March 17, 2014

Hello All,

 

This week was a great week! We were able to set a baptismal date with our investigator Cate for the 12th of April. Finding her was a great miracle! We tracted into her and when we knocked on her door, her dog named Frank came down and started playing with us. She told us that her dog never does that, she said that her dog is usually very protective and not friendly at all. She said we could come back again because Frank liked us. This was a perfect example of how people are looking for the gospel and they don't even know it yet. She didn't think she needed God or any religion in her life, but after she decided to hear our message, she knew that the gospel is what she was looking for. It was a great miracle to witness!  I can't wait to keep on working with her and I can't wait until her baptism!

 

The Waka children had to move their baptism to March 29th because they have family from New Zealand coming over.  I am really looking forward to that baptism as well, and we are still working with Suzanne.  She is trying really hard to quit smoking and it hasn't happened yet, but we cant wait for her to progress.  That is the exciting news for the week.  Being a zone leader is keeping me really busy which I am grateful for.  We are tracting a lot and we are really hoping to find a lot more miracles with the people we are working with.  I love being a missionary and I hope you all have a marvelous week!!!

 

Love

Elder Kyler Powelson

March 10, 2014

Hello All,

 

Our week was really good this week!  It was a very typical week in the life of a missionary.   The Waka kids are ready to get baptized on the 22 of March, and Suzanne is going to be getting baptized on March 30th.  We saw many miracles in our week. 

 

We had an interesting experience yesterday.  We got to church and about 10 before church started, the sister missionaries in the ward called us and said that their ride forgot about them.  They live 20 minutes away and church started in 10 minutes, and our only option was to go pick them up.  I think it was one of the first times in my life where I was late to church.  It felt really weird walking in about 30 Minutes late.  Its a good thing not too many people noticed though. 

 

Vae and Kara, a part member family we have been working with came to church which we were really excited about.  We have a lesson with them tonight which we are excited about as well.  Vae pretty much already acts like he is a member, so we don't see many problems with him being able to get baptized. 

 

I also got to work with a couple of the other missionaries in the zone for a couple of days which was really good.  I love being a missionary and I hope you all have a great week!

 

Love

Elder Kyler Powelson

 

March 3, 2014

Hello All,

 

We had a really great week this week!  Kerri got baptized!  It was a long journey for her, but the spirit filled her baptismal service.  It was wonderful to see and to see the difference it made in her.  Some pictures are attached.  We are hoping that her husband Josh, who is not a member yet was touched by the baptismal service because the next goal is going to be to convert him to the gospel, so they can begin their journey to eternal marriage. 

 

We had a great miracles this week!  Last week we tracted into a girl named Cate.  Her dog came down to us and we started patting it and playing with the dog.  She told us that the dog never plays with anyone who comes to the door.  She said that when the Jehovah's witnesses come the dog chases them away.  Since the dog liked us and we were able to play with the dog, she decided to hear us out and we set an appointment for Monday.  When we went to her house that Monday to teach her, the spirit was there and we committed her to read the Book of Mormon.  When we went back on Friday for another lesson, she had read up to 1 Nephi chapter 8.  It was awesome because most people don't really read the Book of Mormon when you first commit them to.  It usually takes a couple of lesson.  She told us that she loved it very much and that she was going to keep on reading it.  We told her that she is truly being converted to the Book of Mormon and the gospel.  We hope to commit her to baptism on the lesson we are going to have on Wednesday.  It is a prime example of someone who didn't even know what they were looking for, but when they felt the spirit, they knew that they needed the gospel in her life.  It was a great experience. 

 

We are hoping that Suzanne will be able to be baptized in a couple of weeks and the Waka children will be baptized on the 22nd.  We are having a lot of success in many ways.  I love being a missionary and I hope you all have a great week!

 

I also had a good 21st Birthday.  They sang to me at the cottage evening we had on Sunday night.

