On a one way flight to Bangalore!

Well, it happened! Transfer calls came yesterday and I am getting transferred to Bangalore. I have absolutely loved my time here in Tambaram and in Chennai. I bore my testimony to the branch at church and said how this has been my home and my family the last 9 months and it is true. The people in this area will always be in my heart. I'm really sad to leave this area and all the awesome people that I have met and taught and baptized but it is time for a change. Change is good and I am really excited to meet the people here in Bangalore. I left Chennai this morning and my flight just landed in Bangalore. My new companion is named Elder Nathaniel. I just met him and I am excited for this next transfer in the Lingarajapuram area.

As I am in Bangalore now, I'll tell you all about my last week in Tambaram and it was the best week yet. I'm glad I can leave this area on a high note. Elder Rajendran and I had a lot of fun together and we worked really hard. Everyday we had spare time, we went door knocking. I swear this week I walked a few marathons. All the walking and talking and knocking paid off as we found and started teaching 8 new families and 36 new people total. Also, this week it finally rained on us. It was scorching hot some days and then all of the sudden, this weekend it poured rain. It was a lot of fun.

On Saturday, we went out in the morning to go knock all the doors down. It wasn't the first door we knocked that was awesome, it wasn't the second or third or fourth either. We had to keep going all day until in the afternoon we are walking and I see a super village area.(small, humble houses) I had a really strong feeling to go talk to them and meet them but I didn't know if they were Hindu or Christian and because of some problems, we have to be careful and only knock Christian doors. I was looking around the houses for anything and I see inside a picture of Jesus!! there actually wasn't a door to knock so I just kinda said, "uhh hello!" and before I knew it, there were 10 kids around me. It was awesome. It is a big joined family and they invited us to come the next day when their whole family is home. We walked away soooo excited. 

Sunday was my last day in Tambaram and it was awesome! I said goodbye to everyone at church and that was sad. I bore my testimony in Tamil which everyone totally loved and then we ate lunch at the church after the meetings. As soon as the meetings finished, we had to get going because we scheduled 4 appointments with new people we met this week. I will tell you about two of them.

The shack home. We found a super humble home walking one day. Like, the big bad wolf would blow this house down. I saw it and really wanted to go inside mostly just to check it out but BONUS, they are Christian!! We shared a message about God and they invited us to come back to their home. We went Sunday and learned that she just lost a sister to a heart attack. The lady that died has a son and he was there with us in the lesson. We taught the Plan of Salvation. I know he has thought about what happens when we die recently so after we taught about Earth life, I asked him where do we go? He really answered like this and I was shocked because we usually get the answer like, "good people go to heaven, bad go to hell". The guy answered like this, "Well, I know that everyone will be resurrected one day but I think there has to be a temporary place where our spirits live on until we are resurrected and live back with our body. Kind of like a place like paradise. Like a spirit paradise." AWESOME, yes exactly correct. Here is how it is described in Alma 40:11-12. 11 Now, concerning the ^astate of the soul between ^bdeath and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are ^ctaken ^dhome to that God who gave them life.

12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of ^ahappiness, which is called ^bparadise, a state of rest, a state of ^cpeace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow. I have never had someone answer to me like that! This is a man who has really and actually thought about life after death because his mom died at a young age. This is a man seeking the truth. Totally prepared by God to hear and accept this message.

The BIG family!! We showed up at their joined but separate kind of 3 houses. It was like one house but separated into 3 for each family. The grandpa of the families lived here as well. We taught them about God and who He is. We ended up having a really good lesson with all 20 members!! Elder Rajendran and I did a good job of keeping everyone involved and interested. The adults loved the lesson as well as all the children and the grandpa. Every time I would say anything in Tamil, they couldn't help but laugh. It shocked them so much. Ahhh, it was just one of the moments on a mission where you just smile and every little thing is worth it. This is what makes a mission the best. And the best thing happened too at the end, they asked the question every missionary wants their people to ask, "When will you come back and teach us more??" I walked away with the biggest smile on my face ever. This was a way fun appointment. 

Love, Elder Baker

1.The BIG family. I LOVE THEM and miss them already.

2.The small humble home and sweet family prepared.

3. Both of us sweating buckets while we rest on a bench.

4. I am going to miss this guy a lot. We have become so close these last 6 months together.

5-10. Airport goodbyes

"I'm gonna baptize that girl"

What is up everyone!! This week was great, like every other week but I'll talk about that later. This week was packed with lots and lots of stuff that I can talk about so let's get going. We had zone conference, apartment inspections, the free lemonade bucket including two new families, finding, Jude Felix, and "I'm gonna baptize that girl". It was awesome! Stories and pictures to follow so tune in.

So, President and Sister Mortensen finish their mission and leave in like 2 weeks. They had their last zone conference in Chennai and it was awesome. I learned so much from them and I really appreciate their love for us missionaries here as they have served. I learned how important it is to teach that God is our loving Heavenly Father to everyone we teach to make sure they understand who God even is because SO many people here have no idea here in India. It is a blessing to know who you are on Earth as literally the spirit son or daughter of a loving Heavenly Father. Good zone conference.

