y las mujeres puedan dejar sus naturalezas carnales para llegar a ser personas celestiales. Recuerdase decir a sus madres "Te amo!" Estoy bien agradecido a mi madre y todo que ella hizo para permitirme obtener us testimonio por mi mismo. Yo tengo mi familia en la primer lugar mas cerca de mi corazon. 

Les amo mucho!

Con Amor,

Elder Powley