Week 81 - 18 months & 18 days & 18 hours - Marissa comes home

Well I think my time is up now... the hourglass has run out... and I’m heading home today. I've been out serving Jesus Christ on the mission for 18 months and 18 day. It truly has been the best time of my life and I wish I could set the clocks back and do it again. It was hard coming on my mission. It was hard being on a mission. But the hardest thing will be leaving my mission.

It has been an amazing last week. We had 6 convert baptisms this Saturday. The Richey's (our senior couple) taught two and the other 4 were taught by us. They were amazing baptisms, the spirit was so strong, and there were many tears shed. I can't think of any better way to end my mission. I got to see them all get confirmed on Sunday which just made my sabbath day.

On the plane ride home I sat next to a women and got to teach her the whole restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon and I wrote my testimony in it. It was such a tender mercy from Heavenly Father, that I got to teach one last lesson:)

It's really gonna be hard for me to adjust to not doing this everyday all day. I just have felt the spirit so strongly on the mission. I never want this feeling to go away. I just don't want to lose this. I don't want to lose how pure I feel here. I don't want to lose the magnitude of the spirit I feel. I especially don't want to lose my focus on Christ. I want to dedicate my life to him. I want to serve him with everything I have in me. I want to please him and become who he wants me to be. I just have to put my trust and faith in him at this point because it is inevitable that my full time mission is ending and I guess that's apart of life and I will have to just act in faith and press forward. I am eternally grateful for the suffering Jesus Christ went through for me.

Where I am is just a fraction of where I am going. The plan that Heavenly Father has for me is so much greater than the plan I have for myself. In my last interview with my mission president he said to me that he knows it's going to be real hard for me to take off this name tag. I told him "it's okay President, I plan on super glueing it to me" haha just kidding but for real Jesus Christ's name is forever written on my heart. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ yesterday, today, and forever will be.

In Luke 19:30 it says "he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the Ghost"

Now as I am on my plane ride home I say "it is finished." My mission is complete and like how Jesus Christ still had a mission after his ministry, I still have a mission for the rest of my life. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ and follow him always.

"We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become." - Elder Scott.

God never promised life would be easy but he did promise that it would be worth it.

My mission has been so worth it.

It's been the best thing for me.

Christ has changed me for the better.

Sister Lowe.

1-3. Kameron's baptism

4-6 Alejandro and Rico's baptism

7-8. Gary's baptism

9. Saying goodbye to brother Caron

10. Saying goodbye to the Alberchsons. We lived in their basement

11-13. Saying goodbye to my comp Sister Coakley and the Richey's (our

senior couple)

14-15. Temple trip

16-? Goodbyes

20. Home

At the Louisville airport with my mom and dad

Home after 566 (oops not 568) days

Week 79

18 months....

I hit 18 months on the mission this week...

18 months whole months I've been serving as a full time missionary. And luckily I get to stay a few more weeks!! These seriously have been the best 18 months of my life. And I sure am not ready for them to end. It breaks my heart to think about so I'm just not gonna talk about it okay:)

So this has been such an amazing week! Like seriously best week ever. Amazeballs week.

We had 12 investigators come to church Sunday! 12! That's the best I've ever had on my mission. It was a hectic Sunday. We were hopping from one church to the next. Going on splits. And sitting with all of our investigators. It was so fun but so exhausting.

We had an amazing lesson with Kameron this week. All he wants for Christmas is to be baptized and he just has the strongest testimony of a 17 year old boy I've ever seen.

We gave Alejandro and Rico the children's Book of Mormon on Friday and on Sunday they told us they finished the whole book! WOW! These kids are amazing.

Gary, well what can I say, Gary is amazing and has such a strong testimony. He had his baptismal interview and is all set! He will be the first member in his family so he is going through some hard stuff, but he has never been so strong.

I had MLC this week and we set a goal for December to have 120 baptisms this month for our mission, which means each stake has to have two baptisms. It's gonna be a WHITE CHRISTMAS for sure! We have 6 convert baptisms scheduled for December 16th in our stake, two at 10:30, one at 11:30, two at 3:33, and one at 5pm. It's gonna be the best Saturday ever! I'm so pumped!

The mission put on a musical fireside this week at the Brigham city tabernacle and it was a full house with lots of investigators there. I was asked to speak at it on my testimony of reflecting Christ's light. It was so nerve wracking having everyone watching but I think it turned out well and a lot of people came up to me and thanked me for my testimony.

As for my spiritual thought today I just want to share my favorite quote:

"Today is the day that we represent him

Today is the day we exercise our faith

That we cast our own selfish selves aside and say

What would he say if he were here today

What would he do if he were here today

And what would he think If he were here today

Those are the things I will do

Those are the things that I will say

And that is the way that I will think

Today is the day that eternity changes 

Today is the day that I will walk with God."

I strive to do those things everyday and to become more like Christ as I live the gospel of Jesus Christ and have his doctrine embedded in my heart. Love you all!

