Boxing Day 2012

Attention EVERYONE:

 

I didn't think it would be this big of a deal, but apparently I was misinformed about what my Zip Code is. An elder who used to serve in this area told me it was 17319 but apparently it is in fact 17315. 17315. Everybody got it? Good. I'll say it again for emphasis: 17315! I learned that this was wrong a couple weeks ago, but I didn't think it mattered a whole lot since I was getting all my mail anyways (or so I hope), but apparently it was causing some turmoil among package senders this Christmas season. So until the end of March, my addy is in fact:

Elder Tanner Low

20 A Stony Lane

Dover, PA, USA

17315

 

It's been quite a different week here in Dover. Our investigators were dropping through cracks in the floor and frequently we were resorting to back-ups and back-ups for back-ups. But nevertheless, we still have seen many miracles and I hope to share some of those wonderful Christmas miracles on this Boxing Day.

 

Miracle #1 - We have a baptism coming this Saturday. However, Georgia (the daughter of a less-active part-member family) is in fact a Child of Record, meaning that because she is eight-years-old, she is not a convert baptism. Perhaps others might complain at the fact that they cannot mark another tally beside their baptism goal, but anyone who comes to Christ through baptism, convert or not, is a child of God and He rejoices when any soul comes to Him (see D&C 18:10, 15-16). We have been teaching her the missionary lessons to get her familiar with our doctrine, review the doctrine for her less-active mom, and hopefully ignite the interest for her non-member step-father; the activity of an entire less-active family hangs upon this precipice and I look forward to an influx of the Spirit warming the hearts of all who are there on Saturday.

 

Miracle #2 - Despite many of our regular investigators falling through with their appointments, we were able to teach a long-time investigator named Mitchell referred by his youth friends. His parents are somewhat opposed to the Church and the family that is fellowshipping him is doing a wonderful job helping him in between missionary appointments. He's been taught for close to a year and therefore has a testimony of the Book of Mormon, knows all the discussions backwards, and is just waiting for the 'go' from his parents to enter into a whole new era of gospel living, including working his way toward serving a full-time mission. By far the most prepared and ready individual to be baptized I've taught on my mission, we're tiptoeing toward a baptismal date and getting ever nearer. Maybe not as quickly as I would hope, but progress is progress.

 

Miracle #3 - Perhaps it was due to the very worked over areas I've come from in the past, but I've been pretty reluctant to work with less-active members as a lot of the time they've been less-active for a reason unclear and unfixable by missionaries, but Dover seems oddly fresh in about this. We've gotten in the homes of many eager less-actives who show promise in hearing the missionary discussions again.

 

Miracle #4 - Elder Rowzee and I sang in Church on Sunday. That itself is not the miracle. But it was the vehicle which has bridged a lot of gaps between us and the members and even somewhat of a gap between me and Elder Rowzee. We sang "What Child Is This" (arranged by Sally Deford) and once I started thinking about what I was really saying, the words came almost naturally to me and I don't know about the audience, but it really helped me gain more of the Spirit of Christmas, which is the Spirit of Christ.

 

Miracle #5 - I was about to count my 2012 Christmas as my second Christmas in a row that was completely green outside rather than the normal Calgary white or brown. I often found myself wondering if there could be a white Christmas, just for a day. When I returned home to a very uneventful P'day on Monday, I was bustling around cleaning because I wasn't sure what else to do. However, my companion shouted for joy as he looked out our door and saw snow pouring down on the ground - a white Christmas after all - which miraculously stuck on the ground until the afternoon of the next day.

 

Miracle #6 - A collection of miracles was realized in the events that accompanied Christmas' activities. Despite riding around in a cold truck most of Christmas eve, ploughing roads and parking lots with the member who was supposed to be feeding us that evening, it was the most unique Christmas I've spent, one definitely to remember. Because I spent it with members who really cared and who I related to very well.

 

Miracle #7 - I received a letter from my last companion Elder King depicting the chain of events that has happened with Bernie and his family since I left Erie. His childhood friend who lives in Utah is flying out in mid-January to baptize the friend he has been praying so hard for so long to join the Church. Bernie and his soon-to-be wife Lisa, are getting married this week and getting baptized with their whole family. Though I am on the opposite end of the state, I still feel love for them and I am so grateful for the miracle of the gospel which changes lives everyday.

