A talk with Der.

I took some notes from our conversation with Der Lowry on Christmas morning and thought I'd share them here!

• We spent a lot of time talking about the language-- which makes sense because he spends a LOT of his time and energy and focus just trying to figure out the language. He said he learned Tagalog (He pronounced it ti-ga-LOWg) in the MTC but where he is, the dialect is SO DIFFERENT from Tagalog that it's like starting all over again. He's figured out though that the 3 most important words in the language are I think Ang (implying the next word is the focus) Ng ("nung"-non focus) Sa (the next word implies location) and they are placed before every noun (which makes for a lot more words-- for example, the Book of Mormon there is over 700 pages, and here it's only 531). If you can figure out how to use those 3 words, the rest makes a lot more sense, but until you do you're lost and probably talk a lot of nonsense.

• He said he heard that a lot of missionaries that serve in his area usually stay there for 6-8 months before getting transferred somewhere else, so he expects to be there a while still. Which is good because the Aklanon dialect is SUPER tricky!
• They call him el-DER LO-ry and that people always say, "Like LOry LOry Allelujah!" Haha, that was awesome. I told him he just needed to teach them "LOry LOry to Ole Georgia! And to HECK WITH GEORGIA TECH!"
• He said the kids there love to play a flip flop (“tsinellas”-- pronounced ‘chinillas’) game- lean flip flops on each other, 2 teams, another flip flop is used to throw at the 2 flip flops and try to knock them down. Once knocked down, someone grabs one and takes off running while the others chase them and the goal is to get back and stand them up again to win.
• Canadians = "Cana-jens"- all the Filipinos are related to someone in or have themselves lived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada! Must be a huge Filipino population there!
• Basketball is the sport they love to play, but they play a much different style of basketball-- waiting and waiting until they have the most clean, perfect, open shot before shooting (takes a long time to get a shot up). And he said he was the biggest guy on the court every single time!
• He talked about the most interesting food experience he had had up to date was duck embryo, "Balut". Apparently it's a delicacy. It is a duck egg that the put in the incubator like they wanted to hatch it and then take it out just a couple days before it would've hatched. Then they hard boil it. So it sort of resembles hard boiled eggs. "Overdone" is when you get a beak or feathers or something like that... YUMMAY!!
• He suggested that simple medicine would be a very much appreciated gift to the Filipino people in his area-- they don't have easy access to things like Tylenol or Hydrocortisone and it's much needed.
• We talked about the Jeepneys and he said the saying there is, "how many people can you fit on a Jeepney? One more!"
• I asked him if he got around mostly on Jeepneys and he said no, that they saw more "tricycles"-- with a seat in front that fit 3 Filipinos up front, the driver, and then 4-5 on the back.
• He said when you go to someone's house there, there's no knocking, you just announce that you're there "there's people here!" He said that people always have time or will happily allow you to sit and talk to them as long as you like. So they teach like 9 discussions a day! But the challenge there is not finding people to listen, it's finding people who will actually commit enough to KEEP commitments.
• He said they're mostly Catholics there, non practicing because they work all day, every day and then when they get home from a 10 hour work day they stay up all night weaving coconut hair making things out of it.
• Like Dexter- his most awesome investigator so far- Dexter works construction 7 days a week, 10 hours a day and gets paid the equivalent of $5 American/day. Even there, that's not much. So he gets home and weaves coconut hair and makes things to sell. But Dexter's story is pretty awesome, and has been a huge inspiration to Scott and "El-DER or-den-i-ZA" because the day they found them they woke up after crazy torrential typhoon rains, everything was flooded up to at least their shins, and they had an appointment with some potential investigators in a town pretty far away. They knew they'd have to walk/wade the whole way because transportation wouldn't work that day so they were SO close to just calling it off and staying in I guess, but something one of Scott's MTC teachers told him came to mind, pretty much 'You gotta do what you gotta do/There's things to do and you have to do it" so they decided they would just go and do the work they're there to do. Well they got there, drenched and tired, and their appointment fell through. No one wanted to talk, so they were a bit frustrated but they figured they were already out and so they might as well find someone to talk to. So they trekked through this SUPER thick Jungle area and came to a creek that was flooded up to his chest or up to a Filipino's neck and this lady (Dexter's wife) saw him from the other side. She kind of wondered what these 2 guys in white shirts were doing out and got Dexter's brother to help them find a better way to get across. Here Scott said, "you see they are TOO nice here!" Because Dexter's brother happily waded through the neck-high water to come show them a better way to cross the flooded creek. They got across and talked to Dexter and his wife and their weeks old baby girl and they just lit up. Said it was true, they felt it, and since then they've read all their reading assignments over and over before their next appointment, they are solid and are the nicest, most wonderful investigators ever. He said when Dexter heard about the Plan of Salvation he looked at his brand new baby girl and just beamed with joy that they were a family before they came here and could be a family for all eternity. He is very proud of his baby girl! Dexter is a young (25ish) husband and father. So anyways. That's the story of Dexter. He says whenever he visits Dexter he'll ask, "How are you?" And Dexter will answer, "I'm good now that you're here!" I love him already :)
• Dexter's story brings me to something else I thought was funny-- he said the Filipinos love to name their girls names like "Princess"-something or "Lady"- something. Or sometimes just Lady or just Princess. Dexter's daughter is Princess Linsy. Another one is "Lady Christine."
• He talked about his ward's Christmas party that made his Christmas for him. He said Christmas Eve was really hard for him, but the Christmas party was just the best. He said that it turned into a ward talent show and the Primary all got up and performed (like, it was rehearsed) the dance for Shakira's "waka waka"! I can just see all the little Filipino kiddos shaking their hips and dancing like crazy-- he siad they love love love to dance! He also said they sang Justin Bieber songs and I thought that was too funny.
• Oh yah and he said their ward clerk, a guy he's always just kind of thought was strange, played a dancing game like Musical Chairs except for the guys stand in a circle with their hand on their hip and the girls have to link arms with them when the music stops or something. So anyways, he was the last guy left in the middle and busted out a "raise the roof" which also happens to be my Dad's signature dance move and it's ridiculous, but it reminded Scott SO MUCH of Dad that he fell to the floor dying laughing! I loved hearing that story. My dad is a special guy ;) Haha, I can just see that TOTALLY making Scott's day!!
• He said that for the ward party they had a bunch of games where only couples could participate. And so they thought it would be funny to consider the missionaries a couple. So we played the newly wed game and they forced us to enter the dance competition.
  
• He also said that they have NO concept of personal space and that it was VERY common to hold hands or hips or waists with the person you're talking to and it makes him super uncomfortable still! I'm sure he'll get used to it but it was funny hearing about it. He said a drunk guy heard him outside talking to us and came up and wanted to hold his hand and talk. Definitely a different culture there!
• He said that there's no shame in asking someone you see walking on the street, "Hey, where are you going/coming from?" He said that it just blows his mind because in America people would think that is so weird and rude and too personal, but it's like second nature there, nothing odd at all. Or asking someone how old they are, or how much money they make-- none of that is too personal or strange, it's very open and common there. Funny, huh?
• "Kaya ko" = I can do it! (He talked about Divine, his 2 year old Filipino girlfriend, taking his watch off at the ward party and she kept saying "Kaya ko"-- that SHE could put it on him). "Kaya mo" = You can do it!

So good to hear his voice!!

Week 15

Hello Family and Friends!

Thank you all so much for the Christmas wishes. It truly was different to be on the opposite side of the world for Christmas. But as my family can attest to I had a good one. I was able to finally talk to them late Christmas night for me and 4 in the morning for them... haha! But we finally were able to talk and it truly was wonderful! It was so nice to hear their voices and know they were doing well!

