Hello family!

It sounds like ya'll had a great week! I'm happy to hear Hadley is stepping it up in the athletics! That is so awesome that you guys get to all go to Youth Conference this year up in Kirtland. Man I absolutely LOVED that youth conference so much. The Spirit is really strong up there. Hadley you are way lucky to be going there for your first youth conference!

So Elder Hernandez and I just got done fishing up in Mantua(town of 700 people). This is our second time going and today I caught a good sized bass. Last time I caught about an 18 inch rainbow trout haha. We go with this awesome guy named K. B. who lives up in the sticks in Mantua and he's a less active guy who we are trying to help come back to church. I'm learning a ton about fishing and hunting and big trucks because that's what a lot of the people up here like to talk about so I'm learning as much as I can about it. haha. The other day we were up in Mantua, and we were walking down this dirt road by this house and Elder Hernandez saw a rooster in this guys yard and started just chasing it around jokingly. All of a sudden though these two gigantic bull dogs started chasing after him and he barely got away before the dogs hit their electric fence - haha! It was pretty epic. We found out later that the people who lived in the house are pretty anti-mormon and so we are pretty sure they sicked the dogs on us. Haha!

On Sunday we also had the chance to speak in Mantua for sacrament meeting. I haven't spoken in church for about 2 months so the butterflies came back a little bit before I spoke. Especially because I accidentally left about half my talk at home and realized it when we were on the stand in sacrament meeting. haha. Kind of scary but The Lord took care of me and I realized that the part I left at home wasn't something the ward really needed to hear. But anyways, things are still going great up here in Brigham City! Sunday in church we also taught in a primary where Laura Theuson's mom was a teacher, haha.

This Saturday J.G. is going to be baptized which Elder Hernandez and I are super excited about! Also, there is a kid we are teaching whose girlfriend is a member. Last week in our first lesson with him we committed him to be baptized on the 6th and he accepted! He came to church on Sunday and this lady that teaches at his high school came up to Elder H and I, and she was like "How did you get that kid to church! He is probably one of the worst kids at our school, always in to drugs and stuff." That made me think alot. A lot of the time, the Lord's elect and prepared are not the people who we think are prepared to receive the Gospel. People who do drugs, and have tattoos and have children out of wedlock could be just as much elect or prepared as someone who goes to church every Sunday. Only The Lord knows, and He is preparing people all the time. Christ did not dwell with the so called "religious leaders" of His day, but with the publicans and the sinners. And just as much as this lady thought this young man wasn't someone who would receive the Gospel, he is! We never know when the Spirit will touch someone's heart and change them! Anyway, I have to get going! But Thanks again for everything and for all the support, I love you all! Have a great week! Love, Elder Powers

Hey fam! Thanks for the emails, you guys are the best. Mom it sounds like the Book of Mormon activity went really well! Bishop Forsyth really knew what was up when he called you guys to be the activities chair people! I'm sure Brother Lindorf was hilarious too, haha. Could you get me his address? I would love to write him and hear more about how he is doing. Also, I'm happy to hear that Grandma continues to get better and that the Philly party was fun! So things up here are still going great! People are coming out of the wood work who are ready to be baptized and it's exciting! To answer your question Mom, we cover 2 stakes now with a total of 18 wards. We get fed pretty much every single night and so I'm eating WAY better than last transfer, that's for sure, which is part of the 15 pounds I've put on, haha. We haven't spoken in church yet up here but next week starts a long line of speaking in wards, which should be fun! The girl S that we found last week is 10 years old and we set a baptismal date with her for the 22nd but the Bishop wants to hold off a little while because he thinks it's too soon but she really wants to be baptized so that will be coming up! Also we are going to baptize this awesome kid named J who is 13 on the 29th! There are a few families who aren't members who have been coming to church so Elder Hernandez and I are super excited about them and their potential!

The coolest thing ever happened this week. We had Zone Conference, and we had a sweet special guest. His name is Alex Boye, and he is one of the 2 black men in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He came and spoke to us and sang to us for about an hour and a half and I felt like I had died and gone to Heaven. It was epic! When he was 16 he got kicked out of his house in London because he refused to go buy liquor for his uncle anymore after he converted. The day he got kicked out he had no idea what to do and so he turned to the scriptures. He read D and C 122 where the Lord talks to Joseph Smith about how his trials will be for his gain. Alex Boye said that made him mad to read that because of the situation he was in but than he read the verse after that which says" The Son of Man hath descended below them all, art thou greater than He" After that he said he knew he had no reason to complain. That scripture is so true and powerful. Who are we to complain?? The Savior went through everything and he never complained. That hit me really hard. Also he said the works without faith is dead. We can go around as much as we want doing things and trying to find people but nothing will ever happen unless we have faith that our works will produce. There was so much he said that was really inspiring. He also talked about blacks in the priesthood and how Joseph Smith when he ran for president, one of his main platforms that was he would abolish slavery if he became president and that was one of the main reasons the saints got driven from Missouri. Also every reference in the Book of Mormon that refers to "cursed with a skin of blackness" really means spiritual darkness. All the footnotes to those scriptures talk about spiritual darkness. Very profound and something I had never thought about. Also he talked about Proverbs 23:7, which says " As a man thinketh, so is he" If we think greatness, than we will be great and greatness will follow us. Thinking great is so key! Never settle for mediocrity, the Lord requires more than mediocrity out of us as Saints. I have to get going but I love you all very much!
Love, Elder Powers

