August 23, 2010 Update

Hello,

Well, this week was much better than last week. We went finding a lot and we were very blessed for our diligence, and our faith. We started off the week by not finding anyone, until Thursday when we counted 2 part members. Then on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we found 12 new investigators. We worked really hard and we talked to as many people as we could, considering our restrictions. And we had 3 of our new investigators come to church. It’s always really good when people come their first week. All together we had 6 investigators at sacrament meeting. The three that weren’t new have been coming for about 2-3 months (Kavitha, Romya, and Giri Babu).

One new investigator family lives opposite to our branch president, but he thought it wouldn’t be good to introduce us, and the daughter is also the team manager at the McDonald’s we visit each week. Her name is Priya and she has been letting us come behind the counter, take orders, make burgers, and do just about everything we want to at McDonalds. Her family is Pentecostal, and don’t care about being baptized twice, because they have been! We met them last night and they liked the message and were excited to pray about the message of the restoration. Their biggest concern, which is HUGE in their eyes, is the fact that we don’t say "Praise the Lord" and stotrum when we pray and when we meet. We talked about how we praise God in our actions, and not words. They seemed to accept that and be quiet. But, if they end up hating our guts it could be really bad because we might get some spit in our burger...lol.

Today, since my companion is being transferred, we are going to go bowling at India’s largest mall. That sounds fun. I don’t really think it’s necessary, or a great idea, but he really wants to go. I hear they have a Taco Bell...with unlimited refills. It’s the small stuff in life, when you are in India.

Kavitha and Romya are doing well. We have been teaching them and their family members English once a week and they are loving it. When they learned that they would be staying here for this big Hindu festival they were excited that they would be able to come to church. They have both, for a second time, told us that they believe in Jesus Christ and that they should follow him. They are very nice, and want to be baptized, but their older sister is not allowing it. I think that’s dumb because she has no say in this anyways. We are trying to help them understand what it really means to become Christian, and now it will be a different culture than that of the Hindu society. Their family members, who are members, are being very helpful. I love the Ramakrishna family.

That’s about it for this week. Next week I will tell you about an Australian family that we are teaching...stay tuned...and on the edge of your seats. I love you all. Hugs and kisses from India!

Love,
Elder Sorensen