Week 8 - ผมตื่นเต้นมากๆไปประเทศไทยอีกไม่นานและรับไช้คนไทย (I'm very excited to go to Thailand soon)

Hello,

I have one more week here at the MTC and then I'll be on my way to the place I've dreamed about going to since I was a kid. Anyways this week was a lot of fun and was filled with so much joy and excitement. First, on Wednesday we got the opportunity to host for the THIRD time which is a lot. It turns out we weren't actually supposed to host but the hosting job was for another district in our zone lol. On Thursday we taught one of our investigators here at the MTC and it was our last time teaching her. It was kinda sad to stop teaching her because she really enjoyed our lessons and she was by far my favorite investigator. We ended up singing let the holy spirit guide, and we bore our testimonies of how if she lets the spirit guide her in her life she has no need to be of anything that may come in the future! 

Well Friday was by far my favorite day here at the MTC for multiple reasons! 

First, during my class we got our new name tags that are in straight thai which is honestly the coolest thing ever. 

Second, I got my travel plans and my entire district freaked out. We will be leaving the MTC at 3:45am on Monday and will be on planes for pretty much the next two days until we land in Bangkok at 11:30 on Tuesday night. Bangkok is like 12 or 13 hours ahead so that's another reason why it'll take like 2 days. I haven't stopped thinking about Thailand this week since then and how sweet of an experience this will be. 

To top it off, we ended Friday with a Skype TRC where we Skype a member in Thailand and just talk with them and give them a short lesson. I'm so ready to go and I know regardless of how good I think I am at Thai, I'm going to get wrecked. 

This week I have made goals to work as hard as I did the first week when I was here. I was able to finish the first book of Nephi in Thai on Saturday which was pretty cool. I love reading the book of Mormon in Thai and I'm getting faster and faster each day at reading. Another goal I had this week was to learn 75 words a day which is a grind but its achievable if I ask for help from God and Jesus Christ. 

This is my last week here before I leave so if anyone has got any advice or words of wisdom before I head out, that would be greatly appreciated. I love you all and your great support for me. 

ผมหวังทุกคนมีอาทิตย์ที่ดี. ผมรู้ว่าพระผู้เป็นเจ้าอยากให้คุณมีความสึกไนชีวิตของคุณ. ผมรักคุณด้วยแต่ว่าผมพร้อมไปที่ประเทศไทยอีกไม่นาน.

(I hope everyone has a good week. I know that God wants you to be happy in your lives. I love you all but I'm ready to go to Thailand soon.)

I'm going to Bangkok, Thailand

Our district

Love 

Elder Lowe 

Week 7 - Only two more weeks until we are in Thailand

Only 2 weeks left till Thailand baby!!

Wow what a week! Definitely a tough week and such a humbling one.  So much happened this week so here we go:

First, on Tuesday night I had the privilege to hear from Elder Ballard here at the mtc. Right before that I had the opportunity to speak to a คนไทย or a Thai person and they were speaking so fast. I was getting so stressed and overwhelmed that I can't do this, but after hearing elder Ballard's message I knew everything was gonna be okay. He spoke about the humility, strength, and integrity of not only Joseph Smith but also his older brother Hyrum. They had so many worse tribulations and afflictions in their lives, so worrying about a language is honestly a little silly when you put it in perspective of what they had to endure in their lives.  

Well the next day we got 39 new missionaries in the zone and our dorm just got a whole lot louder and way more crowded. It was nice to see Elder (Tag) Wilson in my zone now. But, seeing where all the new missionaries are at with the language and how little they know was kind of a confidence booster and showed me how far I have come along. 

But this week in the lessons it became especially obvious that I don't get much of an opportunity to speak. Every time I want to say something my companion says something or he goes on for like 10 sentences and never gives me an opportunity to speak. But after watching the talk by Elder Holland about opening your mouth, I realized that I just need to open my mouth more and not be afraid to speak. I've been trying to open my mouth more this week and realize that I'm going to make mistakes but that's how you learn. Now, the lessons seem way more unified and and we both do a good job of helping each other out. 

