Dad's Birthday Week!

Well of course I want to start by telling my dad Happy Birthday on May 2! You are my best friend, my hero, and the most amazing person I know. I look up to you more than anyone and hope and pray that I can be half the parent that you are! And I am so proud of you for how far you have come! 

This week went by pretty fast. It was finals week at UCF, so all the students were busy studying and taking tests, and we weren't really able to meet with anyone. Now there is a two week break between semesters. So basically no one will be in our area or on campus. It's gonna be rough. I just keep telling myself that the Lord must trust us to be in this area at this difficult time of the year, and that is helping us get through it. The members are pretty helpful though and we are all trying to figure out how we can keep us 6 missionaries in this ward busy. It's a challenge, but we can totally do it! Our investigators are doing pretty well. James didn't get baptized. He decided to go home for a couple weeks. He said he still will be baptized, but not yet. Cody and Hayder were so busy studying that we barely got to see them. They should both get baptized in May sometime. We are working hard though and still having a good time! 

We had a couple funny incidents this week... One of them was when we were biking to visit a guy we used to teach and ended up talking to his neighbor who was about to smoke a joint. Then his two friends walked up with their pants basically down to their knees. We were trying to contact them like we do anyone, but they talked so much and had quite a few questions for us! One of the questions was, "Are you virgins?" haha I almost died! Then one guy said, "Well, if I woulda' known that you would have been snatched by now!!" Then I was really dying! We said a prayer with them and left. It is so funny being around students all the time. Especially since I'm used to BYU students! 

So, as I've reflected on the past year of my mission, I have just been so grateful for this opportunity and trust that Heavenly Father has given me. A lot of people have asked me what they can do to prepare for a mission and I never know what to say. But I was studying this morning and I think that along with studying, the best thing we can all do to prepare ourselves for missionary service is to purify ourselves. To nourish our spirits. Make sure they are clean and strong. The quicker we learn how to recognize the spirit and be in tune with it, the more Heavenly Father can trust us with His sons and daughters. 

Well, good luck to everyone taking finals! Have a good week! 

Love, Sister Lowry