March 31, 2008 - "I saw Big Trees Today" - Michael made that comment after spending a part of his P-day going to see some of the large Redwood Trees in his zone. Michael reported, "I was able to see the Redwood Trees of Montgomery Woods. There not as big as the ones in the Avenue of the Giants but they are still HUGE! We had like 9 of us shoulder to shoulder to try and equal the width of one tree. They are BIG".

Elder Haslam explained that Elder Strobel was transferred from Kelseyville to Waters because he had been with Spanish speaking missionaries in Kelseyville, so the situation in Waters was better for him.

Elders Haslam and Lloyd had a very good week. They found a couple of good contacts during the week. Michael said, "We went to get our car fixed and instead of waiting around for it we went tracting at a mobile home park about a mile away. We knocked on about 3 doors and one lady explains her frustration with all these churches claiming truth but all having different interpretations. We simply listened to here intently enough that she eventually asked us, "what do you guys do, what do you teach?" So we taught her a brief first and gave her a pamphlet to read". We hope she will come to conference next weekend. The other person also looks hopeful. He added, "We need the members to step up. We're trying to help them do that but it's not easy. We just got a new Ward Mission Leader so we'll see how it goes. Also our new Assistant Ward Mission Leader is a recent convert that was baptized in January. He'll do good. So there's few of the things happening in the vineyard".

March 24, 2008 - "Don't Count" - The title refers to the fact that too many people are counting the number of weeks left before Michael returns home to Sandy. He added, "I got an Easter gift yesterday. A member gave us some cards to write home with and they have pictures that they have taken around the our area. Guess what? There were 11 of them! The exact number of times that I could write home before I actually get home. That was so odd and unlikely that I figure God would like me to use them. So you will get a card every week until I'm home. It won't say much but something. Maybe an endure to the end scripture on each one".

Michael advised us that Elder Strobel was "emergency transferred" to WInters. He also said that Elder Strobel was rather peeved at Elder Haslam, because of comments contained in this blog, which were read by Elder Strobel's parents. What is not clear is if the emergency transfer had anything to do with Elder Strobel's feelings about Elder Haslam. In any case Michael added that since he left Winters, there have been sister missionaries there until now. Michael added, "He's not happy with me and I suppose that it's my fault. I just didn't show him that I cared, I just tried to make him the best missionary he could be and he just didn't have the motivation for it. I feel bad but there's nothing I can do about it now".

Regarding the most recent "Leadership Council" (where the mission president, his assistants, and the zone leaders meet). Michael reported, "Hardly any missionaries love to just go out and work hard. It's pretty sad that we have to have so many motivational talks and meetings. The assistants talked solely about it in our council meeting. They even had another zone leader talk about it. It was one hundred percent motivation. Our Mission President at least talked about the Atonement. It was a good meeting but there was no training really. Hopefully we can motivate the missionaries to where they don't need us to motivate them again".

Regarding the work in Ukiah with Elder Lloyd Michael said, "This whole week we were out finding and we didn't find any new investigators or even a solid contact. It was pretty dry but that's OK, we'll get it going soon. We're getting the ward ramped up. The new bishop is really excited about doing weekly exchanges and getting us out with the members. It should be good if it works out like it's planned".

The highlight of the e-mail was this: "I'm starting to see the grander plan of God. That we aren't just here to baptize although we are called to do that. There is a lot we can do for the members and the missionaries as well. I'm trying to enjoy that aspect of the work and not focus so much on the baptisms. All baptisms just fall into your lap, you really don't earn them. You just do your best and God gives them to you. You just have to be sure not to prohibit his blessing by being unworthy".

Michael said, "Here in the Ukiah zone we have a few good changes coming and I'm excited for them. I also heard that they released a lot of zone leaders this transfer. Not me, but Elder Zvirzdin, Strange and maybe Elder Price. You should recognize their names I was companions with all of them. That would make me by far the oldest zone leader in the mission. I will be a zone leader for a year this transfer on April 14!! Crazy huh"?

Michael spoke of his baptism this past week. He reported, "We did have a baptism this week. Kathy Norris. I baptized her and it was a great experience even if I had to do it twice because her fist didn't go under the first time. She is doing great and we have a lot of fun talking with her and her boyfriend"

Michael added that they still have a couple of contact with whom they are working, who may become investigators. Michael added, "Our new bishop is excited for the missionary work. We'll press on and find some more of the elect".

Even since Michael was asked to serve as a zone leader in April 2007, other missionaries have been telling him that he'd be an assistant to President Stoddard one day. Every time a current assistant is about to return home, the same chorus of comments would come from his fellow missionaries. We'll that chorus is coming again as another assistant is about to return home. Michael expressed how tired he is of all the talk and the reduction in proper focus that it creates.

Michael reported on the baptism last Friday night. He wrote, "We had a good baptism on Friday. Melissa Mendes the 9 year old girl was baptized by her father. He couldn't get the prayer right and said it a dozen times but he did get right finally and dunked her only once! It was my 5th baptism and we have another this weekend! Kathy Norris was interviewed on Friday and she is ready for it"!

Zone conference and missionary interviews by President Stoddard were held in Michael's zone during the past week. Commenting on these events Michael said, "I actually got a compliment from President Stoddard on being a good leader and taking good care of my zone! That was nice. This gave me a boost for the week. The zone conference went really well. We had some good talks given that I really appreciated and we learned about the "execution gap". The failure to implement goals into reality. It was a good talk by president and helped us see that we're on the front lines and must make the bottom line happen".

March 03, 2008 - "From the Ukiah Vineyard" - Regarding the Ukiah Stake Conference held on March 2nd Elder Haslam reported, "I got to see a lot of the people I served with out in the other end of the stake. I got to see the Wilson's, Jacobsen's, etc. But I didn't get to see the Watson's. I don't know where they were but I'll try and contact them through the mail. I heard from some other missionaries that they had moved. We'll see. It was great to see the families that I really liked in the Middletown Ward, and a few in the Highlands ward. The General Authority that came to conference was area authority Donald Tenney. He did a good job. He encouraged us to be clean and pay tithing. Pres. Southwick told us that we should never give up. He asked, "What would happen if Joseph Smith had given up in the grove"? He has a good point. We should always continue on without fear or discouragement. So it was good".

Regarding his proselyting efforts during the week he said, "We had a pretty good week. We set up 2 baptism interviews for our investigators. Melissa will be interviewed tonight and Kathy will be interviewed on Friday. Everything is going pretty smoothly with them. We need to find some new investigators though because in 2 weeks the ones we have now will be gone in a good way. We tried to get a part member family where the husband comes every week but he is very analytical and intellectual with the gospel and doesn't put the work into his study that he needs to receive the spiritual confirmation he's looking for".

Michael added, "So we walk around to find people out on the street and talk with them. God has the power to place the elect in our path so we're trusting in that. We're trying to get the members to get their work going. We started with a couple families this week".

Michael concluded by saying, "This week is going to fly by. We have interviews with President, Zone Conference, and we are going to have a baptism on Friday. Life is good. Don't worry about me, the end is not here".