Another reason it was a little bit of a longer week this week was because on Friday I got the opportunity to do a Skype TRC where I got to Skype an actual person that is in Thailand right now, and speak Thai with them and give them a lesson. It was so cool and I can already feel the love for these people. I can't believe I'll be in Thailand two weeks from now or at least on a plane going there :)

To try and start making better progress with the language, me and my companion did an English fast on Saturday and Monday this week. Meaning that we spoke only Thai  (no english) for both of those days. I gotta tell you it gets really tiring and my head was killing me by the end of the day, but I know that I improved so much because of it. I would say listening is my biggest weakness, but being forced to speak only Thai and listen to it all day really helped me develop better focus and listening skills. 

It's been a good week though and I feel way more confident now than I did before. We were able to teach an "investigator" over the last couple of weeks and invited her to get baptized recently and she said yes. The spirit was so strong and I realized that I can do this if I rely on the Lord and have faith and trust in him. 

Also it's been pretty cool to help out the new missionaries, and give them some good tips. Oh yeah, we also had a day where we put out this Thai mat in the middle of the classroom. It is very disrespectful to walk on the mat with shoes on so we took them off for that day lol. We were practicing our Thai squat that we will have to do all the time in Thailand according to our teachers.  สนุก. 

I hope that everyone had a great! Love you all!!

มีอาทิตย์ที่ดี

Have a good week

Learning to squat

Week 6: Robert becomes an UNCLE

สวัสดีทุกคน (hey everyone), 

It's been another great week here at the missionary training center with a lot of excitement. First things first, my sister finally had her baby and I couldn't be more thrilled. I know she will be an awesome mom and I can't wait to meet my new nephew! The other cool thing on Wednesday was that I got to host this Laotian speaker going to California and he's in my zone. It was really cool cause Laotian and Thai are relatively similar so he was speaking a little to me on his first day. What a beast! 

Our lessons are going super well, but I  think these days are starting to feel kinda similar. It's a lot of work each day and at this point I kinda just wanna go to Thailand. Even though I know I'm inadequate with the language and probably won't understand most of what anyone says, I feel like I'm ready and super excited to head out in about 3 weeks! 

The other weeks I focused a lot on vocab and learning more words, but this week I focused on reading and tones and I'm actually getting pretty fast at reading. Like not super fast but I'm reading faster than anyone in my class with correct tones. This week I've gotten about 3 elders ask me to help them with reading every single day and it's really cool to be of service to them and teach them. And I really enjoy seeing the other elders in my district progress so much. 

This week me and my companion learned another hymn in thai. We learned the hymn "families can be together forever" and used it in our lesson! The spirit was so strong again and I didn't realize the power that hymns can have in bringing the spirit when teaching an investigator! ผมกตัญญูสำหรับครอบครัวของผม. I'm so grateful for my family. They are the biggest blessing to my life. One of the biggest reasons I'm serving a mission is because of this quote that I heard. It states, "a missionary is someone who leaves their family for 2 years so that others may be with their families for eternity." That's the point of what I'm doing: serving others and bringing them joy through this gospel so they can be with their family for all time and eternity!! 

This week was somewhat of a wakeup call. Yesterday at the beginning of the day it hit me on how I will be going to Thailand soon and how much I still don't know. I felt like I had forgotten all my Thai yesterday and just was stressed beyond anything I have felt in a long time. I think it's because I had a lack of faith and belief and didn't trust in God like I should. Another quote that I really enjoyed this week is, "two people can accomplish anything...if one of them is the Savior." With the Lord's help I know I can do all things so I don’t need to stress. If I do my part and work as hard as I physically can Christ will do the rest. 

Tomorrow will be a big changing point in the mission though. We are getting like 37 new missionaries in the zone. I think there are like 18 or 19 Thai missionaries coming in and 18 or 19 Cambodian speakers coming in. I'm so excited for a change here and to get to know some of the people that I might be serving with for the next two years! 

