Week 2 in Mexico November 27, 2011

Hey My wonderful family!

Week 2 has come and gone and what a week it was! So to answer questions that I can remember people understand what i say and I can understand everyone except for the people that talk like 1000000 miles per hour which there aren’t very many of those. I have 2 investigators let’s just say I’m not to happy with just 2 we can do so much better than that my goal is for us to have 7 with baptism dates by Sunday. But right now i have 2 baptisms this week one on Sunday and one on Thursday. My first 2 baby! The spirit has really blessed me and I’m so thankful that the spirit is able to testify to the people of what I’m saying is true because my Spanish isn’t fluent so I’m just so grateful for the spirit. This week i have had to have some serious patience and some serious humbleness. My companion is a great guy but he’s not working to his fullest potential. I’ve really been pushing him and getting him better. I know I’m not but it feels like I’m training him because I’m always teaching him something or helping him or something. But he’s a good guy were gonna make it. Another one of my goals is to have at least one baptism a week I know I can get more than that but I don’t want to have an unreachable goal so I made it the way it is. I’m not gonna Thanksgiving was the longest day of the mission just cause I woke and started thinking about what yall were doing and stuff but it’s all good it got better haha So anyways that house is shinning like nothing you have ever seen! I whipped it into shape! We cleaned it again this morning and so its way clean! It felt good haha. So I realized I don’t have an ipod charger... there is a guy in my ward that is charging my ipod when I need it but f you guys can maybe send me one? I have a question so in the mtc my president was an anesthesiologist and he told me when I get here to buy cipro and it will keep me from getting sick. I had to get a receipt from a doctor to get it (we have the hook up with a foot doctor) but she said cipro would lower my defenses because it’s an antibiotic and so she suggested getting lactipan. i haven’t bought anything but if you think it’s a good idea let me know what you guys think I should do with that. So at church on Sundays I’ve noticed that Mexicans cannot sing worth nothing omg every time they sing i want to stop them and run out of the room it’s terrible! There is a man in my ward that I swear is the Mexican version of papa! I saw him and was like what!! Papa got dark and learned Spanish! It’s pretty weird! Umm the other day we ate at a member’s house and we ate molé its this type of food I’m sure Dallas could tell you what it is but it was my second time to eat it the first time was good but a different lady made it. This time it was seriously the worst thing to ever touch my tongue! so my comp got up to go open the door and i was sitting there alone and so I snuck my food on his plate and he lady came in and asked if I wanted more and I smiled and said no I’m full but thank you so much t was sooo good! hahahaha it was funny because i told my comp later that night and he was like i wondered how i got so much food on my plate I thought she just put more on there when i got up! funny stuff but anyways i only get mail like every 2 months.... that’s what my companion says so i don’t get letters until December 20th so you guys can send me stuff but just know i won’t get it for a while. So we had a lesson this week we one of the hermanas that I’m baptizing this sunday and i thought a lot and we taught about the restoration and how it was special because she was in the same situation Joseph Smith was in that she had all the other religions saying this and that and she was confused about what to do so i opened the Book of Mormon and we read about the story again and i bore my testimony and you could feel the spirit just talking to her i knew it the whole time and she looked up and said she had her answer so we are baptizing her sunday! }what an experience i was so happy that whole rest of the day I’m so grateful for the spirit and for everything my testimony has been strengthened so much and it’s so hard for me to put in words how grateful I am and the love i have for this gospel! So one thing I wanted to tell you guys but I forgot was I shower out of a bucket cause we don’t have hot water so I have to fill the bucket up and put this charger in and it heats it up boy let me tell you that’s quite the shower. But over all everything has been great! My president knows that I’ve been really struggling with the work ethic of my comp and emailed me and talked to me about how he’s grateful to have me here and other stuff because he said he needs people that work there hardest and push people and lead. it was very nice of him but I’m just blessed to have what I have because of my family and my loving Heavenly Father he’s helps so much! Well i love you all so much and pray for you always I’m safe and happy and working as hard as i can! I miss you guys talk to you next week!

