May 4, 2015 Letter

Hi family!

 

It sounds like it was an amazing stake conference back home. That is good to hear. The people here in Bowen actually know Elder Hamula pretty well. He came up to visit this small town when he came to our mission. Kamry and Jason congrats!! Beck William Low sounds like a healthy baby. I am excited to meet him!

 

Mom and Dad I am still trying to find a way to call you next week. I have your numbers so I will try and figure something out.

 

Well I think I say it every week, but it has been a battle. I find that the toughest times on the mission bring me closest to the Savior. I am grateful to face hard things in my life. Our branch is shrinking. The 1st and 2nd counsellor in the Branch Presidency moved very suddenly and unexpectedly these past few weeks. The Young Women's President moved as well and there are a few others moving out. We have very few people attending the branch at the moment. But the Spirit is still strong in the meetings. It is wonderful! I love the Gospel!

 

We were able to have a lesson with that great young couple from the Philippines. Sam and Rosalie. They have two young kids and a strong faith in Christ. We taught the message of the Restoration and invited them to be baptized. They are very loyal to their church and have a few concerns, but we are working through them. The Spirit was very strong and we are going back to see them this week before they go on a short holiday to Sydney. We also met a great 21 year old guy named Harley. He has done a lot of religious study and had some great questions about the church. We had a lesson with him one day and he invited us back the next. When we came back the next day he has read 12 chapters in the Book of Mormon. He is great! He really wants to read more and learn more before he commits to anything though. The only unfortunate thing is that he works in the mines. So he goes away for 2 weeks at a time. He just left so I probably won't be able to see him again before I go, but I was grateful to meet him and share my testimony with him. I really hope he comes around one day. So those are a few of the miracles we saw this week.

 

I can't believe how fast time is going right now. Sometimes I wish it would just slow down a bit. I am so grateful for everything I have learned so far on my mission. Most of all I am so grateful for my Saviour Jesus Christ. I have come to know more than ever that He Lives. He understands us perfectly. Whatever the trial may be, whether it is emotional, physical, financial, etc. He will help us through. We just have to Follow His plan.  It is real! God loves us and He hears our prayers. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Low

April 27, 2015 Letter

Hi family!

 

Dad its sounds like it is going to be a good stake conference coming up. Elder Hamula is a great speaker. Robbie I hope you get some good news back from the Canadian schools. Karen and Alvin I hope you have fun in Nicaragua. That is really cool! Mom & Dad I will try to find somewhere to call or Skype you on Mothers Day. And it would actually be really nice if you could bring some clothes over here for me. I don't have too many wearable clothes besides my proselyting clothes. And even those are really worn out now.

 

Well it has been another battle of a week. Rugby is a religion here and seems to come before anything and everything. We are trying though. We spent a lot of our time door knocking but we met some more great people! We met such a nice family from the Philipines! The wife had some friends who were members of the church back home so it sounds like this isn't the first time that she has been exposed to the church. We are excited to teach them. The only tough part is they live in a place about an hour away. We only go there about once a week because of mileage limitations. We met another interesting lady as well named Sarah. She claims to be a Muslim/Christian. Also she seems like a really big nature lady. Very interesting but very nice and willing to listen to what we have to say. We find some great people.

 

There are many things in life we cannot control, but something the mission has taught me well is to just keep going. We might not understand why something has happened or is happening, but there is always something we can learn from it. God has a plan!! Of that I am sure. Just like He told Joseph Smith, if we endure it well, He will exalt us on High and we will triumph over all our foes. He cannot lie. There is so much in store for us as we continue faithfully. Any way we take in life is going to have its challenges, but the best way to take is the Lords way. I love this Gospel! It is so true! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Low

April 19, 2015 Letter

Hi Family!

Well it sounds like everybody had a pretty busy weekend. Congrats to Tanisha and Cameron on their wedding. Sounds like it was a good day for a wedding.

Things are going well over here. It is still pretty hot unfortunately. Everybody tells us that it is unusually hot for this time of year. Hopefully it starts to cool down soon. My companion is doing well. His English is really improving. Mom he is actually pretty tall. Elder Mareweieta is probably close to six feet tall. And Mom as for when you come to Australia, there is a lot of buses and trains, but a car would be a lot more convenient. I would be more than happy to drive. I think I may struggle a bit when I have to go back to driving on the right side of the road. The left side just seems normal now.

We have had some ups and downs this week. Unfortunately we were unable to meet with Lona and Tara. We are not sure what is going on there. I really hope we can track them down this week. Lona is involved in a lot of Rugby so they travel quite a bit. We saw a lot of success in our finding efforts this week though. We met a German lady named Rebecca who is actually over here on a mission for her church. She was very interested to know what we believed. She had never heard of the Book of Mormon before and was interested to know more. We met a great man named Jerry as well. He is met quite a few missionaries before so he was very welcoming to us. He also wants to know more about the Book of Mormon. So hopefully we are doing some more teaching this week instead of knocking doors.

I am so very grateful for the Gospel in my life. Being grateful at all times is really something I am trying to work on. It was President Uchtdorf that said we should be grateful in any circumstance. I have found that when I look at the positives of life and how much I have been blessed, I am much happier. When we always complain and look at the negatives, life just isn't as good. Our Father in Heaven wants us to be happy and he has provided us with a way to do so. Follow His plan, Keep the commandments, give it our best, and He will help us be where we need to be. Sometimes we just make things too complicated. I love this Gospel! I am grateful to be serving in the Whitsunday area. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Low

April 12, 2015 Letter

Hi family!

 

Well I am glad everybody had a safe trip home from Utah. Sounds like its just back to everyday life now. Also I am sorry to hear about Uncle Bart. He will be in my prayers. We are very blessed to have the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation.