Sister Lowe

1. Leaving for MLC

2. Our senior couple took us to this Chinese restaurant

 3. My fortune:(((((((

4. Woke up to SNOW this morning!!!!

Week 78 - Thanksgiving

Guys it's finally Christmas celebrating time!!! I'm so excited! I love the Christmas season on the mission, it is truly the best because we get to celebrate Christmas with an emphasis on CHRIST. Which is the real reason we celebrate Christmas! Also I think people are just a little nicer during Christmas time:)

Okay so great things happening this week:

We met this guy, he's 17 named Cameron and he has been going to seminary for a semester now and has some great LDS friends and so he told his parents that all he wants for Christmas this year is to be baptized...that's all he wants. And so his parents who aren't members and are pretty anti-Mormon actually agreed to let him finally. So already this week we are starting to have Christmas miracles!! Gary! Gary is so awesome like literally he is so prepared! He is still on date for the 16th and he said if they schedule him to work that day he will just quit his job. Wow the faith! I'm so excited for him! Alejandro came to church again all by himself, literally the best 9 year old I know! He is now on date for the 16th because his catholic mom wants to make sure he understands everything.

I went on two exchanges this week which was pretty fun. I've learned a lot this transfer as I've gone out with these sisters. A lot of them are struggling in the mission and so it's been cool to help them keep going and seeing their purpose here.

It was thanksgiving this week and that was just a blast. We went to the Bischoff’s family for thanksgiving and I just love that family! I have never eaten so much pie in my life. My fav was the pecan pie…so good!

We passed out a ton of Light the World cards this week. It's the Christmas initiative this year and it's about serving others and becoming more like Christ. To serve others in 25 ways over 25 days leading up to Christmas, pretty cool! I am just so grateful for my savior Jesus Christ who has literally given me everything, and everyday I have the chance to give him something back by serving the people here. It's the most joyful feeling.

Sister Lowe

1-3. Thanksgiving

4. Christmas lights for our door!!!

5. #LightTheWorld

Week 77 - Mormon Muffins and Dwight Shrewt from the Office

Okay So an update for this week:

Alejandro and Rico are on date for baptism December 2nd!! Whoot whoot! They are such cute kids and have such a desire to learn. It's been fun teaching them.

We taught this guy named Gary on Saturday and he has been prepared by the Lord. His friend told him to read Moroni 10 and so he did. He told us he felt this overwhelming feeling come over him as he prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true. He then decided to meet with the missionaries... that's us! He accepted a baptismal date of December 16th! We are excited for him.

One day we were walking and we were on the other side of the street and I looked back and I saw this lady outside trimming her bushes, so we decided to turn around and ask if she needed help. Well she accepted our help and we helped pull out 3 of her bushes in the ground. She then told us that that morning she was praying that God would send her angels to help her get this project done. She then said "You guys are my angels!" Wow. God truly is so aware of us. He listens to everyone's prayer and answers them in his own timing. God truly cares so much about us.

It snowed again and the mountains are super pretty because they are all white.

We got poured on one night and as we were knocking doors we were soaking wet and people would just look at us like "why are you knocking my door as it pours outside???" Haha it was actually pretty fun but super cold.

This weeks been rough at times, but then also super joyful. A lot of our investigators cancelled on us or keep rescheduling and it can be frustrating. It can be rough. And It can be hard sometimes. But when times are hard I remember him. I remember Jesus Christ. Even Jesus, the one perfect one, prayed: "Father let this cup pass from me..." There were things he too did not want to do and yet he did them because of his kindness and long suffering charity he had for us.

That is what I want my motivation to be. To do hard things because of the love I have for these people. I want to acquire that Christ like love for all of his children. I have learned the only way to win is to lose. To lose yourself in the Lords work, to surrender yourself and all of your desires to him. Like the Scripture says, "whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it."

I have really come to understand the suffering Jesus Christ did for us. His love for us is incomprehensible. I'm so grateful to be able to feel a glimpse of that love for the people here in pleasant view. I love being a servant of Jesus Christ. It is the best calling I could ever hold.

I love you all, hope you all have a great thanksgiving!!

Sister Lowe

1. Utah logan mission (front row left corner)

2. Our senior couple took us to this really cool restaurant

3. "Mormon muffins" on the menu... only in Utah, haha

 4. Best news ever!! Dwight Shrewt (from the show "the office") “was visited by some very nice Mormon missionaries Sisters" Our investigator sent us these pictures and it made my day!

Week 76

So it's only been 4 days since I wrote, so I'll just give a quick update on how our weeks been!

We had such a good week, like our lessons didn't cancel, we found lots of new, and put 5 people on date for baptism. Good week, am I right? The person that I want to talk about though is Alejandro! We were tracting in the trailer park and this dog came running towards us so we picked him up and then the owner came out and was so thankful we caught her dog. She told us she wasn't Mormon and wasn't too interested but she said her kids were really interested. So we came back another day and met Alejandro. He is 9 and really wanted to come to church and be baptized. His mom said she'll drop him off but he’d be going all alone. So Sunday rolled around and he came all by himself and sat with us. He is the cutest and I know I wasn't like that at 9. He's so great. I'm excited to teach him.

