Week 88 (Week 87 we got to Skype!)

Hello Family!

This week actually felt a bit longer than the past couple weeks.  It feels like a while ago that I talked to you all on Skype... but, of course, all is well here in Hamtic and I am, as always, one happy missionary.  The transfers must've been what made the week feel longer... or transfer day seemed to be the day that would never end.  It makes for a super long day when you have to ride all the way to the city in the morning and still have to make the trek back the very same day.  The windy roads therough the mountains just seem to suck my energy out for some reason.  Transfers were weird for antique.  We had to close lots of areas because we are just running out of missionaries it seems.  We had a big batch go home and no one to replace them.  We need more missionaries!  This zone was 18 missionaries when I got here and now we are down to 13.  Hamtic is now the only brnch in the district here that has four missionaries.  So the Antique zone had some major change this transfer.  We only had one Elder in my house get transferred though Elder Naylor.  So now we have a new Elder named Elder Murdoch.  My companion and I both stayed put though and we are both way happy about that.  Elder Domincel and I are way stoked to be together for another transfer and I think we will see good things happen in Antique.

We are still really struggling to find investigators that will progress in the gospel.  We are working way hard to do more finding and to find through our less active families... but so far it hasn't worked for us yet.  We are still looking for new ways to find some more new people to teach.  We are teaching alot of people but none of them are keeping commitments or really doing anything.  So we are still trying to filter through all of them til we find the ones that are prepared for the message.  I wish I had some stories about investigators and how they are doing, but really only one investigator is doing anything for us and even she has some big social concerns that are hindering her progression right now.  

Elder Domincel and I have just really been evaluating our teaching and our investigators and we have been making plans on how we can change in order to start having some more success.  We are still in the process of finding things we can change... but we have already discussed making some changes, like shortening our teaching.  I think we are just spending too much time in our teaching appointments and it would be more effective to shorten them a little bit.  So we are still looking for things that we are doing that we can change in order to make the teachings more effective and more fruitful.

This weekend is District Conference for Antique.  We have a visitor coming from the Area Presidency, Elder Nielson.  He is a member of the 1st Quorum of the Seventy... so we are pretty high rollers out here.  He actually gave a prayer at the last general conference.  He is also going to be doing a mission tour here.  So these next few weeks will be pretty packed for us.  This week won't be too bad, actually, until the weekend.  But the next week we will be going to the city, as a zone, for our zone conference and then the next day Elder Domincel and I will have another zone leader's council.  So next week will be another one of those weeks where we have no time to be in our own area... awesome.  I am excited, though, o be able to meet Elder Nielson and to get to learn from him.  I feel special because I will get to meet him personally and actually get to have time to chat with him and learn from him.  Elder Domincel and I will for sure be seeking revelation on how we can make this area better and how we can get some wheels turning here.  I think we will find some answers. 

Well I miss you all and I can't wait til next time I get to see you all... cause it will be for REAL!!! Needless to say I am way excited for that day.  It seems like all my friends are coming home from their missions... I'm not too far behind them.  I love you all and I pray for you all often.  I am doing great and I am happy here.  I know the church is true!

Love,

Elder Lowry

Pic 1:  These are our fans... They love to have Elder Domincel and I do magic for them.

Pic 2:  Another cool Sunset in Antique.

Week 86

Hello Family!

Things are going great over here!  It has been another week of hard work and just trying to find what Elder Domincel and I could be doing better in order to see more results.  It was a good opportunity for us to go into a full week of training seeking revelation and guidance on what we can do to be more effective.  This last week we were in Iloilo city from Tuesday until Friday.  It does make for a tough week on the work here in Hamtic but I feel like was worthwhile and I am really thankful that I was able to be edified and taught.  I'm not saying this last week was perfect by any means but it was a good chance for me to understand what I am going through a bit more.  A chance to step back and reflect on what the Lord would have me learn/ do in a situation like this.  I feel like this is a very common problem to have in life (I feel like I have experienced this "stuck" feeling before) and I feel like I am making good progress getting out of it.  I hope I am making any sense right now.  So I feel like I am doing really good right now and I feel like things are on the upturn this next week.  Let me explain:

We made progress with the Tibubos family that we have been working so hard to get appointments with and to be able to teach.  In fact, we were able to teach them twice this last week and they showed progression both times!  Brother Roderick, the Dad, shared with us that he really weants to change and be a better person for his family and that he even wanted to join the church!  Sister Joseth is a bit more timid but when we visited them yesterday she came right up to us and was way happy to see us (strange for her) and announced that she had been reading the Book of Mormon!  I am not getting my hopes up too much yet... they still need to visit the church, but they definitely have potential and might just be "that" family that Elder and I have been searching for.  We will keep you all updated.  

Like I said, this last week was full of training in Iloilo city.  It was quite a week of eating WAY too much.  We got to eat at the Gaje's house in Molo every night!  That is the cute family that I worked with while I was in Molo... I think there a picture of little Jerick and I in one of my older posts.  They had a birthday this last week and had a TON of food.  They LOVE to spoil missionaries and Sister Susie gets a ridiculous amount of joy from watching Elders eat.  She literally cannot even allow Elders to walk by her house without treating them to a sprite and some oreos.  About the training... We had zone leader's council on Wednesday and then two days worth of leadership training.  The thing that impressed me the most was a training on the "Why" of everything we do.  Like President Utchdorf's statement in the last conference, "The What informs while the Why transforms."  We discussed what this statement just meant and how we can apply this to our missionary work.  So that has been something I have been churning this truth in my mind over the past few days.  It has helped understand more about what I am doing here in the Philippines and how I can help other come unto Christ more effectively.  I think it does us alot of good to evaluate ourselves every once in a while to check why we are doing the things we are doing.  It helps realize if we are really involved in what we are doing or simply going through the motions.  It helps get that passion that we used to have and lifts us out of these ruts that we can get stuck in.  I think this is the big realization I've had this week and has lifted my spirits again.  It helps me understand that I am doing the right things, but maybe my motives need to be adjusted a bit.  It also helps you accept that things won't be perfect the first time through and it helps me have that determination to carry on through trial.  So I really think that the training was EXACTLY what I needed to hear this last week and I am doing my best to apply it to my life as well as help others understand it.  

