Quite Possibly The Craziest Week of My Life

This week I have been in four different cities, taken 2 flights and multiple cabs. I've been told I'm leaving, then staying, then leaving, then staying. The updates have been changing so fast. I can't trust them any more than the COVID-19 cases in India. Alright, I'm just gonna start from last Monday to try and explain to you how my week has gone. It has been insane. 

Monday, I woke up in Hyderabad in the state of Telangana with Elder Clawson. We were still doing normal missionary work and loving life. We were told to go shopping for two weeks worth of food just in case we are put in quarantine in the future. We went shopping with the senior couple and stocked up on some good food and the senior couple gave us some recipes and even taught us how to cook some good american food. We were loving life. 

Tuesday, we had a slower day because we got some restrictions in Hyderabad. We still contacted our people and even taught over WhatsApp. We had an awesome opportunity to help a sister who is having a tough time trusting God because her mom was diagnosed with cancer. We really helped her and it helped me also to understand that God is literally our father. We are his children. He loves us. He knows our name. He has a plan. These simple truths that I know helped me so much!! She began to understand a little bit better about who God is and responded with, "Thank you. I have trust in God. I will read the scriptures" it was awesome even over text. 

Wednesday is when everything started going crazy. Try to follow along. In the evening at 8 PM, I got a phone call from President Thomas. He said the US Embassy in India is checking for the Americans and checking on their Foreign Registration. Well, my registration is registered in Kakinada which meant I need to leave to Kakinada ASAP. So, I immediately packed up all of my stuff and got a cab to go to West Marredpally which is the Elders apartment closer to the airport and where I could leave my companion Elder Clawson with the other zone leader. That was a late night and crazy change. I was legit jumping around the apartment and couldn't stop pacing for like an hour. Then I realized that I had to pack.

Thursday morning at 7 AM, I got a cab to the airport to go to my favorite previous area Kakinada!! None of the members or recent converts knew that I was coming either so when I finally got to Kakinada, I went to surprise all of my favorite people who became my family members I made while serving there. It was such a tender mercy that I'll never forget. Before any of this COVID-19 outbreak, my parents were planning to come pick me up in India at the end of my mission so I could come back and visit these people in Kakinada because I had promised them I would come. Well, with all the craziness of this pandemic, it made it not possible for them to come to India anymore. I thought there was no chance for me to come see my favorite people in Kakinada ever again for a long time. So, the one good thing that came from COVID-19 is that I was sent back to Kakinada!! And it was just in the nick of time. Here is why. 

Friday morning we had a full mission wide video call. They announced a "mission update" that we would be officially on lock down and how we need to focus on teaching through technology. They told us that the India Prime Minister issued a full country lock down on Sunday and every other day to only leave for essential items. They told us to still do missionary work and strengthen members. Then, by evening we heard that the USA issued a level 4 travel advisory where the US government said to all american citizens to, "Arrange for immediate return to the United States, unless you are prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period". So, I actually looked up the definition of 'indefinite' because it sounded too closely to 'infinite'. I am not trying to stay in India infinitely or indefinitely so obviously we were freaking out but still no updates for us specifically. 

Saturday is when my heart was shattered. All the love, all the miracles, all the people, all the memories, all the life changing experiences, and everything else I can't put into words flashed before my eyes as I read the text saying that all American missionaries have to be sent home. Just like that, over night, my mission was over. I'm grateful for the examples and mentors in my life that helped me to not take any day for granted on my whole mission. A great friend told me early on, "Every day you look in the mirror and put on the name tag that says 'Elder Baker' is one less day that you ever get to do that again." I know that I gave everything I have. I know that I gave every part of my heart to these people and in return, my heart was softened and changed for the better. Even though I am shattered and torn that my mission will be ending a little bit early, I am grateful and blessed to have served these people in India. I've seen the gospel change their life which has in turn changed mine forever. 

