Week 89: Happy Valentine's Day

So first things first...HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! I hope everyone had an awesome week and felt a little bit of extra love this week. 

As for me, I had a crazy busy week and I didn't get a p-day haha. On Monday I had the Bangkok East Zone Conference. Then on Wednesday we left to Roi Et and we were there for 2 days for their Zone Conference. Then Friday I got to go to the Bangkok North zone conference. Zone Conferences are the best because you just feel the spirit so strong, and you get pumped up for the transfer. 

I got to visit 5 families in Roi Et like old times, and we just shared the message of the Atonement and how much God loves them. Missionary work is the best! Being able to lift someone else up and helping them to draw closer to their Savior is the greatest feeling in the world! 

On the days that we didn't have Zone Conference, we got to teach a ton of lessons. Right now we have อาร์ม (Arm) and อาเธอร์ (Arthur) who have been progressing so much. Both of them are kids who just love the gospel and understand it so well. Arm is 13 and Arthur is 9 and they have baptismal dates for next week. How exciting!!

We are also teaching this guy named จิม who is just following all of our commitments. He has a baptismal goal for March 15th and is beginning to really understand the immense love the God has for him. He has read to chapter 10 in the Book of Mormon in just 1 week, so we are very excited for him. 

Lastly, I want to talk about our man สุวัฒน์ (Suwat), who is the dad of one of our RCs, พัช (Pat). He is not a member yet, but he has such a desire to learn and change his life. He has prayed for God to open his eyes to know for himself if these things are true. We have taught him about the Plan of Salvation, The gospel, and the Restoration, and he just couldn't believe it. He was like, "we got to tell the whole world." hahah 

The Lord is so good! Rely on him and he will truly direct your paths. 

P.S. I have less than 4 months left on my mission. How crazy is that?!?

Love, 

Elder Lowe 

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Robert and Elder Robinson on the flight - 

look at that awesome new tie

Week 85: Back in Isaan

Last week Elder Andersen came to Thailand and gave all the missionaries a commitment to memorize scriptures. This will deepen our personal conversion and it will allow us to be sharper instruments, or in other words, more effective missionaries and teachers. I have personally been able to memorize a couple of scriptures in Thai this week and it has been a game changer. I am able to use these scriptures on the spot while inviting and teaching! People have been more engaged and willing to listen because they can feel a greater spirit. I guess what I'm trying to say is using the words of God (scriptures) has a greater power than using our own words.

I was in the Isaan from Thursday to Saturday. I got to switch off in Roi Et, my old area, on Thursday! I switched off with Elder Kearsley and we were able to teach a lot of new people. The Elders there are starting to teach some more families and individuals who are very interested! I'm so excited for them!! Also it was so fun to see all the wonderful members and the people I taught when I was there. 

On Friday, I was in Udorn and I switched off with Elder Benteti. He was in my MTC group and I have played basketball with him at BYU before I was a missionary. He loves the people he is teaching and has developed great relationships with them! Then on Saturday I went to Kumpawapi and I worked with the Elders there. It is a tiny area that doesn't really have a lot going on there. 

I'm excited for this next transfer because we should have some people preparing to be baptized. Right now we are teaching a several families and a couple of individuals that are preparing for baptism. We have this one boy that we are teaching named Arm who is so fire. He is 13 and he comes to church every week, he reads the Book of Mormon everyday and understands it, and his parents have given approval for him to be baptized. I'm so excited for him to be baptized on February 23rd! 

Love you all so much! Remember to choose the right!

Love,

Elder Lowe

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The Zones of Bangkok with Elder Anderson, an Apostle of the Lord

Robert on splits with Elder Bentiti

Isn't this Amazing!

Week 80: Back to Bangkok

Wow what a week! This week was full of surprises. 

On a p-day we met this one guy named Alex who had lived in Texas for 19 years and he knew that we were "Mormon" missionaries. He is a Thai person and was super kind to us, so he asked us to have lunch with him. So, we thought it would be with him and maybe 3 other people, but it turned out to be some sort of reunion. Overall, there was about 35 people there! It was insane!! 

I can really feel the spirit of Christmas here in Thailand. It's such an amazing opportunity to share the true meaning of Christmas with everyone! I have also had the opportunity to serve others and light the world. I got to cut a bunch of bamboo down this week which was way fun!! 

Our ward has also practiced singing for our Christmas program and for Christmas caroling on Christmas Eve!

My comp and I have continued to work on our member board and we made a ton of progress this week! We know it will be such a blessing to this mission and to the Thai people!

Brother Ping passed his interview and is totally ready to be baptized this Sunday!! Yayyyy!!

However, I will not be there :( I will be moving to Bangkok again to be President Hammond's Assistant. It's weird cause I've been to that area a billion times for transfers and switch offs, but now I'm the AP and it's my area. I'm excited for this opportunity to serve the Lord in a different way. New experiences and lessons await me!!

Love you all so much!!

