My dear Bitterbrook,

I understand your request for help, and I am unwilling to do your work. Still, if you are interested in a mentor to advise you on occasion, it is the least I can do to reflect on the help I was provided to get to the position I now hold.

I must admit that I hesitated when you informed me of your assignments. Any of them would constitute a full-time job, and you have four. I will give you a small start on each.

As for the preacher and church, that is going away from our principles. You must lead them away from their most vital points, the book they believe in, the discussions they refer to as prayer, and the notion that love is the main eventuality in life.

Next, the Sunday school program went the wrong way. Replace the teacher with someone who thinks of the stories as fairy tales and does not want to scare or influence the students.

Your third assignment involves the man dangerously close to turning away from us. Find something the man is influenced by, like materialism, then bring in information that encourages him to believe that his thoughts are correct, accurate, robust, and the right thing for his future. Please don't bother arguing positions. Both sides are evenly matched, and the propaganda of our father below works so much better.

Lastly, don't worry about the man getting close to the religious woman. She may not be as sincere as you may think. In addition, he may have more influence on her than she has on him. We will discuss that assignment later.

I can relate to some of your problems starting as a journeyman tempter; I had similar slow starts. It doesn't seem like you need much help, but I am happy to provide guidance to keep the enemy from winning these small battles.

Master Tempter,

Wormwood