Trilogy is a new housing development in Redmond, WA. Our first day there was great. We helped several people affix mezuzahs to their doors, put on tefillin, and sign up for over-the-phone study with JNet.org.
The next day, we returned with high hopes, but G‑d had something else in store for us. We spent over four hours trudging from door to door without meeting a single Jew. Tired and worn out, we decided to go to a nearby Starbucks (of which there is no shortage of in Washington :-)) and study some Torah.
We then decided to visit one more street, where we had four possible contacts, and call it a day. So we drove all the way to the edge of the development to a street called Marley Drive. Finally, at the last house on the drive (which was also the last address we had planned on visiting), a woman answered the door. She told us that while she is Jewish, she does not observe any Judaism and bade us farewell.
As we were backing out of the driveway feeling down about our uneventful day, she came running out towards us saying, "Wait a minute, I really do want to speak to you guys! Can you come tomorrow morning? I need to go out at nine thirty, so if you come at nine o'clock I will have a half hour for you."
We returned the next morning, and we had an amazing time together. Our half-hour appointment with Gail turned into an hour and a half of deep discussion, sometimes cheerful, sometimes intense and emotional. At the end, we gave her a pair of Shabbat candles and helped her sign up for weekly alerts from Chabad.org so that she would remember when to light them.
Gail also purchased a mezuzah for her front door so that next time some rabbis come roving over they will know that they came to the right place!