Christmas here is very different. There really isn't a Santa Claus tradition here in the Philippines. So that was different and people just give small very simple gifts. Due, most likely, to obvious circumstances (money). But it was a happy time for sure. We had our ward party on Christmas day. That is just what all the members wanted to do. It was like a big talent show where EVERYONE participated and we also played a lot of games! For some reason Elder Ordeniza and I were forced to participate in all the couples games so they thought that was a hoot. They laughed a lot and just had a good time. We also had a feast afterwards. Here in the Philippines they have party that say "BYOR" Bring your own rice... I at least thought it was hilarious. But the main course was Litson Baboy. Roasted Pig. They had it delivered and it was literally just two humongous pigs that were tied to a bamboo shoot and slow cooked over a fire. SO two high priests carved the pigs all night and they were devoured. Man it was good! Like I said, the party was just a big talent show. SO the primary performed a dance to Waka Waka, the song that Shakira recorded for the world cup! The Primary President was in the front doing the dance as well. It might have been my favorite. All the children danced and had the best time doing it. No one was shy and they were just adorable. Two of the primary girls also did a dance to the Justin Bieber song "First Love" or something like that (actually it's "baby"... and I'm alright with the fact that he didn't know that). (All Filipinos love that song) And right as they started another three year old little girl ran right in front of them and just jammed the entire song by herself. The most adorable thing ever! So needless to say, after this party I felt right at home and had a great night.

Dexter Alvares is just flourishing as an investigator. We love going over there and teaching to them and we gave his wife the same baptismal date as him. The only problem is we found out that they have not been married yet because Sister has a former husband that she is not divorced from yet. He is in Manila too. So now we are contacting president to get paperwork started... exciting no? Jokes, but this family is worth it and I really am excited to get it going so we can baptize them and prepare them for the temple. We are excited to teach the rest of his extended family. I think they will accept our message as well. And again, all from the day we went tracting with our slacks rolled up to our knees and tsinelas. We found a jackpot for sure. They came to church though and when we asked him about it he just replied again "Magaan sa loob" or my insides are lifted. That is how most people explain to us when they feel good about our message. I gave him a Liahona and he is reading Elder Bednar's last conference talk about receiving the Holy Ghost. He loves reading from the book of Mormon and so now we are really excited to have his wife join him.

The work is really moving along here and I feel like we will only keep progressing. Our goal for this next transfer is 30 teachings a week plus 5 more lessons taught to recent converts or less active families. SO that really makes for some busy days. But we are ready for it. We had 27 teachings this week and we didn't even get to proselyte on Christmas. I think that is one of the best indicators of the progressing work. I am done with my first transfer! I am not going anywhere, but my companion is District Leader so that will add a bit more work in a week... haha. We are definitely excited though. Transfers are fun here. The ZL conducts of course and then the two companions (before the are tole what will happen) have to take turns saying something to the other companion. Then the ZL writes on the board Transfer, Stay, DL, Train, etc and everyone claps. SO it is a fun time. I've heard that people stay in the Kalibo zone for a long time. Like 6- 8 months. So Im not nervous to leave for a while. The local dialect (Aklanon) is the toughest on the island so we get to stay here to try to learn it. I love it here in Banga though so I don't mind one bit.

The language is starting to take off a little bit. Things are moving faster and faster as I have the startings of a foundation. Things don't take me as long to learn and I can even understand a bit of Aklanon. I spend more time understanding then being lost. So I am not freaking out as much. I actually was able to give the baptismal commitment to Dexter's wife. SO I was really happy that she understood and said yes! I was so happy. That was my first time to give the commitment!

I am doing really well here. I love the people. I love the food. I am starting to get used to being the ONLY person with white skin and who speaks English. The stares don't bother me anymore and usually I use it to talk to them.

Fun story: We were walking home last night and these little kids just ran right up to us and new our names. It was dark so we didn't really recognize them but they were the cute little 7 yr old girls and their friends that live next door. They asked to walk home with us because it was dark and their parents didn't go to church with them. So, of course, we did. SO I had 4 little girls that all fought to hold my hand as we walked home. We also asked them if they wanted us to come to their house tomorrow and visit them and share a message with them. Of course they wanted us to... so tonight we are taking some visits to our neighbors to see if they want to hear our message. But it was just a fun walk home with these cute little girls who were very talented in Tagalog. So we could communicate very well (most little kids only speak Aklanon). I'm telling you, the little kids are beyond adorable here.

Marie: Send me that address ASAP because I need you to be the middle woman for me to send a letter to Joseph. I feel bad because I got his letter the day I left the MTC and wasn't able to write him back yet.

Devyn: It is weird seeing all that snow. It sounds like you are having a blast. Did you get my second letter? Congrats on your exams! What is your new address?

Mom: No package yet. It is just taking its own time I guess.

Dad: I expect a detailed report on UGA's bowl game. Don't let me down old man! Hopefully it will be a good game and you will be raising the roof!

I love you all so much!

Elder Lowry!

Week 14

Hey family!

How is everyone doing over there? Things are going quite well over here. It still doesn't feel like Christmas, but it is getting here, eh? I am excited for the holiday and to be able to call home. I worked things out to have a phone. I will let you all call me so that I know you will all be there. You will have to call pretty early in the morning so I can receive the call that night. I am way excited for it! Have all you questions prepared for the culture and I will try my best to prepare good things to talk about. Just remember that if you are scared what the answer might be it just might be better to leave it alone. This is a very different place and they do things a lot differently here. So some questions might be best to leave until after the mission. Ha. Oh, and ask me to tell you the crazy story and I will know what you are talking about. I forgot to include it in my email a couple weeks ago and I will just tell you all about it over the phone. It is a food story so get excited!

So this past week... I bought my Christmas present! I bought a music player. So like I said EVERYTHING is different here so of course there are no plain CD players. So I had to buy this little thing that just reads music off of a little USB player. Trouble is getting music on to the USB... But no worries... I have it all figured out as long as Evan can help me out. So if you could please Evan put a load of MoTab (Christmas stuff too) on to the dropbox I can access it here. You are the best!

Work wise, it is progressing so well right now. We have 6 investigators with a date that are all really good investigators. This family that we are teaching right now is just dynamite! We met them while tracting the day of the big flood. We were walking along this path in the middle of jungle and we were pretty down cause we hit a dead end. All the sudden we hear this person yelling "Hello!" and this big family just waving at us and smiling. So me, being fairly new to the area, said, "Der, sino sanda?" (who are they, assuming they were members) He said "Indi ko alam der... perro mabait na mabait sanda, di ba?" (I dunno but they are really nice. eh?) But the river separating us has overflowed and the bridge washed out. So we started to talk to them and they were just so nice. So one guy waded across the river just to show us a different way to their house. They read all the time. One of the sons Dexter has a wife and a cute 1 month old baby and he is just the best investigator ever. He LOVED the plan of salvation. He reads the pamphlets not just once and reads from the BoM everynight. We hope to baptize his wife as well. It could be my own Turbyfield story, right? They are just awesome and I look forward to our visits everytime. So their date is Jan 29 2011.

Tayson is keeping up his commitment to quit smoking and does his reading as well. We are so happy for him and Jessa as they are steadily progressing. He showed us his homemade fireworks... ask in the phone call about them. They are insane and pretty dangerous. But I liked it because it is just simple chemistry... ha. We gave a date to one of investigators named Ellen Redison as well. She is nineteen and her sister-in-law and mother are also beginning the discussions. We have had the hardest time getting her to really work for her answer but she finally got it and we are good to go! This week has flown by and it seems like we are always playing catch up. We are walking everywhere and by the end of the day I just zonk out. I get so tired!