 

No wonder their were angels singing and new stars appearing. No wonder the prophets preached and promised signs. No wonder kings and vagabonds traveled great distances to see the Prince of Peace. Truly the "good news" that we preach to all those we come in contact with now in this dispensation of the fulness of times, is the very same good tidings of great joy that first Christmas morn, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

 

Elder Low

Monday December 17, 2012

We had a Zone Conference up in Harrisburg this week and it went really well. Oddly enough, this is my second last Zone Conference in the mission. I know this because I will be giving my departing testimony at the next one which will probably be held in March. Scary.

At this Zone Conference, our Mission President emphasized the change that the First Presidency has added to our commission as missionaries – we are not simply to find, teach and baptize, but to find, teach, and rescue. This word change seemed very insignificant and kind of strange to me at first but the more and more we talked about it, the more and more I found that it applied directly to me. Rescuing implies finding everyone who is wandering and bringing them back to the fold. We don’t baptize people just for them to wander back into strange roads, but in order to rescue, we leave the ninety and nine and go out into the wilderness until we find them and replant them in a safe and comfortable environment where they will want to stay. It’s hard sometimes to remember the value of a person rather than a statistic or a number when we deal with key indicators all the time, but when we remember that the worth of every soul is great in the sight of God, we see these people not as dots in an area book or name on a list, but a child of God. Our family. Our brother or sister.

You asked about my companion’s health status. From what he and other medical professionals have said, he has completely recovered from his surgery. But that doesn’t include the many other medical problems he’s been experiencing lately. He saw our mission doctor at the Zone Conference and he may be going home soon because of it.

We started teaching a young girl of a part-member family this week and I remember how much I love teaching kids as opposed to adults. The faith that they have and the obedience they show is a lot easier for us to work with. That’s not to withhold light from Donna and Marty this week. In preparation for our lessons this week, they (without our asking to do so) studied up on the 10 Commandments, the Word of Wisdom, had many questions about the Priesthood (and also asked for a blessing), and watched 3 church produced movies to learn all they could about the things they would need to know in preparation for the covenant they would make at baptism. They’re wonderfully prepared and they came to our Ward Christmas Party on Saturday, but disaster struck Sunday morning.

We had anticipated Donna and Marty coming to Church on Sunday and we gave even more motivation to do so because my companion and I were speaking. 5 minutes past in the sacrament meeting and they didn’t show, then 10, then 30. By the time I got up to speak, I was disappointed to see that they weren’t among the saints in the congregation. I gave my talk and sat down, somewhat frustrated because of people not keeping commitments. In our gospel principles class, we discussed the Kingdoms of Glory while I only half-listened in my disappointment. And in a moment of idiocy I thought about how easy it would be to give up, right now. The Terrestrial kingdom would be pretty nice wouldn’t it? Heck, Joseph Smith said the TELESTIAL kingdom was extremely beautiful. Why did I put myself through so much stress and discipline to get to the highest tier of heaven anyways? Heaven is heaven right? But then all of a sudden I realized what I was thinking and the temptation subsided from me, realizing that I had forgotten the worth of my own soul to our Heavenly Father. It must have been so hard for a loving Father to let even a child like me venture out on my own in this world and oh how He awaits my return. If I in my selfishness were to suddenly fall and indulge in what is easy and convenient and temporarily pleasing, I would hurt the very being who cares most for me, completely wasting the gift He so graciously gave me – the Atonement of His Son. And in our Heavenly Father’s presence, He offers us a fullness of joy. The only thing He wants and works for is for us to come home (Moses 1:39).

I’m glad that I got a hold of myself that day. For when I had changed my attitude I got the inspiration to go to Donna and Marty and to tell them how concerned we were for them because they weren’t at Church, for it wasn’t about the numbers, but how we wanted them to have this fullness of joy. We stopped by Donna’s house and they both said that we had come at the perfect time. We offered them strength and solace at a time when they were all of a sudden facing family disunity and the rebelliousness of a son. How I know the feeling. I’m glad I was able to be the instrument to help their family on this road to our Father and the only way to everlasting happiness.