Thank you for all your support and for all those who keep in touch. I'm grateful for all of you. I love you all, I love this language, I love this gospel, and most importantly I love my heavenly father and his son, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! You are all in my prayers! 

ผมคิดถึงรวมทั้งหมด (I miss you all)

1) me staring off to Thailand 

2) sweet quote

3) me and the old zone leaders, elder Barron and Benteti

4) me and my comp

5) me and old zone leaders again

6) me and new Laotian missionary, Elder Williams 

5 Attachments

Week 6: Photos

1) me staring off to Thailand

2) sweet quote

3) me and the old Zone Leaders, elder Barron and Benteti

4) me and my comp

5) me and old Zone Leaders again

6) me and new Laotian missionary, Elder Williams

5 Attachments

Betsy Lowe

12:50 PM (0 minutes ago)

to Robert

Dear Robert,

It's so great to hear from you.  I can't believe I am less than 5 
miles from you but it's as if  you are already in Thailand to me.

It sounds like you had a super week - both spiritually but also 
with friends and with the  language!  That's awesome.  When
this new group of missionaries arrive will they mix up  companions
or do you think you will have the same companion the whole time
you are in the MTC?

When Dad and I were first married we served a mission in the South 
East Asian Branch - dad was a counselor in the presidency and
translated for the branch president; I served with the Young Women.  
We served in the branch for two years. We met and loved so many
Thai, Loa, Moung, Cambodian and Vietnamese people.  They were 
all refugees fleeing their war torn countries from tyrants and corrupt
governments that killed innocent people.  I learned to love so much -
give so much and be completely unselfish while serving in that branch.  
I would have done anything for any of my girls and dad and I loved the
men and women of the branch.   I am still very close to many of the
young women.  It's so wonderful to see them grow up and grow in the
gospel.  When I went back to VA in June I visited with some of them.  
Right now, one of my Beehives (then) is now serving in Young
Womens and told me how grateful she was for our love and support.  
She was the only member in her family.  I picked her up for church
every Sunday even though it was out of the way.  She is now married
in the temple with three beautiful children and pregnant with number 4.  
You now have that same opportunity to show  people in Thailand
Christ unconditional love for them.

Thailand is beautiful - even the areas that don't have much money  
not because of the physical beauty (which is there too) but because
most people have great love in their hearts.  They want to give their
children a good life just like we do, and they work very hard to do all
that they can.  You, too have a very strong work ethic.  You will be 
able to connect with them on so many levels.  :)

Well, the weather in Provo is crazy - last night there was a 
violent thunderstorm but today the weather is beautiful.  

Dad and I take either 3 or 5 hour shifts taking care of Cayson so 
Jessica and Tate can sleep through the night.  Jessica has to get
up to sleep but we at least can burp him and get back to sleep.  
We divide it up so that one of us can get a few hours sleep and then
trade off.  

I hope you are well.  If there is anything you need, please let us 
know so we can have it delivered to you while we are right here!

What is your favorite treat of all - I will have that delivered tomorrow!!!!!  
Please tell me - It will be something I can do to share my love for you.  

Have a wonderful day

Hugs and kisses

Mom

Week 5: ผมก้าวหน้าอาทิตย์นี้- 4th of July

ทุกคนเป็นอย่างไรบ้าง

How's everyone doing this week? Not gonna lie this week felt a little bit longer than the other weeks. 

First, Wednesday was the fourth of July and I was expecting it to be such a good day because it's America's birthday!! But in reality it was the first day here at the MTC where I felt homesick and I was constantly hearing everyone say the same thing. I got to see the fireworks but they were so far away and they just reminded me of home and the good times with my family and friends. I remember last fourth of July I was competing in a hot dog contest haha. 

Even though the week didn't start off too well it was probably one of my best weeks here. We got new missionaries that are speaking hmong which is just sick. They got here on Thursday and they are all awesome and will be great missionaries! 

