1 Month in the Field!!!

Sept. 5, 2016  2:09pm

Dear Friends and Family:



Well everyone another week in Texas down and only 97 to go... I think.

It's been a while since I've taken math haha. Anyways it's been a good

week in Killeen! We've had the opportunity to teach and meet a lot of

awesome investigators and members! It's always interesting meeting new

people because everyone has a different story and different

experiences so you can learn a lot about life by talking to people. We

also had a funny experience with a woman this week as we were figuring

out how to help clean out her house (She had a hoarding situation

going on). After we had gone through her house and created a game plan

on how we were going to clean this house we found out she was super

into astrology and she was giving us all our horoscopes. We also found

out she was a church choir singer and we all ended up singing church

hymns and eventually a few of her neighbors came out and joined us so

it was an awesome and really funny visit with her. This week we had 5

investigators at church. I also got to participate in a baby blessing

which was an awesome experience! We also found out that next week we

are going back up to Hurst for a follow-up training meeting which is a

3 hour drive from Killeen. Time is flying by and it feels like I've

been here forever but at the same time I feel like I've been here for

a week. I also hit my month mark in the field this week which is

exciting as well!



Miracle of the Week:



This week we got invited out to lunch with one of the senior

missionary couples. We almost didn't go because we were headed

somewhere else but we decided to go. We went to a little philly

cheesesteak stand in front of a Lowes. We met a woman there and we

started talking about eternal families with her and as we were talking

we found out her husband had passed away and that he was a member of

the church but she wasn't. So we gave her a Book of Mormon and talked

about the plan of salvation a little bit. After we had given her the

Book of Mormon she burst into tears and gave us all hugs because after

her husband had passed away she had gotten really angry and gave their

Book of Mormon away and she never thought she would be able to get

another one. This experience really taught me that the Lord is always

preparing people to hear the gospel and you just have to look for and

find those people by sharing our message of Jesus Christ and his

gospel. It's important to always listen to the promptings of the Holy

Ghost and act on them because you never know what your actions could

do for either yourself or others!



Love

-Elder Beau Power

3rd Week in Texas!!!

August 29, 2016  12:39pm

Dear Family and Friends:

Well my 3rd week in Killeen is almost up and what a week it has been!
I'm slowly but surely starting to get to know my way around this
place! I'm also starting to finally get to know the people in the
wards we are over at least a few of them anyways! We cover two wards
and there a lot of people I'm trying to remember and who is in what
ward and all that good stuff but it is slowly coming along. I also had
the opportunity to speak in sacrament after some speakers couldn't
make it so I'm at least getting myself out there so people know me! I
spoke on a First Presidency Message by Gordon B. Hinckley called In
These Three I Believe from July of 2006. We also had to drive up to
Hewitt this week for Zone Conference which was fun but we used up a
lot of miles so we are being forced to used our last 30 miles of the
month very carefully. We also have had some good lessons with our
investigators this week which is always awesome. It's always to cool
to see something click with an investigator or when they are able to
really feel the spirit while we are teaching them or when they come to
church! We also had some more interesting lessons this week haha! Let
me just say that not all lessons go as well as others! We had a lesson
this week with an older man and he tried converting us to his church
with some anti-Mormon videos and other things so that was interesting
to say the least haha. Anyways long story short we won't be heading
back there for a while. But other than that things have been going
good here!

Miracle of the Week:
This week I had the opportunity to meet a sister in one of our wards
who had a brain aneurysm and lost her memory completely. She didn't
remember her family, who she was, or who her husband was. After she
had returned home from the hospital she saw a Book of Mormon in some
of her stuff. She looked at it and eventually made the decision to
keep going to church because she knew that before her incident there
was a reason she belonged to this church even though she didn't know
what that reason was. I think her story is one of the greatest
examples of faith I've seen. She had every reason to stop going to
church or to stop visiting with us but she didn't because she has that
faith that there is a reason she belongs to this church. Her story
reminds me a lot of a scripture in Ether 12:12 "For if there be no
faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them;
wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith".