I am really excited for this one new investigator we got this week. We have barely been able to teach her because she is ALWAYS working at market. But I am super hopeful. She loves to have us around because her 3 yr old loves me. I am excited for this family because I am kind of in charge of it. We met at market when her three year old daughter saw and just climbed on to my lap. No words no prior acquaintance. We were at a members tindahan and she walked over. Gave me the BIGGEST CUTEST smile and climbed on my lap. She is literally the cutest little thing I've ever seen. Get me to tell you about little miss Devine in the phone call. She is the best. So since that is how we made the connection with her mom, I take control of building that relationship with her mom. Like we were stuck at market last night because the rain was horrible. So we went to their shop and I played with Devine and just talked about life with her Mom. I spoke Tagalog too... so that is good. So I hope I can help them. Funny story about Devine. The first day we played together I saw another little boy and told him to come give me a high 5. So he did and then ran to his mom just giggling. Devine stopped immediately and looked at me with the most serious face ever and just said "Indi." (No) So I of course asked "Haman indi?" (Why not?) So she just said "Indi... Indi Puwede. Ako- lang. (No you can't, just me) Haha. I am excited to tell you about my adventures here.

I am doing well and the language is inching along. I can teach lesson one by myself, but lesson 2 is way difficult still. People like me here and I like them. They are funny and just easy going. I am so excited to hear from you all on Saturday. Use the calling card to call me! I am beyond excited!

Blogs work great Krista thanks! And thanks so much for the card Shauna. I love you Paige Rafe and Olivia! And yes, consider it Terry and I's date to hit the slopes upon my return. Tayt and Zach are invited as well. I can be a double date. Thank you all for the continued support. You are all the best!

Marie! If you read this I need your new address for next semester.

Devyn! Thanks for the letter. I sent my letter last week to your house in Kansas so I hope you get it there.

Luke! Email me... How is the Peru planning going?

I love you all!

Elder Lowry

Week 13

Hello Family!

How is everyone doing? I am adjusting still and getting to used to this very different place. The language is still tough and the people are still poor. I think and hope I am improving. I have been looking forward to being able to send this email. I am so thankful for all your support. Thank you so much for believing in me. I have been studying the conference ensign this last week. It has been so nice to reacquaint myself with all of those talks. Jeffrey R Holland's talk really spoke volumes to me. More then it did when I heard it in the MTC. I have had many struggles here and I have been a bit selfish I think. I want you all to know how much I am in debt to you all. It is my family at home that has the real faith here. I am a far way from my home in a very different culture and country. But it is my family at home that I admire for their faith. To let me leave, to sacrifice so much for me to be here. I am so very thankful for all the sacrifices they make to make this mission possible. I get to be here and enjoy the experience of seeing these people and help them make big changes in their lives. But this would not be possible without my family. They are showing their faith in a miraculous way right now. To send off their son and provide for him even though he does not live in their house or even get to talk to them but twice a year. So I ask a favor, in my absence, in their behalf. That you give to them a double portion of hugs and warm welcomes for me. I love them so much and thank you in advance for your support to them.

Things here are moving right along. I can't believe my first transfer is about over. The work is wonderful and Elder Ordeniza and I are trying our best to improve every week. We examine our progress closely and try to always find more ways to be more efficient. We confirmed JeckyLynn and Georlyn yesterday. It was awesome. So I have two names in the front of my Preach My Gospel. I hope to get a couple more before I return home. We committed their brother and sister this week so their potential date is Jan 22 2011. The sister's name is Jessa. Their brother's story is amazing right now. So he has listened to many lessons but is a typical teenager and never wanted anything to do with religion. He likes to talk to me though and then asked if I could teach him. So I taught him lesson 1. I come back to teach two days later and he skips on me. So I try again the next time I come back and his sister (the other one who has a date) says that he doesn't want to listen to me anymore. So later that day we find him and ask why he doesn't want to listen. He doesn't answer and just walks away. Later on he comes up to Elder and I and starts quizzing us on being a missionary. Asks how we become one so on and so forth... 1/2 an hour later he basically says he wants to become a missionary someday, he wants to see the application and invited us to his house to finish teaching him about the BoM. We teach again the next day. He had read the assignment, prayed, and we gave him a date. He is progressing more than any investigator we had and has the beginnings of a testimony. It was amazing. His name is Tayson (pronounced Tyson) and he is a hoot. If there was one person that would fit in with the Crunks, it would be Tayson. We are having FHE at their house tonight and watching the Testaments with them. Keep them in your prayers!

This family is so amazing and I am very concerned for them. Their father is never home as he is a fisher and when he is home he just drinks. Their mother is so busy trying to support her family as well. She has expressed concerns to us about the welfare of her children. And she has just said that she is going to have to move to Manila to find work to support her children through school. Tayson is the oldest, he is almost 15. Their are 5 kids that will be living there with no parents. Keep them in your prayers that they will find some other way. Tayson is a tough kid but he is not ready for this.

We are working our hardest. I was really excited to watch the Christmas Devotional last night it was so beautiful. It just does not feel like Christmas. I am sweating all the time. It is literally the same temp every day. So I catch myself thinking what a nice summer's day. I feel like I am excited for my birthday, not for Christmas. My mind is still adjusting. The toughest part this week was the daily flooding. And I'm not kidding. Everyday this week except Friday, we waded through water to get to town. Wednesday was the worst. I got to proselyte in tsinelas (flip flops). Interesting experience. I rolled up my slacks to my knees and it was still not enough in some places. Rivers overflowed and there is no such thing as draining systems here. So the roads had anywhere from an inch to a foot of water on them. People's dirt floors were washed out and made into mudpits. But, people don't stop here. they just keep going on no matter what... so we did too. My skin grafts got pretty beat up though, oh well.

Thank you all. SO much. I am loving the work. It is progressing. I have been thinking about what you said Dad. Our progress is not a linear function. It will curve and plateau (so the engineer, haha, love you Dad!). I am learning how to get through those as well. I read President Uchtdorf's talk this last conference. I needed that one so much. So I heeded his counsel and just went back to the basics. I read my scriptures every chance I got (partly because they are in English) and I have loved it. I started over the BoM this last week. I am already in Alma. Everything has improved. My teaching, my testimony, and I can speak so much better. I found myself talking to this man who sat me next on the bus. We just made small talk about his cute 3 yr old daughter that somehow fell asleep on the bumpiest ride ever. We laughed and then I realized that I had a conversation in Tagalog with someone that I had never met. He even threw in some Aklanon words that I was able to understand. I said a prayer right after and thanked the Lord.

p.s- I can't wait to talk to you all soon. We can use skype. I will show you how Aklanon sounds so different. They don't have the L sound. So it is really spelled Akeanon and instead of Salamat it is saeamat. So hard to pronounce. Their tongue twister is "Ro anwang nag eogaeog sa eogan eogon." It is super tough to say. HAHA. But Aklanon is supposed to be the toughest dialect to learn. So it just gets better from here.

You are all great. I love you!

Elder Lowry

Week 12

Hello Family and Friends!

So another week as gone by. I am doing well and I have had no further health impediments. I am so grateful for that. The language is still struggling, but it is progressing. Thanks Uncle Trevor for the note, we all need a good reminder every once and a while. I just wish it would come faster, you know? The progress was a big step. I finally got to bond a bit with the girls that we baptized. I am finally able to understand and speak enough to hold small conversations with them. They have also been more patient with my speaking ability. But yes, they were baptized! It was awesome and I am so excited for them. Probably the biggest sign of improvement for me was when I got asked to speak about 10 minutes before the service started. Man, I was praying my heart out to be able to communicate this important important subject matter in a language that was very foreign to me. The bishop had his two daughters getting baptized as well so the pressure to really perform well was on. But I gave the whole talk in Tagalog and no one laughed, out loud at least. I spoke about the Holy Ghost. I thought I did really well and people told me they enjoyed it.

