Thursday, December 27, 2012

Last P-Day in the MTC


Wooh! These are my last few days in the MTC:) I have loved it so much but I have seen almost my whole district leave.... that has been hard. We started with 5 companionships and right now it is just me and my companion, so we had to join another district. Our first day in the new district we taught one of the teachers who played an investigator. we had to do a door approach and then teach her. It was a little difficult to get in the door, but then we talked to beatrice about her family and the importance of the Gospel and Christ in her life and we commmitted her to baptism on the first lesson! It almost seemed too easy, but it was cool to see her change so fast.We shared scriptures and testimony and taught her with the spirit. It was awesomely fantastic. :)
So I woke up this morning, walked outside and it was still snowing :D  There is about two feet of snow here in provo and it is the perfect Christmas gift. Christmas was fantastic, like I wrote in my last email. Later that day we had a fantastic talent show! The best act were these two  elders who were twins and they played  the piano like two mad scientists. They were hillarious too because they were climbing over eachother, pushing eachother off the bench, waving to the crowd and all these other things while they were playing this crazy piano piece. It was hillarious :)
Then after the talent show we had Greg Olsen come and speak to us about all of his paintings. He is the guy who painted christ on the hill and jerusalem is down in the background... Yeah. Anyway he gave us the greatest perspective on christ. He has spent the last 20 years painting all sorts of pictures of christ. He was explaining that he has come to this extremely personal level with christ since he spends hours on all the details and he has to constantly be thinking how to make his paintings emulate the character of Christ. It was pretty interesting. I didn't write all of what he said but he did ask us to do this: Think about yourself right now on this earth. How you act,how you think, what your personality is like.... and then imagine meeting yourself before this life. Your spirit.  Your "real self". How would you act. What would the differences be. The way he led up to it, really got me to think. 
 His overall message was that we shouldn't distance ourself from Christ. Yes he was the son of god, but he also walked this earth like we are doing now. He learned, he worked, he had friends, he loved and he said that sometimes we need to remember that he is our literal spirit brother. Heavenly father is our literal spiritual father. And we are his literal sons and daughters. We should turn to them whenever we can, want and need them. Which is always :) It was a great discourso.
Oh and then that night we got to watch a wonderful life which was good... but it just reminded me of home so that was dumb haha :) But they treated us well on christmas and I loved it. I'm still freaking out about the snow though! Last night we started making a snow cave so I think i'm going to do that for a little while today on my P-day after I finish all my prep stuff and studying. Have fun skiing. :)
 By this time next week I will be in San Antonio Texas! I can not wait.
Love you all.
Vaya con Dios
Love Elder Powell  


December 25, 2012

Woo so our present from the MTC was getting to write an email home!
Merry Christmas and I hope that everyone is having a fabulous time :)
Today we were able to hear from Elder Nelson and I love how whenever an apostle or other general authority comes the messages are so personal. Instead of talking to the whole world like on general conference they get to open up to 2,000 missionaries (Strippling Warriors) and talk to us. Today we learned about gifts. Sister Nelson compared gifts of the spirit to gift cards
I love how every year we would read the story of Jesus. It was always so special and now as i read it i still have those same feelings of peace and love. Now I realize that those feelings were of the spirit. Before my mission I never really recognized the spirit and now he is my friend :) I am now realizing how he has influenced my whole life. Something awesome though about the spirit is that he can testify of only truth. So those feelings I had as we read the scriptures and especially as we read every christmas the story of Christ from the scriptures, it was the spirit telling me that what I was reading and hearing was, and is still true! I know that Christ is our Savior. I know that on the night Christ was born, angels did minister to shepherds in the field. A new star did appear. Jesus was born into the world by a virgin named Mary. And Christ is God's son!
As soon as he was born he already had someone trying to kill him. For me that adds one thing to the list of how Christ is our saviour. Well besides the fact of the heavens changing, angels ministering and of course prophecies of christ's birth 600 years in advance. I mean other than that ;)
I love this Gospel and I can't believe how much it has influenced my life up to this point and much more it will change me.
Think for a second what Christ has done for you and how he has affected your life. I can testify that he has in at least a few ways. He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for YOU. He has Suffered on the cross for YOU. And he was Ressurected for YOU!
This has given me purpose.
Merry Christmas and I love you Family. Hope you had a great Christmas because I know I did :) I loved the gifts and the love.
Love, Elder Powell





Friday, December 21, 2012

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas :)