-Elder Beau Power

2nd Week in Texas

August 22, 2016 1:22pm

Dear Family and Friends:

This week has been really awesome! I think I've finally adjusted to
life as a missionary. It has been interesting for sure but it has been
a lot of fun so far! This week has also been super rainy. I think it's
rained almost everyday this week which has been really nice! Its has
been more humid than usual but it has also been nice and cool too!
I've come to love street contacting/tracting (We did quite a bit of
that in the rain this week). It's where I've met some of the
coolest/most interesting people. A lot of the time you don't succeed
but when you find someone who is willing to hear your message it is
totally worth it. Not to mention you hear some cool stories and see
some interesting stuff haha! I also had the opportunity to do service
at the food bank which was a lot of fun! Mosiah 2:17 "And behold, I
tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that
when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the
service of your God". We also had the opportunity to visit a lot of
our investigators this week. We have 3 of our investigators with a
baptism date which is fantastic. We also had another pair of
missionaries in our district baptize one of their investigators
earlier this week too. Things are going good here in Killeen!

Miracle of the Week:

This week we invited a lot of our investigators to church and we had 6
come this Sunday which was an awesome experience! It was awesome to
see the ward members fellowship them and welcome them! All of them had
positive experiences and will be coming again next week!!! The power
of loving one another, friendship, and fellowshiping is amazing and it
truly makes a difference not only in church but in life! 1 John 3:11
"For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we
should love one another."

I love you guys
-Elder Beau Power

1st Week in Texas!!!

August 15th, 2016

Dear Family and Friends:
     Today marks my first P-day in Texas!!! This week has been crazy!
The week started off last Tuesday by leaving the MTC at 3:50am (wasn't
fun). Then we took an hour and a half train ride to the airport which
was interesting because I've never really been on a train before.
After that we arrived at the airport and we boarded at about 8. After
a couple hours on a plane we arrived in Texas! We were picked up by
President and Sister Whitney along with a few pairs of Elders at the
airport and we were taken to one of the church buildings where we ate
lunch and had an orientation. Then later that day we had some awesome
Texas barbecue for dinner at the mission home! That night like 15 of
us elders stayed in one apartment which was nuts. The next morning we
headed to the stake center and were assigned our trainer/companion and
our area. My companion is Elder Hughes he has been out for a year and
a half and is from Utah and he is awesome and our area is Killeen,
Texas 1st and 3rd ward. Our area was a 3 1/2 hour drive from Ft.
Worth. The day I got here we just jumped right in to the work. This
week I've already been able to teach investigators, contact referrals
including one that didn't speak English, meet both bishoprics and the
stake presidency, and participate in a play at the ward party (I
served in Alpi, Somoa for 2 years haha). A cool thing about this area
is that it is very diverse in terms of people. We live in the same
area as Ft. Hood which means there are a lot of people coming in and
going out. I've been able to meet a lot of different people who come
from a lot of different backgrounds. It has been awesome to hear their
stories. Texas has been an awesome place. So far all of the people
I've met here in Texas are extremely friendly even the people that
don't want to hear our message. We get fed pretty much every night. I
think there are only 3 days this month we don't have a dinner
appointment. I'm excited to see what else Texas has in store for me
these next 2 years.

Miracle of the Week:
We were contacting referrals this week. We started by calling all the
referrals with phone numbers and we would pick out a time that we had
open for an appointment and we try to schedule them for that time.
When we called, each person that answered was willing to meet with us
and they all were available at the times we had available to meet. We
contacted 9 people that day and the fact that we were able to schedule
all of them in the various times that were available throughout the
week is nothing short of a miracle. "...For I know that the Lord
giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare
a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth
them." 1 Nephi 3:7.

I love all of you
-Elder Beau Power

Arrived In Texas

August 11, 2016

Finally, as the Mom, the letter I've been waiting for! He arrived in Texas 2 days ago and it's been driving me crazy not knowing absolutely that he made it there and not knowing where he was exactly! Texas is a big state! Keep a Mom updated please!