But what I really liked from this week was that my language is starting to become so much more natural and I can speak a little bit faster each day!! In the lessons I teach I used to write out kind of like a script in English and then memorize the script in English. Then when I gave the lesson I could just translate it to Thai. But, this week I kinda just go into the lesson with a couple of questions and not really anything and I'm able to just go off. We memorized and sang a hymn in Thai during one of the lessons and it was a really cool moment. The song was, "I am a child of God," and the spirit was so strong while my  companion and I were singing. Plus, my teachers were very ประทับใจ (impressed). 

The lessons in TRC are amazing, too. It's so cool to feel like you aren't progressing that much one week and the next you see yourself improve so much. I've learned probably another 150 words this week or so which is awesome! The best is when my district and I just talk in Thai during lunch in front of the Vietnamese and hmong elders. haha

So, on Sunday this week I was finally released from my assignment as district leader and Elder Davidson took my place. We got new zone leaders as well, Elder Hodson and Elder Brown. Also, the mission president of the MTC visited my branch on Sunday and shared some really cool insights. Sunday night we watched this church movie and it was low key kinda funny. I enjoyed it a lot because it was kinda of nice to just sit back and relax and laugh. I'm so busy all the time so having a moment to just watch a movie was very enjoyable. 

Tomorrow we get to host new missionaries coming in again. I always enjoy doing that because everyone that comes in is so scared and just being there for them calms them down, and it makes me feel so good! In about a week we get 18 new Thai missionaries and 17 new Cambodian. I can't wait!

Speaking of not being able to wait...I had to wait this entire week to hear news about when my sister is going to have her baby. And she still hasn't had it haha. Love you Jess and I wish you the best luck tomorrow when you finally have your first kid! Still can't believe I'll be an uncle wow!! 

I heard something I had never really thought about until this week. A lot of times when we think of happiness it's when we are doing well and having no problems. But, true happiness is not the absence of burdens or challenges in our lives. Instead, true happiness occurs when we are able to overcome the challenges we have faced, are facing, or will face ... and learn from them. I know that going on a mission may seem like a burden to some because I'm giving up two years of my life to go to Thailand. However, the happiness I've had here is abundant. I have learned what hard work really means and how much God can bless our lives. Besides, this isn't a burden in the first place, it's an opportunity to help others and in doing so,​ I can become a better version of myself. 

I had someone take a video of me speaking Thai this week and hopefully everyone will be able to see it! I love you all!

Have a great week!! 

I'm going to post the video on his Facebook wall and mine

​

 First vision pt 3.mp4

​

Love,

Elder Lowe 

Week 4 - Happy 4th of July

อาทิตย์นี้สุดยอด

This week was awesome! Besides learning Thai all day everyday, some pretty cool things went down this week. 

To start, on Wednesday my district and I were assigned to be host this week for the incoming missionaries. We had been here three weeks and were kinda expecting to. Anyways it was a lot of fun to show the rooks around this place especially my bud, Elder Cahoon. A lot of my friends from college came in this week #merrillwanna reunited. Love you boys. 

So the weeks here kinda start to feel the same cause a lot of the days we are just doing the same thing. But the cafeteria catered chick-fil-a this week and I cant tell you how nice it was to finally have chick-fil-a again. 

There's been major improvements in the language this week. We all decided to start speaking Thai for like hours at a time which was very difficult, tiring, and especially annoying, haha. But the more we speak the better we become. In a lesson this week, we were able to use analogies and share personal experiences for the first time, which was super cool. 

My sister is having her baby this week and i couldn't be more thrilled! I'm kinda bummed that I don't get to see my nephew's birth; but I'll see him soon! 

One of our classes this week we spent the whole class just teaching and teaching in Thai. We started teaching the plan of salvation in 10 minutes, then 7 minutes, then 4 minutes, and then in a minute!! I love how much I progress here and how I am able to learn so much each day. 

This week we had the opportunity to do service for 3 and a half hours.  Let me tell you pulling up carpet that has been glued to the floor is not fun! I got some bad blisters and my hands are killing me! 

