Elder Braden Baker: The Imported Player

It was another good week here in India. Everything is going great right now for the most part! I can't complain at all. We had a lot of fun this week and saw God's hand directing us in our work a lot. It was awesome. We played cricket and volleyball at the Roman Catholic church right by our apartment with a lot of their members. We made really good friends with all of them and had a good time. We also saw an answer to our prayers and were totally led by the spirit to find an awesome family. Lots of good things to talk about so I'll tell you!

First, the sports finding activity! There is a group of guys that play cricket often right outside our apartment at this church. I've talked with them before and they know us. We were watching them from our apartment window and they saw us and told us to come down and play! Heck yeah, we went and played with them. So, after playing and talking with them I now know a few things about cricket. Cricket is way fun when you finally learn what the heck is going on. I did pretty good too. I hit a 6 (which is the cricket equivalent to a home run in baseball) and my teammates would yell at the other team, "He is our imported foreigner, let's go!!" I don't know who was more shocked honestly that I hit a 6, all of them, or me because I made contact with the ball. It was really fun, I'm totally into cricket now. They invited us to play with them every week and I'm totally down. I am hopefully going to get really good at cricket. I didn't bring my camera with me this time but next time, I'll get some pics and videos!(Luckily, my friend Premkumar snapped a pic) The best part is that they are all Christian and now we are good friends and they know why we're here and what we do!

Okay, we had the most fun day of finding yet. I can't wait to tell you guys! We prayed and totally relied on the spirit to guide us and then went out and worked and guess what, God came through on His side. So, it was Tuesday morning, the first day after P-day and we were planning. We had no appointments and we called everyone and no one answered or was busy. It was looking like a day of finding. We were talking about what we should do and where we should go and we stopped and said, "Let's let the Lord decide." So, we prayed and thought about it individually then talked and decided we would go to a street in East Tambaram. As we were leaving our apartment, I said to Elder Raiendran, "Hey, what story do you want to tell your family on Monday about this Tuesday night? On Monday, you are going to tell them, 'Mom! Dad! You'll never believe what happened to Elder Baker and I. It was awesome, we did ________'" I asked what do you want to do today? He said he wants to find a family! So, I said let's do it! Why not? With full faith that God would lead us. We went to the area we prayed about and started roaming. We walked and walked and walked around talking to people, smiling at everyone, and helping old ladies carry their water jugs to their home. We went into shops, knocked doors, and everything else to meet people. We had been doing it for hours and we still hadn't found our family. We came to a road where if we turn right, we go out to the main road to go home and if we turn left, it goes to more homes. We low key wanted to turn right and call our efforts good, we tried! But then, I felt a prompting to turn left for one last street. We turned left and walked down and all the houses are Hindu(which we aren't allowed to knock). We kept walking and I see two women filling up their water jugs so I ask them if they want help carrying them to their home. Well the one lady said actually my home is right here. Right at that time, her husband, her son, and grandchildren were just getting home. They saw grandma talking to a white guy so they came over intrigued. We were then talking to a big joined family about who we are and what we do. They invited us in to their home and they made dinner for us.(It was so spicy but that's another story) We ate their food, visited, and then shared the restored truth that family's are ordained of God and He wants them to live together forever and how this is possible because of Jesus Christ!

We found our family! So many things happened that day to guide us to their home at that exact street at that exact time. I know that God loves families and He wants them to live together happily forever. We are so blessed that God is invested in our lives and wants what is best for us and His children. My dad always told me, "Pray like it all depends on God, and work like it all depends on you." Pray hard, work hard. God loves everyone. You are a child of God and He wants to live with his children again. I am so grateful for the Gospel and I'm so grateful to be a missionary right now in India.

I love you all! Have a great week.

Love, Elder Baker