 

It has been a good week for us. The wind seems to be picking up around the area so it is very nice to have a breeze when we are outside. We had another great lesson with Lona and Tara as well. They said they would let us know this week what their decision will be about either getting married or living in different homes. We are aiming for May 16th for Tara's baptism but with the 30 day wait for a marriage license it will most likely be too close. And I am pretty certain they are going to get married. Things are going in the right direction! I just might not be around for when she gets baptized. That is ok though.

 

We got to see General Conference as week! I love General Conference. There were so many amazing messages. A quote that really stuck out to me came from Kevin W. Pearson. He is actually our area President here. He said "average is the enemy of excellence." Along with that, Elder M. Russell Ballard challenged young adults to raise the bar. In todays world we can't spiritually survive by just casually reading our scriptures and saying our same prayers before we go to bed. We need to really immerse ourselves in the scriptures and apply what we learn to our lives as well as having meaningful heartfelt prayers. It is more important than ever. The world is a dangerous place especially for kids growing up. I am so grateful for the things I have learned on my mission. The Lord with protect us and give us strength as we put forth our best effort to follow Him. He loves us and knows us personally! He knows our weaknesses and he wants to help us with them. It is true! I am so grateful for the Gospel. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Low  

April 7, 2015 Letter

Hi family!

Well it sounds like everybody was on the move this week. Zach congratulations on your baptism! That is exciting. It sounds like the weekend was filled with other fun stuff as well, especially a lot of food. Thanks Robbie for signing me up for classes! That helps heaps. Joanie and Ryan I can't believe Griffin has no hair! Didn't Jaxson have heaps? He is so cute though! Richard and Leslie the triplets are getting so big! Jason and Kamry that is awesome that your having another boy! Two boys and two girls will be fun. Also where was that picture taken?

Well it has been a pretty up and down week for us. It seems like everybody went away for Easter. So we didn't get to teach a whole lot last week. The weather is still pretty hot. Everybody here says it is unusually hot for this time of year. We are really seeing some success with some of our less-active members though! That is an up! A family of 10 recently moved out of the branch so the attendance on Sunday is usually between 20 and 30 people now. We are still struggling to catch up with Lona and Tara. They always seem to be on the run. Whenever we do meet with them though, it goes great! So we are hoping to have them married soon so she can be baptized. I would love to see that before I go, but there is a 30 day wait for a marriage license here. So we will see what happens.

It sounds like there was some great talks in General Conference. I am excited to watch it this weekend! We are so blessed to have living Prophets and Apostles on the Earth today. With all the crazy things going on in the world, it is so important that we not only listen to the Prophets and Apostles, but we act on what they say. There is safety and peace when we follow the guidance of our leaders. I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life. It really shows us how to find real happiness in a world that tries to deceive us. I am so grateful for my Savior. He lives! It is such an amazing message. It is real. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Low

March 30, 2015 Letter

Hi family,

 

I am glad to hear everybody had a good week. Cammie did your Mom enjoy the Oilers game? Looks like a good time. Zach congrats on the piano award! That is exciting. And I am so excited for you to get baptized this weekend. That is great! Sounds like you are pretty spoiled getting to go to General Conference as well. I love General Conference!

 

Cammie unfortunately we are still not using Facebook or iPads in this mission. It may be awhile before we get them over here. Mom my toe is doing much better now.

 

We had an interesting week though. Mostly because of medical issues. I got food poisoning! I think that was the first time I have ever had food poisoning. It was terrible! One of our potential investigators had a birthday for his 1 year old son that we got invited to. There was a lot of Tongan food. We don't know what it was, but quite a few people got sick. So my system was completely cleared out! The funny thing though was it was only the white people who got sick. None of the Islanders got sick. They must have really strong immune systems.

 

We are seeing some progress with some of our investigators as well. We met a great lady this week while knocking doors! Her name is Nerida and she is 62 years old. She recently had her Mother pass away who she was very close to. She use to be a Methodist, but she is not active in any church at the moment. We had a great lesson with her and she is going to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We are excited for her! We also had a good lesson with Lona and Tara. They know they need to be married, it is just a matter of when. So things are progressing slowly.

 

Things have been pretty crazy, but I am so grateful to be here in the Whitsunday area. I am so grateful for the atonement in my life. He understands us perfectly! And because of that, He knows how to help us through any trial we face. Even food poisoning. And at this time of year, being Easter, we get to Remember that He Lives! Something that we should apply to our life every day. It is such an amazing message! It is only through Him that we are able to be with the people we love forever. I am so grateful for that! This Gospel is true! I love you all! I love my Savior. I hope you all have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Low

March 23, 2015 Letter

Hi family,

 

Well it sounds like it was a good week up in Edmonton. I can't believe that the Cardston boys made the provincial final again. That has seemed to happen a lot in the past few years. Mom I think when I feel the cold again I will be in shock. We are starting to get out of Summer here so all of the tourists are starting to come in. Winter is the big tourist season here.

 

Well it has been a pretty interesting week. We are still doing quite a bit of door knocking. Most of our appointments cancelled this week. We are really trying to find some solid investigators. We found a couple of really friendly people who are willing to hear more about the Gospel. So we will see how we go with them.

 

I read a talk by Elder David A. Bednar recently called Seek Learning by Faith. It was a talk given to Gospel teachers. It talked about the best way we can teach people the Gospel is by inviting them to act. Of course God hears our prayers, but after we pray we must put in our effort. It is when we do this that we begin to see His divine guidance in our lives. I am so grateful for a Loving Father in Heaven who is wanting and willing to guide us. He loves us! Sorry about the short email. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Low