So ya, this week we were really focusing on JeckieLynn and Jorlyn. I am so happy they went through with the baptism. I'm so happy that we got the chance to become friends this week. It will be tough to leave this area just because of them now. I look forward to seeing their family and talking with them. So here is your Filipino 101 lesson for the day: They love pictures. I don't know what it is, but they are the most photogenic people Ive ever seen. The girls would fight over who got the camera. All I would ever hear was "Der Der Der Der... Pahiram ang kamera mo!" So I had to establish the five minute rule. Haha. I was so hoping that this internet cafe would have an SM card reader so I could attach pics, but it doesn't. I know one of them does around here. I will definitely send some next week. these kids are just hilarious. I love it.

Thank you so much for all of the supporting letters and notes. I really look forward to reading them every week. It is so nice to hear from everyone. It is so strange to be so far away from American things. Filipinos try to imitate American things, but it just isn't the same. So it is just difficult. I am getting more used to things here. I'm really trying my hardest to work hard all the time and get better. I think I will just have to learn more patience with this. I got Aunt Donna's letter and Karsyn's letter today! I was so happy to receive those! Thank you so much. I would write back everyone for all the little notes, but to send a letter to America is SO expensive here. (Devyn you should get a letter this week, I sent it through like a UPS and it was SO expensive so I will just send from the normal post office from now on). I apologize. I really am so thankful for them.

I really like the food here. I think that is the most popular question Ive gotten. We eat rice three times a day. Ive only eaten parts of a fish head (not telling which). They call the stuff you put on top of the rice Ulam. That is probably the biggest difference. It can literally be anything. They just call it Ulam. I will always ask my companion "Ano ang ulam natin mamayang gabi?" Or what will be our ulam tonight? And it can be pork chicken, anything. Here it is a privilege to have ulam. One kid asked me if it was true that in America you could have ulam three times a day. Natives can usually only afford ulam for dinner, if that. Just rice and whatever is growing on the nearby trees. It was really a testament of how poor they are here... We can eat whatever we want three times a day. It just boggles my mind sometimes. A lot of people also ask me what kind of ulam my mom likes to make at home. This culture is just SO different. How can I answer that question? I truly am on the other side of the earth.

Other news: We will probably moving to a really actually nice house. It isn't finished yet, but we will probably move right around the new year. So exciting. It is right in the middle of ton and should make our traveling expenses go way down and give us a lot more time to teach. The lady that owns it is a member in a different area. One night while walking home, she saw my companion and I walking and offered us a ride. She told us about this house she was building and offered us a sweet deal on it. The ZL's told we will be able to buy it today. We have to get a new apartment because the mission it growing so much and we will probably have 4 elders in Banga soon. So it is pretty exciting. It is way nicer than our haunted house out in the woods. Pictures to come soon. It literally looks haunted and I can't wait for you all to understand what I mean. So I am way grateful that she passed us that night and gave us a ride. It makes the looking process way easier when it is just given to you.

I am doing well over here. It is so strange to think just how far away from home I am. I can't quite wrap my head around it. Maybe someday I will. A sister and I were talking today (she came in the same time as me) and we discussed that. We also talked about how Filipinos, when they see a white person, just stare. They will literally stop what they are doing and stare at you. It is uncomfortable. Especially for her because she is as tall as I am and very fair skinned. And her companion probably comes up to her belly. It is funny to watch.

Wow, It is hard to believe that college football is already over. Man! Go Auburn! What a quick turn around for their program. they were horrible last year. Even we beat them. And I'm so hoping for a good basketball season for the Dawgs. Keep me updated Dad! We will handle GT nicely, I'm sure. And of course we had better beat UCF. If not... I don't know what I'll do but it will be something to express my anger!

Oh. You wanted to know about Filipinos Christmas. They started celebrating in September. So I have heard Christmas music a lot. As far as trees and other stuff. Not really. They are just too poor. They don't have money to waste on the electricity. They are always happy so I don't think the season has anything to do with it. But They do cook a lot for Christmas. I have been teasing our neighbors that I'm gonna kill one of their roosters that always wakes me up and eat it. They said for Christmas we would eat one. Haha. And the Christmas party got announced and everyone asked me what they should bring so we are having a Filipino Feast (nice alliteration, eh?). So I'm excited!

Thanks again for all the support and love. I pray for you all often and miss you all dearly. Have a great Christmas season! I will be thinking of home and wondering how everyone is! Pictures and more stories to come soon. Can't wait to talk to you all at the end of the month!

Elder Lowry

Week 11

Hey Family!

How are all of you?

Well, first of all i just want to thank you ALL so much this week for the mail. You have no idea how much it means to me. This week has been so tough. I am ok now. I got pretty sick on Tuesday and Wednesday. I threw up a lot and my digestive tract just has been off since then. I am slowly recovering. Everyone is so willing to help. My cards wouldn't work last week so my companion and I were living on practically nothing as he had to spend most of his money on a training meeting he had in Iloilo. I think we lived on about $10 this last week. But we are still here, no worries. Investigators just did not want to progress for us. We may not be able to have our baptism this week (she is just so shy). Her little sister is supposed to be baptized as well but we are still waiting on her Dad's consent. The language just seems to never move forward. I got really frustrated this week with it. I am studying and trying though. It is non stop heat here. And that doesn't bother me nearly as much as the rain. LIKE THREE TIMES A DAY. It is so frustrating, especially when you have to hang out your clothes to dry. I have been tried this week for sure.

So thank you thank you thank you ALL for helping me with your wonderful letters. I am starting to get more adjusted. This place is starting to just become my home. I am praying and fasting for that good attitude towards the people and the very different food and culture. It is easy to get angry and just think "Why can't you people just speak English?!" It is tough to sit through a conversation and not understand what is going on. I'm trying though and I know the Lord will provide. I have to keep reminding myself that I've only been here a week and 1/2. I will get it soon... I hope.

I realized at about 9 o'clock that night that it was Thanksgiving. Then it took me 1/2hr to explain to my companion what it was. The culture here is so different. I cannot even begin to explain. It is crazy. Ok so this is hilarious! While my comp was in Iloilo for training I went to Altavas to work with another American Elder. PHEW. People were ridiculously nice to us. Like yelling from across the market to get our attention (uncommon because they are so soft-spoken). When we would ride the moto's and we would wave to the school kids the girls would ALWAYS just scream and freak out... not to toot my own horn or anything, it was just SO funny. We had this guy that LOVED to drive us and he would always say "Ah Der! Guwapo kayo! You ride with me?!" So while the girls would yell at us we always teased him and said they were yelling at him. Everyone would also say "HEY JOE" It is a good time.

As for the language though. I am trying to learn Aklanon as well. It is so difficult and people speak a mixture a lot of times too. My head just spins while I am talking to people. It is tough... so tough

We taught a family that had their mother die the day before. We think they will be baptized. We always ask them how they feel after the lesson and she says she thinks it is true. But when someone dies in the Philippines they hold the viewing in their house and it is like an ongoing viewing for the next few days. They have food and a lot of gambling actually. It is different.

I am so glad to hear about Thatcher "playing with me" (Thatcher plays with an imaginary Scott almost every day). He would like these little Filipino boys, they are as crazy as he is. Just so you all know all the Filipinos ADORE the pictures I have of you. I show them all the time. They are just blown away with white skin and blue eyes. Krista, your husband is a popular one... good thing you have him tied down. Devyn, don't be surprised if you have some Filipino stalkers now. Sorry.

I think about you all often and think of what it is like at home. I miss it dearly. As much as I love this place, home is always above it. With communication barriers, no A/C, no money things can be tough. I know the Lord will take care of us all, though. It is so nice to know that you all are receiving blessing from my service as well. I know that if we endure our trials well the Lord will exalt us on high (DC 121). Whether we are tired, discouraged, poor, lonely, or whatever if we just trust in the Lord and continue the way we will be exalted on high. I remember a letter Dad sent to me while I was in Athens. He told me "Keep working hard son, you will always be surprised with what you can accomplish if you just never stop." That has been going through my mind a lot this week. Thanks Dad. I know that if I just keep going I will be surprised later on with my accomplishments. I have also been singing the lyric "He may be moving slow, but that don't mean he's going nowhere." That came to mind this week... haha. Thanks Norah. I'm cheesy.

