June 27, 2016 - Bengaluru, Whitefield

Hello fam!!! 

Elder Thompson and I had a pretty darn good week.  It was pretty stressful and really busy but turned out great.  

The new missionaries came in so we met all of them, and all of the Americans are like super shocked haha.  Yep it really reminds me how in awe and shock i was and how it took a little bit to adjust. But they all seem to be really good Elders so should be exciting.  But i won't really get to know them that well in 5 weeks.  

Anyway this week we worked with our current investigators, and on Saturday we had Raj Kumar's baptism!!! He was super happy and excited and really has grown a lot.  He was also confirmed yesterday so he is all set.  Great guy.  We also baptized Babitha and Helen on Sunday.  I baptized Babitha, and the Stake President baptized Helen because he is her relative.  It was a good time and so happy.  Helen was happy, and when Preethi introduced Babitha to the members at the service, she and Babitha both were in tears.  They were very happy.  Especially Preethi because she got to see her mother get baptized.  Families can be forever!!!!!

So other than that, we had a small fear this week that we wouldn't have anyone to teach after these baptisms, but we got a referral from a member this week.  They are a family of three...Mom, Dad, and 1 year old boy.  Awesome family so they will be really good potential.  And then yesterday another baptism basically dropped out of the sky!!! There is a member couple who has a relative staying with them who recently came here, and she is Hindu background but is really interested in learning and boy is she golden.  Awesome understanding, and she has come to church a couple of times already.  So looks like July could see a couple baptisms as well.  We are planning on Muthulakshmi, and this new sister Sailakshmi for sure and maybe even that new couple as well.  Last night we taught another investigator we have and had a good lesson with her, so she will be potential as well.  She will take some time, but we think she could get there as well for August or thereabouts. 

Thank you so much for your prayers for our investigators.  The work has really been great lately, and the members are really starting to love us i think, I hope haha.  Well this week we will welcome the new President.  So sad to see President Berrett leaving on Thursday, so will have to try and spend a little time with him these last couple days.  

Well onto another week.  Time winding down.  Last minutes of the 4th.  

Elder Ball

Assume this is at a Whitefield Ward open house for the Berrett's before they leave Bengaluru.

Elder Ball, Raj Kumar, Elder Thompson

With Raj Kumar and the Grundy's

Elder Ball, Babitha, Helen, President Nithya, Elder Thompson

Elder Thompson said they were on speaker phone with President Berrett discussing transfers.

June 20, 2016 - Bengaluru, Whitefield

Hey fam!

This week was a pretty good one.  It started off a little bit slow, but then got really busy and we had some really good successes.  

This week Sindhu and Swathi got confirmed, and our investigators came to church again so this upcoming weekend we will be having three baptisms!!!! The ward is pretty excited about that haha, but not sure who is more excited, them or us.  All of them are doing pretty well.  Again our less actives we have been working with came to church, so that was cool too.  We also began teaching a sister this week who is really good will probably if not definitely get baptized in July.  

But we are still trying to find people, because once all of our investigators are baptized we won't have much to do.....So as of now it is a good problem to have because almost 100% of our teaching pool is getting baptized, but after their baptisms then it will be a not good problem haha.  But we will see what we can do.

So President and Sister Berrett's days are winding down...only 9 more for them.  It will be really sad to see them leave.  I really love them so much.  They are the best.  But it will be exciting i guess to meet the new president and get to know him.  So yes this week is transfer week, and of course me and my boy Elder Thompson are staying together for my last 6 weeks.  Crazy that this is my last transfer and i am using my last daily planner on the mish.  

Mom as for your question about the members, there are a few that are endowed but not a ton.  I think there are more in Bangalore than anywhere else but not sure.  They go to Hong Kong.  That is the nearest temple.  And yep my last day is a regular transfer day.  This transfer we are getting 4 elders from the pines and 7 new ones, so we will be busy with that stuff this week.  And almost all of our batchmates will be going together.  One of them goes home tomorrow so one transfer early, but pretty much the rest will all be together.   

Anyways sorry about not much to say again.....running out of things to say!! haha

But last thing is HAPPY FATHER's DAY to my mate and pa!!

Love you!

