Elder Preston Armstrong : 16 Month Mark

Hey Family!

How is everything back home? India is great just like always and this week was really fun, except for the fact that I got strep throat. All week long I couldn't swallow anything and it hurt for even water to touch my throat! I guess I wasn't as immune to sicknesses as I used to think I was because India has been whoopin' on me these last few weeks.

So this week was my birthday and my two-thirds mark on my mission. One day while walking through a crowded market trying to find some food, Elder Openshaw and I were going through this giant clothes section in a back alley. In India, clothes in Markets are super cheap and super fake. All the shirts have misspelled English words and ripped off logos from every brand you can think of. I could buy a Nike shirt with the Adidas symbol on it, here in India, nobody knows the difference. So as we were walking along out of the corner of my eye I spotted the best logo of all, the Utah Jazz and J Note. The shirt was tan and red, with a basketball on it, and the J Note, Adidas Original just how I like it. We asked if they had any others and I found one that was a dark green and light blue and figured that was close enough, then I dropped 250 rupees on the ugly thing as a birthday gift to myself. So now just in time for the preseason I have my Indian Jazz shirt.

My birthday went really well and I had a lot of fun, we had KFC for lunch and ate a ton of food, but the best part was coming home to crappy birthday decorations and a nice big cake. The Elders in my apartment are the best, Elder Openshaw my comp, and Elder Stephens my MTC comp. Both of them thought it would be awesome to get me a nice cake for my birthday and so they went all over Delhi behind my back to find a man in this country who knows how to bake actual cakes, you know, the ones that don't have chili pepper in them. So they found a guy, and bought me a nice big RED VELVET CAKE. It was awesome! Tasted just like home, once it got past the strep, and it made my 20th birthday pretty legit.

It's sad to hear that Elder Hales has passed away, and I will get to watch conference next week, but I know President Monson didn't attend. This week we had an Elders Quorum activity and Elder Openshaw and I always come with the best games and activities. One was about watchmen and how we need to be watchmen for our fellow brothers and sisters through home teaching and how our Prophets and Apostles are also watchmen for us. I hope we will all listen to their inspired teachings from this weekend and use them to help us progress. The thing they teach us and the Spirit you feel is what can continually guide us in our lives. If you follow the Prophets you really don't have to fear anything. So study their teaching and apply them to your lives!

Beat Snake!

Love,

Elder Armstrong