Elder Justin Powell's Mission to Mexico: June 27, 2013 Justin gets called on to speak to his zone

Hello Family and Friends,

Elder Powell reporting live from hot Mexico. It is a blaze but we are working at full speed. And we are seeing all the blessings of God through all the work and struggles.

This past week was a good week; it was pretty interesting with everything that’s happened. On Wednesday we had a conference with President Walker and his wife. It was all the missionaries in the city and our zone in Nuevo Laredo. It was pretty cool because we got to say goodbye to all the missionaries in the city because the mission is dividing into 2 missions. There were like 110 missionaries present. I got to see all the friends that I have created here in the mission. I saw former companions and a lot of my brothers that I will miss completely. It’s sad that we are dividing, but ``that’s just the way it is". Haha Before the conference started, we had to prepare talks and the President was going to select 3 of us to give a talk. Well Elder Vasquez was directing the conference and called who was going to give talks after we started, he said ``Hermana Lopez, and then Elder Powell, and then Elder McStraw. My stomach jumped to my throat pretty much... haha! And I looked at the President and he looked at me with these eyes of terror haha he was just joking around but it was a nervous moment for me. But everyone was saying that I did a good job in my talk, so I guess it was alright. And then after we said goodbye to the mission president and sister walker. I included a photo of Pres, sis Walker and I. I am going to miss them like crazy!!! :( But they are going to serve in another part of the world in this amazing work.

On Saturday, it was Moroni and Angel's baptism and it was great. All the youth were there to support. It was awesomeness, and Moroni and Angel were baptized by their dad. Oh it was a great transformation in that family and I am sooo glad that the family is now complete and they are pumped to progress in the gospel.

Justin in Nuevo Laredo

Ramos family baptism

We are teaching various families right now, later I will tell you more about a family that we are teaching that are called the Ruiz family.

And in these past couple of days we have been to the hospital and I have never been to the hospital in my whole mission to give blessings. So this guy Victor is a referral from other Elders here in Nuevo Laredo, but what happened is that his 18 year old daughter got into this accident and almost died on Friday. But we didn’t know anything of that until Friday night when we called him on the phone to put an appointment. When he answered, he sounded distraught and not very good. He was in a big struggle because he barely separated from his wife and his daughter was on her death bed. Well we had a good conversation of prayer on the phone and we said that we will pray for his daughter. When we hung up, I called the other Elders to do a special prayer and we all grouped together in a prayer. The next day in the morning, we called Victor to see when we could pass by the hospital to give a blessing and Victor answered the phone, but relieved and he was actually changed. He said that she recuperated and that she is awake and all. WOW!!! Very powerful moment. We went to the hospital and gave the blessing, the daughter looked normal and Victor was happy. Testimony grower for me. :)

And today we went to the hospital to give blessings to a new baby and the mom. The baby was born with water in his lungs and so we went to the hospital. When we get there we were there and went to the floor where the baby was. Apparently no one has seen the baby because once out of the womb, it went straight to the ICU. The hospital didn’t permit anyone to walk in, but the sister that was with us (grandma to the baby) said that there was a miracle in the hospital because they allowed only us to enter and not even the mom yet. But my companion went in because I have a sore throat and didn’t want to get the baby sick. Yes we broke a rule because I wasn't with my companion, but I really couldn't. I know God will forgive us because it wasn’t our intention. Haha. But then we gave a blessing to the mom and left the hospital. The hospital is right next to the border and right next to the bridge to the states. I got a picture of the USA :) haha but very cool moment this morning with that adventure.

Yesterday was a super cool training meeting with the apostles and prophet about member-missionary work. I know that if the whole church works together in this great work, we will have a ton of success and happiness in our lives. It is a joy to help many come unto Christ and it’s the purpose of this life, to serve one another and love God first. This life isn’t just about us, but it’s about God's children. If we would all serve each other, this world would be so much better than how it is right now. So much better! So do something for someone today, serve your fellow man because you will be serving God. I invite you all to serve at least one person a day everyday this week and to tell me how that experience went. I would love to hear about those experiences. It may seem scary at first, but it is so much better after the service and you do feel so satisfied.

Justin says farewell to President and Sister Walker