It's going to be a fun transfer Blog letter 4/14/2015

Dearest Family, 

It has been an exciting week to say the least. We've been able to get to know our area here in Kilim pretty quickly though and we have our work cut out for us. Kilim isn't an actual municipality but is part of Baybay. There is a ward in Baybay and then in this part it's just a Branch. We have some good people that we are working with here and I will report about them all more as we get to know them better this coming week. One however, Brother B. is the husband of a member but he hasn't joined the Church yet. He is really nice but has usually refused to be taught by the missionaries. The first time that we visited them however we were able to teach him and he was receptive. He's really smart and we are excited to keep working with him. It really was a tender mercy that we were able to teach him and even his wife seemed a little surprised as well as grateful that he listened. 

Elder A. is good. He has a mind of his own to say the least and each day is an adventure. This past week he took down a Coconut with a rock in just two hits. It was impressive. I'm not sure the members really know what to think of him but I think they like him just because he's fun to watch. He doesn't really know Cebuano and usually just uses broken samoan english. I'm learning some somoan though and that's cool. He has a really good heart and even though he's not always understood some of the things he says are very profound. It's going to be a fun transfer. 

General Conference was fantastic! I hope none of you felt left out because it felt like they were all just talking to me. I didn't really take notes for each individual speaker but I wrote down a list of themes by which to study as I review over the talks in the coming weeks. If I could choose just one theme from this conference it would be Eternal Perspective but with in that them there were many subthemes including, the family, marriage, fatherhood, selfless and genuine priesthood service, and making God our priority. It gave me many things to think about and goals to work on. The mission has changed the way I see and think about many things. I'm not completely sure what I want to do when I grow up but I do know one thing and that is that I want to do everything I can to be a righteous Husband, Father, and Priesthood leader. It truly isn't where we serve but how we serve. 

I love each of you and I want you to know that your prayers are felt. Keep the Faith and May peace be the journey!

Love Elder Lowe

Another Mountain to Climb. Blog Letter 4/6/2015

Dearest Family,

I am overwhelmed as I email you today. So much has happened this past week and it has all culminated up to my next area and assignment that I received earlier this morning at transfer meeting. Thanks for not spoiling General Conference. I am excited to watch it next week in my new area. President Maurer did show us a clip of Elder Ballards talk in the priesthood session though and that was good. It sounds like the themes of General Conference are right on for my current stage of life.

I will miss UEP and Elder R. I greatly enjoyed my time there and though short, I grew close with many of the members. This past week being Holy week wasn't a great week for teaching investigators but we did have a lot of success with Recent Converts and Less Actives. My last Sunday in UEP ward was a good one to end on because the attendance was the highest that we have yet seen while we have been here and almost all of the Less Actives we have worked with for the past two transfers came to Church. 

J. and his girlfriend broke up on friday because she's a 'playa' and when we talked to his mom and sister that night we were just hoping and praying that he didn't go and get drunk. We taught him the next day though and we were happy to here that he withstood the temptation. He wanted to. He really, really wanted to get drunk but he didn't. He knew he couldn't. He has really made a lot of progress and I'm gonna miss him but I know he has a bright future ahead if he will continue on the path that he is currently on. I am excited to keep in touch with him in the coming years. 

So like I said, this past week was Holy Week and so that just means another excuse to party (go figure) and so everything was pretty dead this past week. We kind of anticipated that though and so in Missionary Coordination Meeting (MCM) last Sunday the members actually suggested that we do some kind of activity and so on Thursday we had an activity with all the Auxiliary leaders and ward missionaries where we prepared some team building games to help them develop unity. The Activity went really well. Elder R. knew some good games and I did as well thanks to Scouting and Venturing. The members that attended loved it and The Bishop and his Counselor Brother T. took all the little papers we made and were taking notes so that they could use the activities at Youth Conference this coming week. The ward here has a lot of potential and is really starting to get going which also means perfect timing for me to transfer. I'm grateful for the time I have spent there though and I hope I was able to help them in at least some small way. I have learned so much from them and from my companion.

As I contemplated what might happen for my last two transfers, I had a couple of guesses/wishes where I could be assigned and who I could be assigned with. Now with my assignment given I am reminded that what I want really doesn't matter and any of the idea's that I had would not have helped me grow as much as my current assignment will. My new area is Cebuano speaking and it is in Ormoc Zone it is called Kilim. So that will be fun switching back to Cebuano. My companion's name is Elder A. and he is from Samoa. He has a good heart but can be a bit troublesome to say the least. I was his zone leader in Tacloban. President has asked me to help him out. Being companions with him will surely be an adventure. 

I love each of you and I love this work. Thank you for your love and support. Your prayers are felt. I know that Jesus Christ lives and is our Savior. May we always remember the covenants that we have made.

