Elder Howe writes a letter!

 

This is an email Elder Howe sent. It's so good I wanted to be able to remember it and find it easily. He wrote this on April 21st 2024.

Hello Everyone! I think the last time I sent an email was month 8 in Thailand. I have now been a missionary for over 16 months, so it's been awhile haha. Last time I wrote I was still in Lampang up north. I finished six months there, then moved to a suburb south of Bangkok along the coast called Samutprakan. It was a pretty challenging area for me but I was blessed with being able to serve there for 5 months. I spent most days walking the streets asking every person if they were interested in learning about Jesus. I also spent everyday getting rejected by every person I talked to.🙃 I had one particularly rough day where I was about ready to give up. I layed in my bed at night exhausted from walking several miles and from the endless rejection. I felt that I was being punished for not being good enough; that because I wasn't perfect I didn't deserve success. I spent almost an hour praying and crying to God, apologizing for not being enough. I told God how sorry I was, that because I was a failure, so many people would never get to know the gospel. I tried repenting for my failures by listing every single mistake I made.  The longer the list went on, the more horrible I felt. I realized i wasn't good enough to be a missionary and that I was actively hurting the work. As i kept trying to list out my mistakes, i started to here a voice. This voice was quiet but some how was able to overpower my own. As i attempted to list yet another one of my flaws i heard the voice say "you are My son". It kept repeating that. Everytime I tried to speak and degrade myself, my thoughts were overpowered until all i could feel was love. It reaffirmed my reason for being out here. My responsibility is to invite others to come unto Christ. To understand their relationship to God and to feel the redemption that comes through Christs atonement. To understand that no matter how deserved the guilt may be, its not necessary. Jesus suffered the hell that I earned. He suffered the hell that you earned. That is my goal, to help feel the peace that Jesus offers. I spent the rest of my time in Samutprakan with a lot more hope. Telling everyone I talked to that they were God's child and that they deserved a better life. I invited them to learn about Jesus anf how He could help them with that. I didn't have a lot of baptisms in Samutprakan but I was able to walk confidently, knowing that God supported me and that the live he had for me is the love that he has for everyone else, and that he won't abandon them, even if they rejected me. As it says in Isaiah 53 verses 5 and 6 "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all"

Its a pretty simple. God loves us. We sin. Jesus took the punishment. All we have to do is accept Jesus's help. I know I can make it to heaven through Jesus and so can everyone else. As Brigham Young said "Everything that can be redeemed, will be redeemed". 

After five months in Samutprakan I was sent to the east, where I currently am. I live in a small province called Yasothon. I have loved being in a small town again. I also am in charge of all the English Groups that the church runs here in Thailand. I have loved this assignment. English Class is one of my favorite parts of being a missionary, and it has been very fun being able to improve our classes country wide😁

I am excited for the seven and a half months that I have left to serve God and my Thai family!

Weeks later on May 7th,  after Holman had this humbling experience he wrote the family this :

Just got out of a meeting where they told me I am one of the most statistically successful missionaries and asked what my secret is and how the whole mission can replicate it🥹They said i recieve one of the highest amount of refferals from members and am able to get a majority of them to church, so they wanted to know why the members trust me and I said it's cause I don't act like a missionary lol

Early on his mission Holman said, "why can't I go into an area and just love the people and try to improve their lives." I think that approach is working!!

Adrian graduates middle school.

 Adrian is our youngest and first to graduate middle school. The school the other kids attended didn't offer a graduation 😅 Kind of fun to be the last but get to be the first. Adrian attends Hermosa Montessori with a graduating class of 16 kids. They each were introduced by a younger classmate and then each gave a heart felt speech. Several friends mentioned  her by name in her speech. It was beautiful and very long....😜 Parkin came and Barbara and Ron.  It was a packed house because the actual school is small. But the schools grounds are on several acres of desert land. It has a small pool and several outdoor activities and classroom like settings. Adrian was recognized by the PE teacher as being a leader and helper. He said she introduced a new game to the class ( the missionaries taught us a made up game at mutual) . Her two favorite teachers Carlie and Aeron also gave her shout-outs. Carlie said "Adrian is my spirit animal" and Aeron said "she is her favorite shadow." She has loved her time there and we have loved the community and dedication of these teachers. She has made some great friendships and has grown so much. Can't believe this brilliant girl of mine only has 4 more years!!

We'll see...Part II

Not how we wanted this story to end. And way too soon after his surgery that brought such a great personality change.