Sounds like it was another busy week in Connecticut, New York and Virginia! I'm happy to hear Grandma Z and Grandma P are doing well! I'm sorry this email is going to be crazy short but someone is coming to pick us up right now and it took me most of the time to read all your emails which I was very grateful for! Know that I am doing great and loving life! Elder Hernandez is THE MAN. His motto which I have taken upon myself is, "Work Hard, Play Hard, Keep The Rules". I have already learned so much from him. I'll let you know everything that's going on up here in Brigham on Sunday though because I have to get running! Love you guys! Elder Powers

Hello family! Thank you all for the emails as always! So I have a lot to tell everyone! So today is the last day of my 3rd transfer and yesterday Elder Kozak was released and went and hung out with some friends and a recent convert we had. Wow, this transfer was NUTS. Did you know a pack of 30 Ramen's is only 4 bucks? Anyway, we still were able to baptize A. J.! This kid is THE MAN. I love him so much and feel like I have made a best friend with him. Also, M. is still a little nervous about being baptized because of what his family is going to think but he says he knows he needs to be baptized because it's right for him. I love how faithful he is! I think he is going to be baptized on Friday. The Lord blesses us with baptisms when He trusts us to take care of His children and as we work hard. I love that.

So there are some big changes happening at Weber State. Because most people are going home for the summer, the work there goes down a ton and so they are combining Weber State with another area...Sadly this means I am being transferred and some other missionaries are picking up Weber State, BUT I am so excited about where I am going next! I am moving up to Brigham City tomorrow and will be serving with another awesome guy named Elder Hernandez. He is my trainer's trainer (aka Elder Dill's trainer) and so I'm way excited to serve with him! Elder Hernandez just got released from being an AP on Wednesday and is going to Brigham with me to finish his mission. We are white washing the area (two new missionaries) up in Brigham City and so we will basically be starting from scratch. I talked to Elder Hernandez on the phone this morning and I told him I wanted to work my guts out this transfer and he was like, "That's just what I was going to say!" Haha, I'm so excited! He is an awesome missionary and I am excited to learn from another really seasoned, hard working missionary! We are going back to riding bikes up there and so it's going to be great to put some miles on my bike! Well, I gotta get going because I'm running behind but I know the Lord is blessing me so much. I love the Gospel so much and I'm learning a ton! ALMA 26:22 is my motto for this transfer! If we are diligent we can bring thousands of souls unto repentance! Our sphere of influence is huge don't forget that! I love you all and thanks for all the support! Love, Elder Powers

Hey Fam! Happy anniversary Mom and Dad! I can't believe you guys have been married for 30 years. That is nuts and I bet about 1/100 people in the world have been married for 30 years and are still going strong! A lot of things on my mission have made me think about the future and look forward to what type of husband I want to be. I think The Lord is putting those thoughts into my head because He knows how important it is to have eternal families! Thank you all so much for your emails! They were awesome! So the work keeps moving up on campus! Yesterday M. got baptized and it was an awesome service! I can't believe how blessed I am to see how much the Lord's kingdom is growing. Also, I think a lot of the time we don't recognize how much effect our work on the Lord's behalf is really doing. M's parents aren't members and neither is her whole family and so maybe some day her whole family will get baptized!

ALSO some huge news for this week. A guy we are teaching named A is getting baptized this week too on Thursday or Friday. I know I haven't said much about him but he is absolutely the man. Elder Kozak and I have been working so, so hard to try and help him be baptized and he finally is being baptized this week! We go over every single day and talk to him and teach him for about an hour and we weren't sure if he would commit to being baptized because he would have to change his life around. But just these past two weeks he has stopped some of the bad habits that were holding him back and now he is going to be baptized. We are also teaching an awesome guy named M. who is from Eritria! He actually is in the library with me right now and I saw him and asked him how he was feeling about baptism and he said he wants to be baptized now, haha, which was some awesome news, of course! He is scared of going back to his country where being Mormon is illegal but he knows that being baptized is the right thing. So much faith! The most people that have ever been baptized at Weber State in a transfer is 3 people and we will have hopefully baptized 4 by the end of next week, which would be incredible. The Lord is blessing us so much. Also Elder Kozak and I aren't coaching rugby anymore because the season ended on Saturday but we still are in contact with a lot of guys on the team and hopefully will be teaching a few of them soon. AHH I totally forgot. So I found out yesterday that this one kid on the rugby team named Ross, was in the Doylestown ward and than he told me that he is dating KILEY ASHBY, hahah, SO CRAZY! Ross texted her and told her he was with me and than Sister Ashby called him a minute later and was asking him all these questions about our family and how the family is doing. Haha, Sister Ashby says "Hi," Mom, and that she loves you! I have to get running but I am having Elder Kozak send you a few pictures from our transfer together, and from the baptism yesterday! I love you all so much! The church is true! Love, Elder Powers