Love Elder Lowder

Mexico!! November 21,2011

Hey family,

Hey im in mexico and safe! My companion is a native of mexico and doesnt speak an english except for wha ive taught him. Im not gonna lie There are things i like but there are things i dont like like there are a lot of dogs alot!! every where and there all way skinny and nasty its way sad. But its part of there culture. I have been struggling with the language and things and its very frustrating i pray alot! My areas name is the state of mexico and its a bigger area it baptises alot. the food here is good but some isnt like the other day i ate pig skin and i almost threw up but i held it in and just kepped eating. the people here feed you a lot im talking 5 times a day and i cant eat this much and so i feel bad when i have to tell them im not hungry. I dont know the whole peso to doller things so i rarely use my money. My apartment is disgusting so it was the second day here and my comp. asked if i had anyhting i wanted to say i told him yes and i sat him down and told him that we need to clean this place he said ok and we went to the store and bought some cleaning stuff and we are cleaning that sucker tonight! im gonna scrub the place till it shines! The people are very very small but very nice and very open to things we have to say. There arent any laws for driving so pretty everyone drives where ever and as fast as they can. its seriously crazy. I Really miss everyone alot but im trucking and not letting it affect anything. My first sunday was yesterday and i had to give a 5 minute ¨´talk´´ more like testimony but it was good. My companion is a good guy but there are some things about him that are affecting me. We do nothing but visit members and thats pretty much it and i really want to get out there and work and contact and contact and teach and all that i want to go back home everynight on the verge of falling over cause im so tired but he doesnt have that same work ethic which is frustrating because im the junior newby and hes been here 6 months so im slowl teaching him what it means to work. i told him this week i want 4 new investigators that are going to progress. He said it was a good goal. so we will do it once my spanish gets alot better im gonna really ge him working. But of course not over step him. He doesnt obey all the rules like watching movies or tv or listening the right music he does it anyway he told me he doenst care but im gonna give him a short lesson on obedience and how if we are exactly obedient we will see miricles but if we only obedient we will only recieve blessings hopefully he will change. I have already said this but i have been on my knees and praying more this week then i ever ever have i pray everytime i get a chance because i need help with this language so i can talk to people better i talk and they understand but they described it as like a caveman but not that bad. im just missing like little things that i will learn i know i will. My Book of Mormon is my best friend i read it everytime i get a chance and im learning so much. Thanksgiving is this week and i hope you guys have an awesome time with granda and papa give them my love and hugs and have them give you hugs from me. The area im in is poor and the houses are basically like a concrete floor roof and walls and they just move there suff in they have a front door a bathroom door and thats it the rest are covered by blankets at least in the houses ive been in. Everyone stares at me like im a frea or an alien or an amazing creature they have never seen its kinda funny and its kinda annoying. A lot of the time i feel alone as far as being white and american but i have my Heavenly Father with me and i know im not alone. Just know im safe im happy and i love you all and think of you always. My pday is on monday and i email each monday. I want everyone who reads this to remember one thing. Be greatful for where you live and what you have and how your life in America is one thing ive learned is that we have it so so so so great in America and its crazy how easy and fast you can take advantage of it so dont. I love you all and miss you and pray for you.

Have a wonerfully happy Thanksiving!!

Love

More MTC

Good Times at the MTC

The Visa Came through!!

Elder Lowder Called us on Wednsday to tell us the good news.........his VISA came through so he will be leaving for Mexico City on Monday November 14th as planned!  We are so pleased and grateful for the answer to fasting and prayer.  He sounds great and is super excited about getting out into the Mission field!  Now any letters you write can be sent to the address is Mexico City

Mexico Mexico City
Southeast Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City, UT
84130-0150

or

email address:
devin.lowder@myldsmail.net

Last Week in the MTC

Hola Mi Familia!,

 

