January Update

Here's an update on the progress in Buhl: There was a baptism the first week of January, and another the second. Actually there were at least four the first six weeks there. But it's hard to get that information from Nick. He says that numbers and baptisms don't matter. "It's how hard you work to touch as many lives as you can and how well people progress in the gospel. It's conversions we want, not baptisms."

A mom who is less active told them she wants to start coming to church. She has quit smoking and wants to quit drinking and is going to take Sundays off work.

Jay is one of their crazy investigators. There was some confusion about where they were meeting him for a discussion. Their cell phone broke and they had to schedule everything by messages. But they finally got it figured out and Jay wanted to be baptized NOW! They are afraid it is only to impress his ex-girlfriend.

Mark is a member whose new wife and stepkids want to get baptized. They are one of Nick's favorite families. They were scheduled for January, but postponed until March so that both sides of the family can be there, including the girls' dad who will be home from Iraq in March.

Tina had been very interested, then started avoiding the missionaries for a few weeks. They stopped by one night to say hi, and her husband apologized for avoiding them. Then Tina yelled, "Elder Hefler, I want to be baptized on Saturday!" So they sat down and planned it.

When Nick first came to Buhl, they taught about 9 discussions a week, but doubled it the next week to 18 and was up to 19 in January. His goal is 20, and he is working very hard to get there. He says this is the most action Buhl has seen in two years.

They found Nick, a referral in their book that had never been contacted, and it turned out he was very interested in having them come.

Another new investigator is Jeremy. He is very interested in the church, but also very crazy. It is difficult to get through a discussion because Jeremy has so many crazy stories, kind of dreams or visions. He said he used to do a lot of drugs, but is sure that these strange things that happen to him are all true.

Autumn came to church the first time and really liked it. She started talking about baptism, but thinks she needs more time.

Mike also came to church, even though he used to say he never would.

And Toni is a new investigator who had already been to church about ten times before they started teaching her.

Lots of exciting things happening in Buhl. Well about as exciting as you can get in a town of 3,000 people.