Week 89

Hello family!

I am way happy to report to you all that this was actually a good week of work and I really feel like the work is progressing here in Hamtic.  I have felt like we have been in such a rut the past few weeks... or two months and now we have seen some progress in the work.  It was such a relief to have a god turn out yesterday for our District Conference and to have more than one investigator progressing.  I was literally just elated with how this last weekend went.  We are working with a couple really good part member families that are really doing well.  It is so good to have some investigators and some less actives in our teaching pool that are actually moving forward.  One of these families is the Banez family!  They all came to church this last week.  They are a long time inactive family and really have struggled to come back to activity in the church.  It was great to have them make the trek out to San Jose and they apparently had a great time as well.  I will get to follow up on them more over this next week.

I really am doing well here in Hamtic.  I said last week that Elder Domincel and I were really evaluating what we could change in what we are doing and how we teach to try to get more results.  We did that and it worked wonders for our work this last week.  Like it has been such a relief for us to actually have a really successful week for the first time in a long time.  So that is what we plan on doing that again this next week and I think we will see even more success.  

The District conference this last weekend was really a success.  Elder Nielson form the Area Presidency presided and the Antique District literally filled the chapel there in San Jose.  Everyone was really impressed with how many people showed up and participated in the conference.  Elder Nielson seems like a really cool leader and I am excited to get to know him more over this next week.  They actually came and visited our apartment yesterday with President Pagaduan.  We had a nice chat and he just seemed really nice.  His talks are also really powerful... He doesn't get too wordy like some other Americans that come to the Philippines and really gets his point across when he speaks.  I really think the members got the important ideas from his message even though most of these people speaks really poor English.  Overall I thought he did a great job giving a powerful clear message even though he didn't speak the native tongue.  I was impressed by him.  

I feel like things are on the upturn here in Hamtic.  I like how everything went this last week and it really seems like this ext week we should be able to have 4 or 5 investigators with a baptismal date.  Needless to say,  I am happy with how the work is going right now.  The fact that I won't be in my are 3 days this week doesn't even phase me.  I am way pumped up for this next week of work and meetings.  I have a dinner appointment too for every night I am in the city!   You have no clue how excited I am for this!  They are even going to make all of my favorite dishes.  I expect to put on 15 pounds this week.

I hope everything is well at home.  It is so good to hear from you all every week.  Like it literally just makes my day to hear what is going on in everyone's life and that you all still think about me.  I love you all so much and miss you all more than you all know.  I know the church is true and I am happy to be where I am right now and doing what I am doing.  I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now.  

All my love,

Elder Lowry