Another pretty good week. Not quite as good as last week, but it is hard to get as good as a baptism week...This week we were trying to focus on some new people. We did visit Christian and Stephen though. They are both good except for Stephen likes drinking, and both he and Christian tell us they are coming to church but then don't get up in the mornings because church is at 8am. However, we went to go to an appointment this week with Cedrick, but that person wasn't home and we still had time so Cedrick took us to one of his friend's house. His name is Maurice, also from Congo. He is a pretty cool guy. Kind of weird haha but good. I guess missionaries taught him for about a year and a half and he committed to baptism but he couldn't get baptized because he wasn't married and was living with a girl. Now he hasn't been taught for a long time but we went and visited him and he is now married to an Indian girl named Mary, and he and his wife are both new investigators for us and if we can get them to church three straight sundays then we can baptize them.
We also got a referral from the Pidugu family this week. Her name is Aishwaria and she like 18 or 19 and pretty cute but is pretty weird haha. She was committed to be baptized on December 21 if she came to church three straight weeks but this week she bunked church so we will have to postpone that date. Plus Elder Bunga and i find her a little sketchy because she is engaged to a guy named Prashanth who is also a new investigator for us and when we visited her she was asking us if the church could marry her and him so we are thinking that she just wants to join the church so she can get married and have support. This is because her family is Hindu and she used to be Hindu but this guy is Christian and most marriages here are arranged and her parents don't want her to marry him so we are worried she would just join the church for marriage support which would not be good at all. But maybe things will change. The gospel of Jesus Christ can change anybody. It has changed me so much even. I have become so much better of a person now and have come so much closer to the Savior than i ever have before and my knowledge of the gospel has grown tremendously. It is amazing how a mission can do that.
So on Wednesday we got new bicycles and have been riding them and man i am out of shape. But they are not too bad. Not too good either. I have no problems riding the cycles the big distances that we do but the problem is riding them here in Bangalore. The streets are insane and i feel like i am going to hit all the time. it freaks me out! haha but every morning before we leave i pray for protection throughout the day and i think i can already feel him watching out for me while we ride in the wild streets of India;) But anyways we rode the bus home on Wednesday night from an appointment and i sat next to this African guy. I just decided to start talking to him and he was super cool and told me his name was Allan and that he was from Ivory Coast like Frank. He is so nice and as i spoke to him i asked him if we could come and teach him this week. He said of course and to come see him anytime. So the next day, on thursday we made an appointment with him and took Cedrick with us and went and taught him. We taught him the Restoration and the spirit was so incredibly strong in that lesson. I have been having a goal lately to testify more in my parts of the lesson rather than just teaching the people, and so during this lesson i testified multiple times and it was just so much more powerful and as i testified i could immediately feel my testimony of the restoration and His gospel strengthen. It was incredible. So after i described the first vision, i testified to him about knowing that joseph smith saw god and jesus Christ, and after he asked me how i can i know for sure. I asked what the holy ghost does and he says guide and help us. So i said yes and it also testifies of truth and how it is testified to me and that there is no way i can deny that. That is something i probably wouldn't have said on my own so the spirit really guided me and he was like wow okay. It was awesome. We also gave him a book of mormon and he said he will start reading it. He also came to church on sunday even though he had his church program he was in charge of at his own church at 11. so he came and heard the testimonies and attended gospel principles class and then left early to make his service. He is such a cool and nice guy and we are meeting him tomorrow so we are excited to teach him. I know you are probably all wondering "why isn't he teaching indian people instead of africans" haha but a child of god is a child of god;)
I am soooooo glad Tyler is doing great. I had one day
this week where i couldn't help but think of him a lot. Glad he still
remembers me;) Answers: In India they do celebrate christmas and some
non-christians do as well but obviously it is not as big as in the US.
Not feeling too much like christmas right now, but our bml decorated his house
all nice for it so it felt good to be in there and feel like home;) On
Christmas i do get to skype home:) oh real quick you should research the
church's "He is the Gift" initiative if you haven't already. It
is so cool!! And about the transfer, we will either get a call today or next monday!
Dad: Sounds like people are trying to be like me by wearing
my number;) haha Damen had 22 huh?? Nice! That's good for him! I think when
they get to their conference schedule we will see how they will do. Maybe
the quickness they have will be really good for them. I really miss
coaching my boys! They will kill it this year! Timberline ahead of Capital?? No
way. Captial will repeat. BSU in the Fiesta Bowl?? Nice!!!
hopefully they get the W!. And wow those playoff games sound dang
good. KD came back? Good hopefully they move up in the standings
now. They will for sure. What are the standings looking
like?? Your hand gesture in the picture is awesome!!!! haha i laughed so
hard at that!! Looking great Pops! I hope the young men in our ward are
doing well. Especially the priest quorum. I hope they are growing a
bit. How are the missionaries in our ward?? And yes a mission is by
far the most difficult thing i have ever done mentally, emotionally,
spiritually, and even physically. Always exhausted in all of those categories,
but pushing through it really brings blessings and being on a mission is easily
one of the best decisions to ever make. Only me and the Jenkins??? wow we
need more missionaries from the ward...
Well hopefully another great week ahead and the days seem
like weeks but the weeks seem like days so i guess time flies in the long
run!
Weekly scriptures: Mosiah 4:12 and D&C 45:3-5Love you guys so much!!! Until next week...
Love, Elder Ball
PS: Mom, i love that christmas calendar you gave me so much!
It is awesome!!! It is the second thing i do every morning right after
praying. Love it. Thank you!
Toodles
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