Elder Justin Powell's Mission to Mexico: A great letter from JD

Hi guys and gals. Can you believe that I'm actually posting this on the day that it arrives. I promised that I would do better and be more prompt. This is a great letter from JD--I love it because I can tell that he is learning great lessons about patience and about being able recognize his feelings and promptings and then putting it all in perspective--even when it is hard. As always, thank you for supporting this son of mine. I miss him and can't wait until he is back but as he is far away, I'm grateful to you all for the love, friendship and support that you give to him that sustains him. I am a firm believer that this wonderful energy will come back to you all, magnified. Thank you, from a grateful father. Peace.

Hello Family and Friends,

How is it going? Well we are still pushing through the mission, one week at a time. Well the area ``Lomas Del Pedregal`` is still good, we worked a ton this week, a lot of work with the members. And we had a ton of success with finding great people, and as well as a lot of the members progressing. Maria Guadalupe got confirmed yesterday and she is doing a lot better now. A lot of my converts though are not coming to church!!!! For some emergencies or because they don`t feel welcomed now, it’s frustrating when they don`t come because it feels like to us missionaries that we baptized them in vain, and not when they were entirely ready. Well we still try to work things out with them, and slowly but surely they will come back if we stay persistent with them and their needs. Other than that, we found a great couple named Ivan and Norma. We contacted a young lady in the street and she showed some interest and accepted that we would come another day. Well we went and she didn`t seem interested until the 3rd visit, and she accepted a Book of Mormon. Well then the next visit we wanted to talk with the husband as well, but she was scared that he wouldn`t accept. But we went—he was pretty nervous and it started out a bit on the line, but then we shared something with him, and he said that he read the same thing in the bible that same day, because he was trying to prepare for our visit. It was like, wow! Another spiritual moment; he changed after that and they were accepting everything that we said. They were reading the Book of Mormon when we went for another visit. What I have learned is that as missionaries, we are like those of the phone company, we hook up the line for the investigators to God, because we don`t hardly do anything. We are just tools in his hands, and I have seen so much of that on the mission! Those are testimony builders of mine. The mission, I am not going to lie, is pretty dang hard for the fact that our testimony goes up and down like the world`s biggest roller coaster! It`s like God gives us 99 reasons to believe that the church is true, but there is always 1 that just sneaks in that makes your testimony kind of tear down. But we have to keep going to just keep that faith up, and that is the hardest thing to do!!!!!! But that is what I have learned and that I hope you all can see that and remember that when you had that experience that built your testimony because that was true, that you can focus on those 99 things and not on that 1 doubt, because it is a faith tester— that is all it is. Well times up and now I have got to go, but I love you all and you are all in prayers! Dad I haven`t read your email yet, but by the looks of it, something happened and I will read later. You are all in my prayers and dad I am worried, I hope nothing super bad has happened. Stay happy everyone, I love you all and now it’s SUMMMER TIME! Time for the 120 degrees! Hahaha! Love you all!

Elder Justin Powell

I am sorry My English is HORRIBLE, I am serious, and English is becoming distant for me! I am turning Mexican already, skin color and everything! Hahaha!