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 78: Six months to sexy

Sooo yeah I am hitting my 18 month mark in like 4 days soooooo...I'm not ready for that! But on the bright side happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone had a great week and got to look back on all the things you are grateful for.

My week was great and I actually had a really good Thanksgiving day. Thanksgiving was actually on the same day as zone conference, so we prepared a really good traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Elder Despain and I gave a really sick training on working with members and we came up with a cool idea called, the Board of Members. Basically, I have been taking pictures of the members (with their permission) and writing their names underneath each picture. Then I've printed out these pictures and cut them out and taped them up to our wall at home. We are planning on taking pictures of all the members, so that no one gets forgotten. Many times, missionaries will teach people and they will be baptized, but shortly afterwards they will go less active. We want to implement this system so that each and every member is accounted for with a picture and a name! My district and I are currently working on a PowerPoint to present to our president because we really believe this could change the mission. 

After zone conference we were invited over for a fancy Thanksgiving dinner with the Mission President and his wife, the Stake Presidency, and the senior couple here. So in technically I got 2 Thanksgiving dinners!! 

Our goal this transfer is to simply love the members and those that we teach. We are working on developing relationships by helping them increase their faith in Jesus Christ. 

Lastly, it's the holiday season! I can't believe it's already December, which means Christmas is coming up!! I had 2 exchanges this week with Elder Thorn and Elder Meyer. We visited a ton of members and asked them about their relationship with the Savior. We made a goal to talk with more people about Jesus Christ since it is the Christmas season. Believe it or not, nobody in Thailand really knows the meaning of Christmas. We've asked a lot of people and they all just think it is the Christian's new year celebration day. It's been a wonderful experience to teach people the true meaning of Christmas as the day our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer came to this earth. I'm grateful for my Savior and for everything he went through for me! 

I love you all so much! I encourage you all to light the world this Christmas season by serving others, smiling, and sending an uplifting message to those you know. Have a great week!!

Love, 

Elder Lowe

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Member Board

What is that on your head?

Week 74: Halloween and the New Prince of Thailand

To everyone back home...HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I can't believe it was Halloween week and now November! I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and got a ton of candy. For me I had been planning this Halloween for a while since it will be my last Halloween in Thailand. We are teaching this guy named Tui (ตุ้ย) and he has a ton of clothing at his house for his work. He let me borrow a prince outfit, so Elder Tu and I dressed up as princes haha. Needless to say, it was a really good Halloween and I had a ton of fun. 

Me and Elder Laurence finally finished editing the video we made and we are excited to post it soon! It looks pretty good, but it is a little long!!

On Wednesday, we had zone conference and it went really well! Elder Despain and I gave a training about following the spirit and how we can become more successful missionaries. It was way awesome!!! It was full of the spirit and President Hammond gave a strong training on prophets. I know that we have a living prophet today to guide the true church of Jesus Christ! I'm thankful for a prophet or a mouthpiece of the Lord that allows us to communicate with our Heavenly Father. We can hear the words of the Lord through his prophet. 

President Hammond also interviewed me and has inspired me to continue to find and teach families!!

Speaking of families, the one we are teaching is so good. They are so close to being baptized and they really know the things we teach to be true. We are planning for them to be baptized very soon! I'm so excited. 

I also got to do a switch off with Elder Robley and Elder Halversen from Korat! They are way cool and it's always fun to go on splits with Elder Halversen cause he is in my group from the MTC. 

Lastly, we went around on Saturday visiting a ton of members. Me and my companion probably visited 15 different houses of families or individuals! We gave them some fruit and chocolate milk just to let them know we are here to serve them and help them develop a stronger relationship with us. 

Love, 

Elder Lowe

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P.S. My house has been filthy, like absolutely disgusting. No missionaries have cleaned it for so so long. So we decided to clean the house and it looks really good - good as new!!