I hope everything is going well over there and that you have all had a great week.  I am doing great and I feel like things are getting better.  Elder Domincel and I are really excited that this week we will be in our area working our butts off this week! I love the work I am doing and I hope that this next week things continue too turn for the better and that week can help at least one family to help come to the church and to be that golden family that every missionary wants to find and teach.  I think we are close!  

I love you all and I miss you all so much!  I will talk to you all next week... I will just do what we did this last time and call early morning here so Sunday afternoon/ evening for you all.  I completely forgot my username and maybe password that I used during Christmas.  Could you all look that up for me... I should still be in your friends list.  If I have that I should be able to get the password in one or two tries.  I will try to get a nice quick computer shop for it to.  I would've liked to have it all planned out right now, but this last week was just chaos for Elder and I.  Probably, though, around 6 or 7 AM here I will be able to call.  I will send you all an email when I get to the computer shop and we will make sure everything works out.  This is crazy that this is the last time I will skype or talk to you all before I come home! 

Love you all!

Elder Lowry

WHAT!!! Look at how high he is!!!

Week 85

Hello Family!

 

Things here in Hamtic are great!  This week has been a tough one for me but I am still doing great and I love my mission.  I just seem to be in one of those stuck parts of life where I think I am doing everything I can and nothing seems to be going "my way."  Which I guess I shouldn't complain too much about since this isn't really "my"  mission or "my" time.  I have felt kinda down the past few days as I have been really giving it my all here in hamtic and things just didn't turn out for Domincel and I.  It is really frustrating when you know you are working hard and the results you are hoping/ working for don't show up on your timetable. So I have had to really swallow a big ol pride pill and learn to just rely on the Lord even more.  it just is never that easy to accept that things shouldn't go how I think they should go.  Well the baptism didn't go through this weekend as Marjorie is so shy and says that she is not ready yet.  It is tough to accept just because I know that she understands what we have taught her and she has a desire to be baptized but just refuses to go through with it because other people say that they won't support her in her decision.  We will continue to work with her and work harder to help her prepare herself for the next big step for her.  We are also seeming to run into walls non-stop in our search for a family that we can help come into the church.  We are still working closely with one family but it is turning out to be really tough to ever get opportunities to teach them as a family.  It has just seemed like all the plans we have made this last week and work we have accomplished just hasn't moved forward at all.  Like we are just at a stand still with the work right now.  I am confident that the Lord will show forth His mighty hand in our work when He feels it appropriate and I just have the responsibility or duty to just move forward and not ask any questions.  I think that is just something that I am meant to learn right now... How to wait upon the Lord.  I remember that talk from conference that year where the said that people often pray for patience but want it right then.  I guess the same thing could apply to me right now.  I just wanted to share how I was feeling.

 

This next week promises to be challenging as well as Elder Domincel and I will not be in our area from Tuesday afternoon to Friday afternoon. Then it is festival here in Hamtic Friday.  We are going to have to work in some far away that day as everyone near town will not be proned to want to listen to us then.  I am ready though for this challenge and I feel like if I continue to just do as much as I possibly can everything will work out.  I have been focusing on just not getting stressed about things I can't control.  That will be a big life lesson that I can learn here on my mission.  Why stress out about things I just simply have not control over.  I am trying to just focus on what I need to do and let other things work themselves out. 

 

Let's see... what else can I report to you all.  Ah ya.. I got a cool bible the other day.  I never thought that they had any written things in Karay-a (the local dialect here).  Well  I bought a bible that is all in Kinaray-a so now I have proof that this language is real and I'm not just making all this up over here about weird dialects in every new area.  It has also proved to be a great study tool and I have learned a ton of Karay-a words that I didn't know before.  It is god because it really uses conversational Karay-a and I can understand it really well.  I probably understand it better than I understand the Ilonggo Book of Mormon... The church when it makes books in the native languages here they use really weird words that no one uses anymore in just conversation.  But this bible is really nice and uses common Karay-a words I have really enjoyed reading it and trying to pick up more words and grammer.  I can't wait to get home and attempt to explain these languages to you all.  It really is interesting stuff and it is weird when you know six different words that mean dog.  I feel like I am cramming my mind to the brim with new words and trying not to get them mixed up.  Like if you say, "agi lang kami"  with the accent on the a in agi it means you are just passing by... but if you put the accent on the i in agi it means that you are gay.  So you gotta be careful with not mixing up these new words you are learning.  haha

 

I hope everyone is doing well over there.  It sure sounds like Thatcher and Levi are turning into the Dynamic Duo over there.  They have gotten so big since I have been gone.  It is hard for me to believe when I see pictures that Krista sends to me.  I am excited that in just a mere matter of months I will get to see everyone again and have good talks with them and see what all has changed while I've been gone.  For now just know that I miss you all and I am continuing to work hard and strive to become even better of a person than I was yesterday.  I think I have grown alot while I've been gone and I can't wait for you all to see me again and get to know me again.  I miss you!

 

Halong,

 

Elder Lowry