Lastly, I'd like to share a scripture from the book of Mormon that I've heard a lot this week. It's actually my favorite scripture and it states: "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." The more humility I have, the more the Lord blesses my life and helps me understand things such as this tough language! 

Sorry this email is kind of boring...my life isn't that exciting. Just wait till I'm in Thailand though! 

พบกันไหม่นาครับ

(1) me and my friends from college that just got here

 (2) me and the other district leader, elder Vick 

 (3) me and my คู่ (companion)

Roberts 3rd week - Meeting Mission President Hammonds

Hey everyone, 

So week 3 just flew by and I can't believe I've been here over 20 days. The start of the week wasn't that great. On our first lesson this week I felt super confident and didn't bring any notes with me. Well, the lesson ended up going horrible even though  my companion and I were prepared, so we had to redo the lesson the next day. It kind of humbled me and made me realize how much I still have to learn in this language to be able to have a simple conversation with someone. 

Speaking of humility, someone in my zone that was called to Cambodia and spent the last 9 weeks learning the language and preparing to serve there was reassigned to Kansas like 4 days before he was supposed to leave. I felt so bad for him and could tell how disappointed he was but he had a good positive attitude about it and humbled himself. The next day he was assigned back to Cambodia and just flew off to Cambodia today. He was a great example to me of what it means to have true character. 

All the other older พี่ Thai elders left on Monday. We all got up at 3:30 am to say goodbye so now we got the whole dorms to ourselves which is gonna be super sweet. They were a great group of elders and I'm excited to see them again soon in Thailand. 

On top of that we got to meet our mission president for the first time this week. He is full of joy and happiness and I am really excited to serve under him. My district and I had hit a plateau in the MTC where we felt like we weren't progressing so much on the language. But meeting President Hammonds got us going again. He makes us want to become better and reach our full potential. 

But the coolest thing happened this week ... (I know for most people this won't make any sense) but the entire Quorum of the 12 apostles and First Presidency of the church all came to the MTC this week. A couple of elders and I got to see and visit with them firsthand, and even shake some of the apostles' hands. We sat outside a building we knew they were gathered in so they would have to walk past us. Elder Suarez, then Elder Cook, then Elder Holland, and then elder Ballard who stopped and told us "we love you." Then we shook Elder Christopherson's hand. I think we were all in shock after that, haha. 

One of the things I was able to work on and memorize this week was the first vision in Thai which is pretty long for those who don't know what it is. I realized how much the language is coming this week because of this thing called TRC. The people at TRC speak Thai incredibly fast and I was able to understand about 1/3 of the sentences they would say which sounds bad but that's way better than the previous week. 

Thank you to all who have been keeping me in the loop on the world cup and the NBA haha I definitely enjoy hearing what's going on in the world. 

What's been on my mind though is that my sister is about to be a mom, in like 2 weeks!! I'm so excited for you Jess and love you and my future nephew! 

Tomorrow I get to host for the new missionaries coming in and I'm really excited. I remember when I came in here like it was yesterday ...  ​ and now I'll be showing people around this place. Time moves so fast here I can't believe it. 

Here are some photos form this week.

1) me, Elder Schmitt, Sister Peterson, and Sister Vance 

2) me and some elders in my district with the Mission President Hammonds and his wife

3) me thinking about going to Thailand which was spelt wrong...sorry dad (correct spelling - ประเทศไทย) 

 4) Elders in the zone 

ผมรักและคิดทึงคุณทั้งหมด

Elder Lowe 

Robert's 2nd Week สวัสดีทุกคนครับ

สวัสดีทุกคนครับ 

Hey everyone! The second week here at the MTC was amazing and I'm truly growing as a person more and more each day. There are so many cool experiences here and I'm always always busy doing something. 

The beginning of the week was super cool. First, I got to see all the new missionaries coming in on Wednesday so now I'm not the newest missionary here anymore. They all looked so scared so I can't imagine how I looked that first day, haha. On Wednesday I met this elder who is going to New York but lived his whole life in Thailand. We had a conversation for a while in Thai and then he just went off and I had no clue what he was taking about! That's definitely what it is gonna be like at Thailand so it was really good to be exposed to a Thai speaking person. 