Elder Low

Monday 10 December 2012

Dover is doing swell. It's been an interesting week. Remember how I talked about Bernie in Erie? Bernie was a magnificent case of someone feeling, recognizing, and ACTING on the witness of the Holy Ghost. We visited a member referral family who's been friends with the missionaries for a while now but for some of the wrong reasons. It's rough when people don't want to investigate the gospel but insist on missionaries continuing contact because that doesn't fulfill our purpose. The mother in this family had recently broke something in her foot and the last visit the Elders here had with her before I get here was a blessing of healing. She told Shoemakers (the members who referred them) that as soon as the blessing took place, she felt an overwhelming sensation that flooded from the top of her head to the bottom of her foot and that for the first time in a long time, it stopped hurting and she got a good night's sleep. We went over to their house for dinner last Monday and discussed the commitments she should be keeping and reminded her of this experience. She then went on to tell us that she didn't think that just because she felt that good feeling when the missionaries gave her that blessing didn't make our Church true. She was very comfortable with the lifestyle her and her family were leading and that she didn't mind hearing our message as long as it didn't conflict with what she already knew. I sat back in bewilderment wondering, "What is it going to take?" and I was reminded of the eternal truths found in the Book of Mormon,

"Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!

"For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have." (2 Nephi 28:29-30)

There's a reason that this area has a LOT of eternal investigators. So many of them just haven't acted on the witness that they have been given and the missionaries have been too scared to drop them. We have a lot of investigators and I'm glad for that but when we have a couple who was tracted into FOUR years ago and missionaries have been stopping by regularly for all that time, all the while they have not kept even the simplest commitments of reading and praying there is something very wrong. I mourn for these people that refuse to act on something so grand, so amazing, something that will enrich their lives, the lives of their family and those to follow for generations.

My companion has been in the area two transfers (about 3 months) before me and he's told me that finding has definitely been a weak point in the past. However in his defense, he's been recovering from a hernia operation. This past week has been really good for us actually in reestablishing contact and reigniting fires within people and we've even been blessed with two new investigators. You probably remember my exclamation last week about the daughter of a member who said she had never considered baptism before last week, well her name is Donna. We went over and taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as that was exactly her concern - can baptism really wash away my sins? Putting the answer to her question in proper context of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, she became so excited for when she too could make this sacred covenant with our Heavenly Father. Upon returning to an appointment with her a couple days later, we surprisingly find, not Donna (for she came down with a sickness), but her fiance, Marty. He read with her the day before 2 Nephi 31, the chapter we assigned her to read between our appointments and he too expressed a desire to be baptized. We hope to see them enter that covenant of baptism together within the next month or so. In short, good things are happening and the ward is getting really excited about missionary work.

Hope things are well back at home or wherever you may be reading this. My exhortation is that of the Prophet Joseph Smith, "Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory!" (D&C 128:22)

Elder Low

Monday 3 December 2012

It was harder to leave Erie than I thought it would be. I didn't think it would be as I had been in the same ward for 7 months, but everything that happened Monday evening and Tuesday morning changed everything for me.

Foreseeing my inevitable departure weeks before, I prematurely signed my favourite family (The Clarks) up for my last dinner appointment Monday evening. It was wonderful as it always is but our goodbyes suddenly began to take an effect on me – I was actually leaving. I received a long bear hug from Brother Clark as I knew he was showing his sincerity in that way. Sister Clark gets very attached to us missionaries, so when these days come, it's hard for her to see us go – she started to cry and after a quick tease from her husband, she whispered through her tears, “Bye, Elder Low...”A wave of emotion came over me and I felt like it was terrifically difficult to leave. Silence fell among the Erie 1^st elders on our drive away as solemn piano music rang out from the stereo, reflecting the emotion of the evening.

