Monday, September 15, 2014

September 15, 2014 - Bangalore

Family and Friends!
Another fantastic week this week.  While it did seem like it went by kind of slow, it still was great.  Elder Bunga and I once again had pretty great success this week.

So this week we tried to meet with Yona again and get him to come to church, but he cancelled our appointments and then told us he was going to church to but then didn't come.  So we are kind of disappointed about that.  Other than that, there is nothing really negative at all to say about this week.  We met with a 16 year old boy named Kishore this week and he seems like he is once again very interested.  In one of our lessons, we taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he understood and was interested and we were thinking to invite him to baptism, but we decided not to.  At the very end of the lesson, he randomly brought up the subject of being baptized and said he wants to get baptized soon, so we told him that next time we meet, we will discuss the subject of baptism more and teach him even more about our message and then we will invite him.  I think he is really solid.  We also picked him up and took him to church on Sunday and he loved church and really opened up to us and seems to be really comfortable with us now so we are very confident that we can help him prepare for that key step in our journey toward returning to our Heavenly Father.

We also taught Vincent David a few times this week and the picture i uploaded with me and a guy with a thick mustache, that is Vincent David.  I absolutely love that guy.  While he is crazy at times and always seems to disappoint us by continually not following the Word of Wisdom, i just can't help really loving him.  He just seems like he is one of my great friends because he is so nice to me and i just have a tendency to really want to help so badly.  But when we visited him this week, we found out some pretty good news.  So the first time we visited him it was just me and a 16 year old member named Praveen (Bunga went with Praveen's friend Barath and we went on splits).  When we got to his home, no one was inside, so we called for him and his family but no one answered or came out so we were just about to leave when i felt prompted to go to the top floor and check there and when we got up there i saw his wife sitting in a chair and he was cleaning!! That is the most productive thing i have ever heard of him doing because he never helps out around the house and he doesn't treat his wife too well.  But i was so happy when i saw him doing this.  So we went back down with him inside his home and taught him Repentance doing the things the Lord wants us to do.  He really grasped it and i committed him to read the latter half of Alma 39 and to help out around the house for the rest of the day and not go out.  Normally when we commit him to do something he never does it so i asked him to promise me, and then when he promised, i asked him if he was a man. He said yes.  Then i asked if men keep promises and he said yes.  Then i told him that army men also keep promises even more than ordinary men (he used to be in the military) and he agreed. So i kind of caught him by surprise with this.  When we met with him the next day, he actually kept his promises! And we brought our new Branch mission leader with us and taught him the Plan of Salvation and when he prayed at the end, it was one of the most powerful and most sincere prayers i have ever heard in my entire life.  He plead with God to help him and he said he knew the church and the book of mormon are true..Every time we visit him, he cries from our message, but the goes out and does his normal stuff again.  However, during this prayer, he cried again, but this time, something told me he meant it.  I just got this amazing feeling that he truly wants help.  Over the next couple of days, my love for him grew even stronger and he has stayed sober for 5 days!! A new record for him.. So i hope we can continue to help him and i have faith that the Lord with help as well because every time we think about dropping him and stuff, i just get the strongest feeling to keep trying with him because i continuously am prompted that the Lord has something incredibly planned for him because he has no fear in talking to anyone about anything and so if we can get him to change and be baptized, he can  be such a great instrument in the hands of the Lord in spreading the gospel.  

We also found 13 more new investigators this week! We have been killing it these last couple of weeks so hopefully our great success continues and even improves.  On Friday I went on an exchange with the ZLs.  I went with Elder Mangum from Texas and Bunga went with Elder Sarkies from Delhi.  It was a pretty good day, but i was still glad to get back with my amazing companion Elder Bunga.  I am just so comfortable with him and i think we make a really great team.  He has taught me a lot and is such a great missionary and one of my best friends now.  I love him.

So my birthday was super busy so i did nothing whatsoever to celebrate, not even go out to eat, because we were so busy.  but it doesn't matter.  The only thing that really matters right now is the investigators i guess:) I think that's what God was trying to tell me because i had a couple things planned but ended up having extra, longer appointments. Thanks for the b-day wishes:) Tell Ava happy b-day for me.

Answers to Moms Q's: So on P-days we clean, email, do laundry, shop, see places, sometimes play ball, rest.  And yes we use rupees.  1 US dollar is about 60 rupees or so.  We use the computer at the church building for our branch.  Hardest thing this week was probably my fatigue at the end of the week.  I was exhausted by the end of week because we really went so hard this week and many nights we went to bed late and then woke up really early on Sunday to go pick up Kishore.  Funniest was probably Elder Bunga and I just talking about all of these sayings that our investigators and less actives say and how they say it all the time and then when we hear them we have to hold back laughs.  It is kind of an inside joke so i probably won't be that funny.  But visiting Vincent David is always funny because if he gets going talking, he won't stop for like 30 mins.  They have peanut butter but it is pretty expensive, but i am so addicted that i buy it anyway;)  The food is amazing.  When i get home i will probably want to go eat out at indian restaurants all the time because i love the food so much.  I hope Tyler is doing okay...I miss that little (big) guy so much.  I miss you guys a lot too.  I really appreciate how great of parents you were to me. You guys are so awesome, i am so lucky.  

Dad: Sounds like BYU is killing it.  and the Giants are horrible....Kyrie Irving is a baller.  I bet the Cavs have a good year this year.  Yeah keep helping mom out;)  You have to take my place now that i am gone;) Since the little guy (Ty) can't do a ton :)  Your cards you made for me are awesome Pa.  They help me a lot.  Thanks for the advice.  

Well that is about it for this week! Hopefully we keep up the great success! Hope you all have a great week! I miss you and love you all!
Love,
Elder Ball

PS-i decided i am going to do a scripture of the week that i found and loved in my personal study every week so this weeks scripture(s) are: Alma 29:9 and Alma 34:9.  I couldn't choose between them so i will give you both:)

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