19 SEP 2010 letter

Dear Family,

Well as always it is great to hear from you. Things back home seem to be moving right along, everyone sounds happy and like things are going well. That makes me happy too.

This past week was full of departing and incoming missionaries. The mission works out that way, every 3 weeks or so we have either new missionaries coming in from the MTC, coming in to be set apart to go to the MTC, or missionaries coming in to depart for their homes. This past week we had all three of them, so it was quite busy. It is a privilege to see these wonderful missionaries at such different stages of their service. The wide eyes and sheer excitement that beams from these new Elders as they walk out of the departure gate. It is almost as tender as the tears that fall from the Elders on their last night as a full-time missionary. It is quite a sight, to see these tired Elders with looks of satisfaction concerning their service and uncertainty concerning their future. Ha, but it is a good time. We sent off two of our finest Indian Elders this week, they were both from Visak. Sad to see them go, but at the same time it was good because they will be quite a strength to their branches at home.

After the week full of arrivals and departures we were able to get out of Bangalore and head over to Chennai. Elder Naulu served there at the very start of his mission and he hadn't been back since, so that was a cool experience for him to be back in the city. It was especially rewarding to be there this weekend because it was District Conference. I got to see quite a few of my converts, including Priya's Family. They are doing so well, just like when they were baptized they showed up 30 minutes before everyone else. There were others that I also saw, they were very surprised to see me. It was a pleasant change of pace. Usually when we show up at church on sunday all the members just can't figure out what were doing there. We commonly get asked if were the new elders, or from another branch in the city. The other question we get alot is if we( Elder Naulu and I) are brothers. That's funny huh? You all have seen him right? Maybe I need to send a picture.

Anyway they week was very good, its always fun to sweat it out over there in Chennai. Tomorrow we are starting Leadership Training Meetings for the south side of the mission here in Bangalore so that will be fun. This past week was the Ganesh holiday, so our elders were on restrictions but it seems like it should be over pretty soon here. That is good, none of the missionaries seemed to like walking around without their name tags. But things are going very well, just to let you know our mission is preparing for 27 baptisms this coming week! That would be the biggest week I've seen on my mission. So pray for that and we're going to do all we can to make it happen. Things are really speeding up over here. Love you all and hope you have a good week!

Elder Tuscano