July 29, 2013

Hey Family!

Well it sounds like it has been a crazy and sad week back home. That is sad to hear about Elder Burton. I actually heard about that at the parade on Pioneer Day. That is tough. But I am sure he is in a better place now. That is why it is so awesome to know that we can be with the people we love forever. The Gospel can provide us with so much strength. I hope his family is doing ok. I have been praying for them a lot. That is tough. It also sounds like everyone else has been pretty busy. Julie congratulations on your calling! It sounds like you are doing some good missionary work. Karen and Alvin, congrats on your calling as well. That sounds like fun! And Karen and Alvin I got your package! Thank you so much!! It was all delicious. It was in the sun all day so when I opened it up it was all nice and warm like it had just been baked. Amazing!! I hope I am not stealing all of your treats Alvin. Alvin have you got your score back for the MCAT? Robbie do you think you are ready to take it again? Cammie I am glad to hear you are getting use to Cardston. It isn't too bad right? And Dad there are 8 missionaries in Cardston? What do they do with them all? You should sent them all out on a blitz to the reservation! Just kidding.

Well this week was pretty good. We got to be in another parade on Pioneer Day in Spanish Fork! And I saw Uncle Jim and Aunt Janelle again. It is like we are neighbors. The parade was actually a really good experience. We got to walk behind the 2000 stripling warriors in the parade. And I really think there were 2000 of them. There was a lot! While we were walking, I saw a couple people off to the side crying. The Spirit was so strong in that Parade. It sounds weird, but it is true. There was one guy who was dressed in a suit and tie and it looked like he had just returned home from a mission. He was waving at us and crying. I think he really missed his mission. It made me realize how special of an opportunity I have right now to be on a mission. There is so many people that the Lord has prepared for us and we have the opportunity to be instruments in His hands. It is such a blessing. I can't believe I have already been out for over two months.

I will try and answer a few more questions. We do a lot of different things on P-days. It depends on the day. We always do laundry and shopping and stuff like that. Last week we actually went golfing with the Mission President. It was fun! I wish I could put. Other than that I actually did not too bad. Mom we are the only Elders in that trailer. It is nice to have a lot of space. We usually get about and hour and a half for emails. I like it. It gives us time to say what we need to say. I am pretty sure the Provo temple is open now. Or at least it should be really soon. As far as music goes Mom, you can surprise me. Some can listen to stuff like EFY music, John Schmidt, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and stuff like that. But there is no rush on that.

I also have some other good news. My visa came!! I am headed to Australia in 2 days!!! Just kidding. It did come though. I was told that my last night in the Utah Provo Mission will be on August 26th. So I am guessing that means I will be leaving on August 27th? They said they would give me more information when it gets closer. I think I have to wait for a month because that is when the next tranfer in Brisbane is. I am excited though!

Well the work is still moving forward here. I love it!! We are actually working with a ton of kids now as well. Most of their families are less active so we always get them to sit in on the lesson. We are teaching a 12 year old boy, a 9 year old girl, and four 8 year old boys. They are all working towards baptism! So I hope I get to be here for a few of them before I head to Australia. Something that I have really tried to focus on this week is seeing how the Lord works on people. When you meet all these different people on your mission, you really see how unique each person is. The Lord has really given each individual there own set of experiences to learn and grow. Whether the experiences are good or bad, we can always learn something from them. The Lord is always shaping us into who He wants us to become. And I really believe that is why we are called to the missions we are. There are people there that only we can reach out to, but only with the help of the Lord. I know that my Savior Jesus Christ lives, and it is only through His atonement that we can return to live with Him and our Heavenly Father again. I am so grateful for a Savior and a Family that loves me. I hope you all have an amazing week! Love you all!

Love,
Elder Low

July 22, 2013

Hi family,

Well it sounds like some crazy things are happening back home. And I am glad some people are having fun at echo. I love echo lake. Some of my best memories are there, and I am sure many of you would agree. There is nothing like spending time with family. Jason it sounds like you had an awesome time at scouts camp. I always loved those camps. And I am glad to hear you didn't get crushed by a horse. That could have been bad. What was your calling again? I am really sorry to hear about all of these crazy accidents. That is sad to hear about Josh Burton. That would be tough so close to the end of the mission. But it sounds like he is doing a lot better then expected. I hope everything goes well with him. And Tami Courts daughter as well. Life can be hard sometimes. But the Lord gives us trials to make us stronger. Just like it says in 2 Nephi 26:24, "He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world." I think we can all apply that to ourselves as well. I have often found on my mission that we go through certain trials in our life so that we can reach out and help others. Sometimes we go through trials just to test our faith and strengthen us. We may not understand why we are having these challenges, but we just have to trust in the Lord. If we do that, He will strengthen us. He won't give us any trial that we can't handle. And if we handle those trials well, we can have what I like to call never ending happiness.


