Week 42

Well Hello Everyone!

This one is coming to you all from Iloilo City! I had to come here to do some paperwork for my visas and so I get to spend the day in the city. It really is like a whole nother world over here in the big city. I do have to say it is MUCH more like America. Now I am in a big mall using a pretty nice computer station and it just makes emailing so easy... maybe TOO easy. I also just spent a lot of money on a stuffed crust pizza at Pizza Hut with some delicious Mozzarella sticks.... life is so good right now.

Anyways. This week has been alot of fun for Elder Balmeo and I. We really enjoy the work and we are way excited for how our investigators are progressing. We are really excited for our two baptisms that will happen this month. Both of them have started the paperwork. We have everything lined up for them now. We also are meeting some really REALLY nice people. We were able to give one lady (Sister Ivy De la Cruz) a copy of the Book of Mormon with a really good commitment to ask God about it. So we will follow up with her this week with her prayers and reading. We also met a great nice family (Bacli family) who had just moved from Manila. They welcomed us right in and listened to our message and said they were really interested to learn more. So we are very hopeful that they will progress as well. We are really trying hard to find those people who can be prepared for baptism in August. We have a solid two for July and we are focusing alot of time with them. We are also trying to help the inactive members return (which we are having really good success with). So any minute of spare time is spent trying to find those few that can be ready to be baptized in July. It is quite the work load if you ask me. But, such is the life of a missionary. I will sleep when I get home.

Riding on the buses from town to town makes me pretty trunky sometimes. It makes me think of what it would be like to go home. That feeling of going home must be one of the weirdest things ever. It will be so different to leave this whole different world to go back to America. People in America will only speak English and basta... it will be so weird. But then I can't imagine how awesome it will be to see everyone and everything again. To watch football with my Dad and my Brothers. To go back to school. To experience America again. But to leave this crazy place with all the beautiful scenery. To never wake up again in the middle of nowhere Philippines. Where we hang our cellphone from the window and pray that there will be signal. To help these people and to just talk to them everyday.

Ang opurtunidad ko subong nga maranasan ko ang kabuhi sang mga Philipino diri sa Manoling area'y importante sakon. Daw.... indi ko mapaliwanag sa inyo ang pagpalangga sang mga tawo diri. mamiss ko gid sila kag ila mga ejemplo sakon. oo... kabalo ko nga indi nyo maintidihan and mensaje nga ini perro gusto ko lang magpamatuod sa inyo nga palangga ko gid and Filipinas. tani makabisita man kamo diri kag ma experience ang culture di. Gusto ko man magpamatuod parte sa sini nga work sang mga missionary. Kabalo gid ko nga ari ako bilang isa ka missionary para matapos ang calling ko sa simbahan. walang katuland ang sini nga work. sa bilog nga kalibutan. Waay gid! mga ginapalangga kong kauturan namimiss ko kamo kag kapag natapos ko na ang work ko diri magpuli gid ako. Medio dugay pa... Te! Love you!

So I hoped you liked that Ilonggo message. Good luck on figuring out what it means.

Love you all so much and know that I miss you all. It is also weird that I am turning 20. It makes me think that I have to grow up sometime and do grown up things. I'd rather be nursery leader so no one thinks I'm weird when I do nursery things!

Elder Lowry