Yep so that's my update for the week, sorry it's so short. I really like this area. There is so much potential here. I wish I could be here another 6 months to see all the progress these people are making. Conversion takes time and I'm just sad I only get 6 weeks to see it now. I love being on a mission. It's the greatest thing in the world. And I'm just so happy being here.

Love you All!

Sister Lowe

1-2. Sorry had like no pics this week so we just took some with the Book of Mormon

3. Saw Sister Davis on Sunday at the my plan meeting:/

4. The MTC crew, the sisters I came out with.

5. A whole year ago yesterday, jasmine was baptized!!!

Week 75 - my last transfer

So today is transfer day...and I get to stay with Sister Coakley!! 

Hallelujah! Also today is P-day! So that's why I'm writing to you now:) also this will be my last transfer in the mission:((((( crazy how fast it's gone.

So highlights of the week:

IT SNOWED!!! Which means it's getting super cold!!! But I love the snow:)))

Funny story: we were walking on the highway (the only way to get to our appointment) and it was dark and late at night and raining... and a car drove past us and literally it was like the movies. A big wave of water just splashed us and soaked us, haha. It was pretty hilarious but super cold, good thing we only had like 20 minutes till we went home.

We had a lot of Fourth four last door experiences this week... which means we would tract all day with no success and when we were about to turn back we would knock one last door and we would find someone interested. We found Marco, Casey, Brooke, Cindy and Armarndo (who now is on date for baptism for December 2nd!!!)

Tyler (recent convert) bore his testimony in sacrament and is getting his temple recommend soon!!! So excited for him:) We still had some rough patches this week with people cancelling or rescheduling on us but God still provides miracles despite the hard times.

This week in ADTM I had to give a training on the prayer of faith. This week I've been really working on strengthening my prayers with my Heavenly Father. I spend 15 to 20 minutes in the morning on my knees talking to my Heavenly Father. I've really seen this help me throughout the day even when we aren't having success. Prayer is a defining moment. It is the moment the world stops around you. You have the attention of the most powerful being in the whole universe.

He is listening intently to you and is waiting to answer you. Im so grateful for the conversations I get to have daily with Heavenly Father:)

Love you all!

Sister Lowe

1-2. MLC

 3. The Elders carved pumpkins for us and left them at our door... itsays KFC YALL! 😂

4-5. Return and report, got to see Schultz!!!

Marissa and Sister Schultz

6-7. Tracting pics... I had to wear my glassss cause my contacts were acting up:/

8. PROOF OF SNOW!! Sorry for the selfie but I had to get it on camera

 10. Newbury... I lived in Newbury England when I was little so I had to take a pic:)

11.  After District meeting

Week 74

Happy Oaks day!!!! (Kentucky holiday in may for those of you not from Kentucky)!!!

... Just kidding though but Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles came to our mission and spoke to us!!! I got to shake his hand and everything!! It was really amazing to be in the presence of an apostle. He has such a powerful testimony of the gospel and missionary work. Lots to say about it but not much time to write it. I had a lot of exchanges this week again. I feel like I rarely get to be in my area with this STL stuff. But the exchanges were great and I am so impressed with these new sisters who just came out this transfer that I've gotten to work with. In both full day exchanges I went on, we got to invite two people to be baptized that we weren't planning on doing before the lesson but then the spirit told us to, so we did and they said yes! Exchanges always bring miracles. While I was gone Sister Coakley found 3 new investigators!!! Whoot!!! she's doing so great, and we work super well together.

Funny story: We knocked this one house and when the little girl answered the door she yelled "THE MORMONS ARE HERE!!" I think the whole neighborhood heard. Well her parents (who aren't members) came to the door and we began to teach them. The parents weren't to interested but the 3 teenagers who haven't been baptized were interested in the lessons! Whoot!! We are excited to teach them.

To describe this week in one word it would be:

Rough.

We had a lot of lessons planned this week but Every. Single. One. Of. Them. Cancelled. It's like when we first meet these people they seem so interested and want us back and then we come back and they aren’t there:/ I call them flakey investigators. But as this has happened this week I reflected on how Heavenly Father feels when we let him down or turn away from him. And it is the worst feeling. I know I have been one of his flakey investigators before and now I know how he feels. But the thing is, he still loves us and is patient with us. And I am starting to feel that same Christ like love for these people even when they frustrate me or bring me heart ache. All of it is worth it because we are bringing souls unto him.

One of my favorite quotes from two conferences ago pretty much sums it up, it's by Elder Palmer, he says: "My dear brothers and sisters, now anytime you feel you are being asked to do something hard--think of the Lord beholding you, loving you, and inviting you to let it go and follow Him. And thank Him for loving you enough to invite you to do more."

I thank Heavenly Father everyday for loving me enough to invite me to do more.

Sister Lowe

1-2 exchanges with Sister Spotten

3 I GOT TO HOLD A CHICKEN
Marissa with baby chicks

4 raking leaves for service

5 Halloween parties

6 service in Huntsville when on exchanges with Sister Feeney

7 pretty sky:)