Saturday evening, our apartment community chose to kick us out of our apartment just because we were Americans!! They were scared and what not about the corona virus but I've lived in their country with them for almost two years!!! Pretty racist if you ask me. I've also been getting dirty looks and people pointing at us and yelling, "corona virus!! corona virus!!" So we packed up all of our bags again and got a cab to Rajahmundry to stay with the other Elders who live two hours away. But they told us we wouldn't leave for a week or two so we unpacked a little bit. 

Sunday, they told us that they got news that India will be shutting down the small airports in india and not allowing domestic travel either!! So, we immediately got a flight ticket to Bangalore and we were freaking out. Again, we packed everything and we were hyped to go stay in the mission office.

Now we are here on Monday. I am sitting in my apartment in Rajahmundry leaving for the airport in an hour to hopefully get though to Bangalore and get to the mission home safely before they shut down the airport. From there, we will wait until we can find and book an international flight home. India has already stopped incoming international flights to India so I'm hoping they can get an outgoing flight home. I'm praying that everything goes smoothly and I can get home safely. It's been quite a crazy week. As of now, I will be going to Bangalore and waiting further updates!! Be safe and continue to trust in God's plan and have faith He will help you during these last days. That's all we can do and that's what I will be doing. 

I love you all!! 

Love, Elder Baker

 Elder Clawson and I!! I trained him and then had to leave after only a few weeks )): I miss him. 

                                             There was only like 7 people on my flight!!

                                 In the airport after washing my hands and wearing a mask. 

                      My small little propeller plane from Hyderabad to Rajahmundry

                                     Elder Quigley and I staying safe with the masks

                                       What a tender mercy to see the Kuna family again.

                                           Our nice meal we made with the senior couple 

           Elder McGuire, Quigley, and Korukonda with the masks in front of the church sign.

This gif is me surprising the Kuna family!! Look at the reaction of Deepthi's face! My HEART will never forget this 

One last baptism!!

Wow, what a historical week in the church!! The last few weeks were pretty busy and we had a lot of things to get done and stuff like that so I hadn't really had a set solid schedule yet to work with Elder Clawson. I wanted to get into a solid routine for him as he first starts his mission but things kept coming up!! Like, MLC, or exchanges, or planning for one of our many trainings. I felt like finally I had a week where I can train Elder Clawson and focus on him more and our schedule!! 

I seriously kept telling him this week was going to be awesome because it will be all normal, no surprises, no more exchanges and it will be super great. Well, that was all wrong. First of all, Monday evening we get a call from the Assistants and they told us they plan to come to Hyderabad and do an exchange with us Zone Leaders tomorrow so they literally flew into Hyderabad from Bangalore the next day!! Tuesday and Wednesday I was with Elder Mungamari and he is a great guy and a great missionary but that means I wasn't with Elder Clawson. So, going on exchange with the AP's was the start to the "normal set week" I had promised to Elder Clawson just earlier that day.

The next day is when we woke up and saw the announcement from the church cancelling all church meetings including large gatherings and leadership conferences and everything. Well, we were having our mission president fly to Hyderabad today for our zone conference!! So, after I woke up and read this article, within 10 minutes my mission president called me and said that he won't be coming to Hyderabad to do zone conference so we are going to have to do it over video call. I was soo excited for our zone conference and to see president and sister Thomas so I was a little sad. It actually worked out pretty smoothly. It wasn't the same but it was pretty good over technology! We has all the Elders video call in from their apartment and president and sister Thomas were in Bangalore. It was super cool! We even did our interview over a video call. 

Missionary work is kind of weird right now because we can't bring people to church and we also have been told not to baptize until further notice!! What?! How are we supposed to fulfill our purpose without baptizing. Anyway, they gave us permission to baptize this weekend only if people were prepared so I told Vijaya and we made it work!! She was seriously so prepared for baptism. She has been coming to church for a long long time and even pays her tithing. Her daughter Sowmya and I served together on my mission and even started together in the mission home. Sowmya has been waiting a long time for her mom to be baptized also so they can go to the temple together. It was really exciting to see both of them so happy in their family now they are all members. It was a super unique and special baptism service. We got to baptize Vijaya with a small group of only 4 people came because it has to be a small gathering. Right after I performed the baptism, Elder Clawson confirmed her a member! It was cool to do the baptism and confirmation right then and there at the waters edge. We will see how long all of this lasts but I'm glad Vijaya got to be baptized before the baptism hold. 

