Week 87: Nightly planning brings blessings too

Computers were junk yesterday and they would not upload photos. So that is why I am emailing today:)

I feel strange when I have to keep repeating the phrase " Last week was so amazing", every week seems to be like this and I don't know what is happening.

We are somehow being blessed with new investigators every week and they are so amazing. We received a phone call from one sister in our branch and she showed us where here friend lives and we just did some How to Begin Teaching and introduce the God Head to him. He is a Christian and has never read the bible before. He was a little hesitant at first but we got him laughing and all was well. 

A cool experience we had yesterday was with brother Venkat Ratnam and his family. I credit this blessing directly to Nightly Planning. We have never skipped nighly planning for any reason because we both know how important it is. So we planned on sharing the Plan of Salvation with him and his family so when we got their we were asking about his work and what he actually does. Turn's out he works for GSK Horlicks and he was explaining the products he deals with. Right when he said Horlicks something in my mind just said Word Of Wisdom. 

I waited till he finished speaking and leaned over to my companion and asked if we should teach Word of Wisdom instead. So that's what we did and when we finished that lesson he almost had tears in his eyes because just before we came, him and his wife just got in a fight about drinking tea and whether it was bad or not. So this experience is just another testimony to me of how important planning is. When we care enough to plan for Heavenly Father children, he will help us through the Spirit!

It's weird now that I am coming to an end of my mission to hear others ask me for advice and to ask "How fast is everything going?". I was the one that would ask those questions when I first came out. 

Peace be with you and an extra piece for you;)

Elder Dusara

Wedding photo

With elder Singh

Cricket, Rajahmundry style

Poser

Week 86: Fasting brings blessings...

Lets Begin...

So last week Elder Thambi and I slayed it again having been sick and traveling back and forth from Kakinada on Tuesday. We made a goal two weeks ago to stop coming back to the apartment to refuel because we noticed that we would always get kinda lazy and our desire to go back out will just tank. So that's what we did this past week and we could tell the difference. We met all the goals what we had set and we even exceeded a few Key Indicators. We were able teach 15 lessons and they were all strong lessons. Lenin and Pratyusha are preparing to be baptized next Sunday and we just found a new family to teach. I would like to tell you how both of those persons are doing.

So on Saturday we had a lesson with Sister Pratyusha and Brother Lenin(The brother and sister I have been telling you about). After the lesson we felt a little odd because even though they are progressing so well, we still need to speak to their parents about their baptism. So we both thought it would be a great idea to fast. So on Sunday I fasted for 2 reasons and one of them was just for the chance to speak to their parents, even it is just talking. We have never even said hi to each other before because they see us and they shut their doors immediately. That Sunday was the hardest fast I have ever done because Elder Singh and Kumar made some great lunch after church and they were just tempting us like crazy...we endured:) 

When we visited their home we were waiting outside for Arun to show up (Member) and help us. While waiting and talking with the two, Sister Prahyusha asks me if I would like to meet their parents? I was like "Yeah that would be pretty cool". We walked up to the door and their father was just waiting there for us. We shook his hand and just started to talk. Not 2 minutes later, their mother gets up off the bed and comes to shake our hand as well. Turns out she is a teacher and a local college and she speaks fantastic English. About 30 seconds before the conversation ended I remembered why I fasted and I was filled with so much happiness and joy I could not even control my self when we taught Lenin and Prathyusha right after, I just had to share my testimony with them and the spirit was so powerful. 

Thats just one really powerful experience that I will never forget. These experiences are what I want my companion to see in the beginning of his mission so that he will know how to help others if they are struggling. 

Enjoy the photos and remember

YOLO SWAG

Elder Dusara 

Strike a pose

12's in the house!

Duncan's jersey, Barkley's body

Round mound of rebound

Week 85: Elder Thambi opens up, Lenin and his sister

MAN! Such an awesome week for Elder Thambi and I. We were able to find a couple of great YSA's to show us the area and some new investigators we can teach, found some great places to eat food, had 16 lessons, and cleaned the apartment and made it look way nicer. All that in a matter of one week...not bad!

