Week 45: Transfer to Bangalore

So yea...I finally got the call to Bangalore! I was pretty excited because I have been wanting to go there since I have been in India. But I was later told that I was going to be District Leader and that was very weird to me. I never really saw myself as District Leader material but I guess the Lord has something else in mind. Since I did not have the chance to email you guys last week I would like to share an experience I had that I thought was worthy of sharing.

Elder Ravi and I were going back and forth to different appointments just taking autos everywhere since I destroyed my back while playing basketball. We had some really awesome lessons and then when it came to the evening time at about 7:30pm we were stumped because our evening appointments bunked on us and we did not know what to do. We talked to each other about the Zone Conference we had in Vizak and we talked about using the spirit MORE! We put it to the test. We sat for 2 minutes and we both used the spirit to help us think of someone to visit. 

Two names came to our minds and one of them we have never visited(I visited like 4 months ago). The first appointment we went to was sister Divya. She is a super cool member who loves the missionaries and the church, she just has trouble getting to church on Sunday because of work. We had a short lesson outside her home and then we went to the last family that I thought of. The last time I visited this family the father answered the door and told me he does not like the church anymore and that he does not need to saved? I had built up this hatred towards him for the comments he had made and that might have led to the reason I had not visited his home in such a long time (I was a fool). Anyway, we knocked on his door and his son Mani addressed us and invited us into their home (he is not a member). We talked with him for a little bit and we had a lot of fun, he even told us we wanted to get baptized in June and we were like ugh...sure! About 20 minutes went by and his dad showed up at the home. It had been a long time since I have seen him so I did not recognize him at first. Then this feeling of peace and comfort came over me and I did not remember all the bad things I had thought of him.

I instead felt this love towards him and I wanted to help him as much as possible (how a missionary should feel all the time). We talked together and I found out he has some super awesome hobbies and I was very interested in them. His son was just happening to be fixing his mother board on his computer and I just happened to have built my own computer:) These little moments I have on my mission just make me feel so happy to be serving. We gave them a commitment to read the Book Of Mormon and to come to church (Its been 3 years). They accepted and they continue to do their family prayer each and every day! I was blessed to meet that whole family before I left Rajahmundry.

Now I am in Ramamurthy Nagar, Bangalore with Elder Wigington! He is super cool and he has very similar hobbies to me. I am currently teaching him how to play Yu-Gi-Oh so I am pretty excited about that. I got to eat McDonald's last night for dinner (It was a special moment for me).

Elder Willis and I flew in together from the smallest airport I have ever seen in my life (except Fiji). We are still together again in the same zone. Waiting for Stevens to come join us!

Elder Dusara out!

Week 44: Skype on Mothers Day 2014

No letter from Elder Dusara this week because he was able to talk and Skype with friends and family.  His time in Rajahmundry is almost up as he will be getting transferred to Bangalore on May 21st.  It's hard to believe that his mission is almost at the halfway mark. We were told that the first six months goes by so slowly, that was not our experience at all.  The entire mission time has really gone by quickly.

The past six months he's been in Rajahmundry.  He has had so many wonderful experiences and had been an instrument in bringing the gospel so several people.  As the time drew closer for us to talk to him, his friends just showed up.  We initially just had to use our phone because there was not a computer available for him to Skype on.  His friends Grant, Tyler, Kevin, Johnny, and Jeff all made time to come over...even though their own Mother's Day activities were going on.  Later in the evening, we were able to Skype with him and they came back and talked with him some more.

As I was sitting back listening to the conversations between friends, it's like he never left.  The conversation turns toward movies, video games, sports, and of course they poke fun at each other as well.  He is really blessed with wonderful friends who know that he is doing a great work in India.

The past few days we have been trying to figure out how to get a new camera to him.  The one he had, he sold, so now he wants a different one. It's not cheap, and it's not an easy thing to deliver given the wacky mission address that he has now.  We will also be sending him a care package.  We found out that a 12lb box will cost $289 via DHL.  Looks like we need to cut the box down by half just to have a shot.

