Week Ninety

Hello everyone!

What a long and busy and crazy week I have had. I hope yours has been a little more easy going. Life here in Delhi is starting to get hot again, and I am not that excited for it. I am, however, excited to sweat off all the weight I gained over the last two or three months. I'm positive that by the time I come home I will be skinny and ready to put down a burger and a shake. This week I was sick again, but not as bad as I have been before. I thought over time I would get stronger, but I honestly think that when living in Delhi you just get progressively worse and the food and water just eats at your immune system. It's all in good fun though.

This week we had the wonderful opportunity to conduct a Ward Missionary Activity. It was a blast. Indians are some of the most fun people you will ever meet, and they love competition. I mean I'm a very competitive person, but some of the ward members are right up there with me. I'm talking about Relief Society president's Primary teachers, young men and women, and even the Bishop. They all want to win, and that makes simple childish games at a Ward activity the best night of the week. We had relay races and scavenger hunts and way more and you would have thought they were playing Pakistan in cricket. After the games we sat them down and talked about the new Stake Vision for 2018 which is based off the scripture in Matthew 6:33. "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all things shall be added unto you." We talked about what our priorities are and about how if we all put God first our newly formed stake can rise and reach out to many many people in need of the gospel light. 

The members here in the Munirka ward might be my favorite in all of Delhi. I mean I can't really choose a favorite I don't think, but I truly love this ward and its members. They love us and we love them, they give us referrals and we eat their food. It's just working really well;) But it all starts with having a great relationship with them. I truly care about these people. I care about my Bishop and his family. I care about the less actives across the ward. I care about the Primary kids and what their favorite color or favorite chocolate is. The lesson here, which is for everyone not just missionaries, is that when you truly care about and take interest in other people’s lives, you build true friendships that will last a lifetime. You don't do it because you have to, you don't do it because they are the family you home teach, you do it because it's the right thing to do. Love your neighbors and care about them, they will do the same for you, and that's when your home, ward, or stake will become as Zion. Where everyone is of one heart and one mind. That's the dream.

Love,

Elder Armstrong

American Toilet

India Taco Bus

Week Eighty Nine

Hello Family and Friends!

I hope all of you are doing well and that you are all happy and safe. My week went really well and I can't even begin to tell you how many blessings we are receiving in our mission. The more I am involved in this work the more my testimony grows of the Church and the Restoration. Every lesson I sit through and teach and just think to myself "This is the truth, it just is." And I love teaching the truth! Coming on a mission was the best decision I ever made, looking back now I can't believe I thought of not going. No matter how hard it has been the blessings are always greater.

Today for P Day we are going to Old Delhi. Old Delhi is such a cool place and I could spend forever there, especially eating the food in Pulbangash and Chandni Chowk. Man I love this place! We are going to a really big GuruDwara, which is a Sikh temple. I may have told you before but Sikh people are the coolest and nicest people you will ever meet. Extremely successful people and it's really cool to learn about their religion and their beliefs. We are also going to the Spice Market, that's an interesting place. You can barely breath because the spices are so hot and you just cough the entire time...but it's a must see place. All the general authorities go to Old Delhi when they come, it's such a cool place...I'll have good pictures next week.

ME!

This week we had tons of great experiences, teaching new investigators and helping others learn about the restored gospel. One of my favorite things though about being a missionary is working with the members. I love working with the members in this ward, they seriously are the best and they would do anything for us! I love working with less actives and helping them find their way back to the straight and narrow path. We have seen so much success in that lately and we are seeing less actives come to church that haven't been in 2 or 3 years, and we have others who are starting to give us referrals again. It's so awesome. The people in this country are amazing, but the people in this country who have accepted the gospel are above and beyond the rest. 

Vonya (Member's daughter so funny!)

Vonya's rendition of me

I hope all of you have a good week and stay safe. I know my letters aren't as good as they used to be, we are extremely busy and it really cuts into my mailing time. But I hope all of you know how much I love you and want you to be happy...and I know true happiness comes from the gospel and our Savior Jesus Christ.

Love you!

Elder Armstrong

Editor's Note:  Woke up to pictures from his Pday excursion.  Will post more next week.

Spice Market in Old Delhi

i

So strong, hard to breathe

 

Chandni Chowk

 

GuruDwara  Sikh Temple

Week Eighty Eight

Hey guys! What a crazy week we have had!

This week we baptized the George family! They are awesome! Brother George and his wife Usha are so amazing. They are the family from Dehradun, India who have come all the way to Delhi just to investigate the church and to be baptized. They sacrificed so much, gave up so much time and money, just to learn and live the gospel. Their daughters Katiya and Janny are so cool and love the Book of Mormon stories and they enjoy Primary so much. Their family is currently looking to move to Delhi to be closer to the church, but until then they are going to come twice monthly ( a 9 hour drive) to attend sacrament! They will come with Brother Raju and Sister Nirmal and their family. The gospel is so amazing and I will miss so much the opportunity to see it change the lives of these people everyday! 

I heard the Patriots lost in the Super Bowl and to be honest I haven't even thought about football.  I'm sure that would be different if the Cowboys were better and playing. I can't stand the Eagles, so I'm glad I missed this year, but Elder Openshaw is going to lose it. I've never met a bigger Patriots fan, I'm sure he'll be calling me any minute now! ha-ha. But the work here is going amazing, I don't want to leave this area, let alone India. 

Right now we are working with this wonderful family, Brother Susai and his daughter Jayam and son Max. The kids are in their 20's and Jayam has given up on religion and especially Christianity. The father and son are very faithful, but they haven't been involved much in any church. They are from Tamil Nadu and are just such nice people. Max has been building his faith by coming to church, Brother Susai has been building his faith by reading the Book of Mormon each day in his native tongue, Tamil. And Jayam, well she has a lot of questions, but she is slowly warming up to us and you can see she likes the gospel, she's just making it difficult ! ha-ha. They have wonderful fellowship from the members and I am positive they will be baptized, you can already see the gospel starting to change their lives. I love these people and the relationships I have built with them. I'll just never be able to tell you how much I love this place. You'll never feel the same way I do and you'll never understand how much India means to me, but that's okay because God has other people you need to love and other places he needs you to go. We can all serve the Lord each day if we "go where He wants us to go." I'm thankful everyday that I accepted the call to serve in New Delhi.

Love,

 

Elder Armstrong

 

Pictures of the George Family Baptism!