Goodbye Primrose

I went to work on October 28 excited to get things going on a better track.  I even brought things from home for our classrooms - fireman dress up clothes, hats, etc.

Kory asked me to join him for a meeting with Heather Elliott.  Kory then shared the details of the corporate meeting from Thursday.  We had two people from corporate come to help teach us how to improve enrollment, etc.  I met with Afshan to go over classroom improvements during the same visit.

Well during that visit, they recommended to eliminate my position because it was too expensive for the budget.  On Monday, I was let go.  I went around the school and said my goodbyes, collected my items (those that I could) and left.

Goodbye Primrose.

Week 73: Bad Decisions 101

This last week has been one of the most memorable weeks on my mission. I learned a ton about what loving others means and why being empathetic is so much more important than being sympathetic. I have so much love for the people we are teaching especially this wonderful family that we have been teaching for the last 6 weeks. 

The family we are teaching is still progressing and have really developed individual testimonies of the things we are teaching. We visited another person we are teaching, and the family wanted to come and help us teach. I feel like true conversion happens when you want to share the joy and blessings of the gospel with others. By the time Sunday came around the family brought that investigator that we taught together to church! What a blessing and miracle!

On Wednesday, me and Elder Laurence switched off and made a video about sharing joy and the gospel with others. We still have to edit it, but we hope to get it out soon!

On Thursday, I did a switch off with Elder Tu in Yasothorn. If you can remember from last week, me and Elder Despain, and Elder Tu ate 40 peppers in our Somtam. It was so hot that I had started shaking and I drank like 30 glasses of ice water. Anyways, a couple days after that we heard that the record for missionaries in Thailand was 80 peppers. Elder Tu said we needed to beat that and he knew a member that could make Somtam with as many peppers as we wanted. Since we are serving in Roi Et, which literally means 101 in Thai, we told the member to prepare 3 plates of 101 peppers. We got to Yasothorn and we counted out the peppers ourselves twice to confirm there were 101 peppers. The member started making the Somtam and we knew that we were gonna be in trouble. It was just a plate full of peppers and to be honest I was really nervous to eat this. I bought two big water bottles, a bag of ice, a cup, and said a prayer for our health. Elder Tu, Elder Despain, and me started eating this insanely spicy plate and it was bad news from the beginning. Our mouths were on fire and my stomach felt like someone kept hitting it with a baseball bat. Elder Tu and Elder Despain gave up halfway because they couldn't take it anymore; Elder Tu ended up throwing up from the spice. But, I finished the whole thing after like an hour of eating and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. My body shut down and I thought I was going to pass out. I promise mom I won't do that again, but at least I got the new record for the Thailand Bangkok Mission (The land of the spice).

On Friday, the Ubon Elders came up and switched off with us in Roi Et. The Elders in Ubon are very good at making videos, so we decided to make a ton of more videos about our Free English Class! 

Lastly, today for p day we went pretty close to the Lao border and me and Elder Laurence bought a ton of Thai and Lao fabric. In Thailand we can buy a bunch of cool fabric and make them into pretty cool ties. I love the Thai culture and the people here! Zone conference is coming up next week and I'm excited to share a lot of the things I've learned on the mission with younger missionaries. 

I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Lowe

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All the Fabric 

Robert with 101 hot peppers that will be made into Somtom

My favorite picture of Robert in Roi Et

Eating somtom with 101 peppers - WHAT!!!!

Week 72: Marco's Spicy Wedding

Another week in paradise! I love Thailand so much and all the people here! It's been a wonderful week with teaching interested people, members, switch offs, and we made some cool videos! 

So this week I got to do something I never have done before. I ate this dish called Somtam (ส้มตำ) which is a famous Thai dish. It is basically papaya salad with peppers and it's always spicy. They usually put 2-3 smashed up peppers on a regular dish. But, I decided to get 40 peppers with 2 other missionaries. Me and Elder Tu just ate it as fast as we could and then practically died afterwards. The cook brought us a tub of ice afterwards because she could see that I was actually shaking and crying. Elder Despain, my companion, took one bite and was done. But he actually ended up finishing it like 30 minutes later. What a champ!

I had a ton of switch offs this week and got to work with Elder Laurence, a brand new missionary, a lot this week! We actually went to a Thai wedding and I got to sing a Thai song for the couple. Attached is me practicing the song before hand. 

Additionally, I switched off with Elder Cruz and we taught that one fire family. The dad's name is Giad, mom is Nid, and their daughter is Ingfaa. They are progressing so much and they all have baptismal dates for November 5th! I'm so excited for them and their desire to follow the Savior by being baptized! 

