Pretty good week this week! I can see the hand of the Lord in my work each and every day guiding me where to go and who to talk to. It's really amazing how we are just like the tools for God. This is His plan and His work. Anyway, we went to this far out village called Uppada, One brother is preparing for his baptism next week, and I even taught a lesson with Elder Hugie this week. 13 months in the making and it was awesome!!
We have been teaching a brother for awhile now and he wants to be baptized. It's been a little hard to understand him perfectly because we have to communicate through a translator. We taught him the word of wisdom this week and we weren't really sure how it was going. Then as we were teaching, we understood one sentence he said in telugu. He basically said okay, tea is finished! He was drinking 15 cups of tea every day and after he learned about the word of wisdom, he said okay forget it! He created a plan for himself to never drink anymore before his baptism. Now, one week before his baptism, he has cut it down to 3 cups a day. That is repentance!! Change! Still not perfect, but who really is perfect? He is improving and it's awesome to see that because of his desire to be baptized and be a better follower of Christ. This is what Presidet Nelson has invited us to do when he says to do better and be better every day. Daily repentance is so important!! Needless to say, his baptism is on saturday.
Okay, this guy's nephew is named Ishwar and he is the cutest!! We are pretty much best friends. Every time we come to teach, we all sit down on the floor and he comes and sits right in front of my lap. He likes to wear my backpack even though it is his same size. He clips the buckles up and everything. Then, every time we leave his house, he walks me to the main road so I get there safe. This week, my companion tried to walk with him and he ran away to me and grabbed my hand and walked with me. SO CUTE. I love kids. (Naku pillalu kavali)
One day this week, we traveled to a village right on the beach and it was SO cool. I'm sure it was the first time missionaries have been here before and definitely the first time foreigners have been here. Hahah oh it was pretty fun to be a celebrity for the day. We would walk down the street and people eating would drop their plate and like jump up to see us! Kids started following us wherever we went. We took like so many selfies, said hello to everyone, and heard "hi brrro!" Like 100 times. We got to Ram Babu's home and he had invited his whole family! We had like 30 in one room ready to learn. So we taught them all about the restoration of the gospel. We taught about Joseph Smith and his first vision. We taught them that Jesus Christ's church had been restored and brought back. They loved it! We asked if they believed it was true right then and there and they all said yes!! And elaborated about it. It was such an awesome feeling. They understood that this is the same church Jesus Christ established. So, we invited them to come to church with us on Sunday and they said, "Well, we have our church nearby." .... dangit. We thought they understood so clearly. Hahahah next time, I guess we will have to answer a few more questions and teach a little better to explain. We'll see how it goes.
This week, we went to Rajahmundry for district Council and I stayed for an exchange because our district leader needed to come do a baptism interview for us in Kakinada. So, I stayed in Rajahmundry with the other Elders. The best thing was that Elder Hugie and I taught a lesson together one night and it was awesome. It was our dream to be companions since the MTC together 13 months ago and it came true. We finally were companions and I guess you can say we killed it!! I guess if you look at the number game then we are 1 for 1 together, 100%, batting 1000, or whatever you want to call it. Our teaching record is one person taught, and one person on date to be baptized. We just flowed together as we taught, and we even taught some of the lesson in telugu. It was awesome, the sprit was strong. Definitely a night on my mission I'll never forget.
Overall it was a good week. Right now is a big holiday in India. Everyone is celebrating Ganesh festival and it is pretty crazy!! Just google Ganesh Festival and I'm sure you will see what it is. Anyway, have a great week everyone! I love you guys!
Love, Elder Baker
Our trio. Elder Baker, Elder Trainor, and Elder Susaidass
My little best friend Ishwar
I promise he wanted to wear my backpack!!
The big family in Upadda
Elder Hugie and I
Walking through the village
A big fruit stand
No comments:
Post a Comment