Elder Thambi and I have been having a lot of success in our area and we are so blessed for the elders the recently were there because they updated almost everything. So a shout out to them. Something we were trying to focus on last week was making sure that we always had our nightly planning session when we came back to the apartment. It has been a problem for some missionaries here and it is sad to see that. If you do not plan for the next day you will never have the spirit because you are pretty much telling Heavenly Father you do not care. No joke, every night we had our planning session and we were able to have 2-3 lessons everyday in a whitewashed area? That's pretty amazing.

Elder Thambi used to be a very quiet and reserved missionary when he first came but thanks to the Lord and Elder Dusara the silence has been broken. Now we can walk up and down the street joking around having a lot of fun while at the same time having spiritual and meaningful lessons. As a trainer I want him to experience what it feels like to have success and to have the spirit always because once he has gone through that, there is no stopping that success.

I cant really share just one experience that was spiritual because we have had so many and they are all on the same level. Its hard to pick and choose. But, if I could choose one I would choose to talk about boy named Lenin. He and his sister are investigators. He is 13 and his sister is 15. We first taught him on Sunday(2 weeks ago) and he was very quiet and had little understanding about the gospel, his sister was the same way. But after visiting him over and over and over again we have built this amazing relationship with him and now we can joke around together and play games. I think there is a wonderful principle that goes well with this and I think it is LOVE. We could have easily just visited these two and shared a message just for the purpose of fulfilling a number but that's not missionary work and that is something most missionaries fail to understand. 

I remember this quote " People done care about how much you know, until you show how much you care"

That is a principle that goes beyond the mission. But that is the spiritual thought that I have had this week. BTW those two are preparing for baptism in 2 weeks and they know and understand more about the gospel then most of the leadership here. 

Enjoy the photos and always LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

Happy Valentines Day,

Elder Dusara 

Teaching the Plan of Salvation

Someone is tired

Week 84: First week back in Rajahmundry

This was a quick email as we just got an email from Elder Dusara a few days ago.  Success is continuing for him in India.

So I already emailed you guys not to long ago so this will be just a small email. So Elder Thambi has really been opening up lately and has been talking a lot. He is not afraid to speak his mind and he is a good teacher. We have been having a lot of fun walking around laughing at things we see. On Sunday it was cool to mingle and interact with the members of this awesome branch. I thought the whole service would be in Telugu but  thankfully I was wrong. Only Elders quorum was in Telugu. 

The members are so loving and willing to help missionaries I could not help but thank Heavenly Father again and again in my personal prayers that night. Elder Thambi and I were also happy to see two of our investigators at church and we were able to set a baptismal date with one of them.

After Church we were waiting to catch an Auto and Elder Singh wanted to try and catch a lorry instead. Sure enough, this massive vehicle pulls over and asks us where we were going. As we drove past some of the members I did my girly little squeal to try and get their attention. A couple members almost fell of their bikes they were laughing so hard haha!

We had a dinner appointment planned but it fell through so I called my old branch president and he said that he would love to have us over. When I saw him he acknowledged Elder Parks and Elder Singh (Currently serving in 2nd branch) and then my companion. I was like "Bro!" He said "Elder Dusara. you were special 1 year back. The 1st time you get respect, The second time, your not special anymore". I was a little sad but it was ok. He then said that I was losing to much weight so before I go home he wants to make me fat again:(

YOLO SWAG I guess...

143,

Elder DUSARA 

Week 83: Leaving Hyderabad, back to Rajahmundry to train...

Well I am sorry for the lack of photos this week, the computer I am currently using does not want to comply with my camera:( So I have been feeling very sad this past week because I was leaving the Hyderabad 1st Ward. Seeing the baptism of Brother Chatergee was a very humbling experience for me. We had Stake President Gutti give the baptism and thats kind of what made it awesome. President Gutti gave baptism to the other members of the family 7 years ago. Chatergee was the only one left:) Sunday was a nice and peaceful day after that. It was super hard to get through Monday knowing that I was not going to see some of those people for a long time. Thank goodness it was Preparation Day or I would have been depressed all day. We played as a Zone a lot of basketball and finished off with the last Hard Rock meal I am going to eat in India. I said goodbye to everyone and on Tuesday I began my adventure back to Bangalore.

