Week 85: Three Thanksgiving dinners

Hey Everyone,

So this past week was a little rough. We were unable to meet with Vivick and Sonu because they were busy with studying for exams. Then on top of that the Paul family didn't attend church. Elder Lakshmanan and I already discussed that if they don't attend church or keep their commitment of reading the BOM then we will have to move onto someone new.

But on the bright side we had not one. not two, but three thanksgiving dinners. The first dinner was with the Session Family (Ex-Pat). They are a young family in 2nd Branch. They meet in the same church building as us at 11Am. There was 20 total people total in attendance. It was amazing to have a typical American Thanksgiving on the other side of the world. It was funny because half the people were Americans and the other half were Indians. So its kinda similar to the history of thanksgiving on how the Pilgrims and the Native Americans stopped fighting to share a feast. Then later that night we had another dinner but with the Massey family. This was our round 2 of Thanksgiving because they had all american food.

Then on Saturday 12 of us missionaries traveled to the Goldrup (Ex-Pat) household for another Thanksgiving dinner.The food was super tasty. Sister Goldrup even made Jello with pretzels... I know that sounds weird but it was pretty tasty. Then On Sunday Sister Parker gave us Honey ham. It's been about 23 months since I've had honey ham. I was on cloud 9.

Elder Dusara

Week 84: New boys from english class, teasing monkeys...

Hey,

This past week was awesome. It's so awesome to directly see the blessings of being more obedient. We started teaching 3 kids from English Class, but one of them isn't in our area. The ones that we are teaching are Vivik and Sonu. They are 12 and 13 years old. They met with us 3 times last week. We also met with their parents to make sure that they were okay with us teaching them. Both of their parents were okay with it. But they are way awesome. They even came to church in white shirts. Peter and his wife still haven't came to church. That's a big bummer for us. No worries. We will focus more on Vivik and Sonu instead.

FUNNY STORIES
While walking to the cyber cafe I bought a couple bannanas for some monkeys that were hanging on the balcony above me. I tossed one banana up to the second monkey and I threw it kinda fast. THE MONKEY DID NOT LIKE THAT AT ALL! It started to growl at me and  flare it's ears out. I thought it was going to pounce on me. I already had made the decision in my mind that if it did that I would be ready to fight back and be the first missionary in history to wrestle with a monkey in india. But it disappeared

Then last week while my auto was stopped at a red light a little begger girl was asking me for money but I ignored her. Then she asked for my water and I ignored her again. Then she just grabbed my water bottle and walked off... what the flip. I got robbed by a 5 year old.

Its now in the 70s during the day and in the 50's at night. This money crisis is still a mess. The lines at the average atm is about 1 hour. AINT NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT!

Elder Dusara

Week 83: Finding more new families, meeting with Elder Evans

Hello,

We found four new homes in our branch directory. Three of those families haven't been visited in a long time. They asked us if we knew an Elder Green and I'm pretty sure that he finished his mission about 3 years ago. We also started re-teaching someone from our English Class named Raja. He's 20 and he needs guidance and motivation in his life. We are continuing to teach Brother Peter and his wife. They still haven't made the full commitment to come to church. But we are praying that their faith will increase so that they may do so. We even had Sister Nisha at our last lesson to bare her testimony.

The visit with Elder Evans was awesome. I received some new insights on how I can be a better missionary and individual. He explained to us that there is a difference between being obedient and being faithful. We are obedient when we are asked to do something and we do it. We are faithful when we do things without being asked. He also talked about being "rich" in scripture terms compared to worldly term. We are "rich" by scripture terms when we can provide the basic needs for ourselves and our families., with having a little bit extra to give to those in need. Then "rich" in worldly terms is owing whatever the newest fashions and materialistic things are.

Also to get rid of fake and black money in this country. Everyone was instructed to exchange any 500 and 1000 rupee note bills to the banks to get the new 2000 rupee note. That's like if in the US if we were told to exchange all 10,20,and 100 notes to the bank. All the lines at the banks have literally been worse than the lines at Disney Land. I waited about 45 minutes just to exchange about 2500 rupee ($40USD).

I'm healthy and I'm happy. I'm just trying to get through this month with this whole money exchange thing.

Elder Dusara

Week 82: Found new family to teach, meetings this week

Hey,

This past week was great! I'm amazed at how fast it went by. Elder Lakshmanan found a family of 3 in Mahipalpur while we were trying to find a member's house. We have met with him two times already. The first meeting we had he asked us about the Godhead on if it's one person or three different beings. Then in the second meeting he asked us where in the bible that it talks about the book of mormon. We showed him the scripture in Ezekiel. We invited him to church and he said that him and his wife will come but they were not able to make it.

Today was a lazy P-Day. We went to Taco Bell for lunch and then I bought a rubiks cube. After this we have a dinner appointment Bro Suresh. Him and his family used to live in bangalore. My brother actually visited him and his family a lot when he was on his mission. He said tha Chicken Biriyani is on the menu for tonight.

This week we will have a zone meeting with Elder Evans from the seventy. Then This weekend is also district conference. Then tomorrow is district meeting. So this week I will be pretty busy. The Branch members out here are awesome. I'm excited for the rest of the week

Elder Dusara

Week 81: New area Munirka branch, Diwali in Delhi

Hello all,

I'm a little bit sad that my time in Pitampura is over. I was hoping to stat for one more transfer. But I'm very excited to be a part of the Munirka branch. I'm very excited to get out and work to find new people everyday. I've honestly been in the best mood since i got here.

I'm already loving my apartment mates. Elder Parthiban does a a great job of making sure everyone goes to bed with food in their belly. Last week we were able to meet two old investigators. I remembered coming to their home about 7 months ago when I was on an exchange with Elder Mall. We have a return appointment set up for next Friday. She also said that she wanted to attend English Class this week as well. I'm just way stoked to be in the area that I'm in! Also I'm still a district leader but in a new area.I live 3 minutes walking from the mission home.

My new companion is Elder Lakshmanan and he is from Bagalore, India. We are both opening up a new area. He's a hardworking missionary and I'm excited to see what this transfer holds.

Last night was Diwali and there was a ton of fireworks going all night long. The pollution level this morning was 1578. Back at home it won't go any higher than 50. I'm wearing a mask to help keep my lungs safe.

Today we went to a huge Muslim Mosque called Jama Musjid. It was massive and there was tons of foreigners there. We actually ran into an old church member from Switzerland. I also ran into a he/she while walking up a narrow spiral stair case.

This week we have a lot of finding set up and I feel that my companion and I will have a lot of success.


Elder Dusara