Halloween Activity:

Sister ?, Sister Nielson, Robert and Elder Despain

Delicious

Week 66: One Night in my Bed

So it's been a bit of an interesting week with a ton of traveling. First of all, we left Monday afternoon to Udorn for our zone conference there. So Monday night I sleep at a hotel in Udorn. Zone conference was on Tuesday and we decided to switch off at Korat the next day with the elders living there. So Tuesday night we slept at the Korat Elder's house. Wednesday we switched off and we didn't get a bus till about midnight, so we slept the entire night on a bus. Thursday we got back to our area and finally got a work day in our own area. But we had a Missionary Leadership Training on Friday in Bangkok, so Thursday night I slept on a bus and got to the APs house around 5am. Unfortunately they locked the door so we just slept outside their house until they woke up at 6:30. Then we had an awesome MLC on Friday and interviews with President afterwards. We couldn't get a bus back to our area that night so we slept in Bangkok at the Bangkhen Elder's house on Friday night and got back to our area on Saturday around 5:00pm. So sorry if that didn't make sense or if I rambled, but basically we slept in our own beds only one night this entire week. And I'm still so exhausted!

All in all, it was still a very good week and spiritually uplifting too. Regardless of all the traveling, we received some awesome training. In zone conference we talked about a ton of good things such as, sharing the gospel in normal and natural ways and having members do the same. 

We also talked about where true happiness comes from. Sister Hammond shared this acronym, which I loved:

Jesus

Others

Yourself

You will have JOY as you put Jesus first in your life, others second, and yourself last. Charity is one of the most important attributes we can obtain in this life. I know this to be true as I have experienced it in my own life. 

On Wednesday I had a sweet switch off with Elder Halversen. He is actually in my MTC group and I knew him a little bit in college. We taught some cool LAs and with one LA we shared the story of Enos. It says that Enos' soul was hungered and so I took that opportunity there to talk about food and relate this story to this man's own life. For those who are unfamiliar with the Thai culture, Thai people love their food. Anyways I ask him what type of food he likes and what his go-to food is. Then I related it to the gospel by asking him what happens if he doesn't get to eat. He said that he would be a hungry man. I said exactly and it's the same with our spirits; if we don't feed our spirits with the word of God or through prayer, our spirits will starve. We invited him to feed his spirit by going to church and by reading his scriptures starting with 1 Nephi 1. He committed to do those things so I hope he showed up to church yesterday haha. Also, sidenote the food in Korat is the bomb and not too expensive. Overall, it was such a fun day and we both learned a ton from each other. 

MLC was on Friday and we talked a lot about the direction we wanted the mission to go. We decided that taking members on the journey with us and making every member a "missionary" is going to prepare this country for the temple it will receive in 2 years. 

Last experience from this week happened on Sunday night. We are teaching this guy named โก้ (go) and กัน (gan) and they are quite the characters. I'm pretty sure กัน has no idea what is going on ever cause he is so focused on making his ส้มตำ (Somtam). But our man โก้(go) just lost his daughter about a week ago. We were able to share a little bit about the Plan of salvation and give him some hope. Eventually he said he wanted to be baptized and wanted his friends gan to be baptized too. It's such a miracle to see so many humble souls being prepared by God in this country. 

Love you all so much. Miracles are real!!

Love,

Elder Lowe

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Great Missionaries

Robert and Elder Rattel

Biking in the rain

On their way

Week 60: Ayutthaya

Hey yall! This week was a pretty good one and I'm really excited to apply the things I learned this week into my mission and my life. We had an awesome zone conference this week about loving your companions, planning effectively, and coming to know our Savior and Redeemer! It was so good and I feel so close to my Savior right now. 

Pet and Geeg are doing so awesome and have received their answer about the Book of Mormon! I'm super excited about their progression and that they really understand that the book of mormon is true. Once these people that we teach know the Book of Mormon is true for themselves and have felt the spirit testify that what we have taught is true, the have begun their conversion process! 