Hello family! How are you guys doing today? I am doing great just sitting here in the Weber State Library with a few hundred students who are prepping for finals. I'm pretty grateful right now I don't have to worry about school and that I can just have my eye single to the glory of God! I'm glad to hear everybody is doing so great and that you all got back from India safely! So what's the deal with the move, Chels and Kev? I didn't really understand what that lady was doing with your contract? But that's awesome that you guys aren't sweating it. I love how the Gospel keeps us so grounded and keeps everything in an eternal perspective. I love it. Mom and Dad, thank you so much for making me go to conference all those years for every session. It really is one of those moments where you can tell me "I told you so" because I'm so grateful I was raised to love conference! I can't wait for you guys to listen to conference.

Okay so just a little bit about whats going on here up at campus! Things are finally starting to pick up. Elder Kozak and I have been working hard to get a good teaching pool and finally some investigators are coming through! I'll just tell you about this one awesome girl. Her name is M and she is on the softball team. We have been teaching her for the whole transfer. She knew the church was true and wanted to be baptized and so we were setting a date with her to be baptized and she really didn't have time to do it until June. Elder Kozak and I were pretty upset about it and have been praying that she would be able to be baptized sooner. We told her when she said she was going to put her baptism off for a few months that there would be a ton of opposition. We told her that one morning in a lesson about 2 weeks ago and than she called us that night crying, and said that that day was one of the hardest days of her life! It was so crazy. We told her that something that would help is to get the Holy Ghost and she would have the strength the overcome the adversity. We prayed that a day would be open where she would get baptized and not have to wait until June. The next day, she tore something in her shoulder and now can't play softball for the rest of the season. Now she has the time and will be getting baptized this upcoming Monday! The Lord works in such interesting ways sometimes to accomplish his purposes! It's so great that she is now able to get baptized! I'm so grateful to be here on campus and being able to learn so many things as I try and help people my own age come unto Christ! I have to get going but I love you guys and am praying for you! Thanks for all the support!

Love, Elder Powers

Wow, I love getting everyone's emails so much! Thank you! First off I am glad to hear you guys got home safe from India and that no one was trampled by any elephants or bitten by an exotic snake. I was so happy to hear about the wonderful saints over in India :) It really is amazing how blessed we are to live in a country where living the Gospel is not only possible but easily accessible. We have so many amazing resources that we need to take advantage of them! I would have loved to hear the amazing testimonies of those humble people. Chels and Kev, congrats on finding out that it's a new baby girl most likely. Hate to say I told you so...but...I did. hahaha. Just kidding. I can't wait for Jill and Pete to have another younger sister! So this past week was pretty much awesome. The highlight being going down to conference with my new best friend Elder Mitchell. So basically for conference weekend Elder Kozak's bishop came down from Canada and he spent the whole weekend with him, with President's permission. So I spent the weekend being Elder Mitchell's comp and it was so awesome. He's Canadien also and I seriously think I might room with him after my mission at BYU. But the best part of conference was being able to go! President said if we had a ride we could go down to the conference center. I got into 4 out of 5 sessions! For the Saturday afternoon session I was about 15 rows back and it was so amazing. Elder Holland gave one of the most bold and amazing talks I have ever heard. I want to tell you so many things that were so awesome about it but I don't want to ruin the surprise! Watch all of it though! I have to tell you something that really hit me hard at conference the President Eyring said in Priesthood session. He spoke about diligence and something he said really struck me. He said "When my body begs for rest, I remember this rallying cry, Remember Him" That hit me so hard when he said that. Often times we feel like we deserve a rest. Like we have done our part and that our service is finished or that it's good enough. President Eyring has been serving for decades solely on being a special witness of Christ and still even he must get better and push forward! I have basically made that statement my new motto. Whenever I feel like I deserve a rest, I will try my best to remember how much the Savior has done for us. I received a special witness of His love during this amazing Easter season. I know He lives. I know he loves us and that we can serve Him by serving everyone around us. I know that as we are diligent in the Lord's service, we will have so much joy. I love you all so much and hope you are doing great! Have an amazing week!

Love, Elder Powers

PS- Kate I saw Sara at conference and I got a picture with her! She was doing amazing! Also I saw Elder Bybie? He said he knew you and that he just got home from your mission! He says hi! Also, I saw Brother Pinegar at conference and Andrew and Aaron Moura and Bishop Faust haha. It was crazy.

