The team of Reggie Gardner (cadre), Syble West (cadre), and Jerrell Jackson (local) met Delford Bahe and Frances Briceño. When asked if they knew anyone who needed help, Francis told them she had just lost her job. They invited the team in and listened to the Gospel Presentation. Delferd had no religious background and he was listening intently to the scriptures. Francis had been baptized as a baby in the Catholic church. After Delferd read Acts 22:16, which asked him to arise and be baptized, Francis began to encourage him. She told him, “God is asking you to do something. He wants your answer.” Delferd then said, “I need to do this.” Reggie then asked Francis about her answer. She said she had been baptized, but he then asked, “Yes, but did you obey the Gospel?” She admitted she had not and needed to do so. They wanted to wait until Sunday, but Reggie reminded them that a lot could happen between now and Sunday and he wanted them to be sure and go to heaven. They said, “Let’s go.” They were so impressed with the Welcome Circle after obeying the Gospel that they stayed for lunch. They said they felt like they were at home among family.

John Telgren (cadre), Jim Newman (cadre) and Beneta Jackson (local) brought Michelle Gordan to obey the Gospel. Michelle had some Jewish background but had not been to church. She been praying since the first of January for God to give her some direction in her life and show her the right way. She responded to the Gospel after hearing the scriptures.

Eileen Perret, a local member, has been very concerned about her daughter, Natalie. Natalie had strayed from her first love of Jesus and Eileen had put her name on the prayer list. Friday afternoon Eileen went in with the prayer team, and they were praying for Natalie. Then on Saturday morning, Eileen and Natalie went out on a team with Dave Telgren (cadre). Natalie then felt the need to come back to her first love, so after talking with the elders, she was restored to Jesus. This made Eileeen, along with everyone else here, very happy.

Right after that Brian Briceno obeyed the Gospel. Brian is the 16-year-old son of Francis Briceno, who obeyed the Gospel on Saturday. She brought Brian to the building to study with Reggie Gardner (cadre) and Syble West (cadre). Brian had been talking about being baptized about a month ago, but then he met some new friends and his focus changed. His mother was concerned about him, so when she learned about the Gospel that saves she wanted her son to hear about it. He did and he was ready to obey.

Then John McGilvray came to obey the Gospel. John is the father of Christopher McGilvray. He was in on the study Mickael Moore (cadre), Gerry Thompson (cadre), and Rod Wiser (local) had with Christopher on Thursday. He did not respond then, but Christopher did. Then Christopher wanted his friend, Joseph Garza, to hear about the Gospel so Mickael Moore (cadre), along with Kay Wilson (cadre) and Michael Cole (local), went back to study with Joseph. John was also there for that study. Joseph was ready to obey the Gospel. Mickael said to John, “You’ve heard this twice now. Are you ready to obey?” This time John was ready to obey so he and Joseph put on Christ in baptism.

Just before supper Dave Telgren (cadre), Sue Telgren (cadre), and Glenn Redmond (cadre) brought Sam Clarke and Andy Wright in to obey the Gospel. Sam was outside his house talking on his phone when the team got out of their car, so they went on down the street. When they came back he was still outside so they asked him the question. He said for about four months he had been thinking about that word “baptism.” They then went into the house to present the Gospel. Andy was in another part of the house doing some carpentry work. Sam told Andy to be quiet and come in and listen. They both listened and agreed they needed to obey the Gospel.

What a busy day Tuesday was! That morning the team of Shri-Lahn Newman (cadre), Leroy Washington (cadre), and Jeremy Lewis (local) went to the home of Maria Castaneda. She accepted a box of food and they shared the Gospel with her. When they got to the scriptures on persecution her tears started flowing because she felt she might face some persecution from her family. However, when asked, “Why do you wait?” she saw she needed to obey the Gospel.

After lunch Shri-Lahn went back out on the streets with Kay Pittman (local) and Leroy Washington (local). They met Nancy Ortega, who was out in the yard waiting for her children. She agreed to hear the Gospel presentation so they moved inside the house. However, since the TV was on and children were playing there, they moved back outside where it was quieter. In the meantime, Leroy had gone to get a box of food out of the car. He brought it inside the house and began visiting with Nancy’s stepfather, Joseph. Joseph wanted to visit so Leroy took that opportunity to share the Gospel with him. As they were getting into the study, Nancy had decided to go to the building to obey the Gospel, so Shri-Lahn and Kay to her there, leaving Leroy at the house. Before finishing all the scriptures Joseph had to go somewhere, so Leroy took a bus partway to the building, then walked the rest of the way. We are hoping that Joseph will be convicted at a later date by the scriptures he has heard.

