Dearest Family!
It has been a really great week. It is interesting timing to be assigned here in Tacloban seeing as one year ago I was assigned in this zone as well with Elder Salangsang. Next transfer we will hit the one year anneversary of Yolanda. As far as emotions go I'm doing fine really. Tacloban was a big dirty city before and wel it's still just a big dirty city. The tree's are back and life is moving on. People are very receptive to the Gospel and there is quite a noticable difference between here and Southern Leyte.
My Companion is Elder V and he's from Oklahoma. I like him a lot and we're getting along well so far. It's been a little tough adjusting to the language but it's coming back. We do not live in the same place that the Zone Leaders did before. We live with The AP's and office Elders in a place called Caibaan. We have two area's right now. One in San Juanico Ward and another in Basey. Basey will recieve permanent missionaries next transfer but until then the Tacloban Zone Leaders have been taking care of it and we actually have 7 baptisms scheduled there for October 4th that we are looking forward to. On sundays we go to Church in San Juanico at 9 am and then go straight to Basey for their Sacrament meeting at 11am. This all being said, we have a lot of ground to cover with all our area and so we have a car. We drive a Ford Ranger pick-up. Driving here is a different story than driving in the states. There seem to be two rules: 1) Don't hit anything and 2) don't get hit. Then after that everything else is free game. Consequently, drivers here are a lot more observant and aware than drivers in the states. Once I get my Passport and Visa photocopies sent from the Area office in Manila I will be able to convert my Utah license but until then my Utah license is sufficient.
We found a lot of new investigators this past week and one family that is Professional that we are excited to work with. One of the difficulties I'm facing right now is just remembering peoples names and keep their faces and names in order. With all the demands and responsiblities of Missionary work I am constantly reminded of my dependance on the Lord for everything. I seem to forget that pretty easily sometimes and the Lord is very prompt to remind me and I am grateful for his consistency. To be successful in any calling in the Church we must be able to submit to the will of the Lord. We are dependant upon his Grace to be able to Change our nature and become like him. Through his atonement we are enabled in everything we do. We had an investigator last week ask us how we do what we do. She commented that we are far from home and must be home sick and that we are speaking a foreign language. We had just taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and used that to answer her question. We told her that we are reliant upon the help of the Lord and that the blessings are far greater than the sacrifices.
I know I'm not perfect but I'm striving to be better each day. I think often upon Dads words of wisdom that perfection isn't so much an achievement as it is a process. I love you all and love hearing from you.
Keep the faith and may peace be the Journey!
Love Elder Lowe
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