Anyway, I think this is just a super cool time to be alive and be a part of the Lord's restored church. We are so lucky that we have a prophet of God and apostles that literally are communicating with Christ to help us during these times. Well, it sure is fun to go forward with faith. It is becoming a lot more necessary to walk by faith rather than by sight. We are lucky to have a Prophet of God to follow in these days. By the way, this all hit me and I understood God's plan. God is having every country shut down everything so there is literally no distractuon to "Hear Him" for this bicentennial conference. How cool is that!! 

I love you all! Have a great week and stay safe.

Love, Elder Baker  

                                     Elder Clawson and I cleaning the baptism font   

                              This is what we call a small gathering for our baptism. 

  

 My interview with President Thomas was so awesome over video call.  

                                             After eating nicely, I left a nice thank you note.

                                        Visiting the Maddula family with Elder Mungamari.

 After the announcement, we went to our church to find this sign. I'm still confused, can                               someone explain what "NO ENTRI" means? #india

                                                           Hard Rock Cafe Hyderabad 

                                           Hard Rock Cafe huge burger!! It was good

                                               Virtual Hyderabad Zone Conference!

                                                  Thank you note written on my plate

                                                               Baptism of Vijaya!!

Corona Virus in the Airport, Baptisms, and MLC

I feel like the weeks just keep going by and it's not slowing down at all. What I love about missionary work in India is that there is always something to do, always someone to talk to, always someone to teach. If you want to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ, then you can find plenty of people to teach here. If you want, you can make yourself as busy as you want or as lazy as you want. It's all in our hands. 

Well, I like to stay busy and lately I've felt like I haven't had any time to even think about sitting down and taking a breath. I have so much on my plate right now, I find myself taking the travel time on a local bus to try and plan and make the zone conference agenda and so many other things. Right now, I am trying to do so much and I wish I could just do a better job at all of it. In my last area, I could focus all my time on the people and I absolutely loved it but now I have so many more responsibilities to worry about. It's great, I love the work and I love to stay busy, I just wish I was better at it.

Well, I'll tell you why this week went by so fast! Last Monday night, Elder Clawson and I traveled to the other Zone leader's apartment and stayed the night there. Elder Idso and I taught a lesson to a sister named Sravanthi. She has been wanting to be baptized but has so many problems in her life. The biggest one right now being her parents wanting to force her into an arranged marriage. She was struggling with some other things also but still wants to be baptized. So, Elder Idso and I taught such a good lesson!! The spirit was so strong and we talked about the doctrine of receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. We talked about the constant companionship and peace and guidance and love she can receive. We realized that she needs the Holy Ghost more in her life. She said that she loves the way she feels when she meets with us and when she comes to church, but it doesn't last with her all day. We promised her that if she would be baptized on Saturday, that the trials and temptations she is receiving from Satan will go away and she will start feeling peace in her heart because of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Sravanthi decided right then and there that she was going to be courageous and follow her heart and be baptized and confirmed this week. So, Sravanthi was baptized and confirmed on Friday! After months and months of her telling about her trials and worries and struggles, she texted the day after her baptism and said she feels peace in her heart and happiness. That is the promised blessings of receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

Tuesday, Elder Idso and I flew to Bangalore for MLC and it was such a fun trip. We had so much fun talking to people in the airport and plane and learning so many things at MLC. We have big plans for this Bicentennial year. We plan to do a big "Hear Him" open house tour in our church next month that pretty much will be teaching about the restoration and Joseph Smith's first vision. We are really excited. Also, we talked about a lot of other good stuff about the mission and missionary work. Tuesday is when the Corona Virus was confirmed to be active in India. The first day, there were like 3 confirmed cases and by the next day, there was over 30 I believe. After MLC and as we were leaving the mission home to go to the Bangalore airport on Wednesday afternoon, one of the workers in the mission home ran upstairs and said, "Hey!! There was just 7 confirmed cases of corona virus in the Bangalore airport!" As our cab driver is packing our bags in his car to take us to the airport is downstairs. Well, we still went to the airport and we stayed safe and nothing happened(so far). Everyone was wearing masks and being careful. The airport was screening a few people. At one point, I just simply sneezed and about 20 people gave me the dirtiest look. 