Time to answer some questions. I did get a new bike. My district leader I was telling you about, Elder Fry, had an old bike that he hasn't used for awhile. And he is driving a car now anyway. So we fixed that up a bit and that is what I am riding. It is working just fine. And my hand is a lot better. It is pretty much healed up. My knee is coming along as well. I didn't rip my pants though, just like I told you. Mom we do run into a lot of Mexican Spanish speaking families. There are a ton around here! But there are Spanish speaking Sisters in our area, so we just refer these people to them. Karen we do not get Pioneer Day off. But we do get to walk in another parade! I'm not sure where it is at though. It might be in like Spanish Fork or something. I guess I will find out. Mom we do get fed a lot. We always cook breakfast and lunch for ourselves, but we get dinner from members 5 times a week. It is really nice. And sometimes they send us home with leftovers as well. So we are being fed great! I have actually just started recently taking my vitamins, and I think they are really helping. I have found that I am not as tired when I take them. And no I have not used my Wells Fargo card yet. They give us plenty of money to spend. Mom don't worry, we cleaned our double wide trailer. We had inspections the other week, and they lady was so happy with us. She said it was the cleanest she has ever seen it. She said she would bring us cookies next time, and we even got a letter from the mission office saying congratulations on having "an extremely clean apartment." It was pretty funny. Well I hope I didn't miss any questions. If I did, ask me again and I will try to answer next week.


As far as the work goes, this week was pretty good. We found two new kids to teach. Dylan Smith is 8 and Nicholas Bingham is 12. Dylan's family is active, but it is a weird situation. The ex-wife won't let him be baptized until he takes the missionary lessons. With Nicholas, his Mom is less-active and his Dad is not a member. He goes to church with his grandparents and he loves it. He has even been going with the Deacons to collect fast offerings and see how things work. He is a great kid. I am excited to teach him. I am really hoping we can get the father to sit in on the lessons as well. His Mom has already been doing that. We also got a couple of the families we are teaching to come to church. I was telling you about Brock and Cammie and their kids last week, and this week they came to church with us. They love the Gospel Principles class. It is very simple for them. Hopefully church will become a weekly activity for them. I am not sure if I have to you about Amy Simmons, but she has come to church 3 weeks in a row now. She has had a rough life, but it seems like she is really starting to turn things around. I love seeing people accept the Gospel, it really does change lives.


I love hearing from everybody and how you are all doing. It is such a blessing to have a family that cares about me. I love you all so much. We have so many blessings in our lives. We just have to stop and see what God has given us. This week I have really seen the blessing of the scriptures in my life. I came across a good scripture in 2 Timothy 3:16. It tells us that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. And it is so true. Prophets wrote the scriptures, and Prophets speak the words of God. So when we read the scriptures, it is just like God is talking to us. It is amazing the answers that we can receive by studying the scriptures. I have had many prayers answered in those couple of hours in the morning that we get to study. I love that time. This Gospel is so true. God loves each one of us and knows us individually. He just wants what is best for us, even if what is best for us is hard. As long as we put Him first in our lives, and then do our very best, He will strengthen us and help us be where we need to be. I know that to be true. I love being a missionary! I hope you all have a great week. I love you all so much.


Love,

Elder Low

July 15, 2013

Hi Family!

How is everything going? It sounds like some crazy things have happened this week. Robbie and Cammie congratulations on being re-united today. That would be tough to be away for that long. That is why it is so nice to know that families can be together forever. Joanie and Ryan it sounds like you had a great time in South Carolina. That is awesome! Sorry to here about Diane Ballard's car. That is really sad. I hope they can find her laptop. And Mom happy late birthday! I keep forgetting to say happy birthday the week before. I hope you had an awesome day. Thank you so much for putting up with me all these years and helping me reach my potential. You are the best Mom I could ever ask for! I hope everyone treated you like a princess, cause you deserve it.


Well I will try to answer some question quick. The man named Roy that we are meeting with is a trucker, so he has a very weird schedule. They can call him in at any time to go somewhere. So we have not found a date for him to be baptized yet. We are working on it. CammieElder Fry is a missionary in Salem. He is the district leader so I was on splits with him for a day. We get to go to the temple twice a month. Once with our companion and once as a district. But the Provo temple is closed this month so we don't get to go this month. Karen I got my mailing address finally! Sorry it took so long. I don't know how to put it together, but it is Payson, UT. The street address is 780 North 500 East. And the zip code is 84651. I think that is all. Mom I am not sure what to tell you about the music. I thought it just said that we can't have headphones or anything that can access the internet. If that is the case, an iPod or MP3 players that can't get on the internet should be fine.


