Week 90

Hello Family!

So this week has been quite a fun one for Elder Lowry out here in Antique.  I really was nervous what was going to happen work-wise this last week because we spent a lot of time not in Hamtic.  I was worried that we would lose the momentum that we had from this last week and we would be scrapping for investigators to come to church or progress.  The Lord definitely made His arm bare this last week and took care of our area here in Hamtic.  I am really grateful and even more excited to get to work again this week and get even more done.  

The big highlight of this last week was the mission tour we had with Elder Nielson of the seventy. His messagesthat I got to hear Wednesday and Thursday were truly just amazing.  He is definitely a man of sound understanding and really understands the gospel.  He had some really good things to help our missionaries adjust their vision for what needs to happen in the Philippines.  He just had a good way of helping us identify what the problems were here and helped us figure out how to fix it.  If I had to say he was great at one thing it was getting people on "his team."  He had a way of speaking and teaching that just made you want to join his team to do what he was asking us to.  He really got the mission on the same page and helped us make some resolutions that will help this area progress with "real growth." The main concern was about the massive amounts of less active members in the Philippines and how we need to get them back and strengthen them before we worry to much about adding thousands more to that number.  We are trying to get more active Melchizedek Priesthood holders and worry more about establishing the church here in the Philippines rather than adding so many more new converts.  Right now the branches and district here aren't strong enough to lend the needed support to a recent convert and that is why so many people are inactive.  So we are going to fix the problem... which is alot easier said than done. So that is basically what he taught us and gave us some really ways we can help establish the church more effectively.

Our area has made a 180 degree turn around and is doing GREAT!  We really weren't left with much to work with... at all.  So Elder Domincel and I have now gotten some people that can actually be baptized and we have some less active families that are actually keeping commitments and showing signs of coming back to church.  We actually had two families there at church this weekend even though it was POURING rain (I will expound on this later).  We also had 7 investigators come to church this last weekend!  If you had asked me a month ago I would've told you I would never see the day when my area had seven investigators at church... we just had so many flaky investigators.  We are seeing some fruit now from our work here and it is just simply exciting.  We have, right now, two investigators with a baptismal date that seem set on being baptized into the church.  They are both part of part-member families. One of these investigators is actually planning on going to the temple with her family November 29th... so she is REALLY set on being baptized.  I am just happy right now that I have seen the day when Hamtic A is really progressing and bearing fruit.  It really makes my conscious clear that I won't leave a dead area. That has always been my goal in every area.. to leave good things behind for the next missionaries.   

I am really excited for what the last 3 weeks in this area hold in store for me.  I will be really sad to leave all this success that we are finally seeing here.  The only down thing that has happened to us is the rain.  It has been non stop for the past 4 days.  I am not even joking when I tell you all that it has not been bright outside for four days. Every five minutes the rain picks up and gets everything/ one soaked.  We went to a funeral this last weekend and I lent my umbrella to some poor guys who had to ride their motorcycle to the burial site and, of course, didn't see it again. I did finally gt it back yesterday, though... but my point is that for two days of non stop rain I had no umbrella.  Elder Lowry was not a happy camper. I am all good now.  The funeral was sad.  The man who died was a member but had been living in a far away place for like ten years now.  None of his family are members though and even though all the services were held in the church it felt impossible to console these people because they don't yet understand the plan of salvation and how it works. They apparently did really catch the spirit of it and want to be taught and alot of them have expressed desires to be baptized.  We are going to follow up on that this week... like I said it was an interesting week, but a good one.  These people sure were torn that their son and brother had died.  I have never seen anyone mourn quite like this.  When we were about to put the coffin in the grave you would've thought the poor mother was being killed and then she just fainted when the coffin was put into the grave.  Like I said, I felt very sorry that they didn't have the gospel to console them in such a time of grief.  

I am doing great here and I am really enjoying my time as a missionary.  I love the work here in Hamtic and I am excited to report to you all next week.  I finished the Book of Mormon again this last week... no worries.  It is still true.  I am having a good time reading it over again and I am making Elder Lowry's own personal Topical guide this time.  Meaning as I see verses that are specifically meaningful to me I will sort them by topic and before the end of the mission I hope to have been able to do this for the Bible (new testament) and all other standard works. I think it is abig project but will prove to be very useful someday.  It has made me read the scriptures differently.  It helps to be looking for something.  Well I love you all and can't wait to see you all again someday!

Love,

Elder Lowry