Week 76: Members #1

So it has been an interesting week for sure. Definitely one that I'll never forget. 

Transfer calls came on Tuesday night and one of the Elders in my house was not too happy about the next transfer coming up. He was completely silent the rest of the night and he decided to walk out of the house around 10:20pm to get some fresh air. He didn't bring his phone or any money either, so we knew he was just going to be right outside the house. He had been out there for a while and we are supposed to go to bed at 10:30pm, so we knew something was up. We then checked on him and he was just outside the house sitting down and thinking about life. We told him he needed to come back in for the night and he said just give him a sec. So we went inside and waited for a couple minutes and he still didn't come in. I was kind of worried something bad was going to happen and so we went back out and he was gone. We looked for him for about an hour after calling the President, but we had no luck. In the end he didn't come back to the house till about 2:00am that night! So yeah kind of a weird start to this transfer. 

Also one of the sisters in my MTC group just finished her mission this week, which is insane! I'm getting so old on the mission :/

We ate at a pizza buffet last week for p day and I ate probably over 30 slices of pizza (it was thin crust though). All in all, I felt way sick afterwards and never wanted to eat pizza again haha. 

We focused on some LA work this week by visiting members with other members. We are gonna make a strong push to meet with as many members as we can this transfer. Specifically bringing members to visit other members! The key to missionary work is the members and there is no way around that. Members trust each other, they understand the culture, the little things that missionaries miss. I can't stress the importance of working with members to strengthen other members and investigators. It is crucial!

On Saturday I got to work in Ubon for a service project. It was a whole zone service project, similar to the one we had last transfer. We got to scrape off paint in this one building, and then repaint it with a better color. It's very exhausting to scrape off paint trust me!!

The next day was Stake Conference in Sisaket, which was awesome! The members in Thailand are so great and have such strong testimonies. 

Lastly I interviewed with President after Stake Conference and he taught me a thing or two about Patience and Charity. I feel like I have become a little impatient lately, but my mission President reminds me that love is the most important thing. I need to have more love for those around me and have more empathy for them. 

Sorry this email was all over the place. I had like no time to write it! 

Love, 

Elder Lowe 

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Elder Depain

Missionary meal

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!!