From Sydney

This week was soooo long! It is some times stinky to hang out with a grumpy person all week. But we saw many miracles. And it like resulted all on Sunday. We decided that we just really needed to go out on Sunday, and get our investigators to church. So we tried our little hardest, and knocked on their doors before church. No one wanted to come, so we walked back to church. We sat down, and our member Sister Beenfield came up to us, and said: I called Felicia and she said you were going to give her and her mom a ride.

We were like say what? So we quickly called Felicia and she said she was waiting for us. We get the member and we vamos out. And as I'm getting in Sister Beenfield's minivan someone touches me on the shoulder, and it is our other investigator Hamid! And I didn't know he was coming. And then Charlie was there, and Diana! So many investigators came to church, and it was just because we put effort, and trusted the Lord to provide. It church was awesome for them. I love MEMBERS! They seriously are the key to helping with missionary work.

And Steve wanted to come to church! He is the Portuguese man that is having daddy issues with his daughter right now. But he went to the wrong church building, because he was supposed to be coming to a baptism with us on Saturday, but he didn't show up. Little stinker. So we had to explain he was going the wrong way on the bus. Haha. He even dressed in his Sunday best. Next week though! 

This week has been interesting. You know when you feel like you are being ignored all the time, and walked on, and controlled. This is how I felt all week. Awwss wells. I have gotten good though at not being angry about it though. I have been a little too honest possibly. But one morning it just got so bad, that I told her that she needed a Priesthood blessing. She didn't want one from the Elders, so I texted President Watkins, even though he was preparing to leave on Saturday (it was Friday (and I pretended to be her. hehe. ). He didn't reply ALL day, and I was so scared that he was just going to leave the mission without responding. But he responded. And we went to give Sister Steg a Priesthood Blessing that Saturday Morning before he was going to leave. And it was an awesome blessing, it was good to say goodbye to the Watkins.

I can't believe they are gone. It is weird. My mission is changing which is odd. But the Mellas are awesome. We met President Mella at the baptism that same Saturday. I was so mad at Steve for not showing up. I was like COME ON STEVE!

President Mella was sad I wasn't a convert from Louisiana. And I think my laugh is really strange because I get strange looks when I laugh. Haha. President Mella is a convert. He was baptized when he was 17. His dad was baptized first in his family. After his dad was baptized, he was asked if he wanted to be baptized too. He said he wanted to know it was true for himself. He found out was true when the Washington Temple had an open house. He kept going and going because of the feeling he received. He could not deny the feeling. His brother was Sister Stegs bishop in College. 

Sister Mella is wonderful too. She served her mission in Japan. She is so cute.

So this week was filled with a lot of emotion. I just felt like a horrible missionary even though I was trying hard. And it is just because I love too much I think. I just love everyone, and it is getting kinda frustrating. Haha. Too much love!!!

I know up there I expressed some feelings I was feeling. But I just want to take a little time to talk about Sister Steg.

She is awesome. Completely and totally amazing. The epitome of a very hard working missionary. She is smart. An incredibly deep thinker. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the very core of soul. It defines her. She is also very passionate. I have never met anyone as passionate as her. She is competitive. Most athletic and buff person ever. She is crazy awesome. I love being her companion. She is hilarious. We laugh all the time. She is such a good friend. And I wish more than anything I could take the things that she is going through on me.

I love the atonement. I love that the Savior died for us so that those things could be lifted. That we could be yoked to him, and he can help carry our burdens. I love that he died for us so that we can repent, and change. Change is the most beautiful gift that I think the world can be given. Who doesn't wish they could change at least one thing about themselves? I want to change all the time. I want to love even more than I already do (I know I was complaining before but I really want to love more. Hhaa.)

Being a missionary is AMAZING! Being around such great people is awesome. I love y'all so much! Write me a letter!! :)

Te amo muito!!

Sister Powell

From Sydney

Oi Familia!