It's with heavy hearts that we said goodbye to our Appa Prince this morning. His autoimmune disease that took his eyes were going after his nose, mouth and hair, basically anything that has pigment. His open wounds on his nose were at risk of major infection. The alternative to putting him down would be lifelong medication that includes steroids that would make him aggressive, thirsty and always hungry. Not a good way to live especially considering that he had a perfect temperament after his surgery. He really chilled out, listened and wagged his tail! He's running with Lukey now with perfect vision.. 

Our vet let us do the procedure outside under a mesquite bosque in the back of our pickup truck. Adrian and I sat with him in the truck and Benjamin stood next to it. We all just pet him and cried. I texted all the kids after it happened and Holman said later that he had a dream where he was with Appa just petting him and playing with him. Then several hours after I had sent the text he woke up to learn that he had passed on. One last cuddle from his boy. Holman said he lost his girl, and his dog now all he has is his honor.

Appa was a top tier dog at our house. Holman said he will continue to find stray dogs to look out for.

Spirit Week

The thing I love about kindergarten is that their baseline is joy. You can't underestimate when your little and come from a loving home,  sure they'll have ups and downs but they'll recover quickly. And easily get excited about simple things like spirit week. I dress up like Cinderella at least once a year because it always lands well. The ninja turtle was a hit too. Another year of kindergarten in the books. 4th down, probably at least 4 more to go.

We'll see...

I've been thinking a lot about this... A Chinese story begins as a man’s son finds a beautiful horse. “How fortunate,” the neighbors say. “We’ll see,” says the man. Then the son falls off the horse and is permanently injured. “How unfortunate,” the neighbors say. “We’ll see,” says the man. A conscripting army comes but doesn’t take the injured son. “How fortunate,” the neighbors say. “We’ll see,” says the man." .....

Life has so many ups and downs. Holman bought his "perfect dog mix" about three years ago for $20. He's a Husky/ Great White Pyrenees mix, named Appa. Since he was a a little pup he's always been rather ornery. He's moody and growls but never snaps or bites. Back in December we woke one Sunday morning to take the dogs on a walk. My daughter noticed right away Appa kept bumping into things. It was as if he was blind. The next day we took him to the vet and then to specialists. This began months worth of eye treatments. At its worst we were giving this ornery dog 16 eye drops a day along with a slew of medications. In the beginning each successful eye drop took about ten attempts. It was exhausting. He became a legend at the vet office. They made sure to have extra staff on hand when he had an appointment. We finally trained him with a muzzle and it was a complete game changer. Holman is in Thailand. He is serving a mission for our church, his wish "please don't let my dog die." We kept praying for some positive change that Appa would be able to see. Benjamin and I had basically become vets through this process 😅 April came with no positive change in fact his eyes had gotten worse. It was recommended that we have his eyes removed. With our sons request ringing in our ears we went ahead with the surgery. The result? We have a happy dog! He wags his tail way more now then he ever did before. When we walk the creek and he is off leash he actually comes when he is called. He doesn't growl. He runs happily without being able to see the step in front of him. Imagine the courage to run and not see. I don't know what the "we'll see" of this story will be. Will the disease that took his eyes take his life? Or did the surgery stop it from spreading. This is not our first blind dog. We know this obstacle well. Our other dog knows exactly what to do because his old buddy, Luke also had courage to run the creek during the "we'll see." So much of life is "we'll see". Time and attitude determines so much.

Bekah and Amy got hitched!

 Bekah and Amy got married on April 22. The ceremony was in our back lot and then they had dinner and reception in our back yard. It was a whirlwind event! It's always a bit crazy hosting a wedding but when you love your family you will scrub baseboards, weed, clean... and do all sorts of stuff nobody knows about unless you've hosted one :)

The wedding was successful! Barbara had made hundreds of cupcakes but hired the same caterers we used for Bella and Sam's wedding. They are Nathan Claridge's sisters. Sarah Potter, Lily Clark, Bella and Sam Pershing flew in for the event and  Aaron Howe drove down and officiated. He did a great job. Bekah's bridesmaids all flew in for it too.

Parkin turns 17!!

 Mercy, how did this sweet little boy turn teenager then on to an almost grown adult! Benjamin and I woke up early to heart attack his door with loving messages. After school we went out to dinner with Adrian and Olivia to Parkin's dinner of choice The Olive Garden. Then we went to a movie, Fall Guy. We came back home and had an ice cream cake. It was a perfect day honoring one of our favorites!!

Parkin is one of the coolest people. He is kind, smart and oh so very helpful. He loves to learn, swim and take care of plants. He loves all things nature and we love all things Parkin! We got him an Apple watch and a couple of new plant babies. He's got one more year of high school and we can't wait to see what's in store for him. He is strong, very capable and can accomplish anything he sets his mind to!