Our yearly goals haven't been formulated yet, but
we are shooting for 77 baptisms in the month of January. The most this mission
has ever baptized in a month is 65. We ended the year with 501
baptisms for the mission. Goals that make you stretch are always good.
Its like this week we got 21 lessons and 151 contacts with 6 member
presents. As we keep working, hitting 20 lessons in a week becomes
easier and easier. Elder Miller and I are trying to sustain this pace
for the rest of the transfer. We hope to be in the mid-20s for lessons
by the end.
This week also brought us a new investigator. A guy named John. He
came from a street contact referral, so we are really seeing the
fruits of asking for referrals from everyone. It is so easy to do, yet
so many missionaries complain about it. It is interesting how we do
that. It is like to Israelites who only needed to look at the serpent
to be healed. That story always seemed so odd to me. Why not do
something incredibly easy AND let the Lord bless you. That seems to be
what is happening with asking for referrals.
Another thing we did this week was started to work more with the Young
Men. There is one who was recently ordained a deacon and he is scared
to pass the sacrament. He isn't very social and really liked primary.
Big fish in a small pond type of thing. We taught a lesson about
charity and service in regards to the priesthood. Then yesterday, he
went to take sacrament to the shut-ins after church. This week we will
follow up and see how he is doing. It is funny how we have become Ward
Council bulldogs. If there is a problem that they talk about or need
done, and just don't have time or resources, we jump in and help. That
is the ideal of the rescue test. Strengthening the members is as
important as finding new members in this mission.
I'm going to play rugby with a bunch of Tongans now.
-Elder Richards