Williamsport-Week 5

It was a week to be remembered. Time does not permit me to write all the things I would like to but I will share a little of my week. Going to the Aaronic Priesthood Restoration Site was such a wonderful spirit. Truly that is sacred place there. We looked where the Smiths and the Hales homes once stood learned a little more about them and the history of the area. We went to the graveyard and saw the Hales and Josephs son buried. We saw the large monument and other things as well. But the greatest part was taking the quiet walk thru the woods to the Susquehanna River. We passed Josephs creek the place hed fetch his water every day. We stopped at the edge of the river nestled next to an overhanging tree. President Pugh adressed us he got quite emotional and so did the rest of us. He read a little of Josephs story and told us how privleged we were to teach the gospel in Josephs backyard. That hit me strongly. I feel so blessed to be serving in the land of the Restoration. Joseph Smith was and is my hero. Sitting there in the hushed reverance of the whispering trees and trickling river the spirit once again strongly testified to me that the work that Joseph Smith did was true and valid. That he was a prophet, that the heavens arent closed that heavenly father loves us. It was very neat looking where the Prophet was baptized and where John the Baptist stood. President Pugh let us have some time to ourselves. I walked down to the river and just observed the beauty and reality of these events. I offered a Prayer and I felt a wonderful feeling of peace and love. Although on the outside I was shivering inside I felt warm. The spirit was there it was tangible. Not in the sense you could see it but you could feel it. How grateful I was to walk where Joseph walked and think of the marvelous events that occured. These things I know to be true. We can all have these feelings where the spirit touches us strongly. We dont need to go to a sacred site to feel it. We can feel it within our own homes, and in our own lives. You have to be humble, and you have to be patient and worthy then the Holy Ghost can have room to feel your hearts. Afterwards we had a testimony meeting which was quite touching everyone seemed to have been affected by that wonderful place. The rest of the week was not filled with alot of success; at least compared to last week but we had some great news. So M is doing well she also had a friend listen to us and she wants to learn more. We had a ward member who referred us to a very solid contact. She has actually been attending church for the past year with her boyfiend but has not been baptized her name is Me. Us Elders got to sing Called To Serve with the primary in their primary program that was fun. We also got to teach the priests quorum The Restoration and talked to them about misionary work. I hope we can inspire some of them. The men out here arent as apt to go on missions. Missions are blessings Im doing well; got to go my times up I love you all I hope to hear from ya soon
Elder Powell

Williamsport-Week 4

Wow what an amazing week. We were so extremely blessed this week. We taught so much and found many new people. Just to give you an idea the last two weeks prior we taught 28 other lessons and 4 new investigators combined. This last week we taught 20 other lessons and found 12 NEW INVESTIGATORS. What a blessing and I believe it came from our obedience to a particular principle. So we have weekly planning every Friday which takes on average 3 hrs. In the past I really didnt take weekly planning that seriously and didn't plan out very effective weeks. The last two Fridays we have made an increased effort to plan every hour of each day and feel it with effective plans. That way we are showing the Lord what we want to do and where we are going to be. I have gained a testimony of weekly planning. The Lord placed many opurtunities in our path. And why? We were willing to excercise our faith and let the Lord take control. I believe this applies to every aspect of the gospel. If we will do what is asked of us and excercise our faith (even if we dont know why in the world we should be doing it) then that invites the Lord into the equation. He wants us to trust him and obey his gospel and in his own time blessings will come. Remember you recieve no witness until after the trial of your faith. (Ether 12:6) So often we dont work smart and try to do things ourselves and we neglect the helping hand of the Lord. We have two people we are really excited about. M who I already discussed and C whom the Lord put in our path. We had such a spiritual lesson with him. He was so eager to learn and when we gave him a B.O.M to read he was so grateful and excited. So those are the two main people I would ask that you would keep in your prayers. I really like this area sure there are some people that really test you but thats ok.On Wednesday we are going to Susquehanna to the Priesthood Restoration Site, I am so so excited. Joseph Smith is perhaps the strongest point of testimony. People try and denounce him and try to paint a false picture about him. But I cannot deny that I know he was a true prophet. The restored gospel hinges on that fact. If he was which I testify he was then this is Gods church and if not then this is just another Christian denomination. I feel very blessed I love you all and I pray for happiness and success. Love Elder Powell

