The question on the lips of family and friends of two LDS missionaries assassinated Wednesday in Bolivia is why "two good boys doing the Lord's work" are dead.
"This is something we can't explain. It takes something greater and more powerful than us," said Myron Alma Richins, president of the Coalville Utah Stake.President Richins was a seminary teacher and close friend of Jeffrey Brent Ball, one of two Utah missionaries whose senseless deaths shook all church members who have sent loved ones to the mission field.
"It is going to take a great exhibition of faith to help the Ball family and members of the community and stake remember the value of the work he was involved in," President Richins said. "He was loved and respected. He had a purpose in life and he was working for it."
President Richins said he's received dozens of calls from concerned parents lacking the right words to inform their missionaries of the deaths.
"But all of them whom I talked to are still glad that their sons are where they are; they are putting their trust in the right individuals to make the decisions for them," he said.
Members' faith in the church's mass missionary program showed through the cloud of darkness that settled over the small communities of Kamas, Summit County, where Elder Ball lived for the past several years, and Wellington, Carbon County - home of his slain companion, Elder Todd Ray Wilson.
But the sadness remained.
Assassination - a frightening word seemingly reserved for presidents and political activists - had left its ugly scar.
"No one can comprehend it; it's just unbelievable. It's something that happens somewhere else to someone else's kids," said Jane Casper, an employee of Rafter-B Gas `N' Grub, the business owned by the Ball family.
"It seems creepy. It seems if he had been in a car accident we could have taken it much better. But to be cut down by a terrorist while doing what he thought was right and should be doing - it's very hard to take."
The overriding reaction of residents in the small towns where the missionaries had lived was one of shock.
"It's especially hard to believe that this would happen to someone on a mission," said Terry McQueen, an employee of the Spring Chicken Inn, one of the places where friends of the Ball family gathered to seek solace in each other's sorrow.
"People believe the Lord will protect you. Maybe it's wrong to think that way, but that's my feeling," she said, wiping away her tears. "He was there doing what the Lord wanted him to do, so why did this happen?"
In Wellington, a town of a little more than 2,000 residents - both LDS and non-LDS - with many bonds continued to show overwhelming support for the Wilson family. Few tried to figure out the political implications of something they said "they just do not understand."
Rodger Branch, Wellington LDS Stake president, said there is no bitterness.
He said the Wilson family is taking comfort in the fact that "Todd was where he wanted to be, was happy and excited about his mission. He loved it and was willing to serve."
President Richins described Elder Ball in the same manner.
Arvil Wilson, a mine electrician in the coal-rich mountains near his Wellington home, said his son wrote often to tell the family how much he enjoyed the country and proselyting.
"He loved the people," the elder Wilson said, adding that his son and Elder Ball had achieved one of the greatest conversion rates "of any pair of missionaries in the mission."
The men, both 20, had positively touched the lives of many - especially youths who Thursday openly mourned the deaths.
Co-workers of Elder Wilson wore black arm bands in the Wendy's restaurant in nearby Price. Jeff Richins and Paul Ferry, classmates of Elder Ball at North Summit High School in Coalville, fondly reflected on his successful athletic career and the weight-lifting bench on which fans had scratched in his name.
Elder Wilson was the seventh of 10 children and an honor graduate of Carbon High. During his few quarters at the College of Eastern Utah, he was the night manager of the Wendy's restaurant. But he dropped out of school and worked to save money for his mission.
His brother, Brad, is preparing to leave on a mission this summer.
Elder Ball, the second of three children, was a stocky 200-pound star athlete - an all-state football player and student body vice president.
His sister, Wendy, is a missionary in the Guatemala-Guatemala City North Mission, and his brother, Gregg, is preparing to enter the mission field.
Maxine Richins, the stake president's wife, said Wendy will be going home for the funeral but is not being released from her mission.
"She didn't want to conclude her mission," Mrs. Richins said.