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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