I will try to get some good pictures today and email them next week. The natural beauty is just unlike anything else I have seen. The fresh coconuts are SO good. You don't even know. And the juice is my favorite. It is like a weird tasting sprite. I'm lucky to have so many so close. While I was in Altavas the Ward mission leaders lived with us and made us food the entire week. So delicious. I didn't eat too much because of my illness. Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise with our lack of money.

Krista, best way to send money is through my bank card so just ask Dad. I may need some money so could you please check the balance. I am still just trying to get on my feet from arriving and getting over my expenses from only drinking super purified water and sprite (which was expensive). I still need to buy some little things to get comfortable here. Like so things to wipe my face from the constant sweat, hangers for drying clothes, etc. After this I should really be good to go. Love you all!

Devyn! I will write you a letter tonight and try to send it tomorrow. Sorry, things have been so insane with getting here and being sick. I will repent though. Those pictures came through really well. Thank you so much for writing me! I had a wonderful Thanksgiving proselyting all day. Thanks also for all the scriptures. You are just the best. Good luck on your finals and no worries. You will do fine. If not, just marry rich. I'm kidding

I love you all so much! I miss you all with all my heart. But I have work to do here and I will be able to be with you all again before too long. Hold in there and let the Lord work in your lives.

Please pray for us and we will work hard.

I get to talk to you all again soon!

Yours truly,

Elder Lowry

oh p.s- Matthew- GO DAWGS!!!! I'm kidding of course. Just think of it this way. In only five years the bumble bees should be up for another victory. who knows though eh?


-----------------------------------------

Note from the editor: Hey guys! So I am not sure I posted this already but even if I did, the best way Scott has said to communicate with him (lucky for us) is through e-mail! That makes it super easy to drop a line! Even if you don't want to write an email, leave a comment or shoot me an email/FB message and I'll be MORE than happy to pass it along to him!

His email address is:

scottl@myldsmail.net

And as you can see, it means SO MUCH to him to hear from you-- from ANYBODY! Even if you think he doesn't want to hear from you, it would mean the world to him if you sent him some encouragement.

Much love to you all, Scott's sister.

Week 10 - First week in the Philippines!

Mayad na aga pamilya ko!

So it is Monday morning here in the Philippines. It is very hot and humid and the people are as poor as ever. I absolutely love it here though. The people are just so funny. I am doing well, no health problems as of yet. SO my introduction... definitely not Tagalog. It is a language called Aklanon. I am in a place called Banga (malapit sa Kalibo) and in a region called Aklan. The Aklanon language is really different. I am very lucky though. They also speak Tagalog. I am probably in the most talented area Tagalog-wise. SO we only use certain words and phrases in Aklanon. The apartment I live in is tiny. No running water or anything really. It honestly looks like a haunted house, just a collection of cinder blocks, really. But, it is all we need as missionaries and we get by with no problem. We have no air conditioning and just drag our electric fans everywhere with us within the house. It isn't too bad. There is a part member family that lives right next to us and nay (pronounced "nigh," or woman, short for nanay) is an RM. They live in what honestly looks like a step up from a tree-house.

I hand-wash my laundry. It isn't too bad, but since it rains so much you have to have a bit of luck to get your clothes completely dry. Nay usually gets our clothes when it rains since we are never home. Nay is just what you say to any woman older than you. Tay (pronounced "tie," short for tatay) is used for men. "To" is little boy (pronounced toe) and Ne (pronounced like a sheep) is little girl. (I don't know what he's talking about here... maybe the sheep in the Philippines say neigh? Or maybe he just needs to come take a few animal noise lessons from Levi.) Everyone here has nick names and they are really weird and are not even close to their real names. I'm not quite sure why yet.

My companions name is Elder Ordeniza. He is a native from Mindanao (close to where Manny Pacquiao is from) and he is extremely nice. All the Filipinos are. He always cooks for me and helps me with my Tagalog. It is awesome to have a native to train because becoming fluent will be a lot easier for me. He struggles with English though so it can get difficult to express complex ideas to each other. We are both patient though. It will come.

The culture here is so different. The people are so poor. They are so nice. They are so soft-spoken. They are so humble. The list goes on and on. I cannot do justice to this place with only words. You would have to experience it. They absolutely adore blue eyes... so I have an in there. But, my height and my white skin makes them uncomfortable and shy. My companion always says "nahihiya sya-lang der" or 'she/he is just embarrassed elder'. They only say Der not Elder. (Ha! I'm so calling Scott "der") They are big into short cutting their words. So to help with that I just playing with the children at first. They usually really warm up after that. One thing that makes them really laugh is when I bless the little children (hold their hand and touch it to my forehead, you bow to them to do it). They pull their hand back and just laugh. I have been blessed a couple times by the little children... it is super special to me. I think it is just because I am tall and white though. Nevertheless it is humbling. The people here LOVE the elders. They will come home with dinner and forbid anyone to eat until we have eaten like at least half. I try my best to just leave if they are about to eat. It is so humbling to see people give everything when they have practically nothing. They truly live consecrated lives. They culture is so interesting and I can't wait to be fluent in their language and understand them more.

The work. We have one little girl JeckieLynn who is going to be baptized Dec 4th. She is twelve years old and she is ready. I am super excited for her. Keep her in your prayers. We are planning to extend a date to her mother Jessa this week as well with one possibly two more investigators. So just pray for us... we need as many blessings as possible. I teach usually 3- 8 minutes every lesson. My tagalog is improving and I feel somewhat useful. A lot of times I am just entertaining kids. I love the work though. I try to say like good morning to everyone. It is funny to see the confusion on people's faces when I speak their language. I can get to know someone pretty well with an aklanon tagalog mix. The ward here is great and they love the elders as well. At church the teacher will always ask me "Der, will you add something?" Again, just the white tall blue eyed guy. They are super kind and I already have my group of mga bata (children) that run up and demand high fives and to chase them around. The bata here are extremely cute. Like beyond cute. and hilarious. Mahal ko sila.

I saw Adam and he is doing really well. He is a zone leader down in Antique. (Adam is a friend who used to be in our ward in Augusta, also, obviously, serving in his mission!)

I have not bought a cd player yet. I will check and see if I can even buy one here today. I kinda doubt it. I will check though. I did buy a sweet belt though made out of horn. If you send me like $30 I can buy them for Dad and Matthew and Graham and Evan. Just tell me what color. They are honestly the coolest things ever. Mine is brown and black so it matches everything. For Christmas I would just like some money and a card and some pictures. I would like the money to get my companion and some investigators a little something. SO nothing too much at all. I felt bad enough buying this belt (it was 850 pesos= $11) All my Filipino buddies when I told them said "Ay Sobrang mahal sya der" or 'that is way too expensive der'. Just a bit of money to buy little things for people. Thanks for the little pictures we bought right before we left. We gave some to JeckieLynn's family. They flipped out and just absolutely loved them. When I left one of the bata blessed me. They are the investigators though that said they have something for us for Christmas and we should get them something. They are really big on "Maliit perro galing sa puso" So I don't need very much for Christmas at all. OH! I almost forgot. Could you send me some easy American recipes to make. My companion has never had American food. I made him and omelet yesterday and he just loved it. I will make him french toast soon. Just easy American foods that can be cooked on a stove. No oven and really nothing else, just a stove.

President Pagaduan is way nice too. He is hilarious as well. His English is pretty broken, I can't wait to be able to converse with him in Tagalog. I will not see him very much at all though for a while. I am on the opposite side of the island about 4 1/2 hours away. The very first night me and the AP's and his daughters had a spelling bee. We laughed and had fun for like two hours. I'm telling you, the children here are just so nice and outgoing.

