God Bless America!

Hello!

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July week! It has always been one of my favorite days of the year, so I hope we find something fun and productive to do with our time! You never know what is going to happen at a party school ha... I honestly don't even know what to say about this week. I have had so many feelings and emotions and I've learned so much, but I just can't manage to put it into words! I have just been thinking a lot about God's will and how we have to have faith in that, not other things. I keep trying to have faith to find and faith to baptize and faith that the members will do their job. But if none of that is the Lord's will, then I get let down. (Kinda like how in high school I was always depending on my friends to do things and they wouldn't, then I would get let down, so I stopped having expectations of anyone), So I am just trying to remember that. Funny how faith is the first principle of the gospel and yet it can be so complex sometimes! What are you putting your faith in?? Anyway, I know that this is His work and I am just a tool right now. It is a new transfer, and our teaching pool is still really small, but I am willing to do whatever He needs me to do to help this area progress. 

It rained a lot this week, which prevents us from doing much. Especially if we don't have appointments. We think we find solid people, then they end up not being solid ha. But we had a game night at a member of the bishopric's house and it was a lot of fun. It was Sister Blake's last week, so I am sad to see her go. I have learned a lot from her! But we are going to be friends when I get home because she lives in Kanab! And I miss Sister Christensen a lot. I still feel so lost without her. She is my best friend ha! She is getting surgery on her knee in July. It is always scary getting a new companion. We will see how tomorrow goes at transfers! It's nice to know that the decisions of who and where are when are always inspired by the Lord. He always knows what we need. We definitely do not! Well sorry I just feel like I rambled on about nothing! But I don't have much to report on! But I came up with a really cool quote yesterday! "Your smile is like your name tag, you can't leave home without it!" Missionaries will appreciate that one more I guess ha. 

Love, Sister Lowry 

PS: If any of you have anyone on facebook who you think might be prepared to hear the gospel, please let me know! Pray and ask Heavenly Father who He is preparing, so that your own thoughts don't get in the way. My new companion and I would love to help any of your friends and family come closer to Jesus Christ! 

Become :)

June 23, 2014

Good morning!

I am so overwhelmed with emotions today! I am so happy for my sister Toni to be going to Houston to serve the people there and help them come unto Christ! There is no better work, and I know she will do great :) Especially since she had Maria Duncan as a Spanish teacher in high school! I know all the crazy summer events are going on right now, and I just hope you all are having fun and being good! This morning I was reading 3 Nephi 12 where Jesus visits the Nephites and teaches them. It was perfect for me because it reminded me that it's not always about all of the things we have to "do," but more about what we can "become." I tend to get too caught up in the doing, and forgetting about all that we are becoming. I felt like the Savior was speaking directly to me, so it was really neat.

This last week was good and went by super fast. We were able to teach some new people and are hoping to meet with them again this week. We are continuing to contact and talk to everyone. A lot of the freshmen are starting up this week, so there will be more people on campus. We are excited. I was just about to the end of my rope again, but it's amazing how we are always blessed with tiny miracles right when we need them. For example, we were biking home on Saturday and I was feeling not the best because we didn't really find anyone too solid. Then we stopped and talked to these two people. The one sister Blake talked to was a girl named Olivia who said she was interested in learning more about our message and we set up a time to meet with her and got her number. I had met a girl named Olivia on that same street like over a month ago, and she never answered our texts or calls. Which is usually in this area, so we just let it go. Well, when we got home I checked the number to see if it was the same girl. I had one digit wrong on the phone number, so when she gave it to me the first time I had written it down wrong! So it was meant for us to meet her again and get the number right! :) So that was pretty cool! I am always amazed how Heavenly Father makes sure we are in the right place at the right time. But we are still struggling to find. Missionaries just can't do it alone. We can't find like the member can find, and they can't teach like we can teach. So please help the missionaries wherever you are! They need it! And it's a commandment!

This week Eric started acting really weird and yesterday some stuff went down and we are not teaching him anymore. So that was hard, but it is for the better! A friend once told me that the night is darkest just before dawn, so I am counting on many miracles to come! Well, I have to let Sister Blake use this computer! But I love you!

