Week Forty

Dear Family, 

 

What a week. I think India is one of the few places on Earth where you can see a man in a BMW honking and trying to get around a herd of bulls in the middle of the busiest street in Noida. I will admit, the cows that roam the roads here remind me of home and the cow poop that is everywhere is just an added bonus. 

This week we had transfers and it went really well. I am still the only American, and the District Leader in Noida, but my companion is now Elder Mani (Money). He is a really good guy and is my batch mate, we both just hit 9 months and we are having some fun together. He likes to work and is a funny guy, so I don't have any problems. His mother tongue is Tamil and is my first Tamilian companion; the others have all been Tellegu. So I am excited to learn Tamil for my Chella Kutti's (sweet hearts or girlfriends) back home. He is 26 years old and he does have trouble speaking English and isn't as strong as other Indians in the language, but we manage. If my emails are shorter in the coming weeks I apologize as his parents are illiterate and don't have a computer. So there is no communication between him and his parents on P day. He can talk to his brother though, and he usually just watches bible videos why his companions email, but I'll feel bad for making him wait.

Last night we spent some time at our investigators home...we got whitewashed into a new area and so we are picking up where the other missionaries left off with some long time investigators we are hoping to get on date soon. Sometimes people just need to feel your love and support instead of being like robots and sharing a scripture and then leaving or eating and then leaving. I like to make my investigators and families feel as if we are a part of their family. Last night we did that by taking funny pictures with the kids and their friends...which I will now print off and give to them to keep. And we played some games and they even taught me how to sing a Hindi song. It feels nice to sometimes just take a step back from the crazy missionary trying to do everything so fast and just slow down show that you care about them.

This week was good, but it was tough, as were some of the weeks leading up to it. I have always been good at putting a smile on my face even in hard times, and if you ask me "Everything is always good". I think I got that stubborn hard headedness from my dad. I have never ever liked asking for help. Ever. And I wasn't about to ask for help from anyone here in India. But right when I needed it the most, I got a package full of love from home. The package had candy and beef jerky, and the multiple personal hygiene products that will help me get through the tough days. But the best thing of all was the card, with a simple reassurance that my parents and family are praying for me and thinking about me all the time. And that means everything. Life hasn't been easy in India and I miss my family. Sometimes when we go through hard times in life we need to realize its okay to ask for and receive help. We know that serving others is important, but sometimes we are the one who needs the service. Heavenly Father has messengers of help all around us, just waiting to give us support. And even more than that our Savior is waiting to help us, waiting to take our struggles away, but we need to kneel down and ask, we need to accept the strength and peace that The Atonement can bring us. I told my mom in every email that I didn't need a package, but it was exactly what I needed to get through another week. Maybe we say we are "fine" or "okay", but maybe we need someone else’s help. Don't be too stubborn this week, there are blessings waiting for us.

Love Elder Armstrong

Nine Month Mark

Hey guys,

Another good week down here in Noida where we work hard all day and then come home and I wear Lungi's, make Indian food, and spend my night trying to learn Hindi and Tellegu while beating everyone in my apartment in chess. Transfers are coming up this week. This has been probably the fastest transfer since the start of my mission, even though it has easily been the toughest. They always said if you want your mission to go fast then get to work, but I don't want it to go this fast. Ha-ha. I just wish so much you could all be here with me and experience the things I am experiencing. I have been surprised, grossed out, scared, and happy, over and over again for 9 months. And it never gets old, I really don't want to come home, I just want home to come here sometimes. 

This week I don’t have much crazy news or anything. I sent some pictures home finally, so I hope you can all see those on the blog. We gave Meenuka the Holy Ghost yesterday and she gave us a referral this week and they are now on date for baptism. Noida is really coming a long way and we are excited for our small branch that hasn't had many baptisms in the past year.

I just want you all to know that Love is an amazing thing.  That's a life lesson I still need to understand better, but have learned so much about here in India. The Love that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for us, the love our leaders have for us, and the love our family and friends have for us, and in all of those cases the love we have for them, is an amazing thing. Love is something that makes everything better and true love never fails. My favorite scripture about love is the entire chapter of 1 John Chapter 4. And my favorite verse in that chapter is verse 18, it says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that hath fear is not made perfect in love.”

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have perfect love, it is unfailing and Eternal. And if we have perfect love no matter what, we will not fear, but we will be Faithful and full of hope because perfect love casts fear away. 

This week I was walking and doing some street contacting and I noticed this one particular homeless woman. She was different, but obviously homeless and in need of help in any way. She had her infant baby, completely naked lying on her lap on a small blanket in the hot sun. But that's not why she was different, she was different because she was happy. She wasn't begging and I wouldn't have been able to give anything if she was. But she was playing with her baby and smiling, and laughing when the baby laughed, just like any good mother. I don't know if she had perfect love, I doubt it because no one is perfect, but she was pretty dang close. Given her circumstances, she could have been bitter and upset.  She could have neglected her baby, or maybe even been fearful of her future, but she wasn't. She was loving and hopeful, and she was caring no matter what the condition. And it touched me pretty deeply. I need to be more loving no matter the occasion or trial, no matter the problem or unwelcomed difficulty. I can be more loving. I want perfect love, and it may take us all until Eternity to get that perfect love, but the time to start trying is today. 

I love you!

Elder Armstrong

More Pictures

Meenuka

 

Week Thirty-Eight

Hello Family,

Hello from the craziest place in the world, where another week just seemed to go bye in the blink of an eye. I usually start with the craziest things that happened in my life during the week...so here goes nothing. 

