Week 4 - Oklahoma City - July 30, 2012

Mi querida familia,

Hola, como estan? This week has been a growing week. My trainer has been at a Leadership Training Meeting almost every day, so I've had to go on exchanges from Tuesday-thursday with an Elder Mulhstein. We both can't understand Spanish all that well, but it was good for us to get out and teach lessons without having to use my trainer as a fallback. I taught my first lessons completely in Spanish without my trainer! I felt pretty accomplished. There was this one lesson we had with a Mom and her children that was entirley in Spanish; we definately struggled communicating, but I think that it allowed for the Spirit to communicate more. Speaking Spanish forced me to simplify my teaching, and overall, I think this was one of the lessons where I felt the Spirit the strongest.

I'm learning a lot about how key member missionaries are in missionary work. Think about the story of the thousands of Lamanites that were converted because of Ammon and his brethren. If you look closely in chapter 23 I think it is, the only reason the missionaries were able to teach and convert thousands of people was because the King of the Lamanites "administered" and "pacified" the people beforehand. Only after the King referred the kingdom to listen to the word of God, were the missionaries able to have success. And then, the Aron and his bretheren went about organizing churches and appointing teachers to preach the Gospel. This is member missionary work! And it was said that the Lamanites who were converted, never did fall away. Think about it, the greatest missionary miracle in the Book of Mormon was brought to pass because of member missionary work.

I was listening to a Stake Presdent speak in Church this past Sunday, and he told us that his son, who was serving in Mexico, recently had a mission training with Elder Bednar. Basically, the missionaries are being instructed not to go knocking on doors anymore and work compleltey by member refferals. This hasn't taken effect in Oklahoma, but truly is what is needed in order to really spread the Gospel. All of us have been placed in the lives of our non-member friends for a reason. I highly encourage everyone back home to pray about a friend they could possibly invite to meet the missionaries. If it's done with love and concern, they will not be offended.

Our branch is pretty good about member missionary work. My companion and I literally pass around a sign up sheet during priesthood session every day, and we get quite a few people to sign up for a time to come work with us. The members can help break down barriers with investigators and establish friendly relationships. It's incredible how much this work is not only reserved for missionaries...it belongs to all of us. True, the missionaries are leading out the efforts, but to be honest, knocking on doors is not the most effective way to find people. It works, but very rarely.

Anyways, that's my rant for the day. I just realized that I forgot to mention where I'm serving in Oklahoma. I'm serving in the southern part of the actual Oklahoma City. The Spanish branch I'm working with is actually the largest in the mission. They have a pianist for Sacrament meetings so I don't get too many chances to play piano (except for P-days). However, there is a Branch Talent Show coming up that I'm hoping to participate in. I think I'm accompaning one of the members who is a really good Opera singer (you can hear him sing above everyone else during Sacrament Meeting). Oh, and here's a little tid-bit about the Spanish branch---they can't really carry a tune all that well:) It's pretty funny, one of our investiagators brought it up. He metioned after the meeting that he liked his other Church better because they sing a lot prettier. He said he'd still come to our church, but we've got a little teaching we need to do with him.

The funnest lessons Elder Black and I have taught this week have been to a few 9-year old kids named Alberto and Silas. Alberto has actually already committed to baptism. His Mom isn't a member yet, but he has good support from his older brother. His mom will let him get baptised but we have to teach him all the lessons first. And let me tell you, these lessons have been a blast. I used a little visual activity that I learned from my Mom in a letter home. We asked one of the members to call our cell phone in the middle of the lesson. We changed the caller ID of this member to say "God". So when the member called our phone, it looked like God was literally calling. It worked so well! Alberto was kind of confused, the other kid that was sitting in with us (Silas) totally bought it. Anyways Elder Black pretended to talk with God. He said thank you for all his friends and asked God to bless his family, mentioned Alberto's name and then he hung up. It was a great lesson about how to prayer and how its literally a conversation with your Father in Heaven. Alberto brought up the fact that he couldn't hear God on the other side...PERFECT opportunity to share how we don't hear God but that we feel his love through the Holy Ghost. He then asked a question that really taught me a lot: "How did God feel when you mentioned my name?" My companion and I went silent because neither of us had prepared for this question. But think about it...how must God feel when you pray for other people? He must feel incredibly happy to see his children truly showing concern for his other children.

Anyways, wow! you know if we could teach children more often out here on the mission, I think the Church would grow at twice the rate it is now, and the retention rates would be equally as good. Children are just so open to hear the Gospel. They are naturally curious and willing to learn. I guess that's why Jesus asks us to become as little Child. you literally can't apply the doctrine of Christ without becoming like a Child. If you aren't humble, meek, submissive and obedient, there is no way you can excercise faith unto repentance. I think back to my own siblings and I realize that I've learned quite a bit from them being an older brother.

On a sadder note, my companion and I had an unfortunate experience this week. Remember that family I mentioned a few weeks ago? The one that was golden and ready to hear the Gospel? They had to go back to Mexico this week. We ran into the Mother just as she was preparing to leave. She said they wouldn't know if they'd be able to come back. It was hard. We quickly bore our testimonies and gave her a Book of Mormon. I have a strong feeling they will hear the gospel though. If not through me, it will be through some other missionary. I felt more hope, than despair.

Well, those are the highlights of the week, and I'm running out of time. The work is progressing and it's incredible to witness. I have yet to witness a miracle, but I'm sure once the day comes that I can understand Spanish fluently, I'll have had enough miracles for a lifetime!