Love, 

Elder Lowe 

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Robert is so happy that Ping can be baptized

Sad to see Elder Tu go

Member Board

The goodbye for Elder Tu

Cutting Down Bamboo

Week 79: It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas

It's really beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! Believe it or not...Thailand is sooo cold right now. I've been freezing the last several days, no joke. It is usually around 90-100 degrees every day, but this week the weather dropped to the 60s-70s and let's just say I was not ready. My parents told me that Thailand would never get cold so I have no jackets, sweatshirts, coats, etc. Thank you mom and dad, haha, jk!

Right now as I am writing this email I feel completely exhausted. This week has felt so long and has overall been very tiring on me. Needless to say, it was an amazing week full of miracles and cool experiences.

I officially hit my 18 month mark on Friday!!

To start the week we went around to some different members and worked on our member board! We were able to share the wonderful Christmas message with some members in Roi Et before leaving to the other areas this week. As a Zone Leader I get the privilege to travel around the area often and visit other missionaries in different areas. This week I got to go all over the Isaan and I even got to go to Bangkok. I switched off in Ubon on Wednesday, Korat on Thursday, Sisaket on Friday, and Asoke on Saturday. These different areas are pretty far from each other, so yeah it was a week of traveling.

Traveling this week was brutal for 2 reasons. 1) we traveled at night so I probably got about 10 hours of sleep total this week and 2) I was so so cold. However, I am done complaining about this past week and I want to talk about all the cool experiences that happened. 

On Wednesday I switched off with Elder Fushee, who is on his first transfer. We did a lot of service, as we are trying to light the world, and we visited some members in Ubon. I want to talk about 1 member in particular that has been a blessing to me. Her name is Sister Tip (ทิพย์) and she is a recent convert to the church. I had visited her about 2 months ago with another missionary, before she was baptized, and at that time she had no desire to be baptized. She was drinking with her friends and family, and not really paying attention to us. Me and the other missionary decided to love her enough to help her, not JUDGE her. We read the Book of Mormon with her that day and applied every verse into her own life and she was amazed. She couldn't believe how this one book was "written for her." Anyway, fast forward to about a month ago where I got to interview her for baptism. She had changed a lot from that first moment to the day of her baptism and I was so proud of her. Okay fast forward to Wednesday this week when I went with Elder Fushee. We came to teach her follow up lessons about the restoration and she started crying. She had goosebumps and had another witness by the Holy Ghost at that moment that what we were telling her was true. She told us she has quit alcohol for almost 2 months now and that she wanted to help her family to do the same. She also told us that she has a desire to share the gospel with her family and she wants the missionaries to teach and baptize her family as well. Miracles really do exist!

On Thursday I was in Korat on a switch off with Elder Blood, who I first met in the MTC. He came to country about a month after I did, so it was really cool to spend a day with him and see how he is doing. This Elder is solid and is a very social man; he loves talking to people, so we used that skill and decided to talk with everyone we could. We visited a bunch of members and shared the message of Christmas with them. I love asking people what is the meaning of Christmas? Or what is the best gift you could ever receive? And after that asking them how is Jesus Christ a gift in your life? Or what role does He play in your life? I'm truly grateful for my Heavenly Father who gave his Son to us to be our Savior and Redeemer. I'm grateful for Jesus Christ that he did everything for me and allows me to return back to my Heavenly Father again.

On Friday, I was in Sisaket and I switched off with Elder Cruz. I got to interview another lady for baptism who just got baptized yesterday! We basically did the same thing in Sisaket and visited some Less Active members and got them excited for this Christmas season.

Lastly, on Saturday I was in Bangkok and I switched off with the Assistants. I switched off with Elder Sumsion who goes home in less than 2 months. He is a very talented guy and way humble about it too. He is by far the best Thai speaker on the mission, it is literally insane. But, what I learned from him is the importance of getting less active more involved in missionary work. We had an appointment with this one less active named เจดน์ (jade), and we got to show him a Christmas video. He felt uplifted and bore his testimony of the Savior. We were so impressed that we asked him to come with us to our next appointment and share his testimony again. He agreed and brought such a strong spirit with him into the next lesson!

We got back to Roi Et on Sunday morning, showered, and then immediately went to church! I have had absolutely 0 breaks this weeks haha. But, we had a miracle at church this week with one of the people we are teaching. We have been teaching this guy named Ping (ปิง) for a long time (he has been am investigator for about 2 years). He has been to church a billion times, received the missionary lessons all the way through 4 times, and has wanted to be baptized for such a long time. However, he is 17 and he told us that his mom didn't give him permission to be baptized. That changed today when she walked into the church and my companion and I got to meet her for the first time. We gave her a church tour with another member at our side and she immediately gave permission for her son to be baptized. I'm honestly so excited for him and his eternal progression. He is set to be baptized on Sunday, December 22nd, which is in 2 weeks! Yayyy!

Again so sorry this was so long, but I just have felt so blessed this week. I love you all so much and I hope everyone is doing good. I invite you all to remember the true meaning of Christmas this Christmas season. Take some time to think of all the things that your Savior has done does you!! Trust me there's a lot.

Love,
Elder Lowe
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PUPPIES!

On the Road again!

Christmas Tree in Thailand!