The last person I had to say goodbye to was Bernie. Remembering how far he's come from our crude first encounter in a Rite Aid parking lot in a rundown area of Erie, he seemed so much more promising and progressing from the man we met those months ago. Around 8:00 AM on Tuesday morning, Bernie texted us telling us that he had good news and that we should come as soon as possible. Because it was still time for our studies before we had to go out, we had planned to stop by him at 10:00, but his impatience grew and he called us to tell us the good news.

Sitting in his living room later that morning, Bernie spoke of the night before in which he had been at his band rehearsal. He had been trying to get a hold of his friend Mark (the latter-day Saint he grew up with who now lived in Utah) since we started teaching him but had been unable to until that night. Excitedly relating his amazing experience at Church last week, the conversation with his old friend ignited a desire for him to really pray about the things we had taught him. He said that he knelt for a long time, praying and meditating about the Church. Suddenly, an unexplainable feeling of light filled him that he said he had never felt before. He said it brought him immense joy, erased his medical pains, and made him fall in love with his wife and kids all over again. He said he felt a huge burden being lifted, like he was 50 pounds lighter and walking in the air. That feeling apparently lingered with him even until that morning when we came over. He decided at that moment that he would convert to the Church and unify his family with this feeling of inexplicable joy.

The thing I personally appreciated the most about Bernie's honest experience was how true he knew our message was. He said that he has had other missionaries come before and none of the had the impact we did. I have always wanted to feel like I was meant to be somewhere, serving at that time for a reason. I couldn't have had any greater witness than Bernie telling us how much he loved us and our message. “You guys have changed my life,”he said, “how can I ever thank you?”

You can imagine the how difficult it was for me to leave all these members and investigators I have gotten to know for so long at the drop of a hat. It's hard but it's also very good. I really feel like I made an impact in Erie and I've seen so many miracles there.

Coming to Dover was a little more of a different experience. My new companion is Elder Rowzeé, a missionary from West Jordan, UT who's been out ten months and actually started his mission in Hershey, so we have fun talking about that. I'm excited about this new area because there is so much going on. I feel like there's a lot of low-hanging fruit as 90% of the current investigators we have are part-member families, all just waiting to be baptized. The problem (I think) is just getting the fellowshipping they need. We have a wonderful Ward Mission Leader named Brother Shoemaker who really knows what he's doing, but to the point where he makes some of the members cheesed off a little. He knows what members need to do for missionary work and sometimes they are less than happy to comply. I've never sat in a more tense Ward Council meeting where my Ward Mission Leader was silent and staring everyone down. The Ward Mission Leader is supposed to be our bridge to the ward not the other way around. But hey, it's a work in progress.

I've really enjoyed being around the members. We visited one member at her home and her nonmember daughter was there with her. We asked her if she had considered baptism and she thought about it a little and said that she hadn't! We have an appointment with them tomorrow and she was excited to talk about baptism. More interactions included being pulled into Christmas performances soon to come. Because Elder Rowzeé likes to sing and I like to sing, we're being recruited left and right to do musical numbers for Christmas sacrament meeting and the Ward Christmas Party. We are definitely going to sing “What Child Is This” and “O Holy Night.” I don't mind as much, it's a good way of getting to know the members really well.

Well, that's it for now. I hope you all remember the greatest gift given at this Christmas season (see John 3:16)!

Love you all,

Elder Low

Monday, 26 November 2012

Yes, I am being transferred. Yes, I actually found out where I'm being transferred. I'm heading back east to like, the opposite end of the mission. I will be serving in the Lewisberry 1^st ward in the York, PA Stake. Lewisberry is a tiny town in Southeastern Pennsylvania and it's actually fairly close to Hershey, except that Hershey is in the Harrisburg Stake. The area used to be called Dover because that's really the town I'll be serving in, but even that is too small for anyone to know where it is. If you can find Harrisburg, Gettysburg, and York on a map of Pennsylvania, you can pinpoint Dover right in the middle of those three cities. Because my District Leader here in Erie served there not 3 months ago, he knows quite a bit about the area and has been filling me in on some of the details. My new address for hopefully the rest of my mission will be:

 

Elder Tanner Low

20A Stony Lane

Dover, PA

17319

 

I'll be there late Tuesday evening probably because it takes like 5 hours to get there from Pittsburgh.