Elder Ball

June 13, 2016 - Bengaluru, Whitefield

Hello everyone!!!!

This week was actually a pretty good week for Elder Thompson and I.  We are still moving along and have quite a bit of good things going on in our area.  A lot of the people we are working with came to church!! This week was a really good success.

First off, a less active brother named Moses that we have been working with FINALLY came to church.  He was really happy and he brought his whole family so it was great.  He is a way cool guy and has become a really good friend of ours.  Another less active sister named Dheena came again and another sister named Sowbagya.  It was really great to see some of these "lost sheep" beginning to come back and partake of the sacrament and the blessings of the gospel once again.  

Raj Kumar is progressing soooo well.  He is really close to getting baptized and is really getting into the YSA things now like Saturday night cricket, and next week they are going to Mysore for an activity.  He is really excited, and in his prayers says he is planning to get baptized.  Helen is also doing well.  Babitha came again is doing nicely and we set her with a date for the 25th of June...so she, Helen and Raj Kumar are planned all for next week on Saturday!!! So we could tack on 3 more baptisms this month!! Pray for these people so that they all can make to that date!!:)

The best thing was about Sindhu and Swathi.  On Tuesday it wasn't looking so good for them.  The father was still being flaky, and so we were losing hope that this week they would get baptized.  We continued to plan with faith that some miracle would happen and we prayed so hard for them this week.  When Friday came, still didn't look good, then Saturday came still not good.  But Saturday evening we saw them and they said their father is giving permission!! So we took a member and got all the paper work done and we baptized them!!!!!!!!!!! It was so good and an amazing service.  All the young women got up and recited the young women theme for them and welcomed them.  It was a super amazing baptism.  I will send pics:) Their father is in a pink colored shirt.  Babitha, is in the Saree and Sindhu is the thinner of the two.  Really great miracle this week.

So that is about it for our week.  It turned out really well and it looks like in about 12 days we could be having 3 more baptisms!!! So this week hopefully we can find a new family or two to refill our teaching pool!:)

Sounds like you all are doing well also! Love you guys a ton!!

Elder Ball

Swathi and Sindhu's baptism!

Elder Ball. Swathi, S/S dad, Sindhu, Elder Thompson

Elder Ball, Sister Babitha, Sister Preethi, Swathi, S/S dad, Sindhu, Elder Thompson

The exquisite cuisine at Shreedevi (Meals)

June 6, 2016 - Bengaluru, Whitefield & Visit to Rajah w/ Pictures

Hello!
This week was a pretty decent bounce back week for Elder Thompson and I.  We were super busy as we had exchanges with Hyderabad Zone Leaders, and we had MLC (last one with Pres/Sis Berrett), and we also were in Rajahmundry from Thursday until Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday we had some busy work with the missions training plan.  However, amidst all of this busy work, we still managed to teach a solid amount of lessons and had some pretty good success.

So Sindhu and Swathi were supposed to get baptized this week.  We had their interviews this week and they both passed wonderfully, but last minute their father had to go out of town for a couple days so he wasn't going to be able to attend.  So we pushed it to next week but we are pretty sure about their baptism this upcoming Sunday so we are excited for that. Raj Kumar is moving in the right direction.  We were able to find him some fellowship on Sunday and are getting him involved in the YSA activities and i think he is doing well now.  He mentioned to us that has taken two steps forward so that sounds pretty positive doesn't it? But we have him scheduled to be baptized this month which is great.

We also taught Helen this week and had a great lesson with her and she really progressed well this week! She came to church again and we set her with a June 19 baptism date, so things are looking good for this month in terms of baptisms.  Looks like we can get 4 this month which is awesome.  Babitha came to church this week...miracle.  That was good so we will see if we can get her set for a date in early July.  So in the near future things are looking wonderful.  But we have to start finding some new people so that when these people get baptized we won't be wondering what to do all day haha.

