Week 63 - Clinton, Oklahoma - Sept 16, 2013

Mi querida familia, It's been a slower week, but don't think for a minute that it was bad! The weather is cooling off finally. We had some hard trials including the huge family we found a weeks back, the one that came to Stake conferance. They ended up dropping us this past week. WE talked with the mom and she told us how they decided to attend another church. We tried to set up a time to come back and share a message, but you could tell that she no longer had that desire to learn more. Man, it's hard to find families to teach out here in Oklahoma! But Elder Tanner and I have found a solution. For the past week, we've been gradually seeing promptings to go try the more upper-middle class areas. So we've made plans this week to go find in those areas.It's going to take more faith, but I'm excited. We had a cool lesson with Santana (our baptismal date) wherein we felt prompted to read from the book of Mormon with him. Starting off the lesson was a little weird because he had a friend over and they were discussing business. When the friend left however, the spirit prompted me to ask Santana "Since our last visit, have any concerns come up in regards to baptism?" And then he opened up to how his family had been influencing that he didn't need to be baptized. He also stated that he believed what we were telling him. Then we read 1 Nephi chapter 1. We read slowly, explaining the story every 5 or 6 verses because this is a hard book to read for most people. Aa we finished the chapter, we asked Santana what he learned. He said that you have to do what you believe in even when others are making fun of you for it. Lightbulb! I pointed out that the principle he just stated answered his concern about his family that he mentioned at the start of the lesson. When we pointed out how the Book of Mormon taught him, his face lit up and you could tell that the spirit had enlightened him. Chapter 10 of PMG is inspired, no doubt about it! The Book of Mormon is so powerful in answering concerns. I love it. Let's see what else is on my mind.... Cindy is still attending church, unfortunately we haven't seen Armando come in a long time. It's so hard to be a teenager here in Clinton. There are so many temptaitons and not a lot of recreational activities to do. The part in the Family:Proclamation to the World where it says families need to be built on principles faith, repentance, love etc and wholesome recreational activites. Staying actively engaged in positive activities is so essencial for our spiritual well-being. Idleness allows for Satan to sneak in and put negative thoughts in your head. Other experiences, while on exchanges Elder George and I taught a man named Terry. He's real down on his luck, recently divorced and out of a job. WE taught him at a park downtown. It was a great lesson! Terry had given his Book of Mormon to his nephew to read (who is interested in the Gospel) and he loved the message of the Restoration. There is such a strong spirit that is present when you teach a good Restoration lesson. There is a different spirit when the student and the teacher are both anxiously engaged. The teacher must be in tune to the spirit and focusing on the needs of the investigator, while the student needs to be open, listening, and wanting to learn. It was a great lesson, unfortunately Terry will be out of town for the next few weeks. I hope he comes back soon. Patience is becoming more of a habit now. Well have a great week everyone! Try to share the gospel with someone new. Send friends links to mormon messages on Facebook, those videos are very powerfull, we use them in lessons and they bring the spirit in a unique way. Con Amor, Elder Powley