It hasn't been easy setting up home visits. Monday I chanted with M., who told me how she has been more consistent in chanting every day since we last met. My husband and I also visited A. again yesterday to chant with him for his success on his college finals. We asked him about his progress since our last meeting, and he said he doubled his biochem score and found new prospects in his love life! Last week M. told me she has been attending Rock the Era practices in her parents' home district in the South Bay, which leaves only one youth in our district that has yet to get involved. Stay tuned...

After a brief hiatus, I'm ready to resume where I left off.
Last week I visited J. in--very appropriately named--Woodland. (Note to self: when traveling to a new place, especially a rural town, remember to bring a map.) J.'s house was hard to find. I drove past main street, past the main highway, grasslands, horse pastures, a small airport, and finally, I reached her gated community. Her house was surrounded by a community of new luxury homes.. not what one would expect on the rugged drive there. J.'s home interior was decorated in a neo-Victorian style. Her brother built her a butsudan with iridescent pink and green glass on the doors. She has two cats, a bunny, and a wonderful husband. In her office she has hung small still-life paintings, which she said she is tired of doing and wants to branch out to paint other things. We discussed so many things, how she stopped practicing for over ten years after a terrible tragedy, why she began chanting again, how she will never quit, and what she has learned.

I met up with N., E., and M. again this week. It's been hard trying to set up visits with new people for the first time. But I will keep trying until I do. The people who are the hardest to pin down usually are the ones that need the most support.

On Friday I had the opportunity to visit K., who recently moved to Davis from Sonoma County. She relayed to me how all her activities in the young women's division created so much good fortune--a wonderful husband, full scholarship for her Master's program, and job opportunities. Her husband, who also chants, built her a beautiful altar and carved two lotus flowers on the front doors. When I figure out how to download pictures from my Blackberry, I'll post some pictures of it.