Letter 11/27/13

I saw this guy last week with a shirt on that had a stick figure sitting on a toilet while listening to an IPod and at the top of the shirt instead of saying "IPod" it said "IPood." It made me chuckle.

Okay sorry about that but I had to share. This week has been really good. We have had a lot of good successes. Elder D is a good missionary. It's been a little difficult adjusting because he doesn't speak very good English which is hard and he isn't much of a team player so it's been hard getting him to involve me in the planning especially because I don't know the language or the people. I know that will all come though and it will help me learn the language quicker. It is already making great improvement.

We committed 4 people to baptism this week and have date set for December 28 right after Christmas! What a great Christmas present! I am still getting to know them but I love them already. Sister B is in her 50's and was a referral from a ward member. Sister G is 19 and was first contacted awhile ago but has just barely started making progress. The ward has been awesome with fellowshipping her and we have also been able to develop a good relationship. I can understand Tagalog better than I can speak it but it's still hard and so I've gotten really good at pretending I can understanding and then coming up with something to say based off what I did understand. Then the other two are brothers, R and J they are members of a part member family. I am excited to see them all continue to progress.

We focus a lot on less-actives as well and so most of our lessons every day are actually to less actives because there are so many. It's kind of frustrating but it's all part of the work. A lot of them left because they got offended which is hard. That seems to be the story with everyone here. Usually there is another reason it seems as well. Usually they have also lost hope. They have lost the vision and it is our job to help them catch it again. We had 16 less actives at church on Sunday and so we hope we can continue to help them back into full activity.

This week I have loved witnessing how the Lord works. It's been like this my whole mission but I am always happiest when we are out working. It makes sense but it still amazes me. One morning during our studies I was having a super hard time. A depression had hit me that I didn't know if I could handle. I honestly didn't know if I could do it anymore. I thought maybe I needed to leave for awhile and sort things out. I just felt depressed and hopeless. I missed you, I missed Tacloban, I missed my missionaries and my area. I didn't know if I could get through this low that I was in. So I prayed... And I said one the most sincere prayers that I ever have. I was a mess but He listened. He didn't answer immediately but he answered. He answered while we were out working. We were walking to an appointment and I had this calmness come over me. The depression was lifted, and I felt hope. He answered after I had exercised my faith. He answered because I kept going hoping that He would help me. He then continued to answer my prayers as we taught throughout the day. Each lesson the language improved. It improved as I exercised the faith to speak. That day Either 12 was made manifest in so many ways. It is easy to get discouraged sometimes when we see the evil in the world. I can only imagine how Mormon and Moroni felt at the end of the Book of Mormon. But as we Read in Ether 12, we must move forward hoping for a better world. I have indeed felt the Tender Mercies of the Lord this week and each day is a little bit easier. It was such a blessing to be able to go to the temple earlier today and feel of the spirit there.

I love you all. I am so grateful for your prayers and for your love and support. You too are in my prayers and I give thanks for your thoughts and prayers every day. Keep moving forward. Keep the faith and may peace be the Journey!

Love Elder Lowe

Ps. Next week my P-Day will be back to normal on Monday.