This week we finally got to play soccer as a district and let me tell you that will probably be the last time. My team destroyed the other team so bad that they just walked off the field when it was 12-0 lol. I got 6 goals and 3 assists so not a bad day haha. So now we just play basketball or anything besides soccer really :( 

By Friday everyone was exhausted and we all just were tired of learning Thai for like 8 hours straight each day but there was so much improvement this week it's just insane what the Lord can do when you are on his side. First, we taught our first long lesson of about 25-30 minutes all in Thai which wasn't that bad at all. Second, my companion and I are starting to read the book of Mormon in Thai faster and faster each day and instead of taking 30 minutes to read one verse it takes us like 15 minutes to read 5. I know that's still so slow but it's gonna take time!! 

Third, on Monday we taught actual members in this thing called TRC for two 20 minute lessons. We didn't know we were teaching anyone until about an hour before, so my companion and I just had to wing it and pray for the best lol. We actually did very well, but these people just talk so fast that most of the times I can't keep up and I can't understand what they are saying! 

Lastly, on Monday we took a vocab quiz of 217 words we have learned the last week with some different phrases. I've worked really hard on trying to learn all of them and retain them and I know the Lord has blessed me in my efforts because I ended up finishing about 30 minutes before anyone else and I was the only one in the class to get every single word correct!! I'm not trying to brag but it is an awesome feeling to know that hard work truly pays off! 

So this week my district and I met Donald Trump...or at least his twin. This man legit looks straight up just like Trump; my friend Elder Hodson and I have become good friends with the don lol. 

We got new zone leaders this week and they are good for the most part. 

On Sunday I taught about recognizing conversion in ourselves and others which a lot of times starts with recognizing the spirit and the impact it can have on our lives each and every day. The more we are able to recognize the spirit and adhere to it's prompting the more we will be blessed and have our testimony strengthened. 

Goals for this week:

Be a light to others

Work hard and keep grinding 

Recognize the spirit everyday 

I miss you all and thank you to everyone who has written me emails and letters. You all are the best!!

เจอกัน

Elder Lowe or เอ็ลเดอร์โลว์

1) district with the don

2)  the Don mid pose

 3) at the temple 

4) Elder Hodson and I vacuuming like the Ghostbusters

4) some of my zone

6) my district including the sisters

Robert's first week at the MTC

Sawaadii, 

Well I finally arrived at the MTC on Wednesday and it's been a crazy week, let me tell ya. First, going to the MTC was super hard and it was really tough to say goodbye to all the people I love and care about so much. 

So the first day I ended up bumping into my best friend from college and I ended up seeing him a lot as well as a lot of my other friends this week at the cafeteria. I couldn't believe how many people I saw that I knew the first day. It was NUTS! But what was even crazier was that my teachers started teaching in Thai, and only Thai the first day which was super annoying to be honest, but now I really like my teachers. They really push me and my district to learn this language in 9 weeks - which is just insane! 

Getting up the next day was probably harder than the entire first day combined haha. I have to get up at 6:30 AM in the morning everyday or earlier, which was impossible to do the first couple of days since I wasn't getting up till 1pm everyday over summer. 

My companions name is Elder Ward and he is a top notch guy that is very in tune with the spirit and really pushes me to be better. He also knew his way around the whole place by the first day which was super clutch, 'cause I had no idea what I was doing. 

On the second day there everyone in our district had to meet with the branch president, which I really enjoyed cause he also served his mission in Thailand. After having an interview with a him and with a member of the branch presidency I was assigned to be the district leader. I was so happy that I could be an example and a leader to the elders and sisters in my district and help them feel included as much as possible. I've been pretty busy and I got way more work to do now, which is really overwhelming cause I still have to learn a language that makes no sense. My district consists of 10 elders and 2 sisters. They are all soooo funny especially Elder Davidson who seems to make anything anybody says really funny. Its really nice when we all are dead from being in class all day learning Thai and then Elder Davidson provided comedic relief. 

