Week Twenty-Four

Namaste,

It's me again from Dwarka, the place where half of my branch works at call centers for customer support for people in America. So if you're ever calling Expedia, iPhone, or Nike customer support ask them if they know an Elder Armstrong. The chances are they'll say no because there are 7 trillion people in India with the same job, but you might get lucky;) This week was a crazy one, full of more sickness, lots of it. Also there was so much Black Money here in India they pulled a surprise on everyone and all of a sudden one day just said the 1000 and 500 rupee bills don't work anymore. They just cancelled them. So everyone in the whole country is trying to get new money and the new bills they printed out..but there's a shortage, and you have to stand in line for like 6 hours. And the money literally looks like monopoly money. So we are broke and sick, it's a really great combination.

We had a visit from Elder David F. Evans this week and that was pretty cool. He is the second counselor in the Asia Area Presidency and gave us some really good trainings and I learned a lot. He was here for the mission tour and also for our District Conference. District Conference is just like Stake Conference, except totally different. Here in India, we wake up super early and get our branch on a very old grey hound tourist bus that I would have bet my last useful rupee that it was going to blow up. We barely made it to the conference and all the branches in the Delhi area met together in an auditorium that was about 1/4 the size of MV's. It was really spiritual and uplifting, it was good to meet the other Saints here in the Delhi District, soon to be Stake. Elder Evans was great and it was cool to learn from both my amazing mission President and a General Authority.

Now on to my Boys in that Silver Helmet. Go Dallas, America's Team. I am so happy, even in India not able to watch their games...I still feel my love for my team, same with the Jazz. You guys better throw a big party for me when they go to the playoffs.

I think the thing I'm missing most right now though is just the feeling of home. I miss that home for the holidays feeling. I miss the fall weather in Idaho, and the snow, oh the snow. I can feel Christmas and Thanksgiving coming up, and there will be no turkey, there will be no football, no snow or hot chocolate. And that's okay, I understand the full reason why I am here, but I miss my valley. I'll miss neighbors plowing driveways for each other, grandma's stuffing, home teachers coming in clutch with cookies and treats, and buying gifts for family members. But as this time of year comes around and I don't get to be there, I hope to encourage you to do the best you can to keep in mind the Reason for the Season and remember the Savior in your lives. The Holiday Spirit is so much greater when you keep Him in mind. And to keep Him in mind more often we need to have a greater relationship with Him. 

I once heard this simple story about judgment day, and whether you have heard it or not, it's never too late to relearn an important principle. I may have even shared this already I don't know. But it starts with a man walking in to the judgment room and there is a man who asks him what he knows about the Savior. He replies, He was born in Bethlehem, He is the Son of God, He saved us from our Sins, He loves us, He was crucified, He had 12 disciples, and He even visited the America's and Joseph Smith. And then the man asked him "is that all?" And he said yes and was then directed through a door out of the room. The next man came in the room and immediately fell to his knees and cried out "My Lord, My God!" 

The first man knew about the Savior, But the second man “knew” the Savior. Which relationship are we willing to settle for? The Christmas season is just around the corner, get to know the Savior, personally. Your holidays will be happier and less stressful, and the food may even taste better. I honestly want nothing more than the best for all of you and I know from the bottom of my heart the Savior is standing there with open arms..but we must first Seek Him. 

I'm sorry I don't say much about investigators or experiences here in India that will change next week. Kavita will finally be baptized next week and I get to do that, along with naming and blessing her daughter Diviyanshi when she is confirmed the following week. I love that family and they have changed my entire view of the gospel.