It is so crazy that Christmas is in 5 days! Thank you everyone for the packages, cards, presents and food! It has been fantastic :) I don't know if I'll have time to write letters to you because we cleaned the Temple today for about 4 hours :) Which I will tell you about in just a second. But Merry Christmas! I love you and wish I could be there to celebrate Christmas with all of you. Christmas is great! I love how it reminds us of Jesus' birth. I know Jesus is our savior and that he suffered and died for us. Without the Atonement we wouldn't be able to be forgiven of anything and would never be allowed to return with our Heavenly Father. It is so important to use the atonement every day, even for the little things. I know that is true and I know that as we are obedient and strive to be perfect, we are becoming more like Christ. That is the purpose of this life. Sometimes it is hard to remember but this life is so short and all we are are asked to do is show our Faith in Jesus Christ by acting and becoming like him. Creencia is when you don't act on what you know and have learned but faith is when you act.
Hope that made sense.

This week I have been trying to be 100% obedient. It has been such a blessing. Also I read Kameron's letter about how when he is working his hardest that is when he has the most peace. It is so true. As we are working and being diligent to follow the savior we are more at peace and really feel our Father's Love. 

  Oh and yeah! I saw president Morgan and got to give him a big hug and then I hosted his grand son on his first day at the MTC. That was fun! 
I still haven't gotten a letter that I've been reassigned yet So I'm still waiting on that. It's super hard to NOT know yet. I think I will get it tonight though. We will see.

Um Congratulations Jared and Victoria (I like that name ;)) You are probably married RIGHT NOW! Yep that is definitely weird. i am so excited for you guys. If I have a nephew when I get home I would be so excited. Haha I'm kind of joking.... but not really :P You should name him Fawx. It's probably the most best name on the planet. 

I love you guys. Rebecca, I have read your letter so many times because it always makes me laugh and smile. I love it :) Adam I loved your letter and all the stickers and drawings you made! It was fantastic! Rachel you are great. Please keep writing :) i loved the santa you drew me and I'm workin on that line you sent me haha. I will write you soon but there is so much to study and focus on here! 
 
Ahh I forgot to tell you about the temple! So we were there for four hours and it was amazing. We were able to serve the lord, by LITERALLY cleaning His house with about 40 other LITERAL Servants of the lord. The Spirit was strong and it always is in the temple. Try and go there as often as you can. Tanner and Rachel you should try and go a few times a months! It will strengthen your relationship with eachother as well as your relationship with the Lord. Oh and at the end we were able to go into the Brides room.... Why are girls so lucky!! It was almost as cool as the celestial room. Not quite but almost. 

Anyway. Hasta proximo semana
Vaya Con Dios
Love Elder Powell

P.S I have everything I need for my mission but I would love some ties for Christmas. :) It will last the longest and its the only thing I can change every day :)

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Hello Again


Hi mom. :) I love the jazz games! Glad you finally got to go to the lexus club too :) I wonder if I'll be able to go to any soccer games in spain?
 
Ahh i would have totally put up all the christmas lights all over our house. And this year probably would have been better than last year because we seem to buy more and more lights each year! I'm glad you got them up and I am really going to miss that. I just got your letter and I loved it! Thanks for the christmas tree too! I will write you back soon. In our last devotional we got to watch the first presidency christmas message and that made me miss home and also miss the christmas spirit of lights, sitting by the fire, being with family, playin in the snow and everything else. But It's ok! We will have an amazing devotional on Christmas and we get two Apostles this time :D I am super stoked!
Wo! Tanner, you are amaaazing (with fluxuation in my voice) How many people are in the tournament? What to win if you win the tournament? Are you nervous? :)
 
Everything in the MTC has been pretty normal here. I finally got the answers to my prayers though! I have been praying for my companion, elder Jensen, you know to be the best he can and try to get focused and work hard.... Well this week we were put into a tripanionship and boom! Elder lundberg was blunt yet loving. He has been here for three months because of injury so we all know him and we have alot of respect for him and he just told elder Jensen to leave everything behind at home and stop thinking about girls and FOCUS. It's been three days and his attitude is definitely better. I'll keep you updated. I love how one of the one things I've been struggling with is something I can't just choose to change. I've already learned so much.
 
