Specialized Training

Hello,

This was a pretty nice week!  It's been fun having Elder Battraw with us.  He's been learning so much about what it's like to live in India.  Everything is super different for him, but he seems to be talking it all in pretty well.

This week we got to travel to Visak to attend a specialized training by President and Sister Berrett. They are such good leaders and I love hearing from them. They told us about how we can do our daily and weekly planning better to be more effective missionaries. I realized that there is a lot more I should be doing during the planning time. 

Aside from that, we've just been doing everything we can to work hard and build trust with our branch. I guess that's been a problem here because of things in the past. We're doing everything we can to let the branch know that we are working hard and doing our best.

Here's some pictures from the week.

This is one of my best friends.  He's the watchman from our apartment complex.  Even though he doesn't know any English, we always have something to say to each other.

Some guys carrying a bike on their bike.

This was our ride to Visak.  We had some serious swag.

That's all for now.  Have a great week!

Elder Thompson

New Elder

Hello,

This was a great week for us with some unexpected changes. We got a call from the AP's the other day, informing us that a new elder just got his visa and will be coming to Rajahmundry to join Elder Willis and I. I guess there are an odd number of missionaries right now, so we will be in a trio for a little while. The new Elder's name is Elder Battraw. He is from Indiana, and served in California for five months while he waited to get his visa. He's a really good elder that's excited to work hard. It will take some time for him to adjust to living in India, but he's doing really well so far! We actually had a dinner appointment last night, and he got to experience eating with his hand for the first time. Fortunately for him, the family that was feeding us decided to tone the spice down a bit. It went really well. He's also having a fun time learning how to cross the street and ride his cycle through India traffic. I remember when I first got here, trying to adjust to those very same things. That seems like it wasn't too long ago, but I have come so far in that time! Today is my eight month mark which seems crazy to me. 

We were finally blessed with some amazing new investigators this week. One guy named Rahul stopped us on the street to tell us about a family that is interested to learn. I guess Rahul is a long time member, but he stopped coming to church because of some family problems that he has. His parents don't like the church or the missionaries anymore. It's sad to see, but Rahul has been a really great help to this new family that we are teaching. They get really involved in the lessons, have a desire to come to church and pray, and love us to death. After our first visit with them, they invited us for dinner which was the dinner appointment that we had last night. We started by teaching them The Plan of Salvation because we felt that would be best for them. They seemed to really enjoy the lesson and are excited for us to come and teach more. 

It rained a ton this week. I love it since it's been so hot the last little while. The rain is very refreshing. I had a humbling experience while visiting a member family last week. We had been out in the rain all day, and we were pretty soaked. We stopped by the Podi family to see how they were doing. They very kindly invited us inside, gave us a towel, and made us some warm sugar milk. We started talking to them and Sister Podi told us that even though their family doesn't have very much money, they still have lots of love for each other. They are such a happy family and love the gospel very much. It was just a humbling experience to see a family that knows what is really important in life.

I also had the chance to do a few baptism interviews this week. That's one thing that District Leaders get to do. It was so fun to talk with people that have truly prepared themselves to be baptized and enter into a covenant with God. Their testimonies were amazing.

Here are some pictures for the week. First is a guy riding his bike with five propane tanks strapped to the back. It's pretty impressive how much stuff they can get on there. Second is Elders Stephen and Touthang holding a snail. They are the elders that I did the baptism interview for. Third is Elder Battraw riding his bicycle. He's a good guy.

That's all for now, I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Thompson

A gentleman with five propane tanks on the back of his cycle

Elder Stephen and Elder Touthang holding a snail

Elder Battraw riding his cycle

Zone Conference

Hello all,

This was a pretty good week and we actually got some rain! It's nice to have it not be quite as hot. I was sad to say goodbye to Elder Harris and Elder Monk as they finally got their paperwork done at the FRO and headed out to new areas. It's pretty quiet here with only Elder Willis and I right now but we've been working really hard and haven't had much time in the apartment. Elder Willis and I are starting to become really good friends. I'm glad that he gets to be here with me for the last transfer of his mission.

Elder Funk from the seventy and President Berrett came to Rajahmundry last weeek for missionary zone conference and also district conference on Sunday. Elder Funk was the mission president here before President Berrett so he is very familiar with the mission. We got some good instruction and practice with using the Book of Mormon in our teaching more and also "Teaching People, not Lessons." That's something that I've really had to remind myself of throughout my mission. We should ask inspired questions to see what the people we are teaching really need to hear. It's hard to ask those kinds of questions, but I feel like I am slowly getting better at it.