Love, Elder Lowe

He lives! Blog letter 3/30/2015

Missionary work is a very unique job and responsibility. It is The Work of Salvation. It is a work which is highly dependent upon the agency of others. Our purpose is to invite, not force, others to come unto Christ. We are required to be patient, persistent, and persuasive as we rely on the Spirit to help as many people as possible develop personal Testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His Church in these the last days in this the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. Sometimes we plant, other times we harvest but as long as we do everything we can to serve with all of our heart, might, mind and strength no effort is wasted.

After coming in contact with missionaries about 4 years ago we were able to witness the Baptism of E.E. who was baptized by her husband this past Saturday. Despite poor attendance from the ward due to some scheduling conflicts the Baptism went really well. We are grateful that we were the final instruments in the hands of the Lord in leading Sister E. into the waters of Baptism. We now work with the Ward to help her and her husband prepare to enter the temple one year from now. I would send pictures but my camera battery is dead and we weren't able to buy batteries last week. One of the members took pictures though and they are going to send them to me. 

Graduation was this past week at UEP. So everything is pretty quiet now here for summer. Our investigator J is on vacation in May but wants to be baptized when he gets home. His dad is okay with it as well after all. So we are excited for him even though his baptism may not be in our time here in UEP. For now we are kind of back into a finding phase. I guess technically there shouldn't be a 'finding' phase because we should always be finding but this past week hit us a little harder than we expected. We still have some good things going though and we are excited to keep moving forward. Ja is doing good as well. We were finally able to teach him last night and it went really well. He still has a desire to change but it's still a process. 

This week as well we are especially mindful of our Savior Jesus Christ as we Celebrate his Death and Resurrection. I am continually learning and realizing just what his Atonement means for each of us. It is not just some thing that happened two thousand years ago. It is the single most important event that has occurred in the history of man kind. It was an act that effects each and every one of us each and every day of our lives. I am weak, but in his strength I am made strong. I know he lives. I know he loves us unconditionally.

Love Elder Lowe

Blog Letter 3/23/15

Dearest Family,

Again, it has been a great week. You have made mention of the NRMP form in your emails. We use that... in theory. It really is a brilliant idea, inspired actually. As far as this area of the world goes, it is implemented in some areas better than others and in some areas not at all. As missionaries we make them for our Recent Converts and Less Actives but it really takes a functioning ward council to keep the ball rolling when missionaries transfer. We hope to help UEP ward implement this form especially in helping Brother and Sister E. prepare to enter the temple in one years time. Sister E. is doing very well. She is indeed ready to be Baptized. It has been such a neat experience watching her grow in her testimony and "receive of the Spirit of Christ unto a remission of [her] sins." For years she has been cold towards the missionaries. When her husband was being the taught the lessons if she would ever come home and see the missionaries shoes out side she would immediately leave and go somewhere else until the missionaries had left. Her time however to receive the gospel has now come. As we went over the Baptismal interview questions with her this past week(her interview will be tomorrow), she described to us some of her feelings and though she didn't say, 'holy ghost' or 'spirit,' we were able to testify to her that her feelings and witness that this Church is true came from the Holy Ghost.

Everything else in the area is going good as well. We taught some promising new investigators this past week that we hope to see progress. J. is doing well but it will take a little more time till he gets baptized due to his family as well as being busy with the end of the school year. 

I really love this work. I love being a missionary. I am learning more and more of my dependence on God for everything. I know that he loves us unconditionally and he provides a way for us to accomplish all things if we will trust in him and be faithful. I love you all. Thank you for all your love and support. Keep the faith and may peace be the journey.

Love elder Lowe

All things bear witness of Him. Blog letter 3/16/2015

Dearest Family,

Wow, what a week. Just a note about pictures. I will send some whenever it's possible. The computer I'm at right now doesn't have a USB port for my card reader so next week hopefully I can send you some sweet pictures.

We went to Manila this past week for Fingerprinting. It is a visa requirement to return so we traveled to Tacloban on Friday then flew to manila on Saturday morning to do our fingerprinting and returned to Tacloban later that afternoon and traveled the six hours back up to catarman. It was weird being back up in manila. Tacloban mission definitely presents a different aspect of the Philippines. I saw Elder H. while we were at the MTC in Manila because he was doing the same thing and that was kind of cool. It sounds like he is doing really well in Bacolod.

We weren't able to teach J. very much this past week because he was busy working on an application for a job and was gone for a large part of the week. Hopefully we can contact him later on this evening and continue teaching him. N. is doing great and is gearing up for her baptism on the 28th. It has been so neat seeing the change that has occurred as we have taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We thought she wouldn't be able to make it to Church on Sunday because of a sickness but she ended up being able to come anyways. We are excited for her upcoming baptismal date.