I waited at the airport for two and a half hours for another Elder that was suppose to be with me(Chandroo) but I could not seem to find the guy. I had no phone and I started to ask random people if I could make a phone call. Not even kidding, 3 out of the 4 people I asked had Iphones that were about to die(Not even surprised!!). Finally a taxi guy let me use his phone and I called the assistants only to hear them say that I was a 30sec walk away from Elder Chandroo... This is what happens when there is poor connection between people. I was not happy at all but I did get to ride in Presidents new Toyota so that was nice:)

The assistants told us that we would be the first Elders to stay in the new mission home. I was scared because that means I am going to be living across the hall way from President Berrett, I was not very excited about that. I had a chance to get closer with President and Sister Berrett and I had to enjoy the nicest bed, food and drink I have ever had my entire mission. For 3 days I was there and we had Waffles for dinner, Pizza Hut for lunch or Beef sandwiches? Does it get better than that? I also was blessed to be paired with my new companion Elder ThambI. He is from Bangalore and he is freaking cool! He likes to play soccer and he is a very humble missionary, we are going to do great things together. I had the chance to visit some families I loved to see in Ramamurthy Nagar and it was so awesome to see that they still remember me:) 

So Elder Singh and I are in the same apartment...things might be getting crazy!

S.W.A.G,

Elder Dusara

Bro Chatergee baptism w pres Gutti

Bro Chatergee

Week 81: Keep Calm and Carry On...

Well yesterday was the Baptism of sister Pavani and Devi. Those 2 little girls I have been writing to you about have entered into the waters of baptism and have made some very special promises with their Heavenly Father. They looked so awesome in their Baptism gowns and their family was so happy for them. You can see below the photos, they are pretty sweet.

This past week was filled with up and downs and it was kind of ridiculous at one point. There would be days where we were just rolling(5-6 appointments) and some maybe 2-3 appointments. Something I have realized though is when you are just focused on the number instead of the soul behind it, you will lose the spirit and your lessons will crumble. We actually have been really focused on what our investigators need rather than just trying to fill in a number in our key indicators. From doing that you can have more quality investigators rather than quantity (Not progressing).

So next week we will have the Baptism of Brother Chatergee. He is the most prepared investigator I have ever had on my mission. Something very special about Chatergee is that he has been going through problems his entire life. You think of a problem and he has experienced it in some way. But after 8 years and about 83 missionaries he has felt the power of the Atonement in his life and there is no going back for him. Because of that he is now the strongest person I have ever taught in my life! And next week he too will be entering into the waters of baptism:)

1:Baptism Photos 

2:Kite Festival  photo I edited!

3:Praveen during Sankranthi Festival

Keep Calm and Carry On,

Elder Dusara

Week 80: 3 more blessings this week...

Ok so this morning was literally the coldest morning I thing I have ever had on my mission. I got up at about 6:19am to go use the bathroom and when I opened the door of our room...I saw my breath as I was breathing. I have not seen that for a very long time so my companion and I got a little too excited about it, kinda freaked out the member we were with because he had like 2 jackets on haha.

Pretty exciting week which sadly came to an end. Elder Mangum and I really were blessed this week with 3 new investigators, 2 of which came to church and have a baptismal date for the end of Jan and beginning of Feb. 

So we were able to meet with that Brother Chatergee(The one who called us and said he wanted to get baptized).  We have met with him I recall about 3 times this week and he already knows and understands everything because he has been back and forth with the church for about 7 years. He came to church on Sunday with his mother and they stayed for all three hours.

The next blessing came during sacrament meeting. We noticed this brother come into sacrament and we had a member go sit with him. After the meeting we met and talked with him and it turns our he is from Europe and his name is John. When he was living in Hungary he said that he visited the church there and went to the activities and he had a lot of fun. When he came to Hyderabad he wanted to find the same church. So he really wants to learn more about what we are teaching and he wants to help us teach. During Gospel Principles I got his phone and downloaded Gospel Library for him. 

The Third blessings come from teaching Pavani and Devi. So at the beginning of last week the father said that he does not want them to be baptized but he will let them come to church. On Friday Mark and I went over to their home in hopes to soften the fathers heart by sharing with him the importance of baptism and the blessings that will follow. About 20 minutes into the lesson I bore my testimony and I said that I was baptized when I was 8 Years old. The father was shocked and said "Oh ok no problem, they can be baptized". That would have been a great commercial for the EASY button hahah. But they are getting baptized next Sunday so we are very happy about that:)

This is Elder Dusara signing out,

Elder Dusara

Pizza Hut advertisement...new flavors

Member Prem and I

Soon to be new member Pavani:)