Con Amor,

Elder Powley

Week 3 - Oklahoma City - July 23 2012

Note:  Andrew is in the southern part of Oklahoma city working with a small Spanish branch.
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Mi querida familia,

I'll be honest, this week has been kind of tough. We didn't get as much teaching in as we liked since a lot of our appointments fell through, and there were some points this week where I felt really down because of my language abilities. Don't get me wrong, I can speak Spanish...understanding on the other hand is a whole other story. We were meeting with an investigator this week who literally poured out her soul to us about her concerns about everything we've taught her...however it was all in Spanish and I had the hardest time understanding anything. Now, don't misunderstand me, but I've got to tell you, I felt pretty useless. I knew I could have said something that could have helped, and in "Preach My gospel" it says you need to listen to the investigators to discover their needs...but how can I listen if I can't understand?

I vented about this to my companion, and he really helped me through this 3 week crisis I was going through. He helped me realize that I needed to learn self-patience. The Lord works through "simple and small things" in order to bring about his great and eternal purposes. I'm not meant to become fluent in Spanish in the first month, it has to come gradually and I simply need to be patient. Also, he mentioned something very intersting, he said something to the effect that when you're listening to someone speak Spanish, it's very hard to understand them if you keep doubting yourself. This made compelte sense to me! If my head is full of doubt, how can I expect to understand Spanish? I needed to replace doubt with faith.

And so I experimented with this notion during another all-Spanish appointment this week. We were teaching an older couple, incredibly kind and very religious, about the Sabbath Day. A little background on this couple, they used to be Catholic until they started studying the Bible and realized that some of the preachers weren't living the Bible word by word. So they broke away and become part of a Christian church known as "7th Day Adventist". One of the main beliefs in this church is that they believe that the Sabbath day is actually on a Saturday, not a Sunday. This is because in the Bible, it specifically states that God consecrated the 7th day (or Saturday) as a day of rest. When they met with Elder Black before I came in, they politely told him that they would not read the Book of Mormon simply because if our Church really believed the Bible, we would worship on Saterday.

Now, there is scriptorial evidence that the Sabbath day is on a Sunday; so elder Black and I studied really hard for this lesson. In fact we dedicated a day of fast to teach these really extremely kind people. I personally fasted so that I could understand Spanish better. I replaced fear with faith.

And it worked. I didn't understand every word, but I felt the Spirit stronger, and it was able to make up the difference. We bore our testimonies of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and they finally accepted to read it. We didn't change their minds about the Sabbath Day, but we did open up their minds to the possiblity that if the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith was a propeht and modern revelation has revealed the Sabbath Day to be on a Sunday.

Very awesome teaching experience for me. As missionaries, we have done our part; now its up to our investigators to soften their hearts and accept that they need to change (which is very hard to do since they've been worshipping on Saturday for about 30 years and they've adjusted their work schedules to accomadate this belief). Hopefully it works out, until then, we've put our lessons on hold.

I also had the chance to go on exchanges this week with an elder who speaks and understands Spanish about as well as me. Longest day of my life! All our appointments fell through, and nothing seemed to work out. However, we did get to teach one discussion...and that made all the difference. Every ounce of disappointment was wiped away by simply the opportunity to teach one lesson and invite one person to come unto Christ. I really gained a perspective on the worth of one soul in the eyes of God.

This week I also got to give my first talk. It was actually at a baptism for one of the children in our ward, and I got to speak (in Spanish) about the ordinance of baptism. I spoke about how Jesus Christ is our perfect example of why we need to witness to the Father our willingness to follow his commandments. I also mentioned how privelaged we are to hold the literal priesthood authority of God. As a closer, I mentioned to this boy who was getting baptised, to focus on his feelings. Many times when we are baptized, we don't understand the full implication of the ordinance...but we do feel that it is right. Those feelings are more important than anything because they are of the Spirit, and the Spirit testifies whether baptism is the right direction or not.

The mission is amazing! It's been great to wind down for P-day and write you guys a letter. we actually went to the zoo as a district and got to relax a little bit (don't worry, we got it approved from the Zone Leaders:). I'm gaining a deep love for spicy Mexican food!

I hope everything is going well back at home, I'm really learning so much about life out here and what it really means to love someone vastly different from yourself. I really like my companion, Elder Black, and his outlook on knocking on doors. He just simply treats everyone he meets like they're his best friend. I really hope I can develop this kind of selfless love that I've witnessed with so many people out here in Oklahoma.

Take care! And keep strong!

Love you all!

Con Amor,

Elder Powley

Week 2 - Oklahoma City - July 16, 2012

Mi quierida familia,

What a week! I got to experience my first Oklahoma rainstorm, and wow was I am impressed. I've never seen so much rain fall at one time. Literally, puddles were the size of small ponds, and small creeks would start forming in neighborhood parks. It was awesome! In case you were wondering, I was actually not stuck on a bike, my companion and I were lucky to have a car to drive around in.

However, having the car was the principle reason we weren't riding bikes... This past Tuesday was a very humbling, experience. The kind of expereince that I think every white Mormon boy from Utah has to expereince at least once in their life when they leave home. Long story short, Elder Black and I left our bikes at a member's apartment complex because we didn't want to ride our bikes home in the rain. We made the mistake of only locking our bikes to eachother (which is the first time we'd done that, we're usually not so naive:)and some lucky person got a "2 for 1" deal. Yep, our bikes got stolen! Reality check big time! People actually steal stuff. Apparently, bike-theft rates have tripled this year from last year, and there are people out there targetting guys riding around in white shirts and ties and balck name tags:)

I've learned a lot from this experience. I'll be honest, I wasn't completely discouraged. For me, the fact that our bikes got stolen was a testimony that the adversary is truly trying to slow down missionary work. Key word here is "trying". He can't succeed.

I also found some great words of comfort from the Book of Mormon in the book of Helaman. It says that if the Lord does not chasten us with afflictions, we will not remember him (12:3). I think these our great words of wisdom. I echo the words of Paul who said something to the effect of "I take joy in my affirmities...when I am weak, I am made strong." Losing my bike has been more of a lesson than a hardship. Just as I should probably hook my bike up to an "iron rod" next time, I should always keep myself anchored in Christ.