Our other investigator, J., is progressing as well. He has received a witness that this Church is true. His problem however is his family. He is currently living with his Aunt who is a member and that's where we teach him but he is scared to bring it up to his family because they are devout catholic. 

Yesterday I taught the youth class and the topic was about how the scriptures and all things bear witness of Christ and his Atonement. We started the lesson by reading a few scriptures about the atonement and then we read Moses 6:63 and then for the rest of class we listed things on the Board such as rocks, trees, the sun, water, bread, etc. and talked about how they testify of Christ and it was a really good discussion. My testimony was yet again strengthened that all things bear witness that there is a divine creator this morning at our zone activity. We went to this waterfall in Bobon, No. Samar and is was beautiful. I will send you some pictures next week. 

Until then, I love you all. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Keep the faith and may peace be the Journey!

Love Elder Lowe

Just Open the Book. Blog Letter 3/10/2015

Dearest Family! 

It has been another wonderful week in the service of the Lord. 

The work in UEP is going well. The ward here is bursting with potential to say the least but I am really enjoying it here and am growing close with many of the members. 

We have been visiting J.J. on a regular basis and he is coming along. He has seemed a little more at peace with himself each time we visit him. Remember, he is less-active. We have just started from the beginning with him. We taught the first three lessons to him this past week. He is such a funny person and we have a lot of fun when we teach him. He read a little bit from the Book of Mormon this passed week was good. In one visit in which we followed up with him about his reading he described his experience in which he knew he needed to read and he wanted to see what was inside the book and so he would pick up the book and look at it for a moment, then for some reason he couldn't open the book and so he would set it down. And that cycle happened over again a couple more times where he would look at it and want to read, then when he picked it up he couldn't open it and would set it back down. He said that at that moment he wondered if he was going crazy. The experience strangely reminded me of Joseph Smith being seized upon in the Sacred Grove just before experiencing the first vision. There is power in discipline because starting to develop a good habit or a good thing is always the hardest part. 

We have another investigator who is doing really well. Her name is E.E. She is the wife of a recent convert. She was super shy at first but she warms up a little bit each time we visit and has begun expressing her gratitude each time we come and teach her and her husband. The first time we taught her, as we taught the first few principles of the restoration about our Father in Heaven and the Role of Families in his plan we explained how families can be eternal through the Sacred ordinances performed in the temple. Both she and her husband expressed a desire to be sealed. And so we used that to extend the invitation to be baptized and she accepted. That lesson was a couple weeks ago and she has come to Church a couple times since with her husband. If everything goes smoothly her baptism will be held on March 28.

Well, I have a lot more to say but it'll have to wait. Life is Good and I love being a missionary. I am inspired by the Journey of all the Saints through out history from the old testament until now. I am particularly inspired by the journey taken by Lehi and his family. We all have both good times and bad. Times in the land of Bountiful as well as times journeying through the wilderness. And although needed and refreshing are our times in Bountiful we ultimately must follow the commandments of the Lord through the wildernesses and across the oceans of life in order to arrive in the Land of Promise which has been prepared for us by a Loving Heavenly father.

Keep the faith and may peace be the Journey!

Love Elder Lowe

Not all Americans are Heartless. Blog Letter 3/2/2015

Dearest Family,

This week has been Maupay ora-ora! That means 'really good' in waray-s. 

Our investigator, J. came to church on Sunday and that went well for the most part. No one said anything too weird during fast and testimony meeting, and Bishop only taught a couple false Doctrines in Gospel Principles class. They weren't completely false just unclear and poorly explained. We were able to clear that all up later on anyways so all is well. J. is a student at UEP and he's really searching for truth. He believes that what we have taught is true but he's still searching for a sure answer. He is really smart and so teaching him has been pretty quick, right now it's just a matter of helping him receive a testimony and answering questions and concerns in a way that will help increase his faith. 

Ja. is doing good as well. We had a great lesson with him on Friday and he apologized for what happened last Sunday. I wants to change and we know he can repent but like I said last week, it will be a process. He came to Church yesterday and he is planning to talk with the Bishop soon. I see so much potential in him and I am excited to see and help him progress. We are just helping him start from the basics and building a habit of Church, Prayer, and Reading the Scriptures (CPR). 

In our companionship inventory on thursday Elder R. told me that I have shown him that not all Americans are Heartless... It was really funny the way he said it but I took it as a big complement. Maybe I've learned something after all these past 18 months... Needless to say, I am really enjoying being companions with Elder R. We are having fun and seeing some good progress here in UEP.

I love you all and I am grateful for your love and support. You're prayers are felt. Keep the Faith and may peace be the Journey!

Love Elder Lowe