I can't really think about anything else other than how beautiful this place is. I am up near the mountains and everything is green. The bamboo houses are also just amazing. They let the breeze through so they are way nicer than our hot cinder block house.

As far as communication goes just tell everyone to email me. I can read them and print them off and send real letters back. That should help the correspondence time.

Anyways, I love you all. I think about you often and pray for you often as well.

Be safe!

Elder Lowry

Pics from our missionary!

So I got a wonderful letter in the mail this week with a CAMERA CARD! I am so happy he got it sent off before he left the country, and I am so happy to report that he looks great and like he's having a ton of fun. Just trust me, he does.

Ok fine. I guess you can see for yourself.

{The LDS Temple in Provo, Utah.}

{Provo is tucked right into the Rocky Mountians}

{A day in the life of a missionary at the MTC... class 8-10 hours every day.}

{Buds. I guess. The guy to Scott's left was his MTC companion, Elder Christensen.}

{Cousins. Together in the MTC. Awww. This is Tayt-- Elder Low, who's now in Dallas TX.}

{Scott took 8,000 pictures of the flowers by the temple. Seriously. Believe it or I'll post them all...}

{Large meeting room. Apparently his district was all about this finger thing.}

{Sorry Scott. I couldn't help it.}

{Scott and Elder Christensen outside the temple- they went once a week while in the MTC}

{Because you're not a missionary until you've taken your "map" picture!}

{Or the Matrix ironing board picture. Really. Every missionary has one!}
{Scott's district... I would guess.}

{And proof that he really wore those suckers in the MTC and survived!}

And that's all folks!

Hope you enjoyed them because I bet it will be a while before we get any more!

The boy's in Taipei!

So Elder Lowry's had the awesome opportunity to talk to us as he lands in the different airports to let us know he's safe.... and to catch up on everyone's life ;)

We talked to him around midnight last night when he got to LA, and then about 6:30pm he called from Taipei, Taiwan! He had a 14 hour flight and said they ran from the sun the whole time. He said the sun had just came up when we were talking to him and so it had been like 21 hours since him and the other 19 elders with him had seen the sun! He also said he only slept 5 hours and played "Pong" the other 9 with other elders on the plane... so he sounded extremely exhausted! (Which was opposite of last night, he was so dang excited!!)

We talked about the language, how religious language is similar to Spanish because Christianity was introduced to the Philippines by Spaniards. I thought that was interesting. He said that in the Philippines they pronounce "P"'s like an "F"-- thus when he says "Pilippines" that's not a typo ;) And he said that because of that, the Filipinos come to America and say "Hey, let's Farty!" Evan thought that sounded pretty excellent. He told us that "po" is an add-on to sentences when you want to show respect. He said the kids love to say "Sorry Po" to the white people over there and they think they're pretty American when they say that! We talked about how much white people are admired and coveted and almost idolized in the Philippines. They would do anything to have white skin (dangerous things even, like skin bleaching)-- and to have a white baby, so he has to be very cautious in his interactions with the young women over there (as does any missionary but this is different because to the girls over there a white husband means a ticket out of poverty, beautiful fair skinned babies, etc etc). I thought that was very interesting and unique as well.

He enjoyed a delicious meal at the airport next to the Hello Kitty terminal, and was proud to say he had eaten a pretty authentic Chinese meal in China. He is the furthest away from home that anyone in our family has ever been! Crazy!

You should have seen and heard Thatcher when he heard Scotty's voice come across the phone! Oh it was priceless. He got all giddy and giggled like he couldn't believe it was really him! He talked and talked to Scotty like they hadn't missed a beat. It was a very sweet experience for us. They talked about pirates and digging to China (when Thatcher heard that Scott was in China he said "I will go dig!" and they decided they could meet half way if they both started digging.) Scott asked Thatcher if he would come visit him sometime in the Philippines and he said, "Yah! We will turn our car into an airplane and fly to the Philippines!" I said, "Wow, I didn't know our car could do that, how can it turn into an airplane?" He told me there was an airplane button and when I told him I had never seen one he said, "Oh, it's around there somewhere!"

Scott told Thatcher how to say yummy! "Masarap!" And a few other words too, but Thatcher kept saying "I can't right now. Maybe later." Scott told us that he had already given away a Book of Mormon and when he asked Thatcher if that made him a good missionary Thatcher said, "no, not yet." Turkey head!

We really loved hearing his voice these past couple days. It is such a treat and a tender experience to talk to him when it happens so rarely. You can tell he is really on fire and super eager to get out there and love those people in the Philippines. Actually, no, he already loves them so much- that was very obvious. He is just so eager to get out there and serve and teach and play and touch as many lives as possible! I sure love him and I am so, supremely proud of him. He will get on another plane soon here (around 8:30pm our time) and fly to Manila, Philippines and then get on yet another plane to Iloilo. I can't imagine how happy he'll be to be off that airplane and out of that airport!! It will be like 7:00pm Wednesday night (local time) when he gets to Iloilo so I'm guessing he sleeps really well when he finally gets to crash for the night.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support! We love you Elder Lowry!! Be safe. Be good. Be awesome.

Krista

(PS- We started Scott's Christmas package today!)

And he's off again!

Off to the Philippines today! Wow! Talk about jet-lag, this kid's going to be traveling to a time zone 12 hours ahead of us! And it's going to take him a few days worth of flying to get there. Absolutely crazy. That's going to be an adjustment for sure!

So keep the love a-coming! I am sure he'd love to hear from us all as he embarks on this amazing, life-altering adventure... mail will probably take 4-5 weeks to get to him from here, so keep that in mind when mailing! (As in send your Christmas cards NOW!) I have updated his mailing address in the sidebar, so check that out, and don't forget DearElder.com still offers FREE letters to Scott through their website! No postage or anything!

Anyways, please keep Elder Lowry in your prayers today- for safe and comfortable travels, for missionary experiences on the airplane/in the airports, for good travel conditions, for safe pilots, etc etc etc. He's about to be a looooooong way from home!

Thank you ALL for your continued support and thoughts and prayers. You're truly the best.

Love, the Lowry Family

Week 9

Kumusta po kayo pamilya ko!?

Excited ako para sa Philippines. I am almost ready to go! I am just finishing up some laundry today and then I need to pack it up and then clean my room. I am in great shape time wise. It was tough getting sleep last night. I was just thinking of how drastically different my life is about to become. It is so exciting and scary at the same time. I will be so glad when these next 30 or so hours are over and I am actually getting to do what I've been wanting to do for six months now. Isn't it crazy to think that I got my call 6 months ago today? It seems so far away now. The language has just been moving along in leaps and bounds for all of us. I hope I will be able to communicate well with natives when I get there. Thank you all for the letters this week. It is so nice to have all of your support. It really does mean a whole lot to me to receive so many encouraging words and to hear what others are up to.

I will call home at like 6:30 LA time. I think that is what you said. I will double check.

So this week the streak continued! We had David A Bednar come and speak to us. We set a definite record with four apostles in a row. He gave a powerhouse of a talk too! Man, he is awesome. He spoke about the individual definitions and the relationships between doctrine- principles- and applications. He said that Doctrine always answers the question of "Why?" Principles always answer the question of "What?" and Application always answers the question of "How?" He said that WAY too often we focus on solving behavioral problems with an application solution. Like an example was this family that would bake a cake on the first of the month and give it to the home-teachers whenever they got there. If they waited too long the home-teachers would just get a moldy cake. While this scheme or gimmick is clever, it does not change the attitude of the home-teacher. When they get a new assignment, they will just go back to cramming their assignment to home-teach at the end of the month. Rather, we need to determine: "What doctrine, if understood, will change behavior?" If we can do this then we will be so much more effective. We need to search the scriptures for doctrine that if the person understands, they would not dare misbehave again. It is powerful, no? He said that our "schemes or gimmicks" are not enough. He even went as far to say that we are being prideful because we think that our innovation or creativeness will be more effective than the Lord's true and everlasting doctrine. He said "it is like relying on the arm of flesh." He likened this to teaching, church leadership, parenting, anything. He said this phrase like 15 times so you know it is important "The Doctrine is always the answer." That is what he entitled his talk too.

