Hello from Noida!
This week was a good one and we have
a lot of good things going for us here! Like at the shop outside of our apartment
you can get milk in the unpasteurized bag like I usually get or you can pull a
lever and it comes out into a bucket like a soda fountain, both are great
options! This week we stayed out until 10:00pm like our schedule allows us to and when
we were walking home we got yelled at by people in some alley way, so we decided we better
only stay out and go to appointments that late in safer areas, which is
anywhere within 20 feet of the apartment haha;) Oh, and Doritos are now in
India, but are a $1.50 for a small bag, so that's a sacrifice, but sacrifice
does bring blessings, so I'll be buying some!
We will also be having a baptism
this week for Meenuka! We are really excited for her and so is she. She had
everything she needed when she found out baptisms for the dead and eternal
families are possible through the temple. She lost her father and is excited to
learn more about the Restored Gospel and what it means for families. She is
great and I will get you a picture sometime this week! The gospel has really
changed her life and you can see how happy she is at church. We are teaching a
family, but I can't pronounce their last name so I don't dare spell it. They are
awesome and if we can help them get to church they will definitely be baptized. They have
great testimonies and are such wonderful people, just difficulties getting to
church. Their two kids are 13 and 16 and they are so fun to teach and be with.
I have high hopes for them and they are very good friends.
We also had our Mission Conference
with the General Authorities. I really liked President Funk and Sister Burton,
they were awesome and they gave great training. I got to see Elder Openshaw
again which was great after living with only Indians. I love the Indians and
they love me, but I need someone who can talk football and sports with me. Also,
he had a football and we got to toss it a little at lunch, such a blessing.
Sister Burton gave such a great
training this week and I feel I should relay the message. She had a missionary
cut an apple up and count the seeds. There were 12. And she said, "You can
count the seeds in an apple, but you can't count the apples in a seed."
Then she asked how many of the missionaries were first generation saints. And
almost everyone raised their hands, 76% of our missionaries in the entire
mission being first generation saints. She said "You are so important.
You have no idea how much we are praying and hoping for you to stay
strong." You see, my companions and missionary friends are the pioneers of
India, and they are the seeds in that apple. They have a very important future.
It's because of people like them that I have such a blessed life. My ancestors
way back when, did the exact same thing my friends in India are doing today. And
without those people who first made those choices and stayed strong, generations
can be changed. But we are important too, even if we aren't first generation Saints taking those first crucial steps of faith.
There was a study done by the church
and family history people and they realized that when one member in the past
fell off the straight and narrow and became inactive, about 6 generations later
his entire posterity was lost, about 3 thousand people.
Our decisions impact our families
and our future, we impact the lives of others by the choices we make today.
Make good choices. Stay strong in the gospel. It will bring so much happiness
and help your family for generations. You are important to our Heavenly Father,
don't lose sight of that.
Love Elder Armstrong
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