What a wonderful blessed week we had. The R Family are now the newest members of the Lewisburg ward. How wonderful it is to witness the baptism of a family into the gospel. President and Sister Pugh actually came to the baptism which is rare especially considering they drove a couple hours to come to the baptism. What a privlege to have them. I was talking to Sister Pugh after the baptism and she remarked how rare it was in our mission to have a whole family come into the gospel. How blessed I am to be apart of this I justly ascribe it to the Lord. F went to great lenghts to study out our religion and find out if it was right and he and his family came to the conclusion that this was the right thing. The baptism was fantastic the spirit was strong. I was relieved to see that sister R had peace at the baptism. She had been way nervous because she is not a crowd person and she was wondering if she knew enough. We counseled with her that she did and although many people showed up for the baptism she was touched by the spirit and had a great calm. The remarks that were given were wonderful. This ward has strong members and rocks that the R's can stand on as they continue to grow in the gospel. The confirmation went great as well. I confirmed for the first time in my life, as well as a gave a baby blessing keep in mind this girl is 7 which was interesting. I basically said the name that shewould be known as in the church and I gave her a blessing to continue to grow and prepare for baptism. It will be such a treat to see this family go through the temple in a year. The Lord has blessed us greatly i believe a great connection is found in D.C 4. We have desires and we are called to the work of gathering the harvest. Although I make many mistakes I appreciate that the Lord allows me to be apart of the miracle of the gathering of the faithful. Which brings me to the point of conference this weekend. I am so looking forward to conference this weekend. Im so excited to be spiritually fed. I plan on writing a series of questions that I want answered and then I plan on diligently listening to the talks and alowing the spirit to teach me. I pray that you will all prepare yourselves and truly have a desire to follow the Lords counsel directed through his prophets. Im happy to hear that you all seem to be doing well. Understandably you have trails but the trials are for a reason they can help us grow. I love you all take care. Elder Powell

Dear Family and FriendsI can imagine this weekend must have been a wonderful expierence. How happy I am for that. You will have to tell me all the details. To update you my new companion is Elder Fisher. He has been out 6 months and he is from Bountiful, Utah we have had a great time thus far. Hes just a really happy guy and he is a good missionary although I am the senior companion I think I learn more from him than he learns from me. The R's are doing great and we got all the Baptism details wrapped up so im glad we got the buisness taken care of so we can just focus on the spiritual nature of the day. Its been quite busy trying to teach them everything but we are almost done with the things they need to be taught. It will be wonderful though they actually have a couple members of their family who belong to the church who they just recently found out about who will be attending the baptism. That is a major plus because they know have a support group within the family. We contacted a potential investigator this week. She was someone I had talked too on the street one day and she seemed really interested. Well she seems really solid and we set her with a baptismal date. Her name is H. She has just been prepared and really has a great desire to learn and grow. It made me think what if I wouldnt have talked to her. Many times in this city I have become discouraged and frustrated with the great disinterest of the people when we talk to them on the streets. Sometimes I really dont want to do it because of their rudeness. But this really served as a testimony to me that talking to everyone you see brings forth great blessings. It may take thousands of people to reject you to find someone that wants t o lerarn. But its great when you do suceed amongst all the failure that seems to happen. I guess i should clarify. You never fail when you invite people to learn more. Because when you invite you put them in a position to act. When you do that the spirit can work in their lives and eventually hopefully soften their hearts. We have been so blessed and I look and see that all the credit should go to the Lord. I am just an instrument that can help bring his work forth. I pray that we all look for missionary opportunities. When i say opportunities it doesn't have to be something major. It could be something as small as paying a visit or saying hello, or being a good example, or inviting them to activities. Just remeber that you do it for the right reasons. Do it because you love the gospel, and you love the people and you want them to have more. I love you all hope you have a great week. If you write make sure you write by 8:00 A.M monday morning so I dont have to wait a whole week to get back to you. Elder Powell

