E-mail May 9, 2016: "In Sun and Rain"

That's how we do our work out here in the promised land, and this week we had both the sun and the rain. Mother Nature is a sneaky little devil. Several times during the last two weeks we've gone outside our apartment in the afternoon to a perfectly clear sky and have walked back at the end of the day in a downpour. The next day we again wake up to clear skies and leave our umbrellas back assuming that Mother Nature won't pull a nasty trick like that twice.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. In short we ended up walking back in soggy shame over and over again these last couple of days because we kept on falling for it. Momma Nature, you've officially lost my trust.

Other than the deceptive skies though this last week was pretty good. The work is still hard but we're learning to rely on God more and He leaves us with some blessing to be grateful for at the end of each day. Right now Bro Raju is the only person we have with a baptism date. We've invited many people for baptism these last few weeks but no one else is ready to accept the invitation yet. We're praying for God to soften their hearts but regardless of what happens I'm trusting that whatever work we do will pay off later, even if we're not here to see it.

Sorry this is short but it's late and we need to go soon. Here's some photos though. :)

P-day activity from a few weeks ago. This is Charminar, the gem of Hyderabad.

This is the cool building next to Charminar. I'm not sure what it's the gem of...

And these are the gems of the India Bengaluru Mission. From left to right- Elder Wakefield, Elder Tuscano, Elder Larson, and Elder Bandi.

From far away this looks like just another tree-

But if you look closer...

You'll see that it's actually proof that hot dogs grow on trees. #Veg

Found this bench while locating out at the edge of our area. I couldn't resist this shot. ;)

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day everyone! I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to Skype call my family this morning. It's crazy to think that the next time I talk to them will be in person.

Stay strong and rock on everyone. :)

-Elder Cloward