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