Week 60 - Clinton, Oklahoma - August 26, 2013

Mi querida familia, Wow! I love training new missionaries! I believe the Lord really blesses new missionaries when they come to new areas, because this week has been chock full of miracles. I wish I could tell them all, but I'll just focus on a few that stick out to me. First off, dad wanted me to mention a few things I do when training a new missionary. I think most of all I just try to express my love for them. I try to involve them as soon as possible with teaching. The sooner they teach, the sooner they can improve:) I evaluate every lesson, we go over what went well, what we can improve on. I try to help him notice things for himself. It's so critical that new missionaries recognize when the spirit is working and inspiring them. The sooner they learn that, the more faith they have to follow those spiritual promptings that come every day. AS traininers, we a have 12 week program we follow. We read the handbook at the start of every study. I also try to explain everything we do so that he isn't ever lost. Communication is key. I've learned that much on my mission. Also, I put faith in those I train. I constantly ask them what they feel that we should do (such as where to go tracting or what house to try and such) then let him make a decision, and then we do it regardless of what I think we should do. OFten times, the new missionaries are inspired more than the trainers. And this week, I've seen the potencial that Elder Tanner has. He has a ton of faith. If it weren't for his faith, I don't know if we'd have the miracles this week to show for it. Mriacle #1: We found a family! Last week we met an inactive on the street. We gave him our number to call us. He then called us and set up an appointment. WE came to the appointment, and learned that he a wife and 4 teenage kids. They all sat in for a lesson, and they all came to church yesterday. It was like they were regulars:) We introduced them to the bishop and huis counselors, and we are super excited to work with them. They don't like to be stalked, I guess in the past, missionaries were a little over aggresive, and they didn't like that too much. But we found this family, adn I'm pretty positive they will all be baptized eventually:) Miracle #2: We had a Bible study this week. Only two people showed up, but the spirit was so strong as we discussed Joseph and how he saved his family from the famine. We compared him the Christ. One of the men who came, also expressed how he loved the name of the Church. We hope to invite him to take the lessons later this week. Miracle #3: We provided a bike for one of our members. He is poor and living in a motel with his wife and brother-in-law (who's 3 years old). Here's the deal. The thought to get this bike occurred to me very briefly. Almost like a fleeting thought. I knew he need a bike, I knew another member had a free bike. Anyways, I almost ignored the thought. In fact, I ingored it once on Saturday, and then the thought returned on Sunday to organize this effort to get this man the bike. So my companion and I did it. We got the bike and gave it to this member. We received a text message from the wife about how grateful they were for the bike. He needed one to get to work every day. We felt so good! It makes me wonder how many spiritual experiences we are missing out on because we ignore those fleeting thoughts that pass through our heads. This email is turning long, but I am full of joy this week. The mission is amazing. I feel change, I can see my faith growing. I can see the Lord's hand in this work. No doubt about it, this work is real! Those of you contemplating on missions...I promise you that it is the right decision. It's the best thing in the world! I love you all and I hope that you have spiritualy experiences this week. Have the faith to follow those small fleeting thoughts. They are from the Holy Ghost:) Con Amor, Elder Powley