Elder Powell: Miracle Week
Hey y’all!
Happy Monday and March!! It feels like this month is already flying by. By the next the month will already be half over! This has been one exciting and busy week. Elder Grimes and I were able to experience several miracles and laughs as we served the people in Hugo. We may be serving a bit too hard because he and I are starting to become some good fancy ranchers……living on a ranch and having most of the members own a ranch, we are getting to know and learn quite a bit working with cows and horses. Cows are just so adorable I love them!! The Oklahoma life is something else. Hugo and Choctaw County is the poorest county in the state and top ten poorest counties in the United States. 80% of the people live off of social security. Depression rate is high including other factors involved with that. It’s unfortunate to see such miserly in a town. However, I have grown such a deep love for the city, county, and people here. I love sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and seeing them light up for the first time in either years or a lifetime. There is so much hope through Christ’s Gospel. This area has changed my outlook and views on certain things. I know we are all brothers and sisters.
Top miracle of the week: Saturday! Check this out. Elder Grimes had the prompting to go to Taco Bell for lunch. I was in complete disbelief because I needed Subway for lunch. Even though we had it for dinner. Haha anyway, we went to eat some tacos and met one of the mangers for the first time. We had a simple casual conversation with her, and soon went on for our day. Five hours later, I had a feeling we needed to knock doors for thirty minutes. While driving, I had certain prompting to which street we should turn on. We took a right, another right, a left, a right, a right, a left, a right, Elder Grimes was getting super dizzy hahaha and then I parked. I saw a few houses that we needed to knock. The first house, nothing. The second house, a young mother answered the door with her month old girl. I was super exited to see the baby and congratulated them. It was so cute! They mentioned to us that they are in the process of finding a church family. Believe it or not, we shared a brief pre-moral life message with them about where her newborn came from. She was so happy and filled with light and invited us to come back to visit with them and her husband.
The third house, nothing, the fourth house…..we knocked and a women answered the door…..it was the manager at Taco Bell we met just five hours prior!! I was jumping up and down and said we just met earlier today! We were all chucking. We promised her we didn’t follow her or anything haha. We got to know her better; she moved from Houston when the hurricane hit, broke up with her boyfriend, has four young children, looking for a church family and friends in Hugo. She is dying to learn about our faith and beliefs. It was such a wonderful experience to know Elder Grimes and I had our own certain prompting to finally lead us to these two families, within only four random houses in the entire city. A definite Testimony builder.
It is time……..are you ready……..if not, watch Titanic real quick…….#FridayNightDateNight is here!! ❤️
Alright! Take a wild guess where we happened to be for the first Date Night in the Green Month……Subway!!! 7:00pm we go straight through the doorway. My chicken salad and potato soup is ready to go with two peanut butter cookies and “Zach Only” two water cups. All I had to do was walk straight to the counter and pitch in some cash and call it good. Score! I am treated just so darn well at Subway. Continue on, while eating, TWO young couples came in for a group dinner date! I waited for them to get their food and start eating a bit. I made my jump and went on over there. Both couples were about 24 years old and got married in 2016. Of course I asked the details and they showed me several adorable pictures and I was dying! They both had fall weddings. It was precious. While visiting with them, one of the Subway worker’s parents came in and noticed who I was talking to and she was in shock of who one of the couples were! Apparently she substituted one of their classes during high school and went to their wedding and hasn’t seen them since. They were so happy to each other again and I was so excited for them to be reunited again and catch up on some things. Then the Subway worker came over to all of us and said to them “this guy has a really cool message about Eternal Families!” And the couples were like “huhhh??” Good on the Subway workers for doing missionary work without realizing it!! Then I was able to explain my love for eternal marriage and families and share our basic beliefs about it. They all got interested, even the mother of the Subway worker, she was surprised she never told her about it haha and they all became new investigators! Five of them in just a few minutes with the Subway worker starting us off. It was awesome! The Lord can use other people to pour down miracles. One of the couples said they have a huge painting of them at their wedding on their wall at home that they want to show me! I can’t wait to see it!! To top it off, we all got more free cookies at Subway. Win for everyone!
The investigator pool continues to climb for the first time in two years here in Hugo. We are having so much fun in Oklahoma serving with such incredible missionaries in our District. I am grateful for each one of them and the ways I have the opportunity to serve, uplift, and encourage. Life is good in the South.
I bear you my witness to you as we continue steadfast on the path to eternal life with our Heavenly Father, we will experience numerous blessings not only in this life, but in the life to come. We as sons and daughters of our loving Heavenly Father have the opportunity, privilege, and blessing to make and keep sacred covenants during our mortal existence. We have choices throughout life that either point in the Lord’s way, or the Adversary’s way. I know as we make a one time choice to always follow the Lord’s way, through the Holy Ghost, He will lead, guide, and direct us to receive the best outcome and enjoy the blessings for choosing the right path. I am grateful to know that as I remember and keep my covenants each and every day, the Lord is pleased and proud of myself. As I put forth all my energy and effort in choosing the Lord’s way, He will pour down the blessings of Heaven to me that is available to me at this time of my life to enjoy and use to serve others. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I love you all! Thanks for your continued love and support. Be safe in the snow! I am not ready to see snow later in the year! I love the heat and humidity a little too much. The Cows and I get along well 
Bye 
