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! :)

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!

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!

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