Our investigators are doing well! We have been teaching four people. Have I even talked about these people with you?! Ok so first is Vicente. He is awesome! He is from chile, he's 21 and is going to college and we have committed him to baptism on the 22'nd! He is our strongest investigator and it's so cool to see his change. :)
Also we have been teaching a single father by the name of Mario. He is from Guatemala! He wants comfort and direction in life and we have told him how important prayer and scripture reading are for him. We really got through to him in our last lesson and he has also committed to baptism by the 22'nd!
These last two guys are really stubborn. we have taught them three times and they have made very little progress... We have been teaching them about the plan of salvation but they don't understand why they need the gospel if they have the whole millenium to decide. Yeahhhhh..... we should have never brought up the milleniuim. Kidding :) But we have found alot of scriptures about it so we will see how it goes with them tomorrow.
By the way these are investigators that our companions and teachers are acting in place of people they know. It is so cool! Because we never break character and it really is like we are teaching someone else! It is fantastic!
 
Well not much has changed.  I have gotten to go with Elder lundberg though to his physical therapy at the provo Hospital twice and that has been fun to talk to normal people and just be in the outside world ;) I am in a tripanionship until tuesday when Elder Lundberg finally heads to Mexico because of recovery time for his knee. I'm excited for him. Then I only have two more weeks until I get to go serve and talk to people. Oh I can't wait to go serve! Like you have no idea! I am scared that it has to be in spanish but I know the lord will bless me as I am striving, and becoming christ like.

This week I read this amazing talk called "Jesus: The Perfect Leader." I think this has been an eye opener for me on how to lead. It's cool how when you are called to do something the lord will back you up and help you become what you need to be. I was made district leader and I can really feel the lord working with me. It is the coolest feeling ever! It's like I have gained years and years of wisdom and knowledge to help those in our district and to lead. It is really humbling. And our District is so unified and working hard.

Alright I gotta go. I went over a little on my time so next week my letter will be a little shorter. I'm such a slow typer!

Well I love you all. I love you Mom and Dad. I love you Jared, Tori, Tanner, Rachel, Rebecca, and you Adam. Hi Adam :) I will write you an awesome letter today. Tori do you even work at the MTC! I haven't seen you once. I have lunch at 12 and dinner at 5 every day!
Vaya Con Dios.

Bye :) 

Monday, December 3, 2012

Faith and Light - Nov. 29


Hi there!
 
Things are going super great! I´m learning so much and I can´t believe it´s been five weeks :) Thanks fam for the packages! I love how all the food is gone in about 2 minutes after opening the package. Everyone enjoys it haha. I wish I could be home to put up the christmas lights and listen to christmas music and sit by the fire as it snows outside, but I guess we'll probably have to wait two years for that huh ;) Here in the MTC they turned on all their christmas lights on thanksgiving night! Who was excited... I was! Oh and thank you mom for my little decoration. I put it up right when I got! Also the Orthodics are good so far. I still need my bottom retainer. It's just a plastic one :)
Mom and dad that vacation sounds pretty amazing. Dad you are awesome. I love doing surprises like that. Isn't lake Powell amazing! Ahh i think I could live there in the summer. But I'm glad you had fun and got time to be together.
Everything else has kind of been the same old same old here in the MTC. Although we did get to watch 17 miracles on thanksgiving night. That was actually really awesome. I just never get tired of that movie and it was good to remember what those people did for me, and for all of us. They sacrificed literally everything they had to come to the salt lake valley and follow the will of the Lord. I wonder how many people in the church would actually be willing to leave their homes if that same thing happened today. I know I would leave in a heartbeat :)
 
Que en el mundo! So I totally forgot McNamera was coming to the MTC. We had been waiting for our new district in our zone and we knew they were finally coming last night! So I 'm sitting in class and the new district walks by and they start talkin to some of our district. And we're all talkin spanish, which is still hillarious and I can't get over how confused they look, but I go over and I just stand there stunned! Dmac is just chillin leaning against the wall. And then he sees me and it was like the happiest reunion ever! It was as if we hadn't seen eachother in twenty years or something. Oh it was great. So now He is in our zone, learning spanish and we go to the same ward :) What are the chances! Well the chances are like 1 in  70 somethin but still it was great. Also we have 2 Samoans who just joined our zone and they speak hardly any english and they have to be taught spanish. Yep, they have to learn english and spanish. It's kind of crazy but with the lord all things are possible!
 
