Week 12: Tough week for new investigators

This email is going to be short and to the point. WE HAVE NO INVESTIGATORS! I didn't think it was possible to not have investigators in India, but it is. We baptized our best ones and now we are at zero:( This week we are going to start talking to people on the bus more and on the street and try to talk with them and be real people. We will start conversations with them and introduce the gospel wherever we see fit. But thats the plan, If we have the faith to talk to 10 people a day, the Lord will let us find those people whom he has prepared for our message.

I gave my first talk on Sunday which was pretty cool. This mic was not working and we had to speak very loud! I spoke on prophets and did a little twitch dance in front my ward because I could not find a good position for my hands.

We attended a Birthday party on Saturday of one of the members. Her name is Monica and she was turning 16, we had cake and a lot of curries and rice. She is a very, very strong investigator (not ours) and she has been attending church the past 3 months. Her brother Yashwanth was baptized 2 months ago and we hang out with him all the time. She is waiting from permission from her father and her father hates the church so we see where that goes.

My training is over thank goodness and neither me or my companion got transferred which was weird. Elder O'Dell has been serving in Hyderabad 3rd Ward area for 7 months? That's a crazy long time. 

Pizza Hut has an unlimited Pizza offer going on so of course I hit it up and I came to find out that they have PIZZOOKIES!!!!!! Its cheap too. 

We are getting really into soccer over here and I am loving Manchester United to death, my companion and Elder Bean like Arsenal. 

That is all!

Elder Dusara

Week 11: First baptisms in Hyderabad

Since this week past week was the last week of Ganesh we really could do any real missionary work till Friday. We knew that Gaddam Raju and Gaddam Renuka were planning on being baptized so we tried our best to meet with them as much as possible despite the restrictions to go out. We shared with them the last few commandments, Tithes and Offerings, and Chastity and they were on board with everything. We went over the baptismal questions with them and they were totally ready for it. Their testimony has grown so much since the first time we met them.

On Friday Elder Bean and I went over to their house and he conducted the interview and they did great. He whispered into my ear and said that Sister Renuka wanted me to baptize her. I could not speak because I was so excited and she was on my mind all night and all day the next day.

On Saturday we held their baptism at 5:30pm, it was suppose to be 5 but no one was their except for the sister missionaries. Everything went perfect, Elder O'Dell baptized Raju first and I observed very closely everything he did so I would do the same. When It was time for me and Renuka to go I was in the font by myself for like 2 min dancing around in the water because she got really nervous. When she walked down the stairs I tried to comfort her as much as possible and she was ok. I said everything I needed to say and then DUNK! She came out of the water and was full of joy and happiness.

The rest of the meeting was so full of the spirit I didn't want to leave the church. We took plenty of pictures and I will be sending them to you so don't worry. Such a great experience for me and for them. Our plans for them now are to meet with them every week and see how their doing and try to prepare them for the temple as much as possible. I am glad their two daughters(Madhu Priya and Joshitha) are going to grow up in the church and be baptized by their father when they turn 8.

On Sunday Brother Babu Ram got baptized by Elder O'Dell along with 2 others. Elder Bean and Elder Dass preformed the other baptisms. We had 5 baptisms this last weekend and almost set a record for the whole zone of Hyderabad! We are suppose to have 28 baptisms here in Hyderabad this month so lets see:)

Saturday was Elder O'Dells birthday! I got him a Humpback whale tie!

Happy Birthday Rajina! I listened to One Direction the other day and knew all the words and the other missionaries looked at me weird for 3 minutes! I did it for you. That's pretty neat...

Dueces Elder Dusara

When Elder Dusara was asked how it felt to baptize someone, this was his response "It was better than any K/D ratio on Halo/Call of Duty! Probably the greatest feeling ever." 

Week 11: Photos

With the district leaders at the museum

Gaddam Raju and Renuka baptism

Gaddam Raju and young family

Babu Ram baptism

Hanging with other missionaries

Week 10: Ganesh festivities, new apartment challenges

This email is going to be very short because last week we only were able to teach one 2 lessons the whole week! Because of the lock-downs and the fact we could not OYM people, wear ties, or tags made it very had to find people to teach. We could not even teach our own investigators because they all lived next to huge Ganesh statues and we were not allowed to go near them.

Baburam was supposed to be baptized yesterday but he was running really late to church and he missed everything completely. We still had him come to church to at least to witness another baptism so he will know whats going to be happening to him next Sunday. After the baptism Elder O'Dell and I gave him a special present, A Book Of Mormon triple combination, and a Bible. He was super excited and texted us later asking questions about marking them.

That was pretty much our week as far as missionary work goes. We spent a lot of time together as a district and enjoyed much sleepovers and MCDONALDS. Every night there were people driving around a truck and a huge group of people just dancing in front of the lights to a group of drummers.  Elder Dass and I almost jumped in and joined one of the dance/raves that was happening right next to us but the spirit told us it wasn't a good idea. Elder O'Dell got sick on Friday and Saturday so I looked after him for those days and 

we spent both days in the apartment. 

