Marissa home for a visit: State Fair, Noah's Ark Encounter

We are so happy to have Marissa home for a visit but her timing is falling at the exact same time that Mark and I have to work around the clock to get the house ready.  YIKES!  That's not much fun for her.  She was supposed to arrive at 10 PM on Friday, August 17, but got in around 11:30 PM.  We were so happy to see her!!!!

We are trying to balance it all out with her.  We spend time with her during the day or evening, then while we are working on the house, she is able to study for her Nursing exam.

She has been a wonderful help around the house and has been a joy to be around.

Saturday was a busy day with Mark and Betsy doing so much to get the house ready to go on the market.

Sunday Marissa went with us to the Madison Branch and the Carrollton Ward so that dad and  I could do Pathway Presentations.  While at Madison we saw Sister McCullough.

Friday morning, Marissa and the sister missionaries cleaned the moss off of our patio.  It was a big project.   I'm so grateful for her willingness to help and her good attitude.

Friday mom took Marissa to the Kentucky State Fair where we had a fun time walking around, seeing all the rides and attractions.  WE got to pet animals - horses, cattle, pigs, llamas, sheep, etc.  We bought candy and walked around everywhere.  IT was a fun afternoon.

After the Fair, Marissa and I went to the Louisville Temple.  Mark and I work there on Friday nights.  Marissa was able to do some initiatory and a session.

The next Saturday we drove out to Williamstown KY to see the Ark Encounter.  IT is a life size replica of Noah's Ark.  It was a pretty cool experience.

Marissa was supposed to go back to Utah on Sunday, August 26 but we were able to extend her time with us in Kentucky until Thursday, August 30.

On Monday, Mom took Marissa with her to work for one hour for Betsy's Last Day.  Then Betsy treated Marissa to Jack Fry's lunch - so good.  Then, Marissa and mom went shopping for dresses for Devon and Sierra's wedding.  Mom found a dress at Vonmaur, shoes at DSW, and a tie for dad at JS Banks.  Marissa got a whole new school wardrobe too.  We did good!!!!

Week 12: Robert road an elephant

Gigantic Snake

Super crazy week! I have been working super hard this week studying even after we get back from a 12 hour work day. Just gotta keep grinding cause missionary work is tough but such an amazing experience and I have already learned so much. 

First, last p-day was insane. I got to put this gigantic snake around my neck and ride an elephant for an hour! It was so fun! 

Riding an elephant

Honestly, it was another humbling week, but not so much because of the language. Somehow we lost a couple of our investigators and we have only about 7 investigators that we teach now. So I did a lot of inviting in the rain. We just get rejected and laughed at sometimes. Thai people are super nice for the most part, so they will seem somewhat interested and then give us a fake number, lol. Also, many of the investigators that we do teach are struggling to understand the restoration of the gospel. We have taught it to them multiple times and they just don’t get it! 

This week we have been teaching a super solid guy named เบิร์ด. He has had a smoking problem most of his life and is super addicted. We asked him to read some really good chapters about true repentance and if we turn away from sin and humble ourselves before the Lord he will give us so much strength to overcome any challenge or addiction in our life. (Ether 12:27) I flipped open to a random chapter in the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 26, and realized how perfect it was to share with him. The next time we met with him he opened up to the page we asked him to read and he had notes all over the page and he couldn't stop telling us how much he loved Chapter 26 of Mosiah. It's truly a miracle the way the Lord fills our minds with thoughts that we would never have other wise. I know that sometimes it gets discouraging here in Thailand, but God is always looking out for us and preparing people that will listen to our message. The only thing I can really do is just have a lot of faith, show my love for these people, and teach with the spirit, and then the spirit will do the rest. I know that through faith all things in this life are possible. 

Moroni 7:33

33 And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.

We taught หล่อโซ, who is a Christian and doesn’t want to leave his present church. He believes the Book of Mormon is true, but has more fun at his other church. It just amazes me and my companion how much confusion there is in this world. There are so many good people around this world that have been led to believe in things that don't have the full truth. I love these people so much and just wish I could help them see how much the Savior loves them and wants how much he wants all of his children to come into him.  

