Hello Family!
How is everyone over there? I am way excited to write you all this week. It is looking like we have two solid baptisms next month. Sister ANalyn Brillo and Sister Linda Batan have both expressed their desires to get baptized. Linda is just little but all of her family are members except for her Dad. I wanted her Dad to get baptized with her, but he is struggling alot with the Word of Wisdom and doesn't seem like he wants to change. So we have started to teach just Sister Linda. All of her family joins in on the teachings and they are all way excited for her. So it is great for both of them. Analyn will be baptized on July 16th and Linda will be baptized the next weekend on the 23th.
The work has gotten tough with school starting again here. We just tract during the days and are way cramped at night time. No one has time during the days now to listen so the work is way one sided to the night appointments. Elder and I are way excited for the work and have been enjoying our time walking in the SCORCHING sun. It is getting more to rainy season and should cool off a degree or two in the next month. It really is HOT here, but the breezes can usually keep me sane throughout the day. Georgia heat has no breeze to cool you off and does get even hotter in the very middle of summer. If I had come here straight from Canada I would have honestly died by now. I have gotten through the hottest time of year they say, so that makes me way excited.
Ilonggo is coming along SO much better. My Tagalog is getting uglier and uglier though. I miss it very much. I had become so familiar with the patterns and the words, that it became way easy to communicate even complex ideas. But, obviously, if you are assigned in a Philippines you are not allowed to become comfortable with communicating. It is a requisite to always be racking your mind over what they are saying to you and how to respond. So that is probably my biggest stress right now. I never thought I could be so thankful that the language is the only thing I stress about. haha. Now I also see how Ilonggo and Aklanon are pretty close too. SO if I get to go back to the Aklan I will be a beast at their language. Man, I hope I get to go back someday!
This week was another way fun week of Primary. I got a video of them singing I am a Child of God and I'm so Glad when Daddy Comes Home! But I can't send it to you until I get to go to Roxas again and go to a nicer computer shop. Sorry. I have got some awesome pics of the area too. I hope I get to send them home soon.
So I have missed home alot lately. It is crazy to think I have been in this country for over half a year. It will be such a movie moment to go home. So make sure that in a year you all have your cameras ready. But for now I am having a great time. I love these crazy people who honestly know nothing about where I am from. It can be weird sometimes to be surrounded by people who don't like football is, have never heard of hockey, and like badminton more than tennis. haha. But they are the nicest people who will feed you even if it means they don't eat that night. They will invite you to eat even if they are wondering if they have enough food for themselves. They have honestly taught me so much on how to truly be happy with what you have. And to also realize that however little you DO have it is from God and should always be shared with others. I love them!
I love you all so much too and miss you more and more every month. It will be so awesome to come home in a year and see how wonderful you all have become!
Elder Lowry
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Week 40
Hello Everyone!
I am pretty excited to write you all this week! I got my new companion for the next six weeks of my life and his name is Elder Balmeo. I'll admit was really wanting an AMerican companion this time around, but I am excited for this companion. He is a really nice guy and is a really good elder. We have had a good time together with the work so far and I can see this turning in to a great companionship for the both of us. He is a really bright guy and loves to study the scriptures. I will try to get a picture this next week and find an SD card reader to attach some pictures for you all. He is also really good at speaking in English. So it takes some pressure off of me to communicate with him. His first area was also in Banga so we also have some good stories to talk about when we are bored. The tough thing is, we are both still learning Ilonggo. But we have talked about some ways that we can both work together to get better at the language. (he has spent a long time of his mission in the Aklan.)
The area is doing really well and I am really excited for next month. We have a pretty sure baptismal candidate! Her name is Analyn Brillo and has expressed that she really wants to get baptized. So we told her to really pray about it again and this next meeting we will set a date for her. It will most likely be in the middle of July. Analyn is 15 years old and is a "School girl" for a member family (look to the next paragraph as to what a school girl is). We have about 4 others who could really get baptized this next month, but will really have to commit to the idea of it like this next week. So we are pretty nervous/excited for this next week. Included in that 4 are that couple that I told you about last week. The Malunes family. I don't know what happened last week, but they weren't able to make it to church this last week. They said they were going and everything, but something may have come up. The others all have Word of Wisdom problems that they can overcome, but I am questionable about if they really want to. SO we will have to solve those issues soon here.
So this is something new to me in this area. Lots of people here are too poor to send their daughters to school past elementary school. SO if you have some extra income and you want some help around the house you get what they call a school girl. A girl from a poor family to live with you and you pay for her way through school. They do simple chores and babysit kids for you in return. The families never really expect like a servant, but they really treat the girl as a daughter. It is a way sweet system, and the girl really has a future this way too. So this is how we met this girl Analyn. Her parents are supportive of her learning about the gospel and getting baptized. She really is a smart girl. She keeps all of her commitments to read and to pray. She picks her favorite verses that she read in her assignments and remembers the messages that she read as well. We committed her to baptism and will give her a date this week as long as her prayers go well. I am very excited!
