Elder Kent Thompson, India Bengaluru Mission: 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