July 22, 2013

Hey guys, So this week was good. I went out of the area the whole week doing divisions with various missionarys that needed help working or just arent excited to be here or that are having hard times. I dont know why but i feel more happiness at this point of my mission doing that then working in my own area. I was thinking the other day about how i started my mission and how i had a lot of struggles and all that how i didnt have a trainer that helped me and how that affected me. I felt that now that i am almost done with my mission my greatest desire right now is to help the missionarys that are here that i can help so that there missions can be full of success and full of happiness. I feel like thats the best thing i can do for the Lord right now in my mission. So this week i met a new family the only day i was here in my area. Mariane and Eddie . They were references from a member family. When we went to go and talk to them she opened the door and wouldnt let us in but said she wanted to talk to us at that member familys house. So we set up an appointment to visit them there. When we got to that house we sat down and started talking to them about who we are and what we do then we gave them the time so they could tell us why they were lookig for us. When the mom started talking i felt the biggest feeling of sadness for her as i listened to her explain to us her problem. She told us that in May she was taking a shower while her nephew wathed her little girl of 8 years old. She said when she came out of the shower her nephew was trying to violate the little girl. She told us the only thing she could do was to grab her and hold on to her and tell her she was sorry while the mothers brother was hitting the teenager of 17 years old. I felt so bad for her and felt so many desires to just give her a hug and cry with her and tell her everything is going to be ok. We shared our lesson with her and told her that the Lord lives and will help her. She said she felt so calm and felt hope as she listened to the message we shared with her. I know that this is true and that there is so much power in the atonement and that it can heal any pain that we have. I desire to do what it says in Doctrine and Covenants 98 11-13 and give my life 100% to the Lord so that i can have Eternal Life as my reward. In the name of Jesus Christ amen. So to answer your questions dad yes i would love to work with Brother Cook. My comp and i are doing good working hard. The zone went so down hill that its working my butt off to get it back up again. Tonight at 6 im going to talk to the zone to help them get excited again and start working like they need to work. Were gonna see what happens. Dad the way you can help the missionarys is by finding the need of the investigator and applying it to the lesson and sharing experiences. The person will then feel trust with you and will have more desire to do the things you counsel him or her to do. Thank you guys for helping me and doing what your doing. I Love you guys and miss you guys! Lets go to work!! The Lord needs us all at 100%! Elder Lowder

July 15, 2013

Hey Guys, So this week was good. My comp and I talked and we started to make plans so that we can make everything better here in the zone and so we could start working together. So everything is getting better. We’re gonna go to work this week and we’re gonna have the success that the Lord blesses us with. On Sunday I completed 22 months in the mission, holy crap!! They called me and asked me about which airport and at what time and all that which was super crazy! So I just want to work as hard as I can to baptize as many people as I can and work as hard as I can before I go home. I also want to be able to have more knowledge as far as the scriptures before I get home. So I’m going to be dedicating a lot of time to reading the scriptures and learning as much as I can. So I’m doing good and I’m happy working hard out here and doing my best to get along with my comp and help the zone. I’ll make sure to get ready to get back and to check my email on Wednesday to see about the money. Love you guys and miss you guys. Elder Lowder

July 10, 2013

Hey guys! Sorry this week I didn’t get to write... My comp put appointments during our writing time and then I just haven’t had time to get here and write you guys. I’m so happy to see those pics. Honestly, that made me super happy to see my new niece all dressed up and ready to have her blessing. What a blessing! So, I received my call yesterday and they asked me about where I wanted to land, in which airport and at what time. That was weird to be honest with you guys. So you guys visited where I will be studying? So, my comp and I were having problems last week so we didn’t get to have many spiritual experiences and that makes me feel sad. I try talking to him but he just wants to do things his way and the Zone is going down hill. I just feel like there’s nothing else I can do when someone doesn’t want to cooperate. So that’s kinda hard. But I’ll be good because I know the Lord will help me learn something I need to learn from him and I will grow stronger from this experience. I love you guys and miss you guys. Give that baby a huge hug for me please! Elder Lowder