Love, Sister Lowry

Strengthening My Faith in Jesus Christ

Hey all,

So this week wasn't very exciting like last week! It rained really hard every day and we got stuck inside a building on campus trying to be productive! It seemed like everyone we talked to this week rejected us or said they were interested then never answered their phones or texted us back. Funny how my biggest pet-peeve is flakey-ness and that is what this area is all about! This has definitely been my hardest area so far, but it's still fun! Which is a huge blessing. 

We are still teaching Eric and he is doing pretty good! Those twin boys I talked about were just too flakey. And I think they were more interested in us than our message.. But we taught Ashley last night, a pretty new investigator, and she seems sincere about finding out the truth! Other than that, we are just meeting with a couple less actives and talking to everyone we see! Oh! There was a cool little miracle. So we had dinner at Leah's (a member) and we had her drive us by this less active guy that the bishop asked us to check on. His roommate answered half naked and it ended up being a super awkward situation, but we told him to have Tyler call us. So he actually did! That like never happens! He said he would come to church on Sunday! :) So then we are on campus and this girl who works on campus that we always see stopped us and asked us about our services. She said she is catholic and her boyfriend is Mormon, and they are going to try out each other’s religions because he told her the missionaries stopped by his house! She had no idea we were actually those missionaries but she put it together when we were smiling so big ha! So they both came to church yesterday :) 

Even though things have been pretty hard, I'm grateful for the challenges because I am strengthening my faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I have been able to feel so peaceful and comforted as I've knelt down each night and accounted to the Lord for my efforts that day. My companion showed me this quote, and I wanted to share it with you in case any of you are feeling down like we were! :) I love you and pray that you have amazing and safe days and weeks! 

Love, Sister Lowry

Roller Coaster

Hey everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your summer! I also hope you know I love you so much and pray for you daily! And I hope you are sharing the gospel! :) This week has been such a roller coaster. I honestly don't even know where to begin! I might have to do a list form because that is basically how it went. But I just have felt so much love from my Heavenly Father through everything that has gone on. I know that He answers our prayers and has a plan for each of us. I already knew these things, yes, but getting confirmation is always good :) 

Monday we went and got an MRI for Sister Christensen's knee and we also played sand volleyball for district P-day. It was pretty fun. We also had dinner at Colten's with Cody, the one who is taking forever to get baptized but is basically already a member! It was neat. We watched the Joseph Smith movie and I just love that no matter how many times I see it, I always feel the spirit! 

Tuesday was probably one of the hardest days of my whole mission! We went and got the MRI results and Sister Christensen had a torn ACL :( It was like dejavu from when Kendra tore hers. It is so hard to see your best friend get news like that! I did my best to console her, but I was a mess myself ha! When missionaries do stuff like that they send them home ASAP so they can get surgery ASAP and get back out! So, we spent the rest of the day packing and saying goodbyes. And crying, of course. And a member took us to this amazing sushi place, so that helped! But President told me I would have to be companions with the sisters that we live with for the rest of the transfer (4 weeks) because there were no trios in the mission that he could split up. That almost killed me. I was being selfish by freaking out about that, but Sister Christensen was a rockstar and comforted me. She was seriously such a good sport and so positive through the whole thing. That is something I definitely learned from her the past couple months. You can always choose to be happy and positive, no matter the situation! Anyway, President and Sister Berry picked her up that night and she flew out Tuesday morning. I felt like half of me was gone!! But I just prayed a lot. We both laughed about how we were going to have to have a long talk with Heavenly Father. 

Wednesday and Thursday I spent with our roommates, mostly in their area. We did a little work in my area though. And we actually ended up helping Eric set a baptismal date! :) He is really progressing and working on changing his life. It is such a cool miracle! He is just like a sponge soaking it up! :) We really needed that this week. That is also thanks to Sister Christensen because I wasn't really going to try very hard with him at first, but she made us and now look! She was such an inspired missionary! (She should be back in like September if all goes well btw). Also, President called me and told me he had found me a companion! Which was such an answer to my prayer!! 

Friday Sister Blake got here, and we went straight to work! She came from Titusville. And of course it was devastating to her to get yanked out of her area three weeks before she goes home, but she has been so amazing! It is a bit of an adjustment going from a bunch of old country people to the city campus with our peers! But she is doing well and loving it! She is from Kanab and is so cute! Most of you probably saw on facebook! 