So We were supposed to recieve our travel plans and visas this week but nope. We decided to go ask why we havent gotten ours yet and apperently Mexicos consolate is not happy with Americans right now. So the visas just arent coming very good... So if i dont get it soon then ill either be here until i get it or they will do a temporary reasignment. I hope it comes. But i know that what ever happens is what the Lord needs from me. So i still work hard and im not worry about it the Lord will provide for us. So this week has been kinda of a weird week for me. A lot of things happend that just bothered me and that i didnt like. Just stuff with companions silly stuff. But other than that its been a good week. My teacher has started this game i guess where its called the Nativo which in spanish means native. What you do is one person is secretly chesen to be the native and that person all day has to speack nothing but spanish no matter what no english ever nada. But the other peoples job is tto try to convince everyone that they are the nativo so its  been fun I havent spoke any english for 6 days not a word so its been great practice! I got the package today and it was great thank you so much for the address book and the mouth gaurd haha I sent my ipod to breanna and gave her a list of music so i can have it throughout my mission instead of having to try to send it a bunch. so i told her to call you and talk to you about it. I cant really think of much else which is a pain! umm Oh I bet that food did look good! when i talk to the natives here they always say Oh la comida es super buendicimo! The food is super awesome! so im way excieted thats if i get there or not! Ive been praying so preay for me to get there! But ive got to head out i wrote down more that i need to tell you but i dont have my book with me so ill get back on a let you know! i love you all! thank you all so much for everything honestly its Awesome!

 

Love Elder Lowder

MTC

Mi Familia!

 

Estoy muy animado por me experiencia aqui en la CCM! Yo Sento mucho bendiciones in me vida y yo espero ustedes senti mucho bendiciones in ustedes vidas! Entonces! So this week has been really really good week! My companions and I have really been working on our contacts and stuff and we have a goal to get 5 random contacts in spanish everyday! Its fun because all the missionaries are the people we contact and sometimes they dont understand what were doing and so they end up bareing there testimony of the truthfullness of what were saying? haha its fun! But this week my teacher took some time to tell us about Mexico and what our first few days/weeks will be like and im not really nervous anymore. I am way way excited about it and how things are going to turn out! I love the feeling of not knowing what is going to happen or anything like but knowing that where ever I go or say its what the Lord is wanting! So this week we got a new investigator because ours is baptised! This new one is named Thomas and hes difficult! He wants to learn more about the church and he wants to know why his friends that are members are always so happy! We told him why and told him the steps he needs to take to feel the same happiness they feel! But hes already been baptised and doesnt see why even though we have told him in so many ways why he needs to take this first step! Its frustrating because he knows the bible so well and uses it to give us his reasons of why or why not! Its fun though! haha I need to work on not smiling or laughing during lessons because that wont be good in the field! Its just so fun to do that I cnat help laugh when he disagrees or pulls a scripture out to get us! But anyways Im not longer sick and i havent been sick for the whole week! I got my Hep. A shot on thursday it was like 70 bucks or something. i forgot the sheet but when i get on agian later ill let you know the exact price. I have 10 days to pay for it so if you want me to take care of it just let me know. if not ill email you the price and the number you call to pay for it tonight. Well i hope the rangers win it! they better do work! and I do like hearing about the colts! I think it would be smart to do a Rogers Farve thing because if they wait to long and miss the oportunity to pick up a great QB then there gonna wish they had made the decision to pick him up! I think peyton will be angry at first but see the bigger picture and change his attitude about the whole thing! Well guys im out of time! I jsut want you all to know that while you guys are wanting the colder weather in Texas im wanting the hot texas weather! Its super cold here! It sucks! But i miss you all and love you all and continue to pray for you all! Granda, Papa, Uncles, Aunts you guys are aloud to email me! ill be sure to write you all when i get an address book and all that! But im so so thanksful for the package i recieved last week everything has been perfectly hitting the spot at all the right times! I think about you all all the time and pray for you alll as well! Thank you everyone I love you all!

 

Love Elder Lowder

Still MTC

Familia!