Despite our misfortunes with our bikes, we nonetheless had some great success this week. We found 5 new investiagtors in one day, using the Heavenly Gift method that I described last time, including a terrffic family. Let me tell you, we are so excited to teach this family. We were literally in the right place at the right time when we met them:

We actually met the kids a few days before outside of their house. They were trying to through away the trash when all the sudden the bag exploded. Elder Black and I rushed over to help them. We talked with the kids, gave them a high five and then left because we had an appointment later that day. However, I had the strongest impression, or thought, the we needed to come back and visit this family.

We were going to visit them on Tuesday, but that was the day our bikes got stolen (another proof that the adversary obviously wanted to delay us in meeting this family). So we contacted them Wednesday. The mother was super kind, the kids had actaully told her what happened when we helped them with the trash. She was open to a prayer, she invited all the kids to participate. It turned out very well. We couldn't enter the house because there wasn't another man at home, however, we set up a return visit for Sunday when the father was home.

So yesterday, we got to have a prayer with the whole family. We literally drove up to the house right as they were arriving home. The dad was a bit uneasy at first, but he eventually warmed up to us because of the example we set to the children. We went in, had a family prayer and we bore our testimonies of eternal familes. We feel very confident that this fmaily is someone God wants us to teach. We left them with a Restoration packet and plan on teaching them the first lesson this ext Sunday. We are willing to wait because you learn out here from experience that if you do not get the father in on the discussions at the same time as the rest of the family, it becomes very hard for them to commit to baptism. I can't wait to teach them again!!

This family (the Martinez family) has been the highlight of my week. You could tell right when when you walked in the house that it was a home abounding with love. It's families like these that give hope that there truly is righteousness in this world.

My testimony has been truly strengthened this week. Sure, I've had moments of discouragement and doubt.  But it always comes back to the same principles we've been taught at the MTC: pray, read the scriptures and love other people. I believe that it's when we turn outward rather than inward that we truly witness an increase in our testimonies and better understand the Atonement of Christ. What better way is there to learn of Christ than to actually experiement with what he did and serve others?

Keep strong in the Faith!

Con Amor,

Elder Powley

Week 1 - Oklahoma City - July 9, 2012

Mi querida familia,

Hey everyone! Hope you're all doing well, I know I'm having a blast out here in Oklahoma.

I'll be honest, I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed. My Spanish is not as good as I thought it was back in the MTC, understanding the members is really hard, but I generally feel their love for the Gospel whenever I'm around them.

So a few things about the Spanish culture that I've learned out here: 1. Spanish culture is very "spur of the moment". We were out knocking on doors one day, and we went to this one house where they were having a family BBQ for the 4th of July. We introduced ourselves and they let us come share our message and then they offered us these really good steak tacos.

Also, I'm learing that often times its not that offensive to completely miss an appointment. Most times, appointments fall through. The men in the Spanish culture seem to always be working 24/7 so its very hard to set appointments with them.

2. The Hispanics are very kind people, I have yet to meet someone who was hostile to a couple of young missionaries walking around offering to bless their homes.

3. There is this fun MExican tradition that they do on birthdays. The person having a birthday often take a huge bite, literally no forks just their mouths, out of the birthday cake. It's quite hilarious.

4. Not the best singers when it comes to Sacrament meeting:)

5. Many people like to sit out on the front porch and simply hang out. I never really saw a lot of that in Utah.

6. Family Home Evenings in the Spanish Wards are a little different. The whole branch is really closely knit, so for Fmaily Home Evening, the whole branch usually goes to the Church for a Spiritual lesson and to play volleyball.

So there are a few things about Spanish culture. Now I want to share with you this interesting tactic our mission uses when doing door appraches. This tactic is called the "Heavenly Gift" or "Don de los Cielos". We no longer identify ourselves as "missionaries as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" right off the bat. Our approaches go something like this: "Hello, we are representatives of Jesus Christ. There are many troubles and hardships in the world and today we are going around blessing peoples homes because we feel like we could all use a little more of God in our lives. Would it be ok if we came in and said a prayer with you and bless your home and family?" We would then proceed to go in, get to know the family, ask them what they would like us to pray for and then pray for them. Ultimately, we get on the subject of religion, and we're able to share a restored truth and get a return appointment.

It's been very effective for our mission, we've actually doubled the number of our progressing investiagtors ever sicne instigating this approach. It works because it very efficiently seeks out those that are ready to hear the gospel. Your heart has to be pretty hard and closed to turn down a prayer.

Now let me tell you about my companion Elder Black. Seriously, he's like the best trainer ever. I have yet to see him frown. He laughs a lot and takes the work very seriously. One of the things he's helped me learn is how to not feel so uptight about everything, keeping that trust in God and keeping the work fun as well as busy. Everyone is really drawn to Elder Black, he is very personable and I've really been able to connect with him. He's a volleyball player and and also the District leader for our District. This means we get to drive a car! We only get 400 miles a month so we still have to bike a lot... but it's a really great asset to have the car. I learn so much from Elder Black, sometimes I feel like I'm eclipsed by his awesomeness but we've been able to work as a team really well.

Our apartment is pretty standard. I'll have to send pictures next week. To those who went to BYU, it's about in between the New Heritage and Old Heritage in terms of quality. I'm so glad to be out of the MTC! We don't have to worry about dinner ever. The members literally sign up to feed us; they really get excited about missionary work; I've never seen such excitement about missionary work such as here than anywhere I've lived in Utah. We pass around sign up sheets for members to come teahc appointements with us, and we've been able to get quite a few volunteers.