I was baffled when people all reminded me that it was father's day this last week. Man, time sure does fly! Well, I think I made my dad proud... let me explain. I lead singing time in Primary every week and it is possibly my favorite part of my mission so far. These little Filipinos LOVE singing time and will belt out every song they know at the top of their lungs in the cutest Filipino accents (i seriously might have to get a video for you all). Well, I got volunteered to prepare them for a presentation for sacrament. So we sang the classic "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home" Well it is "Papa" in the Filipino version. We got the song all memorized and man did they put on a show in front of the ward singing their hearts out. They sang very clearly and all blew kisses to their Dads at the end of the song. The bishopric had to make some announcements afterwords and had to choke back tears to speak. The Dads all came and thanked me after the meeting. I remember singing that song back when I was a kid for my dad. Even though it is sung every year it seems like and it probably never was even that great my dad always had a similar reaction as well. I have always been impressed with my dad for his appreciation of his kids. No matter how small our achievements may have been, he always appreciated what we did and made us feel like we had won the Nobel Prize or something. Whether I was acting on stage, playing football, running cross country, or working through school, he took time to appreciate and enjoy with me everything that I wanted to accomplish. Thanks Dad... You are the best.
I love you all so much! Thank you all for your continued support to me and my mission. I pray for you all everyday that you will be successful in your work as well. Remember the Lord in everything you do and always allow him to be your guide. We can only do that if we are following his commandments... all of them. So test his power and see what he can make of you. He has an awesome plan for everyone of us and all we have to do is follow his commandments and give him our hearts and he will take care of us.
Halong Kamo!
Elder Lowry.
I am pretty excited to write you all this week! I got my new companion for the next six weeks of my life and his name is Elder Balmeo. I'll admit was really wanting an AMerican companion this time around, but I am excited for this companion. He is a really nice guy and is a really good elder. We have had a good time together with the work so far and I can see this turning in to a great companionship for the both of us. He is a really bright guy and loves to study the scriptures. I will try to get a picture this next week and find an SD card reader to attach some pictures for you all. He is also really good at speaking in English. So it takes some pressure off of me to communicate with him. His first area was also in Banga so we also have some good stories to talk about when we are bored. The tough thing is, we are both still learning Ilonggo. But we have talked about some ways that we can both work together to get better at the language. (he has spent a long time of his mission in the Aklan.)
The area is doing really well and I am really excited for next month. We have a pretty sure baptismal candidate! Her name is Analyn Brillo and has expressed that she really wants to get baptized. So we told her to really pray about it again and this next meeting we will set a date for her. It will most likely be in the middle of July. Analyn is 15 years old and is a "School girl" for a member family (look to the next paragraph as to what a school girl is). We have about 4 others who could really get baptized this next month, but will really have to commit to the idea of it like this next week. So we are pretty nervous/excited for this next week. Included in that 4 are that couple that I told you about last week. The Malunes family. I don't know what happened last week, but they weren't able to make it to church this last week. They said they were going and everything, but something may have come up. The others all have Word of Wisdom problems that they can overcome, but I am questionable about if they really want to. SO we will have to solve those issues soon here.
So this is something new to me in this area. Lots of people here are too poor to send their daughters to school past elementary school. SO if you have some extra income and you want some help around the house you get what they call a school girl. A girl from a poor family to live with you and you pay for her way through school. They do simple chores and babysit kids for you in return. The families never really expect like a servant, but they really treat the girl as a daughter. It is a way sweet system, and the girl really has a future this way too. So this is how we met this girl Analyn. Her parents are supportive of her learning about the gospel and getting baptized. She really is a smart girl. She keeps all of her commitments to read and to pray. She picks her favorite verses that she read in her assignments and remembers the messages that she read as well. We committed her to baptism and will give her a date this week as long as her prayers go well. I am very excited!
I was baffled when people all reminded me that it was father's day this last week. Man, time sure does fly! Well, I think I made my dad proud... let me explain. I lead singing time in Primary every week and it is possibly my favorite part of my mission so far. These little Filipinos LOVE singing time and will belt out every song they know at the top of their lungs in the cutest Filipino accents (i seriously might have to get a video for you all). Well, I got volunteered to prepare them for a presentation for sacrament. So we sang the classic "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home" Well it is "Papa" in the Filipino version. We got the song all memorized and man did they put on a show in front of the ward singing their hearts out. They sang very clearly and all blew kisses to their Dads at the end of the song. The bishopric had to make some announcements afterwords and had to choke back tears to speak. The Dads all came and thanked me after the meeting. I remember singing that song back when I was a kid for my dad. Even though it is sung every year it seems like and it probably never was even that great my dad always had a similar reaction as well. I have always been impressed with my dad for his appreciation of his kids. No matter how small our achievements may have been, he always appreciated what we did and made us feel like we had won the Nobel Prize or something. Whether I was acting on stage, playing football, running cross country, or working through school, he took time to appreciate and enjoy with me everything that I wanted to accomplish. Thanks Dad... You are the best.
I love you all so much! Thank you all for your continued support to me and my mission. I pray for you all everyday that you will be successful in your work as well. Remember the Lord in everything you do and always allow him to be your guide. We can only do that if we are following his commandments... all of them. So test his power and see what he can make of you. He has an awesome plan for everyone of us and all we have to do is follow his commandments and give him our hearts and he will take care of us.