This week I've been working on faith and the difference between hope and faith and how doubt affects all of the that. And where is that point where faith turns into knowledge. It's cool when you have hours to study things like that because you gain such an understanding.  There comes a point when you have to rely solely on faith. You won't have any sight on how or what to do in certain situations.But because you have a knowledge that Christ lives and this gospel is true you can rely on that knowledge to help you through doubt. I wish I could explain all about it! I can share my light, but you can't take my light. It's so important for us to take the time and gain testimonies by working for them. :)  We have also learned alot about light and there is this cool 3 episode series on lds.org under mormon messages taught by elder Bednar. I would definitely recommend it! They are about 2 minutes each and so good. Bednar has becaome one of my favorite apostles.
Congratulations Jared and Tori! You are getting married so soon! I wish I could be there and see all of it. You better take a million pictures and remember me haha :) I've got to admit that is going to be weird to have a married brother. You are so old :P Hahaha. But really i'm so excited for you and I can't wait to hear all about it.
 
Welp I gotta go. I love all of you!

Vaya Con Dios!

Love Elder Powell

p.s You should somehow tell people about dearelder because i don't know how it works haha :)

Monday, November 26, 2012

I Will Go and Do

Hi mom :) So yes i am writing on wednesday because tomorrow is thanksgiving. Which is kind of a bummer because we don't get a P-Day! But the new district doesn't get there FIRST P-day for two weeks and that probably would have killed me. Count your blessings right :) Yeah so tomorrow I will get to check my email and write again so try and email but I am supposed to get most everything out now. Oh and I got a slip for a package and if it is from you than thanks! If not... I need a thanksgiving package ;) Haha love you. Yes it is 1226 for my letters (the date i leave the MTC), I hope the retainers are in the basement bathroom in the far right side drawer. Oh and I haven't received my orthodics. That is something I can't really control, thanks for lookin in to that. Umm so what happened with the car and my ticket. I seem to always have a problem with tickets, even while I'm at the MTC. :D I heard about Jayden and that is so awesome!! I will finally have someone to speak spanish, spanish with. Love it. Except for the whole Visa thing.

**Update on the Visas**  
We talked to the travel office and the government has kind of pushed any work that has to do with the LDS church aside. They sent some agents from the church office building to spain to try and work everything out but no success. So they are really backed up... Its kind of a bummer and is now just a waiting game, but get this! Um I could have the pleasure of serving on three continents. What!?! Yeah you heard right :) Because my mission in spain includes a small part of Africa and i'll I get reassigned to the states for a while. I may have already told you that. Oh well.

This week has been great as always. We are learning faster and the spirit is strong. We have now been moved to a hybrid plan for learning. We have all these tests to see how we are learning as they move from the nine week program to the six week program. We are pretty much the guinea pigs. Buuut, since we were already three weeks in they have to cram our last 6 weeks of learning into three. Its kind of complicated but they want us to be prepared by our six week mark. Then our last 3 weeks in the MTC we would just practice teaching alot instead of learning. The cool thing is that even though we are learning twice as fast it feels the same because I know what ever the lord asks I can do. Or else he wouldn't have asked me to do it. Boom, simple. That should be my thought of the day. Yep that is definitely my thought for the day. In Corinthians 10:13 or is it 10:15... Ok well it talks about how the lord wouldn't ask you to something unless he new you had the means to accomplish the will. And since I have a testimony in christ and the scriptures it is pretty easy to say yes to anything I am assigned to do. I'm not saying it will be easy because most likely it will be hard. But I know anything is possible with God.

Con Vaya Dios

Happy Thanksgiving

and I'll write a little more tomorrow :)

Elder Josh Powell

2nd email

Well Happy Thanksgiving!! It has already been so great. We had a fireside this morning and we knew it would be an apostle speaking but when he walked through the door it was fantastic! Everyone stood and everyone started whispering... Ahh it was great. His whole family was there and they performed musical numbers and his wife spoke to us and then...... He spoke. His message was so powerful! He talked of how we are the last and greatest dispensation. All other prophets in olden days knew they were working towards failure because of all the apostacies and yet they still worked for the lords purpose. And now we are working towards the second coming and we are DESTINED to win. He had such a conviction and he knows the Lord is coming soon.
It was really cool because He spoke to us about the new age thing and how there would soon be 90,000 thousand missionaries in the field and he hinted there would be so much more soon. My favorite quote that he said was about Daniel and how we always should have these words in our mind. "Speak Lord, thy servant heareth." We are the servants of the lord.
 
I am so thankful for everything I have and the opporunity to serve a mission. We have a few more service projects today but I'll be back on at 5 to end the day. I love you guys and I hope you have a great day today!
 
Love Elder Josh Powell
 
Oh and Elder Holland was our speaker ;) It was so funny because right at the beginning he told of us how we didn't have a choice in it but.... both Patricia and Jeffrey (yes we are on first name basis now) said all of us were adopted for a day for this thanksgiving while we are away from our families. So I am a Holland for today which is pretty cool.  Didn't think I'd leave that out did you, I know he is an apostle of the lord! 

