UPDATE FROM MAIL PROCESSING

WATS Innovations Improve Capacity and Efficiency

As previously reported, the phone response to "The WORLD TOMORROW" telecast was unexpectedly high this summer, including several weekends with over 10,000 calls. Once the fall season begins, we expect even higher call totals.

To keep pace with these increases, we have incorporated several innovations, enabling us to take calls with the same or even fewer number of employees. Following are a few of the changes made:

• Direct Terminal Entry — Many of our operators are now trained to type the caller's name, address and literature request directly into a computer terminal. This eliminates the need for writing information on cards and the many steps required to check, sort and process the cards by hand.

• Message on Booklet Wrappers — The booklets requested by first-time callers will now carry a printed message on the mailing wrapper. The message encourages them to call 10 to 15 minutes after the program has aired — a time when the peak period of calls from new people has usually ended. Plans call for a similar message to be given at the close of future programs by announcer Art Gilmore.

• Operators Handling Two Phone Lines — An operator answers one phone line and asks the caller to hold briefly. He then takes the second caller's request before returning to the first one. This simple procedure has allowed us to answer many calls we would otherwise lose.

• Tape Recording Machines on Overflow Lines — When all operators are busy, the caller receives a taped message giving him the option of leaving his request on tape or calling back ten minutes later.

All these innovations are now providing faster and better service to more people without increasing our staff.

Teen-agers Strive to Live God's Way

More and more teenagers who write in are showing a deeper interest in God's truth. Their letters often display a maturity and depth of commitment that is inspiring. These young people are willing to combat peer pressure and society's temptations because they are convinced that God's way is truly best. Following are just a few of the many letters we've received:

I am writing for the first time to thank the Worldwide Church of God and Ambassador College for the wonderful knowledge I have acquired through the study of literature I received free of charge. I wish to express my sincere thanks and deep gratitude to all who make this wonderful information available.

I am eighteen years old and I have never been so excited and happy by studying and searching through the Scriptures before. Through my study of the Bible correspondence course, The PLAIN TRUTH magazine and other literature, I feel that I have been brought closer to God. J.A. (Woonsocket, RI)

I want to thank you so very much for the YOUTH magazine. I read most of the articles and they are very interesting. Ever since last year, God has opened my eyes to see His Word. Now I realize how important it is to be by God's side in His Family. I pray every night and day to be in His Kingdom and I know now that I will be if I study His Word and understand it. I'd also like to thank all the writers of The PLAIN TRUTH and The GOOD NEWS.

Ever since I was eleven and a half, my life has really turned toward God. I wish everyone could understand God's Word so there wouldn't be crime, death, hate, fighting, robberies and many more things Satan has put into people's lives.

I hope someday I can be an Ambassador College student, I really do. I can't believe how my life has changed. My dad and one sister are in the Church. I hope my other sister will find out how important it is to be with God someday soon.

I have been with the Church since I was five and hope to stay there all my life. I would like to tell you that you are always in my prayers. D.M., age 12 (McDonald, OH)

Your [Mr. Armstrong's] works are so wonderful! You have opened my eyes to so much about God and my life. I am only 15 years old and I feel blessed that at such a young age I am able to understand and believe what is to come. My life has utterly changed. Thanks to you, I understand like never before what I really am and the real reason I'm here. You shocked me with a blast of the truth and I thank God for the wisdom to believe it. I in no way understand it all, but I have the strongest motivation to try. Thank you! I wish that someday I can meet you. T.M. (San Francisco, CA)

I am sixteen and have been attending the Worldwide Church of God for about three months. Ever since I started going God's way, my life has changed greatly for the good. I am giving a donation because I feel this is truly the Church of God. I would like to tithe but have no job, although I am looking for one. Would you please send me a subscription for YOUTH 84? I have read a friend's and enjoyed it. S.A. (Arlington, TX)

I have been a subscriber to The PLAIN TRUTH for almost a year now and I just wanted to point out that I think it is very refreshing to read a magazine that is geared towards the inner side of the reader instead of the physical side. Being sixteen, I get a lot of peer pressure on the way to dress, act, etc. and I am just sick of it. Although your magazine helps with family life, jobs and other worldly situations, I really haven't read anything on what it's like to be a teenager growing up in troubled times like these.

How about giving advice and reassurance to teenage girls, like myself, who don't want to be like every other kid around town who is sexually active at this age? We could use a little parental/ adult boost in this area. I feel like others think I am some type of freak just because I've never had a boyfriend before. That will happen when it happens but the society we live in says that if you haven't kissed a boy by the time you're fifteen, there is something wrong with you. I know there is nothing freakish or wrong with me but I could use a little morale boost. I seriously ask the question, what's wrong with wanting to be a good, clean girl? J.S. (Cincinnati, OH)

I am writing to ask you to renew my subscription to The PLAIN TRUTH. I'm sorry that I didn't write sooner but many things have been happening to me lately. I'm fifteen and it seems like everyone around me is drinking, taking drugs and listening to heavy metal music. They act very strange and they're always angry. At first I thought it was my imagination, but now it seems I'm being pressured into things I know are wrong.

I know the only way for me to get out of this trap is to have the faith of Jesus Christ. Thank you for publishing The PLAIN TRUTH for free. I used to think all of the churches were out to make a fast buck, but now I realize there is some good in the world. R.F. (Carpentersville, IL)

— Richard Rice, Mail Processing Center