This week its looking good for Brother Prem Raj and his wife Esther. We taught them the plan of salvation on Saturday and they are ready for their interview this week. This Saturday we are hoping to have them baptized and Sunday confirmed members. This family has been a huge blessing to me and my companion and our prayers were definitely answered. After their baptism we plan on helping them prepare for the temple and getting sealed for all life and eternity! I might actually have my very first baptism this week:) 

That's all she wrote folks...

In email conversations with Elder Dusara last night, we learned that he is doing a good job cleaning...must have learned from mom, and that he will be moving locations because they have Sister Missionaries that just arrived. See below:

We got sister missionaries last week and we had to move out of our apartment for them and drag all our luggage a mile to our new apt. The Zone Leaders checked our apartment and said it was to old and it was falling apart, he was right! There is termite damage everywhere and one of our bathrooms doesn't have a light or a working door. So we had to drag our stuff back and move in again. I spent like 2-3 hours sweeping up the dust and mopping the floor, is it sad that I enjoy cleaning so much? Sister Singh and Sister Gupta are the new sisters from Delhi and Sister Gupta is 32 years old which is crazy but she can cook amazing food so lets hope and pray she will take care of the elders....

I wash my sheets and towels every other week. I always am washing my clothes every week and yea. I bought new bath soap yesterday and hand soap for our bathroom since we never had any. I am actually taking care of myself thank you very much!

Week 9 - Ganesh Festivals slow the work down this week

So if any of you read my last email you were wanting to know how the baptism went a couple days ago with brother Baburam? Well I'm sorry to say that our amazing bishop told us that he could not be baptized on Saturday because he was living in second ward area so he has to be apart of second ward. 

This last Sunday we introduced him to Elder Bean and Elder Dass and they introduced him to their YSA's and from what I heard he had a good time and met knew people. He said that he still wants to get baptized this Saturday and he would enjoy being apart of second ward. So that's good to hear, Brother Prem Raj and his wife Ester are still super strong and attending church regularly preparing for their baptism on the 21st of September. This month is going to be pretty hard for missionary work because all the holidays are here and we will be restricted on transportation or we will be locked in. 

Today was our ward activity that they have been planning for a couple months now. Bishop really wanted us to come but its Ganesh festival and we got locked in so it was not possible. We are hoping that our investigators were able to go but we'll see.

I was able to go on exchange with Elder Dass and we had an awesome dinner appointment with one of their members. They fed us Chicken curry and Goat liver so that was interesting. We taught a lesson about prophets to another investigator before that.

Thank you for the package that I received, all the food is gone and I love the albums. sorry for the short email this week, we didn't really get to go out as much as we would have liked but it was still fun.

Hope everyone is doing well back at home and I pray for you all!

Elder Dusara out

Week 8: Birthday activities, upcoming baptismal dates

The title of this email really relates to the actual week we had as missionaries. We were able to set 4 baptismal dates in the month of September. Babu Ram is getting baptized this Saturday and he is going to be my first baptism. Even though I myself am not baptizing him I was able to teach him everything and bring him to the point he is at now. We have went over with him Tithing & Fast Offering, Words of Wisdom, and The Law of Chastity this last week and went over the baptismal interview questions with him just to make sure he was ready. It was an amazing blessing to see this guy going from no knowledge of the gospel at all to having a very strong testimony of the Book Of Mormon and excepting Jesus Christ as his savior and excepting Joseph Smith as the prophet who restored the true church on the earth today. We have also taught brother Yadgiri who is a member and his wife Sister Lakshmi who is a non member and is very desirous to be baptized.

The last family we have been teaching is Brother Prem Raj and his wife Ester and their two little girls. They were actually a referral buy Brother Sandeep who lives right next door to them and they have shown their desire to know more about the church and be baptized. Their date is set for September 21st and Sister Lakshmi's date is set for September 28th. This is the month we were hoping for and we are working our hardest to make sure these families are ready for baptism.

As all you know, I had my birthday on Thursday the 29th. I wanted to go to TGI Fridays and enjoy a nice almost american burger and some nice french fries...and dessert:) Little did I know its tradition to pay for everyone you invite and I invited 8 lovely people. My bill came out to 6,000RS which is pretty much almost 100 bucks. After our meal we headed back to the church because Elder O'Dell told me we had a teaching appointment with a YSA's friend. He took me to the kitchen and 13 YSA's were there to surprise me with shoving cake in my face one at a time. I love the YSA's in my ward and I guess they love me too:)

Elder Beans birthday was 2 days after mine and we ate at this really nice place known for biriyani. I didn't like it at all but everyone else did. We slept over at their apartment and cut his cake at 12 at night and ordered some late night McDonalds. 

Today we went to Charminar to take pictures and do a little shopping. We all wanted to look like a Muslim so we purchased all the necessary accessories required. Prayer mat, top hat thing, scarf, and shirt and pants. Apparently they didn't have shirt and pants in my size so I'm the only one who is missing out:( 

That was my week I hope I can send pictures:)

Dueces..

Week 8: Birthday photos

Work out time

Bday dinner at TGI's

The TGI dinner gang

Dessert @ TGI's

 

YSA's in Herderabad

Cake anyone?

B-day cake from YSA's

Mosque in Charminar

Bday cake from YSA's