Elder Powell: The Lord Provides the Necessities
Hey y’all!
What an insane week it has been! It was week one of the new transfer. I have been transferred back to East Texas, North of my first area in Tyler, to Quitman, Texas! I am training a new missionary yet again and the District Leader. I am serving in the Gilmer Stake and the Gilmer District, which is the top five most successful District in the Mission! Talk about tons of work, support from members, and stress! My trainee’s name is Elder Rowell, hehehe, from Logan Utah but is Filipino! How sweet!! We are both such a hoot and have lots of fun. Quitman is a very small town with two (somewhat) larger cities North and South of Quitman. They have NO STARBUCKS OR CHICK-FIL-A. It’s pretty devastating but thankfully they have a beautiful Subway WITH WiFi and a local family owned Starbucks-like-place called “Speakeasy.” It is wonderful! Great hot chocolate and pastries that are cheaper and just as delicious. I got saved big time. The Lord definitely provides the tools for survival.
For one thing, this is a beautiful area. It definitely has a Utah feel to it. There are some hills and just tons and tons of huge green trees everywhere. There are several major Texas lakes in the area which is the best. The scenery is the most incredible I’ve ever seen in Texas on my mission. The area and District is massive! There are a lot of miles to cover throughout the place. There are eight missionaries in the district with me being the oldest! Woot woot! Two in training, one that just got out of training, one just under a year, and the others under five months. Very young district and missionaries receiving wonderful opportunities and experiences.
BREAKING NEWS AND JUST SO EXCITING NEWS: It looks like our mission will be receiving Samsung Smartphones by the end of the year. They will start rolling out additional social media platforms in the coming months after the release of the smartphones. Even though I’m definitely not a Samsung person, it’s a Smartphone and I couldn’t be HAPPIER. Missionary work is going to get extremely more successful and productive with these new tools. How grateful we are for these opportunities ahead of us. I can’t wait to close off my mission with some extreme excitement.
Being doubled in, training, and District Leader to a whole new area takes a few days of adjusting. Especially being in Waxahachie for eight months. It definitely takes some time to get things going. We have had many lessons and several new investigators with a Baptism coming up on October 28th for Cadance, who is a daughter of less active parents who we are reactivating.
Yesterday was one of the most relaxing Sundays I’ve had in months. Instead of covering three wards and nine hours of church, we only go to three hours of church due to covering only one ward. It was so NICE. It is a very warm and wonderful ward with great people. I’m going to love serving and getting to know each of them. Elder Rowell and I bore our testimonies during Sacrament Meeting and had the congregation and bishopric laughing up a storm! We are not formal people and always good to get in a little chuckle and introduce us to the ward. Apparently the ward hasn’t had fun and talkative missionaries in over a year and they really love us! Score!
Our Ward Mission Leader is the funniest person I’ve ever met. Juan Rodriguez. He’s 68 years old and acts like a 28 year old. He’s from Puerto Rico and has the thickest accent in the world. The members say they always have a hard time understanding them and so do we, but what he says, how he says things, and does just cracks everyone up. Hahaha. He has the best personality and mentality to be a Ward Mission leader but no one can understand him. Hahaha it’s too funny.
I bare you my Testimony if the importance of the Book of Mormon. It is indeed another testament of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is an incredible feeling and power within the pages of the book. Reading just one verse, or twenty seconds per day will change your attitude and desires. The companionship of the Holy Ghost will be with us when we read the Book of Mormon. That is a definite process. We can healed and changed through these words and using the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
It’s great to be back in good old East Texas for the Holidays. There are a bunch of insane, crazy, delightful, and wonderful people here that I cannot wait to meet, interact with, and bring closer to their Savior Jesus Christ. I’m grateful for Subway and Speakeasy for keeping me alive and healthy and the WiFi and food that comes with it. What a blessing to know that my Heavenly Father has a plan and purpose for me to serve here the next couple months. Thanks to each of you for your continued love and support. Happy October and happy new week! Go get em’!
Much love and blessings,
Bye 