 

It's been a good last week here in Erie. Thanksgiving was really good. We were stuffed to the max at two members' houses. It was painfully good. But what really made this week good was our investigator, Bernie. I think I've mentioned him before; he and his celebrity antics of being in a band and his physical similarities to Jack Sparrow. He's been progressing well, inviting us over for Thanksgiving and desiring to live the Word of Wisdom. But probably the pinnacle highlight with Bernie was our appointment with him on Saturday. We thought since Brother Clark (a convert of about 6 years and a good friend) was really into classic rock and Bernie has been playing classic rock forever that they would be a good match for fellowship. But amazingly and coincidentally Brother Clark and Bernie KNEW each other from 25 years ago! Brother Clark (before he joined the church obviously) owned a rock & roll bar way back when called MJ's and Bernie used to be in a band called “The X-Whites” who's home was that very bar. Once they knew who each other were, they got up and embraced. President said last week that if we found investigators by our own efforts, we needed to get them connected to the members of the Church – fast. This whole encounter has changed Bernie's outlook and is leaning more and more towards including him and his family in this great and wonderful church. He then attended the next day and sat beside Brother Clark the whole time he was there.

 

Miracles are happening. Opportunities knock at your door every day. Open it.

 

Elder Low

Monday 19 November 2012

I no longer live at the same addy, Elder King REALLY wanted to move. I have to admit it is a nicer apartment, I just wish we had done it earlier or he had done it after I left. I don't think I even want to unpack.

 

The week has gone really well. The end especially. It's gotten warmer and sunnier which I think does wonders for my mood. Everyone's been getting ready for thanksgiving, this includes American traditions like turkey bowls. Between that and moving apartments equals a very sore Elder Low.

 

But it really has been a good week. We also had our monthly Zone Training which was exciting to hear from our Mission President. President Topham was very adamant on helping us become the mission that will able to help the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve's goal of “hastening the work.” He encouraged us to quit doing 12 things (some of which, he advised, would shake our testimonies), things like “Quit praying for God to give you new investigators” and “Quit planning time for tracting” and “Quit relying on active members for referrals” and my personal gasp “Quit relying on the Spirit to guide you in all things.” The gist of President's advice was to become missionaries at all times that are effective, wise, anxiously engaged in a good cause, and more faithful. It was very inspiring and I'm pretty sure that you probably don't care about this paragraph, but TOO BAD.

 

Following suit of some of my more recent letters, we are continuing to dwindle with our new investigators. One highlight was that we did get back in contact with that family again (the one with 5 kids). We taught Toni (the mom) and a few of her kids about Jesus Christ and I think it really resonated with them.

 

There was an investigator we were working with for about a month named Dale. We street contacted him and we soon came to find out that his intentions for meeting with us weren't as pure as we would've liked. The time was around the election and he was curious about Mitt Romney and he also expressed that he was very lonely, feeling abandoned by both friend and family member. He sat in his apartment all day and smoked, going out occasionally on his battered bike to get food. It was probably the most revolting environment for both cleanliness and the Spirit I had ever experienced. He had many physical and mental health issues and we weren't completely sure how accountable he was. The whole time we were teaching him I wasn't sure how I felt about continuing to teach him, but I felt guilty about dropping someone who relied on us so much for contact. “How could he progress?” I wondered, “How would he even be able to come to Church, let alone be baptized?” These thoughts plagued me and I sought much counsel from my Mission President and other missionaries. We went over on Saturday, almost unsure of the outcome of the lesson, and we were very surprised because of that. My biased thoughts were replaced as I entered into his home and he said he'd been cleaning, and surprisingly he had! He also was thinking of ways he could live the Word of Wisdom, believing that using electronic cigarettes would be a step in the right direction for quitting entirely. We encouraged him to set a date 6 months away to officially stop smoking and work towards it. During this whole lesson, my whole mindset changed to thinking how everyone progresses at different speeds and he really did want this in his life. I officially said in my mind that we wouldn't drop him. And then, miraculously, he said that he probably would never stop smoking and that if we couldn't over anymore, he would be fine with that. I was floored at the fact that he dropped us. I took that as a huge tender mercy from the Lord; that I wouldn't have to live with the burden of dropping someone who seemed sincerely interested, despite his circumstances.