He's doing great! He has really made an impact the past year of his life personally, and in the lives of those whom he is serving.  It's at the 11 month mark at this point and he is such a better person today than he was 11 months ago.  Thank you for all the support and good wishes of Elder Dusara in India.

Phone call with Kevin, Jeff, Tyler, Grant, and Johnny

Skype with Jeff, Grant and Kevin

Skype with Rajina, Mom, and Noni

Family photo on Mother's Day 2014

Week 43: In Defense of Truth

If any of you have not read the book In Defense of Truth I strongly encourage you to read it:)

So once again Elder Ravi and I have been blessed with another spiritual week full of appointments and awesome experiences. We had a super cool experience with one of our baptismal candidates Brother Mohan. He had his baptismal interview on Monday and we found out that he was have a Law of Chastity problem. We prayed for him everyday because he is having a hard time staying away from pornography. So when we met on Saturday I testify and promise that I had the spirit with me that lesson because I was BOLD! 

I have never been so bold with anyone in my entire life. I felt like Samuel the Lamanite it was so cool. I told him straight up, If he wants to have a successful marriage in the future then he needs to stay as far away from pornography as possible. The only way he can avoid it is by reading the scriptures, praying, and repenting. I told him that he needs to delete all signs of pornography and that he should avoid thinking about it. Mohan understood everything and he was excited to stop because he knew it was wrong. We are trying to set him up with a sister in our branch so they can be married. Our branch is full of sisters and our Branch President wants them to be married. 

So knowing that we have all sisters in our branch (pretty much) we our trying to find only guys when we are looking for new investigators. We have been blessed with 4 new investigators and they are all guys who are very good candidates for these women. 

There is one sisters name Monica who came last week to church with her friend and she was very shy. She came to gospel principles and she was very quite and to herself. This week she came by herself and I said hi to her in Sacrament before we started. Sister Karuna from our branch came up to her and started to do the best fellow shipping I have ever seen. Since she and Karuna were the only ones in class we just had a lesson instead and she completely opened up. Her concerns and her desires she shared with us and we had such a fun time together. She sneaks out of her home to come and she has a strong desire to know about Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. 

Those are just the few that come to mind but there are many more I just dont have time to share. Heavenly Father is Real and So is His Son! 

ELDER DUSARA

Week 42: The Spirit is pretty neat...

This past week was actually one of the best weeks I have had on my mission. We were able to finally through diligence and faith have some really solid member present lessons. We were able to bring members that would actually provide really good fellowship instead of just having someone there for the number. I noticed that when you do it like that then your investigator can have a chance to come out of his or her shell by meeting someone new. It gives them something to look forward to on Sunday when they can be assured that one of their friends aside from us will be there. 

I really cannot express how grateful I am for Elder Ravi and his example he is to me. He is always helping me to do what is right and it is having a great effect on me. I am seeing a very good change in the way I approach things and I am actually excited to do practices...sometimes. 

On Friday we had a super cool experience with Mohan. I was in a bad mood because I was hoping we could have this certain member come on exchange but he ended up canceling last minute (this should not come as a surprise to me anymore?). So I was a little mad and I really did not want to teach and that was a horrible attitude to have. 

While we were helping him read and understand the stories in 1 Nephi there was this change in his heart that just lit up the whole room. He became so excited to read because he did not try to read the Telugu copy with the English copy side by side(we have told him to do that 4 times). When I noticed this the spirit touched my heart and I knew that this lesson was not for me...it was for Mohan. After having gone through that experience my attitude was changed for the rest of the day. The power of the spirit is real. No one can deny it.

Happy Birthday MOMMY!

Music Lessons

Hump daaay! Yeahhh!

Rajahmundry Zone activity

Goodies from the Nash family

Candlelight studying

Cooking with Elder Ravi in the heat

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