Wednesday, September 30, 2009

29 SEP 09 letter

Dear Family,

This week was wonderful. Kevin was baptized this past sunday. He is such an amazing kid. I am so impressed with these young single adults and their sincere desire to follow Christ, and to improve themselves. The whole Priya family was very excited to witness the experience. I don't know if I have told much about Kevin. He is Priya's very good friend and she was key in helping him make the decision to be baptized. He was worried at first because his parents are strong members of the CSI church. But he came around.

I think I might have got a small taste of the feeling Elder Bayzk had when he met Dad for the first time. Sunday night we went up to West Mambalam to meet a referral the other Elders had given us. This brother's name is Thiyagu. He is about 21 and he is s smart man. He speaks perfect english and is very quick. We sat down with him, his sister, and his Mom. While we shared the message he was very interactive. After the message was over he said something like "I have been searching for the truth for a while." He knew had found it, because he then asked us when he could become an Elder. It was incredible. I am constantly humbled by experiences like this. It really evidences the fact that God is truly looking out for us.

It has started to cool down a little bit. Not much, but some. I think the monsoon is really on the way so we are preparing for that. My studies continue to be very rewarding. I am truly enjoying my time here.

Love,
Elder Tuscano

22 SEP 09 letter

Dear Family,

This past week was incredible. We were able to baptize Madhu on sunday. He was so excited. I was sad that Elder Schmidt was not able to be here for it, but I will send him pictures. I think he will be surprised. The baptism was good; it had to happen twice though. He was very nervous about going under the water. After I finished the prayer I was trying to be cautious and careful. I attempted to slowly lower him into the water, but that was not his plan. He just plummeted down; it was so fast I almost lost him. The second time was much smoother though, so I was grateful for that. He called us that night and couldn't stop telling us how happy he was.

Sri Devi is Sri Raj's sister; I think I have spoke about her. She is doing so well. At first I felt that she was not interested, but we made a goal to get her to church. When she came she got awesome fellowship. Also she has been reading the book of mormon daily and saying her prayers. We asked her to pray and sincerely ask God about the book of mormon. She did. And she got her answer; the happiness that has suddenly entered into her life could not be attributed to any other source. Needless to say her level of interest is up. Also they have another brother who wants to get baptized. He came to church on sunday. I think he will be good.

I am blown away by the changes occur in the lives of the people we work with.

We had a sweet zone conference yesterday. It was about "My Purpose" and I learned so much. President helped us to understand truly what our purpose is. I don't know any other mission presidents, but I am so glad that we have President Nichols. His understanding of his purpose is so apparent. He knows we are here to do more than simply baptize people. I am so grateful for the leadership and guidance of an inspired mission president. There are 3 new districts being created here: Visak, Coimbatore, and CHENNAI! That is sweet news

Love,
Elder Tuscano

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Happy Birthday Josh!

Dear Family,

This past week was great. We have some amazing people we are working with. We had small birthday party for me at Priya's house last night. She set up decorations, her mom made Biriyani and we had big cake!

Cool story about Priya's family. I guess 3 weeks ago in Relief Society they had a lesson on temple and family history work. That family had just been baptized, so we hadn't taught them temples yet. It was the first time they heard about it. That night, Priya had a dream and her great-grandmother came to her. She informed her that she and about ten other relations of hers were waiting for them to do their temple work. Apparently in the dream her grandma gave the names and photos of the ten people, but Priya couldn't remember all of them. Anyway, we plan to get as much detail as possible and I will probably send the information to Grandma. I am beginning to understand why that family needed to be baptized. I think it was for many reasons, but this is surely one of them.

My companion is so great. I am learning so much from him, but especially humility. His desire is so sincere. He has great faith. Because of his example I am learning to put even greater trust in the scriptures and the basic principles of the gospel. I was coming to the point with some people where I believed nothing could help. My companion is helping me to see that in all situations Faith in Jesus Christ works. It’s such a simple principle, but really so powerful. He is good.

