1 October 12

La Familia Gutierrez de Rio Bravo

La Familia Rocha Solis de Rio Bravo

Dear Fam and Friends,

HAAAAAPPPPPPYYYYYYYYYYYY BIRTHDAY KATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I hope you had a great day!!!!! How are you all doing? I am doing pretty good, just living life in Valle Hermoso. It was a fast week, a lot to do, a lot to get to know and just a lot of getting used to. Valle Hermoso is a bit different, not much but the life here is a bit. It’s more like Grantsville I would say, except in Mexico. jaja. But everything is very calm here, nothing really happens, it’s more just ranch style of living. There is nothing of fast food :(; no ordering pizza anymore, but that is alright. I have a Mexican companion now, Elder Manzanarez (or English translation, Elder ¨Apple-Beef¨ hahaha) He is a funny hard worker who has a huge love for the people, he reminds me of myself when I got here. I was kind of impatient and I have come a long way, and he is learning still because he has less time than me. But we get along. It’s all good between us. Just sometimes I need patience because we have our differences like we are sort of the same type of red personality, so it’s another patience builder. And I have a great district that wants to work and improve, it’s a huge relief on my part because it’s easier to give advice and teach them. Elder Robledo, Elder Diaz, Elder Manzanarez, Elder Vera, and Elder Ramirez are in my district, and yes I am the only American here in Valle Hermoso. Everyone thinks that I am Mexican now for my skin now very dark, until they see my eyes and here my accent. And then the questions about the states come. But it’s fun to answer and chat about where I come from. And also, I am the first American in a long time to come to Valle Hermoso; I didn’t ever think I would come to this Zone, but yep. But the people here are awesome. I loved Condesa, I miss them dearly. Rocha and Gutierrez family and all the rest will always be in my heart. I will visit again in the future. Well I love you all and I miss you all! The time has definitely flown and I can’t believe that I only have a little over a year left. Who´s pumped for conference?? I AM!!! Haha Love you all! Go UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!! BEAT USC!!!!

Elder Justin Powell

OH and don’t send letters and packages to that address in TEXAS!!! I will put the new address in next week, it’s a safer address. I love you all!

Dear Family, HOW ARE YOU DOING!???!! I am good, well I will be sending a package very soon, for Christmas and birthday gifts combined. And Dad I was thinking, we should come to Rio Bravo when I am done with the mission, I would really love to visit again and all like before Christmas, take a bus. We´ll talk about it as the time gets nearer, but it would be a thrill to visit with you.

Well Kate I love you and I hope your birthday was awesome!!!! Princess, you are growing so big and you are so beautiful! Do well in ballet and I am so proud of you and all that you do. You have grown so fast before my eyes, moving to Utah and you in my arms and crawling and barely walking, and now about to enter Elementary School!!!! Wow!!! I love you so much Kate and I miss you, we will talk soon on CHRISTMAS!!

I miss you all and I hope you are all doing well, living life and have fun! Valle Hermoso is calm and it’s a good ward, a lot of work to do. Keep up the prayers and hopefully my prayers are getting answered for you. Take care and send me a package with the card please by next week when I send the address. I love you all

Love,

Elder Justin Powell

Leia Mais…

Transfer, Sr. Companion and District Leader all in one day!

Today was a big day for JD--a bittersweet day but a big one. Justin has a way of working his way into your heart and he does that with the families he meets in Mexico.  He is very sad to be leaving Rio Bravo and the people that he has grown to love.  He is also sad to be leaving his wonderful companion, Elder Pierce. However, after being in the mission 8 months, he has become a Sr. companion and a District Leader and is moving to a new town where he will use the love and compassion that he has to work and serve the people of Valle Hermoso. I'm so proud of this kid.  Please write him and keep him in your prayers.

Justin (representing the Mighty Utes) and his district on P-Day

Hello how is everyone!? I am doing great, today is transfers and I am going to get transferred to a town called Valle Hermoso and be district leader! I am pumped to have this opportunity and sad to be leaving this area... Its bittersweet to tell you the truth. I really dont know how to react but I am hoping that this new area is everything that I think it to be! Today I am packing everything and its a very busy day today. I am also sad to be leaving my buddy Elder Pierce! He has been a great companion, patient with me and very helpful. I learned a lot from him, and we had a lot of success together. 