MY companion and I have a good sized amount of investiagators. Oklahoma is a very religious state. You know how there are LDS churches on every corner in Utah? Well, it's like that except there's a different church on every corner. Most everyone knows about Jesus Christ, we really have to rely on the message of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon to show our uniqueness from other churches.

My faith has really been tested out here. I'm learning the magnitude of trust you need to have in the Lord and that the Holy Ghost will help you teach. It's a bit daunting to think that God can work miracles through me.

We had a very interesting experience with an investigator yesterday. She really thinks the Spirit is telling her to get a divorce, and even after we explaiend how the Spirit manifests truth. She felt peace when she thought about getting a divorce but she's confused because she gets the feeling that Eternal Fmailes are important as well. It was a very deep, spiritual lesson. I didn't know quite what to say; but I think Elder Black and I have figured out how to help her and keep pointed towards our purpose: which is to bring her closer to Christ through Faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism , receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end.

I did have my first baptismal invitation this week with an investigator named Ismael. He accepted, but he has so much he needs to learn. He's also not very educated so we have to really explain things simply and we have to remind him constantly to come to Church and and of what we taught the lesson before.

I can't wait to see what my mission has in store for me. It's such an exciting experience. The gospel is truly expanding, and there are people out there who are ready to hear it. They just need to come to Church! (that's the biggest challenge:)

Hope everyone is doing well; again the best address to reach me at is the Mission office in Oklahoma

416 SW 79th Suite 210

Oklahoma City, OK

73139-8121

Keep strong in the Faith!

Con Amor,

Elder Powley

Picture with Mission President and wife

Andrew at the President Taylor's home in OKC.  Night of July 3rd

July 3, 2012 - OKC Arrival Letter

Hi everyone! I'm glad I got a chance to call home and simply hear your voices. It meant a lot to me, but now I think I might miss you all even more...Matthew;s voice is so low! He sounds like a teacher already:) Jane is really funny to listen too, and hearing all your voices really brought back fond memories. Thank you for that.

But nonetheless, I am having perhaps the most fulfilling experience of my life out here. I can't really explain it. You hear all the missionary experience stories that people tell; and they sound cool. However, when you experience them for yourself it's an entirely different experience altogether. You literally feel as if the Lord is supervising every word you speak and there's a certain aura of responsibility that you feel when you talk with other people.

I contacted two people by myself today. Basically I just talked with whoever I sat by during my flights to Denver and then to Oklahoma city. I truly believe both of these people were placed in my path for a reason. The first was an older woman of about 50 or so, who was traveling with her daughter and grandson. I had a nice chat with her about families, what it means to me to serve a mission, finding peace through God, prayer and Jesus Christ. She actually had taken the discussions before, in fact, she'd read the whole Book of Mormon.And then I asked her the golden question: "Have you prayed about the Book of Mormon?" She replied no. I then got to testify and share the promise made in Moroni 10:3-5. I've testified of the Book of Mormon many times, but this time was different. I was testifying to a non-member, something I've never done before. The Spirit backed up my testimony, and WOW! it was so cool! And this spiritual experience happened all because I felt prompted to ask "Do you have family in Iowa?"

Then I talked to a younger guy who was actually in the Army shipping out to Korea in a few days. I noticed he had a scripture from Isaiah tattooed on his arm from the 41 chapter verse 10 about "Fear not I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy God..." I thought it was such a cool scripture that I felt I had to talk to him about it. So I contacted him. I then shared a cross reference in the Book of Mormon (Helaman 5:12). He was genuinely interested. I later learned that he actually made a few Mormon friends during his time in Boot Camp. These friends even gave him a Book of Mormon. I then invited him to read it, specifically Alma 56 which talks about the Stripling warriors. I thought it might be cool for him to see that he could liken the scriptures to his situation. If you have faith in God, you don't need to fear anything.

Anyways, being a missionary is awesome. I don't know if any of these people will convert because of what I said, but I know that I invited them to come unto Christ. And after both these experiences I felt really good. Almost as if I'd accessed a part of my soul that I didn't know even existed.

I then landed in OKC and was greeted with a hug from our Mission President, President Nolan. Such a nice guy, including his wife. They were very happy to meet us, and we immediately felt like family.

Our travel group then went to the mission home. we had a nice lunch, a few words from the assistants to the President, and then we went proselyting for the first time. Wow, talk about humbling. The Hispanic community is actually very kind. No one slammed doors in our faces or threatened us (yet), but people were really friendly. The people of Oklahoma are very religious, everyone believes in Jesus Christ; they just don't know that he's personally established his church on the Earth through Joseph Smith.

Anyways, things are great. Slowly its starting to dawn on me how hard this mission is going to be. I feel so overwhelmed right, almost as if I'm not capable of such a work. However, I know for a fact as long as I'm obedient and spiritually minded, I will be strengthened by the Lord.

I know for a fact that I'm supposed to on a mission.

Love you all and remain strong!

Con Amor,

Elder Powley

PS Fyi, my p-days are Mondays from this moment on instead of Thursdays.

June 28 2012 letter

Well, this last week has been kind of crazy. Starting Saturday, we had about 110 new mission presidents and their wives come live at the MTC for their Opening Seminar. It was great to have their Spirit present, but there were some difficulties. Primarily, they had to close of half of the cafeteria to accomodate eating arrangements for the MTC presidents. On top of that, the MTC is pretty much at maximum capacity with missionaries already. Needless to say, the lines were huge! It was like a Pioneer trek just to get a bowl of cereal on Sunday morning.

But, I can't complain. We had some perks as well. The MTC presidency gave us a very nice treat. We got to watch "The Other Side of Heaven" on Saturday night! Now it may not sound that exciting, but considering the past two months we've only been allowed to watch either "The Testaments", "Legacy" or "Joseph Smith:The Prophet of the Restoration", it was really awesome! Not going to lie, once the movie turned on, it was the equivelant of being at the Midnight premier for "Dark Knight Rises"---everyone cheered and gave eachother high fives! It was great. And even better, the movie really reminded us about how important it is to see other people, especially those that belong to a vastly different culture, from the eyes of God. He truly loves all of his children unconditionally.