Williamsport

Well I have so much I could write but not enough time. So I will do my best.
Williamsport has been great thus far. I love the fact that we can teach so much
here. Just last week we taught 23 lessons which is alot more then I would teach
in Ephrata. I love it because it helps me to become a better teacher and have
more opportunities to help people. Although I bike like a madman I do enjoy
biking alot. I'm sore every night I come home but Its funner to be on bikes and
its getting me in better shape. As I mentioned before it is so beautiful here.
Although our area is very small and just consists of Williamsport it is
surrounded by mountains and the Susquehanna river. The colors are starting to
change and it just a few weeks its going to be gorgeous. I think the coolest
teaching experience I had came yesterday right before we were about to turn in
we taught a 16 year old boy named D. He listened intently and was excited
at the prospect of there being a prophet on the earth. He asked where the church
was and he said he would be coming this sunday. We commited him to read about
Alma the Younger as he has been in a similar situation. I have good feelings
and I believe that he is ready and willing I guess time will tell. But I wanted
to comment on conference. Boy how I loved conferece. It was full of powerful
stuff that boosted my xcitement, determination,and love for the gospel. I
learned many thing from it. But a few thing specifically stuck out in my mind
that is the message of the reality of a living prophet and what a blessing that
is, the need to stay out of the world. How we must keep our standards and the
commandments. We must not sink and decay like the world is very apparently
doing. We must have hope and have a love for life. Things probably will get
harder but that doesnt mean we have to be mesirable and worrisome. We need to
love life and follow the prophet and the commandments. If we do that we have no
need to fear and we will be strengthened to overcome the things that life throws
at us. I believe the second coming is near I got that vibe very strongly from
the prophet and apostles. We must prepare and get our lives in order. We must
not wait, we must do it NOW. As long we are headed in the right direction we need
not fear. We must unite with the church and our family and stay away from Satans
evil influences. A few quotes really stuck with me. "In the midst of
winter we find an invincible summer." "Faith is not just a feeling it
is a decision" "Meekness is not weakness its Christain courage."
"The lord doesnt ask us to walk across a continent he asks us to walk
across the street and talk to a neighbor about the gospel" "Find Joy
in the Journey" "If we feel our lives with a pile of tommorows we
might find alot of empty yesterdays." Many more amazing things were said.
But I learned that we must make the most out of our lives now. Stop wasting time
and focus on whats important. Gain a testimony and rely on the Lord. We are
nothing without him. I have a testimony this is the only true church on the face
of the earth. We have a living prophet. How greatful I am to have a prophet in
these troubling times. The Savior died for us and he wants us to have a strong
relationship with him. He wants to help us if we will but humble ourselves and
ask. Ask and ye shall recieve knock and it shall be opened unto you. I love you
all I hope life is going well and I hope to hear from you soon.

Elder Powell

transfer

What a great week it was. I'd say a great week to end my stay in Ephrata. The
greatest thing that happened was the baptism of DT; what a great
experience but I will talk about that later. You know how I said I would eat
23 slices, I actually exceeded that and I ate 25 slices and yes I won. I got pretty
chunky after that so I don't think I will try that again haha. We ate dinner at
the K and ate pig stomach, cow stomach, snapping turtle soup, chicken pot
pie, and whoopie and shoefly pies. All in all it wasn't too bad and the snapper soup
was pretty good. Well on to the baptism. The baptism went so good the spirit was
definately there. I had the oppurtunity to baptize him so that was neat. Before
the baptism we asked him if he was ready and he said "absolutley".
After the baptism he said he felt good. I think the coolest part about this
experience was the confirmation on sunday. After he was confirmed we sat down
and he leaned over with a smile on his face and said "that was
powerful". He went on to explain that he felt a power come into him and I
explained to him indeed that was the Holy Ghost. As it was fast and testimony
meeting he later got up and bore his testimony. What a powerful testimony it
was. Short and simple but strikes you too the heart. He said that this baptism
was life changing for him and he wants to continue to learn and grow. I have
grown to love D as he has grown so much and he has become a new person. As for
the rest of the people I met I developed many good relationships with people. I
had a good ward and had alot of good memories here. Ephrata was a good place we
we were blessed with success and I grew alot. I feel I did what I needed to do in
Ephrata and I was ok with leaving. I was a little nervous as this would be my
first transfer to a new area. You get butterflys and excited as you await your
name to be called on the board. So are you ready to hear where my new area
is......................
WILLIAMSPORT. I was excited you might know it because thats where the little
league world series is held. I am in a bike area so I am going to freeze haha.
My companion is Elder Welker he is a very nice guy you can just tell hes very
loving. He is from Provo, Utah. Well I'll write next week, I kind of need to get
unpacked. I hope your all doing great let me know how your doing. Love you all.