Anyways, some of the food I got to eat this week:

- chocolate and caramel smoothie...so good

- gigantic bacon cheeseburger with fries...so expensive

- chicken feet...first time I have ever had it. It was kinda difficult to eat but honestly not bad. 

- Lot of fish

- KFC!! 

This week I just focused on listening and focusing on what others say and I can definitely see slow but steady progress. I also got to read a little bit more this week and I'm a chapter away from finishing second Nephi in Thai! I love this gospel and I love this work! I know with time I can be the missionary the Lord wants me to be. 

ผมรู้ว่าพระผู้เป็นเจ้าให้ปฎิหาริย์แก่เราเมื่อเราแสดงศรัทธาในพระบุตรของพระองค์พระเยซูคริสต์พระผู้ช่วยให้รอดของเรา

(I know that God gives us miracles when we show faith in his son jesus christ our savior).

Love,

Elder Lowe

Kids going to school in Thailand 

Week 11: ทำงานหนักให้มีความสำเร็จ

This week has been such a grind! We go out every single day and just talk and teach people! Literally, all day every day just working and working! Also, I didn't realize how much it rains here in Thailand until this week. It honestly rains about 5 times everyday and every time it rains I just get soaked! All of my shirts are so dirty and muddy - I love it. 

On Tuesday I got the opportunity to give part of a blessing in Thai, or the anointing of the oil, which was super cool. Also, we  teach English to the Thai people every Tuesday night and we taught them about weather. It's funny to see other people struggle just like me at learning the language, haha!

The next day we taught so many people and prepared sister หล้า for baptism by asking her the baptismal interview questions. She passed! 

Well, later that night, I had to go all the way back to Bangkok on another 12 hour bus ride; we arrived in Bangkok around 6 in the morning. It was all good because I got to see all my buds from the MTC. Love you all!! I came pretty much 12 hours just to sign a piece of paper and then go straight back. But it was worth it because I was able to talk with this Thai person on a train in Bangkok. He was Buddhist and I asked him what he knew about God. He didn't know very much so I taught him about what I believe and I taught him the restoration of the gospel. He loved it and I ended up giving him a Book of Mormon and getting his phone number and Facebook. It was sweet. 

I took a flight for the way back to Chiang Rai. In the airport I got to eat McDonald's, which was expensive, but totally worth it because I haven't had any American food in like a week and a half. Everything in Thailand is like soooo cheap it's insane. Once we got back we immediately went out and gave some lessons and committed two more of our investigators to baptism! The work here is awesome!. The key is just making sure people are reading the Book of Mormon everyday. 

Friday just poured all day and we went inviting and knocking doors. Super hard day with everyone rejecting us and not being able to understand what people are saying. It is super tough to understand some people because they don't speak very clear! In the end the key is to have more faith, to not worry, stay focused, try my best, have a good attitude, have fun, and rely on the Lord!

The good stuff:

Saturday was sweet! The day was all centered around sister หล้า because it was her baptism day. She is about a 50 year old woman who was born into Christianity and then married a Muslim. And now is coming back to Christianity. I was asked to be the one who baptize her which was super cool cause it was my first baptism. Her name was like 10 syllables long so that was hard to remember Haha. We taught her like everyday and I became pretty close with her. It's awesome the amount of lives we can change here by helping others draw nearer to God. 

Church was much better this week and I understood a lot more. Not gonna lie, it's been a tough week not being able to speak that much or understand, but I know I just have to be patient cause I've only been here a week! Good thing I got today to relax and ride elephants...that's right I'm gonna go ride elephants today!!! Its gonna be so fun! I'll let you all know how it is next week!

Love you all and miss you!!

ประเทศไทยสนุกมากๆครับ ด้วยอาหารอยู่ที่นี่อร่อยเลย. ผมชอบเชียงรายและประสบการฌ์นี้สุดยอดเลย. ผมคิดถึงทุกฯคน! โชคดีนะครับ

Love

Elder Lowe 

Also this week I got to eat some bees lol. They were not good!!! Too mushy

5) me eating some bees  

4) mural of the soccer team that got stuck in the cave here in Chiang Rai  

3) sister หล้า baptism   

2) flooding from all the rain  

1) flying back to Chiang Rai from Bangkok   

​

Painting and Packing

Oh my gosh - so much work.

At first it started out as fun projects to update the house while we contemplated the possible move away from Louisville KY.