The last half of the week was super busy!! I was running around town because I had to attend some stake meetings to plan for our bicentennial event with the stake high council. The only problem is that the stake center is over an hour away. Also, I planned and presented our zone meeting on Friday and also.have been planning our zone conference which is this next week. While I am planning and taking care of all these things, I still have to take care and love and teach the people in my area! On top of that, I am supposed to be training Elder Clawson but feel like I have just been dragging him around to all of this stuff and I'm always on the phone hahah. Ohhh, I hope he doesn't think his companion is junk. I love Elder Clawson by the way!! He is doing sooooo much better this week. Not gonna lie, the first few days in India were rough but he is doing great now! He has adjusted this week and made a ton of progress. He is loving our work and loving the people and we are getting along and having a great time together. I'm excited for this transfer. 

Well, the last super awesome thing that happened this week is that Vijaya accepted the invitation to be baptized!! She is the sweetest lady ever. Her daughter actually recently returned from her mission. I started serving in India with her like a year and a half ago. She had just come from the MTC when I got to the mission home in Bangalore. We served together in Chennai for awhile and then again in the Rajahmundry zone. Now, I am serving in her home ward and have been teaching her mom the gospel and now her mom wants to be baptized!! Super cool. The first day I came to India and met her in the mission home, I would've never thought that I would be in her home teaching her mom and helping her to get baptized but here we are a year and a half later and that's what is happening!!

Okay, I lied. One more thing!! Bashira has been the best little member missionary ever. All she talks about with her friends is her love for the Book of Mormon and the restored gospel. She invites people left and right to come and see our church, to come and learn about the true church with the correct authority. People are coming too!! This week, she brought her friend Sirisha and we taught her with the help of Bashira. She has too strong of a testimony and conversion story. I wish I could take her through the rest of my mission. Hahah I feel like Sirisha might be baptized, I'll let you know more next week!!

I love you all so much and I appreciate the love and support and prayers and everything. It means so much to hear your feedback and thoughts about my experiences. They are changing my life for the better. My testimony grows each and every day. 

Love, Elder Baker 

 Selfie with Bishop's family and Bashira

Selfie with the return missionary I served with Sister Paduru and her friends and mom.

                                                         MLC picture in Bangalore!

            Elder Clawson paying for a share auto as we get out at the metro station

 All of the women in my ward because Sunday was Women's day! Happy women's day!

 

                                            Elder Idso and I about to board the plane.

 

                Us wearing our masks at the infested Bangalore airport!! Jk, we were fine. 

                                                         
Ahhh, good airplane food. Every missionary here knows about the Paprika Chicken Tikka Sandwich.

 We had to get a picture with this guy at the airport! He had the coolest beard. Turns out he was a famous guy that teaches yoga and spirituality. They were so cool and calm. 

                   We flew with the flight attendants in training so we got a picture with all of them.

                                                    Just Elder Clawson and I one night 

Good Food, Another New Son Named Elder Clawson, and Answers to My Prayers

This week was transfers and I got a new companion!! His name is Elder Clawson and he is from Utah and brand new to India. I will be training him and especially training him and helping him adjust to India. I'm way excited. I got to pick him up at the airport on Friday and we had a great few days so far together. It was an awesome weekend. I get to experience all the "firsts" in India again with Elder Clawson and it is so fun. This week, he experienced his first time crossing the street in the crazy traffic, he experienced eating with his hand, and eating rice and curry, riding in the shared autos, using the sprayer instead of toilet paper, he is still taking it all in!! 

