Thursday, February 25, 2010

pictures on doors...

Dear Family,

Hello there! I hope that everyone is doing well this week. Things are really starting to heat up here in Visak. It is sunny all the time. The pollution is not as bad here so Elder Ward and I are getting a little tan. We went to the beach this morning and played football – it was a blast. Elder Evans is now in our district so we have a pretty tight district for the time being. Elder Ward, Elder Schmidt, Elder Evans, and myself-President hooked it up in Visak 1st branch.

This past week was fun. We met a cool family; I’ll share the experience. Last Thursday we had an appointment cancel in the early afternoon. It was real hot but we were able to generate some excitement and we went finding. After a few apartment buildings we met a lady who directed us to the top floor of her apartment building. There, posted on the door was the picture of Jesus Christ that you find on the first pages of the book of mormon! We were incredulous. I proceeded to peel back the picture and found the Joseph Smith portrait on the back. By this time the daughters had come out and we began to ask them where they got the picture. They stated that a Hindu friend had given it to them months ago. They had no idea what it was, but they were very interested to find out. As we returned a few days later for the appointment we found that they were prepared. After teaching clearly about the book of mormon one of the daughters expressed her gratitude. She said that for months she had looked at that book on her shelf and just wondered what it was. She was so happy to know that God would tell her if this book was true. The Mom and Dad are good. We will see their intent within the next week or two. But we both felt that it was a cool experience. I can’t find words to describe the excitement we had in seeing that picture on their door. After seeing 100,000 doors with Ganesh photos on them, it’s impossible to look at that picture on a door and not be filled with happiness!

Elder Ward and I are excited for another transfer together. We hope that we are able to really get Visak going. Other than transfers there is not too much that happened this past week. So that’s about all for now. Everything else is going well. I am learning so much about the gospel and leadership as well. I am so happy to be here and I am thankful for your prayers. They certainly carry me. I love you all have a good week.

Love,
Elder Tuscano

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

16 FEB 10 letter

Dear Family,

Things in Visak are going well; it is really heating up again. The memories of Chennai heat are returning quickly. Anyway, it’s good for me; I just tell myself that walking around in the heat builds character. So by the time I get back to Utah I should have built plenty of it!

This past week was full of train rides. We came back to Visak last Friday. The train ride was about 14 hours. We figured the distance is actually about 300 miles or so…the trains travel a bit slower than you would think. But that is just fine because the Indian countryside is beautiful; all of the rice patty fields and chili fields are quite breathtaking. If you’re in the mood for a scenic journey the train would be your choice mode of transportation. It was a fun journey and zone conference was good, but I was very eager to get back to Visak and get to work.

Elder Ward and I are working with some incredible people. One of our greatest successes this past week was with a sister named Puspha. She is actually the cousin of a recent convert family and has known about the church for some time. About two weeks ago we decided that we would start to focus on her. She was OK at first but it seemed like she wasn’t that interested. At the end of one appointment we challenged her sincerely to read and pray about the book of mormon. It was close to a week and a half before we saw her again. She seemed different. There was nothing incredible about it, but we could certainly sense a change in her. As we taught her, she was much more attentive and became excited when we would extend commitments. She had felt the spirit. The process of conversion had begun, and we continue to watch it take place. I feel so privileged to be a part of it.

Church was also good. We continue to have great people come to sacrament, and they seem to enjoy it a lot. There are a lot of great people in Visak and the church is really a fun place to be. There are always new and exciting things that happen. I will go into detail on another occasion when time is sufficient. But it really is always a riot. Anyway I love you all and hope you have a good week. See you next time!

Love,
Elder Tuscano

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

09 FEB 10 letter

Dear Family,

Greetings from Hyderabad! We just arrived last night at about 7 in the evening. The train ride was about 12 hours, it was a nice trip. The Indian countryside is so beautiful and it was nice to get to know more of the elders in our zone and Rajamundry. It is a cool experience being in H-town again; in some ways it feels like nothing has changed and I’d never left this place. I am so happy to be serving in this mission and to have these cool experiences.

This past week was great. On Sunday Deepthi was baptized! It was incredible. After all that she has overcome, watching her be baptized just seemed so right. One of my favorite things as a missionary is the gratitude expressed by recent converts towards us. I know that the Spirit does all the work, and we really are just instruments in the hands of God. But hearing a recent convert sincerely express their appreciation to you for bringing them to the knowledge of the restored gospel is perhaps the most rewarding experience of a life time.

