I got another son, I love the people here, and I love Christmas!

In the mission field, when you train a new Elder, they call the trainer the dad and the trainee your son and I don't know if God is trying to tell me something for the future but I am yet again training a new Elder. Elder McGuire and I are both staying together, thank goodness, and we are both staying in Kakinada thank goodness but we received a call Wednesday from President saying that we are going to trio train! Our son (new companion) is named Elder Bhandari and he is from Mumbai. He is just 18 which is pretty rare for the Indian elders. They usually wait until after they graduate college to come on their mission. Elder Bhandari is really humble and really excited to learn and be a missionary. We are so excited!! 

When President Thomas told Elder Bhandari that he is going to Kakinada, he said that Kakinada is the place to be right now in the mission and he is so right! I am still loving it. We had a 3 day Christmas Carnival activity this week and it went soooo good. Seriously I'm so impressed with the members here to plan everything and work together to completely decorate the church and plan all of the activities and food and everything. We planned to have about 140 people come and about 260 people came to our activity which was so good. Everyone came all dressed fancy in their Indian traditional clothes which are so SICK!! I WAS SO JEALOUS. I just wanted to get all dressed up in full Indian traditional clothes. We had some dance performances, we sang hymns, and then us Elders were in charge of an activity. For our activity, we did one called "Walk With Christ" where we turned off all of the lights and blind folded everyone. Then we played some really spiritual music and narrated all of the events from Jesus Christ's life from his birth to his resurrection as we let the people feel special items about his life like a crown of thorns and nails for his crucifixion and other stuff for different events. WOW, it was so spiritual to imagine and literally walk through Christ's life and imagine everything he did for us. I am so grateful that Jesus Christ was born, died, and most importantly he lived again and lives today all for us. 

Sandeep!! Well, last week I told you how well Sandeep is doing and how happy he is and how he told us he has 100 friends he wants to invite to the church and to introduce to us elders. Well, this week we taught him twice and both times we went to his house, he brought a different friend. So, I mean that's 2 out of his 100 promised but he is doing great so far! This week, we had a really special appointment with him. So, last week we set a baptism date for him for January 4th. This week, we went and taught him about the commandments and he just wants to follow everything right now. I've never seen someone so ecstatic about the gospel and so willing and ready to change. Elder McGuire and I were talking about moving his baptism date sooner but before we could even mention it, Sandeep said this, "Elders, I don't want to wait until January 4th to be baptized. I need to be baptized before the new year because new year, new Sandeep!" HAHA I thought of those "New year, New me" memes you see on Twitter but this is actually legit this time. Sandeep is the real version of that meme. So, we moved his baptism to this Saturday, the 28th. 

Finally, the Kuna family. Literally my new Indian family. I love them so much. They are the sweetest people ever OH MY!! We just started teaching this family this week and they are amazing. They are a family of four: mom, dad, daughter, and son. On Wednesday, we taught a wayyyy spiritual lesson about the restoration of the church and the gospel. They invited us back for dinner on Sunday. The ward members went to their home on Thursday for Christmas carols and they came to our Christmas activity on Friday. We came back on Sunday and taught a BOMB plan of Salvation lesson. They have actually been waiting 5 months to learn about the plan of salvation. 5 months ago, the Elders visited them and asked them to think about three questions; where we were before we came to earth, what is our purpose on earth, and where we will go after we die. The Elders said they will answer those questions when they came back. Well, those elders got transferred and no one ever told me about this family. Luckily, they came to church and the dad is best friends with a member. After five months, they didn't forget those questions and we answered them for their family. They were so happy. They also fed us some really good food. Wow, they are amazing!! The dad and son always give me a big hug and I sure wish I could give the mom and daughter a hug but I'm a missionary so I hit them with the most loving handshake ever. 

I've been praying for the gift of tongues so I can communicate better and connect with the people I teach. Because even though my mission is an English speaking mission, they all know Telugu so I try to pick up some Telugu. It's really amazing to see what happens when the spirit is strong and we are teaching a lesson. The stronger the spirit is in a lesson, the more Telugu I can understand. Last night, I understood about 99% of the lesson we taught and was able to invite a family to be baptized, it was so amazing. Speaking their native language is really the key to the people's heart here. A tall white guy speaking their language really gets them going. It was so fun last night. They felt the spirit, I had them laughing their heads off with my Telugu and they were shocked. I love these people so much. A mission is amazing. 

I'm having such a good time, I'm so grateful for the people I'm with and what I'm doing to really feel the spirit of Christmas. The true joy of Christmas comes from serving others and putting a smile on someone else's face. We can do that by emulating and following the Savior's example. To serve others as he served, to love as he loved. That's what makes a mission so special, we are always focused on loving others and that makes me happy. I love you all and wish you a Merry Christmas!!

Love, Elder Baker

 Mamatha and Priyanka at our Christmas activity. I'm so tall my head hits the ceiling and I have to   slouch a little bit HAHA

                                                 Christmas decorations in our church.

                                                       Two cute little girls in my ward.