So this girl emailed me the other week. I don't know if I mentioned it in previous emails, but I just want to thank all the people that helped me during my time as a visa waiter. I used your advice in the email I sent her! She just was assigned to Sao Paulo, and she wanted advice on how to prepare. I was like- alrighty than! Let me prepare ya! Here is what I emailed:)

Hi Sister Cordner! I am so exited for your assignment to Sao Paulo! I actually never made it Brazil. I was officially reassigned to California after waiting for 10 months for my Visa. But I think the biggest thing you can do now to prepare for your mission if you are waiting in the States or if you get officially reassigned or if you go straight to Brazil, is remember to trust and love God completely and totally. Remember that you weren't called to Sao Paulo, but you were called to serve The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you were only assigned to Brasil. You are representing Heavenly Father and His Son where ever you are. You call letter says: your assignment may change to the need of your Mission President. Your ultimate mission President is your Heavenly Father, who loves you very much. And he will change words on a piece of paper, and put you in the place that you need. He will give you the people you need- Mission President, Companions, investigators, members, and everyone. There is no unanswered prayers but only correct answers. God knows what he is doing. Trust Him. And love your mission no matter what. 

Don't pack to much, don't worry about gaining weight, bring pictures of your family, and bring your testimony! I hope this helped you in some way:)

De nada!

Sister Powell

I just love the things I have learned. The advice and love you have all given me on my mission has been in my heart. And I just love that I have been able to share that advice to others. I hope I didn't scare her. Haha. I hope you gets her Visa, and now she is on my prayer roll this week.

Sister Corbitt! You should email her: Kenzie Cordner. Light her up with hope! Haha.

We have a new investigator this week! Her name is Diana. She speaks barely any english! We are teaching her. I am so grateful for the MTC for teaching me how to learn a language so I can help her. We go on little field trips around the church building and I make her say random things in English. We taught her how to introduce her self: Hi! I am Diana. I am from Africa. And I am a Child of God:)

This week has been interesting. It is always interesting. I have learned that companions all have their different struggles. I have been good at adapting on my mission to my many companions. This week we went on an exchange with are STLs. And I was in a different area with Sister Card. Her teaching is a lot like mine, and she reminds me a lot of myself. And it was really easy to adapt really quickly. And then I went back to my area, and it was really hard for some reason to adapt back. Everything about Sister Steg was standing out to me. It was so frustrating. She has gone through a lot on her mission. She has gone through something that happened to me a long time ago. And she is on her control and anger part of grieving. And I get to be there! Haha. But I am so glad she is here, and not home. It's the worst to try to control your family. So I was just grouchy. And I wasn't being fair to her. So I talked to her, and we cried. Honesty and communication is so great. I have learned that a lot on my mission. Because if you bottle something in your brain, Satan can manipulate it, and change it. And he is really good at doing that. So addressing it right away is so great. So great.

I looked back on my mission. For some reason, I thought I would have a lot of regrets. How few baptisms I have, being transferred a lot, certain ways I treated my companions, sometimes praying for that stinking Visa, car wrecks, and much more. But I don't regret anything. I am so proud of my mission. Extremely proud. And than I had a strange thought that I could die right now, and I would be so pleased. And I realized that I have a Savior. And with Him, I don't have to take anything back, I can just move forward and he will fill the gap. I have repented. And I am proud. And then I thought, I don't want to die. Haha. I want to get married (in ten years) I want to graduate college! I want to write a book! I want to serve 10 more missions! I want to serve my Heavenly even more. SO AWESOME! I have so much good to do! 

I had a Zone Leader who once told me that hell is when the person you are meets the person that you could have been. And I thought about that some. And I thought about Justice. And then I thought about judgment day. Haha (personal study). And I saw this image in my head. I saw Heavenly Father, and he is the judge. A judge is a person who has been authorized to judge someone for what they are. And I thought about the times that I have judged, but we have been commanded to judge righteously, so we are the jury. The jury can only make a decision about someone based on solid evidence. And then I thought about Jesus Christ. He is our lawyer. A lawyer is someone who has studied the law and is capable and has that authority to either defend or prosicute someone. 

Jesus Christ has that authority. He has lived every single moment of our lives. And than I thought of the person I am capable of becoming. And we all have the capacity to become Christlike or like him. So I imagined me at judgement day, walking towards my Heavenly and seeing my Savior, and think hell is when the person I am meets the person I could have been. And made me want to be so much better. haha. It made me want to be more like him. Because even though I am proud of who I am right now, I can always be a better me tomorrow.