Til next week, Go Cowboys, Go Jazz. #PlayoffBound

Love a Sick Elder Armstrong

Mission Conference with Elder Evans of the Seventy

Week Twenty-Three

Hello from the Other Side...of the Planet,

It's me again here in Dwarka. I hope you aren't tired of reading my emails, because this week I have some interesting things to tell you. Number one, this was one of those weeks where nothing wanted to stay in my stomach. As you know I love street food here in India, but this week I went out of the adventure zone and got into the danger zone of the Indian roadside dirt and germ filled cuisine. The zone where most Indian people won't even go...I got out of hand. I need to repent. Also, I ate a dog this week. Worst feeling in the world. I know God can forgive men of almost all sins, but I think this one in Unpardonable. I thought it was beef at a Muslim shop, then we looked in the back at them cutting up a dog. Gross! And this wasn't any pure bred dog on Dog Chow or eating table scraps like you see in America. This was a street dog from India, the kind that have diseases and that you don't pet or even let get near you, but don't worry the sickness wasn't from the dog, it was from a bad batch of butter chicken. And I'm feeling much better now. The sickness is just a part of the whole experience in India and I am used to it I think. I hear it stops about the 6 month to one year mark and then you have an Iron stomach..can't wait to see what I eat then.

This week we had a lot of fun and we got so much work done. Elder Chidithoti and I are working well as a companionship and I love the way he teaches. We have a lot of fun. I also am having a lot of fun with Elder Openshaw who is from Boston and new to India. This week we did English class finding as a district and literally just held up a white board that said free English classes on it on the side of the road. We about caused so many wrecks and about were run over a million times but we had the highest attendance at English class than ever before. I tried teaching the whole time and towards the end I was just too sick and had to sit down. I said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help me stay strong so I could give the spiritual message I had prepared. He gave me exactly what I asked for and I endured just long enough and after class I was nonstop throwing up all night. What a great experience.

 

Looking for Someone to Teach

Elder Openshaw from Boston is the tall one.  He reminds me so much of Parker

Also yesterday we had a baptism and the water wasn't working at the church and we had to impromptu the whole thing by filling the font bucket by bucket. We had a great video I'll try and have my dad put it on the blog. We slaved for a solid hour and could barely get the font to fill up to my knees. It was the lowest water for a baptism ever and they almost had to roll her on the floor just to get her completely immersed but it was successful, she now has Salvation. That's about the closest thing we get to Redneck in India. 

Anyways I'll get spiritual now so I can actually help you feel the Spirit and uplift you like I am supposed to. This week I was reading in Ether chapter 12 (great chapter). And I came across verse 27:    

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.                  

And I love this message. We have weaknesses in life, all of us do. We all have our own personal cross to bear, our own individual problems that bring us down and try and stop us from progressing in life. It is a part of life, a very important part of life. We learn here in this scripture that we have problems so that we will Humble Ourselves and Come Unto Christ. Sometimes we just have sins and problems and things that we just can't exactly solve on our own. And no matter what we do, those weaknesses cannot be solved by our own genius thinking and all the Internet articles and Dr. Phil TV shows. We need the Savior, and we need to humble ourselves and realize that He is the only way of defeating those weaknesses, and becoming stronger. We need to have Faith and allow Him who paid the price for those weaknesses holding us back, and allow Him to take them away from us. We cannot overcome everything on our own, and we aren't always as strong as we think we are. But He is stronger than any of us will ever imagine.

It starts will sincere and fervent prayer asking for help. It starts with acknowledging that we are Nothing without Jesus Christ. And then taking our Faith and turning it into actions that help the Savior take those weaknesses away, so that He can make weak things strong unto them. 

Stay Strong and be Happy. Good luck with the elections. Pray for America, God will protect the righteous no matter what happens. 

Go Dallas Cowboys, Utah Jazz, and Parker and MV Basketball.

With a whole lotta love from Dwarka,

Elder Armstrong

 

This is where I got the Butter Chicken that made me very sick!

Five Month Mark

My new look!

Hello from Dwarka,

I have lots of news for you today. Starting with Happy Halloween to you all. Here in India it is Happy Diwali, and we just had the biggest night of fireworks ever. Imagine a city with 30 million people and no restrictions on fireworks that cost like a penny each. They started at 9 p.m. and at 3 a.m. they were still going. The entire city is polluted like crazy and you can barely breathe, we have masks on and may not be leaving the apartment much if the festivals don't stop. Last night we had to be in at 5pm and I guess the party just keeps on going the next couple of days. We watched the fireworks from the roof of our apartment and they were going off in the entire city, including all around us..some of the fireworks were blowing up in the air probably 30 yards from us, it was so cool. Like I said, no restrictions and a bunch of crazy people celebrating good over evil, it makes for a good show. The pollution here is ridiculous now..and it will continue to get worse. Today the scale is above 1000 which is as high as it goes, so we broke the pollution scale. All missionaries are wearing masks and may not be able to go out that much the next couple of days depending on pollution and celebrations. Also as part of Diwali everyone puts up lights, and here they call them Diwali lights but we all know they're Christmas Lights. I'm going to miss Christmas lights hanging up until July from all you rednecks, but we've had ours on our tree for about a month now. So the lights reminded me of Christmas time and I'll probably be pretty homesick for Christmas. 