Another interesting fact about the Mission President Seminar this weekend was that we were also in the midst of many of the apostles at the MTC. Now, they weren't really walking around the MTC campus all day, but you could feel something. And then we had a Devotional on Tuesday (we called it a Super Devo) where 10 of the 12 apostles were present! Once they walked in, it was incredible to witness the change in atmosphere. The Spirit was truly testifying that these men were called of God to help lead Christ's church here on Earth.

Elder L. Tom Perry privelaged us with a wonderful talk. It was actually a little out of the ordinary, he started of by simply stating: "The Doctrine is the same, in fact, Eternal" and then proceeded to not talk about the doctrines of the church, but rather a statistical presentation. Accoriding to surveys done by Pew, the Mormon community on a whole is happier, more healthy, have 40% less clogged arteries compared to people in the US (which is because of fasting once a month), and more family centered. LDS teens are among the top groups who are least likely to engage in risky behavior, Mormonsare the number one religion who have know the Bible, and actually practice their faith as a lifestyle.

Anyways, he was a lot more specific than what I laid out, but needless to say, the Church as a whole is an amazing organization that would not be possible if it were not God's kingdom here on the Earth. Elder Perry also noted that the only way to eliminate prejudices and misconceptions about the Church is through members being good examples to the world and letting their good works show--not necessarily a missionary discussion on the "Restoration". And if you think about it, people are more drawn to the type of person. People were drawn to Christ because he genuinely loved them unconditionally and with perfect charity. I only hope to develop that kind of love while out on my mission.

After the devotional, Elder Holland and Elder Scott blew tender kisses out into the audience of missionaries. The gesture really impacted me because it me realize how we stand shoulder to shoulder with the apostles of the Lord in building the kingdom of God on the Earth.

Really quick, I want to share an insight I've had this week. It mainly has to do with something a protestor said outside the MTC gate this past Sunday.  But first, understand this: The main tempation that Satan has for each one of us is that every day he is subtly trying to get us to "doubt our divine potential". When Christ fasted for 40 days, this "doubt" was the primary temptation. "If thou be son of God, turn these stones into bread." The "if" is important. If Christ had turned the stones to bread, it would have meant that he himself doubted that he was the Son of God. James E Talmage explains it better in "Jesus the christ" but ultimately remember this: don't doubt your divine potential. Don't dwell on doubt. Sure, we don't have perfect knowledge of everything, but that's what faith is for. And the best way to avoid doubt is to consistantly pray and read the scriptures and attend church and be obediant to the commandments.  It's incredible how much you learn out here!

I've learned so much here at the MTC, and it's quite exciting to think that by this time next week I will be in Oklahoma City proselyting for the Lord. I actually fly out July 3 at about 6 am. Just a heads up my mailing adress will be different by then. Here's my new adress,

416 SW 79th St. Ste. 210

Oklahoma City, OK 73139-8121 USA

Man I just can't explain how excited I am! However, it's a little daunting as well. I'm going to be working with real investiagtors. No more practice, it's time to really put my faith to the test. I know I'm inadequate. I'm only a 19 year old college boy who barely knows Spanish, yet the Lord calls me to preach hope, repentance and testify of the love of Christ. I know that through the Atonement of Christ, I can do all things and become whoever th Lord wants me to be.

Stay strong in faith. don't let doubt get you down.

Con Amor,

Elder Powley

June 21, 2012 letter

The past week has really sped by. I can't believe I'm heading into my last week here at the MTC. The lessons I've learned have been so valuable, and my testimony solidified.

My Spanish is progressing, we've been working really hard on Subjunctives (which are statements where the speaker implies judgement, doubt, emotion, or influence on another person ) during our classes. It's amazing how one letter can change the entire meaning of a sentance. It's interesting to see how Spanish is actually an easier language than English. In Spanish there are many rules and few exceptions whereas in English, there are as many rules and Thousands of exceptions. I love Spanish, I've actually started saying most of my prayers in Spanish now.

This past week has been hard, but has yielded some really cool insights. We had a Sunday devotional this past week from Sister Sherrie Dew ( former member of the Relief Society presidency and CEO of Deseret Book) and she gave some very interesting advice.

Ask the Lord to tutor you.

Have you every specifically asked the Lord in your prayers to teach you how to feel or follow the Spirit? I've been trying that this past week and it's actually helped me gain a keener awareness of the whisperings of the Holy Ghost.

Likewise, I was listening to past MTC fireside with Elder Bednar and he gave some profound advice on how to recognize the Spirit. Simply this: "Don't worry about it." Most of the times in the moment, we will never know if the Holy Ghost is prompting us to do something. The holy Ghost does not always make thoughts or impressions obvious that they are from him. Elder Bednar mentioned that as long as you are keeping the Commandments, keeping your convenants and being a good girl or boy, you will naturally be lead to the things which you shall do. Remember Nephi and how he was led "not knowing beforehand the things he should do". You probably won't recongnize that it was the Sprirt leading you until maybe 20 years down the road.

Man, I am so grateful for living prophets and apostles. they open up the Gospel in plainness and truly have the Spirit with them. This week is actaully the beginning of the New Mission President seminar so this means, that a lot of apostles are going to be here in the week training the new Mission Presidents going out. This also that next Tuesday (we call it Super Devo Tuesday because we get out of class early) we will hear from an Apsotle of the Lord Jesus Christ!!! So excited!

