Week 17 - Back in Business

Hey everyone!!

Thank you all again for your love and support while I was in the hospital! You all are SO sweet! Mom, dad, Devon, Marissa, and Robert thank you so much for the beautiful flowers you sent me in the hospital!  And Shout out to my amazing parents- HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! You guys are absolutely incredible and I know for a fact I wouldn't be the person I am today without you. As Buzz would say, I love you both to infinity and beyond :) PS you both have to come to the Philippines someday because they are OBSESSED with 80's music and I think you two would fit right in haha. Also- Devon is at BYU!!! Ahhh! I'm so excited for him!!! BYU was the best and I'm so excited to hear how he's doing! can you give me his address?? And tell him to email me back haha. 

Sister Calaunan and Jessica while Jessica was in the hospital

Ok so wow it feels so great to be back to work! But man oh man it was pretty crazy here in Hermosa while I was away in the hospital. The Typhoon here was pretty intense and where little houses/shacks used to be is just a big puddle of water. There was so much flooding here apparently that Sister Calaunan and my housemates Sister Mack and Sister Ila were flooded in and couldn't leave the apartment because the water was so high. In some places the floods would go past your waist! Kids will be out swimming in the streets and one guy even was using his jet ski to get around!  The members in my ward keep telling me I missed all the fun haha. But right now we are working really hard to make sure everyone is ok and have food and medicine for their families. 

This week we also had interviews with our mission president which was great because I love my mission president and have gotten really close with him and his family in the past two weeks as they would visit me in the hospital. He's kind of got me a little bit nervous though because next week is transfers and I will have officially completed my 12 weeks training program... I will be a regular missionary with all the expectations and responsibilities that come with that- including possibly training a new missionary. Ahhhhh! Haha. President said he is really impressed with me and thinks i'm ready to train a new missionary. Slightly terrifying? yup. Am I fluent in Tagalog? Nope. 

But hey, if the Lord thinks I can I can and if he wants me to train a new missionary I will. He told me there will be lots of changes coming up in the next couple weeks so fasten your seat-belts everyone because we are about to embark on quite the journey haha. So who knows, maybe next week I will be transferred, have a new companion, or training... Let's wait and see what the Lord has in store for me :) Change is hard- especially for me. I have a really bad problem with getting really attached to things places and people and then either they leave or I have to leave and it's hard for me. BUT when those times of trial and change come I know there is always one thing I can fall back on that will forever be constant and never change. That is my Heavenly Father and lord and savior Jesus Christ. Whenever we feel burdened down or feel like the world is spinning out of control around us, we can take comfort in the fact that God lives and he is unchangeable. He is there for us and listens to our prayers. He loves us unconditionally and will help us with any trial or challenge we encounter. 

In Psalms 18:2 it says "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength in whom I will trust." The Lord can be that constant that we desperately need in a world full of so much uncertainty. He will never turn his back on you or abandon you. I don't know, this verse just brought a lot of comfort to me because here I am thousands of miles away from home, family friends, English, and I know things back there are changing and going on without me and things here are also about to change, BUT I can take comfort in knowing that there is one thing that never changes. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ and we need to cling to it. And I know that as we do that we will find peace and happiness in our lives. I love you all and pray for you all the time. You are incredible examples to me and the love and support I feel from you is overwhelming.

Keep up being the awesome people I know you are and remember I love you and our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ love you too :) 

mahal ko kayo palagi, 

Sister Lowe

me on the way to an appointment with my cow friends :)

Jessica with some local cows

Me coming home from the hospital to my welcome home surprise! 

Jessica and a sister in the rice fields (again)

Jessica, Sister Calaunan and Sister Ill on a bridge

Jessica and her companion in a coach ride

Week 16 - Jessica Comes Home from the Hospital

Hello everyone!!!