Also we have been meeting with Kishore Kumar and his family. They are so good, we gave an invitation to be baptized and they accepted. All except for Kishore, he is so busy with work that he hardly had time to meet with us or come to church. He has less interest in spiritual things, but he has made progress and we feel that he will come around. He told us on Friday that he feels like he is returning to the good habits of his childhood. After moving out, he stopped going to church and praying and hadn’t resumed until we met him a few weeks ago. Swarna Latha is a saint. She has been trying for years to get her entire family into good worshipping habits. She has been unsuccessful until now. With the knowledge of the restored gospel and the fellowship of the members their family is making significant changes and Swarna Latha is so happy. It is exciting to see.

I went on exchange with AP Mehan on Saturday and it was a great experience. He is a great missionary and a good friend. I learned a lot. I was most impressed with his ability to work, when finding I truly felt like we were working. That was a contrast to a common feeling that elders have when finding, which is they are just simply walking around. Elder Mehan didn’t waste a minute but talked with everyone everywhere we went. He had faith that we would find good people and he exhibited that faith through his work ethic. I am grateful for my leaders and the many things I can learn from them. Thank you all for the support. I hope you have a good week!

Love,
Elder Tuscano

02 FEB 10 letter

Dear Family,

This past week was fun; we had a lot of success and are seeing a lot of people make incredible changes in their lives. The foremost this week is Deepthi. She is finally ready for baptism. She has overcome a million obstacles over the past few months. I will be sure to tell you all the details at a later time, but she really overcame just about every kind of problem. Family, Job, and any other trial you could imagine. She is so excited for baptism, and with so many problems in her life right now she understands that this is the best thing to do. Her faith and courage have been and always will be an inspiration to me. I know things will turn out OK for her, and that God has got a great plan for her.

This past Sunday was a great experience. Elder Ward and I were able to give talks. Church started about 30 minutes late because someone forgot to bring the bread for the sacrament. But we were eventually able to give our talks but I don’t think they were received well. Throughout the day we asked people if they enjoyed the talks and they all said yes. Then we would ask if they remembered what we talked about, and each time, without fail, the response was a blank stare! Elder Ward spoke about Enduring to End and I spoke about Covenants.
Yesterday was also a funny day. I was able to do some baptism interviews. Two kids, they are brother and sister and I think cousins of a member family. Anyway the girl, who is about 16, was so nervous for her interview. She studied in a telegu medium school and her English is not so much. She was so funny; there was one point in the interview where she was so frustrated with me because I was not reading the baptism interview questions word for word. She had prepared to answer those questions exactly and couldn’t answer the others! Anyway she is really good and the Elders did a great job preparing her for baptism, it was just a hilarious situation.

The weeks are really flying by, I can’t believe that it’s February. I was thinking the other day about coming home. I realized that once I come back that’s it. There is no more mission in India. It made me sad and strengthened my resolve to give everything while I still can. There really is no reason for me to think about things at home and how great it will be to be back in Utah again. Once I’m back, I’m back for good. But my days in India are numbered and I want to get more out of them. I am so grateful for this, my opportunity to serve the Lord full time. I love you all and hope you have a good week!

Elder Tuscano

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

26 JAN 10 letter

Dear Family,

This past week was full of surprises. We had a big disappointment on sunday because the two families we are working with did not come to church! Well, one came but they were about 2 hours late. So we felt bad about it, but this week will be better. We are sure about that.

This week one of our investigators revealed to us that she was basically an alcoholic. We were blown away. She is 17 and after the word of wisdom lesson we had last week she had been acting weird. She has a little different personality but I assumed that she was a just a special girl. But I have now learned never to assume anything. It sounds like she is pretty bad and we will start to work with her this week on repentance and addiction recovery.

We met a man named Pavan Kumar last week. He lives in an area called Gnanapuram (pronounced "Yan-ah-poor-um"). It means village of wisdom, but could more accurately be named the village of Roman Catholics. This brother is incredible. He is about 21 and at the end of the first appointment we challenged him to say the prayer. During the prayer, he proceeded to ask God if Joseph Smith was a true prophet. A different feeling entered the room at that time. He recognized it immediately. Yesterday we met with him and challenged him for baptism and he accepted. But his parents will be the obstacle. So we will see how it goes.

I went on exchange twice this past week. First with Elder Lohat, he serves in 2nd branch and is from New Delhi. He is an amazing elder and we share a lot in common. It was fun to go with him and learn about his life in Delhi. From the way he describes it, Delhi seems very western. So it was cool to learn about that. Yesterday I went with Elder Mickelson who is serving out in Gajuwaka branch. If you remember he was in H-town 2nd branch with us for a while and served with Elder Ward. So it was fun to be with him, it brought back memories of the good old days in West Marred Pally. So that is about it for this week. Thanks for your prayers!

Love you,
Elder Tuscano