 

God cares about each and every one of His missionaries. Perhaps He inspires people to accept our message at first, even when their every intention isn't to act on it so that we don't get discouraged. I believe that He is always looking out for us and that He doesn't want us to be unhappy but that He will do everything in our power to fulfill our righteous desires.

 

Elder Low

Monday November 12, 2012

Greetings from the new and improved 22-year-old Elder Low! Wow, it's really weird being 22 and on a mission. Now I know how Elder Brutinel felt when he was older than the "normal misisonary age" and people would look at him like "well, what sin did YOU commit that made you leave so late on a mission?" And it won't help to have that influx of new young 18-year-old missionaries coming in soon. Concerning what Darin told Aunt Allyson, we are also expecting to get a huge amount of missionaries as well. President Topham told us that in addition to replacing all the missionaries that go home in 2013, the mission will receive an extra 100 missionaries. So most of the units in our mission will have 2 sets of companionships covering that boundary. It will be very different. But unfortunately I'm going to miss a lot of it.

 

My birthday was exactly what I needed after these past couple weeks. I went on exchange with my district leader and his companion for the first four days of this week and I remembered how wonderful it was to have a car. (Elder King and I are getting along swimmingly by the way, I'm not really sure why I haven't talked about him much in my emails. He's a wonderful missionary. President Topham told us in our interviews last week that he wants Elder King to remain in Erie Walk for the next couple exchanges we conduct this transfer, so it turned out Elder King had to take control of the area for 4 full days. He actually didn't do too bad and I have no doubt that he'll do fine when I get transferred in 2 weeks.) Because we've been losing a lot of our investigators, things have been pretty difficult as of late. I was constantly on the look for tender mercies of the Lord that could raise my spirits and they came every so often so I'm grateful for that.

 

I felt special because I had "Happy Birthday" sang to me like 4 times throughout the day. Elder King sang to me while I was brushing my teeth and then he presented me razors! YES! We then did like 4 hours of service. The first project we did was for one of the investigators that I had when I was serving in Millcreek - Guy. He recently had a heart attack and the ward has really pitched in to rake his GIGANTIC lawn (it's pretty much in the forest) of all it's leaves. I got to use the leaf blower and it was amazing to see with one movement I could command the ebb and flow of the waves of leaves; sometimes the waves would get so high that the leaves would just reflect back in my face. Being from the prairies of Alberta, I only now have discovered what it feels like to be enveloped in leaves; it was a lot of fun. We then went to clean a members' garage, and then to my surprise they welcomed us in to cupcakes and home-made fudge. Somebody (the Millcreek elders) told them it was my birthday. Nevertheless, it was very sweet.

 

That evening, Bro Harper (a LECOM member who teamed up all the time with Elder Swensen and I in the summer time) and his wife took me and Elder King out to a legit Mexican restaurant. Being from Canada, I don't experience legit Mexican food very often but I hear from Utahn missionaries all the time how Pennsylvania doesn't have any. It was delicious. The Millcreek elders then told me to close my eyes and they drove me to somewhere after dinner. Elder King then clumsily led me up stairs into a door which turned out to be the Clarks' (Like my favourite family in our ward)! They also had a cake for me! All in all, I definitely felt the love that day. Best birthday I've had on my mission.

 

Yesterday in sacrament meeting I had a wonderful confirmation that I was where I was supposed to be. The Brammers, a ward missionary couple that moved in 4ish months ago, were giving talks about missionary work. Before they were ward missionaries, we invited them to an appointment which really started them on a re-excitement about missionary work. Bro Brammer's talk was basically a shout out to Elder King, Elder Swensen and I about how we helped rekindle that fire within him and how everyone else should "ask the missionaries [about anything!], they can help you." Bro Brammer testified of the greatness of all the missionaries in our ward individually and how we were here in Erie for a reason. What greater confirmation could I have than that?

 

Elder Low