Looks
like Dad was correct in his prophecy that I would be staying in
Altoona for another transfer. I was a little irked at his assurance
that I wouldn’t be moving because truth be told, this has been one of
the hardest areas I’ve ever had. I thought that it would be good for
me to move. But alas, the Lord apparently has more in store for me in
Altoona. I’ll be serving here for at least another 5 weeks, including
the time that I’ll be hitting my year mark (on the 30th). When you ask
a missionary if the time he’s been out has felt long, he’ll probably
give you a very vague answer that is completely true: At the time it
felt like it was taking forever, but in hindsight, it’s gone by so
fast. The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. It’s kind
of scary to think that half of my mission is done and that I’ll be on
the downward ride soon; and we all know what happens when you surpass
the peak and start the descent – you start to pick up speed. A mission
is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer you get to the end, the
faster it goes.
That being said, the longer I stay in this area, the more that I
realize I need to rely on the Lord for success. Since we know that the
Lord cannot work through a disobedient tool, Elder Kovacs and I have
decided to “purify” ourselves. It’s a long and strenuous process of
purging even your most deepest desires and rinsing your very soul. It
begins with a day of fasting. In the attitude of that fast, we are to
write down every impure practice or thought that may poke at our
Spirit. The little things that cause you any disobedience or any
unworthiness hinder the Holy Ghost from being your constant companion.
After writing those things down that you may struggle with, you
covenant with the Lord that you will fast from those things for 40
days. The temptation to do those things and slip up will be great, but
sometime between the 30th and 40th day, you’ll find that your desires
have changed from one who merely goes through the motions to one who
incessantly has an eye single to the glory of God (Helaman 3:35). I’m
hoping that that purification will bring much success to my future
endeavors, for I only have a year left!
However, I’ve already seen fruits coming of our obedience and
submission to the Lord. The investigator I was so excited about last
week (who is now through Jarom) asked us a load of questions for the
whole hour we were there. And the good thing about these questions was
that they were all asked from his perspective of a future member of
the Church. I’ve never seen him with a desire like that before. We’re
planning on taking him on a tour of the Church Saturday morning and
then watching 2 of the Saturday sessions of General Conference with
us! We’ve also been receiving referrals like crazy! A couple of them
extremely solid and I am so excited to teach them! One of them is the
wife of probably one of the most solid converts ever. He (I will in
the future refer to him as Allen) joined the Church about 4 years ago
because of his conversion the Book of Mormon without even coming in
contact with the Church but his wife never joined with him. However
she has been an active nonmember for 3 years now and is proud to call
herself a “dry Mormon.” Through a nerve-wracking and nail-biting
lesson of heartfelt testimonies, she agreed to take the lessons.
Although with how much she attends and participates in Sunday School
and Relief Society, I have a feeling she could probably teach us the
lessons better than we could teach her! Nevertheless, I am excited to
see her progress!
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder Low
Altoona for another transfer. I was a little irked at his assurance
that I wouldn’t be moving because truth be told, this has been one of
the hardest areas I’ve ever had. I thought that it would be good for
me to move. But alas, the Lord apparently has more in store for me in
Altoona. I’ll be serving here for at least another 5 weeks, including
the time that I’ll be hitting my year mark (on the 30th). When you ask
a missionary if the time he’s been out has felt long, he’ll probably
give you a very vague answer that is completely true: At the time it
felt like it was taking forever, but in hindsight, it’s gone by so
fast. The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. It’s kind
of scary to think that half of my mission is done and that I’ll be on
the downward ride soon; and we all know what happens when you surpass
the peak and start the descent – you start to pick up speed. A mission
is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer you get to the end, the
faster it goes.
That being said, the longer I stay in this area, the more that I
realize I need to rely on the Lord for success. Since we know that the
Lord cannot work through a disobedient tool, Elder Kovacs and I have
decided to “purify” ourselves. It’s a long and strenuous process of
purging even your most deepest desires and rinsing your very soul. It
begins with a day of fasting. In the attitude of that fast, we are to
write down every impure practice or thought that may poke at our
Spirit. The little things that cause you any disobedience or any
unworthiness hinder the Holy Ghost from being your constant companion.
After writing those things down that you may struggle with, you
covenant with the Lord that you will fast from those things for 40
days. The temptation to do those things and slip up will be great, but
sometime between the 30th and 40th day, you’ll find that your desires
have changed from one who merely goes through the motions to one who
incessantly has an eye single to the glory of God (Helaman 3:35). I’m
hoping that that purification will bring much success to my future
endeavors, for I only have a year left!
However, I’ve already seen fruits coming of our obedience and
submission to the Lord. The investigator I was so excited about last
week (who is now through Jarom) asked us a load of questions for the
whole hour we were there. And the good thing about these questions was
that they were all asked from his perspective of a future member of
the Church. I’ve never seen him with a desire like that before. We’re
planning on taking him on a tour of the Church Saturday morning and
then watching 2 of the Saturday sessions of General Conference with
us! We’ve also been receiving referrals like crazy! A couple of them
extremely solid and I am so excited to teach them! One of them is the
wife of probably one of the most solid converts ever. He (I will in
the future refer to him as Allen) joined the Church about 4 years ago
because of his conversion the Book of Mormon without even coming in
contact with the Church but his wife never joined with him. However
she has been an active nonmember for 3 years now and is proud to call
herself a “dry Mormon.” Through a nerve-wracking and nail-biting
lesson of heartfelt testimonies, she agreed to take the lessons.
Although with how much she attends and participates in Sunday School
and Relief Society, I have a feeling she could probably teach us the
lessons better than we could teach her! Nevertheless, I am excited to
see her progress!
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder Low
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