Goooooooood Morning!
It is a BEAUTIFUL fall day in Toms River! Sister Bluth and I are the only missionaries in our ward, covering Ocean County, the largest county in New Jersey. This is the Jersey Shore I've heard so much about. It's a far cry from the hustle and bustle of Jersey City and Hoboken. I was thrilled to see grass and trees, especially at this time of year--the colors are absolutely gorgeous. But it definitely gives a sense of distance and isolation. We are in Cherry Hill territory, and it took an hour and a half to get here from Morristown. Sister Greenwood is the only missionary in our district that I know, and we only see other missionaries at our meetings on Tuesday. Sacrament meeting was quiet yesterday--very few students, newlyweds or young families here. The first counselor in the Bishopric recently celebrated his 80th birthday.
So! Lots to get used to here, but I'm loving it already. Tuesday night we drove directly from transfer conference to meet with Bishop Barton. He is a big, growly Jersey man who knows how to run the work in this ward. His goal is to replace full-time missionaries in his ward with...the members! He has a detailed, written ward mission plan with lots of member involvement. This is the first time I have arrived in a unit and felt like the Bishop ran the work, not the missionaries--which is the way it should be! He invited us to speak in Sacrament yesterday, took 20 minutes at the end of the meeting to talk about missionary work, and also taught the third hour--all about missionary work. And the members are all on board as well. We spent a lot of time this week teaching them how to use Preach My Gospel. We assigned every member we taught to memorize the principles of the first three lessons so that they could participate in teaching on team-ups and be prepared to teach their friends and families when approached with questions. Sister Card came up to me all excited on Sunday to report that she had found her copy of Preach My Gospel and already begun her memorization. As expected, the work in this area reflects the involvement of its members. Two recent converts passed the sacrament for the first time yesterday; we have three people set with baptismal dates as well as a decent number who are progressing and ready to be set with dates--one, Tracey, will be baptized this Sunday!
Sister Bluth is one of the gentlest souls I have ever met. She is from New Mexico and is the fifth child in her family to serve a mission. I met her back in February, when I was still with Sister Picard. She was the only missionary to arrive that transfer, and Sister Picard and I went street contacting with her in Newark her first night here--it's called Fear Buster. If talking to people in Newark doesn't cure you of a hesitancy to talk to strangers, I don't know what will. As it is suburban we do a lot of knocking here in Toms River, and I am definitely rusty! Sister Bluth is very determined and persistent and gets her message in before the door closes. Over the course of the last year I have found ONE investigator by knocking. Sister Bluth has found many, so I have a lot to learn from her! We've a lot of fun this week. This area is HUGE and there's no rhyme or reason to the roads--that's just Jersey, though--so getting around has been interesting. Our apartment is in the basement of a member's home. I can touch the ceiling! WithOUT standing on my toes! I can easily see over the fridge. And the kitchen counter reaches between my knee and hip. I call it the Hobbit apartment. I think all of you would actually have to duck in some areas. But it's very nicely put together and decorated.
Well, that's about all the news I have for today. I'm hoping if we get our errands done quickly we can go to the Shore! I haven't seen the ocean in a long time.
Love you!
Sister Black
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