Also we met some random people this week who messaged us on Facebook asking questions about the church. We got to meet face to face with one of them and they had so many hard questions. From what it looked like, both of them had closed hearts who just wanted to question everything we did. However, we were able to give them book of mormons and one of them is already on chapter 10! I'm excited to see how the spirit will work for this lady as she reads the Book of Mormon!!

P day we went to Ayutthaya with some members and it was so cool! Sorry I don't have a lot of time this week to write!

Love 

Elder Lowe 

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The Elders with the Monks

 Trip to Ayutthaya

Week 53: The Rain is Coming of Down

So I know I've probably complained too much about how hot it is in Thailand over the last couple of months. Although it is still very hot, Thailand has entered into the rainy season. The summer season is ending and the rainy season is starting.  What that means is that when it rains, it pours. And it tends to pour just about every day. In addition to the pouring rain, what you need to understand is Bangkok is below sea level, so it floods every time it rains.  Honestly, I love the rain so much so this is such a blessing haha! 

So this week was so cool! We were able to teach with a bunch of members and recent converts. Also we have this person that we are teaching named C, and she is so awesome. She is really reading and pondering the scriptures and praying everyday. She came to church on Sunday and while I was sitting next to her, she was reading in the book of mormon. Then she told me that she believes this church to be true and she has a lot of faith in this church. I was so happy that she is becoming converted. However, the next thing she told me really shocked me - She told me that she asked her boss if she could get off on Sundays so she could come to church and her boss said no. So she started praying and asking God what she should do. She told me that instantly the phone rang and it was me asking her to come to church. She told me that that was her answer! ...so she quit her job on the spot and came to church immediately. It was incredible!!! This lady has so much faith and I know because of her sacrifices she will be blessed immensely!! 

I got to go on a switch off with Elder English this week, my zone leader. He is really awesome and I learned a couple of things from him. When we went to teach lessons to members, he would just talk with them and we would tell stories to build a friendship. Sometimes I just go into lessons and begin teaching and asking people to repent, but he was so good at building a relationship with the Thai people first! 

Zone conference was this week and it was centered on working with members!! President said, "As we use more time with members and strengthen them, the number of baptisms will increase, not decrease." 

Lastly the amazing BYU Vocal Point came to Bangkok Thailand to perform - WOW!!!!  It was really cool - they are amazing. I never thought I would go to a concert on my mission but the Lord truly blessed me, haha. They were way good and are such a light to the Thai people.  Search BYU Vocal Point on YouTube to see what I am talking about.

Love you all so much!!

Elder Lowe

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1) random guy I contacted and helped him sweep

2) switch offs with Elder English

3 & 4) The members are the best

Week 36: Zone Conference in Bangkok and 10 new People at church

This week was a bit different. To start we flew to Bangkok on Monday night for our zone conference on Tuesday. The missionaries from Myanmar came, and I hadn't seen them since the MTC. Zone conference was very spiritually uplifting and honestly was a nice opportunity to see so many people that I haven't seen in such a long time. I got to talk to my mission president, President Hammonds, for a while and he is full of so much wisdom. He told me that he had been getting calls about the video I posted and that it was wonderful! Thank you to everyone that liked, shared, or viewed it!! 

After zone conference, I stayed in Bangkok for a day on a switch off with the Thonburi Elders. I switched off with a Filipino Elder who is on his 3rd transfer. He was awesome and seemed to open his mouth a lot even though he is a new missionary. He was a great example to me! Later that night we had to catch our flight back to Phuket but we ran into some problems. Since we are in a foreign land, we keep our passports in the office of our mission and we use these cards that kind of "replace" the actual passport. Basically I have flown about 8 times using this card (which is totally not a passport) to fly around this country, but this night they weren't letting anything fly. We had to go to this police station and work something out. All in all, I got back to Phuket that night with my companion and we were all good. It was such a miracle that we even got on that flight and then got home safely!

We are continuing our finding February efforts and this week we actually had miracles. We found 10 people in 4 days! When you are motivated and have the spirit with you, the Lord will just hand you people to teach. Additionally, President Hammond gave my companion and I a referral...they are way elect. They want to be baptized so bad, so I am very excited to continue to teach them. Their name is เปียโน (piano) so that is fun too! 