 

Hey guys sounds like things are pretty exciting back in wonderful Texas! I miss Texas so much i didnt realize how much i loved it until i got here! Well a lot has happened in just one week here and so ill try to get everything in and ill answer all your questions cause i wrote them down. Ok so lets start of on Monday it was a normal good day i dont think anything perticularly interesting happened. But tuesday is when all the crazyness happened. Well i woke up not feeling good with a tickly throaght and my muscle were weak and sore... yeah you can see where this is headed! IM SICK! I still have it and i went to the doctor today and i had to get my throaght swobbed and blood taken I have to go back at 2:30 and there gonna tell me what i have they said either mono, strep, or a virus. hmmm pretty specific? Well i cant go to the temple sick and ive been getting up and going to bed early and late so idk. But you know me im to stubborn to let it stop me so ive been doing the same schedule and all that all week and the only reason i went to the doc is because my teacher said i had to. But anyway this week Richard G. Scott came and spoke to us! WOW!! what a powerful spriit and some strong words!  To answer some questions Alisha hasnt gone to Texas yet she goes next week. if you could by her like some hot cheetos and lickorish for me! :) I do have to do everyhting in spanish except for gym, eating, and when im in my dorm but i usually speack spanish from 6:30 in the morninng until 9:30 at night. its a goal we set as a district. I havent recieved the package yet but im sure i will soon. I am in need of hair wax! I still cant believe the bball is still in lockout! i think its all for publisoty! I have one question for you guys! So if you notice the atonement is only mentioned 1 in the bible and it only talks about is for 3 verses in matthew,mark,luke, and john. In my mind the Greatest thing Jesus Christ brought to this earth was the atonement. and other religions dont know what it is or they dont care to much! why do you think so?  idk just something i was thinking about. Lets see My companions and I continue to do Great! we get along great and we teach great togehter although one still likes to talk alot more then others but hey its ok. Lets just say ive learned a lot of patience since ive been here! I cant wait to get out in the field! we have an investigator named miguel who is getting "baptized" tomorow and he passed the intervieww and everything! its not real but it sure does feel real! Im not to sure what i would want for christmas just cause it will prob be stuff i need in the field but ill deff. get that to you asap! this part of the eamil is going to be for granda and papa! i Love you guys and Miss you guys! i think about you all the time! one of the mistakes i made was not getting address from people before i left so im sorry i havent gotten to you guys! You guys can email me anytime you want i would love to hear from you guys! I miss you!

 

Well Family i cant really think of much else to tell you guys! ill prob end up thnking of some stuff in like 10 minutes if i do ill wright it down and email you tonight! Love you all and Miss you! thank you for the support! if you have wrote me or dearelder me i have wrote your letters and they were mailed today so you should get them soon!

 

Elder Lowder

Week 4 MTC

Hola Como Esta Mi Familia!,

 