Birthday Party for Sra. Gutierrez with her family

The members and I are very sad that we are breaking apart, but I know that the other companion will come in and continue the success. Its sooo weird to be leaving already because I feel like I just got here like a little bit ago, like these 3 months just flew right before my eyes!!! I am going to miss a lot of people like crazy from here, I am going to have too many second families here in Mexico if I keep changing at this rate, but the mission continues and its where they want me. I know that we will have a lot of success in this next area. Well I love you all and take care! Be safe and God bless each one of you. 

Elder Justin Powell

Dear Family,

Well How are you all doing!!! ??? Thnks for the help with the card stuff, hopefully that never happens again. But thanks for the emails and all. I will read them. Everything is going well, month and a half and comes the year!!! Can you believe that?? I Cant!!! But my comp is named Elder Manzanares from Cancun! We will probably talk all about the beach! hahah But I love you and I hope everything is going well!!

Love Elder Justin Powell

Leia Mais…

September 17, 2012

There was a short note last week that I didn't post--JD was having a really hard time with the news of his friend Jim Hodgson's accident. He is very close to Jim and his family and took the news with difficulty. He and I chatted and he'll certainly be all right, as evidenced in this week's letter, but any letters from home would be great!

Happy Mexican Independence Day!

Well hello to all of you, I am doing pretty good today! Everything is going fine in Rio Bravo and the work continues. This last week was pretty fun because it was the Mexican Independence Day. 
The whole district (stake pretty much) did this huge party at the the stake center and all the missionaries and branches went to the party to eat, to have fun and to see what a Mexican party like. The Youth from each branch did a skit, or a Mexican traditional dance and it was pretty entertaining. All the missionaries took a ton of pictures with the sombrero and flag for memories and I took a lot of pictures and video of the whole thing. So it was pretty fun! Sad news is is that transfers are in one week... And it’s looking like I am leaving again... So I am sad because I love this area and the members are just like family here, and I am most likely leaving because Elder Pierce has two transfers left after this one and it will look like he will be finishing up here. But who knows because maybe I will stay! :) Well what’s new with all of you? I have completed 10 months on the mission and wow I feel like it is just flying by very quickly. Hopefully I have time to learn more because I can’t believe I only have a year and two months left. Well take care everyone; I would still love to hear from you all. I am sorry that I am not good at responding quickly, it’s just we never have time for us. Haha Love you all and miss you all!

Love, Elder Justin Powell

Leia Mais…

September 10, 2012

Hellos to Everyone! How is everyone doing?? I am doing great still in Rio Bravo where it’s calm and the work is rich. We had another baptism yesterday. Her name is Maria Concepción and she is a great person! We met her a little over a month ago and she had a huge smoking problem. So then she kept trying and trying to quit but she about gave up, but then we went and put a plan with her. And then we told her about it, she was not very convinced that it would work, but then she quit because the next day she felt very sick every time she smoked. She threw up every time she went and smoked, so then the day after that she didn’t touch a cigarette at all! Surprising huh?? I was shocked but then she stopped and was baptized by her cousin on his birthday yesterday. It was sooo cool and she was a changed person. And now we are working with her son Noe. We also have other people, this teenager named Santos who is highly interested in the church, he is Christian, but he is super smart and loves to investigate, so we show him a lot of things in the bible for him and that he should pray to know if it’s true. Pretty good guy. And there are other people. A lot of success here in Rio Bravo, a lot of the members are now participating the missionary work because they see the changes in the people that have come to the church. We had interviews from the President last Tuesday; it was a very helpful interview for me. A lot of questions answered and I feel better than ever on the mission. This week is a loaded week and the work continues for us. It is still hot!!!! But hopefully it cools down in a week. We are so lucky because we have an AC in the bedroom, all of the houses in Mexico don’t have central air and sleep with fans. It’s probably like 85-90 degrees in the houses at nights I believe and so we still sleep comfortably to rest from the hottt days! But it will get cooler and so it is a good thing. Elder Pierce and I are still going strong and he is a great comp! Funny guy and obedient. Well I love you all and this is Elder Powell with another weekly mission update here in Mexico. I will keep you up to date! But I would love to hear from all of you who read this!!! Send me an email, a letter, or something because I miss you all!

