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Wednesday, 5 Nov 1985 Dear John, Faye, and boys, I hope you don't think we are writing too soon. We pray that all is well with you in the States. I hope your mother is doing okay. You have been gone only a week and it seems like a month. This has been a very busy week for us. Monday night Andrea babysat for the kids while we went to study the Bible with a young couple. We were not able to get their computer to work properly, so I had to talk off the top of my head. (Keep in mind that the technology cannot be trusted; always be prepared with an alternate way to teach.) This afternoon we presented the plan of salvation to the wife (the old fashioned way with paper and pen). The husband was at work. She completely understands and agrees that she must be baptized. She says she just isn't ready to give up the things of the world yet. I think it will only take a little time before she will be ready. I am sure the husband will argue that he has already been baptized for the right reasons. He was baptized at age 8 into the reformed LDS church. They have indicated that they will be coming to church this Sunday. They were using their 4-month-old boy as an excuse not to go. We convinced them that God expects them to go any way. I suspect they will be going more regularly. (The husband is still offended that he was not offered the Lord's Supper last year.) Dora has come to ladies' Bible class the past two times. She is really starting to show some interest. She is impressed with our efforts to look into the Bible to find God's will. We are hoping that she will "see the Light." The most important news is that this morning Frank called me and said he wanted to be baptized. He said to come over at 7 tonight. We told as many Christians as we could find. We did not go out to the beach where you baptized Bob. It has been stormy here for the last few days. The sun finally came out this afternoon, but the waves were still unbelievable. This afternoon I found a perfect spot along the canal in Pinetamare that actually didn't look too dirty. Anyway, the Coles, the Jeffersons, C.C., and Cha turned out to watch Frank be baptized shortly after 7 this evening. We didn't have to go more than five feet from the shore. (And you thought it was cold in September.) Now I have baptized two people: Cha and Frank. It was MUCH easier in the sea than in a bathtub. I got the ISEPIC in the mail today, but by no means have I had a chance to try it. Everything besides what we did today seems trivial. You are greatly missed. I still feel like there is a great burden on my shoulders with the church here. When you were here and we could "bear one anothers burdens," it seemed so much easier. We so desperately need a full time minister here for both the Italian and American congregations. It seems that the whole world is now crying out for the gospel and I can't find enough time to tell them all (at least here). Andrea said she got an "A" in her computer class. She is really looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks. Angelique is now in the top reading class. We are so proud. We suspect it has something to do with Jeannie going to talk to Jo Prather, the reading specialist at Pinetamare. She was very encouraging to Jeannie and said she would talk to Miss Angelo to determine if the kids were being given a fair amount of work to do. Angelique seems to be happy about it. She is having to do some extra work to "catch up" with the other kids in that section of her class. Mrs. Prather is personally helping Angelique to catch up. Steven is doing fine with his teacher at Pony Palace. Of course, he would rather have Miss Faye. Pray for us and the work of the church here. Write if you get a chance and tell us how your culture shock is going. We love you so much, Michael, Jeannie,
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