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