Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Week 108

WELL!!!!... The mish is over!  I am way excited to get home and see all your faces!  Get ready to party everyone.  I can't wait to see all you and tell you all about my mission.  I LOVE YOU ALL AND WILL SEE YOU IN TWO DAYS! {He gets home Wednesday October 10th at 6:20pm!!!}

Love,

Elder Lowry

Monday, October 1, 2012

Week 107

Hello Family!

Well Here is the last real letter coming from your missionary here in the Philippines.  I really can't believe that this is my last week to work as a missionary.  Talk about making someone nostalgic and sentimental.  I have had a great time lately getting together presents for everyone and I think I am about prepared to hop on the plane and see all your beautiful faces again.  I say I am ready but the fact that I am leaving this place hasn't really hit and I don't thin it will until I am back with you all again. 

This week was sure alot of fun.  We are getting lots done still and we are working hard.  We had a member officially return to activity this last weekend that had been inactive for a good 10 years.  He seems to be doing really well and he is seeing how the gospel is still able to bless his life and the life of his family.  His name is Romeo Malcon and is a great guy.  I am glad we have been able to help him out and see changes made in his life.  We were supposed to have one more person return officially as well but she wasn't able to go to church this last weekend.  I was let down because she has REALLY made alot of changes in her life and we have been working with her ever since I got transferred here to Jordan.  Ah well, She is doing well though and has been coming to church pretty regularly over the last several weeks.  I am happy with the progress we have made with her and if she had officially returned that would've just been the cherry on the cake but I didn't get to see it.  Too bad.  

The other area here in Jordan had a family baptism this last weekend.  A mother father and Daughter were all baptized and the branch was really supportive of the newcomers.  They really are an adorable family and have just LOVED investigating the church and now I am sure they will make fantastic members. They have so much potential to be leaders of the church and if they remain strong they will join the other pioneers here in Jordan to make Jordan a ward on day.  We also had a branch activity that day and it was fiesta in the barangay we live in.  So we were plenty busy this weekend eating, playing, eating, working, and more eating.  People love Fiesta here and literally anyone from their houses that sees you walking down the street will call out and invite you in their homes to eat their food.  I love FIESTA!

I am loving my time here in the Philippines and will cherish these memories for the rest of my life for sure.  I can't wait until the day that I can come back here and show you all around.  It IS going to happen sooner or later.  You all just HAVE to come here and experience the Philippines.  It is just so much fun.  I hope everyone has a fantastic week and everyone is ready for me when I get off that plane... IT'S GONNA BE PARTY TIME!!!!

I love you all and miss you all so much.  Can't wait for story sharings when I get home.

Halong,

Elder Lowry

Friday, September 28, 2012

Week 106

Hello Family!!!

Well another great week here in Jordan!... not gonna be able to say that too many more times.  But really the work here is moving along and I am really enjoying being able to work here for the last part of my mission.  Guimaras is such an interesting place and provides lots of challenges to the work here.  The biggest thing is how new the church is here in Guimaras.  I think we are only going back about 10 years here on this island so things are just now starting here.  I'm sure the work has to be different in America where the church has been established alot more and we have been around for a couple hundred years.  Elder Sefeti and I are working hard here to get the church more established here in Jordan.  That is really what's lacking and new converts are not going to get the support they need until we fix some of the problems we have right now.  So we are trying to help the members be more established here in Jordan so they can support new converts when they come.  

I cannot even believe how close I am to coming home.  I am trying not to think about it too much but I can't even help it anymore.  I have this week of work and then next week of work and then I am homeward bound.  I still do have quite a bit I wanna get done so I still have motivation to get me through the tough times ahead.  But the upside is that this weekend is festival here in Jordan so we will have some awesome dinner appointments this weekend and then my last week of the mission I will have a dinner appointment every night.  So I expect to put on 20 lbs. before I get back to Augusta.  I am so excited to eat delicious food and soak up my last two weeks in the Philippines.  

We are having some success with helping our LA members come to church.  We are close to "rescuing" two less active members from Balabag, Jordan.  Sis Amor and Bro Malcon are both really doing well and have realy desires to return back to activity.  Technically if they both go to church this next weekend they will both be considered active members.  So that is super good to see.  Right now this is really the focus of the Philippines area.  They are more concerned with rescuing people than they are about new baptisms.  We feel really confident that they will continue to be strong in the church and really become contributing members for the Jordan branch.  I am glad I am at least seeing some success my last couple weeks in the mission.  We are not able to get any investigators to do anything but our LA work is taking off.  I have been pounding away at these people for the entire time I have been on Guimaras and just now we are seeing some positive results.  

I am so excited to finish my mission strong and to get back and see everyone again.  You all don't know how much I love and miss you.  I am super happy to be here serving the people but I am just ready to be back with my family.  I have so many stories and things t tell and show you.  I really am excited to let you all see all my pictures and introduce you all to all my Filipino friends and tell the stories behind the pictures.  Today we went and played mini golf in Nueva Valencia and later today we will be playing football and basketball again.  These last few weeks are really turning out to be really fun for us Guimaras Elders.  This is my last P- day on this island.  Next p-day we got to Iloilo to withdraw support (no ATM's on this island) and then the next p-day after that I will go to the city to get my exit interview.  So we are close ladies and gentlemen and it is really starting to hit me.  Well, I am ready for another week of work... wish me luck. 

Love,

Elder Lowry

Monday, September 17, 2012

Week 105

Hello Family!

I am doing well here in Jordan! This week seemed to go by a little bit slower but it has been so much fun... so I'm not complaining.  I imagine things might slow down a little bit these next few weeks considering I only have three left and it is really starting to hit me that I am actually going home.  I was so surprised when all the sudden it was Saturday and half way through the day I realized I had been gone from home for two years now.  I was so shocked and it really is starting to set in just how excited I am to go home and be part of the grind again.  I literally cannot wait to see you all again and be able to talk to everyone. 

This week was really busy with meetings in Iloilo.  I had my last day of training I will ever have in the mission... President Pagaduan was getting funny about how a bunch of us were going home that transfer.  He made alot more references to marriage and dating in a meeting than I have ever remembered in a missionary training.  Elder Domincel, my ZL companion in Hamtic that I had a blast with, is now the new AP so it was super fun being with him.  The other AP Elder Galloway is also another really good mission buddy of mine here and I had a blast listening to their trainings.  I think this AP companionship is the best one I have seen my whole mission.  Elder Galloway is also one of the guys that I want to go to Brazil with in 2014.  We had sometime after the training that we researched some more of the logistics of how to get to Rio de Janeiro...  Looks like it will be quite the adventure.  It is so weird doing things now... you always wonder if it will be the last time that you will have the opportunity to do that thing again as a missionary.  It makes you feel so sentimental.  

