Elder Powell: Hello Harvey

Hey y’all!

Can’t believe it’s finally the last week of August. This year has just flown by and the Holidays are right around the corner. There are only two more transfers remaining for the year after this transfer which ends in five weeks. As all of you know, Hurricane Harvey hit Texas this past weekend! It was definitely wild to be in the same state during this massive storm, the biggest hurricane to ever hit the United Stated in over a decade. We got the outer edge of the hurricane here in Waxahachie. There was still quite a bit of rain with thunder and lighting, but not as much excitement as we were hoping for haha. It is insane to see a lot of pictures and videos from the cities and especially the flooding happening. How neat for the church to send three semi truck loads down to Houston to distribute supplies for the people down there. How blessed we are to have that program in the church. What a crazy experience this has been for many.

Wednesday was a very fun day! We started off the day going to IHOP with one of the members. Everyone is about IHOP down here so ever day it is packed. We had a great 20 minute wait, always my favorite, and had delicious pancakes. After breakfast, we did a “car fast” to save on miles, and we walked about 16 miles all over Waxahachie. It was an all day trip. Thankfully, it was partly cloudy, so it was only about 97 degrees with no direct sunlight all day long. It was beautiful. We walked through the historic downtown of good old Waxahachie and got some chips and hot chocolate at a wonderful cafe, so good! We went through a state sell place located in a HUGE red barn the size of the Cowboys stadium and Elder Korhonen and each got a free thermal water bottle that was listed at $35 for free! The women that gave us them appreciates all that we do as missionaries and the sacrifices we made, so we got a free gift. Super sweet of her to do that. Andddd, I got my family a cute little gift about Texas – You’re welcome. We also went to a little art gallery, historic library, saw a couple members along the way during out trek, and some more photo shoots! Ah yahh. To top off the Wednesday, one of our Bishops took us to a second dinner to Cowboys Chicken at 8:30pm! It was too good and exciting.

Thursday, one of our members gave us a few reethes to hand out to some members in the ward as an act of kindness. We convinced some members that we hand made them and some sure had a difficult time believing us! It was unfair. Two Elders can totally make a few good lookin’ reethes…thanks Hallmark Channel….heheh. It was a fun surprise for them and they all appreciated them so much. Always fun to get involved with simple acts of kindness with the ward members for our other brothers and sisters.

#FridayNightDateNight was fantastic! Hurricane Harvey was rolling in and we decided to go to the very Southern Edge of our area to attempt to get as much rain as possible down in Milford Texas, which takes 30 minutes to get from Waxahachie. Since we don’t get to go down there a whole lot, it was the best time to make it down there again in hopes to catch some of the storm. Turns out, there was absolutely no sign of any raindrops, and a few investigators and less actives didn’t answer the door, so we got a bit sad (even though not really hahah) we decided to go to the tiniest grocery store down there, called Spring Market, so fresh! To get some animal crackers. The best!! They were soooo good and we were able to talk a teach a little bit to a sweet women inside that has always been curious about Mormonism. It was a lot of fun. We then went to another city up north and back to Waxahachie in the evening time when it FINALLY started down pouring with rain and lighting. Things got real and very exciting. YAY. We went to Subway to celebrate and it was the absolute besttttt. Me and the Subway workers kept talking about the Hurricane and getting the latest updates on the weather and the location and it was too much fun. Especially with the great Christian Radio music going on it was a festival. Ahh too much fun!! Warm cozy and dry with a turkey footlong at Subway, what a Friday night. How lovely!

Saturday was a bit slower due to all the rain all day long, plus it was Stake Conference weekend so all the members were attending the Adult Session in the evening time. We were knocking some doors when a couple from India opened the door and invited us in. I was so excited to meet and visit with them since that was my life back in Irving seven months ago. I love those people! They were making curry and man, they know how to make the best food. It smelled incredible. They invited us to sit down and it got interesting real fast. The husband got his marked up Bible and sat down with us along with his wife. He is a preacher at a church that he opened up back in January. Oh boy! Let the fun begin. He met with two missionaries when he was 17 years old and took some of the discussion. He disliked it but his two brothers loved it, now both reside in Utah faithful members of the church. They haven’t spoken in 30 years. He “knows” all about the church in “several” ways. He is a Biblical Scholar and has studies the whole nine yards. They sure don’t like what we believe and yelled at us for most of the visit. I didn’t get too much into the Bible bashing since it’s just not worth it, just nodded my head and spoke a few things that certainly surprised them. They demanded us to repent and read the Bible or else we are going to Hell. The usual. It was definitely the top three bible “bashes” I’ve experienced on my mission. Definitely a big eye opener to Elder Korhonen which is sometimes good experience for him to go through to learn from and not to fight back. After the lesson, they invited us eat dinner with them. Hence the reason why they are so sweet at most times. But we quickly left to go visit some other people haha. After a few visits, we ended our day going to Chick-Fil-A to get yet another SHAKE. Ahhhhh best part of my life! Hahaha. Once again, we pulled up through the drive thru window and they each started yelling of excitement for us to be back! Too fun.

We are hopefully going to be able to set four Baptismal dates for the Midlothian Ward this week! Janelle and J.R. Hernandez, and two kids from the Gray family. We are excited for them and hope they continue to progress in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sunday was super relaxing for once! We only had two hours of church instead of nine hours of church due to Stake Conference. This was my second Stake Conference on my mission, the first being back in Tyler my first Sunday in the mission field. It was very special. They had an interfaith themed conference with a few people from other religions speaking to create more of a unified view and everyone learning about each religion and reaching out to them. Really incredible. A counselor from the Dallas Temple Presidency spoke, and of course, President Dalton spoke about missionary work. Always so fun to hear your Mission President speak at Stake Conference.

Alma 17:10

“And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted.”

That’s why the Gift of the Holy Ghost is so incredible and important. The Holy Ghost is the comforter. All we have to do is pray to ask for comfort and peace, and the Holy Ghost will give us comfort. We must be worthy to have the presence of the Holy Ghost, and the Lord will bless us. It’s that simple. “…be of good cheer and of good comfort…” and you will succeed and have joy in all things. How special that gift is.

Happy September! Thanks for the continued love, prayers, and support. What ‘perspective’ do you want to start off a new month?

Bye