Morning! The trip sounds amazing! I think it would be especially cool to see how the people worship, like you guys got to see at the church you went to! Also you got to ride elephants?! That is the coolest thing of all time. Did you see any giant snakes on the jungle jeep ride? I bet it's going to be awesome going to the Taj Mahal! I'd love to get a picture. Things are going great up here at Weber State! It's so incredibly different from Layton but definitely a huge learning experience. Elder Kozak is a really hard worker and has been a great example to me in that aspect. Also he's super creative so we have been coming up with some pretty cool ideas of things we can do, to try and get the work moving on campus! Like I said in my last email we are coaching the Weber State Rugby team during our dinner time on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and it's been great! We are teaching a kid on the team now named J who has never been receptive to missionaries, but now because we are coaching the rugby team he's letting us teach him! Yesterday we had rugby practice and somehow we had about 10 polynesians show up who weren't from weber state to help out in practice. Somehow it turned into a full contact game between the weber state team and the polynesians. There was a guy with the polynesians that was gigantic and I recognized him as someone who had played for the Miami Dolphins a few years ago. haha. So i asked him if he used to play in the NFL for the Dolphins and he said yes, that he used to play fullback for them. haha SO crazy. But I think we might be able to teach him somewhere down the road. Things are definitely a little harder up here on campus with member support, but we are getting that going too. It's just hard because so many college kids don't think they have time to do missionary work. Also I am having to learn how to teach again, kind of! It's so different teaching college kids because they are a little more relaxed and don't see the need for or really even care about religion right now in their lives. I'm pretty sure that's part of the reason I'm here on campus is to learn and grow in a different way and learn how I can help people understand the magnitude of this message! Also, I learned something awesome this week in sacrament meeting. So this girl that's like 28 gave a talk on Sunday about how we know Heavenly Father loves us. And she started off by saying that she used to know Heavenly Father loved her because He would bless her with things that she asked for. And than she talked about how her life became so bad. She started having health problems, her husband cheated on her and a whole list of other things that just turned her life upside down. She said at this time in her life her testimony changed. The reason she knew her Heavenly Father loved her wasn't because he gave her the laundry list of things she asked Him for but because of the tender mercies which he sent to her in her trials. Even though she was having such a rough time and nothing was going right, she still knew He loved her. I just really loved that. It made me ask the question to myself, "How do I know Heavenly Father loves me" and so I'm trying to recognize the hand of the Lord in my life more. I feel His love as I keep His commandments and I can feel myself become more sanctified through the atoning blood of Christ. I love this Gospel so much. Trying every day to become better and progressing is more exciting to me than anything else in the world. I love that we can always progress! I love you all so much and hope you have a great Easter and truly think about how much The Savior loves us.
Love, Elder Powers

Why hello family! It was wonderful to hear from all of you! Thank you for the emails as always I love getting to hear from everyone every week!

Item of business number 1. Chelsey and Kev your house looks so sweet! Like Kate, I cannot wait until I can come down for a weekend and spend it with the kids and you guys! Also I don't think I have scene that color of green grass in over four months. I don't think I realized how brown Utah really is haha. That's definitely got to be tough these past few years, moving different places, getting to know people, and than having to move, but if you look at it one way, your just getting more famous! Good luck with the move!

Item number 2. Did Patriarch Beckstead pass away? Or was he just released? If he passed away, I'll have to get Sister Beckstead's address and write her a letter sending my sympathies. Patriarch Beckstead was pretty much the greatest man ever so that would be way sad if he passed away. But that is wonderful that Brother Banks and Sister Banks were called to that calling. They are so awesome! Tell them I send my love! And tell Patriarch Banks I'm trying to be a creative missionary!

Item Number 3. Mom Dad and Hads you leave for India today! That is sweet! I'm a little bit jealous but no worries I'd rather be here in Utah far away from the really spicy peppers of India, haha. You have got to send me some amazing pictures of the trip! Also Hadley, don't chicken out of riding the elephants!

So things up at Weber State are about as different as you can get from Layton West, but I'm still loving it! Basically what we do all day is contact people in the Institute building and on campus and get people to invite their friends to meet with us and then we teach from about 6-9 almost every night. It's pretty different teaching college kids outside of families, so I'm definitely still getting used to it but it's fun! Also, college kids are a little bit more stubborn and so getting them to keep commitments is definitely a challenge, haha. About 50 percent of the people on campus are members and than 50 percent aren't so this area has so much potential if the members would just help us find people! The ward mission leaders are also college students and so they don't have as much time as they did in Layton West but it's definitely understandable. Elder Kozak and I made a goal to baptize once a week for the transfer and that's looking like a pretty lofty goal at this point but we are praying for miracles to happen and know the Lord will help us find those who are prepared! This area has only had 3 baptisms in the past like 3 months and so Elder Kozak and I have been brainstorming like crazy, ideas that would help us find people! One of those ways is next Monday we are having a barbecue in the middle of campus and will be grilling hot dogs and hamburgers for people who will give us referrals, hahaha. We don't think its bad to bribe people for referrals....we will see how it goes. Also, we moved our studies time from 8-10 am to about 12-2 pm because there are so many more people in the morning on campus. Another thing we are doing is coaching the rugby team Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Elder Kozak played for about 10 years in Canada and most of the people have barely played so I look like a pro, hahah. Less than half the players on the club team are members and so we coach the team during dinner because we don't really have dinner appointments on campus at all. Never in a million years would I have thought I would have been coaching a rugby club on my mission. Anyway, I got to go back to Layton for the four baptisms this past Saturday which was absolutely awesome. I said the opening prayer at one baptism and closing prayer at another and in both I could hardly talk because I felt so much love for these wonderful kids. I'll send pictures from R, D, L, and M's baptisms so you can see them! R, D, and L who are all brothers and sisters made me promise I would come back after my mission and visit them. I feel so much joy in knowing that I actually made a difference, however small it may be, in Layton.