We had our apartment inspections again this week. This is my 6th transfer(8.5 months) in Tambaram which means this week was the 6th apartment inspection I've had here. Update, I got my 6th W. Tambaram apartment is yet again the cleanest apartment and I'm proud of it. This paragraph is mostly for my mom because I know she will be proud. Love you Mom!

Of course we did the legendary lemonade bucket again this week and it was another great success resulting in lots of smiles, happiness, and two new families! One brother is an auto driver and he saw that we were giving something away and he pulled over and came to see what it was. I started talking to him about why we were giving free lemonade and told him about our church right here and he was excited! He spoke really good English which was shocking. He invited us to his home and we went Sunday! We taught a really good lesson and him and his family loved it and the sprit was strong in their home. We even gave his son a blessing because he just had surgery because his appendix burst. After the blessing, he just lit up smiling so big and was so happy. He truly felt the spirit. It was beautiful!

We we're almost out of lemonade. We had only 2 cups left and usually the last cup we share as the missionaries. So, I see a lady walking towards us about 100 feet away and I say to Elder Singh, "You see that girl? I'm going to baptize that girl." As she walks by, I start talking and offer her our last cup of lemonade. She was walking to pick up her three kids from school. When I told her there is a church right here, she lit up! She lives right nearby and has been looking for a new church recently that her family could go to. We walked with her to pick up her kids and she took us to her home right then and there and we taught her family a lesson. I am so excited to keep teaching this family and see how they progress. I'm grateful I listened to the prompting of the spirit and talked to her because she could've easily walked right by and never known about our Church. Also, the timing could've been a little different and we wouldn't have met her at all but like I always say, God's Plan. God writes this like a book and knows exactly who needs to walk by and drink some lemonade that is also looking for a church to join. Miracles!!

This week was really great. I mean, every single week here in India has been eventful. I've found myself so much happier when I focus on the positive things each week but that doesn't mean it's all straight miracles. I'll be honest, a mission is hard. You work your butt off and put all your effort and love into people just for them to make silly excuses to shut the door in your face, sleep through their alarm for the 4th  week in a row for church, or just simply cancel your appointment. India is crazy also, like everything is different here. The culture, the food, the people. It's like I've time traveled into the past. Just living here in India has taught me so much. The church is so young here and I swear it's not like anywhere else in the world. The closest member to my home, my branch president, lives about an hour and a half away by a share auto, bus, another auto and walking. The bottom line is that it's not easy all the time but it is worth it. Not just a mission, but life! Life isn't easy but the prize is worth the price if we live the gospel. I can't explain how worth it is. Serving a mission I feel like is something you can't just explain, you have to experience it! It's amazing!! I feel like I have grown in the last 10 months a lot. I have learned and grown so much already and have grown so much closer to Jesus Christ and I've seen people's lives change because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

I'm grateful and I'm happy to be where I am serving in India. I love you all.

Love, Elder Baker

                                                Chicken Biryani, curry, and raita 

                                        

                                         

                                                      Sweaty and dirty white shirt   

                                              Sweaty and dirty white shirt front

                                      I'm crouching down.. the door came up to my belly!!

                                                                  Park in India

                                                         Volleyball with the branch

10 Months Down

Hey everyone! How's it going? It is going good here and it's going fast here in India. I swear time goes faster on a mission. I guess time flies when you're having fun and I'm having fun and staying busy. People are starting to tell me that Chennai is starting to cool down and I can expect rain next week but I'll believe it when I see it. The last time it rained was like 7 months ago and I was still here when that happened lol. We had a pretty good week where we taught a new family what they already knew, the lemonade bucket part 3, and an awesome branch activity.

We started teaching a new family this week! We shared a small message last week and they invited us back this week so I guess we taught them last week too. Anyway, they are a super nice family of 4 with a good knowledge of the Bible. They are very strong in their church and have been going there for the last 22 years or something so we will see how that goes. We didn't even invite them to church yet and they told us they wouldn't come because they have their own church... But, before all of that I thought the lesson went great!! The spirit was really strong as we taught them about the plan of salvation. I really love teaching this lesson to people here in India because it is such a blessing to know who God is and that we lived with Him and Jesus Christ and our families before this life on Earth. Also, to know who we are as sprit children of Heavenly Father and what our purpose on Earth is. And finally, to know where we can go after this life on Earth and to know our potential to become like God and live with our families for all eternity. During the lesson, we continually asked them questions to check if they were understanding and they said it was all new information but they understood so clearly that it felt like they had heard it before. It was so awesome because they HAVE heard it before in the life before Earth where we all learned about God's Plan together.(and of course, not Drake's)

The lemonade bucket was back again and the word is spreading around Tambaram people. We were walking to lunch and someone asked, "lemon juice at 2 again?" HAHAH, you know it! I love serving the people here. I think it was a record this time with 20 liters of lemonade gone in about 10 minutes. I wish we had unlimited lemonade so we could give it to more people all day but we have a few issues. The first being that it takes a lot of time to squeeze the mini lemons they got here in India and second, we are poor and don't have lots of money. I got a video this time to really show you guys what I mean when I say it goes by fast! Hahah like literally motorcycles stop on the side of the road when they see us! Check below for the video.

