Dearest Pamilya... 

It has been an interesting week back in Tacloban 2nd ward. It has been fun to see some old faces and to see their reactions that I have returned. I'm honestly not sure what the missionaries have been up to the last two transfers but that's another story for another time.

I would like to take a moment to testify of the Gift of Tongues. This week has been a miracle. We have taught lessons in Waray, Tagolog, and Cebuano and sometimes in all three. I never before been able to switch between the three very well but now it almost seems just natural. We have one Investigator who my companion and I started teaching when we were still here who really only speaks Cebuano. He is a referral from an active member and is pretty old. Anyways, it has been cool to see him open up a bit more the past week as he has understood more clearly the gospel in his native tongue, Cebuano. I hope to see him progress and choose to be baptized in the coming weeks.

I don't have a lot to say but the work is going well. By going well, I mean that our work is cut out for us for the transfer. Elder G. is good and we have been able to teach some great lessons this past week. With each lesson I teach, my testimony of the Gospel increases. We had a recent convert ask us last night why FHE was so important and I was grateful to be able to testify of the influence that consistent FHE has had in my life. 

I love you all! 

Keep the faith and may peace be the journey.

One Last Transfer, One Previous Area. Blog Letter 5/18/2015

Dearest Family!

Thanks again for the chat last week! You all look and sound great as well! Our week went rather well and it finished off with the Baptism of N.M. She is only 14 but she's pretty bright and her mom is a returning member. The baptism was excellent and we had 2 of our investigators attend one of which is her Brother-in-law whom we have just started teaching and he wants to be baptized. As soon as he and N's sister get married he can. There are many others in her family as well that will hopefully be taught in the future.

The work here is starting to move a long and I have really grown close to the members and so you know what that means! Transfers! Transfer day is today along with p-day and that's why I didn't email you yesterday. I will definitely miss Kilim Branch and I was very surprised to learn of my new assignment/area but I'm excited as well... I think. My thoughts are all still pretty scrambled because I'm in transfer mode. My new companion is a Filipino and his name is Elder G. We have been assigned as the Tacloban Zone Leaders. So I'm going back to my old area in down town Tacloban and training Elder G. as a zone leader for my last cycle. When I transferred from this area in January I was hoping that I could have just one more cycle in down town and so here is that one more transfer that I wanted. I would have been content to end my mission in Kilim but I know God needs me here again in Tacloban. 

Two people I will definitely miss are the H's. They have been so kind to the missionaries and it was fun being assigned in the same District as them. They came to Tacloban yesterday(Monday) and brought our luggage and we met up with them this morning when we arrived in Tacloban. Because I will be transferring, Sister H pulled me aside and gave me unsolicited permission to take their daughter on a date when I get home. She specifically mentioned I could take her mt. biking or rock climbing... . ... I didn't really know what to say so I just laughed and said okay. So um.. I'm just gonna forget about that for 6 weeks and then perhaps I'll give it some consideration when I get home. But hey, as missionaries, we're always grateful to receive referrals right?

I'm excited for this next cycle though. I'm excited to give everything that I got and finish hard in down town Tacloban! I know this Church is the True Church of Jesus Christ and this is His work!

Keep the Faith and may peace be the journey! 

Amping!

Love Elder Lowe

P.s. Back to Waray-waray!

Understanding Things I've learned Blog letter 5/5/2015

So I don't know if you heard anything about the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. It was pretty big here because everyone loves Pacquiao but then he lost and so every one was pretty quiet yesterday. Apparently it was a good fight though. I don't know because I didn't watch it. We half expected it to effect our work and our attendance in Church but the truth of it is the faithful still came to Church. We even had some Less Actives come to church as well which we were excited about. The other good thing that happened yesterday is we had a good dinner appointment with a family that told us they would feed us dinner if Mayweather won the fight. That was mostly just a joke though between Sister S. and Elder A. because they were gonna feed us anyways. 