Oh my goodness I love you all so much! The support and love I have felt from you all is amazing and I can truly say I felt all of your prayers and that they work. So thank you thank you thank you! You all are incredible :) So as i'm sure most of you know these past 2 weeks have been a little different for me haha. I spent 10 days in the hospital, but was released on Saturday and am feeling SO much better! I get to go back to work like normal tomorrow and I'm so so so excited! So for those of you who don't know what i'm talking about or want to hear it from me here is my little adventure from last week. Who's ready for story time?? Ok, so once upon a time I woke up Aug 15 and found this big ugly rash all over me and I felt really sick like I was gonna throw up and then got really dizzy so I sat down. Next thing I know I wake up on the floor where I apparently had passed out for almost 10 minutes. Luckily my companion sister Calaunan ran and got our neighbor who has a car and they took me to the hospital. I spent my first hour there in the emergency room where they tried to jumpstart my heart because they told me later it was low and close to flatlining (yikes haha) and then I woke up later in the ICU where I spent the next 5 days and 4 nights... ya not exactly your ideal morning haha. But you know what? It really put my faith to the test and made me put my complete trust in the Lord. I know he loves me as he does all of us and is watching over me. My very favorite scripture is in the Bible- Joshua 1:9 and I had it running through my head the entire time I was there to give me strength and to help me be brave. It says "Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest." I know without a doubt that God loves us and is there for us in our times in need. We don't ever need to be afraid or feel discouraged because he is with us and will give us strength during times of trial. Sometimes we don't know why things happen to us or why life just seems so hard at times, but I know that if we stay strong and put our faith in God, everything will turn out ok. Ezra Taft Benson once said "When we put God in the forefront of everything else in our lives, all other things will fall into place or drop out of our lives." I know this to be true. When we put God first and try to live as he would have us live, he will bless us and guide us to what he knows will bring us the most joy. He knows us better than we know ourselves and knows of our great potential. He wants us to be happy and if we let him guide us, he will bless our lives and lead us to peace and joy we never imagined we could have. In Proverbs 3:5-6 in the Bible we are counseled, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths." Sometimes life just seems to hurl problem after problem at us, but if we take it with a smile, having faith and trust in our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ, I know that we will be taken care of. When we put the gospel of Jesus Christ in the forefront of our lives and let God in, he WILL direct our paths for good and we can find peace in knowing he is leading us towards light and happiness. 

Wow look how insightful i've become haha. Just kidding, but for realz, when you're stuck in a bed for 10 days it's amazing how much reading you can get accomplished in the Bible, Book of Mormon and Conference talks haha. No I wouldn't consider myself a scholar but i'm working on it ;) 

I truly am so grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary here in the Philippines though, I know many of you might think i'm crazy for doing it. But I can truly say there is no greater joy than comes from serving others and sharing the happy gospel message with the wonderful Philippine people. I love you all and YES mom I am feeling SO much better and am wearing bug spray and drinking lots of water and everything else haha. I love you all so much and pray for you always! Thanks again for all the prayers- they really worked and for the emails! I probably won't be able to respond to all of them today but just know i love you :)

Mahal ko kayo!

Sister Lowe

Week 15 - Jessica Remains in the Hospital

The next day we received another email (actually two - one from Jessica and one from the Senior Missionary Couple that came to visit her).

This is her email:

Hey Mom!  The couple missionaries came by to visit me here in the hospital and they let

 me use their iPad to email you. :)  I'm still in the ICU but the doctors said I should be 

able to go to a private room tomorrow.   I'm doing OK and feeling better than yesterday 

so don't worry about me. (I know that's hard for you haha), but for real I am just dandy 

and just making the most of my time here. I've given out all my pamphlets and talked to 

all my nurses about the church haha. Well I just really quick wanted to let you know I'm 

doing good and will be moving out of the ICU tomorrow. I love you so much and tell dad 

and the kids I love them and miss them!!! You all are the best!! 

Love always 


Jessica :)

This is their email:

Sister Lowe,

 We visited your daughter this evening for over an hour and decided we will adopt

 her as a grandchild. What a wonderful daughter you have raised. I hope you are 

very very proud of her. We sure are. Despite being in the hospital she has a 

wonderful attitude and has no problem smiling. To speak to her, you would have no

 clue that there was a problem. She is really a choice young lady. We will 

continue to visit her daily whenever possible. Thank you for sharing your 

daughter with us in the Olongapo Mission.

 

 Elder & Sister Gorringe

This is my email back:

Thank you so much for the kind words.  She is pretty special :).  She is a light 

and a joy in our lives.  We hope and pray for a speedy recovery.  Thank you so 

much for visiting her.  I think that is the hardest part for me - that I can't be

 with her at this time, but She is very strong and has a great testimony.  I know

 that our faith in The Lord she will be back serving in no time.  She is loving 

the opportunity to serve the filipino people be a full time missionary.  Thank 

you again for visiting her.  We are so grateful for your service.  We pray for 

all the missionaries!!!  

Sincerely, 


Betsy Lowe

Unfortunately, she didn't get to move to a private room the next day because she had a slight relapse 

and had to stay in ICU one more day.  The rash came back and the heart rate dropped again.  She was 

really strong until that happened and then I think it started to scare her that this might not go away.  I 

know she will be healed because of the powerful setting apart that she received and her great desire to 

serve the people their by sharing the most precious Gospel of Jesus Christ with them.   As much as this 

has been terribly hard on me, not being able to be with her, it has been a huge comfort to know that she

 has never been alone.  Someone has been with her the whole time.

Even if we wanted to break out and fly over there we couldn't see her because a monsoon and a 

typhoon have flooded the lands.