Week 104: His final week...now he's HOME

Dear Family & Friends,

Well this is the last email that you will get from me as a missionary. This past week was awesome! Conference was defiantly the highlight. The talk that I think I will try to apply is the talk given by Elder Rasband. He talked about how important it is to act on a prompting that we feel from the Holy Ghost. I know when I go home that I will try not to get lost in all the noise, but try to listen to the still small voice.

I've enjoyed these past 6 weeks with Elder Chidithoti. We've shared lots of laughs and memories together.

I had 3 "farewell" dinners with members this last week. Even after the Sunday afternoon session the Branch President gave me a farewell cake. It came as a total surprise. We also had two dinner appointments last night. I was defiantly feeling the love from the Branch Members. I think there are a couple other members that are treating me one last time before I'm off.

Oh and packing my luggage is going to be a pain in the butt!

This has been a great experience. I've had my fair share of struggles. But I know that my experience through those struggles will build me that much stronger at home. I love this church and all the imperfectly perfect members. I'm going to miss this crazy city. I don't know when I'll be back but I know I will have to return soon.

Elder Dusara

Thank you to all those that supported Elder Dusara during the past couple years. He had an incredible time in Ventura CA and New Delhi. For those who have Facebook, i was able to hide and follow him as he came out of the train up to baggage claim in Seattle yesterday. Worked perfectly...enjoy
https://www.facebook.com/sdusara/videos/10212769973873636/?pnref=story

Week 103: Aradhana gets confirmed. The final zone conference...

Namaste,


Yesterday Aradhana was able to be confirmed by President Johnson John. We even started teaching her about the importance of temples after church. Also, I was able to give my last testimony yesterday. I received a warm thank you from the branch for my service. Some of the members keep on getting me mixed up with Elder Basil. A few of them went up to him and wished him luck as he returns home to the United States.

I had my last zone conference last Wednesday. I had a blast and learned a lot. I sat in the back and was secretly sharing peanut M&Ms with the Elders around me. I shared my last testimony with them and of course I cried because of how much I'm going to miss this place.

Last week Brother Suresh and his family fed us BBQ Chicken, pasta, beans, and potato salad. I told them that I've never eaten potato salad before and they laughed because they were surprised I hadn't. For dessert they made a Fruit Parfait. It was the first time that I've had a parfait before as well. It was dang good too.

I know this is my last full week. I'm really going to miss this place a lot. I'm very blessed that I've been able to be a healthy and successful these past two years.

I'm now able to say this. Mom... Dad.. I'll see you next week! :)

Elder Dusara

Week 102: Aradhana gets baptized!

Aradhana's baptism was great. The water was freezing, but I didn't mind because it was hot outside so it was pretty refreshing. Sister Amy Paul was very happy that another member in her family joined the church after 24 years of trying. We will talk with her in our next appointment about who will be confirming her.This Tuesday Sister Amy Paul is taking the entire district out to lunch to celebrate.

This week I have my last zone conference and I'm sad that this is all coming to an end so soon. I'm going to do my best to be a sponge and just let it all soak in.

Some days go by slow, but when I look back at the weeks, the weeks are going by faster. The weather will be in the low 100's for the rest of the week.

Elder Dusara

Week 101: Sister Aradhana's progress, Chhaya keeps progressing...

Hi Everyone,

This past Sunday Sister Aradhana passed her baptism interview and has chosen me to baptize her. We were also finally able to get in contact with Chhaya again. She was also able to attend church this past week and is continuing to battle getting her parents permission to be baptized.

Right now the weather is in the mid 80's. But By next Monday we will reach the 100's. The weather right now is quite refreshing but next week I will be melting...

No big plans this upcoming week. Just finding and meeting new people.

Also my entire body was sore for about 4 days straight after playing competitive sports for the first time in over 7 months.

Elder Dusara

Week 100: Aradhana's progress...Holi in Delhi

This past week was good. We are continuing to teach Aradhana and she is progressing well. She came for sacrament and left to go to the hospital because her arm was giving her pain. But after that she was able to return to church to witness a baptism for Elder Basil's investigator.

Yesterday all of the missionaries were on an apartment lock-down because it was Holi. That's the big color festival. So we just stayed in our apartment and threw water balloons at each other. We even threw some at our neighbors and any kids that walked by our apartment. It was a blast because we got into a serious war with our neighbors on the roof top of our complex.

Today I played basketball for the first time in 8 months. I have a ton of rust to shake off when I go home. But it was a ton of fun because we had about 13 missionaries playing.

Elder Dusara

Going home infographic

Week 99: New companion...elder Chiditholi

Namaste,

I was sad to see Elder Challa go. But Elder Chidithoti (from Hyderabad and been out 4.5 months) is pretty great. This past week we were able to set Aradhna on date for the 26th of this month. She came to church yesterday and she enjoyed it a lot. We were unable to meet with our other investigators, but we will try again for this week.

 Elder Chidithoti wakes up on-time and he's a clean individual. I'd bet that our apartment is the cleanest out of all the elders apartments in the mission. I know this is going to be a transfer to remember. I just hope that I'm able to baptize with him.