Elder A. is doing great. Our companionship is doing really well. Each day is an adventure but I have laughed a lot and have learned a lot as well. I have learned a lot of things throughout my mission but this transfer I have really started to understand some of those things that I've learned. And despite the trials and the challenges I can honestly say that I love my companion. I would do anything for him that is right. 

The work is going well. Our investigators are good. Most of them are female which is okay but we are trying to find Potential priesthood holders as well. But Men are just in general a little harder to get to. I haven't lost hope on Brother B. though. We've gotten close with his wife and family and I know that even if it doesn't happen in my time the time will come when Their father will open his heart. But until them we continue to wait and watch and pray for him. 

But I love you all and I love this Gospel. I'm continually grateful for the atonement and the wonderful truth that we can repent and change. It's never to late as long as we're willing. I know the Church is true and I know families are forever.

Keep the faith and may peace be the Journey!

Love Elder Lowe

One mistake at a time blog letter 4/27/2015

Maayong Udto sa inyong tanan. 

I hope you have all had a fantastic week and from the sounds of your emails you all did. My week was... good. Things with Elder A. are going a lot better. We had a couple rough patches this past week but all is well and things are working out. I am grateful for your prayers. They have been answered by forces both seen and unseen. I'm learning one mistake at a time... But I really do love Elder A. and I am learning a lot from him. He's made a lot of mistakes and so have I. I have been continually reminded this week of our Savior Jesus Christ and have been pondering upon the passage after his resurrection where the Angel speaks to Mary and says, "Why seek ye the living among the dead. He is not here, but is risen." This passage this past week has given me much comfort. Let us not seek for Christ in dead works and vain ambitions for he is not there. He is Risen and we too through his Atonement will live again. And we, through his Atonement, can change if we will turn to him so he can help us overcome our weaknesses and shortcomings. Let us be genuine and full of love in all our relationships and responsibilities. God is no respecter of persons and as mentioned in General conference, we compared to Him aren't all that different. 

The work is going alright as well. It's a little bit slow at the moment but going nonetheless. We have met some new potential investigators this past week that we are really excited to work with. We are working currently with a returning member and her 12 year-old daughter. They are doing well. Sister M. is returning to activity and her daughter is on track to be baptized on May 16. 

Again thanks for your prayers. You as well are in my prayers always. I love this work. I know this Church is true. I know That Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and that He lives. 

Keep the Faith and may peace be the Journey!

Love Elder Lowe

Basta. Blog Letter 4/20/15

Dearest Family,

Thank you for your emails. They were just what I needed. That being said, it has been a very interesting week... I'm not even completely sure what to tell you about my week. But after all is said, I love my companion and I'm doing my best to help him progress and become an effective missionary. It's hard however to help some one change who doesn't want to change. My biggest challenge, and I ask for your prayers in this respect, is that I can think and speak of him positively. There is no way I can get through this cycle if I am not filled with Charity and with Patience. The thing is, He knows the Gospel and has a Testimony. Elder A. is good but the long and short of it is that he wants to do what he wants to do and so when he can't do what he wants to do, he gets upset. So as long as he doesn't want to do anything crazy or disobedient we get along great. But again, I'm no angel and I'm just doing the best I can to develop the attributes I need to help him and also be effective in our work. To paraphrase general conference, I'm not a saint unless a saint is just a sinner that keeps on trying. It's gonna be a fun transfer. President has placed a very large trust in me in this assignment. This is all kind of difficult to describe over email but I will have many stories to tell in the coming months. 

As far as the work in Kilim goes, things are going pretty good. It's a little slow but moving none the less. The members are nice and willing to work with us. The people in this area just aren't super receptive. A lot of our investigators right now are from part member families. Brother B. who I told you about last time is a bit hard as well but I haven't lost hope and I know his time will come. We will continue doing all we can to teach him and help him develop a testimony. He doesn't have any problems with the doctrine but just isn't quite ready to commit. 

I love this work and this mission and not despite the hardships and challenges but because of them. I mean, who wants to have a boring mission right? Don't worry about me to much because I will be just fine. I love you all and pray for you always. Thank you for your love and support. Keep the faith and peace be the journey.

Love Elder Lowe 

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