Week 68 - Quail Creek, Oklahoma - October 23, 2013

Mi querida familia, What a great week! We had some pretty awesome miracles this week. First off, we set a baptismal date with D'Quan! It was cool how it happened. So last week we invited him to pray about a date. We came back on Tuesday this week and asked him how it went. He said that the 16th kept popping into his head and he didn't know why. Elder Kennedy and I looked at each other and then turned to D'Quan and Elder Kennedy said "D'Quan...today's the 16th! Let's go!" It was way funny. Then we looked up the 16th of November and its a Saturday! We usually always schedule our baptismal dates for Saturdays. We then invited him to pray about the 16th of November. So on our return appointment on Friday, we asked if he received an answer and he said that he would be baptized on that day! Wow, it's such a great experience when you see people you're working with receive revelation for themselves. It just reminds me that as missionaries we need to be remembering to make sure our investigators keep their commitments. It's seriously the only way you can receive personal revelation and just as Joseph Smith said "Salvation cannot come without revelation" We also found a new family to teach. One evening we were looking for less-actives, during the dreaded 8-9 hour at night. We knocked on this door. I was feeling a little skeptical honestly because we'd tried before and no one answered, and this guy without his shirt on answered the door. We introduce ourselves and tell him who we're looking for. Turns out the lady had moved and that her daughter was living their. The man we met was the daughter's husband. He invites us in (without us even asking) and we start getting to know them. Super nice people! The daughter is inactive, and was batpised Catholic to be the same as her husband. We had a prayer and set a return appointment. Unfortunately I missed the return appointment because I went on exchanges with Elder Pierce (my first son!). But according to Elder Kennedy it went really well and they are open to baptism if they receive an answer. The family is called the Stavinoha family. Pray for them that they feel the spirit and keep their commitments! We're really excited for them. But I had a great exchagne with my former companion Elder Pierce. He has grown so much and it was a breath of fresh air to speak and teach in spanish again! He's such a great friend and he's doing a great job as a District Leader as well. Life is great out here. I'm learning the ropes more as a Zone Leader. One of the things I'm working on is being more unified with the ward. Elder Kennedy has such a great relationship with them and he's really good at organizing visits with them and having them come out with us. I'm trying to obtain those skills as well. I got to give a talk yesterday in sacrament meeting, so I hope that helps me establish more of a relationship with the ward. We're seeing the Lord's work hasten out here in Oklahoma! I am slowly learning that missionary work is for our benefit. The Lord asks us to do missionary work because it is such a great privileage and opportunity to develop Christlike attributes. If we surrender our will and take advantage of doing missionary work, we start to change into beings more like our Savior. Have a great week everyone! Que Dios les bendiga, recuerdense a orar en cada momento. Recuerdense que este vida es para cambiar...y el transformacion puede pasar unicamente si actuamos con fe en los susurros del espiritu Santo. Les quiero! Con Amor, Elder Powley