Then Mark found out that we have to move to Memphis, TN in order to stay with the company.  At first they wanted Mark to move to San Jose, CA, but he refused that offer. 

Immediately, we had so much work to get done on the house to get it ready to go on the market.

The LIST:

Paint master bedroom
Paint master bathroom
Paint Robert's room
Paint Robert's bathroom
Paint shared bathroom
Paint Marissa's bathroom
Paint Marissa's bedroom
Paint kitchen
Paint Weight room
Paint game room
touch up trim upstairs
touch up trim middle floor
touch up trim basement
replace carpet basement
replace carpet upstairs
replace one garage door
replace 6 windows
clean moss off patio
remove books and bookshelves from:
two from Master bedroom
Robert's room
Marissa's room
upstairs hallway
England room
two bookshelves in basement
three bookshelves in study/office
pack all books away or sell books to 1/2 price books
get rid of extra bedding, clothes, shoes, furniture, accessories, etc.
get rid of family room couches
store coffee and end tables from family room
remove desk from master bedroom
remove desk from Marissa's room
clean out Robert's room
clean out Marissa's room
clean up and thin Betsy's closet
clean up and organize Mark's closet
clean up and organize dining room
clean up and organize kitchen
clean up and organize game room
clean up and organize weight room
clean up and organize entertainment room
remove sewing machine and sewing stuff
remove personal photos from basement
remove personal photos from bedrooms
remove personal photos from hallways
remove photos from fridge
remove glass table from front entrance
remove round rug from front entrance
remove draperies from dining room
remove draperies from study/office
get microwave fixed
remove microwave from counters
remove TV from family room
clean up where TV was
kill weeds
replant grass
fix cupboards so they hang right
fix tape in master bathroom ceiling
fix broken tile in master bedroom shower
clean out main floor coat closet
clean out shoes from drop zone
paint drop zone
touch up trim in drop zone
clean up and organize storage room
clean up and organize storage under the stairs
clean up and organize storage closet in basement bathroom
THROW or GIVE anything not needed in MEMPHIS

Mark accepts offer to stay with FLEX

Mark had been looking for a new job since March of this year.  Just after getting back from Cayson's blessing Flex contacts Mark to offer him his job in the Memphis office.

Mark and Betsy consider the offer and accept it. 

We will be moving to Memphis, TN as soon as the house sells.  Unfortunately, they made this offer after school already started so we missed the "school rush" to find a new home. 

Mark is happy to be able to stay with Flex.  This is such a blessing.

Robert - week 10 - Arrived in Thailand

So yesterday was Mother’s Day here in Thailand because it was the queen's birthday. But I'll get to that later. 

First, I couldn't email last week because I was on a jet plane on my way to Thailand. The last week of the MTC was good but this week has been a dream. First, I left the MTC last Monday at about 4 am and just traveled first to LA and then Hong Kong and then got to Thailand late on Tuesday night. Ended up going to bed at 3 that night and then getting up around 7:30 the next day. Breakfast was noodles and curry which was super good. We got to go to a park later that day and talk to some people in Thai which was kinda hard but was a lot of fun. Then we walked around Thailand with 100 บาท and got to buy things and pass out book of Mormons and talk with people. 

Thursday was the big day. It is transfer day which means I work with a new companion and go to a new area. I got to meet with some of the trainers and talk with them and they all seemed pretty cool. Then everyone sat down and our mission president assigned the new companionships with the area where we will be going to. I was assigned with Elder Davis which was the low key trainer I wanted to be paired with. He is super chill and knows the language very well.

My first area is in...เชียงราย or Chiang Rai, which is honestly the coolest area ever (literally the lowest temperatures in Thailand). I can't even tell you how many older missionaries said how lucky I am and how jealous they are that I get to go to Chiang Rai. For those who don’t know, Chiang Rai is like way up north in Thailand and is so pretty! Also, the people here are all amazing and so kind. I feel so blessed to have gotten Elder Davis as my trainer and Chiang Rai as my first area.