I just ran through a misty waterfall coming from an unknown destination about five stories up when walking through the alley way that gets you to the cyber. I don't know what was in that water, but I want to go home and shower as fast as possible because I smell like you wouldn't believe, but even my water smells bad. I don't know what to do. Then we had a baptism yesterday that was almost postponed! The font is on the roof of the building and the trees next to the church had a bunch of baby monkeys in them.  The mother was very angry when she saw us close by. Never thought I would say that happened on my mission. Then the funniest thing ever happened. We were coming home one night at like 9:45pm from an appointment and we got an auto ride, but the driver was way more drunk than we initially thought. They are always drunk, but this guy was hammered. Anyways he couldn't believe he was driving an American in his auto and we eventually had to take the wheel from him because our lives were in danger. Then as we were driving we convinced him that I would dance at his wedding!  It was hilarious and I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Anyways, he was a good guy!  We gave him his money and handed him over to some other auto drivers that wouldn’t let him drive anymore that night. I love India.

Anyways the biggest news from this week was the baptism of Meenuka. She is seriously so great. She has been my first investigator that you could just tell wanted to find the truth. She has searched her whole life and after two baptisms and hours of studying the Bible and other literature, she found us. She had her 3rd and final baptism yesterday and now has everything she has ever wanted. She is already in Mosiah in the Book of Mormon and calls us every day with questions and we love to answer them. She was freaking out when she downloaded the Gospel Library App so she can read the scriptures in the metro on the way to University. She just has such a desire to learn about the gospel, I've never seen anything like it. In her testimony yesterday she simply said "I've searched for a long time for the truth, because it's important to know the truth, and I found it”. You can't imagine how happy my companions and I were...this is huge for Noida and for her and us. Extremely excited! 

This week I was thinking about how fast time has gone on my mission. I was thinking about how much I've experienced in such a short time, how much I've learned and how much I've grown. The Savior doesn't need me for this work, he could do it all himself. I'm useless honestly. But he has given me this opportunity to serve a mission, help others, and feel the joy of the gospel. In a bigger picture Heavenly Father has given us this Plan of Happiness.  He has given us something so special. Time! Everyone has time, but how we spend that time depends on us, and how much time we get is up to God. Are we using our time wisely? Are we doing good? Are we trying to become closer to our Savior? We only have so much time to do the things we need to do. I say all the time that I have 2 years...and it's less than that now. I don't want to go home and regret for the rest of my life that I didn't use my time wisely, and in the bigger picture I don't want to be in the next life looking back with regrets of how I took advantage of my opportunities. The Lord said "Cease to be idle". So I hope we don't miss our chances here on Earth to do good. You can change and you can do things that will change your life.

Do something worthwhile this week. Set goals and beat them. Read the Book of Mormon. Be a good person. It always pays off in the end.

Love Elder Armstrong (Go Jazz!) 

Week Thirty-Seven

Hello from Noida!

This week was a good one and we have a lot of good things going for us here! Like at the shop outside of our apartment you can get milk in the unpasteurized bag like I usually get or you can pull a lever and it comes out into a bucket like a soda fountain, both are great options! This week we stayed out until 10:00pm like our schedule allows us to and when we were walking home we got yelled at by people in some alley way, so we decided we better only stay out and go to appointments that late in safer areas, which is anywhere within 20 feet of the apartment haha;) Oh, and Doritos are now in India, but are a $1.50 for a small bag, so that's a sacrifice, but sacrifice does bring blessings, so I'll be buying some! 

We will also be having a baptism this week for Meenuka! We are really excited for her and so is she. She had everything she needed when she found out baptisms for the dead and eternal families are possible through the temple. She lost her father and is excited to learn more about the Restored Gospel and what it means for families. She is great and I will get you a picture sometime this week! The gospel has really changed her life and you can see how happy she is at church. We are teaching a family, but I can't pronounce their last name so I don't dare spell it. They are awesome and if we can help them get to church they will definitely be baptized.  They have great testimonies and are such wonderful people, just difficulties getting to church. Their two kids are 13 and 16 and they are so fun to teach and be with. I have high hopes for them and they are very good friends.

We also had our Mission Conference with the General Authorities. I really liked President Funk and Sister Burton, they were awesome and they gave great training. I got to see Elder Openshaw again which was great after living with only Indians. I love the Indians and they love me, but I need someone who can talk football and sports with me. Also, he had a football and we got to toss it a little at lunch, such a blessing.

Sister Burton gave such a great training this week and I feel I should relay the message. She had a missionary cut an apple up and count the seeds. There were 12. And she said, "You can count the seeds in an apple, but you can't count the apples in a seed." Then she asked how many of the missionaries were first generation saints. And almost everyone raised their hands, 76% of our missionaries in the entire mission being first generation saints. She said "You are so important. You have no idea how much we are praying and hoping for you to stay strong." You see, my companions and missionary friends are the pioneers of India, and they are the seeds in that apple. They have a very important future. It's because of people like them that I have such a blessed life. My ancestors way back when, did the exact same thing my friends in India are doing today. And without those people who first made those choices and stayed strong, generations can be changed. But we are important too, even if we aren't first generation Saints taking those first crucial steps of faith.

There was a study done by the church and family history people and they realized that when one member in the past fell off the straight and narrow and became inactive, about 6 generations later his entire posterity was lost, about 3 thousand people. 

Our decisions impact our families and our future, we impact the lives of others by the choices we make today. Make good choices. Stay strong in the gospel. It will bring so much happiness and help your family for generations. You are important to our Heavenly Father, don't lose sight of that.

Love Elder Armstrong