Week 41: Obedience brings blessings

Yet again we had another spiritual filled week because....we were Obedient. There were some days where things just did not fall through but Heavenly Father always just finds away to uplift you whenever you get discouraged. For example, we had a day where we had practiced and prepared for lessons that were going to happen that day and we just felt good about everything. We called to confirm our appointments we had previously made and most of our investigators were not able to meet with us last minute so we instead went around our area and I showed Elder Ravi new places and members he has never been before. 

We were, however, able to have some awesome short, and powerful lessons with some less-actives and members. The spirit was with us in those lessons and everything went very well. As the day came to an end we had one last appointment we wanted to attend and that was with Sister Vennela. Her father did not want her to be baptized because they were already Lutheran and he did not want her to change. We brought our Branch President over to her house and we all sat together and shared our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and the power it has to help us and guide us in our lives. Her father had been exposed to Anti-Mormon literature so he would bring up these topics and false doctrines that made no sense. There was a little bit of a heated discussion between our Branch President and the father but everything changed when we asked sister Vennela to bear her testimony to her father.

Tears were shed as she expressed all her feelings to her father. Before, we had committed her to bearing her testimony to her father, but she was so scared. But that day she must have been filled with the spirit because she bore one of the most beautiful testimonies I have ever heard in my life. The father then calmed down and started to listen to what she had to say. We gave the father a Book Of Mormon and asked him to read with his daughter and before he makes any judgments he should pray to Heavenly Father to ask if the Book is true. That one appointment we had changed the whole day from good to amazing with just one lesson. I know that as we do our part to be as obedient as we can, Heavenly Father will make sure we are taken care of spiritually and physically.

Happy Easter:)

Elder Dusara

Flowers on her head

View to the ocean

Elder Dusara alone

Week 40: Be the same person you are in the dark as you are in the light...

I might have wrote that wrong, but you all will understand:)

This last week might have been the most spiritual week of my entire mission. I had the opportunity to be united with my new companion Elder Ravi who is the most spiritual Elder I have ever met on my mission. When I read in the Book of Mormon about prophets that had unshaken faith it now makes me think of Elder Ravi because his faith is just so strong. Not saying my faith is not strong but he is a very good guy and a good missionary and he is being a good example to me. 

It feels super weird but right when this transfer happened everything in this branch just changed? Members were able to come with us on exchanges, we actually went on splits for the first time, our investigators came to church to watch conference, we are getting referrals like crazy? I have told you some of the struggles I have been having on my mission and one of them was waking up and going to bed on time.  In my last companionship it was up and down with the going to bed and waking up schedule and we never really saw that success we were hoping for because we never made it a number one priority to follow it. 

This past week was a slap in the face from Heavenly Father pretty much saying "I told you so" in the most loving way possible. I have seen and felt the spirit so strongly this past week because we were exactly obedient. Conference was another testament to me that questions can be answered when you listen carefully to the speakers and when you prepare yourself to heed to their messages(Your willing to change). There were so many great talks and so many good insights that I learned! I would have to write like 3 more emails because there just isn't enough time.

Yesterday we met with Ravi again and we planned on teaching him lesson 3. Halfway going through lesson 3 we felt that he already knew everything and... I cant really explain it but I know it was the spirit. He had already been taught these lessons because he has been involved with church members for many years and the the missionaries before us have taught him. So we read him the baptism interview questions and we knew and even he knew that he was ready. We were planning on having a baptismal date for him on the 27th but he would like his father and mother to come down from Vizak and be present during the baptism. Maybe his father can even preform the baptism, that would be super cool. He has Polio in his right leg so it is hard for him to bend his knees so we are trying to find a way to help him. For the next weeks we will just be reading the Book Of Mormon with him to make sure his testimony is strong.

Elder Dusara

The god Ganesh in lights

Rajahmundry zone missionaries

Another indian god in lights

Week 39: Spirit felt in Rajamundry and pics

Elder Gardiner left this morning to Visak (Visakhaputnam) and he will be flying home tomorrow to see his family. He was a super good missionary and he taught me and showed me some really cool skills. Now, I am with Elder Britton again for 3 days and then on Thursday, Elder Ravi will be my official new companion. I am not a big fan of change, I actually hate change, but sometimes it is necessary. Elder Thompson(Bangalore) left and so did Solomon (New AP) so Rajahmundry just became a very quiet zone:(. 

Last week was a very quiet week for Elder Gardiner and I but we managed to squeeze in a couple of lessons. Mohan came to church again on Sunday and he stayed the full time and then some. Last night Elder Britton and I visited an investigator they have been teaching and his name was Ravi. Ravi is this super humble and intelligent man who is the only member of his family that is not a member of the church. His brother Anand is currently at BYU Hawaii and he has wanted missionaries to baptize his brother for so many years. Yesterday I was blessed to have yet another super spiritual experience with his family (his wife is a member). We shared with him how vital he is to God's plan and how great of help he will be to this branch because we need more worthy and diligent priesthood holders in this branch. He as had polio since he was born, but in only one of his legs. 

We shared probably my favorite scripture in the Book of Mormon, Ether 12:27, and we told him that when we are blessed with problems and trials, Heavenly Father is giving us a chance to grow and show our faith in him. The Spirit was so strong in that lesson that we just talked and forgot all about the time and just focused on him. He accepted to be baptized on April 27th! It's weird how a whole week can be changed by just one spiritual experience? Heavenly Father truly wants us to be happy, if anyone thinks other wise it just would not make any sense.  He answers prayers in the weirdest ways and he is always pouring out blessings upon the faithful.

Fun facts for you:

 -India was a name given by the British because they could not pronounce its actual name Bharat.