Okay, so I will share a sweet experience I had this week. On Friday night before I went to bed I was reading in Preach My Gospel about how our understanding of the Atonement grows, our desire to serve will increase. So before I went to bed on Friday I knelt down and prayed that I would be able to understand the Atonement more. At 3 am I woke up and my stomach hurt so I went to bathroom and proceeded to throw up about 15 times until 6 in the morning. Around 5:30, I started praying and was like, this was not the answer I was looking for! hahah. But than it just hit me so hard that Christ really has gone through every single thing we can imagine. I felt so, so sick just laying there on the ground and I knew at that moment that I wasn't alone. I knew that The Savior had experienced the exact same pain and it changed my perspective a lot. Instead of complaining about it, I started asking Heavenly Father what he wanted me to learn from this experience and what I was supposed to gain was a greater appreciation for The Atonement. I know that when we turn to The Lord and ask Him what we should learn from trials, with humility, He will help us understand why we go through some things and what we are to learn from them. I love that so much. It gives me so much perspective in my own trials and I know if everyone had this same realization the world would be so much happier and there would be so much less sorrow in the world! I have to go but I love you all so much! Thanks for everything! Love, Elder Powers

P.S.- We do contact girls on campus...but I don't even like girls anymore, I'm a missionary! Also, we are in the mission office almost every day so it's fine to just send the package there mom. I'll get it soon! PPS- Read 1 Nephi 9:37. This is what type of parent I want to be! Maybe 10:37 not sure.

Dear family! Thank you all so much for the emails. I always feel so at peace when I read about everything that's going on with the family! So this week has kind of been a little bit saddening/exciting/happy and a whole plethora of other emotions. Last Thursday we had interviews with President. Elder Dill went first for his interview and I told President he wasn't allowed to take Elder Dill away from me. After Elder Dill's interview President called me in and sat me down. He told me that Elder Dill was staying and would be the district Leader in the Area and that I was leaving...Even before he told me where I was going I got a knot in my throat and was trying to hold back from crying because I was so sad to be leaving. President is transferring me up to Weber State to be a campus missionary!? It's pretty crazy. All day from 10-5 you contact people on campus and set up appointments for the night time. It's going to be so different than Layton West. I'm going to be serving with Elder Kozac who is an Elder from Canada! This is his last transfer and so I will be his last companion. He just got released from being an AP last transfer and so I'm pretty excited about learning a few things from him! I'm sure it will be great and I will learn a ton! President told me that I should prepare myself to be made a senior companion after this transfer which is pretty scary haha what is he thinking??

Also this past Saturday J and K got baptized! It was so awesome. After the closing prayer the mom got up who is less active and is now coming back to church and just cried so hard saying thank you for everything Elder Dill and I had done for their family. It was pretty much one of the sweetest feelings ever. Obviously it wasn't us who converted them but it was such a blessing to be a part of their baptism and their family's conversion. This next Saturday we have 4 baptisms. R, L, and D are all brother and sisters and than there's another kid named M who we taught and will be baptized! President said I could come back for the baptisms Saturday which I am really excited about! If you count those 4 baptisms, Elder Dill and I baptized 11 people together which is 1 short of our goal of 12, which would be once a week, but the Lord truly has blessed us so much. I have such a powerful testimony of prayer. I know that this Gospel is so true. Heavenly Father will always answer in His time as we have faith that He will. Anyway after I got out of my interview with President I went into a hallway in the Church and just sat down and cried for about 20 minutes. I don't know if I fully realized how much I love these people until I was told that I could no longer serve them. I know that as we serve others we gain a greater love for them and it makes our lives so fulfilling. I find that when I think about myself I am most fearful, and when I have the most self doubt. I would challenge everyone to ask this question to yourself at the end of everyday, "What have I done for someone today" Don't forget to serve! I love you all so much! Tell Nick and Chad I love them and I'm proud of them!
Love you all! Elder Powers

Family, Thank you so much for the love and support in the emails :) It really meant a lot to me that you fasted for Kate and I this past Sunday and I definitely felt the love of The Savior and our Father in Heaven so much on fast Sunday. I went to three sacrament meetings on Sunday and was feeling the Spirit so much all day that I bore my testimony in every Sacrament meeting. When I got up to bear my testimony in one of the wards, I saw A sitting on the front row with his mom, sister, brother, aunt and 2 cousins. His mom came to church for his confirmation and has been coming ever since and, because of A, his whole family is coming now. When I looked down, when I was at the pulpit bearing my testimony, and saw A and his whole family sitting there I couldn't keep the tears from streaming down my cheeks. I just felt so much peace and happiness when I saw them sitting there together as a family. I felt the joy of helping a soul come unto Christ, that is promised in D and C 18. I think one of the greatest blessings I have received these past few weeks is that I have been able to start to see others through the Lord's eyes. Sometimes when we are in the service of other people, we are blessed to feel the amount of love God has for them and also for us. Sunday was definitely an answer to prayer and thank you again for fasting for us.