That same afternoon Ira Payne (cadre), Anthoy Melakian (cadre), and Sarah DeYoung (local) were knocking a new neighborhood. At the first door they knocked they heard a vacuum cleaner going. They kept trying to make their knocking heard above the noise. A neighbor called out to them and said, “She doesn’t even open the door for me!” However, God was working at that door and the vacuum cleaner was turned off and Leticia Serreta opened the door and agreed to listen to the Gospel presentation. She decided to obey the Gospel, then came back that evening for supper and to listen to the lesson Larry West preached that night.

Last Saturday Dwayne Smith (cadre), Andrea Telgren (cadre), and Jeff Runion (local), along with two local teenage girls, met Luis Cervantes. He set an appointment at 4:30 Tuesday afternoon. Dwayne went back with Andrea Telgren (cadre) and Randie Ashley (local). At that time Luis had his wife, Berta Salas, his daughter, Jessica Cervantes, and Jessica’s friend, Paul McMasters, all there to listen to the Gospel presentation. Luis is truly a man of honor and when he saw what the scriptures had to say he said, “I want to do this.” Berta and Jessica were not sure when the left the house that they wanted to make this commitment, but when they got to the building they were convicted and obeyed the Gospel along with Luis. Luis was so excited about finding Jesus that he came Wednesday morning to go out and share the good news with others.

Paul McMasters, Jessica’s friend, is 14 years old. He had been trying to get someone to baptize him, but hadn’t been able to find anyone who would. He knew that the Bible said that baptism had something to do with salvation, but didn’t completely understand what it meant. After hearing the Gospel presentation he was also convicted. He called to get his mother’s permission, and she said, “No.” Not willing to take no for an answer, he called his father and his father said it was alright with him. He called his mother back and she finally told him that it wa his life and he could do what he wanted, so he obeyed the Gospel.

At 10:00 in the morning the team of Tommy Key (cadre), Kim Ramaglia (cadre), and Richard Sims (local) found Linda Girkin out in her yard. Tommy asked her if they could share their salvation story with her and she agreed, so Kim presented the Gospel to her. At the end of the presentation Linda was not ready to respond. They told her that baptism had to be a the right time in a person’s life and for the right reason. They invited her to come eat supper and attend the Gospel meeting. Linda, along with her husband, Andy, her daughter, Shaina Haight, and her daughter’s friend, Carlos Cardenas, came to the meeting and heard Larry West’s sermon on the Gospel that saves. They were very interested and listened intently, following the scriptures closely.  After the sermon Kim asked if all of them would like to go through the Gospel again and they said they would like that. John Telgren (cadre) met them and presented the Gospel and they all were then ready to obey. It is wonderful to have so many families come to Christ and be united in Him.

On Tuesday afternoon Glenn Redmond (cadre) was standing in front of the building when a car slowly drove up and stopped next to him. Nicole Ice rolled down her window and asked him if there was a revival going on here? He said there was so she then asked, “Can I come?” He, of course, told her she was welcome and invited her for supper also. She told him she had been driving by the building for some time and kept thinking she needed to check this church out. She had been calling out to God for four months. She didn’t make if for supper that night, but did come back for the sermon. She listened intently to the lesson, following scriptures in her Bible and taking notes. Glenn felt that during the invitation song she was almost ready to respond. After services Glen told her that he noticed she was very interested and would she like to talk more about it. She agreed to and they set an appointment for the next morning. Then Glenn asked her the question: “If the Lord were to come right now, would you know for sure, nothing doubting, you would go home with Him?” She said, “No,” so Glenn asked if she wanted to study that night instead of waiting. She wanted to do that, so Glenn, along with Trevis and Gigi Bennett (cadre), went to a room and presented the Gospel to her. She wanted to obey but was concerned because three weeks ago she had had heart by-pass surgery and the incision on her leg had developed a staph infection Shri-Lahn Newman (cadre) was there and she is a nurse, so she taped it up to where it was waterproof. Nicole was very happy to know that she could go to sleep that night and be assured that she would go to heaven. The two ministers, Clark Tatum and Josh Mauldin, were happy to stay and sterilize the baptistery, even though it took until 1:30 in the morning. It was worth it to know that Nicole was right with God.