Well that day we got some food on the streets of Bangkok and got some สมตำ which was a little spicy and then we went on a bus ride up to Chiang Rai that left at 7:15 PM and was about a 12 hour bus ride. I slept pretty much the whole bus ride and talked to some of our investigators on the phone. It was hilarious because I woke up around 3 AM on the bus and looked out the window on both sides and it was just a jungle. I thought in my head, “oh gosh, what have I gotten myself into,” lol. But seriously, this was such an awesome week. 

Anyways, immediately when we got there we went out in the streets and started talking to some people and teaching investigators in lessons. We did so many lessons on that Friday.  I even got to say the first vision and teach the whole plan of salvation. It was so cool! A lot of people were complimenting on my Thai and saying that I need to talk more which is probably true. It gets a little tough when everyone can speak and understand and I can't. These people speak so-so-so fast and I'm just trying to keep up, lol but sometimes I can actually respond, which is sweet. Most times in the lessons I ask questions, follow up, and bear testimony. The spirit is always so strong in our lessons and our investigators are the nicest people ever. We committed two of our investigators to baptism this week and one of them is getting baptized next Sunday. 

Sunday was such a sweet day. In Thailand it is Mother’s Day so happy Mother’s Day mom!!!  I love you so much! We got to church really early and I had the opportunity to talk with all the members that go to church. Also, 3 of our investigators came to church - which means my prayers were answered! It's kinda crazy that we have about 400 people in the ward and only about 35 people show up. I love the members so much. Well, in church the branch president called me out and asked me to bear my testimony. It's funny when you don’t know what they are saying and then you hear you name and look at your companion and he just points to the podium and say ไป (go) - all the members said they were impressed with me testimony but I think they were just being nice. 

Church was a little exhausting especially by the last hour because it’s just people speaking super-fast and not very clear so I can't understand most things. So, I kind of got a headache, but that's all good! We had this Mother’s Day activity which was super special and like everyone was crying, Haha. After church we got to teach this girl named พี่เก่.  She's really an interesting investigator and I probably won't have one like her ever again. She told us, for about 2 hours, about how she has powers. She has apparently seen incredible things and can heal people. On Sunday she held up a windchime and said she was going to use our energy to make it move. She believes god has given her this power to help people. It's a little strange but who knows maybe she is telling the truth. And she's super kind and has faith. The problem is she works at a hotel and says she can't come to church ever. She said it's impossible to keep the commandments which got my companion a little triggered. But, we shall see how the next lesson goes. 

This week has been amazing and today we got to tour around Chiang Rai and see all these wats. It was super cool! Love you all and miss you! 

Robert already deep in Thai culture

Elder Davis and Robert at a Wat

Devon and Sierra are engaged

On August 4th, Devon asked Sierra's dad to lunch where he asked permission to marry Sierra.

Then on August 7th, Devon took Sierra to Sundance.  They took the chair lift up to the top of the mountain, where Ironically, the ski trail is called "Wedding Ring".

Devon had prepared a picnic.

Unfortunately, they couldn't get to Sundance until Sierra got off work, but the chair lifts close soon, so Devon had to propose quickly.

After they sat down to eat a little bit, he suggested they take a photo.  After the photo (which was really a video), Devon knelt down on one knee and asked Sierra to marry him and be his wife.  She was shocked and thrilled.

I can't wait to see the video.

They enjoyed the rest of their picnic and then took the chair lift back down ENGAGED!!!!

August 7 - Devon and Sierra are engaged

Oh what a happy day.

On August 4, Devon texted us to let us know he was meeting with Sierra's dad to ask permission to marry his daughter, Sierra.

He had planned it all out and was very excited for the special meeting.  He wanted to do it right and ask permission before proposing to Sierra.

A few days later, Devon invited Sierra on a romantic picnic at Sundance.  Devon and Sierra took the chair lift to the top of the mountain and enjoyed a picnic.  He then said, "We should take a photo"  "we should stand for the photo"  When he finished the photo, he got down on one knee and asked Sierra to marry him.  AWWWWEEE!!!!

Sierra didn't know what was happening at the moment, but then it hit her, and she immediately said YES, YES, YES, YES!!!!

Devon actually was able to video the whole thing (Devon wanted to be in a video) :0

They enjoyed the rest of their picnic and came down on the chair lift and then shared the news with the rest of the families (hers and his).

We are so happy and excited for Devon and Sierra.  They have set a date of November 10, 2018 for the wedding in the Payson Utah Temple.