The work this week was alot of fun with Elder Sefeti.  My companion is so funny... he has such a weird sense of humor and has made me laugh all week.  People from Fiji are crazy!!  We have been working alot still with our LA and RC convert families.  There seem to be ample amounts of problems in our members' lives.  We really are having a tough time helping some people prioritize their lives so that they can give the Lord a chance to bless them and work miracles in their lives.  I think the motto of my mission has been, "Give the Lord a chance."  I think that is the biggest thing I have learned on my mission.  When we follow commandments and obey His word we are really just giving the Lord an opportunity to bless and prosper us.  When we refuse to follow we are not giving the Lord any room to work in our lives and it is completely our fault.  So i have really just acquired a desire to allow the Lord to mold my life into what He would like it to be.  

 It was great hearing about Graham and Sascha's "farewell" Sunday.  It sounded like I missed out on a spiritual sacrament meeting.  I am sure those two are gonna make exemplary missionaries and will work miracles in the mission field.  I am so excited for them to experience the mission life and to enjoy the blessings that come from being on the Lord's errand.  I have felt so edified on my mission and I know it is impossible that they will not feel like they have improved by the end of their mission.  This has felt like the bootcamp of my life and I am ready to go on and continue my service in the real world.  I can't believe that my own little brother will be a missionary in 10 days.  For a few short weeks there will be two Elder Lowry's in the world.  WATCH OUT.  

I am really looking forward to these next few weeks.  We are having another fun P day right now.  We went to a place in Nueva Valencia and went on a zip line and did a fun ropes course.  We got lots of pictures and I got a video of the zip line (no head injuries occurred thankfully) and then enjoyed a nice lunch.  Later we have an afternoon full of football and basketball planned.  So I am super excited for this afternoon.  I am so excited to come home so I can watch real football and basketball on the big screen! I am so mad I am missing Georgia football... but I know it is because I'm still on a mission that they are still doing so well this year.  Let's hope that continues when I get home.  I have quit counting my brownie points with the Lord for my beautiful wife... I have recently asked Him that all brownie points I gain for the rest of my mission can be deposited in the "Georgia National Championship" jar... I hope to fill it before coming home!o

Well I love you all and I was looking through a bunch of my pictures the other day... I am so excited to have a picture day with you all when I ge home and introduce you all to my friends from the Philippines!!!!!!!  Only three weeks left and I will be home...  get excited.  I love you all so much and can't wait to see you all soon.

Love,

Elder Lowry

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Week 104

Hello Family!

Well It is here.  I am going to hit my two year mark this week!  How do I feel about it?... I feel great and I am really pumped for these next 4 weeks I have to be a missionary and to finish the  work I have here.  This has been a tough week of work but I have enjoyed trying my best to help others.  I really hope I can make a bit more progress in this area before I have to leave this place.  I hope to get some momentum... It has been such a struggle for us here to get any energy in the work and get people to get excited for the message.  I don't know what the problem is right now but the work seems a little stuck.  I have been trying really hard to get it moving again, but it just doesn't seem to want to budge.  Let me explain:

We have had lots of people baptized here in Jordan over the past year... Maybe 12- 15... About three of them are still super strong.  The others are just struggling.  My problem with this situation is I don't feel comfortable with adding to the 15 without fixing the leak.  The leak is proving really tough to fix... So that is what I am focusing on.  how do I help these people rekindle the fire that they had just in the recent months?  There are lots of problems in the lives of our recent converts and it is hard to help them prioritize their lives and to put God above all other things.  So now you all know what concerns me about the area I am assigned in right now.  I am still trying to find some solutions.  

We have had lots of fun though... today was one of the funner p- days I have had on my mission.  We went to a cave down in my area that was right on the beach.  We had a blast exploring the big old cave and then we payed a guy to let us climb his coconut trees and get some fresh coconuts to eat on the beach!  I'm talking we were stuffed from drinking the juice and eating the flesh.  The were perfectly ripe and the juice tasted like a funny sprite (which is the best kind).  Then Elder Loe remembered that he had brought his football.  So we tossed the football around on the beach and then went home.  We wanted to play basketball but it started pouring... so we went in frontt of the provincial capital and played football in the pouring rain.  People thought it was the craziest thing to have ten missionaries playing football (which they have never sen before) in the pouring rain.  We had people videoing us and taking pictures the entire time.  Man, we ruined our clothes but had the most fun I've had in a LONG LONG time.  We had a blast teaching out Filipino buddies the art of Football.  Even they said they hope it rains next week!  We got lots of pictures and I can't wait to show them all to you.

They work has been going well with regards to some of our less active families.  We are really seeing, slowly but surely, some changes in the lives.  We are really striving to help them make more gospel habits and it is slow tedious work.. and tiring.  We are working really closely with the Ogaya family wand we have most of the family coming to church every week.  They are going through lots of trials right now so it is good to see them draw closer to the church when they are struggling.  I know that they will be able to make it through in one piece.  We are also seeing some success with Sister Amor and her family.  Her daughter Lovellia even came this Sunday and enjoyed her church attendance.  I am seeing that she is really getting the gospel fire back in her right now.  

We also saw some set backs here with some people we are working with.  People here love to hide from missionaries... it doesn't really make sense to me (probably because I am a missionary)... but we are the easiest people to get away if you really don't want to listen to us.  Why hide?  It just makes me laugh and think how childish people can be sometimes.  

We are working hard here in Jordan and I am super excited for this next week of adventures.  I am having a blast here and love the work.  I know the church is true and this is the Lord's work that I am doing.  I hope everything is all well on the homefront and no problems.  Graham is getting ready to leave here soon.  I am so excited for him to get the mission experience.  It has been such a ride and I know he will love it.  

I love you all!

Elder Lowry

Picture with Elder Bednar

Elder Lowry is in the back row, 3 to our left of the giant.

Week 103

Hello Family!

This was an AWESOME week here in Jordan for me. I have really enjoyed this last week and I can't believe yet another week has just ran off the calendar and I am here emailing you all again.  Where do I even begin telling you all about my week... getting to meet Elder Bednar, transfers, new investigators?  There is so much. 

Well let's start with maybe the coolest experience of my life as of yet... I got to talk with and shake Elder Bednar's hand this last week.  It was such a cool experience to be around and to talk with an Apostle of the Lord.  He was such an cool and smart person to be around and was a fantastic teacher, as you could imagine.  He had asked us to read two talks he had given in the recent years.  One was Ask in Faith which he gave in 2008 and the other was Seek ye Learning by Faith that he gave to CES educators a couple years ago as well.  First of all those two talks were amazing! I really enjoyed the Seek ye Learning by Faith talk... he brought out maybe one of the coolest points I think a teacher can understand.  It was from a quote he used.  Brigham Young was advising the man who started the Young Men program that he should give time at the beginning of each meeting for the students to bear their testimony.  He said that often times testimonies are found while trying to bear it rather than when we are on our knees praying for it.  Then he linked that quote to a quote from President Packer that said to have the Holy Ghost bear testimony to you that what someone else has said or done is true is important and a vital part of conversion, but to have the Holy Ghost bear witness in your heart that what you have said or done is true is so much better and has a bigger impact on the learner.  I was thinking during the meeting... That is why the church has 19 year old boys going on missions.  You receive such a witness that the gospel was restored in these latter days when you are out on your feet, dripping in sweat, and bearing testimony to strangers that what you have taught is true.  Not that this is the start of a missionaries testimony but I think this is what seals it for a young man.  That is what I have felt on my mission anyways and I am so grateful for it. It also applies to investigators and anyone we are teaching... when we ask those good questions we are really asking them to bear their testimony about something and then the Spirit has an opportunity to witness to them that what THEY said is true and then we witness conversion. So for 1 1/2 hours Elder Bednar asked US questions and then the last part of the meeting we got to ask him questions... about anything.  On the panel were Elder and Sister Bednar, Elder and Sister Ardern (of the seventy), and Bishop and Sister Davis (from the presiding bishopric).  He explained that getting to ask questions to a panel like this will likely never happen again in our lives... and he was right.  We had so much experience and knowledge in that room Tuesday.  I asked Elder Bednar what changes he had seen in himself as he accepted the mantle of being an Apostle of Jesus Christ.  He gave the time to his wife to explain a bit about what she had seen different in her husband and then he talked about how he had felt that his talents had been magnified by the Lord so that he would be able to fulfill the responsibilities given to him.  I have so many cool notes that I will have to share with you all when I get home!

