S-E-A-T-T-L-E

Hello All,

So now I am in Seattle. This definitely isn't Issaquah. There is so much diversity here. It is really neat to be in the city. Our area is HUGE!!! We cover Capitol Hill down to Mt. Baker, Fremont, Ballard and Woodlands. Needless to say, there are a lot of people who are ready to hear the message of the Restoration.

I love being in the city. People are everywhere and it is really quite easy to get the goal of 80 contacts a day. Seattle is a really neat city and I can't wait to see more of it. Since today is p-day we are going to Pike Place Market. I am really excited! We saw the troll under the bridge (it is in the area), but I didn't bring my camera so we'll go back again. It seems like there is a lot to see and explore so any suggestions are welcome!

The ward is interesting. There are about 800 people on the ward roster with only about 150 attending each week. There is a lot of reactivation work to do here. It is hard though. The ward isn't too organized and it seems that ward counsel doesn't really help much. But our Ward Mission Leader is really great and hard working is is trying hard to help us out more. Right now the investigators we do have seem kind of flaky so we don't really have too many people to teach, but we are working really hard to try to get some people who will actually progress. We did get a new investigator this week. He said he wants to be baptized, but he is on watch for about 17 more months so we don't even know if he is eligible for that right now, but we'll see what happens.

This week we met Lillian, a less-active member who is just returning to activity. She is about 23 and has two little boys. She reminds me a lot of what my friend Anne may have been like about that age. She just got out of rehab and is trying to put her life back in order. Hopefully she continues on the path she is starting and I can see her progress in the Church, like Anne decided to do.

We also teach a less-active blind man named Vince. On Wednesday we had him listen to the Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration full-length movie while we watched. It is a really great film for those who haven't seen it yet. It teaches and will strengthen anyone's testimony of the Prophet.

I have been reading a lecture called "The Stick of Joseph." It is about a man who defended the Book of Mormon in a mock court case for one of his law classes. It brings up points about the Book of Mormon and shows the truthfulness of the book through facts. It is really interesting and I have learned a lot. As always though, the only way to gain a testimony of the book is to pray about it, as it directs in Moroni 10:4-5.

My companion is really cool! He has been out for about 20 months now and is almost done. Maybe we'll stay together for the next couple of transfers until he goes home, but we'll see. That is really all that is happening as of this week. I am excited for what the next 6 weeks will bring. As always, the Church is true!

~Elder Fetzer

*Richard's transfer brought some familiar people back into his life. He is now in his cousin Meka's ward!