Christmas week...

Dear Family,

This past week has been fun. We just had Zone Conference yesterday. In Visak, we have conference with the Rajahmundry Zone, so it has been cool to see some of them. Zone Conference was on finding people and it was excellent. It has made a huge difference in some of the other Zones and I'm sure it will here. Although we usually find a lot of people here, the struggle is helping them progress. Oh yeah, President is showing us the BYU vs. Oregon State bowl game. It is on in the church, which is upstairs. We watched the first quarter and came down to e-mail. BYU looks pretty good.

A few weeks ago we found a brother named Uday. He is about 19 and comes from a hindu family. We taught him once and he was mildly interested. We committed him to daily prayer, and he kept the commitment. We were only able to meet him the second time this past friday, but as we met him we could see a change in his countenance. He had been praying daily and noted how much of a difference it made. We taught again the restoration and his understanding was perfect! At the end we started to talk about baptism and he asked us when he could take it! It was sweet. As he said the prayer he told Heavenly Father he wanted to be baptized, I remember looking at him after he said Amen. He had the biggest smile on his face. It was way cool to see the change in his life. He quickly gained a testimony, but he is going to need that because his Mom said there was no chance he could get baptized. I'll be sure to let you know what happens with him.

I gave a talk in zone conference about finding by the spirit. It was a great opportunity to reflect on my experiences and see just how often the spirit was guiding us. I really am so grateful to be a part of this work. At times I catch myself feeling inadequate, like I might be unable to do all the things that are required of me. But as soon as those thoughts begin, I just remember that I have no reason to think that way. I have the gift of the Holy Ghost all I need to do is trust that He will help me. It is so comforting to know that we don’t have to make this journey by ourselves.

Anyway I am very grateful, especially this christmas season. I am grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ and the hope it brings into my life. I am grateful for experiences that help us understand that sacrifice, and for my opportunity to help these people understand it. Merry Christmas and I will talk to you soon!

Love,
Elder Tuscano