Halong Kamo!
Elder Lowry.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Week 39 -- Much better
I was able to work with Elder Judd this last week and have honestly made a best friend. Like I feel like this guy would fit in with our cross country team. We have been joking and having a good time this whole week. We also tore the area up! We only had like three days to work this week, but we got 4 new people to church. None of them had ever been before. That was awesome. We also had 120 people at church... we had like 80+ previously. I was super excited when people accepted commitments to be baptized and to go to church. I am way excited for the next couple weeks and months here in Manoling.
Elder Judd and I have really enjoyed gong running here in Manoling. We have tried to go every day. I have him a companion for the next week to until transfer day when I get my new companion. We have gone to see a bunch of the waterfalls here. They are AWESOME and way pretty. We get to rn through a bunch of sugar cane fields and climb up mountains and just enjoy God's great creations. We both love hiking and walking and take every chance we can to go the scenic route and just see new places. It has also been fun having an American companion and get to speak my native language alot with a person who is also fluent. It just isn't the same when you are with a person from the other side of the world. Don't get me wrong... I love their language and their culture, but it is just nice to be able to have someone American with you. Being this separated from everything American makes you miss it alot. So just having him to talk with has been way sweet.
The work just took off this week and I have a bunch of investigators I am way excited about. The two ain ones are Brother and Sister Malunes. They are a young couple with two little boys (like exactly the Filipino version of Krista's family... like every single person is the same age). I really like them and think they will come to know of the thruthfulness of the message. They are super receptive. The wife Sister Julie could definitely join Krista's bossy lady club. Manuel (her husband) is just like Evan as well (he just laughs alot). Sister Julie went to church, but Brother Manuel had work that day. I really think we can get them all to church this next week. The ward absolutely loved that they came to church and I hardly got to talk with her because she ALWAYS had someone that was right next to her and talking with her. I'm not complaining too much.
Another person who came to church was a real interesting story. He came to the house and asked us for an exorcism.... Wow. We were tripping out when we learned that there was a guy outside of our house that was wanting us to perform an exorcism. We had no clue what to do. So we decided to just interview him to see if he was really possessed. We had no reason to think that he had some spirit controlling him so we gave him a blessing. He had been seeing people that said they would kill him and hadn't slept or ate in three days. So he has basically stayed with the family we live with. He has had part of the first lesson and has really improved since. He has slept the past couple nights and has eaten well. He is also excited to learn more about our message. His name is Brother Amid. We are really excited for him as well.
I thank you all so much for all your support and prayers the past couple weeks. It has really helped me to know how much support I have from you all. I know I can get through anything the Lord puts me through and will continue just to trust His judgment. I pray for you all as well and miss you all so much. Keep strong and keep in touch.
Elder Lowry
Elder Judd and I have really enjoyed gong running here in Manoling. We have tried to go every day. I have him a companion for the next week to until transfer day when I get my new companion. We have gone to see a bunch of the waterfalls here. They are AWESOME and way pretty. We get to rn through a bunch of sugar cane fields and climb up mountains and just enjoy God's great creations. We both love hiking and walking and take every chance we can to go the scenic route and just see new places. It has also been fun having an American companion and get to speak my native language alot with a person who is also fluent. It just isn't the same when you are with a person from the other side of the world. Don't get me wrong... I love their language and their culture, but it is just nice to be able to have someone American with you. Being this separated from everything American makes you miss it alot. So just having him to talk with has been way sweet.
The work just took off this week and I have a bunch of investigators I am way excited about. The two ain ones are Brother and Sister Malunes. They are a young couple with two little boys (like exactly the Filipino version of Krista's family... like every single person is the same age). I really like them and think they will come to know of the thruthfulness of the message. They are super receptive. The wife Sister Julie could definitely join Krista's bossy lady club. Manuel (her husband) is just like Evan as well (he just laughs alot). Sister Julie went to church, but Brother Manuel had work that day. I really think we can get them all to church this next week. The ward absolutely loved that they came to church and I hardly got to talk with her because she ALWAYS had someone that was right next to her and talking with her. I'm not complaining too much.
Another person who came to church was a real interesting story. He came to the house and asked us for an exorcism.... Wow. We were tripping out when we learned that there was a guy outside of our house that was wanting us to perform an exorcism. We had no clue what to do. So we decided to just interview him to see if he was really possessed. We had no reason to think that he had some spirit controlling him so we gave him a blessing. He had been seeing people that said they would kill him and hadn't slept or ate in three days. So he has basically stayed with the family we live with. He has had part of the first lesson and has really improved since. He has slept the past couple nights and has eaten well. He is also excited to learn more about our message. His name is Brother Amid. We are really excited for him as well.
I thank you all so much for all your support and prayers the past couple weeks. It has really helped me to know how much support I have from you all. I know I can get through anything the Lord puts me through and will continue just to trust His judgment. I pray for you all as well and miss you all so much. Keep strong and keep in touch.
Elder Lowry
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