Elder Willis and I have been working really really hard. We fill our planners with things to do every day, but we're having a bit of a hard time because we get bunked on so many times every day. We are desperately trying to find people that speak English that we can teach. The investigators that we do have are not very solid right now, but we're trying to help. We struggled a bit this week, but we're keeping our heads up and going by the Spirit. That's what we need right now.

That's about all for the week. This morning, I finally got around to deep cleaning our bathroom which looked like it hadn't been done for about a year. It was pretty nasty, but I got all the grime off the surfaces. I made a promise to myself that I won't be that guy that leaves the apartment really dirty for the next elders.

Here's a few pictures from the week. We got to celebrate Sister Berrett's Birthday with her during zone conference. She's so nice to call all of the elders on their birthdays, so we were happy to be able to celebrate with her. Also, there is a picture of us riding to our area. It's about three miles one way, and we usually go round trip twice every day. I guess It's good for me since we eat so much rice.

Have a fantastic week! 

Riding to their area, a six mile round trip

Happy birthday, Sister Berrett!

Good Week

Hello all,

It's been a good week here in Rajahmundry. The heat has finally started to calm down and it's been overcast for most of the week. It's still humid, but compared to what we've had in the past, it's actually quite pleasant. I had to say goodbye to my good companion, Elder Ball. He went back to Bangalore to serve in my old area. My new companion, Elder Willis is a really good guy. He came here from Bangalore to serve his very last transfer with me. Elder Willis is from Lehi, Utah. Even though he only has a few more weeks left of his mission, he still wants to learn the area and work really hard. We've been going out and getting it done.

 It's been a little tough for me because I've only had one transfer to learn the area and now I'm leading everything. I'm continuing to learn things and it seems to be going well. I'm also a district leader now so I'm slowly learning how it's supposed to work. I do follow up calls with the other elders each night so it's nice to talk with them and see how they are doing. It's also nice because now that we have the whole branch, there are some other areas that have a lot more English. Hopefully we will find some good new investigators here in the next little while.

Here's some pictures for the week. I saw some signs that made me laugh a little bit. Look and see if you can see any unusual things about them. I'll send a few more below.

That's all for now. I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Elder Thompson

Camel rides for sale

The Ten "Commendments" Church

"Note: Drinking Liquier is Stritely Prohibited Here".  Perhaps the sign maker was tipsy!

That's a lot of pots!

Elder Willis' shoe repairman

Shoe repairs on the street for 20 rupees

Big Changes

Hello,

This week was nice with lots of big changes. Last P-day, we got an unexpected transfer call.  Elder Ball will be going back to Bangalore to serve in my old area.  Not only that, but all of the Elders in Rajahmundry are leaving except for the Zone Leaders, me, and Elder Patten.  Elders Harris, Monk, Farr, Bandi, D'vaz, and Ball are all leaving.  My new companion's name is Elder Willis.  Currently, he is serving as the AP in Bangalore.  He'll come be with me for one transfer and then he will go home.  I'm stoked because he's a cool guy.  Also, nobody is coming to replace Elder Harris and Monk so I'm taking over the entire branch.  I don't really know their area, but they showed me some homes last week.  I've also been informed that I will be the new District Leader here.  I don't know much about being a District Leader, but I will learn!  Anyway, this week brought some huge changes.  I'm a little sad to see so many great elders leave, but there will be some fun times in the future.

This morning Elder Patten, Elder Harris and I went to ride our cycles across the Godavari river. We carried our cycles up some stairs to get on the bridge. We started riding around and noticed that there was no traffic. Turns out the bridge was closed off to traffic because they were doing some painting and resurfacing. Nobody seemed to mind that we were riding our bikes on the bridge, so we just kept going! Because there was no traffic, we decided that we should take an opportunity that we probably will never have again. Elder Patten had his slackline with him, so we set it up from one side of the bridge to the other and slack lined across the road. I'll attach some pictures from this morning's adventures. 

That's about all for the week. I went on exchange a lot to try and learn as much as I can about the area and the branch. I think I'm ready to take over. It's a lot for me to do, but I know that I can do it. 

I hope you all have an amazing week.

Love,

Elder Thompson

The Godavari River

About to ride over the bridge

Workers removing mud from the bottom of the river

Along the Godavari River

Elder Patten taking a selfie on the bridge

A funny sign that is appropriate given the following two pictures

Elder Patten slack lining over the empty bridge.  My mother's heart might have skipped a beat over this one!

At least they are barely off the ground