So the first 2 days we didn't get exercise time which really stunk because that was what I was looking forward too probably the most. Later, we played basketball 5 v 5 as a district on half court...not a good idea. The gym is so crowded but we made it work. Also, one of the elders in my district is like 6'6" and can yam no problem, which is against the rules here lol. 

So I have the best family ever. Its honestly the best feeling to see someone wrote me or that someone sent me a package or letter. Being the district leader I'm in charge of getting the mail for my district which is so nice because I always have a letter to pick up every single day. It's kinda funny that I always get mail and my companion, whom is standing next to me has yet to get any mail. So, shout out to Tate and Jess and Marissa and Devon, you guys are the best and make the rest of my district hate me cause I always get a package and they never do, but who cares haha. 

At the MTC we have to teach an investigator like everyday speaking only Thai, which is really tough, but I really enjoy them. Every time we go to teach someone, my companion blanks and I have to carry the conversation for like 10 to 15 minutes, which is one of the hardest things I have ever done.  

Learning Thai is super discouraging because just when you think you know a lot you realize that you really don't know anything and then thinking ahead - that when I get to Thailand I'm gonna not be able to talk to people for legit 6 months. 

Top 5 things I've learned this week:

1) be patient and don't give up

2) waking up early is the worst thing in the world 

3) Elder Davidson is one of the funniest guys I've met

4) I've got the best family in the world

5) the temple is so amazing 

For those of you who want to keep in touch just email me at lowe.robert@myldsmail.net and email me first so that I have your email. Send me an office meme, a joke or anything! 

Love you all and miss you a ton. 

Chog dii khrab,

Elder Lowe 

Photos:

(1) elders in my district 

​

(2) me and Elder Schmitt 

​(3) me and the other Elder Lo

​

(4) me and my companion 

​

Saying goodbye to Robert

Saying good bye to Robert was so hard.  It was hard with all of my children, but for some reason this was very hard.  I don't know if it is because we had such a fun last month together with him home before his mission, or if it is because he is my youngest, or if it is because he has looked forward to this for so long ...

We packed up the night before (like until 1:00 am) and still had to leave the house around 4:35 am because he had such an early flight (6:00 am).  Before leaving the house, Robert's friend, Max Sanders came over to go with us to the airport to say goodbye.  He followed us there.

There were no complications with Robert's ticket, next stop is security.  This is where we had to say goodbye to him.  I really didn't want to let go.  It was so touching and heartfelt.  I love Robert so much.  He is my youngest (my baby - although he's not a baby anymore).

We had our hugs, and kisses (and photos) ... and then he was off to the security line.  We stayed and talked to him while he walked through the line.  Then it was really GOOD BYE.  NOOO!!!!  But YES.  He had to go, I had to let him go.

We watched as he made it through security - he looked back and waved a few times and then we couldn't see him any more.  HE was gone.  HE will not be back for two years.  I'm so glad Max got to be there to say good-bye too.  Robert and Max became very close during the summer.  Max is a great guy and a great friend.  It was nice to share this experience with him.

Although I have tears in my eyes, I know he is fulfilling a dream - a dream that is now coming true!  I am so happy for that dream and for his desire to fulfill it.  He loves his family, he loves the Lord and he will be an amazing missionary.

Max and Robert on the way to the airport

Mom and Dad saying goodbye to Robert

Max and Robert - best buds

All ready

 Once Robert arrived in SLC Marissa picked him up and treated him to lunch at Cheesecake Factory... his favorite.  The also went to the SLC temple, and then down to BYU.

At the SLC Temple

best buds

Robert ran into a friend from freshman year

Missionary ready!!!

The best part of Cheesecake Factory is the Adam's peanut butter cheesecake!

At Cheesecake Factory

 That night Robert stayed the night with Jessica and Tate.  They went to Cafe Rio as his goodbye lunch as a group.  They actually ended up being a little late to the MTC, but it was okay.

All together!!!

Saying good bye in the MTC Parking lot

The host taking Robert to the MTC