I also had a cool teaching experience this week. Our teacher pretended to be an investigator with one of the most common and difficult concerns to address: the Trinity. During the lesson, my companion and I tried to explain to our teacher the concept of the Godhead, or the fact that HEavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are three seperate beings. The Bible and the Book of Mormon back the idea that God, Christ and the Holy Ghost are one in purpose and three spepearte beings. So I took an initial approach of trying to use the Scriptures to prove my point.

Didn't work.

I could've used as much scriptorial evidence I wanted and nothing would have helped the investigator understand.

The best evidence that we have of the God Head is by our belief that Joseph Smith truly saw God the Father and Jesus Christ standing side by side during the First vision. We learned that it's best to testify that we know that the God Head is real because we know Joseph Smith was a prophet. And we know Joseph Smith was a prophet because we know the Book of Mormon is true. It all links back to the Book of Mormon and whether or not you've read and prayed about it.

 

Siblings-prayer truly helps. You may not feel comfort at precisely the moment you want it, but over time, you gain the SPirit of the Lord simply because you were willing to open up to him. The same applies to Mom and Dad. I remember moments during Jr. High and High school where I just needed to open up to Mom and Dad about my concerns. Although, you may initially think its awkward to talk to Mom and Dad about your problems (which is a lie from the Adversary), I promise and bear witness that talking with Mom and Dad, in conjunction with prayer to your Father in Heaven, truly heals whatever emotional or spiritual problems you may be facing.

And for some reason, I always seem to forget this concept mainly because sooo simple. And my small and simple things are great things brought to pass

The Church is True and I love you

Keep strong!

Con Amor,

Elder Powley

June 14, 2012 Letter

Dear Family--

Another normal week at the MTC has gone by. My conception of time is becoming more skewed every day. It might be because I don't have a watch to wear, but in the mean times, I never really know what the date is. Its like the MTC has its own time zone. Time goes by quickly, I just realized that I only have 3 weeks until I head out to Oklahoma. Man, I'm excited!  My district has 13 people (5 sisters and 8 elders). We all get along really well; six of us including myself are all going to Oklahoma City the same day so we're all excited about that.

We had a devotional this week from this Russian or Swedish Elder from the Quorum of the 70 (can't quite remember his name) but he was really quite hilarious yet inspiartional at the same time. One of the biggest insights I got out of this devotional was the importance of planning. Now before you zone out because the word 'planning' sounds like business jargon that you hear in Business Management 101, let me explain why I personally find "planning" essential to increasing your ability to learn... even Spanish and the Gospel.

Before the devotional, my Spanish had been digressing. I was falling asleep during personal study, and personal language study. However, i realized the problem was that although I was praying for help in increasing my knowledge, I was not sufficiently planning. I firmly believe that God cannot bless you with his Spirit unless you yourself have made a significant plan.

It reminds me of the Story of the Brother of Jared. The Lord couldn't bless the Jaredites with light, until the Bro. of Jared put forth a plan to the Lord: Touch these stones that I have gathered and make them burn brightly. Only when the Brother of Jared showed an organized plan to the Lord, was the Lord able to bless him with a miracle.

In the case of learning Spanish, or for any subject in school or the gospel for that matter, this same principle applies: the Lord cannot help increase our knowledge if we aren't organized and focused ouselves. This insight really hit home and let me tell you, the difference is incredible. I've been able to stay awake, my Spanish speaking has increased even more, and most importantly, I am able to understand the Gosple more fully. All you have to do is write down a physical plan, present it to the Lord and ask him to consecrate it. If you give Him the tools, He will work the miracle! For example, I was in a meeting with a pretend investigator and he asked a very tough question: "If Joseph Smith was able to receive a vision, why not me?" I can't really explain it but the answer came to me as clear as day, and it came to me in Spanish: to be honest, we don't know the Lords ways, but we know one thing...God the Eternal Father and Jesus Christ truly did visit Joseph Smith. And we know this because we know the Book of Mormon is true. If this book is true, then Joseph Smith truly was a prophet. Not to mention, in the Book of Mormon Laman and Lemuel saw an angel, and both of them ended up denying the Spirit. Visions do not convert people, the still small voice of the Holy Ghost coverts people.

It's amazing to see the Lord's hand in bringing people to Christ. I really am just an instrument in his hands. I'm here to do his will.

Anyways I hope things are going well in the outside world. Keep praying. God exists and wants to help you, but first you have to trust him.

I love this Gospel and encourage everyone to learn about it.

Con Amor,

Elder Powley

June 7, 2012 - Letter

All--

Things are getting pretty routine here at the MTC. Wake up, moan, sing in the shower (I got a pretty nice ovation for my rendition of "Hey Jude"), study the scriptures for an hour, teach a pretend investigator, have group language instruction, followed by lunch, personal language study, 3 more hours of class, dinner, gym, additional study time, and ending with daily planning. Just the other day, BYU shut down all the electrical power for five minutes, this included a black out at the MTC. Probably the most exciting that's happened here for a while. Everyone got out there flashlights, did their best Gollum impressions, and we were basically like little kids for a bit.


 Fun stuff!


On a more spiritual note, our teachers are especially effective at maintaining the Spirit and everyday yeilds new insights.



For example, I learned that the "Word of Widom" is NOT a health code. The "Word of Wisdom" is a means by which we can come closer to Christ. It's also a commandment, and following the commandments and being obediant brings and increased measure of the Spirit.


I had some pretty awesome teaching experiences this past week. One of such was with a progressing investigator named Antonio. We explained the commandments by doing a hands on activity, So we told him to close his eyes, and then we would give him instructions with our voices. He had to follow our voices in order to know where to go. We did this in Spanish to, and for the first time I realized that speaking Spanish can be used for fun things as well as spiritual discussions ( I know shocker, right?) Anyways we likened this to our lives in that being human, our vision and perspective is limited; we don't have a perfect knowledge of eternity or what bad decisions will do to us in the future. But there is someone who does...our Heavenly Father. He gives us commandments through his prophets; without those commandments, we remain blind and lost in life. However, if have faith and yield to the promptings of the Holy Ghost by following the commandments, we don't have to be lost, we can remain on the right path.


