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
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
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
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
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
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