Lastly, I met this one guy named Mod (ant) about 2 months ago during the floods. He is a member who hasn't been to church for over 10 years. He was actually grown up in the church and he showed us a picture album of the day he was baptized and some of the missionaries that were around in his day. He told us he misses the Holy Ghost in his life! I'm excited to reactivate this 30 year old man and help him to feel the spirit again in his life!!

I love you all so much! I love being a missionary! I love the Thai people! I love the gospel! I love God

Love, 

Elder Lowe 

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Elder Tu, Elder DeSpain, and Robert with the cook that made them Somtom with 40 peppers

40 peppers - who is brave enough to eat them?

Elder Lowe :)

Elder Despain and Elder Lowe

Week 71: Saving one City at a time

It's been another crazy week in Thailand and I love being here. Unfortunately, I haven't been in my area like the entire week besides Sunday. 

On Tuesday night we traveled to Bangkok for MLC (Missionary Leadership Conference) on Wednesday. It's been one of those weeks where I literally got no sleep because I was on buses or trains over night. Also the AC in my room has been broken for the last week and now what I know what it's like to sweat all night. Shoutout to the missionaries in the Philippines! 

MLC was awesome and we talked about the impact we can have on Thailand through social media. We also talked about the importance of following spiritual promptings in all circumstances. After MLC we traveled to Ubon all night for a switch off the next day. 

I switched off with Elder Jensen on Thursday and we taught some really cool people. We taught this one guy named Winay who isn't ready for baptism because he won't give up smoking. Me and my companion ready in 2 Nephi 32 and talked a little bold with him about what he needs to do to be baptized. We made a schedule for him to quit smoking by next month. The lesson was full of the spirit and I'm excited to hear how he progresses in the near future. 

On Friday the entire zone came to Ubon to help clean up the floods from the month before. We literally had 20ish missionaries cleaning the floods up and building roofs, cleaning houses, and pretty much re-boosting the people's lives there. Service is so important and I learned so much about selfless service where we receive absolutely nothing in return. 

I have no time this week and my phone is about to die. love you all!!!

Buddhist Temples are amazingly beautiful.

Week 70: Fat Dogs and Hitch Hiking

This was a way quick week here in Thailand! Also happy General conference weekend. Although I haven't yet watched it, I have heard some of the policy changes and also some very powerful messages from my family. I'm super excited to watch General Conference to be enlightened, inspired, and to grow spiritually. I know this church is true and that we are led by true and living prophets of the Lord in these days. 

This last week was transfers. However, I did not go to Bangkok to pick up my companion. Instead, I went on a switch off with a very young missionary, Elder Hollowell, in Mahasarakam. He taught me a method of transportation that gets me to appointments way faster and way less tiring. I have brought it back to my area and it's been working out way well. I'll attach a video - basically we just grab on to the back of a truck. But don't worry it is very safe! Anyways we had a very good day and got to teach a couple people that are interested in that area. 

By Friday I got my new companion and his name is Elder Despain! He is way chill and I know that we are going to get along very well. I'm already learning things from him and I'm excited to see what this transfer has in store for us! 

Elder Tu (a former companion of mine who also lives in the same house as me) is training right now. Elder Tu is hilarious and I love seeing the way he is training this brand new missionary. I don't think this new missionary is ever going to forget us first transfer on his mission...ever. 

Also sister Nielsen is back in my district. She brought me a jacket from Chiang Mai and it's way cool. I'll have to send a picture of me wearing it some day.

Tui (ตุ้ย) is still doing good. We went over to his house and continued to read the Book of Mormon with him. I know that consistent reading in the Book of Mormon is the greatest way to strengthen your testimony. 

On Sunday, I got to go out with a personal friend of mine, elder Khanakam. I have served with him before in Don Muang, so it was a wonderful opportunity to work with him again and to visit a bunch of different families. I love his spirit and he has developed a Character of Christ within himself. When you are near him you can feel his love and warmth. I want to emulate Chrsit's Character more and more each day so people can recognize me as His servant! 

Like I said it was a shorter week, so that's about it. I love you guys. Have an awesome week!

Love, 

Elder Lowe 

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We saw this massive dog and massive worm this week. Like massive seriously. You probably can't tell in the pictures, but yeah they are huge

Fat worm

Close up of fat worm:  crazy big!

Fat dog - I felt sorry for him

Skinny cow:  Is Robert becoming a cow rancher?

Wow!

Hitching a ride

With Elder and Sister Gigi.  He served in Thailand before Robert's dad

The Bro's

With some Buddhist monks