Letter 09/09/2013

Maopay na Gabi where you're at and Maopay na kalop where I am at. It's weird to think you are going to bed last night as I write this letter. Things are still tough. I am still adapting but every day gets a little better. When President Hinckley's father told him to "Forget yourself and get to work," What I think he really meant is, Get to work and you will forget yourself. I love being out finding and teaching because that's when I am most able to forget myself. It is all a process and I am striving to be patient and enjoy the journey! I trust that you will all be there when I get home. There will be more music, more cars and more first world blessings, but being a missionary is only for two years and I want to make the best of that because I know it will influence the rest of my life.

So luckily the pigs only squeal some mornings and usually it's not till I am already awake. The pig slayers are nice but pretty receptive to our message. They told me they think I look like Tom Cruise. I'll be honest, I have never heard that one before. I watched them kill a pig and that was pretty cool. I still won't think twice before eating bacon. I'm pretty cautious about eating any meat here though. I mostly just live off of fruit and peanut butter. sometimes I make scrambled eggs and I got some ramen noodle type things today. Since we eat rice so much everywhere else I won't make it for myself so that I won't get sick of it. They eat it for every single meal though. It's ridiculous. The food that we eat for dinner appointments is usually pretty good but nothing spectacular. I ate with my hands for the first time last week and that was fun. Eating rice with your hands is more difficult than you might think.

There was this brother that we found and when we arrived for our return appointment and started teaching, he politely refused to go to the next level. I wasn't ready to give up however and so I gave him a book of Mormon and bore my testimony. I hope he will read it. He hopes he will read it, He just doesn't know it yet. Perhaps he may be baptized by us and perhaps we have planted a seed for missionaries a few years down the road to harvest. Blessings either way.

We went to a baptism this week. We live in Palo and the baptism was in Tanuaun. This little girl is about ten and was taught my some sisters in our district. It was a really neat experience. I can't wait till I have my own baptism.
We teach just about as many Less Actives as Investigators. We taught this Brother who is really lacking in faith. He can't read the Book of Mormon because he has bad eye sight but we promised him that if he would try the Lord would bless him. It was so rewarding to see him at church yesterday! All the ward members were amazed to see him to so we were very grateful for his attendance. Sunday is pay day in the mission field. The language is coming and I am getting to know the ward members and make friends and so church was a lot better and less overwhelming than last week.

The ward missionaries are Rock Stars and they work with us so much which is crucial. I am grateful for the support we have in this ward because from what I hear it's not like this everywhere in the mission. They had a missionary morning side type deal on Saturday and a member of the Stake Presidency spoke and gave some solid instruction. I was asked to give the spiritual thought and so I gave a thought that I had shared with a Less Active the previous evening. Everyone can speak some English and so that made giving the thought easier. I shared Mosiah 20:10-11 as well as Alma 43:30 and 46:12 with the message of, What would we do for our families? I told them that the reason I was here away from my family was so that others could be with theirs for eternity. In Alma 43:30 it talks about how they fought by stratagem  We can't afford to face the adversary without a strategy. Make your game plan now.

The Ward missionaries are good but it's hard to keep any of these people focused. We were in Missionary coordinating meeting(MCM) yesterday and Elder S. And I were giving the report of our week, Well I was giving the report when they started talking about playing basketball for fellow shipping. I didn't get mad but I was very firm in reminding them of our purpose and that they could talk about basketball after. It caught their attention and a few people apologized afterwards including the first counselor in the Bishopric. I wasn't fishing for apologizes  I just needed them to focus on the task at hand. 

We have this investigator and she hasn't been very good with keeping commitments but I hope and pray she will start. When we were teaching her Sunday evening about the plan of Salvation there was this point where My comp and I as well as others saw something click with her where it seemed like she started to realize that maybe there is something to this gospel. I hope that will inspire her to keep commitments so that she can receive the blessings.

I'm just about out of time but to answer your questions. It has rained a bit and when it rains it poors but nothing out of the ordinary. We have electricity but no maid. Some times it feels like I could be doing more good in an english speaking mission and sometimes it feels like time has slowed down, but I know I have a purpose here and the language will come. The More struggle, the More growth. I love you all and I am so grateful for your prayers. Keep on keepin on and I love hearing about all your adventures. Keep the Faith and may peace be the journey!

Love Elder Lowe