Home teaching has replaced the hobbies of fishing, hunting and camping for Charles A. Reitze, Young Men president in the Skohegan Ward, Bangor Maine Stake.
But Brother Reitze and his companion, Joseph Boulier, still spend time hunting as they spend 10 to 12 hours each week locating and visiting less-active and part-member families in a 40-mile radius of their homes. They also regularly have 100 percent home teaching with the families to which they are assigned. In the past two months, six people have been baptized and another two families reactivated through their efforts."We spend about six hours on Sunday visiting, then I spend five or six hours during the week locating addresses," said Brother Reitze.
After visiting a part-member family, they return with full-time missionaries who teach the family the missionary lessons. Then Brother Reitze and Brother Boulier continue to work with the family.
"The first thing they have to know is that you care about them; to say it in one word, you have to love them. They have to feel it," Brother Reitze said.
He spends time helping the family understand the gospel, or deal with challenges they may have. "The spiritual side goes with it," he explained. "When I am sharing with them the eternal truths that mean so much to me, I can't help but be emotional when I see a family embrace those truths.
"Is the effort worth it? If I did nothing else in the Church, this would be worth the effort - just one family is worth it."