Well this week was pretty awesome, just like every week in the mission. I love being a missionary! My bike finally gave out this week though. We were riding home one night and my pedal broke while I was riding. So I went down pretty hard. I managed to catch myself though so I didn't rip my pants. My hands got pretty ripped up though. But that is ok. What is a mission without at least one bike crash right? So we have been walking these last couple of days. It really makes you feel like a missionary when you are out walking around in the heat all day. I love it! It is so worth it. I know I keep telling you about all these different people I teach. Sorry about that. It is hard for me to remember who I have and haven't talked about. But there were a few families this week that we had really good lessons with. One is a very young family. Their names are Brock and Cammie Hanks. They are pretty young. They have an eight year old boy named Stetson and a younger daughter. I think I have mentioned them before. But while we were teaching them this week, Brock and Cammie really showed an interest in being sealed in the temple. It was amazing. I love seeing happy families! They have some things they need to work out, but it seemed like they were willing to do so. And I know that with the help of the Lord, they can make it to the temple. To me there is no great blessing in this life than the knowledge to know that we can be with our families forever. I know I say it a lot, but it is true. Another family I want to tell you about is not one that we are teaching, but they fed us dinner one night. The Mendez family. They are a Spanish family that live in a very small home. They don't have much, so it was very humbling to see that they were willing to feed us. It was amazing how grateful they were. They said they love to have the missionaries in their home because it blesses them. They were an awesome family. God really has given us everything and we owe so much to Him. Being in their home really made me realize how much I have and how thankful I am. I know I don't show it as much as I should, so I will try to do better. Serving a mission is just the tiniest way of thanking my Heavenly Father. Just like King Benjamin said, even if we spent all our days in service to the Lord, we would still be unprofitable servants. But our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ love us. So as long as we do our best, they are happy with us.


I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be on a mission. It is wonderful to see how the Gospel can change lives. It is the most amazing feeling to see someone take that first step towards receiving Eternal Life. It is so worth it! Even if I had to spend every day all day walking in 100 degree weather, it would still be worth it. God has so much in store for us and everyone around us. It is such an amazing blessing to share this message with others. I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful week!


Love,

Elder Low
I did hear about the Scottish festival. We were thinking about going to the parade that morning, but we stayed home and studied instead. Mom,

July 9, 2013

 

 

Hey Family!

Sorry I didn't get to write an email yesterday. Another set of Elders by us had to go up to Provo yesterday and for some reason we had to go with them. I don't know why. I didn't feel like we did much. But we got permission to write emails today for lunch. Sounds like things are pretty busy! Richard and Leslie congrats on baby #2!! That is awesome. I hope I start getting emails from everyone else with similar news. Just kidding.

Well this week was good! It sounds like you all heard about the 4th of July. It was pretty awesome! And yes Cammie I was a little confused when I heard my name because I couldn't see you. I must have looked lost. That's funny. But it was great seeing you and your family! I also saw Uncle Jim and Janelle with there family! It was a crazy morning. I loved it! I wish I could send the video I took of the parade. Missionaries get treated great here! After the parade we just had a big lunch with all the missionaries. They didn't want us out that night because they didn't want us to get hurt. I guess things can get pretty crazy. So from 5 to 9 that night we met up with our district at the church and played some basketball and watched a movie. The mission gave us permission to watch "How to Train your Dragon." Mom you should watch it sometime. I think you would like it. We didn't get to watch fireworks. They probably thought that one of us would get hurt. Kind of like Karen's story. I'm glad you survived Karen. I definitely heard them that night though. Lots of people were setting them off in the neighborhood. So July 4th was pretty much a long Pday. It was good.

Now I will try to answer questions. We got our swamp cooler fixed!! It feels great! But it also got a little cooler outside. We have had some crazy flash storms. Some with hail. Sorry to hear about the garden. Hopefully it survives! Elder Baisden and I got caught in one on our way to meet with a Bishop. So we got soaked! And Dad it is definitely easier to walk then to ride my bike. But it is not as fast and my legs are getting some good exercise. It will last me until I go to Australia. Mom what would be best for you about the music? I thought I read in my call that I wasn't suppose to have CD's in Australia. I can't remember. And the name of the mission is the Utah Provo mission, or Provo Utah mission. Same thing.

