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Thanks for all the birthday phone calls - it was nice to talk to everyone! We didn't do anything for my birthday ON my birthday. It was a Sunday, so it wasn't like we could go out to dinner. The weekend was really full with random ward stuff, including a convert baptism on Sunday. So the entire day Sunday was geared toward that, particularly since Adam is the ward mission leader. It was our ward's first convert baptism in 2 1/2 years, so it was a big deal for us. A number of people at church did wish me a happy birthday, because they saw it on the Relief Society monthly calendar (that lists everyone's birthdays). But mostly, I just said that it was Lin's day and I didn't want to steal his thunder. I have a birthday every year - you get baptized only once.

Adam and I have a date scheduled for next week - we're doing a babysitting swap with Sarah and Taylor, because it's also Sarah's birthday in a couple of weeks. It's not THE day or even THE weekend, but whatever. We fit it in when we can.

And speaking of converts, or potential converts ... I have a couple of friends (who are now married to each other) from college who I also worked with at the Capitol in Salem. Marc occasionally asks me for advice relating to spiritual things, and recently, he emailed me asking a few questions about gaining answers to prayer. I kept getting off track when trying to email a response, and I also was trying to figure out how to suggest to him that the missionaries would be able to help him better than I would. I've referred him to the missionaries before (about 3 years ago), and he got mad at me for it.

We finally talked on the phone yesterday and ended up talking for about 2 1/2 hours. It was fairly close to the beginning of the conversation that I brought up the missionaries. The bulk of the conversation was along the lines of, "If I became Mormon, what about this and this and this." He's a former Catholic so he asked about confession. He also wanted to know if he and Jessica would be required to serve a mission, what happens in the regular Sunday church services, how tithing and donations are paid, and a couple of other things. Ultimately, he did agree for me to give his name as a referral. He said he doesn't think Jessica is quite ready for a substantial religious commitment but he's looking for direction in their lives. YAY! I'm very happy about this. I've thought for a LONG time that he and Jess would eventually join the Church. I don't know if it will happen right away, or if they'll take awhile. But they'll get there.

They're in Nathan and Amanda's stake - the Turner Ward. If they need some extra support, I'll give you guys a holler.