Well this week starts the new transfer! I have been on my mission for about 2 months. My trainer, Elder Miller, is staying with me, since the new training program has us on a 12-week course. He will most likely be transferred at the end of next transfer. This transfer has been a highly successful one. Elder Miller can't remember the last time he had 2 baptisms in 1 transfer. We are hovering right around 17 lessons. We got over 20 once. This next transfer's goal will be to give the extra push to try and consistently reach 20 lessons. Not many areas in the zone (or the mission for that matter) can do that. We are planning a temple trip to the Oakland temple for baptisms for our recent converts and others, and a visitors center trip for some investigators and less actives. President Watkins allows us to take investigators to the visitors center, or see our converts get their other temple work done after they have been a member for a year. It is an exciting prospect to think that I could be at the temple in a year with some of the people we recently baptized.
Today we went to the Monterey aquarium with our recent convert and her family. It was pretty cool. Lots of sharks and fish, and I got to pet a bat ray. It was good for the mom to get out of their little east-side house, and the kids to run around and see all the fish and stuff. The ocean smell brought me home.
-Elder Richards