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