Elder Braden Baker: Exchanges and Car Accidents

I had two different exchanges this week which will make the week go by pretty quick with all the traveling and different companions and different areas and everything. I got to be with Elder Pandian and Elder Rather in a trio on Tuesday in the Ramamurthy Nagar area. Then on Thursday I got to be with Elder Potter in the Indiranagar area. It was really good to be with the other missionaries in the zone and see different areas. In the trio on Tuesday, we roamed around all day talking to people and then had some awesome appointments in the evening. Two families they are teaching are preparing to be baptized so it was an awesome experience to teach them both and make a good relationship with them as we taught. We taught one family about tithing and fast offerings. We learned a statistic that almost 100% of people who pay their tithing within the first month of being baptized will stay active. When we go to church, there's two ways we can look at it. We can go with the attitude of, "What can I get out of going? What can the church give to me? What can God give to me?" Or we can take the more selfless approach and honestly have the attitude of, "What can I give back to God? What can I do to help the church? What can I give to others?" I promise the second approach will bring more happiness and a more enjoyable time each week as we go to church.

On Thursday, I was with Elder Potter in the Indiranagar area and it was lots of fun! We cooked some curry and chapatis for lunch together, we talked with lots of cool people, we had a great appointment, I found two new people to teach in my area, and we got RAINED on hard. So we were in Elder Potter's area and we were teaching a 12 year old boy named John. He had an uncle and an aunt at his house that I invited to join us for the lesson. We taught him about the plan of salvation and I have some little cards to help visualize the plan so I layed them on the floor to see the whole plan. The uncle totally loved it and asked to take a picture of the plan. Even better, he invited us to come to his house and teach him more about it and he lives in my area! How cool is it that I was on exchange on this specific day teaching this specific family in this specific area just to find someone in my area ready to learn the gospel. God's plan people. Anyway, we left the appointment and it was pouring rain. Like, I was literally soaking wet in less than a minute. It actually felt like I was walking through a really powerful shower. That was a good story and it was fun. Everyone was staryng at the crazy 6'3 white guy with a huge smile on his face enjoying getting soaked as they took cover from the rain. It was an experience. One lady was just laughing at me because I was still so happy to be soaked and I just looked at her and said "enna che?" And then she really lost it because I spoke to her in Tamil. (That means 'what happened?')

OH, so guess what happened to my companion Elder Nathaniel and Elder Potter's companion Elder Masih during the exchange in my area?! They booked an uber ride to get home after an appointment at the end of the night and turns out the driver was drunk and they got in a car accident!! They both got banged up pretty bad but nothing too serious. The freaking driver drove straight head on into a cement road barrier and totalled the car. The one night I leave my area on exchange, my companion gets in a car accident, dang. You better believe they didn't pay for that uber ride.

Awesome news!! So there are two young women that have been being taught by the missionaries and coming to church for a long time. They are sisters and really love and enjoy coming to church. Their father is a pastor of a different church and never accepted them or allowed them to be baptized. Although their father never allowed them to be baptized, we have still been visiting them, meeting with them regularly and they come to church still. This week on Saturday they came to our Pioneer's Day activity. They came right up to us when they saw us and said, "Elder! I have to tell you something!! Something happened. We talked with our dad again and he said that we can be baptized." It was such a happy moment to see them so excited as they have wanted this for awhile.

Speaking of pioneers, they will now be the pioneers for their family to experience the joy that comes from living the gospel of Jesus Christ. President Monson defined pioneers in this manner, "The definition of a pioneer is 'one who goes before to prepare the way for others to follow." They will definitely be the pioneers for their family members who hopefully will follow their example and see the happiness in their lives.

I am doing great right now in my mission and I know I'm happy in my life thanks to this gospel. I'm grateful for the peace and joy I can receive because of Jesus Christ. I love you all!! Have a great week.

Love, Elder Baker