Elder Braden Baker: "SIDE ANNA!!"

Hello everyone!! Yet another great week in the India, Bengaluru Mission. So, all the missionaries that have served or are serving can also say that December is the best. The Light the World program is so much fun as a missionary, and it makes life so much easier as a missionary as well. So, all of the missionaries are trying to share the Light the World with as many people as possible. One day this week, Elder Tolbert and I went walking down one of the main streets and tried to literally contact everyone!! If you remember, us white guys seem to be a pretty big target to look at on the streets here. So with SO many people here on the streets, it makes it really fun to just walk and roam. It also makes it east to contact people and introduce Light the World. As we were walking, we contacted 40 people in just a few hours. We shared about Christmas and gave them all our number. i know that a lot of good will come from this push to share the true meaning about Christmas to the world.

We have still been doing a lot of service lately and this week was awesome!! So, our branch got together and ordered a LOT of biryani which is everyone's favorite food in India. We then worked together to pack up 130 boxes of food and then went out and started driving. As we would see homeless people on the street, we would yell, "SIDE ANNA!!" which just means to pull over. We would grab a box of food and go give it to these people in need. I have never seen people's faces light up so fast. They were so thankful and grateful that they had food. There was even one guy that tried to pay us!! It sure was a lot of fun.

I have seriously felt so much joy as I have done service lately. I can see a glimpse of how Jesus Christ must have felt as He ministered to the people one by one. It is such an immense joy that comes by serving others. As Christmas gets closer, I want to invite you all to serve someone else and experience the true joy of giving to others. Another thing to remember is EVERY single person on this Earth is a son or daughter of God and is important. Giving food to a homeless person in India is not any more important than sharing love and making someone smile in America. Both of these things can save their life. You never know what someone is going through. I love being a missionary so much and I am doing my best to try and be a little bit better than the day before.

Love, Elder Baker