This week, though it was interesting, it was filled with miracles. It was filled with talking to people and making their day. Yesterday, I contacted a woman and she looked at the picture I gave her, and said: "Is this for me? This is beautiful." "Yep it is!" "God bless you!" 

And she walked away cradling the Savior in her hands. Talk to everyone! They need you. They need to know that the Savior is cradling them in his hands. He loves everyone. I love y'all so much!!

Te amo muito!

Sister Powell

From Sydney

So,

 

This week was SO LONG! It has felt like a month filled with emotions. Feeling like a stinky (litterally and emotionally). I am horrible HORRIBLE at bike riding. And I am horrible at so many things. But I am great at praying. Haha. ALL THE TIME. The begginning of the week was rough. But I was prompted you use the Book of Mormon while contacting one day. And no one took them from me. I was a little peturbed. But then we saw this woman named Lydia standing on the balcony. And I ran up those stairs, and offered her a Book. She shook her head feriously, but we spent the next couple minutes talking to her about Jesus Christ. And she became our new investigator. She was praying for a change in her life, and then we showed up at her door. Yay! So that was awesome.

 

And then biking started again, and I prayed for Heavenly Father to give me two hours of his strength. And he did. I was biking faster than Armstrong on steriods. Ha.

 

And seriously though. It worked so great.

 

We worked so hard this week. Literally.

 

We have an investigator with a baptismal date, and she has dissappeared from the world. So we decided to stalk her at her work place. Haha. Oops. And Sister Steg and me are sitting in the car. And we pray to know if we should be doing this, and then we look up and we see this random guy with her work shirt. And we are like, okay, we go. And then we walk into the coolest car wash ever! And she isn't there. So we walk outside and we see this guy who looked like he just got hit by a bus. He looked awful. And he had scratches on his face and blood flowing from his ears. His neck was broken. And we are like: ouch! We walk up to him, and we ask him if he wants a priesthood blessing. He says yes.

 

The guy had gotten in a bike accident and had been in the hospital. I have no idea how he got out. But he was completely not there from pain. And he thought Sister Steg was cute. But as we talked to him more, and the Elders showed up to give him a blessing, he said there was something different about all of our eyes. We had something that he wanted. And the Elders gave him a blessing, and it was really cool. Remind me to tell you more of the story when I get home. Haha.

 

Speaking of blessings. I got a blessing this week. And the priesthood is true! I just got it to get it, but certain things had been plaguing my mind that I didn't realize. The Lord told me through the humble hands of Elder Barlow and Elder Jackson that I was here in San Jose to find the person that I promised I would find in the Premortal Life. That I was here because God needed me to be. I could have been called to Africa, Iowa, Japan, but somehow I would have served my mission in San Jose. He told me that I could be a missionary forever. That my family was being blessed. And so much more things. It was awesome. And those Elders had no idea the deepest part of my thoughts. I didn't know! The Lord also rebuked and told me I needed to be more obedient. Haha. And work harder and study harder because the Lord has asked a lot of me, and he is going to ask more. Dangit. I thought bikes were enough.

 

I had my last interview with President Watkins on fathers day. We talked about how people won't understand what I have been through on my mission. They won't understand what it means to be a Visa Waiter. He also talked about how much I have changed. And he told me that he knew he could move me places because I could get along with everyone. And he told me I could do anything I wanted! Because I was a strong woman. I was so happy. He told me not to worry about majors right now, and go and investigate them. Go to work places in Orem and Provo and shadow people to see what I wanted to do. He said a lot more things, and I am so sad he is leaving. But I am glad he lives so close to Provo!

 

And the only reason I said any of that stuff what he said was because I really did work hard to change on my mission. And I am so excited people see taht change. haha.

 

I amn so glad to be here. I LOVE being a missionary. And I think partly it's awesome because I get to interact with so many awesome people. Members, investigators, homeless people, missionaries, mission presidents, and so many other people. People really do help you become who you were meant to be, and it is because God is putting them in your path. It's awesome.

 

I love y'all so much.

 

Sister Powell