That is so exciting that you are going to India in a few weeks! Make sure and take a ton of pictures to send me, I need some for my photo album! A few days ago at a Zone Study, another missionary had the hottest pepper in the world from India and he challenged someone to eat it. Obviously, I took that opportunity to prove my manhood and it resulted in a pretty painful experience. After I had the pepper in my mouth for about a minute, I was sweating like crazy and crying. That didn't stop for about 45 minutes and it got so bad the zone leaders had to take me to Wal-mart and got me sour cream and I was just eating gulps of it because my mouth was on fire so bad, haha. No worries though, it was during lunch hour so I wasn't wasting any proselyting time. ALSO, J and K are finally getting baptized this Saturday! We went over there last night and asked J if he was going to get baptized with K on Saturday and he said he got an answer to his prayer! So Elder Dill and I will have two baptisms this Saturday which is awesome :) Anyway I gotta run! I love you guys and pray for you every day! Love, Elder Powers

ALOFATELE!

Thats a Samoan greeting for people you love. I picked it up from a sweet Samoan Elder named Elder Tuiasosopo. Anyway thank you so much for all the emails this past week, I feel so blessed to have such a supportive family! I talked to this Elder like a week ago and he is a convert and his parents haven't written him in over 9 months. Dad that is awesome that you are getting things moving with your job! I am so grateful that you are willing to do so much even be in New York during the week and away from the family in order to support Katie and I on our missions. I am definitely learning from the humble circumstances of some of the people we are teaching that we have been so blessed as a family to have a Dad that works so hard so that we can live comfortably. Hadley that is awesome that you saw Ms Powell! haha don't tell any of the stories she may tell you next year to mom. I hope they don't get rid of freshman sports at Oakton because that would be great if you got to play field hockey. I can't wait to get your letter! Mom, I think thats an awesome idea to have Dallin over with the Stevensens! He just needs to be reminded that the Gospel is true. Sometimes when we spend so much time away from the church than we forget how true it is. I would say to have the missionaries challenge him to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it again and he will definitely receive an answer that it is true!

Also for dinner we get fed pretty much every single night. I have discovered that Jello is another food group in Utah. I would say 95 percent of the dinners we have include a delicious version of Jello. One delicios kind we had was jello on the bottom, tuna fish on top, and than sour cream on top of that...hahaha, kind of gross but that's the worse thing yet, and of course I made the people think I thought it was delicious.

This past Saturday we actually had only one baptism go through but it was still great. It was this awesome girl named K who's mom is just starting become active again. It was a really great service and I attached a picture of the baptism from Saturday. I have seen more and more that when we are in service of other people, we can begin to feel how much Heavenly Father loves each of his children. I love that I get to feel that so often and start to understand how much God loves us. Also I attached a video of this kid J. He said that if I let him punch me in the face he would get baptized. I figured if it broke my jaw Heavenly Father would understand, haha. But now he actually has a testimony because he finally starting meeting with us after I let him punch me haha Also I attached a picture of this amazing tandem bike Brother T is making for us. Two Elders in the district next to us got two extra bikes and so we took them to Brother T to weld us a tandem! hahaha it's going to be classic! I think Elder Dill and I will be legends in the area if we get the tandem to work! Also, I think Elder Dill and I are going to stay together for another transfer because we have been having some good success!! We will be moving though because Brother Tafts contract is up. Anyway I gotta go but I love you all so much and am praying for you! Love, Elder powers