Transfer 3-Week 6

Haha, crazy how much difference a week can make. Last week we found 1
investigator and this week we found 9. I have some very good news D told us
that he still wants to go through with the baptism, and AM as well so I
think we will have two baptisms this Saturday. I have been so blessed in this
area, especially with solid investigators who will stay strong in the gospel. I
would rather have two solid baptisms then 100 not solid investigators. Baptism
is just the first step and we need them to be converted so they can endure to
the end. I don't know if I told you but J is struggling right now so pray
for him. The work has been rolling; it seems like everything is starting to fit
together as the transfer is about to come to a close. I believe that I will be
getting shipped out. Ephrata has been a great place. We've had quite a bit of
success the ward members are strong, and its just so cool being around this
different kind of culture. This week shold be great we have alot of dinner appointments set up including
one with the Kramers. Guess what they are feeding us. Tripe, pig
stomach,snapping turtle soup,chicken pot pie, and whoopie pies talk about an
interesting menu. Today for P-Day we are going to play ball and go to CC's
Pizza. I got myself into a predicament so the sisters in the district had been
boasting on how much they could eat so I challenged them to a contest I said I
wopuld eat 23 pieces of pizza so we will see how that goes. Me and Elder Knecht
get along well; we complement each other nicely. He's kind of the bold and says what he
wants and he has the brains. I'm more of the tender one but not the brains.
He's great and has helped me alot and I have learned alot from him. So we met
some very interesting people on Saturday.

So we have the Ephrata fair coming up this week and I guess its a really big deal.
They close off like a a mile stretch of road on main street for a whole week. Im
sure we will have plenty of chances to talk to people. It will definately take me
out of my comfort zone. I'm sure there will be many people annoyed at us but if
we can just find some poeple searching it will make it worth it. Saturday
is the Day I am so excited, we have been blessed. I have seen the gospel change
lives. It is true it brings greater happiness. I think we myself included take
for granted the gospel at times. But there are people are searching for
something that can feel their souls and we have what they need. When we have the
gospel does that mean that everything will go well in our lives, no it doesn't.
But it means that we can be supported in our trails, we can recieve answers to
prayer, it means we can have understanding of the whole eternal scheme of
things. When we have an Eternal perspective it makes us plow through the trails
with greater strength. So I want you to know that we belong to the true church I
KNOW THAT. Well I neglected to tell you about Zone Conference which was amazing.
The spirit was so strong and I learned alot. If I were to wirte you everything
I learned It would take up another four pages. I think the thing that was really
stressed was to build a strong foundation and then you can be strong enough to
endure the winds and storms that come. Also they streesed alot about obedience
that God can raise us to a higher plane but only if we are willing to sacrifice.
I loved what Rusell M.Nelson had to say. He said "The only thing we have
that is truly ours to offer is our will." That is so true everything else
was given to us by God. So let us be a little better and stand a little Taller
as President Hinckley said. I love you all I pray for your happiness and
success

Hello

Hello to all who reads this.
This week not a whole lot happened. We didnt have too much success but hey some
weeks are better then others. I think the highlight of my week was yesterday. We
went to the Hershey Theatre for Stake Conference. What a neat and ornate place.
It did have a different feel then a normal church building. I
sat up on the balcony. It was a good conference I think the themes that were hit
the most was member missionary work and not getting offended. They talked about
how members shouldn't worry what people think and that there are people want to
hear the message but we aren't willing to open our mouths. Yes, I understand that
many people will scoff at us and totally reject the message but it makes it all
worth it if you can bring one person in. If people only could get past the
misconceptions of this church they would find the greatness of this gospel.
Elder Zwick was the General Authority that came to visit. What a kind and
gracious man. After conference we drove through Chocolate World which was
pretty interesting. Last night was great; we ate dinner at the Fitzsimmons home
and had an awesome testimony meeting in their home. What a great spirit filled
room. It reaffirmed to me that this is the true church. I hope all is going
well you are in my prayers.

