Week Sixty

Dear Family,

What a wet, humid, hot, sweaty week it has been in Delhi. One day it was triple digit heat, one day the floods came and we could barely even work. Rainy season is coming in hard, but it still hasn't let summer go yet. This week I went on an exchange back to Noida where I served for 4 and 1/2 months and we woke up to the entire street being flooded. I went and got my breakfast by wading through water above the knee. It was so fun, but the water was absolutely disgusting. So much dirt and trash, but it was quite the experience. The next day it was so hot I thought I was going to die, there was so much water in the air and I am just wet all the time. Delhi is a great place.

Rainy Weather in Delhi

 This week the highlight was the baptism of Rabina, I've told you a lot about her, and she just really is the coolest. All baptisms are special and we get so happy for everyone to make that promise to God, but Rabina’s baptism I will never forget. She has a testimony, and she doesn't even really know how big it is. If you could see how much she loves the church.  Singing hymns, praying, and reading the scriptures, you would think she has been a member for years. But she found the gospel a little over a month ago. It's just such a blessing to see the gospel work in every life that it is applied to. When someone gives it a chance, that's all it takes. I grew up in the most Mormon place in the world and I just thought the gospel is what we do, that it worked for us and that's why we do it. But then I came to one of the most non-Mormon places in the world, where the smallest percent of people live the gospel and I saw that it still works, that it still changes lives and makes people happier. And that's when I realized why we do missionary work, because it works for everyone who has the smallest bit of faith to try it.

Rabina's Baptism!  Baptized by Elder Karkala

Rabina and her brother Rakeesh and their mother

I don't have much else this week, we are about to go to do some cool stuff around Delhi, next week I should have more cool pictures to send. Football season seems to be just around the corner, I would do anything to be in Idaho on Treasure Field on a September Friday night. But that's a sacrifice I am being asked to make right now. We have to sacrifice a lot for the gospel, I have sacrificed a lot, the missionaries I serve with have sacrificed a lot, and every faithful saint in the world sacrifices for the gospel. People in India have to change so much to be baptized and to follow what they know is true. They give up more than just tea and coffee, although that is tough too. They give up thousands of years of traditions, ideas, and practices, to be a Latter Day Saint. Today is Pioneer day in India and all of them are pioneers, in every sense of the word. I appreciate what the early Saints did for us, and I hope you will too. I also hope you will recognize how lucky and blessed we are because of them, and that's the vision in India right now. Someday the Church will be big and strong and it will bless millions here, but it starts with them. Years later I will look back and see where India used to be and compare it to where it will be then, and I will be thankful for the pioneers of India, who made it possible for people just like Rabina to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. This church is so true, and that's all that matters.

Love, 

Elder Armstrong

 

Three American Amigos!

 

 

My eggs for breakfast

Week Fifty-Nine

Dear family and friends. I love you guys, and I thought I should say that first today.

This week has been great, just really busy and running around Delhi. I have a lot to do, but I'm just enjoying my time here. This week I got a call from the mission office and they needed me at the FRRO (foreigner registration) building as fast as possible, I guess there was a problem when I was working with my visa for the next year and we were all super worried I was going to be deported or something. I have never went so fast through these crazy streets to get an auto and then get to the office. After a while all the problems were okay. On the way back to my area I got on a bus from probably the 1980's, it was packed shoulder to shoulder with no a/c, I stood surrounded by people just staring at me and an old homeless man got on the bus with a little bongo and started singing and playing for money( he was actually good). And the whole experience from the phone call to the bus ride cost me about $1.50. On the way home we went over a tall flyover in the middle of Delhi and you could see most of the city and I just thought to myself "I love this country".

Teaching has been good, and we are having great success as a companionship and as a zone. Elder Karkala and i are expecting two baptisms this week. Rabina and a guy named Siyon are both ready to be baptized and they are both really excited. I am so excited for both of them and the change I have seen in their lives is incredible. Rabina is going to be a baptism I remember forever. Her and Rakesh are just awesome. 