Our trip to Rajahmundry was really fun.  We saw a ton of people and our old friends and really enjoyed it.  We got fed so much, and the members were super surprised and stoked to see us.  We really enjoyed our time there, and one of the sisters there was serving a mission in the philippines while i was serving in her branch and she was back, and so we spoke Tagalog for like 30 minutes straight!! It was awesome.  I love speaking Tagalog.  But funny thing is, she served with the daughter of my Branch President from DapDap.  Meaning, DapDap's branch president's daughter and this sister from Rajahmundry served together in their missions! Small world huh? But anyways i will send some pics to you!:)  I got to see one of my converts sister Neeraja and took a pic with her.  She is doing well and was happy to see me:) I think i can still get by okay with some Telugu haha but i was a tad rusty:)

Anyways a pretty good week for us and hopefully another to come for us and for you! 

Elder Bunthi

PS, Elder Thompson's letter described their visit to Rajah like this....
"We borrowed a few cycles from the elders serving there and went straight to Katheru Village that basically used to be our home. As soon as we got there, little children started waving, chasing us down, and yelling "Hi Ball! Hi Thompson!" It was so crazy to see how everybody still remembers us so well even though we've been gone for so long! It's like we never even left. The two tall white guys will never be forgotten in Rajahmundry. The members and investigators were equally excited to see us. We rolled up to their homes on our cycles totally unexpected and randomly. People's facial expressions were so sweet as they saw us ride up to their home. Some people were smiling, some were laughing or jumping for joy, some were confused as to what in the world we were doing there, and some even started crying a little bit."

Pictures of Elder Ball/Thompson visit to Rajahmundry...

Sathish, a member in Bangalore

With Neeraja, a convert of Elder Ball while serving in Rajah a year ago.

Polupalli family

Ramidi family (Priyanka and Ravi Kishore)

Deepak (BML) and his wife

Deepak

Alamanda Ganesh family and Vamsi (boy)

Podi children

Podi family

Hitching a ride to their good buddy, "Auto" Ramesh!  (who also bought them breakfast on the way)

Whitefield Ward 1st Counselor Edwin

May 30, 2016 - Bengaluru, Whitefield

Hello!!
Well to be quite honest there isn't much to say this week....only thing to say is this week was a pretty big disappointment and struggle.  It was very hard because Babitha, Sindu and Swathi, and Raj Kumar were all out of town this week! Like the whole week!!! so we didn't get to teach them!! and they are the meat of our investigator pool!! So it was a tough week.  We taught more recent converts and less actives this week, but other than that it was pretty difficult.  We did teach one of our investigators named Helen and she finally came to church, so that was a pleasant outcome of our struggle this week.

We worked really hard this week and had nice plans every day, but they just kept falling through so it was a tad disappointing.  But we are looking to bounce back this week.  Sindu and Swathi are scheduled to be baptized this week but we haven't taught them everything yet, so hopefully we can get that done before their interview.  Will be a tight squeeze, but hopefully we can do it.  They are doing really well, but they were just out of town this entire week.  On Thursday, Elder Thompson and I are going to Rajahmundry to check things out, so we are going to go see some people from our old stomping grounds.  We are pretty excited.

Things are winding down for President Berrett...only one month left for him, so we will be super busy when he leaves helping the new mission president out and travelling with him to meet the mission.  It will be nice because i will only have 1 month with him, but since we will be with him a lot i will be able to get to know him pretty well.  Should be an interesting change.  I sure am going to miss President Berrett though. 

Anyways Elder Thompson and i are still enjoying everything, and we are learning together how to cook some Indian food, and we are having lots of fun and working hard.  Just hopefully we and the Thunder bounce back from a bad week and have a good one this week!:)

Love you guys!!!
Elder Ball

May 23, 2016 - Bengaluru, Whitefield

Hello!!
Well another great week for Elder Thompson and I!! Man we kill it together! I don't know what it is, but we just seem to be able to work really hard and well together all the while enjoying it like crazy!! We really have a great time together!!!

This week we taught more lessons than i have ever taught here in whitefield.  We really had an awesome week and achieved most of our goals.  Prathapan and Shanthi got confirmed this week, and they are doing awesome.  So happy and it really brings me so much happiness seeing how well they are doing.  Also, a big step, Prathapan who just a few weeks ago was struggling with alcohol, is worthy for the priesthood and got ordained to a priest yesterday!!! So amazing to see that.  He and his family are so excited that he has the priesthood, and that in the near future he will be their Melchizedek priesthood holder in the home.