Love Elder Powell

Transfer 3- Week 4

Well Hey Everyone!!
What an interesting week it was, I will talk about it in a little bit. I am wondering how you all are doing. It sounded like the funeral went amazing and that things went as good as they could. I know that the pain still might linger for awhile but in time all we will remember is the sweet memories we had withGrandpa and how we will have more with him in the next life. You all remain in my prayers I thank you for your prayers and support. I have honestly felt at peace with this whole situation I think in large part to your prayers. Rely on the Lord and he will give thee strength. And when you do recieve that strength dont forget to keep praying and doing the things we are supposed too. It's easier too pray when we have things that we need but its perhaps a bit harder when things are going well and we don't feel as much of a need to pray. I know this is something I need to work on and I pray you will all stay close to the Savior. Well enough with my councel; I'll comment a little on my week.....Brother Clodie took us to Shady Maple again; oh my I love that place. News on our investigator J is doing well. He likes what we are teaching. He made the comment so what is expected of me if I become a member of your church I thought that was pretty cool. We then proceeded to teach tithing Haha and he accepted. We actually found out that J is a member of a band back in Ecuador called Prophecyas and I guess they were pretty popular in their country. J says hewill come to church this week. D is doing well he still said that the 27thwill work. He still has to finish the B.O.M but he's almost there and when he does finish I am very confident that he will be baptized. So Ive got a funny story so I tried cutting my hair for the first time. It was going well until the very end when I was going up my head the glide fell off and took a HUGE chunk out of my head. Elder Knecht tried to fix it but its still very visible. Not to mention a general authoruity is coming in two weeks I hope my hair can grow faster then it ever has Haha. Well I wanted to leave you with a story that I really liked its called Arabian Stallions. Many years ago in Arabia there lived a man whose name was Ben Yussef. He and his son were very wealthy. Their wealth came from breeding and training Arabian Stallions that were famous for their speed, beauty, and sturdiness. Each year the horses were trained and sold. They were always in great demand, but eachyear Ben Yussef and his son kept the very best for themselves. Training beganwhen the horses were very young and they were trained so that each one answer tothe call "Kyama,Kyama." When these words were heard there was athunder of hooves, swishing of manesnd tails as the horses obediently respondedto their master. One day Ben Yussef turned to his son ans said that the time hadcome for the sorting of the horses-the time for testing. These horses which hadbeen given the very best, now gradually had their luxuries cut off. Their feedwas cut down and barely enough to keep them alive and they were turned out oftheir satbles into stubby fields. Their coats were neglected and became dirtyand ragged. They were not given enough water, and they looked wild and thin.They no longer looked like the thouroughbreds they had once been. After severalmonths Ben and his son and several stable hands, reigned up the horses and ledthem to a field. Beyond its gates lay another field that everything the thehorses ever dreamed of-bran and hay,clear water, thick green pastures.The horsesshined and pulled against their reins to get to the field.Finally Ben called"Open the Gates!" the way was clear. There was nothing to stop themThe horses began to gallop, and then came the call. "Kyama,Kyama." Thehorses pricked their ears, some rushed straight on, and some looked back, then galloped on. But some stopped, turned ever so slowly, and walked back to BenYused. As Ben Yussef looked at the stallions in front of him, he said with emotion and pride-"These are my Chosen." I loved that story i think itdirectly relates to us. Their are temptations before us that look very appealingsuch as those green pastures. But the Lord calls for obedience and those whoobey him and come unto him are his chosen. I Pray we can all be his Chosen I love you all take care. Elder Powell

NOTE-Elder Powell's grandpa Blane Hendricks passed away on August 28th & that is what he is referring to in his email.