Family! I feel so similar to Kate. Even though we are all far away from each other I feel so close to the family and am so happy when I read your emails! Okay, so this story is absolutely CRAZY! Chels I can't believe you are pregnant! Last night, I was saying my personal prayers and I was praying for the whole family and when I was praying for you and Kev and Jill and Pete, for some reason I felt prompted to pray for the new baby girl. I thought it was really wierd because I hadn't heard anything about you being pregnant but I followed the prompting and prayed that you and the baby would be blessed. And than I just read Dad's email and it said that you were pregnant! I'm in the Family History Library in Layton and I just told a bunch of old ladies the story and they all started crying and they send their love! hahah I hate to break it to you early Chels and Kev, but you guys are having a baby girl! I LOVE NIECES! haha! Ah gosh I am so happy right now. Kate I can't believe how much success you guys are having in such a tough place to find people to baptize! That is so amazing! By the way I was with Elizabeth Smart in the MTC and I went up and talked to her and told her she was my hero, because like last October when i heard she was going on a mission it really inspired me. I don't know if she would remember me, but that would be so crazy if you guys were companions! haha Mom that is so cool that you were able to help that lady out and that you followed The Spirit like that. Sometimes it is hard to follow the promptings that could potentially make you look dumb if you aren't really following The Spirit, but sometimes we just have to have the courage to try. President Wheatley told me in an interview once that " If you aren't sure if it's a spiritual prompting or not, just follow it anyways and that way you will never miss the chance to be an instrument in The Lord's hands." I loved that counsel so much. It really takes away the gray area if you are just always trying to follow The Spirit. Also I loved the scripture about the armour. Put on the whole armour of God! Hadley, you are so much more mature than I was when I was in 8th grade. You should take Spanish all of high school- i wish I had! There are so many Spanish people I meet that I can only talk with them for like a minute and than I have to pass them off to the Spanish Elders. Maybe you will speak Spanish on your mission! Dad, I am deeply saddened to hear that The Beamer was sold...Clinton Santos is going to be really mad at me because I told him when we were in high school that I would give it to him after he went on his mission haha. Did you save the fur seats?? haha. Also that is SO sweet that you started your own business. I'll come work for you after I graduate from BYU and manage the company while you go play golf worldwide with customers haha. Soon the company name will be J P and Son. Things out here have been going pretty awesome. On Saturday A. got baptized and it was such a great service! I had two Samoan Elders that are in the area next to me, come to the baptism and we sang, Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy, and they are almost as good as Uncle Ovala. It was so awesome! I just found out we can send pictures over email so I'm going to send some pictures of the baptism! Also, this Saturday this awesome girl named K is getting baptized! We found her a week ago and she has been going to church with her less active mom and decided to take the lessons and now she is so excited to get baptized this Saturday. Things with Sister T this past week didn't go so well. We don't really understand whats going on because she told us she wants to get this figured out before she gets baptized. She still wants to be baptized. Anyway, I am so grateful for the love and support. I love you all so much! Something I loved that I found in scripture study this week was 2nd Corinthians 12:9-10. Paul takes pleasure in his persecution for Christ. I love the apostles that Christ called personally during his ministry. I don't think we fully realize how much they went through in standing fast in their testimony of Christ. I love this Gospel so much and am so grateful for all of you! Love, Elder Powers

Hola Family! Sounds like things are still pretty crazy with the snow back home but that sounds fun! Mom I missed the heart pizza and jello hearts on Valentines day because Elder Dill and I didn't have time to make them. This past week was pretty intense though. Like 9 days ago on Sunday morning Elder Dill and I got a call from the relief society president of a ward we were teaching relief society in that day. She told us that one of the families in the ward had just lost a four year old daughter and a one year old daughter and that the relief society we were teaching was going to be really emotional. The reason they passed away was because an extermination company who like sprays for like mice and moles didn't follow code and put the spray too close to the house and than somehow it seeped into the house and made the whole family really sick but ended up taking the lives of the families two young daughters. 2 weeks ago we had taught the older girl Rebecca's primary and Elder Dill and I both remember who she was because she answered a few questions.

The reason I'm telling you this isn't to just make you really sad but because there were definitely a lot of lessons that I learned from this experience. This past Saturday Elder Dill and I had the chance to go to the two young girls funeral. The stake center was almost as packed as it was at Kevin's Dad's funeral. I thought a lot about him when we were at the funeral and just realized how loved he was just like these two little girls were. I also thought a lot about how much I love Jill and Pete and how hard it would be to go through a tragedy like that. It was an extremely powerful service, and I realized just how real the Plan of Salvation is and how it can give us so much perspective in this life. At one point when I was sitting just thinking about how amazing it was to have the knowledge of the Father's plan, The Spirit spoke these words really boldly to me, " Elder, you go out and you tell EVERYONE about this plan, everyone needs to know." I just started crying and it ignited more of a flame in me to work harder than I am. Also after the funeral I saw one of my best friends from BYU who lived right below me at Wyview at the stake center. His cousin was the mom of the two girls. After the funeral we got to talk for about 5 minutes and I know it wasn't a coincidence. I asked him about going on a mission and he said he didn't think he was going to go which made me really sad, but I know that Heavenly Father put him in my path so I could try and help him in some way. I just bore testimony to him of how important the work is and how life changing it is for the missionary. I just tried to encourage him as much as I could and it seemed like I might have opened up his heart to the idea of serving a mission again. When I sit back and think about it, Heavenly Father's plan is so so incredible. We can't even comprehend how involved Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives. SOMEHOW, we were in the same stake center on the same day (He lives in California) and of the more than 1000 people there for the funeral, I saw him. If that's not a miracle I don't know what is. Also we saw the father of the girls after the funeral and he came and talked to us for a few minutes. He said to give him a little time but if there was anyone in the future who he could help who goes through a similar thing he's going through that he would love to help. So amazing. He lost his two daughters a week ago and he already is looking to serve others. A truly Christlike example.