I then got my last companion for my mission.  He is Elder Sefeti!! I was actually his first zone leader while I was still in Hamtic.  So I knew him a bit.  His trainer was Elder Waggoner which is one of my good mission buddies.  He is from Fiji... My first and only Fijian companion.  He is a way cool guy and loves to work hard and have fun.  We were all talking last night hat this 5 weeks are just going to fly by.  We have a super fun apartment... which brings me to my other cool news.  My trainee Elder Quinantoto did it again and followed me here to Jordan.  He is now my Zone leader and lives in the same house as me.  I was so glad to have him come here to Guimaras.  He has followed me wherever I have gone in the mission and it has been such a blessing to be so close with my trainee throughout the whole mission experience.  To see him grow more and more.  I am so excited for these last few weeks in the mission.  I think they are really going to be special for all of us here.  

When Elder Sefeti got here we went straight to work finding new people to teach.  We have found two new families that seem to be promising.  One is the Delacruz family... when we went to their house to tract they invited us right in let us share and made a return appt.  We went back an the whole family wasn't there the second time but we got to teach a couple of them and we have a return appointment for Wednesday.  They are really open to the message and super friendly.  We will see how that goes.  The next family has a much funnier story behind it.  It was the same day we were tracting and sort of towards the end of the time we had planned to tact.  We had met some really grumpy people and had gotten punted around for a little bit.  We went to this one house and called tagbalay! which is what you say at people's doors to let them know they have someone there looking for them.  This woman Anabelle peeked her head out and then ran back and hid.  So we told her that we saw her and we just wanted to chat.  She came out and said she was busy and didn't have time to entertain us.  I told her we just wanted to introduce ourselves to her and promised we wouldn't be long.  We got to know her situation a bit and she said her husband only comes home Sat and Sundays.  So we set up an appointment for Sunday after church and as we were leaving she said.  I hope when you come back you will bring a snack for us.  I turned around so surprised and laughed and said... well, what do you want?  She got really shy and then said I hope you bring the bread of Mormons.  hahaha. I just asked what is the bread of Mormons?  She said she meant the bread from the bakery right next door to the church.  I walked away laughing but completely planning to buy her some bread for the next time.  Well Sunday came around and I already had the bread bought for Sister Anabelle and her craving for Mormon bread... but it was raining way hard.  We went anyways and it turned out the house we talked with her at wasn't her house... The shack behind that house was her house.  She had two cute little boys and is pregnant with the third.  We got to meet her husband Orlando and were able to share a really nice message with them.  They really appreciated the bread even though they were too shy to eat it in front of us.  I was glad that she actually kept the return appointment and now we have another appointment with them this next Saturday.  I am excited for them though.  They seemed super nice and really into the message.  We'll see what happens.  

Like I said... this week was busy and it seemed to just fly by.  I am super happy I extended so I could have these experiences these last few weeks of my mission.  It really is going to be a great memory that I decided to extend.  Well I love you all and miss you all like crazy.  We are coming up on 104 weeks here next weeks.  That is entirely too long to be away from home.  But now I can count the weks on one hand.  THat is a cool feeling to know that we will be back together in 5 weeks.  Until then keep writing me and keep me updated!

Love,

Elder Lowry        

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Week 102

Hello Family!

This has been another great week here in Jordan.  I am happy here and enjoying my time here on the mission.  Just to let you all know how close I am to coming home if I hadn't extended I would've gone to the office today for interviews and departure meeting and would've flown to Manila tonight.  This is now the first week of my last transfer on a mission.  I'm not being trunky... just accurate. HA.  I was in a tripanionship.  Elder Doig, Elder Faran and I just combined areas and had a blast working with each other.  I have known them ever since the MTC so it has been fun to work with them.  In fact Elder Doig will be going home with me in October (he goes home to Cardston).  We weren't able to work in my area very much but we got lots done still.  The work is still moving really slow here in my area and I am still trying to find out what needs to happen to get things going again.  We have been contacting LOTS more less active members these past couple weeks.  So I feel like I know the are much better now and I am excited to get my companion here on Thursday.  

I am way excited for tomorrow as Elder Bednar will be visiting us here for a day.  You cannot even imagine how excited I am to get to learn at the feet of an apostle of the Lord.  I am so excited to hear his message.  He assigned us to study a couple talks he has given in the past and those talks were just fantastic.  I have learned so much about learning and teaching and I am excited to see what his training will be like tomorrow.  I will take lots of notes and fill you all in next week.  Then when I get home that will be a big part of my report I'm sure.  I got my clothes all ready this morning... meaning I literally did laundry for about 4- 5 hours this morning.  My hands look like ground beef.. they are rubbed so raw.  I was pretty lazy last week and didn't do all my laundry because we were in the city for most of the day. So I had quite a pile of clothes to wash (by hand) and I did it!  But it literally took all morning.  I will be so grateful for a washing machine in a couple weeks.  

The work has been tough and my big focus is just contacting and teaching as many less actives here in the area.  There are so many of them and I want them back.  I don't care if I don't baptize another person as long as I can have some people come back to activity.  That is what the branch really needs right now and so that is what my goal is.  I think this last month we contacted 12 less active members for the first time.  So that gives us a LOT more people to work with and hopefully through them we can find more investigators that will progress in the gospel.  We have taught lots of people but they are still not wanting to act according to the message yet.  That is always the tough part... getting people here to do something.  They would much rather just listen.  I also feel like some people require a visit from the missionaries if they are to go to church.  But if you don't visit them... no chance.   So that is another thing that needs to be fixed.  

Yesterday I had a cool experience with working in the area next to mine... We got to take the sacrament to a woman in the hospital who is going to die of cancer soon.  She is pretty old now and the other Elders bring her sacrament and we had a little sacrament meeting with her... it actually reminded me of when Dad and I would bring sacrament to an older woman in the ward.  But we administered the sacrament and shared a message.  For my part I just had to express thanks that we were members of the church and that no matter what our circumstances are or where we may be when we partake of the sacrament we can enjoy the presence of the Spirit and have that peace that Jesus Christ promised to leave with His Apostles.  It was such a testimony to me that I was where I needed to be and doing the right thing as I sat in this hospital room (an over packed noisy place that you don't think could ever be peaceful) and enjoyed the companionship of fellow members and the Spirit of the Lord.  Another one of those experiences that mkes you just sit back and thank God that you went on a mission.