Wednesday was a great day in that several of our new converts were here to go out on teams to share with others. Luis Cervantes and Alex and Mayra Santana were among those.

Earlier in the week the team of Dwayne Smith (cadre), Michael Hyams (cadre), and Gerry Thompson (cadre) made an appointment with Minerva Valenzuela for a Gospel presentation. When they went back, Michael Hyams could not make it so they took Luis Cervants (local), who had just obeyed the Gospel the day before. They got to her house and she was waiting outside for them. Minerva really connected with Gerry Thompson so she, for the first time, presented the Gospel. Minerva accepted God’s word and came to obey it. Just before getting her confession in the baptistery, everyone was waving at her. She said, “I feel famous.” We told her she is famous, her name is now in God’s Book of Life. This study was a milestone for Gerry and for Luis. It was her first time to present the Gospel and Luis’s first time to go out seeking for souls.

One of the teams was knocking doors and left a track in the door of Gloria Sipres. She saw the information on it and came Tuesday night to hear Larry’s sermon on the Gospel. Craig Suby (cadre) noticed that she was listening intently and following the scriptures. After church he went to talk to her and, of course, asked her the question. She wanted to hear more so he set up an appointment for the next day. He then took Lori Tatum (local) and Larry Kugler (local) with him and presented the Gospel to her. She saw the need to obey. Her son, Jesse Navarro, was also listening to it and he was also convicted and ready to obey.

The team of Ron and Carroll Rollins (cadre) and Sarah DeYoung (local) met Michelle Crockett and her young grandson, Robert Thompson. They presented the Gospel to Michelle and to Robert. Michelle had obeyed the Gospel earlier in life, but had not been following God’s word, so she asked to be restored to her first love. Robert was very insistent that he understood what he needed to do to obey the Gospel. After several meetings to make sure he truly understood it, he came to the building to obey. He was a very happy young man.

The team of Tommy and Bebie Key (cadre) and Randie Ashley (local) met Tina Morales and her daughter, Natasha Morales, last week. They kept trying to connect with her and were finally able to present the Gospel to them. They were ready at the end of the presentation to obey the Gospel, so they did so.

Concepcion (Connie) Morales began a Gospel presentation earlier in the week. Donna Cole (local) was on that team. They had to stop part way through the study so Donna took Kim Ramaglia (cadre) and Michael Hyams (cadre) back to finish the presentation. Connie understood the need to obey the Gospel, but wasn’t ready do so. She told Kim that she needed to learn more. Kim asked her, “What do you need to learn?” She then said she wanted her family to learn more. Kim then asked her, “But what more do YOU need to learn?” Kim then explained the Great Commission to her and said that Jesus told them to obey the Gospel, then teach others. The church would help her to learn more and could teach her family more. She then was ready to obey.

The team of Mickael Moore (cadre), Michael Cole (local), and Yvonne Dunn (local) were at the home of Chris McGilvray, who had obeyed the Gospel last week. While there, Yvonne had a question about obeying the Gospel, so Mickael began a Gospel presentation with Yvonne. Halfway through the presentation Degdrick Lyman came to visit and Yvonne handed him a Bible. Mickael backed up and started over with him. When they got to Acts 22:16 he said, “I need to do that, but what if I’m not ready to stop sinning?” Mickael said, “Then don’t do it.” Degdrick felt that he needed to think about it some. Mickael shared with him some of his past life to let him know that Jesus could change him. The team left and a little later Mickael went back to visit Chris again. Chris told him that Degdrick was coming over to obey the Gospel. Degdrick told Mickael he was ready to stop sinning and that he needed to change his life before he ended up dead like some of his friends had. Mickael asked him what scripture had convinced him to obey and Degdrick told him, “Why are you waiting?”

The team of George and Betty Vinson (cadre) and Leroy Washington (cadre) knocked on the door of Cornelia Lucero. They presented the Gospel to her. She had an appointment and had to leave, but after lunch they went back to get her and brought her to the building to obey.

Tommy and Bebie Key (cadre) and Elvie Coffman (local) knocked on the door of Clarissa Murrieta. They presented the Gospel to her but she wanted to think about it some. They went back later to talk to her again, but she was not there. Her daughter was there and they asked the daughter to tell Clarissa that they were inviting them to come to dinner and to the sermon that night. Clarissa came and obeyed the Gospel.

