“Valley 176th Ward” by Eliza Porter

The scriptures were the motivation for a mighty change in the Valley 176th ward.  Brother Dalton wanted to protect the women and children.  He was very passionate about their safety and brought that up again and again as things were changing in the neighborhood.  As a real estate agent Brother Dalton couldn’t control everything, but he could make recommendations about home values online.  Little by little, the 4 block boundaries of the ward became more united, unified, and uniform.  There were families, yes.  There were some elderly, not so many as to become a burden on the ward.  A few married couples were able to get houses as less desirable landlords sold their property because a rash of complaints to the zoning commission.

Brother Dalton was always very friendly with prospective buyers.   Middle-class doctors and salt-of-the-earth programmers came to him with specific criteria for home and neighborhood.  If Brother Dalton felt them worthy, he might show them a listing–surprisingly under-priced–in his own area.   The anonymous ratings for the properties were, of course, very negative to discourage the general pool of buyers.

Yes, things had been changing for 10 years.  Brother Dalton was singing in the choir for Ward Conference.  He almost missed the announcement of a new Bishopric as he sent a text to a future ward member.  Bishop Jones had lost his job a few weeks ago and his family would be moving to Oklahoma.

Brother Dalton smiled as he pushed “send” on his text:

–And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.