I think that my goal for this area before I go home is to just get things moving here in Jordan B.  I wanna leave this area with a good sized teaching pool and with investigators that are at least progressing.  I have had some good weeks here but getting any consistency has been quite the challenge for me here.  I am praying way hard that I get a sweet companion that is ready to work hard... he's gonna have a hard time here in Jordan if he isn't ready for that.  I am excited to push hard through these last weeks of the mission.  I am happy I extended and now I get six more weeks to enjoy on the Philippine islands.  I know I can get things going here and get Jordan branch bumping again.  

This next week is looking to be quite an exciting one for us here and I am way excited to get through it and report back to you all what all happened.  It sure sounds like everyone is having a great time over there and keeping busy.  I'm sure the next transfer will fly by and be over in no time.  After all we are only talking about 42 days or so until I'm home... get excited!

I love you all and hope you all have an awesome week.

Elder Lowry

Monday, August 20, 2012

Week 101

Hello Family!

This has been another good week of hard work here in Jordan!  We had some good success and we are still struggling with some of our investigators and members to "choose the better part" when it comes to Sunday activities.  I'll talk more about that later.  The big news for this week happened yesterday... We were at the church early waiting for a couple more people to show up so we could start our PEC meeting President Pagaduan called.  I answered and he had his usual small talk asking how I was doing and stuff and then he asked to talk to my companion.  So I called Elder Johnson over and they talked... turns out my companion is going to be an office Elder as the supply manager.  So he is leaving TODAY to go be trained as the supply manager.  So for the next two weeks I will be on splits here in Jordan until Transfer Day on the 28th.  I am excited for him to be an office Elder I think he will learn alot.  He is super nervous... mostly because he is just a nervous person and doesn't handle pressure very well.  We will just have to see how he does... I am confident he will rise to the task.

I have been thinking about the Sabbath Day alot since that is such a challenge for people in this country.  They just get so caught up in the mundane everyday things of life and find it hard to pick what to do on Sundays.  I have though lots and it really just comes down to what Jesus said to correct Martha and said, "choose the better part."  Out of all the good things she could have been doing for Jesus Christ like cooking food or cleaning the house... Mary had the mentality that the most important thing she ould do at that time was to listen to the words of the Master.  And that is what set her apart from Martha.  She focused on the best thing to do rather than a million good things she could be making herself busy with.  That is such a good and difficult trait for us as people to obtain.  That is what I think a big struggle fr alot of people here is... to pick the better par when it comes to Sunday.  Some people think it is ok to miss church to go do a service project or to help a friend... but the best thing we can possibly do is to sit and learn from God though his servants.   I am still trying to find a good way to helo them actually go from hearing this message to applying it to their lives.  It is always pretty tough.  

We had another good success with a family this last week.  The Ogaya family came to church (with the exception of Brother... still not quite there yet) and they all seemed to really love it.  We had a FHE at their house last night and just had a blast.  The cool thing about this FHE was that they asked for us to have it.  So they are really getting more and more excited for the gospel and we are really seeing some improvements with them.  Another one has been this part member family tat we have been working with since I got here.  The mother has come to church now twice and is just loving it.  We still need to get the rest of the family on board but again... it's progress I'm looking for.  The work here really is pretty difficult and for some reason people here have a harder time keeping commitments.  I am looking to evaluate my efforts again this week and make some changes.  

This next week ought to be fun as I will be in a tripanionship with the Zone leaders.  We are excited for it as well.  We are going to Iloilo right after this to go drop off Elder Johnson and eat some lunch.  Both Elder Faran and Elder Doig are good buddies of mine and we are gonna have a blast working together.  I am just excited and making lots of plans for the upcoming weeks.  Some of my last in the Philippines... we've got so much to do in so little time!!!!! Man I love this place, but at the same time I am so excited to come home and see everyone again.  My mind is one confused place right now.  But no worries... I am working hard and loving every minute of it!

I love all of you and can't wait to see all of your faces again in a few weeks!!! It is so close.  I love my mission and am doing great.  See you all soon

Halong,

Elder Lowry

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Week 100


Hello Family!

Well first thing is first... Look up at the title.  WHAT THE?!!!  How did this happen.  It has honestly been 100 weeks since I have been home.  We've only got a few more to go!  this last week has been fun and has been quite the challenge for us here.  It seemed like we were off in our timing all week.  We would show up and no one would be home or they would be so busy with something that they couldn't give us any time.  It was just tough for us to be able to teach anyone.  Like there were two days where we walked around for like 6 hours going between appointments and no one would let us share with them.  It was actually quite ridiculous.  So things were a little slow moving in the area and I am confused on how we went from such a successful week to nothing it seemed like.  We still had a couple people come to church but this was the problem... all the people who came this last week didn't show up yesterday... so we lost that momentum we had built up and I am worried that the people might just fall back into the habit of not coming to church (mostly because they haven't even made it a habit yet to come to church).  So now you know the stress and worries of this missionary.

I am not too worried about it though because we really are trying our hardest.  I am definitely concerned about the fact that none of the people we made progress on this last week progressed this week, but I feel like with some good follow up this week we will be able to find the problem and make some solutions.  I look forward to the challenge and hope I am up for the task.  The work here seems to be super inconsistent and I am trying to get things started but it seems like everyone is only willing to hop on board for like a week or two and then they are tired or discouraged or a number of different things may happen so that they can't continue to persevere.  This next week will be another one where we are gonna have to work our butts off to see any progression.  These people are proving tougher to motivate than some other areas. 

We did have one BIG family come to church that we have been working hard with since before I got here and this is only the second time that they have come to church as a family.  They are the Ogaya family and they are the ones that made me my birthday dinner.  They are such a cute family and all the kids are just like little brothers and sisters to me.  They have 6 kids and they are all still young.  The oldest is 14 I think.  But they are just so special and I love them already.  I love going over there and teaching them as a family.  They also just LOVE the missionaries and it is jus a fun place to be after a day of hard work and you are just exhausted.  They usually have food for us and always know how to lift my spirits.  So I was so happy that they all showed up and last night we shared the Restoration video again with them.  They all said that they really enjoyed church and I really hope they can keep this momentum and keep going strong. 

Overall I am happy and doing well here in jordan.  I enjoyed my pizza this last week even though it was Pizza Hut.  I am well aware that it is the bottom of the pizza chain at home but in the Philippines it is a sit down fancy restaurant.  Fancier than anywhere else I have been here.  So I will be more than happy when I get home and I get to eat Pizza joint and Mellow Mushroom an Dominoes.  Ahhh... my mouth is watering already.  Like you don't even know how excited I am t eat pizza and dad's hamburgers, mexican food, and Miyabi's.  I will eat SO much rice at Miyabi's.  I am a rice eating machine here!!!! I will challenge anyone to a rice eating contest at Miyabi's when I am home.  BRING IT ON!