Sanjeev actually served in his ward. Elder Chidithoti didn't make the connection that we were brothers until last night when he was looking through my photos from home.

Well today we are planning to try to go Go-carting in a place outside of Delhi called Gurgoun.

Elder Dusara

Other comments from letters to parents:
After almost two years in India, Elder Dusara is able to eat his veggies and fruits. I don't like them but I can eat them and not be grossed out. 

I felt like I was in a different world when I got here. There is so much stuff that you will see that doesn't make any sense. Just be open and ready to adjust to the culture. There are plenty of fast food restaurants in every area. The challenge is finding a decent grocery store for snacks and cereals that taste like home. 

Indian hot dog

Snake charmer

Week 98: New family to teach. Charming a cobra...

Hey,

This past Sunday Jayantika and Mamta were both able to be confirmed. Also, after church we visited a referral family from Elder Kadli. It was a Christian family of 8. Of the 8 about 4 of them spoke English. We taught The Restoration and handed out 3 Books of Mormon. They skimmed through the first few pages and said that they wanted us to come back to teach them more and to eat with them. We are way stoked to go back this week. The mother actually tried paying us money as a thank you for teaching them. We declined and said we would be happy to come over for dinner or lunch this week. Lets see what happens this transfer with this new family.

We had a great time at the event this past Saturday. It was definitely a unique experience for us. All of the native Indian missionaries were saying that the South Indian food that they served tasted just like home for them. There was someone that played the sitar (Indian Guitar). Then there was a really interesting Hindu dance.

This past month I've found myself loosing my appetite. Then I'm also not eating as much as I used to for each meal. I've dropped 15 pounds in the last 4 months. I just need to endure a little bit longer.

Also transfers are this week. I'm probably staying, but my companion might be on his way out the door. While jogging this past week I was chased by 4 street dogs.... again.

Lastly, the weather is back into the low 80's during the day and gets down into the 50's at night. Its very pleasant now, but in 1 month I'm going to be melting. :)

Love,
Elder Dusara

A couple photos below are of elder Dusara and a real-life Cobra

Snake-charming a Cobra

That's a Cobra

Week 97: 3 baptisms last week and more to come...

Hi

This past week was great! We had a great turnout for the Missionary Fireside. We played fun minute to win it games to start. Then we ended with a gospel message on the Plan of Salvation. Then yesterday we were able to baptize sister Mamta and Jayantika. They were so happy that they could be baptized!

Also I'm very happy to say that Ashita's mom was baptized yesterday as well!

Brother Samuel Singh gave us a referral that we contacted yesterday with his family. We are planning on teaching them this week. It's a family of two.

We are excited for this big event this Saturday with the Hubbards! It's a GIANT public affairs event. We rented out a big party hall for over 300 guests. All these people are people that have a lot of power and influence in India. I think all of the missionaries in my district will be assigned as waiters for the night. There should also be a ton of good food as well.

In other new our missionary schedule has changed so we now go to bed at 11:30 and get up at 7:30 everyday. The is also a McDonalds about 100 yards away from my apartment.

Elder Dusara

Week 96: Jayentika's progress, local conference meetings with church leadership

Hi All,

Jayentika passed her interview yesterday. She even selected me to baptize her Jayentikas sister even came to church with two of their friends. We finished all the lessons with Chhaya and she wanted to talk with her parents first. So she did that yesterday and they weren't exactly on board with the whole baptism thing. We are going to continue to meet with her this week. She's 22, so she doesn't need their consent. But she said that she wanted to respect her parents. But we will see what happens next.

This past week was great! I LOVED being able to hear from Sister Burton, Sister Cordon, Elder Evans, and Elder Funk. It felt like being a part of a mini personal conference when they were all teaching us. Elder Evans and Sister Cordon even attend our branch on Sunday. They talked about how we are all Shepherds and we can introduce our friends and family to the Gospel.

This past week was awesome. Today I'm going souvenir shopping at a big market. Wish me luck that I can find some good deals.

Also last week I played volleyball with half of the mission. It felt great to be back to my spiking habits. Also playing on a shortened net and being 6ft helped a little bit as well.

Elder Dusara Out

More treats for Ajay

Just a little traffic

The new district

Week 95: Chhaya comes to church, meeting Pavin, getting kurta's

Hi,

This last week was good. Chhaya came to church again and she even bore her testimony. She has a great understanding of the Gospel. This week we are planning on meeting her family so they know who we are and what we do. The Ray family is very tough to meet with. The father is not working right now and so they are in a very tight financial situation. But we are planning on meeting them this week to teach the last lesson and review the interview questions.

Last week while on an exchange with Elder Drummond we talked with someone in a park that went to school at Stanford, Princeton, and Harvard. His name is Pavin and he's now a small Hedge Manager here in New Delhi. He was married in Park City, Utah and he praised our church and BYU for how organized everything is. He even told me that the best dessert he has ever tasting in the entire world was from the rooftop restaurant at the Joseph Smith building. I'll have to try that out this year.