July 2, 2013

This stinks!! hahahaha I want to be there so freaking bad!!! She’s way cute! :( Hey guys! I haven’t had time to go get the money yet but I’m gonna go tomorrow or today, don’t worry. So this week was good, we broke the record woooo!!!!!!!!!! I’m honestly tired but it’s not physically that I feel tired. I don’t know what it is. I just feel tired, all out tired. I feel like I have given everything I have the last month to reach the goal and to help the Zone reach its full potential and now I’m tired. I’m kinda mad because my camera broke last month which stinks because now I won’t be able to take pics of my last months, Sorry. So I’m so glad to hear that Breanna had her baby! I printed a picture of her and I’m carrying it with me everywhere I go. Breanna, it makes me glad to know that you were strong in the process, love you and miss ya. So I’ve only got 2 months or so left here and I’m gonna work as hard as I can to baptize and help everyone around me have success. Pray for me so I can have strength again, hahaha. So I can’t wait to get home and see the baby! I’m way excited! A little sad that i didn’t get to be there and be part of the experience but I know that it’s part of the sacrifice. So I have a new comp named Elder Giron, he’s from Ecuador. He seems cool. I haven’t been with him that much because we have been out with all the other missionaries as much as we can so we haven’t had that much time to get to know one another quite yet. At the same time I feel like he only wants to be better than everyone else and that he doesn’t care what I want to do but I don’t know for sure. I’m gonna have to keep trying to get to know him. I’m not worried about it though. I know I’ll be alright and that I’ll be able to do it. I miss you guys and love you guys! I hope that you guys keep enjoying the new baby and that you guys have fun. Talk to y’all later. Love you guys Bye!

June 24, 2013

Hey guys!, So this week was good, I’m exhausted! We worked our butts off. We only need 4 baptisms to complete our goal this month. So I’m pretty excited about that. My comp leaves tomorrow to Monterey and so I will be getting a new comp. So I’m glad to hear everything at home is going good and that you guys are all happy. So today we went to a mountain here in our zone and we climbed it. It was so scary and I’m so tired from it, hahaha. It was scary because the mountain didn’t have trails, so we just free climbed it. I was so happy when we got to the top and I was safe, haha. So yesterday I was there at that meeting watching in the Stake center but half way through some missionaries in the Zone needed some help with some people that were giving them problems, so I missed the whole second part of the training. I heard that it was awesome! So is everything ok with Breanna? She’s not having problems or anything? Everything is going good? I’ll make sure to pray a lot for her so that everything goes well. So I love you guys and hope that you guys can keep staying strong. Pray for me so I can have more energy because I’m tired mentally and physically. I’m sorry my emails don’t really have that much information but I forget a lot of stuff! Elder Lowder

June 17, 2013

Hey guys!, We broke 3 mission RECORDS this weekend for our Lord and Savior, WOOOO!!!! We have 2 weeks left in this month and we already have 52 people baptized! We only need 18 more to have 70 and we have 25 people with baptismal dates for this week, WOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 70!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yesterday, I couldn’t write because I was stuck in traffic from 6:30 until 9:15 last night. So, I’m sorry about that. I’m glad to hear that everything is going good and that you guys are gonna be busy. What day is Breanna supposed to be having the baby? If you’re gonna be alone, dad, you should hang with the Cooks or visit a bunch of less actives so that they can go back to church. I’m feeling good. My comp and I are getting along because I talked to him and helped him out the best I could, so we’re doing good now and he’s only got 8 days left and then he’s out of here. So I got the protein, thanks guys! The other package was perfect! I’m still working on it, hahahaha. I’m so thankful for all that I have. There are so many days that I’m absolutely exhausted and I feel like I can’t do anything, but some how, some way I work and work and work without fail and I can just keep going. I know that the promises that the Lord and his servants make are true and will come to pass if we have faith and do what they tell us. So I pray that everyone that reads this email can do everything they can to obey everything that the Lord tells us and through his servants, so that we can be blessed. I know with all my heart that its the only way. I love you guys and I miss you guys. I know its been a long time, but 3 months left for me to work my butt off for the Lord and give him all i can so I can graduate from the mission and start my career out there in the real world. Elder Lowder