- Most of the cities in south India were given by the British because they could not correctly pronounce the actual names.

Visackhaputnam: Waltair 

Chennai: Madras 

Rajahmundry: Rajahmahendrapuram

Bangalore: Bengaluru

Kakinada: Kokanada

You have officially been pimped...

Elder Dusara

Rajamundry Zone

Four Posers

Elder Dusara, Solomon, Thompson and Singh

Week 38: New adventures and success

Well this is unrelated to missionary work but...I would like to inform everyone that my bracket was destroyed. I had Louisville going all they way and they lost yesterday:(. 

So back to the real news at hand! Our investigator Mohan quit his job and came to our branch for church yesterday and he felt the spirit so much that he wanted to stay for the next session. He will be given a date this week and he should be able to get baptized next week or the week after. 

Two days ago Elder Britton got sick and I went on exchange with Elder Thompson and we visited an investigator named Vanilla. She is the most prepared investigator I have ever seen on my mission. Her prayers are beautiful and she always is reading her scriptures and defending her beliefs against her father. He father does not want her to get baptized because they are Hindu and if she gets baptized she wont be able to come to the temples and worship...heard that about a thousand times. 

Transfers calls came and I am staying in this area by myself with Elder Ravi(Now the assistant), we got the whole area. So I will be able to teach Vanilla and get her baptized because she is awesome. She also has a friend name Harikha that came to church on Sunday and she is also from a Hindu background but she shared her testimony about the Jesus Christ and why we must follow his example and be baptized. 

So yeah i might be in this area for one more transfer but we will see what happens. Today is the Telugu New Year so Happy New Year:) So many pointless holidays but what ever its cool.

Brackets busted!

A hike with the zone

With Elder Singh

Puppy power

Week 37: Feeling the Spirit of the Atonement

Last week when we had District Meeting it might have been the greatest meeting I have ever had so far on my mission. Elder Britton did a fantastic job leading all the training and the topic was the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We talked about experiences we have had on our mission where we have felt that love for our Savior and his atoning sacrifice. We split of from our companions and we taught (practice) just one on one with someone else (Elder Nepali) and we were sharing what we know about the Atonement with that person and baring our testimony of it after. I felt the spirit so strongly during that short practice and I even notice that my voice changed while I was teaching. Elder Britton was watching me and he said he has never heard me teach and speak like that ever. The Spirit is so real I cant even begin to describe that many wonders that can happen when it is with you. The next greatest thing happened only 2 hours after we had finished District meeting.

Elder Gardiner and I were trying to visit some less-active families that were in this area (Aryapuram) and no one was available because of EXAMS! Anyway while we were riding down this street I felt an impression to visit one family because we had not seen Kumar in a long time. When we knocked on the door we were greeted by a sister we had never seen before. Her name was Durga and she was related to Kumar's family and she was only visiting for 3 days and tomorrow was her last day. We shared a lesson about trusting in God at all times and he will deliver you out of your trails and afflictions. That can be found in Alma 36:3. When we got finished sharing our testimonies she started to cry because she had not been to church in 4 years and she was hopping for a chance to see the missionaries so that they can teach her husband. They live very far away from church and her husband is Hindu so thats why she has not come in a very long time. That was one of the most powerful lessons I have ever taught in my mission! So Cool:)

Sorry but the photos will come next week because our zone activity took a long time:) Love you all

Elder Dusara

Week 36: Dehydrated, but not demoralized w/pics

This past week I was struggling a lot with sickness because I was not getting the proper H2O I needed. Even though we did not have a lot of lessons we were still able to have really good powerful short lessons. 

We met with our new investigator Dasu and we were going to share the Restoration but we felt that he wasn't ready to hear that since he did not know the different between the members of the God Head. So we shared about the God Head and how they are three separate beings but they have the same purpose. He understood that and he said our closing prayer the correct way:). 

Then there is Phanindra. I still have not been able to play my secret weapon with him but until then we will continue to keep his mind refreshed with all the doctrine. He came to family home evening last night and I bore a strong testimony to him about the power and blessings that come to those who come to church. I shared with him some personal experience and the spirit was totally felt at that time. That was my week pretty much nothing to crazy but a lot of good experiences.

Elder Dusara

Rajamundry rooftop view

Feeding each other

Sunset in Rajamundry

Week 35: Starting over again, working hard

This past week has been such a turn around compared to the last month or two! We found four new investigators that speak very good English and they come from a Christian background so they have a good understanding of Jesus Christ. I had the opportunity to go on exchange with Elder Britton (finally!) and I learned a lot of things from him. He showed me how I can better teach people according to their needs instead of me just teaching them a lesson that I prepared. He is very good at resolving any questions that investigators have regarding the Bible (I am not very knowledgeable in the Bible). 

I am going to make it a goal of mine that once I finish the Book Of Mormon again I am going to read everything from the Old Testament and the Book Of Mormon. We have been struggling to bring members with us to our lessons and that is hurting us a bit. Fellowship is one of the most important things that can happen within the church. Without fellowship there is no unity and people go less active very fast! That is something we are going to work on this week and we are going to do a better job of bringing our leaders with us! 

My companion leaves in 4 weeks so we are going to do the best work we can so he can go home a happy and faithful missionary:) Swag! The reason why I put Mohana you ugly is because our investigator Mohan is not really progressing at all and we are going to have a drop lesson with him to see if he will take things seriously. Phanindra is still not getting permission to take baptism. Not till next year? We have one last plan of helping him but after that I dont know what we can do. We will see what Lord has planned. 

Elder Dusara

Bangalore mission 2014

Bunk beds in the flat

Pool with a view