3rd email

 I do miss being with family and playing football though. So we just finished doing a service project by creating five thousand packages containing hygiene and schooling supplies for Mali. It was a muslum organization we helped so it was really cool to be able to help them and for them to see the service and work we do. Right now we have ZERO missionaries in Mali but in the packages we sent LDS cards so that is cool how we can influence that country.
Also here are some other little tidbits. This week I got to be a part of two bleesings and it so amazing how the thoughts just come to your mind as you give the blessing on what to say! That was really cool.
If I have noticed some things that would be really nice :) One thing is stickers. It makes the whole letter writing thing a whole lot more fun. Also can you send some lyrics to me for "If the savior stood beside me" and "Come thou Fount"

Thanks Love ya! And I'll talk to you next week! :)



Thursday, November 15, 2012

24 hours of spanish

Hello people! So I just gotta let you know that.... the MTC is so awesome! Right now I am in the middle of a 24 hour spanish spree and it so fun. Our whole district decided that we wouldn't speak one english word for the next 24 hours. Last night we got a new district and all we could speak was spanish to them and it was hillarious :) They all looked at us like we were crazy. I'm pretty sure half of them cried themselves to sleep... haha kidding but I'm sure their minds are going a million miles an hour. But its fun to talk and joke with every one in spanish. It's kind of amazing that its only been three weeks. They want us to be fluent by week six. Definitely happening :D

 Ok so here is the deal with my visa. I haven't received it yet. Everyone I've talked to in the MTC who is going to spain have had no luck either. Most have been reassigned to the referral center until they come through. I've met alot of people who are on week 7, 11, and even 14 as they wait. And this is only with Spain missionaries. My deadline is Dec. 26th and if I don't have my visa by then I will be temporarily reassigned either to the referral center or somewhere on the East Coast. Which brings up something. Sorry mom but we can't call home on christmas while we are in the MTC.... But I will get to call while I am at the airport. So I will let you know my travel plans when I receive them.

 Oh my gosh do you see the snow outside!!! I'm pretty sure I am the happiest person in the MTC right now :) Like really I can't stop smiling when I walk outside! It was also super fun to see people from all over the world looking at the snow like it was magic. Ah good times.

 So I have had a break through this week. And I pose this question. Every time we teach an investigator we ask them to pray outloud to receive the answer if what we are teaching is true right. So, "Why don't we as members pray outloud about, some pretty important questions, in front of other people?" I thought alot about this this week and so I actually did that very thing with my companion. It was the coolest thing ever! I was super nervous for some reason because I was pouring out my heart in front of someone I had only known for three weeks. So yeah. And praying outloud is very powerful stuff. Not just breakfast lunch and dinner but personal prayers done outloud have a different effect. Theres a scripture in D&C 19:28 about praying outloud. I have been having a great week with investigators and Spanish is now fun to learn:)

 Another cool thing this week is that we got to leave the MTC :D Well just me and my companion. His brother got rebaptized on Sunday and the president of the MTC let us go. It was so nice just to be talking to normal people and go to a normal church! It was a blast. I've been to one baptism now.

 Wo! Jared is getting married in a month! That is rediculous! I can't wait to hear all about it and see some pictures. Yeah? :) You know you want to send me some pics ;) I have received all letters and packahes but definitely send it to 1226 from now on. Mom thanks for the pumpkin muffins they are so good! And Grandma I love you :) I've received both of your packages now.

 Good luck Dad! I know work is pretty tough right now but rely on the lord. "We can do hard things.... but we can do impossible things with god." I love everyone and I especially love my family. Vaya con Dios Love Josh!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Diligencia - Nov. 8, 2012

