I was unaware that it was Groundhog Day today. I guess it's just another one of those holidays just to have a holiday. I'm sure it's nuts in Punxsutawney right now.
It has been a WONDERFUL week here in Dover. A lot of teaching went on with member and nonmember alike, of which the nonmembers are progressing toward solid baptismal dates. Marty and Donna, who had cooled off for the past couple weeks, are on fire again. All of a sudden they saw how important the gospel was to them. They had become discouraged a couple weeks ago when Satan through some curve balls their way, knocking them from spiritual high ground, despite my warnings to them when Elder West first got here of building that strong foundation upon the gospel and never looking back (Helaman 5:12). Then, as soon as they reached heavenward, our Heavenly Father open the windows of heaven and blessed them four-fold, dwarfing the seemingly insurmountable hurdles Satan had so deviously tried to construct on their ways. The sudden blessings of job interviews, a potential apartment, a convenient and well-manageable car, and progression in their relationship toward marriage, made them realize that God is more powerful than the Devil, all we need to do is reach out, for "his hand is stretched out still" (Isaiah 9:12).
Ever since the panacea of that realization, we've been meeting with them and teaching them every other day - their baptismal date now set for 23 February. They worked out the financial problems and are now planning on a wedding day of this Saturday, of which I will be in attendance. It's amazing how much people can change when they want it that badly.
Yesterday was probably the most spiritual fast and testimony meeting I had ever been in. As a missionary, fast and testimony meeting can either make or break your investigators' experiences with Church, because you have no idea what some members can say. Usually you just grit your teeth and pray for the best. But it was all different this time. My attitude unfortunately hadn't changed but my environment shook me in my seat, with the Spirit being the catastrophic cause. Backing up to the beginning of Ward Council just before Church started, somebody from the Lewisberry 2nd Ward, came in and handed us two letters that had been sent to the Church's address. They were from someone we had street contacted in downtown Dover and gave them the address of the Church. The member spoke facetiously but seriously when he handed us the letters, saying, "it's from a fellow you met telling you how wrong you are." The sheer audacity that that member entitled the letter with, made my blood boil. Now the Spirit kept telling me all through the meeting, "don't read that letter, Elder." Somehow I just knew I wasn't going to like what I read. I knew exactly the guy it was from and I knew exactly how the conversation between us had transpired - somehow I just knew I was going to be mad. Despite the constant whispering of the Spirit, I ripped open the letter at the beginning of sacrament meeting, hungry for how I could possibly retaliate and destroy this correspondent scripturally. But of course, he hadn't put on a return address. I sat during the opening hymns brewing, his words kept echoing in my mind, "read your KJV of the Bible and you'll discover the true Jesus, a Jesus that Joseph Smith was warned about going against (Galatians 1:6-8). You'll be glad you did." By now I had completely lost the right Spirit of the sacrament meeting and sat in despair. Nobody likes being told they're wrong - especially in such a cowardly way. It wasn't that I felt doubt about my beliefs, but contention drives the Spirit away (3 Nephi 11:29), and contention is probably the best word you could use to describe my feelings toward this guy.
But like I said, I was completely changed by the tone of the meeting. The ward had gone on a temple trip the day before and all the children were flocking toward the pulpit, all desiring to describe the feelings they felt while being around this holy structure. It was touching to see, but what really got me, was when our investigators disappeared from beside us and got up to bear their testimonies. In Donna's testimony, she testified of what great things the gospel had done for her family and that none of those things could have happened had I not asked her what she thought of the Church. She said that no missionary had ever done that before among all the many missionaries going in and out of her Mom's (an active member) house. Donna's 7-year-old daughter Desiree said a few simple sentences of how she was so happy her Mom and Dad were getting baptized, because she was so excited to be baptized herself in a couple months. But perhaps the biggest wave of the Spirit came when Donna's neice stepped up to the pulpit. 12-year-old Katlynn had been attending Church with her grandmother (Donna's Mom) for months and yearned for the opportunity to be baptized. In her testimony she expressed her thanks to me and Elder West for teaching her and how excited she was for her next lesson. She mentioned her mother (Donna's sister) who had passed away a couple months earlier and how excited she knew she would be for her to be baptized as well on 23 February. There was not a dry eye in the whole congregation, and I put my arm around Elder West, with a warm confirmation within my soul of this is what we're here to do. This is why we're here. These are the days of our lives.
Elder Low
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