August 11, 2016

Dear Family,

Sister Whitney and I want you to know that your missionary has arrived safely in Texas.
We look forward to serving together in accomplishing the Lord’s work. We hope you
enjoy the attached picture of your missionary as well as knowing that the missionaries
are in good hands here as they are in the Lord’s service.
Your missionary’s assignment will be in Killeen, Texas. He will be serving with
Elder Hughes.

Their apartment address is:
4204 July Dr. Apt A
Killeen, TX 76549

Your missionary will email on Monday which is their preparation day. They are always
happy to hear from you as well. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,
President & Sister Whitney

Tag Pictures for Mom *cough cough*

August 4, 2016

I hope this is the first of many tag pictures he'll send me!

 This is Beau and Justin's tag. His brother gave it to him to take out with him.
Justin served in the Denmark Copenhagen Mission from Nov. 2005- Dec. 2007

To Our Loving Mothers

July 28, 2016

I have to post my first "random mom" picture that I received! It absolutely made my day.  A kind woman was leaving the Provo Temple at the same time Beau's district was and thought she would ask to take a picture of them so she could send it to their mothers.  She took the time to get all their parents cell phone numbers and send this picture with the text from them, "To our loving mothers from District 37F".  Thank you, thank you random mom!

From L to R: Elder Bodine, Elder Power, Elder White, Elder Jeffs, Elder Laris, Elder Norrris, Elder Dertina & Elder McCann

 

Here are some more pictures of Beau's District.

I think this is a picture they took after receiving a care package we sent with chips and salsa in it!

2nd Week at the MTC

August 4, 2016

Dear Family and Friends:

Well my second week here at the MTC is complete! It has honestly been one of the fastest weeks ever. There has been some crazy stuff going here! We had a devotional Tuesday night and the 2nd counsellor of the presiding bishopric came and talked about the "Character of Christ" which was really awesome it reminded me a lot of the Character of Christ talk that Elder Bednar gave. Then turns out the week before we came Elder Bednar was actually here at the MTC giving a talk and then the week after we leave Elder Holland is coming to give a talk so it sucks that I've missed/going to miss those talks. But all the devotionals we have had so far have been really good. Then one of my teachers(Sis. Sheppard) got "ran over" by a car as she told us but turns out that she got hit on her way home! She's okay and was still able to come teach us the next day but still crazy! Other than that there hasn't been anything to out of the ordinary going on here! Lots of class, lots of studying, and lots of teaching. Speaking of teaching we got 2 new TRC investigators! The first is Kayla she is from Alabama and a sophomore at BYU. Then the second is Austin and he is from Dallas and is down here for the summer for an internship. It has been really fun getting to know them and teaching them as well! But that's about all that's been going on this week. My district is great and we are becoming really close. Everything is going good with my companion as well. We leave early Tuesday morning for Texas so I'm excited for that! My time in the MTC is quickly coming to an end and I can already tell it will be a bittersweet moment when we all leave.

Miracle of the Week: 

We were teaching our new TRC investigator Kayla earlier this week and she had asked a question about why there aren't big miracles today like the ones found in the Bible(Moses parting the red sea, etc.). My companion and I didn't really know why but we told her that we would do a little research and see if we could figure it out before our next appointment and during my personal study the next day I found a scripture in the Book of Mormon that addressed her exact question. The answer was in Moroni 7: 27-29, 33-37. It was awesome to see her reaction to that and to be able to share that we had found an answer to her exact question in the Book of Mormon. That just testifies to me even more the truth of the Book of Mormon and that we can find answers to our questions in the scriptures. 

I love you guys all so much!

-Elder Power

Just in case you have forgotten what I look like...