Well the teaching this week has been up and down. We have been trying to meet with a lot of new people and they have been cancelling on us a lot. We do have one investigator named Roy though that is ready for Baptism! He is an awesome guy. He is probably around Dad's age. We just have to find a time for him to be baptized because he has a super busy schedule. I went on splits with Elder Fry this week as well. We found an amazing family in his area, the Martinez family. They are from Kansas and just barely moved here. They said they had one day to find a home here and they found a great one. They love the neighborhood and the people here. They have seven kids and they said people would always looked at them funny in Kansas when they told people that. So Utah is the perfect place for them! I really believe that the Lord guided them to this area. Everything has fallen in place for them and they are excited to hear about the Gospel. The Lord really does have His hand in everything.

So yesterday morning was a little rough. We didn't get to write emails and I had a big headache. I wasn't in the greatest mood. But when we got a little time in the afternoon I decided to read my scriptures. It is amazing what studying the scriptures can do for you. My headache left and I was in a much better mood. I love that I have time to study every day. The Gospel is truly amazing! The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I can't think of a whole lot of things that would be a better use of time than studying the scriptures. They are amazing. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,
Elder Low

July 1, 2013 Letter

Hey family,

Happy Canada Day!! I wish I could be up there. Is everyone going to go to party in the park and the fireworks? I always loved the fireworks. I am glad the reception went well! Sounds like one of the best receptions I have hear about, especially with all that Canadian candy. And yes I ran into Karen! How crazy is that. I also believe that it wasn't a coincidence. It was a good day! Karen thank you so much for the brownies and the cookies. You are awesome! I love you. And Robbie happy late birthday! I was going to say happy birthday last week so it wasn't late, but it must have slipped my mind. I did wake up that morning saying it is Robbie's birthday though. Sounds like you had a great day. I just wanted to say thank you so much for the example you have been to me and for all the help you gave me at school. I really appreciate it. Love you!

Well it sounds like the flooding up there did quite some damage. That is crazy. I bet the stampede will be interesting this year. Hopefully there aren't too many injuries.

Well Payson is great! It is boiling hot though. I think it is even hotter than Provo. It has been over 100 degrees every day. The highest I saw was 108. And the worst part is that our swamp cooler in our place is busted. We live in a double wide trailer that is actually pretty big. It is really dirty though. But the space is nice. Our thermostat said it was 99 degrees in there the other day though. I was sweating like crazy! We are going to try and get someone to fix it this week. My new companions name is Elder Baisden. He is 26 years old and from Idaho. It sounds like he has had a rough mission and some rough companions. But we are doing good! We are working hard and doing the best we can, even though it is boiling hot out. I am still on a bike, but my bike is tiny and the seat is broken. So I have to stand up. Elder Baisden makes fun of me because he say I look weird when I ride it. It is good exercise though.

I have had some good experiences this week. We are working with some interesting people. One man we are working with keeps telling us how God turned his back on him. We are making progress though. He loves having us in our home and He definitely knows that God is real. We just have to help him strengthen his faith. I also got to teach combined priesthood and relief society yesterday since it was the fifth Sunday. My companion was speaking in another ward so we went on splits while I taught. I think it went pretty well, or at least I hope it did. I had an amazing experience in the Temple this week though. Seeing Karen on Monday made me really start to think about families. I thought about it and realized I have never really prayed to know if families can be together forever even though I have prayed about many other things. So I knew it was true, but I wanted to see if I could get an answer to that. So before I went to the temple, I prayed that I would have a good experience while I was there. While we were sitting in the Chapel in the temple, the organist started to play "Families can be together forever." I felt so strongly right then that I can be with my family forever. I know it. I love you all so much and I couldn't imagine living without all of you. It was also another answer to me that prayers are answered. I don't know what I would do on my mission without the power of prayer.

I will try to quickly answer a few more of the question I remember. Mom I would love if I could get an ipod and a little speaker. I don't think I could get music on it down here because I can't get on the internet to put it on. I do have an old ipod somewhere that can't get on the internet, but it has a lot of stuff on it. You could erase that though. And I am not sure my mailing address. Maybe you could just sent it to the mission office. Whatever works. And yes I do play the piano a little bit here. I often play in our district training meetings and in our stake correlations. I am glad you made me take piano lessons Mom. Julie that is awesome to hear that you are doing missionary work! Keep it up. Sorry to hear about the sickness though. That is a bummer.

Well I hope you all have a good week. I guess I will leave you with my testimony like always. Karen's favorite part. I know that this Gospel is true. I know that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and that through him the Gospel has been restored. The power of God has been restored on this Earth and through that we can perform miracles. What a great blessing that is. I love you all!

Love,
Elder Low

P.S. I am trying to put pictures on but something weird is happening. So I will try again another time. Sorry!