And finally to top off the week, we had a very well planned branch activity. Our branch rented a resort for the day and had a great time together. We all cooked food together, played volleyball, the members went swimming, and played lots of games together. I really feel loved here in this branch and can feel the unity. I have grown to love these people like my own family and I can honestly say the activity felt more like a family reunion than a church activity. The theme for this activity was "War Against Sin". It's so true that we are literally in a war against Satan and the temptation to sin that comes from him. Satan is just simply good at being bad. He knows how to tempt us and will tempt us in ways we don't even notice until it's too late. It's a constant battle of choices and actions that keep us safe and winning the battle. The good thing is God will never tempt us above what we are able to bear and He will also provide us a way to escape it. (1 Corinthians 10:13) 

I'm grateful to be on God's team. The way is prepared for us and we know the winner. God wins and we know that from the beginning so let's choose to all be on His team. To close, remember what King Benjamin said in his address to the people, "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."(Mosiah 2:41) 

I love you all!

Love, Elder Baker

                                                                The Branch Activity

                                                      The Bus for the Branch Activity

                                                                       Emibeula!

                                                        He wanted to hold my hand!

 

   Lemonade.MP4

The Lemonade Bucket and uhhh Who's Govind?

Hello! I hope everyone had a great week. Well, this week was good. I swear time is going by so fast, I can't believe it's already June! June 6th is my wonderful mom's birthday so make sure to wish her a happy birthday on Thursday and do me a favor and give her a hug for me. I can't explain how grateful I am to have her in my life. She truly is a blessing to me and my family. I love her so much! 

So this week!! We had some really good lessons. One family I've been teaching for like 8 months finally started reading the Book of Mormon and loves it! The father is really into the Church! He follows all the videos on YouTube and follows and listens to the Prophet Russell M. Nelson. We have taught him about everything about the church and he is really impressed with the Church and everything about it. The one thing that He wasn't doing was reading the Book of Mormon. He finally read the first two chapters of 1 Nephi but was a little confused. We went to his house and started to read chapter 3 with him. He read the whole thing and he understood so well and was explaining to his wife! At the end of the chapter, he looks up and asks, "Can we read chapter 4 too?" Heck yeah we can!! Hahaha he was loving it, he just couldn't stop after one chapter. He said he will definitely continue to read now! The Book of Mormon is such an awesome book. I love reading from it so much, it's my favorite book rn. I enjoy reading and love to learn from the prophets and their examples.

I met this guy named Vignesh on the train about 2 months ago and gave him a pass along card. He visited the Church website on the card and ended up requesting a missionary visit and a Book of Mormon. So, later we got a referral for a guy named Vignesh and I didn't think too much about it because that's a name like "John" here in India. When we met with him though, I saw he looked so familiar! So it was way cool that he actually found interest before even meeting with us. This guy has been prepared to hear the message of the Restored gospel. During our first lesson, we were just talking with him at first and he was telling us, "Well, I go to random churches just so I can pray. I believe in Jesus Christ. I'm just confused which church to go to because one of my friends invites me to his church and a different friend invites me to his church and other people say come to my church. I don't know where to go!" We we're excited to share with him the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he could totally relate to Joseph Smith. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and downloaded the gospel library app on his phone. I asked him, "How do you feel about the Book of Mormon." And he said, "Well, I really like it and I can say I know the Book of Mormon is true!" Hahha awesome! This man is already bearing witness before he has even read it. I love his faith but I told him that is awesome to hear and as excited as I was I invited him to start reading it. He has come to church the last two weeks in a row and loves to meet with us!

Well, this week was the new and improved lemonade bucket stand. This time, double the squeezed lemons and double the buckets! I never knew how big of a hit a bucket of cold lemonade and a foreigner yelling, "Come! Free lemon juice!" I would love to take the credit of the business being the white guy speaking Tamil but it's probably just because it's the middle of summer in Chennai and everyone's melting outside. We had such a fun time and as long as we are free, we will continue to upgrade the lemonade bucket each week in hope to find the elect! This week was successful, three more new people in the church that evening.

Update on the lemon juice miracle guy last week that came. He came to church on Thursday to meet with us but mostly talked the whole time. I thought this whole time his name was Govind and I was bearing testimony that God knows him personally. I said, "God loves Govind and he knows Govind's name and everything you need!" And he hit me with a reply pretty quick, "I'm Gopal, not Govind." That was pretty embarrassing not gonna lie. Make sure you know their names. Anyway, it wasn't a deal breaker because he came to church on Sunday again! That's two weeks in a row and he got the Book of Mormon and told me he will read it in a week. So, I will update you next week if he's serious about that! I hope so! 

I love ya guys, I'll talk to you next week!

Love, Elder Baker

                                                      Teaching the Pandian Family

                                                                      Auto Rides

                                                            District with woman

                                                                  Lemonade part 2

                                                                  Chennai Beach!