Hey, everybody!
I´m really short on time (surprise, surprise), but let me tell you a little bit of what happened this week:
Catherina was baptized! The baptismal service was great, and I
was reminded of my own baptism, the feelings and love that I felt. (It
was a month after I had turned eight, and it was the Sunday before our
Powell Family Reunion in La Wiss Wiss, Washington. So, there was a lot
of family there. It was July 9, 2000, if I´m remembering correctly. The
year 2000 seems like such a long time ago....12 years since I was
baptized.....man, I´m getting old!)
(Also, the subject of this email is the title of a traditional
Powell Family song. I have a copy of the family songbook with me here on
the mission, and I cannot believe how much I love and miss singing
together as a family. Those songs are more a part of me than I ever
imagined, and remind me of the wonderful heritage that I have been
blessed with:) )
We met an incredible investigator this week as well. We received
his name as a referral, and he went to his house to talk to him. His
name is Samuel, and he is 20 years old. He was in the house of a member
some days ago, and the missionaries were having lunch in the member´s
house that day. They talked to him, taught him the first lesson, and
said that we needed to bring a Book of Mormon with us. When we went over
to his house to talk to him, he happily invited us in, we were all
really comfortable talking, and we explained to him about the Book of
Mormon. He loved the concept that we have a record of the teachings and
doctrines of Jesus Christ, but from a different perspective, the
perspective of the people living here on the American continent. The
teachings and the gospel of Jesus Christ are the same, just that the
Book of Mormon and the Bible work together to help us see and learn more
about how to apply the gospel in our lives.
We gave him a part in 3 Nephi to read, because he wanted to know
more about what the Savior taught to the Nephites while He was here.
When we came back two days later, he had read that chapter, the
following chapter, and had begun reading from the beginning of the Book
of Mormon in 1 Nephi! He said that the pictures made him curious, and so
he went and read the references that are connected to the pictures. He
said that he thought that it was really interesting, the story of Lehi
and his family, living in Jerusalem, and that they eventually ended up
the Americas as the Nephites and Lamanites. He understood the first few
chapters of 1 Nephi and the other parts of 3 Nephi better than some
members of the Church! And he started reading the beginning on his own.
We didn´t even ask or invite him to start there after reading in 3
Nephi, he just naturally did it out of curiosity and desire to learn. He
is incredible, and I am so excited to see what will happen this week. I
hope and pray that he can truly gain a strong testimony that these
things are true, and that he can become a member of the Church, and
receive all of the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that he
can eventually serve a mission! What a blessing that would be, in his
life and in the life of his family, now and in the future.
I love you all so very much! The Gospel is true. Jesus Christ
lives. Our lives are not perfect, other people are not perfect, and we
are not perfect; but, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be
cleansed of our sins, be filled with hope, and, because of that hope, we
can live our lives in joy and happiness, knowing with a certainty that
we truly can live with our families forever in the presence of our
Eternal Heavenly Father. What a joy, what a blessing, what a privilege
we have to partake of the grace and the love of God:)
I wish you all the very best, and hope that you have a wonderful week!
Love always,
Elder Reid Powell Empey
P.S. I know that it is finals time at BYU, and so for all of you
BYU folks, I wish you good luck on your tests, and hope that you look
back on the past two semesters as time well enjoyed and well spent:)
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