This week I got a call from a member in Dwarka, I answered and she said that it was Sister Suman. I didn't recognize the name which was weird because I spent 8 months of my life there and I love those people. She told me that I was the first Elder to visit her home, and then I was even more confused. Then after explaining, I realized that I found this sister door knocking with Elder Chidithoti a week before I left, we had taught her the first lesson of the Restoration and then I left. Since then she has been baptized and is not only an active member of the branch, but she is the newly called Primary president. I was so happy to hear that, and I could hear how happy she was through the phone. It just goes to show that blessings are all around us, and that no effort of doing good will ever go wasted. My dad told me last Christmas when skyping that the blessing will always be there, it may not come until you've got kids and you are able to put food on the table for them, but the blessing will be there. And I truly believe that, we may never know the result of our good actions, or maybe we will get a mysterious phone call months later, but we shouldn't do anything looking for a blessing, we should do it because it's what we should do. I know that that's what Christ did, and that's the ultimate reason to do anything, to become more Christ like. 

Love you guys, 

Elder Armstrong

Week Fifty-Eight

Hey guys,

Right now I'm in a small cyber cafe in AmarColony, it's hot, it's sweaty, I'm hungry, I smell bad already and I showered 2 hours ago, and Gordon Hayward left the Jazz. So yeah it's not going to be the best P day ever, but I will just keep on going. Some day the Jazz will win a championship, and that will be the day I will literally just sit back and cry tears of joy from all the years I cheered them on. Never give up on your team. But seriously, I'm such a little kid at heart about my teams. 

This week was an awesome week, there's a lot of stuff keeping me busy and I barely even notice the days going by. The 4th of July Party was awesome; I didn't get sick, and the mystery meat tasted amazing! (kind of) It's really hard to eat meat, I don't know why, but it's just hard. I'm so scared I'm going to be messed up and not be able to eat beef for a long time. I miss America and it was good to celebrate, but before I know it I'll be back home crying to come back to India. 

This week we were teaching Rakesh's sister, Rabina, and she is doing so good. She is such a cool kid and truly is starting to understand the gospel, she has found some friends in Young Women, and she is enjoying church. She even asked for a hymn book because she wants to learn to sing the hymns, which will be awesome cause she needs help improving her English. So Elder Karkala and I are going out of our way to get a little hymn book for her, she'll love it. Rakesh is doing great as well; he might be my favorite member in all of Delhi. He is totally committed, he loves the gospel, he helps all the Elders, and he gives referrals like crazy. He is starting to save up for a mission, and he bought a laptop for his studies, which is a big deal. The first thing he put on his laptop was all the bible videos, Mormon messages, hymns, and any other video made by the church. He's the perfect example of what the Gospel can do to change a person's life. 

This week I have just been thinking about how lucky we are to have a Father in Heaven, and to truly know Him. One thing that has been a big lesson in my mission is the fact that God knows everyone of us, personally, inside and out. He hasn't forgotten anyone; no one has been left out. I think of India which has 1.3 billion people, and after living here I think it's not true. I think there are actually more than that, there's just no way you can count everyone, and even if you add a little extra to the total…you just can never know. I doubt they count everyone in all the villages or small towns, or people like the nice man with one leg who sits on the stairs of the tunnel that goes underneath the highway between our apartment and the church. The world just doesn't count those people, we don't count everyone, and we don't think about everyone. I spend days at a time without even thinking about Robin, Idaho. It's just how it is, but God, the Father of us all, does not forget a single one. He knows everyone, he loves everyone, and his entire purpose is to bring us back home. God will not forget you, the Savior Jesus Christ will not forget you. You are their most important priority, and just having that knowledge in a world like this brings a lot of peace.

Love you,

Elder Armstrong (Go Jazz..)

Missionary Fireside

13 Month Mark

What is up? I am so excited for today.

First of all I want to wish all of you a happy 4th of July! It's going to be a good one for me, my last in India. We are having a big party today at our apartment, 6 Americans will be there and a lot of the Indians as well. We have what we think might be beef, but the actual source of the meat is truly unknown, other than the fact that we got it from the scariest place in the world. Down a dark ally in a very sketchy part of Delhi. I love this place, but Mom I promise I won't go back, because I won't have to buy anymore beef (we got 8 pounds for 15 dollars what a steal). We are going to fry french fries, make a fruit salad, drink tons of Coke...no Thums Up on America day, and we will eat ton's of potato chips and just enjoy with all the Elders. I even drew an American flag on my white t shirt just to wear today! The only thing I am missing is fireworks, which will just have to wait until next year. 