So I am so happy that I got to see all 4 of these apostles. Pretty incredible, eh?

Well I need to get going and pack up. I will call tonight! I can't wait to hear everyone's voices!

Alam ko po na totoo Ang Simbahan na ito. Ako ay misyonero para sa simbahan na ito. Ako ang tagapagligtas ng Diyos at mahal ko Siya! Kung susundin natin ang mga kautusan Niya, magiging tayo mas ligaya at magkakaroon po tayo mas kagalakhan at kapayapaan sa ating buhay. Pupunta ako sa Pilipines para maglingkod sa lahat ng mga tao doon. Maglilingkod ako sama buong puso at tunay layunin. Sana maririnig ng mga tao ang aking mensahe. Mahal ko kayo at Nananalangin ko sa inyo araw araw!

Ingat kayo! (okay these Google translations are really starting to crack me up)

Elder Lowry

Week 8 - Last Week in the MTC!

Kamusta kayo ang pamilya ko?!

How is everyone today? Time here is just flying by, I can't even believe it. This time next week and I will be making final preparations to check out. We taught Lesson 2 in Tagalog this past week. It was pretty awesome. It was a Filipino family that volunteered that was from Iloilo so we chatted a lot as well. They had THE CUTEST little five year old girl named Iris. Man, I can't wait to get there and meet all these little kids. I am beyond excited. So I leave MTC campus at like 1:30 PM next Monday. I will leave the SLC airport at 5:00 PM. I will get to LAX at 5:45 and won't leave there until 10:45. This is all local time. I think I will call during that time if that is cool. Thank you for the calling card number! I am way excited to be able to talk to everyone. It seems like forever, di ba? So from LAX at 10:45 PM and get to Taipe Taiwan at 5:30 AM (their time) on November 17th (two days later)... can you say Jet lag? Wow. I lose two whole days traveling. Then from Taipe I fly to Manila and get to Manila at 11:45 local time. Then I hop on another plane to Iloilo at 5:35 PM (So I may try to call again.) I will honestly have no idea what time it will be at home so I apologize in advance. That flight is only about an hour long, so that is nice. I'M SO EXCITED. This is my last week of classes. And Sis. Turbyfield- Thank you so much for the goodies. All my hallmates and I chowed down on those delicious cinnamon rolls. Thank you so much.

I am ready to go! Thank you all SO much for all your support. I love you all so much. We got another visit from an apostle this last week! M. Russell Ballard came and spoke to us! I think we set a record. Wow. So I read his book "Our Search for Happiness" all the way through the next day. So good. I love hearing from apostles. I'm hoping we can continue this streak for just one more week. Maybe Holland or Bednar? OR maybe Uchtdorf... One can only hope. I do have a lot though, we also got an awesome speaker last night. Sheri Dew payed us a visit. She is a fantastic speaker. I love it.

I was released as zone leader. I am just training the new ones for my last week here. So this will be relaxing and less stressful. I am going to be really sad to leave all these missionaries. But, a lot of them are going to Iloilo so I will see most of them before too long. I'm really proud of all of them though. We have like the most loving and close zone. It is fantastic to see everyone getting along so well. I am happy I was able to help make the zone a little bit better before I left. These missionaries are just fantastic though. They don't need much help to be awesome. There is this one Elder names Elder Waggoner who is like a white Joseph Scott. SO naturally we are best friends. And he is a huge Avett Bros fan. (watch that one. watch it. all the way to the end.) So we have much to talk about. We have decided that we will be companions in the field. Sorry president, we have already decided. He's a fantastic harmonica and guitar player.

So we are all working super hard to close out our stay here at the MTC. It is bittersweet for sure. But we are all too excited to be distracted on the bitterness. Tell everyone to not send letters too far into the week, or else I just won't get them. I'm excited to talk to you all soon!

I pray for you all often

Meron po kayong pananampalataya!

Mahal Ko Kayo!

Elder Scott Lowry

Week 7

Kumusta Aking Pamilya?!

Well this week has been a very busy one for me. I have loved having the opportunity to get to know all of these new missionaries. The first couple days here the ZLs really get to spend a lot of time interacting with the new missionaries. I have tried my very best to be a good example to them and make them feel a part of the family. All the missionaries that have been here for a long time are really close now so we really focused on getting the new missionaries to feel that love as well. I was really pleased on Thursday because I somehow found out that the field was going to be open for gym and it was a nice warm day. So I got the whole zone to go outside and we had a bunch of sand volleyball courts all to ourselves. It really picked up the zone unity and everyone had fun. All these new missionaries are practically going to Iloilo so it is really fun to talk about our future missions together. One new missionary is Elder Doig. He is from Cardston (where our mom's family is from) and graduated with Tayt (our cousin who is also serving a mission, but in Dallas, TX)! It is way fun to talk to him and talk about the motherland. There are so many other Elders that are so cool, but I have no time to write about all 28 new missionaries.

So I am really upset that I didn't mention this last week because it was probably the coolest thing that has ever happened to me. I'm glad I didn't forget this time, or I would be in dire need of repentance. But Russell M Nelson came and spoke to us two Tuesdays ago. Phew! That was amazing. He is just a genius with the most solid testimony ever. Did you know that is is an internationally revered and pioneer of thoracic surgery. And man, he is just an awesome speaker. I have never heard from an apostle live before. So we all caught wind that someone big was going to speak to us, so I was really hoping it was Richard G Scott. He didn't come that day though.... He just came the week after! So this last Tuesday I heard from Richard G Scott. He is the man. I mean just every word, every sentence he says is dynamite. He talks straight to your soul so that you can have no doubt that what he is saying is true. We are all just on a spiritual high from hearing from two apostles in a row. What a fantastic experience. Richard G Scott is just my favorite. He even prepared a handout for us. This is how he described it "Everything that the Lord has taught me over my life put in simple statements on one sheet." I am sending it home... it is scripture. He also gave all the missionaries 3 Apostolic blessings. He said as he gave them that he was giving them to us not just as a man of God, but as a man holding ALL the keys to the Kingdom of God. It was so powerful. He gave us the Gift of Tongues, the Gift of Confidence, and the Gift that the lessons we learn on our missions will greatly bless us throughout our entire lives. He also bore testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ at the very end. It was the single most powerful testimony I've ever heard. I am still just freaking out.

Well, I am almost done here at the MTC. Only two more weeks of classes left here. I only have one full P day left. Two weeks from now I will be packed and ready to get on an airplane heading to the Philippines. I am still in shock. I have come to terms that the MTC is my mission. It will be weird to leave. I haven't received my travel plans yet, though. I will get those Thursday or Friday. I can't believe that I will actually be living half way around the world in a place where plumbing is nonexistent. I am beyond excited. These people are already fascinating to me. The language, the culture, their values all just blow me away. I can't wait to serve them and bring them closer to Christ. I'm working as hard as I can to be proficient enough in the language to accomplish my purpose. It is such a cool language. English should really take a page out of the Tagalog book. I am teaching the 2nd lesson for the first time in Tagalog on Thursday. The trick is to just keep it simple. I feel pretty comfortable and I feel like we will be really successful.