Everything continues to be great here at the MTC! Myonly complaint is its 5 degrees outside everyday and I freaze my nips off everytime i go outside! Ok so i have a few questions before i start telling stories because if i dont do it now i willl forget just like vevery week! First question is for dad. There is a girl that works in the mail room her name is something Lowder spelled the same and everything i cant remember where she said she was from or anything like that are we related? haha i  just realized thats not enough info about her so ill ask her again next time i see her what her name is and her parents and where shes from and all that. Question 2. My immunization record doesnt have all the dates on it for all my shots. i keep getting called to the medical center because they need to know before i leave if i have resieved the shots and when because if i havent then I have to get them befroe i leave but im pretty sure i have gotten every single one i need. So can you guys send me that asap! please! I am in need of a few things.... When i play ball everyday i sweat a lot so my garments get sweaty and there starting to get a little yellow stain to them in the armpits. Do you think you can send me some boxer briefs for gym?Another thing my ipod for some reason idk why just stopped working it wont turn on even after i charge it. nothing. so is there anything we can do? just let me know what i need to do. If your wanting some suggestions on what to send food wise in my package. Healthy snacks!! Like some nuts or just anything i like thats not sweet and sugary! im sick of the sugary!  Thats all they have here! They wonder why people gain 30 ibs in the MTC! Its getting crazy cold here! it snowed yesterday! In September! Really?! So with my whole chipped tooth thing. It was like last Thursday when it happened and i was down low gaurding a 6'5 guy! They always give me the best player because i dont let people score on me? At least thats what they say idk. But anyway he was trying to back me down and i wasnt letting him go anywhere so he turned and pump faked and when he did i leaned in and right when i leaned in he jumped and his shoulder went right into my chin and my front tooth (not the one that was chipped a long time ago) hit smacked into my bottom teeth and it chipped a little and i bit both sides of my tounge! The tounge was worse than my tooth but it healed after a few days! I wasnt going to worry about the chip because it wasnt noticable but iwas rough on my tounge and stuff and it annoyed me so i went and the had a volunteer dentist look at it and he said set him up to go visit a dentist. It was sooooo wierd to be outside of the MTC seriously it was like what the heck is this! i felt wierd but then when it was time to go back i didnt want to! i told my comps that we should leave and just go start converting and hitch hiking to mexico the spanish will come at some point! they just laughed and said yeah right.So im so glad i got to talk to you today mom they said they were gonna let me talk to both you and dad but dad didnt answer i guess you were with a patient! sorry about that. I get to call when they tell me my flight plans and then i get to call at the airport and talk until my flight leaves. So i have to go to the temple in like 5 minutes we go every friday and do a session! its awesome! im gonna get back on and email again later after the temple and tell more stuff. Well ill try to cause i might not have to much time. But one more thing before i go. Wasnt that an awesome weekend of confference! wow what powerful talks and great messages! My favorite talk of the weekend has to be Hollands at the priesthood session! if you didnt see it (mom) its on LDS.org watch it! that was an awesome talk! when he got done i remember thinking alright lets close with a prayer and call it a night cause i was just blown away! i liove holland that man is sooooo awesome!! ill get back on later and telll more stuff! Love you guys! Miss you!

 

Love,

Elder Lowder

Weel 2 at the MTC

Family,

 

Hola como Esta! Ok so i did get the ipod like a week and a half ago. I keep forgeting to let you know that. I have both the packages and they were awesome! Its always good getting something in the mail especially when your in a district with people from Utah that get packages or letters everyday because the family live just around the corner. (spoiled Utards) Everything continues to be great! My companions and I werent getting along again due to the one that seems to be the problem didnt do anything to change, except get worse.i prayed and prayed and studied and continued to change things about myself that i thought would help. But nothing seemed to work. I was struggling to the point with this guy that during meetings i would be either so frustrated or just not in mood to wear i could feel the spirit and it was really not a good thing. So i did what i needed to and things seem to be getting better everyday. I wrote a letter to each of you except im still waiting for brandons letter. It has a lot of stuff in it about how things have been going. Time is seriously flying by so fast its crazy! It feels like I wake up in the morning and then an hour later its 10:30 and im in bed ready to go to sleep. its already been 2 and half weeks and October is about to start! Its crazy. We do not get to go to conference this year. For some reason they decided not to have the missionary choir sing this year. nosay. One of my companions is sick but is still pushing forward. It seems that a sickness has reached the MTC. Theres a lot of coughing, sore throughts, runny/stuffy noses, and stoumache stuff. I have avoided them all and am still working to avoid them all. The cookies in the package you sent were perfect! i enjoyed them and so did my comps! Its hard not to share here...

 

Dad,

 

Wow what a game! Sounds like maybe they might be getting a little better? idk maybe Jacksonvilles just not that good this year? But sounds like a great game! Yeah keep talking about that phone there dad we all know you prob. havent figured out how to do like 10% of things on there. haha But thats good that your getting a hang of it. If you have questions just ask and ill see if i can remember. Tell Brandon he better shape up or ship out! Get those grades up and keep them up! Trust me when I say its harder to fail then it is to pass! So if he wants to play and if he wants to be Bob Cratchet he better start working! So i need a favor and its kinda important. and its a big favor! I was wandering if you could get Anthonys adress for me? and then send it dearelder today? please!

