So this week was good. We didn't teach as many as last week, but it wasn't too bad. It's funny how attitude and perceptions change once you've hit your goal. I know we can teach 20 here, so 15 looks like kind of a downer week. If we would have taught 15 three weeks ago we would have been on cloud nine. Attitude changes everything.
Yesterday was a big northern California stake conference broadcast with Elder Perry. His talk was great. It was telling the members to get with missionary work. The new influx of missionaries will be hitting in about 2 weeks, so we need to get rolling. I wonder how many companionships the Ft Lauderdale ward will have after everyone lands.
This week we went to San Jose for a Zone Leader Council meeting. When sister Watkins spoke, we brain stormed some out of the box finding ideas. We're going to start a competition with the priests. We're going to see who can hand out more copies of the Book of Mormon per week. And we're going to double what they do. We'll figure out what some prizes can be for when they beat us. I've also been thinking of ways we may be able to implement the blessing of homes here. We don't tract, so it's different, but I may start to offer it more in street contacts and such. If you've got any other finding ideas you've seen, let me know. Finding investigators is the biggest struggle here.
Bill is still doing good. He still won't accept help from us, but if all goes well, he'll be in church in early March, meaning he can be baptized in late March. We figured out more of the reason as to why he wants to be independent. He was a big deal in the community about 15 years ago. Most people that have been around for a while at least know his name. His wife passed away 12 years ago, and then he had some health problems of his own, so he hasn't been out much as of late. He wants to come back, and be in the community, and meet good people, and he recognizes that the church is a place to do that. He just wants everything to be in order. He wants to look his best for that, which we can respect. We're just going to continue to teach him and help him feel the spirit. He's read the majority of the Book of Mormon, and believes it, knows that we hold the priesthood, and has great faith. We know the Lord will help him get there, even if it takes a little while.
Hopefully there are more new things to report next week.
-Elder James Richards