So I figure I will just impress you and practice at the same time. Here is the first vision in Tagalog (I swear I'm not looking at anything, it is all from memory) "Ako ay nakakita ng isang haligi ng liwanag na tamang- tama sa tapat ng aking ulo, higit pa sa liwanag ng araw, na dahang- dahang bumaba hanggang sa ito ay pumalibot sa akin... Na tumuan sa akin ang liwanag, nakakita ako ng dalawang katauhan, na ang liwanag at kaluwalhatian ay hindi kayang maisalarawan, nakatayo sa hangin sa itaas ko. Ang isa sa kanila sagsalita sa akin tinatawag ako sa aking pangalan, itinuturo ang isa: "Ita ang pinakamamahal na Anak, Pakinggan Siya!"

Alam ko po na talagang- talaga nagpakita ang Diyos at si Jesukristo kay Joseph Smith.

Maraming Mahal,

Elder Lowry

Week 6

Kumusta ang pamilya ko?!

Well another week has gone by at the MTC. This one went by a little slower than preceding weeks, but it was still great. Elder Christensen and I had our first opportunity to teach a lesson lahat sa Tagalog. It was quite the experience. And very nerve wracking. I thought we actually did really well. The language is progressing so fast now that we have a foundation to build on. We are learning so much. Although I am pretty sure I made a couple big mistakes with my pronouns (they are rather tricky at times). I think I said "Pinatay ni Jesukristo para sa mga kasalanan ng mundo" Not "Pinatay si Jesukristo para sa mga kasalanan ng mundo" Essentially I told the investigator Jesus Christ killed (I at least didn't say what exactly he killed) for our sins instead of Jesus Christ WAS killed for the sins of the world. The investigator smirked when I said it... I'm pretty sure I said it wrong. Oh well. Other than that though, we did fantastic. Those pronouns just get super confusing at times.

Today the oldest district leaves, leaving our district as the oldest and we have 21 days and counting until we hop on a plane for the Philippines (or pirate ship for Thatcher's sake). And yes, I'm a very mean pirate. I make people walk the plank. I am glad SOMEONE recognizes me for what I truly am. (From the editor: Thatcher is 100% convinced that Scott is going to sail across the ocean on a pirate ship to the Philippines. He gets the whole missionary deal, but remains convinced that Scotty's also becoming a pirate.) But, this pirate was also just released as District leader and called to Zone leader. SO this could be interesting and fun. I am really excited about my new responsibilities. We get 3 new districts on Tuesday with 29 new missionaries. One Elder is from Canada and we have a Sister from Pakistan joining us as well. My main job as ZL is to orient and help them through their first three weeks at the MTC. Side note: Elder Pilling is also leaving today, Dad. He is going to the Bacolod mission, the mission Iloilo split from. So when we see each other after the mission we will both be speaking the same dialect of Tagalog. End Side Note. So we will only have 15 old missionaries here compared to 29 new missionaries arriving on Wednesday. So we are really relying on everyone to take some new missionaries under their wing and leading by example.

So this is the game plan for the next couple weeks. I have this week to welcome and orient the new missionaries, which will keep me plenty busy I feel. I get my flight plans like next Thursday. Then only one more week after that until I am out of here. Boy, am I excited for that! I will be halfway around the world for goodness sake. I have a whole lot more meetings too now, so I will have those to help pass the time.

I am doing really well. I love the language. It is a beautifully simple and very patterned language. I love how everything mirrors itself within the language. Once you can grasp the basic concept, the language just opens up and you can speak so much more. I really hope I will be able to impress you all with my skills when I have the opportunity to call in just a few weeks. It is just so awesome. I have lost like ALL of my Spanish though. I will try to talk to Spanish Elders sometimes and halfway through the sentence I can only think of Tagalog words. It is embarrassing. And because the sentence structure is way different I find myself saying things weird in English too. I am just so confused... haha.

I have gotten both the packages Mom. No worries. They were really great. I don't really need anything in particular right now. No need to send anything. I think I just want to wait until I get to the Philipines before I collect anything more. Man, I am so excited. We learned how to buy things (haggling) this week. It really made me learn to speak fast because if you didn't then they will just jip you out of your money. The culture is just so interesting and different. I can't believe I am actually going to live there soon. It puts a whole new perspective on how you learn when you KNOW that every little thing you learn will directly apply to you in the next few weeks. I find myself never tiring of the work and I am always hungry to learn more.

Mahal ko kayo! Nagiisap po ako tungkol sa inyo palagi. Manalangin ko po para sa inyo araw araw. Ang ebanghelyo ay totoo at pinakamahalagang ang pamilya sa Diyos.

Alam ko na puwede ang pamilya makasama walang hanggang!

Stay strong!

Elder Lowry

Week 5

Kumusta pamilya ko!?

Magandang hapon, di ba?

How is everyone one doing in the deep south? Thanks for all the letters this week! It has been so nice to read about what all is going on in the random happenings in people's lives. I got a letter from Nana and Poppy (I think mostly Poppy) and he was still oblivious to the fact that UGA was about to STOMP ON TENNESSEE'S FACES WITH A HOBNAIL BOOT! But, I am ready to forgive. And don't worry Poppy, I only wear one watch at a time... They would just clash with my outfit.

So I am just clueless as to how fast this MTC experience is going by. I mean we are talking all Tagalog in class and I have already practiced teaching most of the first lesson sa Tagalog, too. We have to really do it on Thursday night for our TRC. So that is exciting, no? (That is the english equivalent to "di ba") I find myself saying those too alot lately. This week has been alot of fun, the English fast was quite the activity. I definitely had a huge headache at the end of the day. But it really made me realize how much I am able to speak. My writing is still much better though. I hope you all enjoyed the talk I included in the last letter. I was rather proud of myself. I prepared a talk on prayer this last week, but didn't have to give it. I noticed on Dad's last couple letter that he is trying to say "much love" at the end? I'm not quite sure if that is what he is trying to say. It makes me chuckle every time because it makes absolutely no sense... at all. To say "Much (or lots of) love" it is "Maraming mahal." It is the thought that counts though right? Mahal Kita, Pa. Alam ko na kung ano gusto mo kong sabihin!

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE ONE YEAR OLD! Oh my goodness. I can't believe that boy is so old. Is he walking yet? What are the newest Thatcher/Levi antics? I love hearing about them.

So the district above us leaves a week from today and I will most likely be called to Zone Leader (ZL) on Tuesday. I will be released from DL on Sunday and then start my duties on Sunday as ZL. Then I get to greet a new-coming district next Wednesday. This should be interesting. It feels like I am still the newbie. How did the game against Vandy go? Let's hope AJ and Aaron can keep connecting!

I am doing well. I love you all!

Alam ko na pinakamahalagang simbahan ni JesuKristo ng mga banal sa mga huling araw.

The coolest word in the language... pinakamakapangyarihan = almighty.

Mahal ko kayo. Nagiisip ako tunkol lahat sa inyo araw araw.

Elder Lowry

(**So you'll notice that Google Translate is not perfect... but it helps you get the gist, I hope!)

Alaska Man!

So I got a letter from Scott on Friday and I just finished following up on a story he told me. He writes,

"I have been hearing that the Philippines use really REALLY dry humor. And they LOVE puns. So I doubt I will be very funny when I get home (shocker, right?). I am already laughing at super cheesy things (really? Does he think this is news to us?). One thing that will make 'em laugh (I hear) is to say "Walong tanong, Walang Sagot?" if they don't ask any questions. It just means "Without Questions, without answers." We always say that now and laugh. Ok, one more... Look up this commercial for powdered milk (they don't have cows milk there) and the brand is "Alaska Brand." It is supposed to be super cheesy, but when kids see Americans (because the commercial tries to use american accents... they LOVE Americans) they will always say, "ALASKA MAN!" and if you answer "MASARAP?!" they will just die laughing. "Masarap" = Delicious?!"

So for your viewing pleasure, I bring you... Alaska Man.



And he closes with "Well now you know how lame I am."

I saw this one while I was watching the Alaska Man one, and it's good too. Check it out.