                                                      Our new son Elder Bhandari 

 This is my new family the Kuna's, I love them. The dad pointing at the camera literally reminds me   of my dad.

                                        Our Christmas activity decorations and the people!

 This guy who I met while getting my haircut said he loved my smile and wanted to take a picture   of me so here's that picture lol

 Last week, we went to the Vegas version of the Brazil Jesus statue.

 Selfie with the Jesus Statue

                       Another cool statue of a huge lion and some God or maybe goddess.

Two elephant statues we saw last week.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year. We has lunch at the church with some members one day   this week.

 Selfie with some members in my ward at the Christmas activity 

 

Baptism and 100 friends!!

I can't believe another week is gone and we are halfway through December! It's almost Christmas and it's almost 2020. Time flies when you're having fun. This week, Elder Datla left and it's just Elder McGuire and I. We are an awesome companionship. We both are here for the same reason and we both want to work hard and we both want to have fun. We both work out together and we are having fun together. I'm excited for the rest of the transfer. This week was good, we had a baptism service for Thanesha!! Finally, he was baptized which was so awesome. All of the other people that we are teaching that are planning to get baptized came to see the baptism and also came to church. So, that helped them a lot to get excited about their own baptisms coming up. We are planning with the ward for a good Christmas, I'm so excited!

Sandeep is amazing! Wow, we taught Sandeep this week and it was just totally led by the spirit. We planned to teach him more about the gospel of Jesus Christ and focus on baptism and invite him to be baptized. But, as we were talking to him before the lesson we found out that both of his parents have passed away and felt that we needed to teach about the plan of Salvation and especially temples. We already knew pretty much that he wanted to be baptized but when we taught him about the plan of salvation, he understood how much more important it is to be baptized. What was so awesome was when we taught about the temples and baptisms for the dead. We taught how God still loves his parents even though they never had the opportunity to learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ and they never had the chance to be baptized while they were on earth. Because of temples and the work we do inside, Sandeep can live with his parents again as a family. We showed him a video about the temple and he saw a picture of the Rome, Italy temple and his jaw just dropped. He couldn't believe how beautiful it was. He actually asked us if it was real or just a picture! That night he posted pictures of the temple on his story on WhatsApp and told us he will invite all of his friends to our church. He said, "I have 100 friends that also need to come to this church!"  It was really special. He is awesome. 

We had a baptism was this week and it was so spiritual. He was found by the missionaries last year during the Light The World program. The missionaries were walking by his house and showed him a video about Light The World. He loved the service and wanted to help so he came to church. The missionaries have taught him for awhile but he never really progressed that much because of some family struggles. When I started teaching him, I showed him the Book of Mormon videos and he loved them so much. They gave him interest to start reading the Book of Mormon. So, he started reading and watching the videos every week. He was loving it so much! So, I asked if he now knew for sure that it was true and he was hesitant. I invited him to pray sincerely and ask God if it is true. That is the only thing holding him back is he didn't ask God yet. Two days later, he called me and said, "Elder!! You gotta come to my home tonight!" We went and he was ecstatic and told me, "Elder, I did it. I prayed, and I got my answer!! It's yes, it's true. The Book of Mormon is true, and the church is true!!" Now, yesterday he was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

Today, we are doing a zone activity with all the missionaries to go see some cool stuff and explore the city. We are going to a big statue of Jesus which sounds exciting. It looks like the Vegas version of the famous one in Brazil haha but it should be fun with all the other missionaries. That's it for this week, I'll send pictures next week of the activity because I gotta go now!

I love you all, have a great week and light some else's day this Christmas season. I promise by making someone else happy, you will be more happy and have a good Christmas season. I know I'm always happy when I make others happy. Even making someone smile makes me smile. I love it. Merry Christmas!

Love, Elder Baker 

                                                   Showing a video to my kids

                           Subha caught Elder McGuire taking a picture and smiled!! So cute.

 Christmas tree in the mall

 Just a bunch of little kids that wanted to take a selfie on the street. They were jumping all over me and everything, it was funny. 

 Me in the mall with the christmas tree!

 I got a BIG christmas package from my family❤❤❤

 I decorated my room and now it's feeling like Christmas. My mom is the best

We taught a lesson to this dude and he told us he isn't a pastor but after we found out he is and he lied to us?? Weird.

A HUGE thing of hay just driving down the street with a guy sitting on top of the hay. That's safe. 

The Elephant and Elder McGuire

Last week was transfer week and Elder Datla and I received a new companion, Elder McGuire, to be in a trio until Elder Datla leaves to the MTC on the 18th. So, technically it is just my new companion, but we are in a temporary trio. The last few days have been so good! Elder McGuire and I are having some way fun times and some really funny stuff together. I'm excited for the next transfer together. So, Elder McGuire was actually born in India in Calcutta but when he was six months old, he was adopted. He grew up his whole life in America. So, he looks super Indian but his personality is super American. We have got along great. He does sports and farming so he and I are ready to work hard. We are also going to get up and go hard in the morning workouts and get ripped. Big things coming in Kakinada this next transfer.