Antonio had an "aha" moment. He finally understood the "why" behind keeping the commandments. And that's critical for anyone; once we understand the "why" we find the INNER motivation to do whats right. The INNER motivation is what brings us to repentance, not outward pressure from other people.


It's amazing how the Spirit works. While Elder Morrell and I were explaining the concept, Antonio didn't understand us, mostly because of our weakness in Spanish.


But at some random moment, it clicked. The Spirit manifested the truth, and Antonio felt it. It truly is the Holy Ghost that teaches eternal truths, not man.



Great stuff is happening at the MTC! This work is true and I encourage everyone to seek these truths. It brings a measure of happiness and knowledge that you could never believe achievable.


Con amor,


Elder Powley

May 31, 2012 Letter

Well, I'll be honest this past week has been a little tougher. I've found it harder to recognize the Spirit at times because you're so heavily immersed in it here at the MTC.  But everytime I feel a waver in my testimony, one principle keeps popping up: the divine reality of the "Book of mormon". Elder Holland made an excellent point that without believing in the Book of Mormon or the fact that our Church was literally restored through Jospeh Smith directly by Jesus Christ, our church has NOTHING! This is why, as missionaries we are always encouraged to use the Book of Mormon; once you sincerely believe in the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, there is no way you can deny the Church without lying to yourself. I challenge everyone to read it if they haven't already, or if so, read it again. Whenever you feel doubt about whether this Church is true... reflect on the Book of Mormon, it is living evidence of it's divinity.

The MTC is hodling up great. Fun little joke I heard from my cousin Katie Palmer: Jeremiah 4:19 perfectly describes what the MTC food does to you after a few weeks:)

I am loving this mission; my relationship with God increases every day becoming more personal and real.

I had a chance to hear some of the claims by the protestors outside the MTC on Sundays. One of their points is that God is not human and never was. For me, how can you even consider yourself a Child of God if not at first acknowledging the physical human body of God. True, he's not a natural man, he is glorious and perfect, and we can become like him through our works and the Atonement of Christ.

Spanish is going pretty well. I spoke nearly all day on Tuesday in Spanish, and I was surprised at how natural it's becoming. I'm sure I'll eat my own words once I actually get to Oklahoma and listen to natives speaking twice as fast.

But yeah things are going great, nothing quite exciting to report I'm afraid. I'll just say that the more I serve on this mission, the better it gets:)

Con Amor,

Elder Powley

May 24, 2012 Letter

This week has been a little slower than usual, but nonetheless full of uplifting moments.

First off, let me just say that I love the TRC! The volunteers are super nice and Elder Morrell and I are getting pretty good at Spanish. Nosotros somos missionaros y tenamos un mensaje sobre Jesucristo. It was actually a funny coincidence, I ended up teaching this girl I knew a few years back who was actually a friend of my cousin Emma. The funny thing was that I went on a double date with this girl, and I ended up teaching her a nice lesson on revelation:) Strange right? It was fun though

Had an interesting experience on Sunday. I don't know if this is common knowledge, I didn't know this until my mission, but apparently protestors like to stand in front of the MTC on Sunday afternoons. They must have figured out that us missionaries like to take walks to the temple every Sunday. They don't talk much, they basically stand there holding huge crosses that say "Jesus loves You". I silently think to myself "Thanks I already know that."

Anyways we've been instructed not to talk to them. It feels so cool to be a part of a pack of solid missionaries march straight past the protestors in silence. We know what we're doing is right in the sight of the Lord.

The rest of the week wasn't too eventful. Although I did see a recording of Elder Bednar's Christmas Devotional at the MTC this past year. Inspiring to say the least. He makes an interesting point that sums up the "Character of Christ": whenever the natural man would turn inward, Christ turns outward. Think about it, when Christ is suffering on the cross, he says "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." In his last moments, the Savior is thinking about others.

I reccomend everyond watch or read this talk. It's amazing and undoubtedly changed my perspective on what is expected to be a true desciple of Christ. The title is "The Character of Christ".

Things at the MTC are great! Can't wait to leave though. Hope everyone is doing well. Write me letters! I love hearing from everyone it helps me stay connected and stay motivated:)

With love,

Elder Powley

andrew.powley@myldsmail.net

May 17 2012 Letter

My Dear Family,

Thanks you soooooo very much for your surprise gift inside my winter coat. That photo book of our last few days together is honestly probably the best gift I could ever recieve. I even used it in one of my progressing investigator discussions to help illustrate how much we love our families. I miss you guys terribly; not to the point of depression, but I just remember so many fond memoies of each one of your individual personalities.

A few things... Alex, don't complain about getting grounded :), honestly the MTC is like being grounded for 10 weeks: no cell phones, no music, 8 hours of studying, and no hanging out with friends, and curfew is at 10:00.

I am so sorry to here about Rachel's leg. Is she ever not in a cast? I guess she is just to skilled to play at such a young age level. She should be training with high school students:) Rachel, I hope you pray to God for comfort' he really loves you and wants to help you through your trials, you just need to ask:) Also a priesthood blessing never hurts.

Anyways I love you all. Give Jane a kiss for me.

Well, things are going great. It's hard to believe I've been here for 2 weeks. I'm still progressing in Spanish, and we recieved some more ongoing investigators (they're really our teachers). One is a non-member, catholic, amiable, family man named Javier, while the other is named Antonio. Antonio is a little different: he's jobless, depressed, a les active Church member, mom is sick in the hospital, and I think he has a drug addiction as well (they aren't the best actors). It was interesting, when I met with Antonio, I just felt this overwhelming sense of compassion and love for the man; honeslty Christ loves everyone regardless of their sins. You could tell the man was depressed. We asked him what he expected to get from meeting with Elder Morrell and I, and his answered really touched me: "I just want to be happy."

and that's the thing about this Gospel... it really makes people happy. I've never met Christ, but a must assume he must have been a happy person to be around.