I love you all and miss you all so much.  100 weeks, MAN!  That is so long.  But I can count the weeks left without even taking off my shoes... so you know we are close.  I can't wait!

Halong,

Elder Lowry

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Week 99

Hello Family!

Another great week here in Jordan!  We actually did see lots of progression in the area and it made me really excited for the work.  A lot of people we have been working with the past transfer all decided to come to church yesterday... so that was awesome to see.  I really felt like yesterday was a big step for a lot of people in our area.  I think we had five people in attendance yesterday that hadn't been to church in YEARS.  So I was just happy all day yesterday that they finally took that first step.  We have been waiting for this to happen for a good 5 or 6 weeks now.  

I feel like Elder Johnson and I made a lot of adjustments this last week and it really payed off for us.  We saw lots of good results and so I am just excited to continue adjusting and getting better.  This is just the beginning... these people are still far from hanging their lives.  SO I am happy that we have started and these people have taking those first steps forward, but they have still got a long ways to go.  I think that is what I have been thinking about the most this last week.  How we can never be satisfied with where we are.  We always have to be hungry and looking for more.  I think that might be one of the main problems with some attitudes here in the Philippines.  They are satisfied with the changes they have made in their life and see no more reason to work for more.  They are content and don't feel the need to continue on to bigger and better things.  I think that has been a big challenge on my mission... to get people to be excited for moving on in the gospel.  For preparing for the temple or for getting ready for moving on in the gospel. Baptism is not even close to the end of our journey.  If you think about it any great story consists of a person of group of people that would never be satisfied with how far they had gone... they still have things they want and they never stop working to get them.  Every one wants to have a great life story but I don't think many of us actually want to work for it. So I have just been thinking on how to get people excited for the work they have to put into the gospel and then at the end they will have that great life story that everyone is praying for.  So this is something I have been wanting to work on for myself. To get rid of the laziness and other bad qualities so that I am never satisfied with my accomplishments in life and always be looking for more.  More to learn more to study and more to do.  I think that is what makes a person great.

It has been fun trying to pass this along to other members and investigators.  It has really lifted their vision and you can see that they get a bit of inspiration.  They catch that vision of what their life could be and then they have that desire to work and sacrifice in order to achieve their goals.  It is quite contagious and I have seen a bit of a morale increase among the members we work with.  It is tough sometimes being the missionary because they have to catch that fire from someone and if you don' have it you can't expect to give it to them.  So it has been a trial for me sometimes to have that excitement... even when they don't keep commitments or even when you are dead tired at the end of the day.  That has been my goal this last week to walk into every lesson as if that lesson was going to be the one to reactivate them or to convince them the message is true... it is pretty tiring I have found, but completely worth it.  

We had one less active family come to church that was just a miracle.  We have been visiting them for probably about three weeks now and they really are poor and live really far from the church.  So we just decided to focus on the basics before we tried to focus on getting them to the church right away.  We decided to focus on scripture study. We kinda did a family scripture study with them one afternoon and made sure it was super fun and they just loved it.  So then we would give them assigned chapters to read and the kids have really been reading their scriptures everyday for like two weeks now, and that is when the changes happened.  Every time now when we leave they pray that they can afford to go to church that weekend.  They pray that the weather will be ok so that they can walk the kilometer or two out to the main highway and catch a ride... So we really saw their desire to go to church even though we weren't necessarily committing them to every visit.  It was awesome to have them come to church and the kids just had a blast.  I was super happy for them and hope that they will continue to have that excitement and desire to draw closer to Heavenly Father.  

I am way excited for this next week!  I can't wait to get out there and work super hard.  I love the work and can't believe yet another week has flown by.  I don't mean to get anyone worked up but I think I only have 9 more of these to write to you all after this one.  That is so hard to believe!  I am way excited to finish strong... a lot of my batch goes home here in the next three weeks.  SO that will be interesting to be one of the few oldest missionaries in the mission.  I love you all and I'm sorry I can't write a longer letter.  I have to get going to iloilo city to withdraw my support and eat my pizza hut!  I am excited.  I am also going to get the belts for Dad, Matthew, and Graham ordered.  We are kinda packed in our schedule today. I love you all so much though and can't wait to get your emails next week!

Love,

Elder Lowry

Monday, July 30, 2012

Week 98

Hello Family!

This has been another fun week here in Jordan!  I am really enjoying my time here and it seems to be just flying by.  I thought the other day of how fast the weeks have been just flying by lately.  It seems like the longer you have been out the faster the time seems to go by.  My companion is still pretty new in the mission and is always talking about how slow the time is going by for him and I always get confused because it is just flying for me.  It does seem like a long time ago, though, that I had my birthday.  It was a great day for me here though.  We had interviews with President Pagaduan in the morning... just the regular every other month interviews... nothing interesting happened.  SO it was fun to see him and sister.  Elder and Sister Dyer (the senior couple here) had made a delicious squash cake and had bought tons of fruit.  So we got to eat grapes (first time I've had grapes since 2010) and had delicious cake.  The cake tasted a whole lot like carrot cake... SO I had to tell everyone the story of when Dad made a carrot cake for a little girl that we home taught.  Everyone got a good chuckle out of that one.  Sister Pagaduan also made me homemade brownies... DELICIOUS.  The work even seemed to go super well that day and at the end of the day I went to a LA family's house and they made my favorite food.  Bicol Express.  Sister Ogaya made is just PERFECT too.  I brought some candy for the kids too.  I shared the Swedish Fish and the Gum balls.  I also gave all the kids squirt guns... That was a big hit.  It was quite the evening of good food and games.  So I had a GREAT birthday and I will never forget turning 21 in Jordan.  It was a fun fun day.

The work is still having a tough time here.  It seems like anyone that we visit decides to stop going to church...haha.  That is HORRIBLE.  But seriously, out of EVERYONE we went and taught this last week 2 of them showed up at church yesterday.  SO Elder Johnson and I sat down for a couple hours yesterday and had a long chat on how we needed to adjust what we were doing in order to get some different results and see some progression here.  We figured out some important things that we feel our investigators and members maybe don't quite understand yet and we have set some goals to fix that.  We taught some lessons last night as well and I feel like they went pretty well.  To be fair to us... we have had some super weird weather and that might be contributing to why we are having a tough time.  It has been storming all weekend long and it seems like ANY minute the heavens will just open up and pour down rain.  

I think this is good for us here in Jordan though.  We are learning a lot about how we need to change more and adapt more.  My companion seems hesitant to ever change what he is doing so it has been tough to get him on board for the new plan.  I don't mean to point fingers or anything but I can definitely see that this is something important for him to learn right now and when we can both be united in our change I expect to see the work take off.  So I am trying my hardest to help him accept that we need to do things differently in order to expect something different to happen to us.  So that is my main focus this week... to help the both of us change what we are doing and then we can expect different and better results.  