On a side note I've started buying some souvenirs. There is a member in my branch that sells really nice kurtas (men's Indian clothing). His name is brother Kuberan. He's a super cool member.

I'm healthy and well.

Elder Dusara

Week 94: Meeting with Chhaya, mingling with members

Some notes from questions answered:
My branch has about 400 members in the directory and about 60 people come to church.  There are 6 people in one apartment. The new area is about 6 miles away from the one I just left, but by auto it will take me 35 minutes to get there.

My mission has been a roller coaster. I have learned so many things that will help me be active when I go home.

Hi,

This past week was good. We received a great referral from Elder Basil and Elder Drummond. Her name is Chhaya and she came to church yesterday. During 2nd hour she even bore her testimony and said that she wanted to be a member in our church. We have an appointment to teach her tomorrow at 4PM. The Ray family was unable to make it to church. That was a bit of a downer.

Last Saturday the Tamongs took us out to eat and we discussed how we can bridge the gap between missionaries and members. It was a really good discussion. Something that they brought up is that we as missionaries can do a better job with mingling with members. That's something that I will try to do a better job of.

Tomorrow is our missionary broadcast and the entire mission will be gathering for that. I hear that there are some changes that will happen.

I'm healthy and I'm doing well. I miss you ALL!

Elder Dusara

Elder Challa is the new companion

McD's with elder Basil

Week 93: Transferred to Lajpat Nagar, sad farewell to the 3rd branch

Hey Everyone,

The church is in a place called Lajpat Nagar. There's tons of places to go souvenir shopping out here. My apartment is way nice.

I was incredibly sad to find out that I was being transferred out of 3rd branch. I don't think I've ever cried so much in my entire life. I'm going to miss my district mates. Then of course I'll miss the awesome members. This was my favorite branch to serve in. I am now serving in 1st branch.

In my first few days we are struggling because there was some issue with our phone bill not being paid, so we can't make any outgoing calls to anyone but missionaries. We still were able to have three investigators attend church. I still don't know a whole lot about the branch but I'm excited to help out where I can. Also Elder Kadali sent us a nice list of potential investigators from back when he was serving here.There is a lot of work here to be done in re-activation of members.

Last week as a district we had one last hurrah with going to KFC together. Then I treated everyone to Johnny Rockets shakes!

Elder Dusara

Week 92: Visit to the Taj Mahal, room flooded...

Hello,

Last week Ashita was able to confirmed. She was so happy. She even made us a little scrapbook with pictures from her baptism, along with some notes. Her parents also said that they wanted us to teach them as well. We also were able to set Peter on a baptismal date for next month. 

Last Monday I forgot to share that my room flooded. The drain for the washing machine was clogged so all that run off water just flowed into my bedroom and then into our family room. My scriptures got soaked along with my hamper and my backpack. Our family room looked like someone just dumped a couple buckets of water on the floor. I guess it made it a little bit easier to mop lol. 

Okay so traveling to the Taj Mahal was a pain. Our trains left late and they took 3 hours to get there  instead of 2. We went to Agra fort first and took a ton of photos. We all got two cabs to drive us around for the day. We had a really nice lunch at an Indian restaurant. When we went to the Taj Mahal I tried to pass as a Native Indian because the price is 40 rupees (75 Cents) and the foreigner fee is 1000 rupees ($16). When I got to the front of the line they asked me to show my ID. I hid my Washington State drivers license in my pocket and showed them my registration to live here in India. After about 15 minutes of confusion they finally let me in by paying the native Indian price. The Taj Mahal was way cool! We all took photos for an hour before actually going into the Taj. It was definitely an experience that I will never forget, especially since it's one of the 7 wonders of the 

world. Coming home stunk. Our train was one hour late. We didn't reach Delhi until about 11PM. Then we tried to get cabs to pick us up but none of them could find us. So I didn't step into my apartment until about 12:45 AM. That's for sure the latest night that I've had in a long time.

Transfers are this week. Hopefully I will stay here for the rest of my mission.

Elder Dusara

Week 91: Ashita's baptism...visit to Akshardam temple

Hello,

Yesterday was a great day for Ashita David. The water was incredibly cold. She was not a fan of that. It took us two tries to baptize her because her hair was floating above the water during the first try. Afterward we went to her house and her mom said that she wanted to be baptized in March or April. We will try to work on that. Brother Peter comes back into town this week so we can go back to teaching him as well. We've been trying to bring Sahil and Simren out with us to lessons so they can gain more experience. Simren is leaving on her mission next month and Sahil is still waiting on getting his mission call.

Last Friday we visited a temple called Akshardam. It was a massive structure. It looked like a building that was a couple hundred years old but it was only about 12 years old. The entire temple ground was clean and nice. It's very rare to see something like that. There was also a light show and it was awesome. It talked about how its more important to find true happiness than to be prideful.

Also our zone got together for a zone activity. We all played soccer. It was great. I cut my hand while moving some rocks around to clean up space. Then while playing I fell over the ball and scraped a hole in my compression pants. After playing on these dirt pot hole fields I've very grateful to have nice turf and green grass to play on at home.


Go Seahawks,
Elder Dusara