In other news this week it was the end of the transfer and I got a new companion. I am training Elder Chidithoti (Chid-ee-toe-tee). He is from Hyderabad, India in the South and is 21 years old. He and his older brother are the only members of the church in his family and he came here with 4 shirts and 3 ties. But a suitcase full of faith and a sense of humor that makes everyone laugh. So we'll have a good time I think. I get to teach him English and help him improve on that, it should be fun. He is already teaching me how to cook lots of Indian food so just wait til I get home, you'll be in for a treat. He is really cool and I'm surprised I am training this early in my mission, it seems like just 6 weeks ago I finished my own training. Elder Huskey went home and I had a good 4 and a half months with him, it was a good time but I'm excited for a new companion and new experiences, however I am in the same area here in Dwarka and that should lock me up here until January. It will be comforting to spend Christmas here in an area I know with people I know. 8 months to start off my mission in the same area is my kind of mission, I've never been one for moving around much and I really do miss "My House". (That was for you Dad;)  President Hodges was very complimentary to me and Elder Huskey, and President and the Lord have a great trust in me to train. President Hodges related it to me in a way I had never thought of before. He said "You and I will go home after our missions, but these Indian Elders will stay, we are training the next leaders in India to build the church as strong as it is in America." President Hodges is the man, and I am excited to be training and helping in the Lord's work. 

Anyways I hope you all had a good week, I hear my Boys won again so keep that train moving. #CowboysNation #KeepDakPrescott and as far as football in Idaho goes I am putting my bets on South Fremont to win it all for my friends that are still playing there. As long as Shelley and Snake don't win I'm happy. 

This week I honestly didn't know what I should share with you or what message you back home needed to hear. And sometimes I get confused with what I have shared before, so I hope I don't repeat myself very often and make you feel bored. So this week I wanted to share with you a story about being happy and how the Atonement makes that possible. I talk a lot I think about the Atonement but it is the single most important event in history, and everything we teach revolves around the Atonement of Christ.

It was about two weeks before I was going off on my mission and I was just about to graduate from High School, so not too long ago. And as I had realized I would be leaving soon I was thinking about my life up until that point. I thought about my friends and family, the Buffalo Wild Wings trips, the Football games I played in, or the college games with my family. I thought about Christmas and Disneyland, my cousins and the fun we had together. I thought about the early morning wrestling practices and the times I thought I would never stop laughing. Most of all I thought about the night I opened my mission call, the night I still to this day will say has been the happiest day of my life. In short, every thought that I can remember coming to my mind for a good hour while I was in my drive way shooting some hoops, was a happy thought. I thought of everything I loved. I honestly didn't remember any of the bad times, the dumb mistakes, the times my dad yelled at me. It's as if they just didn't exist. It's a much smaller scale, but it relates very well to how everything can be washed away through the Atonement of Christ. In Isaiah 1:18 it says "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." No matter what we do in this life that is wrong, it can be washed away and we ourselves can be renewed. It starts with simply choosing to follow the Savior and acting upon that desire in our hearts to be good. It takes times, the result of all of my happy thoughts was due to months of changing my actions and preparing myself for a mission, at the time I felt the Savior's love for me, but it took time to get there. It wasn't always that happy of a moment, and it won't always be in the future. But our sins and hardships, just like those Scarlet red leaves of fall in Idaho, can be as white as the Snow you will have this winter. 

Choose to be good. Follow the Savior. It starts with a simple prayer asking for help. 

Love you all, Go Cowboys and Go Jazz

Elder Armstrong