We are, however, working our hardest and we are definitely not slacking work wise.  We are tracting a lot and trying our very hardest to help others come closer to Christ.  I just don't think we are doing it the most effective way right now.  I, myself, am doing lots of thinking and studying on what exactly we need to be doing differently in order to help the people here change and repent.  I feel like every area is different and what we did in Hamtic won't necessarily transfer to Jordan.  So that is always tough and I don't feel like I am quite there yet.  I don't understand how to help these people effectively yet.  So that is another goal for this week.  Strive for some more understanding and to act accordingly.  So we still got lots of things to work out and I think we will get there slowly but surely.  I feel like this area has kinda died... for like 3- 4 months now.  It is just so hard to revive an area.  My goal is to just get some life in it and to get things rolling... that will be a good accomplishment and then I can go home.  Just like Hamtic... it was kinda dead and until right now it is just thriving.  I still get emails from Elder Domincel and it is doing really well apparently.  They are baptizing a guy that E Domincel and I started teaching and gave a baptismal date to.  So that is super exciting!  That is what I want to happen here in Jordan.  Then I will be happy and content. 

Well I am excited for another week of the missionary grind.  I am sure this week will just absolutely fly by and then August will already have been started.  This is CRAZY. Graham leaves in September and then I go home in October.  It is sure going by quick.  Also, I can't believe I almost forgot this... Elder David A. Bednar is visiting here on August 30!  WHOOO!!! I will get to have an apostle visit the mission.  We get a training from him on that day.  I am so excited.  And the funny thing is that if I didn't extend I would've flown home on August 29th.  Would've missed him by one day.... in fact most of my batch is gonna miss an apostle visiting their mission by one day.  HAHA SUCKERS!  I am glad I chose to extend and I am sure I will love getting to see him.  This is the first time an apostle of the Lord will ever set foot on the island of Panay.  How cool is that?  And I will be ther.  If you remember too, he came and spoke to us in the MTC the week before I left to the Philippines nearly two ears ago.  It will be sweet to be able to shake his hand and meet him for real this time.  This is a nice end of the mission present from God.

Well I love you all and can't wait for next week's letters!  I love and miss you all so much.  

Halong,

Elder Lowry

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Week 97

Hello family!

This week has gone by just about as fast as the others have... man the time seems to just be absolutely flying now.  We had a good week of work here in Jordan and I feel like we got a good amount done.  We are still not quite seeing everything we would like to see happen but I think we are closer than we were last week.  It was awesome getting everyone's letters.  If you don't know how much I LOVE getting letters and emails let me explain... it is what keeps me excited during the week.  I love reading letters after a good hard week of work here in the Philippines.  Such a treat.  So keep 'em coming.  You time is almost up to write me on a mission.  Before too long I won't be a missionary anymore.  It is never to late to drop me an email.  I will respond and love you forever. 

We are working super hard here in Jordan.  I am still really trying to find more people to teach, but this week we got a LOT more new investigators.  We got a cool new family we are teaching... The Enriques family.  They are still brand new and we have only taught them once but it was a very nice lesson and they seemed super interested in what we were sharing with them.  We will be back to visit them again on Wednesday... MY BIRTHDAY (I will talk about this more later).  We have also had a lot of people we have just contacted and invited to hear the message.  Some turn out ok and let us at least share a message... some just tell us to come back and then never are home at that time.  We will find the golden ones sooner or later.  That has been the big story of this last week.  We did our one hour of tracting everyday and just got kicked around by all the people here.  It was tough but I think we are doing better about getting more investigators and not focusing on members nearly as much.  We have the same goal this week and I think it will really get some momentum for us in the work here.  We really need someone to progress and get some momentum here in the area.  It seems like nothing has really happened for 3 months so it is tough to get things rolling again.  We can do it though.  

We do have one really cool investigator that has shown some really promising signs.  His name is Joetay... the name is funny here because "Diutay" (pronounced the same as Joetay) is the Ilonggo word for small.  He is a way cool guy and seems really sincere and loves to have us over at his house.  He prays really sincerely and does all of his reading assignments.  We just taught im about the Book of Mormon the other day and we are going to follow up his reading on Tuesday.  We got to stop by his house yesterday and he said he has been reading and he likes it so I am excited to get to talk to him more about it on Tuesday.  I am hoping that we can get some more people we have been working with at church this next week.  yesterday was a nasty rainy stormy day and not a whole lot of people showed up at church for us.  It always stinks to wake up on Sunday morning and here rain pouring down.  You immediately think... Ah crap... no one is gonna go to church in rain like this.   I have only been proved wrong once with that and it was one Sunday in Molo when even though it was raining we had like 8 investigators at church.  I have faith that this next week will be fair weather and we will have lots more people attend church!

In other news... I turn 21 this Wednesday.  How did this happen?!  I feel like I am just a kid but now I am really an adult (or on Wednesday I am).  I would say that this would mean I have to act like an adult.  Like that'll ever happen.  I have a dinner appointment set for Wednesday and I am bringing candy from my birthday packages I got to share with the Ogaya family.  Mom and Krista are AWESOME and sent everything I could want for my birthday... I love you all so much! Anyways the Ogaya family is a less active family we are working with and they are super nice.  They are gonna make me a dinner on Wednesday and I will bring the water guns that Mom sent me and some of the candies and it will just be a super fun little birthday party.  I am super excited for it and it will be a good time with the less active family that needs some help.  Sister has 6 kids and her husband just doesn't help too much with anything around the house.  So she has a tough time especially with her husband wanting her to work as well.  So I think this will be a good time for them and maybe we can talk to Brother Ogaya a little bit more since he runs from missionaries like the plague. Maybe if food is involved he will stick around and we can get him to like us a bit more (even though he is a member he doesn't want to be taught by the missionaries).  Hopefully this will be a good opportunity for us to bond with them and help them become active again.  Don't worry I will have my camera and we will take lots of pictures.  Then there is an active family that has a birthday this Saturday and they invited us over to the birthday meal since my birthday is just  couple days before... So don't worry about me... I'll get my birthday fun.  

Well I am going to wrap this letter up.  I love you all and I am having a great time here in Jordan.  I am working hard and doing my best.  I am excited to see you all again and we can tell each other stories about what has happened over the last two years.  Take Care and know that I love and miss you all!

Halong,

Elder Lowry

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Week 96

Hello Family!

I just sent my response form to the office checking all my departure information.  Holy Crap!  I'm coming home in 12 weeks.  That is all I want to say about that right now though.  It could get me feeling trunky.  this was a great week for me.  It was super busy and kept me on my toes.  I really have felt tired alot lately and when I get home I am racing through everything just so I can pass out on my bed sooner.  It has also been such a challenge for me to get up a bit earlier and workout.  I absolutely despise every minute I am awake before 6:30.  It is the worst ever.  I feel like I am working super hard still though and that Jordan is really not going to let me slack in my work.  The area is still having some struggles with investigators.  So bad that I made a goal this last week in weekly planning that this week we will have at least an hour of tracting everyday.  We really need to find some people who will actually respond to the message.  

