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:)

Week 79: New Year 2015

So as you might know my companion and I have been going back and forth, here and there trying to fix some of the problems we are having in our new apartment. For some reason when we tell the land lord or the maintenance guys to do anything they seem to not really care when the work gets done and it really tests my patience. This is a learning period after all-_- Yesterday I said goodbye to Elder Ravindran as he headed for Chennai. It was a little sad to see him go but I know that the times we had will never be forgotten. 

Just wanted to wish you all a belated Happy New Year because I forgot to on Monday. We as Zone got together and we had so much fun! Played some Nerf and really built some unity together. The next day after that we went to Hard Rock Cafe to celebrate for lunch. We were able to score some pretty nice appointments towards the end of the week which was great because we have not been able to do much the past 3 weeks. 

So on Monday after we went Lazer Tagging we came back to the church to buy some food for the night and we received a call from a part member named Chatergee. Ever since I have been here in Hyderabad I have seen him 1 time and that was in December. He is insanely hard to meet with and will always leave the house when we come over. During this phone call he simply asked "Elder I want to get Baptized", I was shocked and asked to him to repeat that again. We set an appointment for yesterday night at 7pm and Mark(awesome member) and I taught him about the "God Head" and set him with a baptismal date for the 25th of January. When I think to myself about what happened here I always look back to the scripture in 1 Nephi 1:20, "But behold, I Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, Because of their faith, to make them might even unto the power of deliverance." 

I cannot even count all the Tender Mercies that I have received, but I do recognize when they have happened. We now have 6 people that are set with baptismal dates for now and the beginning of February. The Blessings never cease.

Enjoy the photos...

5 months left,

Elder Dusara