There were definitely some happier things that happened this week too. On Saturday I had the chance to baptize A and it was amazing! You can just feel the power of the ordinance especially when you perform it. I'll send you guys a picture of it today! Also A got baptized about two hours after A and that was really really awesome. She was freezing after the baptism because her hair was still wet and so I went up and put my coat around her and I thought you would have been proud of me mom. haha. We have another baptism this Saturday of the girl named A that I told you guys about which is going to be great. And if all goes to plan we should have 4 baptisms on the 27th! Hadley thanks for your email! I'm going to write you a letter today. Alright this email is SO long. I feel bad for Kate having to switch missions and mission presidents but am excited that she could serve in some of Dad's old areas and maybe baptize some people that Dad didn't already baptize. Kate one really awesome thing that President Olson said in his talk yesterday at zone conference was that when people are trying to maybe not meet with you anymore or ask you why they should listen to you you can just tell them " I have been ordained of God to come and teach you. I am literally here as a representative of Jesus Christ the Savior of the world, and He is reaching out to you right now" I love that he wants us to be so bold and I'm going to start being more bold with people. I find myself sometimes talking to people about non-church things in order to get in the door but I'm going to work on just making sure people know why I am there. I have to go, but I love you very much and am praying for you all everyday! This Gospel is true, and the Priesthood keys have been restored to not only bind on earth but bind in heaven. I love you! Elder Powers

2+ feet of snow in Virginia!? That is so crazy! People out here keep asking me how the fam is doing and that the snow has been like the storm of the century! Sounds like you guys are having fun with the neighbors too! This week has been pretty awesome. Sister T met with Richard G Scott this past Tuesday and is getting baptized on the 27th of Feb! Also there's this boy named A, who is ten, who we found because his friend C invited him to church. We have been teaching him at C's house for about a month now with all of their seven kids who are under 13. Their family has basically adopted me. Because of them, I want 7 kids. haha! Anyway A was interviewed last night for baptism and is getting baptized this Saturday! I was setting up his program for the baptism and he asked me if I would be the one to baptize him! Going to be honest, that was probably the best feeling of all time. I'm way excited! I was getting worried that the baptismal clothes we bought mom weren't going to be used! Also there's this girl A who is 11 who we have been teaching and last Sunday she got up and bore her testimony in Sacrament meeting! Last night we had her interviewed too for baptism and she passed and is getting baptized Saturday too! It's so awesome to already see the fruit of Elder Dill and I's labor, but we know that we basically just are lucky to be in such a good area and have the opportunity to baptize. On the 21st of February this girl A we are teaching is getting baptized and had her interview on Sunday. How awesome is that!? I feel so blessed that I get to see all these people enter into the waters of baptism and make covenants with Heavenly Father. Also we are lucky to have a bunch of investigators. Elder Dill and I split up almost every single night from 6-9 so we can get to all of our appointments. That has definitely been humbling because the people we bring on splits usually don't say too much so I'm doing about 80 percent of the teaching! VERY humbling. Anyway I have to go but I love you all so much! I hope I hear from everybody next week (hint hint) haha Love you!! The Gospel is true.

Love, Elder Powers

Hey!
I only have 12 minutes to email because we had SO MUCh to do today on p-day! It seems like p-day really isn't a day to relax it's just a day to do work that isn't missionary work. But thanks to you Mama and Papa, I am adjusting to working 24/7 more than I expected.

By the way, 2/3 people who are invited by a friend to receive the missionaries and actually end up meeting withthem, get baptized. TWO OUT OF THREE! Everyone needs to be invited.

But this week has kind of been an emotional one for me particularlyyesterday. Well, essentially just yesterday. I won't share the details but someone close to someone we are teaching isn't doing well at all. Yesterday his wife called and I picked up, excited to see what was up and I could tell right away something was wrong. She proceeded to tell me what had happened through her tears and than asked if Elder Dill and I would come give her a blessing of comfort and than go to the hospital to give her husband a blessing. I don't think I have ever felt more like a 20 year old kid who knows nothing about life before than when I got that call. Elder Dill and I got someone to watch her kids and than got her home teacher to come with us to give her a blessing. Before we went over to her house I prayed harder than I think I ever have in my life. I prayed that my hands would the same as the Savior's. That my hands would be His hands. I couldn't help but feel of the love the Savior had for these people. We went over to their house and Elder Dill gave her a blessing of comfort which definitely was very powerful. Than we followed her to the ICU and when we got there and saw her husband it was pretty scary. He was barely conscious and couldn't really even talk at all or move. The sister asked me if I would bless him. I was praying so hard before I laid my hands on his head that my words would be what Heavenly Father would want me to say. As I laid my hands on his head the words came. I felt so powerfully the love that Heavenly Father felt for his struggling son. After I gave the blessing the brother was tearing up and it was incredibly powerful. I know that Heavenly Father lives. We are His children. I know that is true. I love you guys so much, and am praying for you everyday!
Love Elder Powers

I spoke in church last Sunday and it was great! A lot of people came up and talked to us about how they are excited about us being here...they are way excited about missionary work and we are getting tons of referrals from people who were waiting for some hard working missionaries! I love spreading this Gospel. We just picked up like 4 baptismal dates this week also and its the COOLEST thing ever at the end of the lesson when you extend the commitment to be baptized and they say yes...it might be the best feeling in the world! haha!