 

Love

Elder Kyler Powelson

 

Elder Powelson  Kerri   Elder Nelson

 

Kyler

 

 

 

February 24, 2014

Hello All,

 

It has been a pretty standard half week since I last emailed.  Kerri is getting really excited for her baptism on Saturday and so are we!  It is going to be great!  We are really looking forward to this week and march especially.  We are looking to baptize 4 people in March, so it is going to be a great exciting month for us!  We did a lot of tracting this week, and we found some good potentials.  We have been working with this less active man named Owen.  The rest of his family is active.  We have been going over a couple times a week to share messages with him.  When I first got to the area, he would talk to us, but he didn't really like the gospel topics, but this last week he came to church because his son was being ordained to be a priest, and when we went to the lesson he asked us a really good question, and as we gave him an answer it was great!  He never knew why his family was so happy after they got home from church.  He said that his wife and kids have changed a lot since they have been going to church, and his question was asking is it the action of them going to church that changes them, or is it just themselves.  The answer we gave him was that it was the Holy Ghost.  Since his family was going to church and living worthy to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, their attitude changed and since they had that companion, it has helped them make decisions and do the things that are promised to us in John 14:26.  We told him what we tell everyone, because he has never felt the Holy Ghost work in his life, we told him to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and if he does that then he will receive confirmation through his thoughts and feeling through the Holy Ghost.  He agreed to do so, and my goal is help him on his way so his family can be sealed together. 

 

That was the greatest thing to happen this week with many other great things that are going to happen this week!  I love being a missionary and I hope you all have a great week!

 

Love

Elder Kyler Powelson

February 19, 2014

Hello All,

 

This week was a great week!  A big miracle we saw this week was with our investigator named Kerri.  She was supposed to be baptized back in November, but she backed out the day before she was supposed to be baptized and she cut off her ties with the missionaries.  After I got here Elder Nelson decided to start visiting her again.  When we started the visits baptism for her was out of the picture for now, but as we continues to come and share messages with her and help her feel the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost started to prompt her that she needed to be baptized.  So she is going to be getting baptized on March 1st.  It is really exciting a we are looking forward to it.  All of the baptisms we had for February had to get rescheduled to March for various reasons.  The two Waka children we are teaching are going to get baptized on March 22nd and Suzanne is getting baptized on March 15th.  March is going to be a great month and I am really looking forward to it! 

 

This week we were also able to teach Vae and Kara.  I talked about them a couple weeks ago.  Kara is a member, but Vae isn't.  It was a really powerful lesson.  We taught him the Restoration, and he is reading the Book of Mormon.  He really wants to come to church, so we are hoping that we will be able to help him progress so he can be baptized in April.  It is really exciting.  We tracted a lot this week, and it was wonderful!  I love being a missionary and I hope you all have a great week!

 

Love

Elder Kyler Powelson

February 11, 2014

Hello All,

 

Today was transfer day.  Elder Nelson and I are going to be staying together.  There were some changes in our zone, but we are really looking forward to this next transfer we are going to have together.  The Hastening is happening.  We are breaking records as a zone and in our area.  It is great to witness!  I don't have too much time to write today.  We had to reschedule a couple of our baptisms because of some technical difficulties.  Suzanne is now on date for March 15th, she has some court things she has to deal with, so she wants to wait until everything is sorted before she gets baptized.  For February we are hoping to baptize 4 unbaptized children on the 22nd which we are excited for.  They are Tori and Troy Jackson, and Malani and Elicia Waka.  They have progressed well and we are really looking forward to it. 

 

A couple of weeks ago we tracted into a part member family.  Kara is a member, but her husband Vae is not a member.  We started teaching them and Vae is making the push to wanting to come to church and we are pretty sure we will be setting a baptismal date with him pretty soon here.  It is awesome.  There is also a set of sister missionaries that work in Helensvale and they contacted this "creepy guy" who said he was interested, they were scared to go teach him, so we did so and he turned out to be really solid.  He has Schizophrenia, but he said if he takes his medication, then he is good.  We are hoping he always takes his medication when we go to teach him.  But he wants to come to church and is really interested which is great! 

 

Also another miracle.  Today at transfer meeting I got to talk to one of the missionaries from my last area (Kenmore), and if you remember in past emails how I wrote about Nephi.  He was a Less Active member who flagged us down while we were tracting, when i was there he gave up smoking and starting becoming active in the church.  His partner is not a member who didn't believe in God and didn't want anything to do with us who was starting to talk with us before I left.  But Elder Emery told me today that they have set a Wedding Date for the 7th of June, and that she is being taught by the missionaries and is really keen.  So it was great to see some success happen from a seed I was able to plant in a previous area. 

 

I love being a missionary and I hope you all have a great week!

 

Love

Elder Kyler Powelson