There is big news on my end as well. I am still in Bayside, and I am actually training again next transfer. I'll be going solo as a zone leader. I pick up my companion on Thursday. Should be an interesting transfer. Elder Suzuki went back down to the Vietnamese branch in San Jose.
Today at transfer meeting, President Watkins said that the mission department got 7,500 missionary applications last week! He said they usually get about 500 a week. That is incredible. The number of missionaries, especially in the states, is about to explode. Probably means that missions are going to get split in the coming year.
Yesterday was the sickest I've been in a long time. Elder Suzuki and I got food poisoning and were down for the count. It was terrible. The night before, we ate at a Tongan member's house, and they gave us tacos. They tasted good at the time, but beware of Tongan tacos. We are both feeling way better today. I still haven't eaten anything since Sunday night, but I'm actually starting to get hungry, so I guess that is a good sign. It is nice, because the next two days are pretty chill days. I'm waiting with another elder in the zone that is training, and so we are preparing for the new kids and covering a few appointments.
We are still working with pretty much the same people. One cool thing is that a less active family that we work with, the Thompsons, was in church. Not in our ward, but they made it to church. Her dad was called as the Bishop of another ward in the stake. Bro Thompson went on a mission and loved his mission. He had a sour experience with someone after he got home, and he stopped coming. His testimony is still there, and he knows he needs to come, he just needs to come. Hopefully this will break the ice for them. They are the coolest couple, they just need to come to church.
Things are going good for me, and we're working hard for the 3 baptisms in the 4th quarter goal.
Hope everything is going good on your end. Have a good week.
-Elder James Richards