Love,
Elder Tuscano

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

08 SEP 09 letter

Dear Family,

I can't believe BYU beat Oklahoma. I was honestly shocked when I read the score; I about fell out of my chair. So what is their ranking now? They always start strong, but we'll see the real strength of the team as time passes. Or rather, you all will see it.

This past week was great. It was sad to see Elder Schmidt go. At first it was weird walking the streets and visiting people without him. But that transition is about through, and it feels great to be hanging out with Elder Gantyada. He is an amazing person. His dedication to the gospel is incredible. He is not scared to tell people the truth. I have been learning a lot from him.

We were working with Madhu since June. He was good, but he couldn't make it to church consistently. Then we discovered that he was receiving retribution from his family. They all attend the AG church. It's the biggest christian church in Chennai. But they told Madhu our church does not believe in Jesus Christ. Once we discovered this concern, it was a quick resolution. We pointed to the name of our church on our tags and asked him if the book of mormon was true. Problem solved. He came back to church, and I think this time he'll stay.

We have also been working with Sri Raj's sister. Her name is Sri Devi and she is about 20 – very smart, like her brother. She came to church by herself sunday because Sri Raj had a job interview. We were stoked to see her, but I was even more pumped to watch her receive great fellowship from Priya and her mom. This mission is sweet.

I read a great talk by Neal A. Maxwell about patience. I gained a lot of things from it, but one of the coolest was this quote: "Patience is the acceptance of a divine rhythm to life." I felt that was so articulate. I used it in a training I gave on patience. Anyway, thought someone might enjoy that.

Love you all,
Josh

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

comp change, priya's family baptism...

Dear Family,

I'll start with some sad news. The Chennai companionship, or in other words, Elder Schmidt and Elder Tuscano came to an end. Transfer calls came monday morning. Elder Schmidt is off to new adventures in the land called Visak. He leaves friday morning. It will be sad to see him go. We had a lot of good times together in the heat of Chennai.

I am now a district leader. I hope that I can be a good one. I took the advice you gave me a while back. I have been watching my leaders closely and I will attempt to emulate the good qualities they exhibited. My new companion is Elder Gantyada. He has been on his mission almost 3 weeks now. He was being trained by both Zone Leaders but some other stuff didn't happen, so he is coming over to my area. It will be fun. He joined the church only a year and half ago. He was referred to the church by the brother of my trainer, Elder Siyyadri. He was taught and baptized by the great Elder Toleafoa. Now he is my companion in Chennai. It is amazing how small the church is in such a big country.

This past week was great. We met a sweet new brother. His name is Sherman. We were at the train station in a place called Kodambakkam. I had never been there. There were some less-active members and we went to visit them. Upon our return to Mambalam, we found ourselves waiting for the train. Some man approached us that had apparently met the elders a few years ago. He was Roman Catholic and came across a bit obnoxious toward us. We had nowhere to go, so we listened and talked with him. It wasn’t long before a few other people walked up to us and introduced themselves as christians. We didn’t think much of it; gave them our cards and told them to call us. But one of them seemed different. He introduced himself to us, specifically Elder Schmidt as we boarded the train. I was kept busy during the ride by our catholic friend. As we got off the train, my companion turned to me and said "I've never felt so good about anyone in my life." He was so excited. He stated that he felt the man was just prepared. He was. We met him two days later and discovered that his mom had passed away just ten days ago. He accepted the message of the restoration. He came to church the next day and stayed all three hours, and also for the baptism we had that day. He also set himself for baptism in two weeks. My companion was right.

We had a great baptism this week. Priya's entire family entered the waters. I will send some pictures. It might have been one of the greatest days of my life. They were all so ready. And the branch did a beautiful job fellowshipping. I don't know why, perhaps it was because two of the daughters are cute. Maybe because it is a big family. But the branch really helped us. I look forward to seeing how much they progress as members of the church. Working with them was a sweet experience. We met them at the right time, in the right circumstances, and taught them the "right" message. It was great!

Love,
Elder Tuscano