All I want to say today, is kind of where my thoughts have been lately, especially around this big party I am trying to have. And that is, I know I will come home, and I won't be the biggest spiritual giant that ever went on a mission. I didn't start as that person and I don't think I will end as that person. I have grown so much spiritually, and I know the church is true, and I will never fall away, my testimony is firm. But I just feel like I have learned so much about the world being here in India. I understand now, how the world really is, and a whole lot more about life. Keep in mind, I love the people of India, I love them so much, and I love this country. 

But after one year, I still remember the feeling of taking off over LAX and realizing that I wouldn't step foot in America for 2 years. That's not an easy thing if you knew me growing up, my dad taught me to take pride in my country. And it's still not easy today. America has problems, big problems. But we have absolutely no idea, the blessings that God has given us in America. I have only been to India, but I am convinced there is not a place on Earth that compares to America. There is no caste system, there is no communism, there is nothing that can stop you from going after everything you want, worshiping how you please, or even choosing where to live or what you can eat, there is safety and there is actual freedom. I hope you will take time to recognize on the 4th how much our police officers, our firemen, our doctors, our soldiers, and our everyday citizens do, to keep America such a great place. I promise you it will be on my mind.

There is no other place the Restoration of the Gospel could have happened. It had to be in a place founded by men like our Founding Fathers, guided by the Holy Ghost, to make it possible for a young boy to search for the truth and not be compelled to believe anything he didn't want to. To be able to pray to God from his heart, and to bring back the true Church of Jesus Christ, and to assemble themselves each Sunday, so that we could be blessed for Eternity. There is no other place in the world quite like America, and I hope you truly realize how many blessings you have in the Promised Land. 

I love America, and I love India, and today I'm going to eat as many mystery burgers as possible. Oh and pray for Gordon Hayward to stay in Utah with the Jazz,  I hear he is supposed to make his decision this week...please pray!

God Bless America, The Land That I Love. 

Love, Elder Armstrong

Week Fifty-Six

Namaste from the INDM! 

This week was awesome, so much work got done. We are super pumped with our zone right now. We have awesome missionaries in this mission. In the Delhi East Zone we have nine companionship's in three branches, and we got 45 new investigators this week, probably some of the highest numbers this zone has seen in a long time. It's really hard to get new investigators, because to count them they have to be taught a lesson and accept a return appointment, getting the return appointment is always so tough, but we did awesome this week so I am super happy. 

I just love where I am at in Delhi; I know this entire city like the back of my hand. I probably know this place just as good as Pocatello, and I think that's pretty cool. I can get anywhere, at the best price.  I understand about everything that is said in Hindi, but speaking is still a little rough. I know the people and the cultures, and I just can't get enough of it. Except for the heat and humidity, there is plenty of that. 

On my blog there is the picture of Rakesh, and he is a legend. He has an amazing conversion story and is so strong in the gospel. He grew up in Calcutta and in 7th class he started smoking and drinking. Then later he got into a lot of trouble partying and hanging around the wrong people. He came to Delhi about 4 months ago and was looking for a job and knew that he had to change his life and stop smoking, so he could save money, and live somewhere that would get him a good job. He prayed and asked God to help him stop smoking, the next day he met the missionaries and he has never looked back. He wants to serve a mission and talks about it every day. He gives us referrals, and invites all of his friends to learn. We just started teaching his younger Sister Rabina, and she is great. She wants to be baptized and she loves going to church with her new friends. They lost their father a while back, and they want to live good lives for him because they say he was a good man who believed in God. Their mom is a strong Hindu, but is pushing for her kids to stay active in church because she has seen so much change in Rakesh. Rabina is amazing and I'm so excited for the day Rakesh will baptize her, she moved the date just because he is the only one she wants to baptize her. The gospel is a wonderful thing, and the people I meet everyday just prove to me that it is true. It changes lives and that is the ultimate goal.

I know I will be coming back home in a year as a changed person, with a stronger testimony, a million memories, and pretty bad English. I hope we all will learn to change every single day by repenting and becoming who the Savior wants us to be. 

Love,

Elder Armstrong