For Letters and Packages:

PO BOX 71

Los Indios, TX 78567-0071

United States

Email: powell.justin@myldsmail.net

Love you all!

Elder Justin Powell

Leia Mais…

JD's letter from August 20, 2012

I'm not even going to make excuses any more.  I have, again, been horrible at posting Justin's letters. Today, I apologized to him and re-committed to doing a better job.  I feel like I owe this to him as this is his way of communicating with most of you while he is out--a way to write one letter and still let his friends and family know how he is doing...as long as his dad does his part. I need to do a better job and I'm sorry.  Here is JD's letter from August 20, 2012.

Hola Familia y amigos! What are you all up to? Well this week was pretty good; there were a lot of good things that happened. Well beginning with what happened this week, Tuesday was a good day because we had this little wedding party for Alvaro and his wife. Alvaro was baptized last Sunday, and he and his wife were married on the Friday before the last Sunday (almost a week and a half ago). And then we wanted to make a special moment for them, and so we (mostly the members) threw a little party for them. With a lot of help from the members, it was a success. Of course we didn´t participate much with us being missionaries, but we took pictures with them, ate a little bit, some investigators came too, it was good. And then on Friday we had another activity with the youth though. It was directed to the families of the youth because there are a lot of youth here without their families. So we did this open house activity, where we broke the youth up into teams, gave them a topic in the strength of youth pamphlet and then they were stationed in a room and they taught their parents about what they learn in the church. Well the purpose was so that these families that don’t really know about the church and have bad thoughts about it can see that it is actually something good for their kids. And that it creates opportunities for us to teach the families. We had some success, not as much as we wanted, but it created opportunities for us and especially for the youth to help their families out. So that was Friday and it was awesome, and a dear friend of mine, Edgar who is an 18 year old in the branch, got his mission call and is going to Villa Hermosa, Mexico (touching Guatemala). He is sooo excited and we were soo excited for him. He has 2 years as a member and is a strong kid because his family doesn’t really support him, but he is strong. And then Natalie was baptized on Saturday, she was happy. Her husband baptized her and he was changed after that. And something also that happened was that Maria is an investigator and she wasn´t wanting to really change, but her cousin that lives with her, wanted her to come to church. And as well, she didn´t want to stop smoking. And so we would put goals with her, but she didn´t progress. On Thursday, she was saying that she cannot stop smoking, we were crushed and then we left without any reason to return anytime soon because it was disappointing. Well we prayed for her and then the next day we got this impression to go back and visit her. Well we did, and she said that she hadn´t smoked that day and wants to change. She wanted to be baptized the soonest possible so she will be baptized this coming Sunday. I was shocked but grateful that prayers are answered. I learned something that every trial can be resolved, if you let God resolve. Well when a trial comes, pray and fast if you need to and God will send peace if it be a blessing or a feeling. And that was special for us. I had a great week and I am ready for another one. I love you all and I hope you all have a marvelous week. Take care 

Love,

Elder Justin Powell

Leia Mais…

August 13--one more stint in Rio Bravo with Elder Pierce

Once again, I have been less than prompt in posting the last two letters and I’m very sorry. Life takes over and before I know it, too much time has passed.

Justin sounds great! Every Monday, I wait for his e-mail to arrive—always before noon-ish.  This week, it didn’t come and at 4 pm, I was still anxiously waiting.  The second it hit my phone, at a little after 4, I immediately replied and this began an impromptu chat that lasted about a half hour.  It was sooooo good to be able to get a live update and he was in such great spirits. He thanks everyone for their love and support and sends his very best wishes to all.  He also said that he loves getting letters and loves hearing news from home about all the things he misses—sports, friends, family events, etc. So, with that in mind, let’s all keep up the great work. If you haven’t written lately, he’s already almost half way finished—don’t wait too long.

As always, I remain grateful and indebted to you all for the support and love that you give to my son. You are all amazing and, as always, love and peace in your lives.

Justin and Elder Pierce

Hellos to all!

Well transfers came in and I get to stay with Elder Pierce for more time! I am sooo glad because this area is awesome! We have had soo much success! They sent us here with much expectations and everyone said it was bad here... But it is not bad at all! The branch members are awesome and we just keep working together to help the others come to the church. Well this week was pretty good! Alvaro and Claide got married on Friday and Alvaro was baptized this Sunday. And then the Branch is throwing this wedding party tomorrow for them! It will be fun and I am soo glad for them! Alvaro was pretty happy and he is shy and all, but he is getting to be more open. He shows us magic tricks and all. Photos on the way. 