Dear Family and Friends I am alive and well.Actually doing really well as a matter of fact. B's baptism was a wonderful expierence. He has had a hard life and hasnt had alot of things go his way. What a wonderful thing it is for him to have a fresh start and truly be cleansed of his sins. He has a great heart and Ive enjoyed watching him grow. Some excellent news the R's came to the baptism and they decided as a family that they would be baptized. YES!!!! They are such a solid family. A family that will stay true to the gospel. Being the leader of the home Fax has truly studied this out and he has been touched by the spirit and his family likewise has. They will be baptized the 27th of March so alot still needs to be taught and arranged for the baptism. Me and my new companion will have alot to get worked out this next week which is a wonderful dilemma to have. I feel so blessed by the Lord and i am not worthy of all the blessings Ive recieved. I feel in large part it has been a result of your prayers and great faith. I thank you so much for your love and support. Although it feels like im in a totally different world I know you are there. So as I suspected change has occured i will find out shortly who my new companion is there is a possibility that I will be the Senior Companion and maybe even the District leader we will see. Whatever happens I am excited for another fresh start. I hope the new missionary that comes in really wants to get out and work and together we can grow in the gospel and bring others to a knowledge of the truth. Im so happy that things appear to be going well at home. What a big week for the family I whish I could see the joy on your face as Jeff is sealed to his wife but I know that this is what the Lord would have me do. I love you all so very much. I would like to offer a little counsel. Ive become somewhat aware with the negative circumstances that face the church at times mainly outside forces trying to weaken the church. But I want you to know that nothing can stop this work from progressing. I dont care what all the critics say I know this church is true because the spirit has borne witness to me many times that it is. Be a light to the world and turn the other cheek. Stand firm in the faith but do so gracefully. Remember alot is required of the saints in the coming days but I know we are more then equal to the task as we rely on the Lord. Take CareElder Powell

Lewisburg 3/2/09

Hello Family and FriendsThings are going well in Lewisburg. The R Family came to church once again and we were able to teach them after church. The spirit was very str=ong. Sister R was all teared up and they were all into the lesson. They were touched by the spirit. We asked them to pray about the truthfullness of our message. When they found out it was true they said they would be baptized. F (The Father) has quite a unique story. How he went from being an ordained southern baptist minister to realizing the doctrine of the trinity was not correct, to being fed up with the bashing of other churches in some of the protestant churches he attended. He has been searching for truth and he has been really impressed thus far. I never thought I would be teaching a southern baptist minister who was actually interested haha. The lesson that was taught during church was perfect for F. It talked about how we need to be accepting of other faiths and praise them for the truth they do have. I have been guilty at times in my life of critizing other religions and how unchristlike is that. We are members of the true church but that doesn't make us any better then anybody else. We are just privleged to have a fullness of the truth. There are wonderful people of other faiths. In fact me and Elder Norton were eating out and a man was watching a significant portion of our stay at the restaurant. Before he left he came and praised us for bowing our heads to pray. He was very complimenatry. It turns out he was a retired minister. What a great example that was to me. Here was this wonderful man who came and brought out the good of someone even if he didnt believe quite the same way. Now what we should do is love all people. Live the way we should live, bear pure testimony, and invite. Thats all we can do but just because we dont quite see eye to eye with other people doesnt mean that they are any less important in the sight of God. But back to the R's I am excited for them and I pray that they will recognize an answer to their prayers. Another great event that occured this week was we were able to have Zone Confer=ence. It was so wonderful to see President and Sister Pugh again. There message was touching. President Pugh told of how he was recovering in Utah and how Elder L.Tom Perry came to give him a blessing. Elder Perry was very interested in how the work was going and asked President Pugh many questions. At the end he gave advice he said " President during this time I want you to really think what your missionaries need to hear." He talked to us about repentance and how after weve gone through the neccesary steps we need to forgive ourselves. Nobody is perfect. He talked about how we need to be using the Atonement regularly and feeling its healing effects. It made me feel good listening to him and more then ever it just made me ralize why do we hold on to things. Why do we allow that thorn to fester. Let the Savior remove it. Using the Atonement is a direct and positive way of following our Savior Jesus Christ. We can change and become better no one is ever without hope. I loved the following quote from our beloved Prophet. " In the private sanctuary of ones own conscience lies that spirit, that determination to cast off the old person and to meas=ure up to the stature of true potential." That is my prayer is that we will all measure up to our true potential I love you all. Be strong have the Lord come along.Elder Powell