So, we picked up Elder McGuire On Friday at the bus stop in Kakinada. That same night, we were invited to a wedding function. Now, if any of you know an Indian or have seen a traditional Indian wedding, you know it's a BIG deal. They go all out with the decorations and rent a big function hall and get all the best food and band and everything. So, when we picked up Elder McGuire we told him that the member trust with missionaries is super good right now. We said how much the members love the missionaries in Kakinada. Hahaha and we didnt tell him we were going to a wedding that night. We told him the members did a welcoming function for him because they were just so excited for a new Elder. Elder McGuire was nervous and was making sure he got all ready. We got there and he was shocked they would do this huge function just for him. We met one of our members and I said, "Thank you so much brother for inviting us, oh and congratulations on your sons wedding!" And Elder McGuire just died. Hahaha we couldn't stop laughing. It was way funny. We had some good food and we ate in peace but when we went inside to get some ice cream, one person asked me for a selfie. Next thing we know, I have a line of people that want a selfie with me and for the next 10 minutes, I was pushed up against the wall taking selfies with people. I could've set up a booth and asked 20 rupees each and made some money haha. 

The next day, we traveled to Rajahmundry to have District Council. Also, I am the district leader this transfer. I'm way excited because the Elders in our district are awesome. We have two other trainees that just barely got here. One from America and one from India. Those elders each have good trainers also. We had a really spiritual and fun district council. Today for P day we are going back to Rajahmundry to see the elephant and get a blessing! We have lots of new Elders in our zone, so they all want to go get blessed from the elephant. I'm down to go see it again. 

One really sad thing that happened this week was we went to see and teach all of the kids. When we went to their home, I could just feel and see in their faces something happened. Something was not right. We talked to them for awhile and finally they told us that their pastor found out that they have been coming to our church and came to their home. He sat all the kids down and scolded them for coming and got mad at them. The pastor told them to not let us come to their home and not to come to church with us again because they are really scared he might come get mad again. Oh, I was SO frustrated. That pastor is taking away the agency of these kids. The kids told us that they are really sad and really want to come to our church. They said they have learned so many more things from us and enjoy our church better. They said they feel loved, and peace and more understanding when they come with us. But, their pastor is scaring them. It reminded me of a scripture from the New Testament in 2 Timothy 1:7 that says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." I wish the kids would just choose for themselves and not be forced by their pastor. Please pray for them to one day be baptized and join the restored church. 

We had a great lesson with Sandeep and Solomon Raj this week. Solomon Raj is the father of Sandeep and he is the one that had a stroke and his vocal chords are paralyzed. Also, his right arm and a little bit of his leg are also paralyzed. We taught them the full plan of Salvation and mostly focused on the resurrection and living with their mom again. It was really really good. I showed them a picture of my uncle's sculpture depicting the resurrection. It is a sculpture of an old lady passing through the veil to meet Jesus Christ and on the other side, her body is made perfect. We explained how his paralyzed body would also be made perfect because of Jesus Christ. He started crying and we invited him and his son Sandeep to be baptized on December 28th and they accepted!! Solomon Raj has paralyzed vocal chords so he can't talk. But he can understand clearly what we are saying and can communicate a little bit back. When we invited him to he baptized, he looked at me for awhile and it was silent... I didn't know how he was going to respond or what he was thinking. He can't lift his arm to give a thumbs up and he can't speak. But out of nowhere he spits out a loud audible, "Okay! Yes! Bagundi!!" Which means good in telugu. We were all so shocked and soo excited. It made me so happy. This will be a special baptism for sure. 

Christmas is coming up so quickly! I can't believe it's already December honestly. This will be my second Christmas away from the family which makes me sad but it's so crazy to think I have been gone that long. I absolutely love the Light The World program the church is doing for december. I love to serve and love everyone as much as possible. I'm so grateful for all of the Christlike people in my life that I have looked up to and admire. Ultimately I am grateful for Jesus Christ this Christmas season and His example of serving and making every one person he served feel like they are special. That is something I an trying to do and we all should try and do this Christmas season is to be the light in someone else's day. Make them feel special by serving them. That will bring the spirit of Christmas. The greatest happiness comes from bringing it to others. 

Love, Elder Baker!!

 Someone we are teaching asked me to sit so he could take a picture of me on the piano hahah.

 Random guy at the wedding that wanted a selfie. He started the 10 minute ambush of selfies. 

 I got a selfie with a cow

 I swear this cow was posing for my selfie hahah

 Jumping photo in the forest with Elder Karra and Yadav

 Lunch with the district

 Boat on the river

 Dinner with brother and sister Thamma

Another jumping picture in the jungle

 The wedding set up 

 Elder McGuire being the karate kid on a random cement post.

 Teaching inside the organic shop

The wedding again

 The sunrise from my apartment this morning.

 Elder McGuire with a dog

 Sitting on the wood bridge in the middle of the forest

Elder Datla, Elder McGuire, and Elder Baker 

We gave a blessing to this girl in the hospital with dengue fever

Us elders and the elephant 

Mahalakshmi, the elephant!!

 Elder Potter and Elder McGuire and I riding in the back of an auto