Monday March 5th, 2012 Monday March 5th, 2012

I wonder how accurate Nephi’s observation of his people living “after
the manner of happiness” really was. He was a little biased in his
writing, ripping on the wickedness of his brothers and emphasizing the
results of obedience in his own life. Don’t get me wrong, I love
Nephi, he was a great record keeper. And he certainly had a testimony
of the gospel and how wickedness truly never was happiness. I am
amazed to see how their manner of happiness continued to occur while
the cursed descendants of his brothers and their desire to destroy the
Nephites loomed not too far away. But Nephi’s view was an optimistic
one and while they had their trials and annoyances at restarting their
civilization in the wilderness away from Laman and his crony Lemuel,
they chose to focus on the good and not the bad. Similarly, I should
do so when the adversary beats upon me.

On that note, I don’t know if I ever told you about the ward that I’m
currently in. The Altoona Ward is made up of a lot of older people. A
lot of them are long-time converts of the era when people actually
became converted when the truth came knocking at their door. Elder
Kovacs says the ward will die off in 10 years (:P) and Central
Pennsylvanian Mormon conservatism is not a perfect magnet for
outsiders. It’s a hard ward for missionary work, but I’ve come to love
it a lot. I was sitting in fast and testimony meeting yesterday with
the biggest smile on, knowing that I have truly become accustomed to
the antics of the members here. Instead of seeing the negatives which
could detract from a comfortable first impression, I see members who
love the gospel and are so tightly knit that the adversary would have
a hard time penetrating the unshakeable testimonies shared in that
meeting. I’ve come to love the erratic organ playing that follows its
own tempo and key signature. I’ve come to love the doctrinally
questioning opinions of some of the seasoned members. The members here
practice their religion far from the supposed celestial light of Salt
Lake City the best way they know how and it is as spiritually
uplifting as any meeting in the west.

We’ve come to really know the families that we serve and increase the
relationship from member and missionary to friends. In light of it
being Elder Kovacs’ birthday yesterday, numerous experiences helped us
feel their love for us as their missionaries. The Durgin family had us
over for dinner yesterday while their 8-year-old daughter asked us to
speak at her baptism. The Smith family actually sabotaged our car with
streamers and balloons. The Cooks baked a cake and left it on the
table on the way into the chapel. The Nebelskis protested to sing
happy birthday after Sunday School. One of the major points our
mission president has tried to make while telling us that we’ll be
staying in areas for longer is an increased unity between the
missionaries and the ward. If anything, we’re accomplishing that step
by step. And hopefully that kind of love will draw any investigator to
it.

Hope you all are having a good week!
Elder Low