Elder Preston Armstrong : Week Seventy-Two

HAPPY DIWALI GUYS!

This week is going to be legit, everything is ready for Diwali! We have multi-colored lights, and our landlord is giving us gifts and the whole city is ready to blow up. Everyone has their lights out, candles lit, color is everywhere, and my favorite Indian holiday is just a few days away. If you remember from last year...it’s the day India blows up about ten trillion fireworks, but they call them crackers. And because of the pollution last year and how bad it got, the Government decided to ban all crackers this year. But if there is anything I have learned about India, at least in Delhi, is that no government issued cracker policy is going to stop these people from having a good time. In fact, I bet Delhi Police are even buying crackers. It's sad that we can't....but while everyone else is enjoying it we'll be out on our rooftop drinking Thums Up and eating some Chicken Curry watching the skyline of Delhi blow up. I love India.

Yesterday at church we got the long awaited announcement! On November 5 we will officially be the INDIA NEW DELHI STAKE! That is the first stake in Delhi, and the first stake in my mission. It's the 4th stake in India and we have been working on this since the day I got here, and many many years before me! It's really exciting and I am so happy that I could be here to witness the work of the Lord go forward. So much missionary work and so much work by the members, the Faith of these people will always inspire me! Elder Funk will be coming and so will Elder Robert William, the member of the Seventy from India. We have tons of meetings that week including MLC, and a special mission conference for the 10th anniversary of the India New Delhi Mission. It's crazy how young the church is here, I never realized back home that everywhere was not like Marsh Valley ha-ha. I love it and am so excited!

Work is great here in Delhi and I am loving every second of my missionary life here. Time moves fast....too fast. I don't want to leave Delhi, and so I'm living it up every day. I don't really know how positive of a person I am...I just like looking on the bright side of things. I think most of all I hate things holding me back from doing something fun or being happy. That's probably why missionary life was tough at first because I thought I was being held back from things that made me happy. I never realized until my mission that commandments never hold you back, they free you. The only person who truly wants to hold you back is Satan. He knows your potential and the things that you are capable of doing; he also knows how to stop you from getting there if you let him. One of his most effective ways is using us. He knows just how to stop us; he makes us think that we can't do something before we even try. If he gets us to give up before we even start, it makes it a lot easier of a fight for him. I know a lot of faithful Indian members that understand this. I know people here that ten plus years ago were dreaming of a stake, and a patriarch, and a temple even farther down the road. I know that it probably would have been easy for them to say "yeah right, a stake in the Hindu capital of the word where we don't even have missionaries yet" I know the thought would have crossed my mind. I also know of everyday members today here in Delhi that continue that fight of believing and not getting down before they start. For some, the thought of paying tithing is absolutely crazy. Others can't think of how to make time for family home evening, and others just struggle like all of us to read and pray each day. But they don't get down on themselves before they even start. They look forward with Faith and look on the bright side, because only Satan would want to hold them back from the wonderful blessing of a stake. I love the people of India, and I love that they believe first, and then rely on the strength the Savior gives them to move forward.

Love,

Elder Armstrong

Go MV, Go Jazz, Go Cowboys....and Elder Openshaw says to pray that the Yankees don't win the World Series.