Well Elder Pierce is a pretty awesome, companion that loves to be happy. He and I work great together! He is senior comp, but he is not demanding or anything like that. He lets me lead too which is awesome because I do love to lead! Haha. You all probably know that. But I am probably gone from here in six weeks, again! I don’t think a missionary has ever had 4 areas, more than 4 comps before he reached the year mark! But the President really likes to change things up just to keep everyone working hard, because areas do die because of the same missionary for a while, and so I am glad I get to have those changes to keep me going hard in the mission. Well this week is the baptism of Natalie, she is an 18 year old with a baby and her husband is a member but less active. They came to church yesterday; he came for the first time in 6 years! He got advanced to priest in the priesthood to be able to baptize his wife this Saturday! That made me super thrilled! I was glad for them. And this week we have an activity directed at the families of the youth in the ward. There are a TON of youth that come to church without their families; a lot of them aren’t members. But we want them to come to an activity where they learn what their kids are doing in the church and what they are learning. So they are going to come and learn from their own kids in 5 stations or rooms about a theme in the strength of youth pamphlet. Because there are a ton of parents that think the church is bad for their kids, but it is indeed a refuge for them from all the bad in this world, especially the bad influence here for the youth. So I am glad to be a help for these youth in the branch and the youth that are investigating the church, it is a joy to help them with a better future.

Well I am up on time; I hope I get the package today! Maybe I will... I love you and take care! Be safe as well! 

Love 

Elder Justin Powell

Leia Mais…

August 6, 2012

Here is Justin’s letter from the 6^th—it sounds like he’s doing so well! I couldn’t be more proud of him.

Hola familia y amigos! How are you all doing?? I am doing pretty good! How is everyone enjoying the Olympics? Well obviously it has been hard to not be able to watch them, but we always hear the news about them and I heard that it is a tight race for the states huh? And Usain Bolt broke the record again?? Wow!! Well good luck United States and always Puerto Rico! Haha Well this week was very good! We worked super dang hard in the heat this week. We found a lot of people this week to teach and all. Hopefully they progress more and more. But we planned this activity for families of the youth to come and see what their kids learn and all. It will be pretty cool; tomorrow we will have a video shoot to put the video on DVDs so that they can take them to their parents as invites to this activity. The problem is that there are a lot of youth that come to church by themselves and don’t want much with the church. Well now we want to do an activity directly for these families where it is meant for them and the video invites are going to be like those ¨¨I am a Mormon¨¨ videos. It should be pretty fun, the Gutierrez family is helping us a ton with this activity. And once again, I am a wedding planner with my comp Elder Pierce. One of our investigators is not married, he was supposed to get baptized with his 2 kids, but didn’t because we found out that he wasn’t married to his wife (that is a member). SO they will be getting married this week, and then Saturday the baptism, and then the wedding party afterward. Well it should be an adventure this week, a lot to do! And transfers are coming up once again. I hope they don’t ship me off again because I wanna stay here! We will see what happens. I have loved my last 2 areas; maybe my 4th area will be neat as well, who knows? And today, we will be playing soccer like every Monday at 4. We went and washed clothes, shopped for food. I promise I am eating! It’s just we eat once a day. In the morning is cereal or eggs, at 2 PM is like a dinner or big lunch. And then that’s it. But we are eating!   Well I have lost weight, quite a bit, but I will try to eat more! Haha Well I love you all! This week will be Natalie´s and Alvaro´s baptism. Natalie is this 18 year old that is married to an inactive member. She loves the church! And Alvaro is the unmarried man who will be baptized this Saturday. It will be good! 

Alvaro Jr., Julissa, and Elder Pierce

Baptism Pictures of Alvaro Jr. and Julissa (the kids of Alvaro Sr.). Julissa was super scared and didn’t want to be baptized but her mom got her to do it. And she did very well, just isn´t that into pictures. Well that is about it for last week, but this week will be crazy! I love you all and be safe! Take care and write lots! Now I get letters in 3 days! Send them to the PO Box in Texas! 

                       

Love,                                                       

Elder Justin Powell

Leia Mais…