It's crazy how small this world is when your'e a member of the Church. A few weeks ago we were visiting an older member, Brother Krupa Rao, and I noticed that he had an unusually nice set of scriptures. When I asked him where he got them he said they were given to him from the missionary who baptized him and his son nearly 20 years ago. That missionary was Elder Householder from Utah, the same Householder who's a friend of our family and who shared his mission experiences and prepared me for India before I came out. This family still loves Elder Householder and I've also met several others who remember him and have commented on how good of a missionary he was. I'm grateful for the great work he did and I'm glad that I got to meet some of the people he helped bring into the gospel.
Bro Krupa Rao's son Stephen recently got married and yesterday we started teaching his wife Flamy. Most of the investigators I've taught over the last six months have only spoken limited English and I've had to break down my language or use a translator with a lot of my teaching. Stephen and Flamy both work IT jobs in a place called Hi-Tech city and they almost speak better English than I do. It was quite an unusual yet refreshing experience having the investigator understand everything I said. I used to wonder why I've been called to teach such a vast subject as the gospel in a place where I can't speak the language and only a few people can understand me. I imagine that's the way most missionaries who are learning a new language also feel and I've learned that the only reason conversion is even possible in that setting is because of the Holy Ghost. The longer I'm out here the more I realize how helpless my teaching would be without the Spirit. I know that it's only by the Spirit that anyone really changes and I'm so grateful that God has given each of us that precious gift to guide us as we strive to lift others.
Here's a quick follow up from a few weeks ago. I mentioned that we found a member named Prabaker who welcomed us into his home. Due to the efforts of us and the ward leadership and thanks to a Heavenly miracle he came to church that next Sunday for the first time in 9 years. Although it had been such a long time he still knew some of the members and they treated him like family. I think that's only the second time in my entire mission when someone who's been away from the church has come back the first time we invited him them to. It adds to the miracle of even meeting him in the first place and adds to my testimony that God really is in charge of His work.
Oh, and I apologize for not sending pictures in a while. We get so busy that I forget to even take them. My bad. Here's a few from last week.
Anyways until next week stay strong and rock on everyone.:)
-Elder Cloward
 |
| (He sent this one to Afton.) |
 |
| This is our friend who lives outside our apartment. You can"t see it very well here but he's actually more than a foot long. |
 |
| We found this Christian melodies book in someone's home the other day and check out what was inside- |
 |
| It looks like Latter-Day Saints aren't the only ones who want to be a sunbeam. |
 |
| This is us with Vineel (member) and Krupa Rani (future member). |
 |
| This is us with the Young Men's President Koti, his sister Anitha, and her two children Ankita and Akash. |
 |
This is Bro Nalani, his father Aharon, and his mom ...I forgot her name.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment