Justin needs our help!!

All right, guys and gals, here is the letter that I received from Justin on Monday.  I’m even posting the part that he wrote to his family.  Justin called for Mother’s Day and he spent nearly an hour talking to me about the issues that he’s facing.  He is having a difficult time getting along with his current companion.  As you know, Justin wasn’t raised “in the church” and he went on his mission intent on serving the people of Mexico. He’s a bit disheartened that it is a lot about numbers and statistics but I think that he is just down and so everything else is suffering as a result. 

Sooooo....here is where all of you--his friends and family--come in.  It's time to rise up and support your friend and help him by lifting him as only his peers and family can.  He needs you and so I'm here requesting that you take some minutes this week and write him.  Let's "blow up" his e-mail and snail mail boxes.  Let's overwhelm him in love and care and support.  Can I count on you? I know that we're all busy, but let's show him that we love him and that he isn't forgotten.  You have my gratitude and appreciation and I wish you all the very best in return as you send out the very best of yourselves--Dan

Now, on to the letter....

Well Hello Everyone,

Another week has already passed and this week I will complete 6 months in the mission! I`m pretty stoked but then again, it kind of feels pretty crappy that I still have a year and a half left. Haha. Well this week was alright, not the best week ever. Mexico is starting to get super hot now and every morning I get more tired and tired. Oh and happy mother`s day to all you mothers out there! I love you all! And I hope everything is going well for every one of you. I`m sorry my letter is pretty short. This week was pretty un-interesting and pretty bad. But just keep pushing on through right? Let`s hope it gets better. Well I love you all and don`t worry too much about me, I`m sorry I am writing a bad letter this week but weeks like this happen and I guess it`s a time to learn and progress. I love you all and take care

Elder Powell

Hello Family! How are you all doing? Well it was a pleasure to talk to you all yesterday! (I`m sorry mom that our phone call got cut... I will try to call you sometime this week ok?) Most likely on Friday night. And thanks a lot for all your support, you all sound great and I enjoyed very much talking to you all. I`m sorry this letter is super short. It`s just I feel pretty down today, I miss you all a ton and I don`t want you all to worry about me too much. It`s just I don`t want to give up because I don`t give up commitments that I start. And then again, I don`t want to disappoint because I know that I am setting an example for everyone (Brothers and young men in the ward), and I would hate to give up for them. But that is what is holding me here. So I will try to fight more and I will try to get to the point where I can like this mission and enjoy it. But I love you all and don`t worry too much about me. I miss you all and I am sorry that this letter home completely sucks but this week was the worst week probably on the mission, or something close. So take care and I love you all. Be safe. 

Love,

Elder Powell

Leia Mais…

May 7 2012--2 Type A's = companionship issues?

Hello how are you all doing? Well I am doing pretty well! Just pushing through another quick week. This week was a super hard week! I am not going to lie. It was like everything just kind of fell through. But that’s okay. There are weeks like these and all we have to do is push through onto the next week. We had a lot going on like zone conference and all. We also had a baptism this Saturday! It was pretty exciting! There were some funny memories this week, and also some very cool experiences. One of our investigators, Maria, was kind of having a hard time in deciding if she should be baptized or not, because her husband went to the United States to work and all. And then she was talking with her husband on the telephone and was asking what she should do. And the husband said to pray and ask. Well she prayed and asked and she got a prompting to open the bible randomly and read a scripture, well she got her answer opening to Philippians (I think that’s the spelling) 4:9. Wow I read it and couldn’t believe it. Please read it because it shocked me entirely! Haha Well there are things like that that happen in the mission and I try to write down all the experiences. Well I haven`t really said anything about my companion, haha, his name is Elder Santiago from Lima, Peru. He has been here in the mission for 1 year and 8 months. He`s about done. And he works hard, but he is always right (like me. haha) We're both pretty stubborn and it has been a trial a lot of the times, but it is a learning experience of patience. There have been times of complete verbal fights with us, but little by little I am learning to gain more patience for my companion. I am working hard on getting better with that because I am stubborn haha. But I am sorry if this wasn`t the most spiritually filled letter in the world. But to let you all know that I am ok and the mission is tough, but it is good work. I`ve never enjoyed sleep so much in my life! Haha. We do have to go to bed at 1030 at night, and you would think that we would want to stay up and talk. But the truth is that I love to sleep now! Haha Whoever stays up is crazy on the mission haha. The weather now is like 85% humidity, 90 degrees and this week it looks like it will reach 115 degrees. It should be fun work! Haha Take care, I love you all!

Elder Justin Powell

Leia Mais…

April 30 2012

Hello how are you all doing? I’m sorry I haven’t written in a while. Last Monday was crazy and I didn’t have any time to do anything that I wanted. And I had no time to write a good email, we were kind of kicked out abruptly because the member had to leave and so we left and I didn’t have time to send this email off. So this is a continuation of the email of last week. Well I am doing well, its pretty dang hot in Mexico... But we are working hard with the heat. Everyone one of you will probably think that I am gaining weight on the mission, but believe it or not, I am losing a ton. I put my suit coat on yesterday and wow it’s big on me... It’s probably because we walk like 10 miles a day (no joke). But it is all good. Well this week just flew right by and I can´t believe I’m here in front of the monitor again. Well on Tuesday of two weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to the Monterrey Temple to the chapel right beside it to listen to Elder Bednar of the twelve and Elder Johnson of the seventy. It was such a great talk that he gave and he seriously is such a powerful speaker. He doesn´t really just gives us the answer, he gives us the knowledge of what we can do to receive the answer, how we can improve our answer getting ability. So that when we find the answer, it touches our heart intensely and that way we can follow through with what we learned. He really makes you think. So for 3 hours, we were thinking very hard. But I learned something so valuable that will change how I will serve this mission and what will happen for the rest of my life. For example, if you pray like this "Please bless that I may get more money to help my family" while you are sitting at home doing nothing, God will very very rarely have this incidents where there´s $1000 on the porch the next moment. Yeah that is some hope, but with that type of prayer, nothing will happen. Now, if you pray like: "God, while I am out looking for better work, while I am working hard and doing my part, please help me with the energy to find great work, please help me have money for my family." Do you see the difference? God will do his part if we do ours. Plain and simple. If we pray with the intent of acting right after the prayer, god will act. So I learned a ton and I love listening to Elder Bednar.

Well we are trying to have a fun time on the mission as well because we work hard, but the thing is that it gets pretty boring at times. Or we get kind of bored with just working and not taking some time to relax, because a typical day with my companion and I is 7 lessons a day (when its only necessary to do 5), talk with 50 people on the street (when its only necessary to talk to 20), and we just work and try harder than what is expected. So with that, I kind of get tired of the mission or bored. And there are so many frustrations here in Mexico; I know why God sent me to Mexico, to become more patient because that is an attribute that I need to work very hard on. But I keep pushing through, what I heard is that after the year mark, that’s when you find true happiness with the mission or that’s the point where you don’t want to go home. Haha.

Well don’t worry about me here in Mexico, everything is fine. If you watch the news and all you hear about is all the danger here in Monterrey, well yes there are bad news, but for everything bad thing here, there are 1000 good things. And that`s how it is everywhere! So don`t trust the news too much because the truth is that Monterrey is a place with a lot of good people and 99% of the people here want good and peace. And the food is excellent, the only thing is that I am losing weight and not gaining. hahahah

Well I love you all, send me letters and tell me how is everything! I haven`t heard from a lot of my friends and I am in dire need of hearing from you all! Haha

Love,

Elder Justin Powell

Leia Mais…

April 9 2012

Hello Family and Friends,

How are all of you doing? I am doing pretty well, this week was really hard because it wasn`t successful and very frustrating, but it happens right? It was because in Mexico, they celebrate a week called Holy Week and it’s when everyone has vacations and just leaves for a while. Haha Today I change companions and I stay in the same area. I will be with Elder Santiago from Peru and what I have heard is that he is a great elder. I’m very excited to start working with him in my area Lomas Del Pedregal. This next weekend coming up we have 4 baptisms! I`m pretty excited and then next week we have Elder Bednar coming to talk with us. Pretty exciting couple of weeks coming up for us missionaries. The weather here has been pretty cloudy/rainy in these last couple of days. But I can feel the heat coming because it will be pretty dang hot in these next couple of weeks. Well I am sorry that this letter is short but I have to go. But I love you all and I miss you all like crazy. Take care and be safe.

Elder Justin Powell

Leia Mais…

April 2 2012

Hola Familia y Amigos,

How are all of you doing? I am doing pretty good, just pushing along through another week. This week that passed was good. I had interchanges twice, going to the other areas of our district because the other elders need help from Elder Perkes and I as far as working harder. The Zone leaders wanted us to lend a hand with uplifting them, so we were doing that this past week. So I learned a lot of leadership skills this past week. And then we finished to the weekend with a great conference. We got to go to the mission office because it`s the stake center as well, and while everyone in the stake was watching in Spanish in the chapel, us American`s got to watch the whole conference in English in the offices. So I got to understand it all, and it was a great conference. A lot of advice on how to become better families. And that counsel was very good for us to learn so that we can apply that counsel with our investigators and our teachings. I don`t want to take anything away from what the speakers said, but I do know this gospel changes families because I have seen families change for the better when they live the gospel of Jesus Christ. So live the gospel to the fullest, it is meant to bring happiness to everyone and I have seen it completely change a family from unhappy, near splitting to complete happiness and love. Apply the teachings of this conference in your lives and live your life to the fullest. I love you all and be happy because everyday should be a happy day. Stay positive and smile everyday! hahaha Love you all take care.

Elder Justin Powell

Leia Mais…

Let's do this again

I'm back!  I want to apologize for not posting Justin's letters in a little while.  I've been a little bit off and, frankly, Justin's letters have been getting shorter and shorter.  But, here we go again--it's time to hit reset and go forward.  I'll do my best to make sure that his letters get posted promptly.  Honestly, I knew that there were a few people that followed this blog but I have to admit that I've been surprised by the number of people that have wondered why they haven't been able to follow Justin's mission adventures through his posted letters here.  I'm humbled and I am recommitted.
Dan

Leia Mais…