Last thing I want to share is this crazy experience I had on Saturday. I was out inviting and talking to a bunch of people. Then I come across this guy and I got the feeling that I should talk to him, so I approached him and he acted in a way like we had already known each other. He told me to make myself at home, he got me a glass of water, and he legit seemed as if he knew me from somewhere. Then he starts telling me that he knows that I am a missionary and that I teach about Jesus Christ. I told him that is correct, and then he said that he was the opposite of me. At first I thought he meant that he was Buddhist, but as I talked with him he let me know that he worships Satan. It was the strangest thing but he told me he loves listening to satanic things. However, he did tell me that he had been studying all religions his whole life and wants to learn more. I pulled out the book of mormon and asked if he had ever heard of it. He said he has been looking for it for so long and was practically begging me for it. Overall it was a strange experience but I know the importance of testifying so that's what I began to do. I really hope this man will read the book of mormon and get a witness that it is true!!! 

I love you all so much! Sorry that was a long story and a long email. This week I just finished the book of mormon again for the 6th time. I know that it is true and that God has restored his true church through the prophet Joseph Smith. If anyone is struggling with their faith I suggest 2 things: 1) READ the book of mormon 2) pray to know if it is TRUE. Not very hard but that is all it takes. Just as Moroni promises if we pray with real intent we WILL receive an answer. I love this gospel and I know it brings joy to individuals and families more than anything else in this world. 

Love,

Elder Lowe 

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1) Out finding anyone that will listen to us

2) zone conference

3) Missionaries with birthdays this transfer haha 

4) cutting up some pork for service. The other side is legit the skin of a pig with all its hair still on it. Fun times!

Week 31: 22 foot waves in Phuket

Well this week there was a huge storm in Thailand, specifically the south of Thailand where I live. I had gotten so many people asking if I was ok and if I was still alive. But, honestly all there was was just a little rain haha so I'm totally good!! Because there was a "huge storm" we were asked to stay in our house, so my companion and I just studied the whole book of Abraham! Honestly so many good things in those chapters especially chapter 3. So if any of you have time to read Abraham 3 it is a good read. I learned so much and it opened my eyes to how big the universe is and how we small we are and yet God knows us individually! So crazy but true!! 

So moving on from that, this week was way way successful. This week we had 7 INVESTIGATORS at church. Like legit 7 people we have been teaching came and I was amazed. So many miracles. We asked one of these people, กอล์ฟ (golf), how he liked church and he said he loved it and that he felt something he hadn't felt before. I know the Lord is blessing me so much down here in Phuket!! 

Plus we continue to find a bunch of people interested. This past week we found 6 new people that we are teaching! One of them was this guy named เชียวเชิญ (chiawchun), who worships idols. Next time I go over there I will have to take a picture but literally his house looks like a วัด (Buddhist temple). He might have 1000 statues of different Buddahs. But we are gonna have to change that somehow haha wish we luck! He is way open to Christianity though and says he worships Jesus too. 

My companion and I got another dater this week. Her name is sister อ้อม (awm) and she has been to church twice now. Her baptism is for the 20th of January and I'm so excited for her and her progress! 

Funny story: 

I met this lady at the park and started talking about buddhism and christianity, and she told me flat out that she wasn't interested. Then on Christmas Eve I get a call from her saying that she wants to begin learning. So we started teaching her and she went on for days rambling on about her life. In the end she told us she didn't want to learn though. I was a little confused and then she told me she just wanted a place for her kids to run around (the church). So a couple days later she showed up to English class and then church but doesn't participate or do anything. I'm not sure what to do. She is a little crazy too and yeah haha. 

Love you all!! I'm going to send a bunch of photos since I haven't sent some in a while. The mission rocks and I'm so excited for this next year. 2019 will be completely in Thailand...blackout year!!!

Love, 

Elder Lowe 

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Welcome 2019!!