Sindu and Swathi are doing amazing and are still scheduled for baptism on the 5th of June.  Babitha was also scheduled for that date but again she didn't come to church.  Very frustrating.  Not sure what the problem is.  But at Ward Council we came up with a pretty good plan to involve her in the Young Women's because she is a teacher and also Preethi, her daughter is probably going to get called as a Young Women's advisor, so it will very comfortable environment for Babitha.  Hopefully that helps her get excited.

Raj Kumar is awesome.  He committed to June 12 baptism and came to church again and is doing really well.  We just have to keep working with him and help him get involved in the ward.  We found a couple new investigators this week.  One is Thanush's 10 year old cousin who we taught and his mother is also a potential.  Also we were looking through our area book and called every single former investigator, so we called like 100 people.  We only got like three interests but one of them we went and taught yesterday and it was good.  Very nice family, so hopefully there is some potential there.  

This week we have really been noticing God's help in our work.  This area was really struggling just a couple weeks ago, but now is really picking up and we are really improving things here.  The Bishop and the ward are really pleased with us right now, so we are going to try and keep that up.  But none of our successes are possible without the Master and the Lord themselves.  Especially since Shanthi keeps thanking us for helping her husband change, but really it was the Savior and his Atonement which has changed him.  And not only him, but has been changing me as well.  The Atonement and repentance are amazing.  And it isn't just to make bad men good, but also to make good men better.

Crazy about the ward split!!!! That is so weird.  Especially about the Harbaughs and some other people!! Not sure if i want to come home to that!;) haha. 

GO OKC.  Thanks for the trunky note dad;)  (note about OKC)
Love you guys!!!!
Elder Ball

Recent Leadership Training by President Berrett and Elder Funk

Elder Ball, investigator Raj Kumar, Elder Thompson

Elders Thompson & Ball with investigator, Shabbeer

Their housing complex called Brigade Metropolis.

An excerpt from Elder Thompson's letter this week...

"Walking around the streets of Bangalore with another tall white guy that looks exactly the same as me regularly causes people to lift their eyebrows and turn their heads as we walk by. When we talk to people on the streets, our conversation usually goes something like this:

Us: Hey guys, how are you?

Them: Fine! Where are you from?

Us: We're from America. 

Them: Ahh, okay okay. Twins Ah?

Us: No we're not twins. We're looking the same right?

Them: Yes! You are own brothers?

Us: Nope. Also not brothers.

Them: Cousin brothers?

Us: Yeah, let's go with that. We're cousin brothers. (which in India really doesn't imply that you are blood related but related because of friendship or something)"

May 16, 2016 - Bengaluru, Whitefield

Hello!

Well Elder Thompson is with me again, and wow.......we really were able to pick up right where we left off a year ago.  We are still super tight and really enjoy together and work really hard.  We had a SUPER successful week!!! Elder Thompson is just so easy to work with and we are doing awesome.  I think we can really turn the work around here. 

We taught a lot more than is usually taught in this area! And also we set Sindu and Swathi with baptism dates as well as Babitha.  We met with her this week and she had come to church a couple weeks in a row so she told us she started coming back because she wants to be baptized!!! So cool.  We are excited.  We also got a referral from a cool member named Moses.  This girl's name is Revathy.  She is 15 is so sweet and really is excited to learn!!

We also taught another new guy named Raj Kumar who we really think is going to get baptized.  Also, a couple of weeks ago, we were teaching a guy in a restaurant and another guy comes up to us and basically told us he overheard us talking about God so he wanted to know what we believe.  So we find out his named is Shabbir, so he is a Muslim guy but he wanted to meet with us and learn about what we believe so we met him at the church a couple days ago and had an awesome lesson with him.  So that was a cool unique experience. 

Yesterday was Stake Conference and it was awesome.  At the beginning of my mission i attended a District Conference here in Bengaluru but this time it was sooooo different being a Stake.  It was awesome!!! Such a different feeling being a stake.  

But things are going pretty well now so we are super excited.  We are hoping we can keep it running and keeping up the increasing member trust.  We are trying to work more closely with the Bishop and it seems to be paying off.  Things are looking up:)

Elder Ball

PS: Dad, yep it is Sharyn Thomas.  Oh and GO OKC!!! I knew my boys would pull through against those old farts!!! haha!