1st P-day Letter

July 28, 2016

Dear Family(and Friends):

Today is finally P-Day! Im so happy I finally get to write home! So today marks the end of my first week and the beginning of my 2nd week here at the MTC. Let me start off by saying that I love you guys so much and that I miss you all so much. This first week has been one of the longest but also one of the shortest weeks of my life. It feels like I got here yesterday but at the same time it feels like I've been here for months. Time moves differently in the MTC. Someone said that the weeks feel like days and the days feel like weeks and that is a pretty accurate description. The MTC is a very unique place. It will make you feel overwhelmed, peaceful, stressed, excited, tired, ready to leave, and wanting to stay. It has been tough getting in the routine of the MTC but I can semi-confidently say that I think I've got the hang of it now. The first few days was like drinking out of a fire hydrant and I can barely remember what happened honestly it was kind of a blur. I got my assigned my companion Elder Bodine. He is from Denver, CO and he is pretty cool. I also got assigned to my district 37F and it's weird how fast we all became good friends. We have 3 other companionships of Elders and a trio of Sisters in our district. There is Elder McCan and Elder Dertina(our district leader), Elder Jeffs and Elder White, Elder Norris and Elder Laris, and then Sister Green, Sister Robertson and Sister Christianson. We got our teachers Sister Allen and Sister Sheppard(She is from England) and they are probably some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. We see our district and teachers a lot because we are pretty much in the classroom all day except for when we eat and are teaching other people which is still kind of rough but I'm getting used to it. The best advice we got in our first few days was "Just make it till Sunday and after that it gets a lot easier!" and it was so true. Sunday was probably one of the best days aside from today of course. We got to sing in a Choir of 1400 missionaries with the Nashville Tribute Band which was awesome they were also the devotional for Sunday night. We went to church which was a nice change of pace. We also got to go on a Temple Walk which was awesome and really relaxing. Then we watched a talk by Elder Bednar on the Character of Christ which was absolutely amazing. Ever since Sunday the time has been flying by. Tuesday this week we had another devotional from Elder Condie he is a former member of the 70. I guess General Authorities get July "off" or something like that. But I heard that the week before we got here Elder Bednar came which is super cool and I hope he makes another appearance before I leave! Another thing that started this week was TRC (Training Resource Center) and that is basically where we teach "investigators". We are told that some are real and some aren't but it is hard to tell. This week we have been teaching Bryce and he is a college student at UVU and then Rod(Rodrigo) and he is from Chile. Rodrigo has been really interested in what we have been teaching and yesterday he told us that he really believes the stuff we have been teaching and that it makes sense and that he liked how he felt that the Atonement was for him as an individual which is a great feeling. Bryce has been harder to teach but we felt like we had made some good progress yesterday but unfortunately that was our last day teaching him. The MTC is overall a really great place and it is an awesome place to feel and learn by the Spirit. Then that leads us up to today which has been the best day so far in the MTC. P-DAY!!!! We got to do endowments in the Provo temple this morning and I get to Email home! So that is pretty much a summary of the last week and how it went.

Now for some miscellaneous items to talk about. The Food: The food is pretty good! Some days are better than others though! Free Time: Don't really have any haha (But for real though). Pictures: I need an SD card reader and I don't know how soon I will be able to get one but hopefully it wont be too long and maybe I can borrow someone else's plus no one really knows how to send pictures anyways haha.

Miracle of the Week: I've learned that everything revolves around Christ and that everything we teach is about Christ in some way shape or form. I've really strengthened my testimony about Christ and his atonement this week especially seeing how it affects other people (Rodrigo). I know that Christ is our savior and redeemer and that he died for not only our sins but for our pains and afflictions as well (Alma 7:11-13). The Atonement has amazing powers to free, heal and strengthen us all. All we need to do is have faith to ask.

I love you all

-Beau (Elder Power)     

TEXAS FT. WORTH MISSION

 (Photo Credit goes to Heather Magnusson)

Hello Family and Friends,

Elder Beau Power has been called to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! He will be spending the next 2 years in the Texas Ft. Worth Mission, which covers basically

from Spanish Fort South to Killeen and Olney East to Fairfield and everything in between.  His Mission President will be Pres. Darrell G. Whitney.

We put him on a plane in Tucson and he reported to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT on July 20th, 2016. I'm a couple of weeks late getting this blog up and going, but I hope to stay on top of it from now on and provide emails, updates and pictures for all of you to see.