YAAAAY!!!!! 1st letter home!!!!

Hey pamilya!

Kumusta po kayo? That is how you say "How are you doing?" sa Tagalog! The language is really different, but the Spanish is helping the learning process marginally. We have classes for about eight to ten hours a day! We have two teachers named Brother Norstrom and Brother Day. Both are super cool guys and really want us to be the best missionaries we can be before we get out to the field. My companions name is Elder Christensen and this guy is a STUD! He is way cool and he can practically quote any line from Nacho Libre you want. His accent is perfect also. I have literally cried laughing with him. We both have a great time together, but we also both know how to take class and study time seriously. I was so worried about being stuck with some weird kid for nine weeks through all the craziness that happens here at the MTC. But alas, the Lord is watching out for me and gave me an awesome companion. My P days are Monday and I am in a basement doing laundry right now. We went to the temple this morning as a district (and zone) and we had a terrific session. I was able to stay in the celestial room for quite a bit to just read the scriptures and pray. I was praying mainly because I got made District Leader on Thursday night. I have been praying ever since to get help to lead my fellow missionaries and keep the spirit and unity strong. My zone leaders have been invaluable in training me and gave me some great counsil when the said, "We have all left our families, we all miss them. Now we have a new family that we spend ALL our time with. This comes with all the annoyances and miscommunications that typical families have. Your job as district leader is to remind people that we love each other and to always make sure they know you love them." These guys are great. There are nine total missionaries in my district with two of them being sisters. I love all of them and just strive to lead them in a way that would please the Lord.

About the language... One thing that has really comforted me is something Brother Day taught on the second day. You know I was really intimidated because of all the different dialects in just my area alone. I was not the only one, apparently there are hundreds of different dialects and the only place where the people speak full Tagalog is in Manila. But Brother Day reminded us that our mission calls said we were called to preach the gospel in Tagalog. We will be blessed when we speak Tagalog. Tagalog will touch the hearts of the people even if they do mostly speak another dialect because the Lord promised us it would. Isn't that great? We have a specific purpose and the Lord will bless us to accomplish that as long as we follow the rules, work our butts off, and do as he prompts us. The language will not be an issue. We have leaned how to pray in Tagalog and to bear our testimonies. We have taken the commitment to never say a prayer in English again, personal or public, unless asked specifically to speak in English by a presiding authority. We also sing all our hymns in Tagalog, which is fantastic. It really helps with pronunciation and helps our reading. We may not understand a word of what we are singing, but the spirit ALWAYS just flood the room. We have also had lots of practicing teaching the first lesson: the restoration. All my personal study time has been dedicated to enhancing my understanding and personal testimony of this doctrine, which has just been great. We have our first practice teaching in Tagalog on Thursday so that is pretty nerve racking.

The other two guys in my room are also really cool. Their names are Elder Green (he is from New Zealand and has a terrific accent) and Elder Osborn who is from Ogden. Both guys are really cool and our two companionships do everything together. Elder Osborn has been really homesick though, he was supposed to get married and then decided last minute that he should serve. the first couple days were really rough for him and then on Saturday night he asked us three for a priesthood blessing. We gave hime one and ever since Sunday his attitude has completely changed. He is 10000000X happier and he is handling things so well. The priesthood is real!

Sundays here are so relaxing! They are definitely how missionaries keep there sanity. Sacrament meeting was wonderful and we got to sing all hymns sa Tagalog and we had two musical numbers. One was these sisters who sang "The Olive Tree." It reminded me so much of my farewell and I nearly cried. That would've been embarrassing. We also got to just walk to the temple and hang out outside for a couple hours until dinner. I got to hang out alot with one of the Samoan elders (Elder Panaia) and he taught me to say I love you in Samoan "Alofa tele atu." He is awesome. The way to say that in Tagalog is "Mahal Kita!"

Alam ko na buhay aking manunubos!

Look it up!

mga maha (many love)

Elder Lowry