This weekend we did a lot of knocking on doors, but we found some twin brothers from New York that we started teaching! They are so cool! I am just so happy that miracles are finally coming. I told Heavenly Father they better be with all that we have been through ha! Well, I want to share a quote that our mission president shared with us from Pres. Packer. 

"Through this loving one more than you love yourself, you become truly Christian.  Then you know, as few others know, what the word Father means when it is spoken of in the scriptures.  You may then feel something of the love and concern that he has for us.  It should have great meaning that of all the titles of respect and honor and admiration that could be given him, God himself, he who is highest of all, chose to be addressed simply as Father."

Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there! 

Love, Sister Lowry

xoxo

Gimpy

 Hello! 

Once again, our week was about the same! It can be frustrating working so hard on an area and not seeing it improve or progress, but we are just keeping the faith! We had a ward fast yesterday for missionary opportunities, so we have miracles coming! We actually went tracting last night and met two way cool people who we are going back to later this week! So it is already working! :) Yesterday, James got baptized! It was sooo wonderful! It was a long road, but totally worth it because he has a for sure testimony of this gospel. Sister Christensen sang and I gave a talk. It was very special! 

Nothing else very exciting happened this week! We had Zone Conference, which was amazing as always. I was so spiritually fed! :) Sister C's knee is still hurt, so weren't able to bike or work as hard as we usually do. That can be really frustrating. But we are doing our best to stay positive and still have fun! She got an MRI today so pray that the results are favorable! :) Chantel, the super cool girl we met and taught last week, dropped us. She said it wasn't for her. Sad! But the Lord compensates. My dad handed out two copies of the Book of Mormon on vacation last week! What a rockstar! :) We have a movie night every month and we watched the Joseph Smith movie on Friday night. It reminded me of how blessed we are to have the restored gospel on the earth! This is kind of a big deal! 

I guess my spiritual thought can come from a testimony I heard yesterday at church that was so good for me. A guy in our ward talked about how simple the gospel is. We tend to over-complicate everything as humans, right? Whether it's work, school, family, sharing the gospel, or whatever! But remember D&C 101:16. My challenge to each of you this week is to try to simplify your life. Simplicity=Happiness :) God bless!

Love, Sister Lowry 

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day! And Happy Summer! 

I hope everyone is having a fun weekend and I really hope the weather has gotten better there! It's been pretty hot here. And I actually have exciting things to write about finally! :) Today we went to a place called "Boing" which is like a trampoline gym and arcade. It was sooo fun! I got to tumble and I even did a full! :) It was super exciting. I'm gonna’ be sore tomorrow though! And, Sister Christensen hurt her knee again, so she didn't even get to enjoy it :( Then I made some yummy guac and we cleaned and stuff of course. I am getting a little sick of our roommates. They don't do anything around the house. But I am just trying to be Christlike ha! I've also had a tiny cold, but that's nothing! 

Yesterday was like our miracle day! So I will tell you about Chantel! :) She is so great. We met her walking to campus on Saturday, and invited her to come to church. That is usually what we do on Saturdays. Just invite everyone we see out to church. Super easy, y'all should try it ;) Anyway, she said yes, and then she actually came! We aren't really used to people keeping their word about that kind of stuff ha! She said church was different than what she was used to, but I think she liked it. She said we could come by that evening and talk to her more about it, so we went and taught her. We ended up setting a baptismal date for June 29! :) It was one of the best lessons we've taught I think and the spirit was super strong. We were so happy after that. It was just what we needed! 

We did teach a couple other people this week, but they aren't really progressing yet. We need to get them to church, which is a huge struggle here. Everyone works on Sundays. Other than that we are still just searching for the prepared people! Oh! Remember James? The one who ended up not getting baptized on his date? Well we handed him over to the elders to see if they could help him, and he is now getting baptized on Sunday! :) Yay! So your prayers did help! And we are adjusting our area a bit so we will have more options of where to go to contact people. So that should help :) I guess I've just been continuing to learn about how when we are obedient to God's commandments, he blesses us. It sounds so simple, and it is! It can also be complex, but it's just truer than true! I encourage all of you to find one of the commandments that you might be struggling with or needing to improve on, and work on it this week! If you need help remembering the commandments, here is a link to Preach My Gospel chapter 3: https://www.lds.org/manual/preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service/lesson-4-the-commandments?lang=eng 

Have a great week and don't forget to be a missionary! 

Love always,

Sister Lowry