 

I will send the cooks a letter and a BYU chapstick or something! i went to the bookstore yesterday and I printed off my pictures so they should be ready to send in like 3 or 4 days so you should get them next week somtime. Two weeks ago we had a cew contact that we are teaching named Fernando. We went in to teach him and we only had 20 minutes to teach him but ended up taking an hour. My companion Elder Erickson likes to do things alone and be alone. So when it comes to the lessons he takes over and interupts a lot. We had a come to Jesus let me tell you. But anyway we stared off with getting to know fernando. just stuff about his life some background. We then asked him if we could pray and he said of course so i prayed and then we went from there. we had only 10 minutes left after the prayer to give the lesson. Of course my companion took over adn talked and talked. My other companion and I would try to cut in but when we did we would get maybe one sentace out before he jumped in and started to talk. i got so frustrated that i had all these things i knew at that time he wanted to hear do to questions he was asking us but werent being answered because my companion was taking over and teaching instead of going by the investigators needs. I completely tuned out and we ended with a prayer an hour later and then left i went to my teach (who was Fernando) and told him how i was feeling and asked what i should do. He said that he could tell that i was frustrated during the lesson and that it didnt go how i felt it should go and so he would talk to us in class. He came over and we talked and he had me say what i needed to and i let it out on my companion and told him that just because he is better at spanish the me and my other companion does no t give him the right to decide who talks and who doesnt. we then went on and my teacher told him that we were to go by the spirit and what we felt the investigater needed and not to teach the lesson unles you were prompted otherwise. Anyway long story short that didnt happen again.

 

Ive got to go so i will write you soon i hope to hear from you guys again soon. Thank you again so much for the packages and the letters!

 

Love you guys,

Elder Lowder

Elder Lowder in the MTC

This experience has been awesome so far! I have been struggling with the language but its only the 3rd day. today is my p day because of the weird schedule for this week due to it only being a half week. I sent you all a letter so you should recieve it in the next few days. It tells all about my companions and the days befor today. I have an awesome district and 2 great zone leaders! Its deffinatley been wierd getting into the swing of things. But it has been easy forgetting to the world outside of the MTC. Its funny because we have a joke where when we get close to the gate or were walking and we can see the cars or houses surrounding us we always act like its so ummm no say! like we say omg the outside world it is a real thing. Just dumb things like that. We recieved our first investigator yesterday named Beto. (hes really a teacher that is playing the part of an investigator) But its as real as we make it to be. We had to teach the lesson in spanish and all that but we could have cheat sheets. It was sooooo hard! it would be a lot easier in english but thats not what i was called to do. We got him to commit to pray and we scheduled another appointment for tonight at 6:30.I hate to say this but im in need of a few things i messed up. lo siento!! I need a few shirts that are long enough. the 2 i brought arent long enough because i went into my room and grabbed 2 shirts that i can get dirty and stuff in but i didnt check how the fit me. i also need some shoes if you can please just send my basketball shoes and ill just use those for p-day the ones i have are pretty torn up and they are starting to shrink. I also need some tacks or things that i can put pictures up on my wall with. anything that will do that is wonderful. Again sorry for having to ask. Its not going to be a habbit or anything because thats all i will need for the next 2 months. I recieved a package from Madi Mackey with fresh cookies and 2 cds in it. Shes awesome! But other then that i havent had anything else buuuut its only the 4th day. I still havent recieved my ipod but im sure ill get it soon. At least i hope so cause we need some music cause im seriously missing music!! I love you all and i hope to hear from you agian soon! Oh and there is a website that you should look into callled dearelder.com its for missionaries in the MTC. What you do is you send an "email" but instead of me having to wait until Fridays to check it the website sends it to church head quarters and they print it out that day and i get it in the mail that day and we get mail 2 times a day. (friday is my normal p-day from now until i leave here) So that way i can wright you a letter back and email you back so yeah it would be a great thing! I love you all and i miss you all! I think about you all individualy everyday and i am hoping to hear from you again! Send pictures of the family please! 

 

Love, 

Elder Lowder