Monday November 7th, 2011

It was super odd opening my email this morning to find it deprived of an email from my family.

I was a little shocked and started to think that it was a joke because of my birthday or something. But then as I started to finish a letter off that I did not intend to be a reply to anything, I received your letter. All is well.

This week has been good because we’ve found a lot of new investigators. It’s interesting how

Elder Spohn’s experience here in Hershey is similar to that of my first transfer in Bedford. When I first arrived, there wasn’t too much going on, which forced me and Elder Z to find all of our new investigators. Now after 5 weeks of hardcore finding, the Lord is blessing us with people to teach. Although most of them are still in their beginning stages, I look forward to many converts in the near future.

Among these appointments, I actually had the opportunity to conduct my first baptismal interview with a baptismal candidate that the Lebanon Elders taught. It was a very spiritual experience to say the least. Every time I’ve had an investigator interviewed for baptism, I had wonder what happened behind that closed door that changed the countenance of the candidate from confusion and worry to total confidence that this was God’s intended path for them. It takes a lot more preparation than I would’ve thought to make the interview a comfortable and uplifting experience and it didn’t hurt that the 19-year-old girl I was interviewing was super solid in the Gospel. As Chelsie is undoubtedly seeing while sitting in those investigator lessons, as the Spirit works on a willing heart, the change they undergo is miraculous in the short time they investigate the Church. It was my pleasure to reassure this young lady that with the covenant of baptism, came the promise of a loving Heavenly Father’s gift of a remission of sins. My mind is carried to a scripture I’d read a hundred times and never understood in Alma 5:26, “And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” Only recently have I been in contemplation of the concept of retaining a remission of sins and this scripture tells us how to do that. I told the young lady that after she is baptized, she will sin again, but we can keep that remission of sins if we keep repenting when things go wrong. We must continue to ask ourselves every day if we can feel that change of heart, if that feeling is still with us. The goal of repentance is not to be redeemed for a temporary moment but to ensure that we are continually moving upward.

Elder Low

P.S. I surprisingly dealt very well with the time change. I enjoyed the extra hour of sleeping in and although we have to work longer in the dark, I wasn’t as tired in the evening yesterday as I thought I would be. Part of it may have been due to the wonderful member-present lessons we attended with two new investigators, both anxious to learn.

P.P.S. I think I’ve heard From Cumorah’s Hill. I obtained a CD from my Zone Leader with the same title so I’m assuming it’s the same production. The music is fantastic and honestly I think the opening song with the title in it is my favourite. Although I’m sure it would’ve been more fun to enjoy your guys rendition of it with the speaking parts and everything.