Tuesday Maria Casteneda obeyed the Gospel. She came that night to the Gospel meeting and brought her two daughters and her son, Cesar Gonzales. Cesar wanted to learn more, so Shri-Lahn Newman (cadre) and Logan Griffith (local) presented the Gospel to him. He wanted to obey but was very shy. He thought he had to walk down the aisle in front of everyone, so he didn’t respond. However, when he found out he could obey before church started, he was ready to obey.

Halfway through the sermon Cesar’s brother, Felix Gonzales, said he also wanted to obey. Shri-Lahn then took him out and presented the Gospel to him. After church was over he then responded.

The team of Craig Suby (cadre), Cathy Hendricks (cadre) and Randy Ashelly (local) knocked on the door of Sonya Nunez. She was not home, but her daughter, Susana Nunez, answered the door. Since she was a student the team wanted to talk to her mother, so they invited Susana to come for dinner and bring her mother. They both came for dinner and the team presented the Gospel to them during the sermon. They saw the need to obey and did so.

Alex Santana, who obeyed the Gospel last week, has been attending the Gospel meeting every night. He and Mayra, his wife, have been bringing his brothers and sisters. Wednesday night he brought his mother and father. They came back Thursday night and, since they have difficulty understanding English, Leon Garcia (cadre) and Donna Smith (cadre) took them aside and presented the Gospel to them in Spanish. Alejandre Santana, Sr., Alex’s father, wanted to obey the Gospel that night. His wife wanted to wait until the next night when her older sons could be there.

On Thursday afternoon Mickael Moore (cadre), Wendy Hubby (cadre), and Jeremy Lewis (local) met Bill Miller. When Mickael asked him the question, Bill laughed at him. Then he said, “Well, let’s see what you have to say.” They made an appointment for early Friday morning. When they got there on Friday, he was standing outside the house waiting for them. There was a problem in that people were sleeping in the house so they couldn’t study there. They came to the church building. He had been baptized twice before, but he said he always thought there was more to baptism than it just being important. He had always questioned things other religions were teaching. He saw now that baptism is essential and he wanted to make sure that he was alright this time, so he obeyed the Gospel.

Then the team of Chris Thornburg (cadre), Kay Wilson (cadre), and Leon Garcia (cadre) met Edna Martinez and her daughter Sarah Martinez. Chris is a new team leader on this campaign and this was his second time to present the Gospel. Edna and Sarah were ready to obey when they heard the Gospel message, so they came to the building and were immersed.

Lou Guglielmoni (cadre), Penny Patterson (cadre), and Jim Williams (local) knocked on the door of Andrus Motto. When asked the question, he told them he didn’t know if he was going to heaven or not. Andrus has many physical problems and is in much pain. He cannot see well and the team had to read the scriptures to him. He was very bitter because of his condition and said that he was very lonely because no one came to see about him or visit with him. Lou presented the Gospel to him and he still had reservations about obeying. Lou finally convinced him that he would have friends at church that would help him and love him, but he would also have to reach out to them. He then decided to come and obey the Gospel. He was welcomed warmly by everyone here.

Right after this, Tia Hernandez came in the door. The team of Mark and Wanda Henderson (cadre) and Zachary Goodman (local) had a new map this morning. Mark, not being familiar with the area, took a wrong turn and went on the wrong street. They decided to knock doors there anyway, and God had a purpose for them being on that street. They found Tia Hernandez and presented the Gospel to her. She didn’t respond right away so they left and came back to eat lunch. She then came on her own to the building to obey the Gospel. Tia has recently lost her 4-year-old daughter in a house fire, but she was happy to be a part of this spiritual family.

The team of Shri-Lahn Newman (cadre), Ed Zbyiat (cadre), and Kay Pittman (local) went by to see Nancy Ortega, one of the new Christians. Nancy was not home, but her daughter was on the porch. Shri-Lahn began visiting with her and ended up presenting the Gospel. She was convicted, but could not leave at that time and wants to come tomorrow to obey. As they were heading back to the car, another of Nancy’s daughters, Brianna Lopez, came up to Shri-Lahn and told her she wanted to be baptized. They then went over the Gospel presentation so she would understand what it was all about, then they came to the building where Brianna obeyed the Gospel.

On Thursday the team Don Hounschell (cadre) led presented the Gospel to Henry Galvan and his brother Armondo. They did not get to finish it because Armondo had an appointment he had to keep. On Friday Don, along with Rod and Jesse Wiser (locals), went back to finish the study. Armondo was not there, but Henry listened and was ready to obey the Gospel.