Hannah included something good in her email and it is something that is so hard to get across to people when you teach them the gospel.  When the lesson is over... something has to change.  If nothing is changed after the lesson than all was wasted and you will eventually just forget it all together.  That is why when we come back to people's house they eventually just say that they had forgotten the lesson from the last time we were there.  It is because they did not consciously change something in their lives according to what they had heard/ learned.  That also applies to anywhere we are as members of the church.  If we leave any church meeting and do not leave with an attitude of repentance and change we might as well have slept the entire time (PA!... joke).  That is really something that we struggle with here in the Philippines... anyone will let you teach them but the toughy is helping them actually change in accordance with what they learn.  Good point Hannah and the quicker we learn that simple lesson the better.  

We are still working really hard with the less active crowd in our area.  We are seeing good change with them...l but not nearly as many of them went to church as we had hoped.  It used to really just set me off when people wouldn't show up to church... but I am learning not to take it so personally.  Now I enjoy my church services alot more because it seems every week that at least one or two people that you were expecting don't show up.  Now I kind of have the attitude that at least I am there and that I am where I am supposed to be.  I did all I could to invite others and to help them understand the importance of being at church... nothing else I can do.  Some people get shy when I follow up with why they weren't able to go to church so I try to explain to them now that they shouldn't be shy to me.  I am just a missionary and should not be accounted to... I was at church and had a GREAT time.  I am simply just trying to help them enjoy their Sunday as much as I enjoyed mine.  So that is what I think about people not showing up to church.  

Right now I am just cruising through the mission.  I am really enjoying the work and am excited to see what else the Jordan area has in store for me.  The members here are super nice to us and love to have the missionaries around.  I am also giving a big boost here at the end of my mission to really master the language more.  I think I have learned more these past two months than I did my first six months.  I have gotten lots better and I really feel confident in my ability to speak Ilonggo and Karay-a.  Those are the two languages that I have spent alot of time with in my mission.  At the very beginning I thought that all I could ever learn was Tagalog... but now I am much better at these other two dialects than I ever was at Tagalog. It is nice, though, that they are so close to each other cause the concepts of the languages usually are the same... just different words.  

Going back to Molo was a fun trip this last week.  I actually got to work in my old area Molo 1b.  I had a nice dinner appointment at the Gaje's house and that whole evening I took the new Elder there and introduced him to all the people I was close with.  I think the big thing that happens here in the Philippines that sometimes kills the work is some missionaries don't know how to hand off an area to someone else.  People are always falling through the cracks and end up lost.  I have seen that here in Jordan.  I am trying to help my companion right now help me know the area better.  I feel like when a missionary leaves an area that he hasn't left all the knowledge of the area he has to the next companion.  So it was fun to take him around Molo (he is still just new there).    

Overall I am doing great and excited to get back to work this next week.  It is crazy that the mission is actually going to end.  I will be fun t get home and see everything again.  Dad said something about a store going up at Washington and Gibbs road... It took me this whole email to remember where Gibbs road is.  I thought it was downtown somewhere.  It'll be fun to get back and remember everything.  I love you all and miss you a ton.  I hope you all have a great week and don't miss me too much.

Halong,

Elder Lowry

Week 95

So I had a wonderful long email all written out for you all and I
checked my inbox because someone had just emailed me and I promise I
clicked save draft... but it was lost. I am so mad. I can't believe
it is just nowhere to be found right now. I honestly don't even know
what happened. I hate computers!!!! AAAAHAHHH

This week has been a really good one here in Guimaras. We have been
working LOTS with Less Active members and it seems to be really
effective right now. This last week we had 6 less active members come
for the fist time in a long time. So we were super proud. We have
been working hard with a family named the Peralta family. Even though
they were pretty closed off and unreceptive at first they all came to
church and we have a good commitment for them to do the same next
week. I was so happy that they all came as a family and were there
really early. So good to see. Brother Peralta also got interviewed...
he has the Melchizedek priesthood and should hav a calling before too
long. SO we are super excited for them. His Sister in Law also came
with her kids and her cousin to church. She just went through a
separation with her husband and has been inactive since. But her and
her kids were all there and seemed to really enjoy themselves. The
branch did a great job welcoming all the less actives back and making
them feel loved. It was a good week for less active work. We are
struggling with investigators right now. When I got to the area I
tink there were abot three people investigating the church. I haven't
seen any of them go to church yet either... so we need to get some
more new investigators this week really badly. That will be my focus
over the next couple weeks and if we can do that the aea will be
great. The branch here is really sweet and love their missionaries.
They are also working hard t actually have a hometeaching program.
This is the best area I have been in for home teaching. The members
are actually visiting others and they are reporting... it is just good
to see. They still have lots to work out, but I think they are leagues
ahead of my other areas I have been in. SO I am way proud of Jordan
branch for that. This week should also be exciting cause I go to
Iloilo again for Leadership training. That aso means I will get to go
to Molo to work for a night and see my friends out there. I am so
excited for that. I will also be with Elder Faran for that trip...
who was my companion while I was in Molo. We will have a fun time
remiscing the good ol days in Molo. We already have a sweet dinner
appointment at the Gaje's house for Wednesday night. It is going to
be so good. Anyways. I am still so mad that my other letter was
lost. I will just have to make next weeks really great. I love you
all and I miss you all so much. Three months til I go home. HAPPY
BIRTHDAY THATCHER MAN!!! He is 5 tomorrow... so hard to believe.

Halong,

Elder Lowry

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Week 94

Hello Family!

So this letter is coming to you all from a newly assigned Guimaras Elder! I am now assigned on that little island under Panay called Guimaras.  Home to the best mangoes in the entire world.  They are literally supposed to be the sweetest mangoes in the entire world.  I hear that the White House and Buckenheim Palace don't accept any mangoes that are not from here.  So I am pretty lucky to have so of the best fruit in the world for a dollar a kilogram... not to make you jealous or anything.  I am assigned in the capital of the island in a little place called Jordan.  I have a new companion named Elder Johnson from Washington State.  Things seem to be going well so far and I am excited to get more familiarized with this area and live up my last couple transfers in the mission field.  I was also called to be the district leader here... so I am back to planning for and teaching district meetings every Tuesday morning.  I was really sad to leave Antique... I really would rather have stayed in Hamtic for the rest of my mission.  I am not a very big fan of taking boat rides every time we have to go to the city.  It is just a short ride about 15 minutes long... but I do always get a queezy feeling on the boats and I would really not be happy if it decides to storm one day when we have to take the trip.  The boats are pretty big and make out of wood... I will just have to send a picture for you all to get what they look like.  They are pretty ghetto though and you just have to trust that they will hold up... haha.

I don't know too much about the new area yet but it seems like an ideal place to wrap up my mission.  It is still just a small branch here and we are part of the stake from Iloilo city.  Guimaras island is still pretty undeveloped and still just lots of agriculture.  It does attract some foreigners though and there are supposed to be some really nice condos tucked away on private beaches all around the island.  This would be a way cool place to build a house someday if I ever had the money and ability to do it.  It really does have that island paradise feel to it.  The branch here had a very warm welcome for me this last weekend and we were lucky as well that we had two missionaries come home from their missions this last week as well.  So they are a very missionary excited branch right now and I expect to see lots of missionary work done over the next few months because of it.  I am also in the same house right now with Elder Faran (my companion when I was in Molo) and also Elder Doig who is a fellow Canadian from Cardston Alberta!  He knows Uncle Lorin and Tayt and all them... so it is a small world.  

