Direct vs Indirect?

[AlwaysLost]

Thank you. I'm to keep my posts within this thread so we can see a complete thought.

This is the next bit that I'm stuck on.
una mujer le dice a su novio que lo extraña cuando está lejos de ella; él le dice que la ama.

A woman to him say to her boyfriend that lo is wierd when he is far form her; he to her say that to her he loves


Somewhere I read that "lo" is another word for it, but I only see it listed as a direct object word for "he". This is confusing to me.

The "la ama" threw me for a second. I feel like this sentence twists and turns sharply when trying to understand it. Why say "le dice que la ama"? Is both le and la in this context mean "to her"? Why the switch?