Alright people listen up :) CHINA WILL BE OPENING WITHIN 18 MONTHS! Isn't that unbelievable?! You're right, it is unbelievable and I've only heard some rumors and I can't really research that, so... I don't think it's true. But thats what the rumors are like in the MTC haha! Everything here is awesome! We have created new games in our apartment, we speak spanish like all the time now so that is so fun. Especially when we mess up or say a wrong word that has a terrible meaning hahaha :P I love the letters from everyone. They really do become your favorite thing from the outside world. Just the thought is great. I will be writing lots of letters today because I don't really have a lot of time on here. Plus I'm not really a fast typer and I don't really have a lot to say. The MTC is same old same old. Which is really cool!! But at the same time I can't wait to head off to spain and be walkin down some cobblestone street and meeting some old guy that we could change and share such a great message with. Oh my Visa has been delayed which means I wont be leaving next week but I will be leaving in december probably. They said that the last missionary that went to spain was in august :/ So we will see how that whole thing works out. This week I have been focused on trusting in the lord as well as becoming like christ. And boy have I learned alot. I started this goal last wednesday and it's amazing what can happen when you stay diligent. Here's just a little taste of what happened. So I started this goal with a prayer and then boom! Reading my scriptures and like every verse is talking about becoming like and relying on the lord. But a good one is Proverbs 3:5-6. It is so calming to know we can rely on him for everything. Then the next day in our 8 hours of directed class time we talked on.... yep becoming like christ and relying on him to do it. Then on sunday we had a fireside about becoming a disciple of christ. See a pattern? And then on the following tuesday I learned the most. Tuesday are our firesides when we hear from the seventy or someone important like that but Elder Zwick taught how to be like christ and his wife taught on trusting in the lord. I've learned I need to give my whole heart, mind and will to the lord. It seemed a little strange because I thought we were already doing that as missionaries. But it is more than that we have to have a change of heart. We have to realize that we rely on him for learning, for teaching, for loving. It is so hard if he isn't at the center. It is a strange change for me only because it doesn't happen immediately. So i am now working on patience haha. But then becoming like christ ties in really well. We need to speak, act, work, and even think like christ as missionaries. As I've worked on both of these, everything has become easier. Like I'm not even kidding. It's like I have a recording mind that keeps everything I see, Hear and speak and I can play it back at any time to learn or teach. The language has definitely been hard to work with but with dlligence I can learn perfectly. When I get into a lesson I know exactly what and how to say it. It is really cool. It isn't easy but I know that because I have kept Christ as the focus everything will work. I hope to hear from everyone soon! The work is coming along and it is great! Try and focus on christ this week. Like really think to your self WWJD hahaha :) My letter next week will definitely be longer! Love ya! Adios!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Week 1

Alright so the MTC is pretty awesome! We have learned so much and the Spirit is so strong!
So first off my mailing address has been changed :/ sooo I kind of haven't received any letters so it is pretty sad... but here is my new address. :) It only changed a little bit. But thanks everyone for the packages I have gotten.

Elder Joshua Trevor Powell
MTC Mailbox # 206
SPA-MAL 1113
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793


There now I expect lots of letters and fun things! And I haven't been able to send any of the letters I have written because I thought I could just use the return addresses! I hope this week will be better as far as that goes.

Anyway We have done so much in this past week I love it! My companion is Elder Jensen and he is pretty awesome! He lives like right next to us in Sandy and went to Alta and everything! So we have alot in common! But he has like no motivation! He just doesn't work hard and he expects the language to just come to him so that is probably the hardest thing right now. Any advice :). But my favorite parts have been the firesides! We had a member of the quorum of the seventy come on tuesday and he talked about HELPing. It is our duty as missionaries to go out and help everyone by sharing this true gospel. It was so cool I can't even describe it! But look up this scripture. D&C 84:88. It talks having god on your side at all times. I've loved looking at it over and over again. 

My district is awesome and my zone is great. It is so funny because because we are the only district in our zone with any hermanas haha. And we have two sets of them. It is so weird because I used to want to flirt and be around girls all the time but now I am so focused on learning and teaching there is hardly any attraction to them. And I'm not saying they are ugly, because they are pretty dang beautiful haha, I'm just saying I love how the spirit works to help me focus on the work :)

On our third day we got to teach our first investigator and that was crazy awesome. We had to teach it all in spanish and our investigator spoke to us only in spanish and he was this guatemalan dude. I could understand him the whole time!!!! It was like spanish class on steroids. The spirit was super strong. I just couldn't talk back because I haven't learned alot of vocabulary yet... but the spirit is so cool :)

All my brothers and sisters I love you guys. You are are awesome and I miss you already :) Mom and dad you are the best! You have been so good to me and have taught me so much. I will be writing more letters all day today haha be cause I have so much to say and my time is almost up and I still have to write the president. But please update that new address on my facebook!!! Muy importante!

I know that this church is true! It is so true and there isn't a doubt in my mind. I've prayed and read the scriptures every day and I can't deny the truth!
I can't wait to get out and serve.... as soon as I learn some more spanish first :P

Until next week and with love,
Elder Josh Powell
powellj@myldsmail.net