I am way excited for these next couple months to be able to serve here on Guimaras.  I know the language... it is just Ilonggo and the people seem to be way nice here.  I do just love this country so much.  It will be such a reality check to leave here one day.  I will just miss they way they do everything here.  I admire everything about these people and all their weird little cultures.  It is funny being with a newer missionary and trying to explain to him why the people here do things the way they do.  ANd some Americans really just don't like the way things are done sometimes so it is always a challenge to help them just look at things from the Filipino perspective and help the newbie understand the culture a bit more.  I really want to come back to the Philippines so bad someday and get to just go around and explore more than I am able to do as a missionary.  I wanna be able to experience life in the Philippines and be able to mingle with my friends here more than you are allowed to as a missionary.  Right now that will be a big goal for when I go home... to get back to the Philippines for a vacation.  I have enough people that I know that could offer me sleeping places and food that I don't even think it would be THAT expensive other than for the travel expenses.  So everyone start saving their money for a Philippines road trip if you are interested.  

Well I miss you all and love you all so much.  I am glad that you all emailed me and let me know what is going on in good ol' Georgia.  That is crazy that Steven got married!  Congrats pal!  I can't wait to come and meet your new wife.  It seems like I am the only bachelor left haha.  I'm not gonna think about that anymore.  I hope this next week is awesome for everyone and you don't miss me TOO much.  If you do just imagine me eating the best mangoes in the world... it will make you happy.  

Love you!

Halong,

Elder Lowry

Week 93

Hello Family!!!

Things are still trucking along here in the Philippines and I am just loving it!  I was SO excited to hear that Finn was finally born and that it wasn't a scary delivery or anything.  I am so excited to meet him... in fact that is probably the biggest thing I am looking forward to for when I get home.  Just from the pictures I felt a connection to him and I just really wanna see him and hold him for  a while.  He is definitely a perfect addition to the family and I'm sure his brothers just love him already.  This really has been the thing that has made me miss home the most... the baby being born.  I think it might just be that some of my missionary buddies left to go home this morning as well.  But I definitely missed that I wasn't able to see Finn this last weekend.  Don't worry though, I will still keep working hard!

This was my last full week, probably, in Antique.  I am still feeling like I will transfer here pretty soon and go to my last area.  I will let you all know how that plays out next week.  But this has been such a fun week for us here in Hamtic.  We had a baptism yesterday and we had Jun-Jun's Dad baptize him!  It was a great service and everybody really enjoyed it.  Also a little member girl turned eight and got baptized Saturday as well... that was fun too because her Dad also baptized her.  It is such a big deal to get the men here in the Philippines to not be shy to use their priesthood.. the are so used and would much rather just have the Elders do it.  So this weekend was a sign of progress as the Elders just stood by and helped with the baptism... we didn't even have to give any of the talks! Yes!  After the baptism we had a branch home evening which turned out to be EXACTLY what we wanted t to be.  I think we had about 120+ people in attendance and every single one had a blast.  The Elders had a surprise for everyone as Elder Petersen was going home and I am about to transfer we decided to split the price of buying a pig and having a "litson"  You just clean a pig and roast it over coals for a couple hours... see the pictures for details.  Well the fun part of this was that we went to the members house and got to kill and clean the pig with them.  It was a pretty crazy morning as we saw how the members knew what to do with EVERY part of the pig.  They used the liver to make us lunch... yes, I ate a dish of pure liver.  I thought I was gonna barf... but it was actually pretty good.  They kept the blood to use for the blood dish they make with the belly meat.  We also went back for a snack on Sunday and ate the intestines... I think I got the point across.  They used everything from the pig and absolutely nothing was wasted.  The thing I thought was the hardest to watch was them prying off the hooves of the pig.  They look exactly like fingernails and it just was freaking me out to see them struggling to pry off the pig's fingernails.    It was fun to put the piece of bamboo from where it's butt used to be until it came out of the mouth and then roasted it over a pit of coals for a couple hours.  So that was our fun morning of making a litson baboy.  The activity, like I said, was well attended and really helped the branch with its unity.  We just feel like over the past few months our members haven't been fighting as much and the branch is really progressing so much more just because they aren't constantly bickering.  We all had fun and the branch did most of the planning and work to get everything set and accomplished so they should be able to do it all by themselves next time... I won't cross my fingers though.

The work is moving along great and with the baptism we just got energized to go out and get some more.  Jun-Jun's baptism was so awesome though and he is gonna make a great member along with his family that has just returned to activity recently.  It is the Banez family and they have been doing so good lately.  They have really rekindled their testimonies and I think they are coming back strong right now.  We are just trying to focus on getting the Dad a calling.  He has the MP and will make a good leader someday.  He just needs to get a responsibility now to keep him going.  We are also working still with the Pablo family to help them prepare for their baptismal date in July.  We were able to teach them the Word of Wisdom since we could obviously see that this commandment might be a bit of a struggle for them.  They accepted it though and have been working this last week to stop using anything that isn't good for their bodies.  I am way excited for them to progress even further.  We are struggling as well to get them all to go as a family to church but I think it will come as we continue to work closely with them.  

Well I am starting my second to last transfer and I only have 15 weeks left on my mission.  I feel happy that my mission is coming to a close and that I will get to see everyone again... Especially Finn... but I will miss the Philippines so bad when I have to leave.  The people here are so cool and I love the little kids too much.  I will miss them the most I think.  I know God called me here because the kids here are cuter than anywhere else in the world.  I think that was a deciding factor as to why I was called to this mission.  They just LOVE to talk and tell you all about their lives and try to understand why things are the way they are.  Like Why do I have blue eyes.  I can't count the number of times I have had to try to answer that.  And then this last Saturday I was just able to play with little kids the whole time the pig was cooking.  I just fell in love with all of them and would take them all home to America in a second if I could.  

Anyways I love and miss you all insane amounts and can't wait to see you all again.  I turn 21 in a month from now... Let that blow your mind for a little bit.  I will be a grown up when I come home.  Never thought that would happen, eh?  I love you all and pray for you all often.  Take care and write me letters.  I love reading them!

Elder Lowry 

Pic 1- BAPTISM!!!

Pic 2 & 3- Branch home evening crowd


Pic 4- That'll do pig... that'll do (that is the one we ate)

Pic 5-  I didn't even know I had this picture until I looked through all my pics after the activity saturday night.  This girl was the cutest little three year old that just wanted to sit on my lap and watch the pig cook.  She would always ask if it was ready to eat... and then say it was taking so long.  Another little girl had my camera and got this cute photo.  I didn't even know until that night that it was on my camera... I think it shows how cute the kids really are here though... and how hairy my neck is.  I got a haircut. 


Here are some more pictures that my companion took... Apparently everyone was taking pictures of me while the pig was cooking and I was just oblivious to it all.  But I'm telling you.. that little girl was SO cute.  I couldn't even stand it.  And then the ones with my companion and I are in a tricycle as we were coming home from a CSP.  It was a fun little photo shoot.