Elder Clawson is slowly adjusting to India, he is experiencing a whole lot of culture shock. Despite all of that, we have had a GREAT first weekend together. Saturday we had a teaching appointment with a new family that some members referred to us. They were incredibly nice and so loving. We had a struggle finding the address of their home because we both are Americans and don't know the area or language. I was nervous about this before I got Elder Clawson so I have been praying to find and seek people that we can teach in English! So, as we were searching for their home, a brother stopped on his moped and started talking to us. He spoke amazing English. He lived in America for 14 years and knew about our church and has even been to our temples there to visit. He accepted our invitation for us to come to his home so we plan to go this week!! Answer to my prayer. 

But that's not all, we ended up finding the families house and taught them. It went great. When we left, we walked for awhile and then stopped to get a coke at a small shop for Elder Clawson because apparently it is good for digestion. I spoke with the worker in Telugu and was very friendly. At the same time, there were three ladies in an auto nearby watching us foreigners "enjoying and being happy while surviving here in India" as they explained. We got in the auto and rode together and we talked with them and even they spoke perfect English and accepted our invitation for us to come to their home. There are just prepared souls all around the streets of India and they nearly come to us when we are doing the right things. By now, Elder Clawson was so happy and excited to serve in India. I told him, "welcome to serving in India, it's so much fun because people love us and I love them!!

We taught a lesson that night to two sisters who are super interested and will definitely progress to be baptized. The spirit just pounded all of us in the room and left everyone on the edge of their seat wanting more. When we closed the lesson about the restoration, they looked at the clock and they were shocked because about 50 minutes had gone by and they didn't realize it. They were just so into the message. I asked when we can come back to teach more, and one sister suggested next week Saturday again but the other sister cut her off and was like no, that's way too far away, come Wednesday!! Oh, I get so excited teaching!! I just love helping people understand the need for a restoration and how it has happened! Everyone needs to know this. I feel sad for the people that don't know it or don't understand it. 

Finally, Sunday was really good. We taught a walk in family who heard about the church 6 years ago from some members and have been wanting to come. They just felt a strong urge to come to church today and were asking us to teach them something so we sat down and got to know them a little bit. They only had about 15 minutes so we taught a basic, simple, shortened restoration lesson and they invited us to their home the very next day to teach more about it!! It was perfect. Everything that needed to be there in the lesson was there even though it was short we didn't teach every single piece of doctrine and each point but the spirit testified enough for them to realize this is good and true and they want more. We will hit them with the rest of the lesson tonight more in depth. They said they want to come to our church every Sunday. 

Everything is going pretty well right now, the work is starting to pick up. God is blessing us for working hard. Last transfer, there wasn't a lot of people being taught that were progressing but now it is going so good and we should have some baptisms soon. I am loving it and time is just flying by. I don't even know how another transfer is gone. Just like that, another month and a half are gone. The end of my mission is coming way too close, it's making me sad to think I have to stop doing what I'm doing. It's too much fun. 

I love you all!! 

Love, Elder Baker 

 A member works at a big 5 star hotel and took us for food and it was the best food I've ever had in india. It was so nice. So the pictures of food in this email is probably from the Westin hotel. Here is the cake.

      Apparently the new family took a picture of us while we were praying in their home hahah

                                                            Cool little Indian things

                           A super cool terrace restaurant on the top of the Westin hotel roof

                                            Handmade elephants that looked super cool.

                                          Bashira, Sowmya, and Paduru at church with us.

                           Just a picture of me because it's been about a year and a half

 I was so excited at this moment because I was about to eat an unlimited buffet at a 5 star hotel. 

                               My new companion Elder Clawson on his first day in India!!

 Our table at the Westin hotel. Apparently we got there right before closing time so we just had to fill our table with plates before they took away the food hahah. 

            Sending away my old companion and picking up my new companion at the airport. 

 I got to see my first son Elder Rajendran again after a full year!!! And I got to meet him with my current son. 

                                  Elder Gaddala and I on a cool couch at the Westin hotel

                                  They had sushi!!!! I haven't even seen this before in India

                                             Handmade marble elephant that was huge.