Elder Braden Baker: Kakinada is amazing!

Well, I'm definitely not in Bangalore anymore. I am back in the village where the houses could be blown over by the big bad wolf, no one speaks english, and I'm sweating as soon as I step outside. Right now starts monsoon season so it has been raining a lot which I like because it is a little cooler outside but as soon as the rain stops it is just crazy humid. Oh yeah, also we ride bicycles in this area!! I'm excited about that because it helps to keep theat rice belly away. Its does get a little muddy when it rains tho but it sure makes it more fun. Soooo, there has been some problems in this area in the past so missionaries would say that it is kind of a "dead area" right now but it has a lot of potential! I am really excited to start from scratch and work as hard as I can to turn that around.

This week was mostly me trying to learn this new area as fast as possible. I was riding my bike all around finding members homes and discovering areas. It was a lot of fun and it rained on us a lot. Also this week has been me trying to learn how to speak telugu. Ugh pray for me because I just really want to communicate with all the people here and teach them about God's Plan. Telugu is a bit confusing at first lol. For example, 'me' means 'you' in telugu... yeah pray for a miracle.

I already really like the members and the people here. They are so so sweet. I swear these are some of the nicest people I have ever met. They literally have close to nothing but want to and are willing to give everything they have for us. Now, also because this is a village area, not a lot of foreigners come here. When the kids see me, they all yell "hieyyy brrrroo". I usually get that like 25 times a day. This week, someone was driving by on a motorcycle and slowed down and stopped and said, "Are you from America?" We said, "Yes!" And they just drove away... hahaha that was the whole conversation.

Alright, you can imagine how easy it is to find people to talk to here. I just kind of have to go out on any street and someone will yell "hi bro" and then we're talking and then I'm asking if they go to church ever and they say yes and next thing ya know, we're in their home and I'm meeting the kids family. It really is easy and a lot of fun.

So, here is the miracle of the week. Sunny boy. We were leaving some appointments on Friday and we met a guy on the street and we started talking. Just briefly we were talking and then I got his number. He told me he goes to church every Sunday and wants to learn more about Jesus Christ! We were pretty excited. So, Sunday we met Sunny and had the most amazing lesson. He was asking so many questions and they were GOOD questions. Like, he legit wants to know everything. We taught him about the Godhead and he totally understood and then the questions he was asking lead directly into us teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ which includes having faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. I've never seen someone so intent on learning. The spirit totally directed our teaching and my thoughts as I then felt prompted to invite him to be baptized. WHAT! It was our first lesson I thought... I definitely felt the spirit though so I invited him to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. YES, he said yes!! He obviously still needs to learn a lot of things but his desire to truly do what he can to learn and follow Jesus Christ is amazing. I pray he continues to soak everything in as we teach him and be baptized. He truly wants to learn. He kept asking us, "How did you learn all of this about Jesus??" What a stud.

More next week, I love you guys!!

Love, Elder Baker