I love my zone. We have this awesome tradition playing soccer every gym time we get.. I'm sure our playing methods are enough to make my little sister Rachel cringe :) there's basically no "offsides" rule, headers are illegal, no one knows how to score, and we all just run around like chickens with their heads cut off. This one time I was literally standing in front of the goal about to kick the ball, and I literally pulled a Charlie Brown moment and missed the ball; my foot didn't even make contact:) But it's fun and a great outlet from studying.

Oh, I totally need to rant about the MTC's rules on music. Basically, we aren't allowed to even listen to music inside our dorm rooms...including Motab or any kind of hymn! It's so lame. The Branch President tried to explain to me why, and when he did his explanation sounded reasonable enough. But sill... I mis listening to good music from Motab, Jon Schmidt, alex Boye and so forth. I also tried out for a musical number "Onward Christian soldiers"; the music board loved it but they said I need to work on not "performing". I think the rules with music are meant to humble me as a missionary; and it's working.

I will obey the rules. I've learned that obedience helps you feel the Spirit because you are more at one with God's plan for you. And honeslty, he knows whats best for you regardless of how sure you are of life.

I'm loving life right now though. Elder L. Tom Perry ( an apostle) gave an awesome devotional this week. He's like 90 years old and he literally jogged up the stairs to the podium. I don't remember much of the talk, but I do remember his powerful witness of preesthood authority and power! When he bore his testimony, his voice rose louder than it had the whole night. There is NO way he is lying or disillusioned. I can't explain what I felt that moment.

Tonight is my first night at the TRC. For those who don't know, th TRC is a training center where volunteers come in and role play investigators. They have Spanish speaking individuals, and the discussions are pretty realistic: non members even sometimes volunteer to come down. no pressure:)

Anyways, real quick, I want to bear my testimony that god lives and gives revelation through the Holy Ghost. It's never a huge vision or dream, but more of a quiet thought prodding you in the right direction, accompanied by a warm feeling in the heart.

Until Next Week,

Elder Andrew Powley

May 10 2012 First Letter

Hey everyone!

So sorry its taken me this long to send out my first update; this is actually the first time I've had a free moment as my P-day is on Thursday and they don't give new missionaries a P-day the first half week. But let me assure you, I am having an awesome time! It's like a constant dose of the Spirit every single day. If I had any doubts before, I am even more positive this is the place I need to be.

Now, for the essentials... my companion is an awesome guy from Kaysville by the name of Elder Morrell. He's really good at keeping things simple, which is good for me because I tend to get really elaborate with my lesson plans.

Spanish, is acutally coming really well! I've learned more Spanish in three days than I did a whole two semesters in High school. I've grasped the language fairly wuickly even to the point where I've started saying my personal prayers in Spanish. I even found the courage to bear my testimony in Spanish this past fast and testimony meeting. It's incredible how much the spirit manifests itself when you bear you testimony in another language; you can only say the simple things when you're learning a new language; and really it's the simple things that bring the most spirit in one's life.

They called me as a District Leader, which is really cool because I get to collect everyone's mail. We have three guys in our district that have steady girlfriends back home so its really funny to see their faces light up when you hand them their perfume scented letters. But seriously, I love the opportunity to lead out district meetings and bring the members of our district together.

My schedule is pretty standard; class and personal scripture study all day. We actually have an ongoing pretend investigator that Elder Morrell and I continually teach, set up appointments and such. Oh and we have to do all our lessons in total spanish! It's a really interesting experience; his name is Daniel, he has wife who's a member and a three year old son. We went into our first lesson hardly knowing any Spanish. I bore my testimony about la amor de Dios and familias eterne but that was about it. However, the spirit was so strong!

We are now in our fourth lesson; yesterday we invited him to be baptized...he said no. He simply wants to gain a witness for himself that the Book of Mormon is true and that this is God and Jesus Christ's church. Once he recieves that witness, he will accept the Gospel:)

An interesting thing I learned yesterday was the correcting to a common misconception I previously had about missionary work. I used to think "Oh, don't challenge and investigator to baptism on the first lesson...you might scare them away or turn them off from receiving the spirit." This is incorrect. You should ALWAYS invite a person to baptism if they show interest. The worst thing that will happen is that they'll say no, and even then they will become more curious as to what the Gospel is really about. Plus the very pupose of a missionary, as outlined in Preach my Gospel, is to invite all to come unto Christ. And what better way to accomplish that than to lovingly invite people to follow the example of Christ, find faith unto repentance and be baptized?

It was fun to see an MTC devotional with Elder Christofferson yesterday. He is so much fun to listen to; I mean he has a way with delivering witty, religious jokes. And his testimony of the Gospel....unshakeable!!!

I don't have much time, but I'd like to share one last insight... I am not at the MTC to learn Spanish. I'll admit, the first three days my mind was stuck with the frame of mind "study Spanish, study Spanish, study spanish. I want the best instrument I can be in the Lord's hands, so study more Spanish." But I've had so many testimonies and witnesses that my main purpose is to convert myself to the gospel first. I need to develope my testimony even further; there's a whole new level of confidence I need to achieve to boldly teach the gospel. Spanish proficiency will come, but my testimony is the most important.

I love this Church and this Gospel. I miss everyone sooo much and hope you'll al continue to read el Libro De Mormon. Este libro es verdadero.

Love you all and God speed,

Elder Powley

PS. Family, use Dear Elder to send me letters, I need as much email time to actually type my letters than I do to read them.

Also Liz, please copy and paste everything in the letter onto Facebook! :)