Happy New Year!
The past week has been very eventful. There are a lot of people we are working with, but each one seems to have problems that stand in the way of their baptism. One family is Shyam and Monica. They have 3 kids, Shyam is an auto driver. They all have a desire to be baptized, but Shaym knows NO english. Everyone else does though, even Monica. So we gave him a blessing and are working with him. He has already made improvement and is able to pray simply in english. We hope that all goes well with that.
Another investigator, Deepthi, has been having some ridiculous family problems. It has been fascinating to watch her grab hold of the gospel during this difficult time. Even though she is experiencing some very rough things, she still has a smile. I think it is in large part due to her faith and devotion to the gospel. She understands that the best thing for her to do is be baptized. It has been very cool to work with her and see that.
Christmas came and went rather uneventfully, the new year will most likely be the same. The holidays that are celebrated here are the hindu festivals. The other holidays receive little or no recognition.
Anyway I gotta get going. Sorry to be so short. The server messed up and I lost my entire e-mail. It was done, and so nice, but now I have no time to write it again.
Love,
Elder Tuscano
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
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
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
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Andrah splits
Hello Family,
Last friday, Andhra Pradesh decided to split! We were so surprised. The district president called us friday morning and advised us not to go outside because the government announced that this state would split in half! The other state is called Telangana and I think it is the area surrounding Hyderabad. Maybe you can google it to learn more. President Nichols has been working with us and things seem to be cooling down. It was very interesting. I thought I would let you know about it.
We had a cool experience on sunday. On saturday night we counseled with President and he decided it would be ok to go finding on sunday. We called the Elders and let them know the good news. As a companionship we really needed to go because we had about half of the new investigators. We were excited, but sunday morning before church, President called and told us NOT to go. We were so sad because we planned the night before for a lot of finding. Anyway, after church we visited a family – our only appointment for the day and one of the little girl's friends came in. She spoke english and said she was christian so we were able to set up an appointment with her family for the evening. We visited a potential investigator who happened to actually be there! After the lesson he told us to go teach his neighbors and they were also interested. To end the night we visited that little girl’s family and they were way good, too! We ended up with more people to teach than we planned! It was just a witness to me that God helps us when we are committed to achieve our goals and even if you can’t "go finding," you can still find people to teach. That’s all for this week.
Love you all,
Elder Tuscano
Last friday, Andhra Pradesh decided to split! We were so surprised. The district president called us friday morning and advised us not to go outside because the government announced that this state would split in half! The other state is called Telangana and I think it is the area surrounding Hyderabad. Maybe you can google it to learn more. President Nichols has been working with us and things seem to be cooling down. It was very interesting. I thought I would let you know about it.
We had a cool experience on sunday. On saturday night we counseled with President and he decided it would be ok to go finding on sunday. We called the Elders and let them know the good news. As a companionship we really needed to go because we had about half of the new investigators. We were excited, but sunday morning before church, President called and told us NOT to go. We were so sad because we planned the night before for a lot of finding. Anyway, after church we visited a family – our only appointment for the day and one of the little girl's friends came in. She spoke english and said she was christian so we were able to set up an appointment with her family for the evening. We visited a potential investigator who happened to actually be there! After the lesson he told us to go teach his neighbors and they were also interested. To end the night we visited that little girl’s family and they were way good, too! We ended up with more people to teach than we planned! It was just a witness to me that God helps us when we are committed to achieve our goals and even if you can’t "go finding," you can still find people to teach. That’s all for this week.
Love you all,
Elder Tuscano
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Visak beginnings
Dear Family,
This past week was very good. I left Bangalore on friday morning and arrived in Visak early that afternoon. I am finding Visak to be a very enjoyable place, wonderful people and atmosphere. I looked forward to serving here my entire mission and my hopes have not been let down. The work here is great.
We have been working with an incredible sister named Deepthi. Elder Ward met her about one week before I got to Visak. She comes from a Roman Catholic background and she is so good. She gained a witness of the Book of Mormon very quickly and has been keeping commitments like crazy. She even introduced us to her Hindu neighbors who are very interested as well. What impresses me most is her ability to keep commitments. I have noticed that when investigators actually gain a witness of the book of mormon, it is rare that they fail to keep the big commitments. There are always exceptions, but this is just an observation that I have made from my experience.
I was on an exchange last night with Elder Pritchett, the district leader in 2nd branch, and we met a sweet investigator. Her name was Manjusha and she was so prepared. She has a Hindu background, but when I was sharing about Joseph Smith she was finishing my sentences. As soon as we showed her the picture in the pamphlet she stated, "Oh, that’s Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ." I have not seen many people do that without hesitation. She was very impressive. Anyway I am having a great time here, and my testimony does not go a day without significant growth.
Love,
Elder Tuscano
This past week was very good. I left Bangalore on friday morning and arrived in Visak early that afternoon. I am finding Visak to be a very enjoyable place, wonderful people and atmosphere. I looked forward to serving here my entire mission and my hopes have not been let down. The work here is great.
We have been working with an incredible sister named Deepthi. Elder Ward met her about one week before I got to Visak. She comes from a Roman Catholic background and she is so good. She gained a witness of the Book of Mormon very quickly and has been keeping commitments like crazy. She even introduced us to her Hindu neighbors who are very interested as well. What impresses me most is her ability to keep commitments. I have noticed that when investigators actually gain a witness of the book of mormon, it is rare that they fail to keep the big commitments. There are always exceptions, but this is just an observation that I have made from my experience.
I was on an exchange last night with Elder Pritchett, the district leader in 2nd branch, and we met a sweet investigator. Her name was Manjusha and she was so prepared. She has a Hindu background, but when I was sharing about Joseph Smith she was finishing my sentences. As soon as we showed her the picture in the pamphlet she stated, "Oh, that’s Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ." I have not seen many people do that without hesitation. She was very impressive. Anyway I am having a great time here, and my testimony does not go a day without significant growth.
Love,
Elder Tuscano
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
zone council
Dear Family,
I am writing to you from Bangalore. We came here for a Zone Leader council and it has been so fun to see some of the missionaries I had served with. I am especially excited for tomorrow; we are going to set our goal for baptisms this next year. I am happy that I get to be a part of that.
This past week was great. Transfers are never easy. It was hard to say goodbye to Chennai. But I was very excited to arrive in Visak and start working with Elder Ward. We both couldn’t believe that we ended up as companions. We are excited for our area and the zone. The week before I arrived they had achieved their goal for the year, and we had to re-set it. We have high expectations.
Visak is a great city...Very small in comparison to Chennai and Hyderabad so it is something to get used to. There are 3 branches in Visak. The church has been there for almost 20 years. It is a great place for the church to be also, they just formed a branch in March called Gajuwaka. It is pretty far from Visak, but it is a beautiful place. We went out there for a baptismal interview yesterday and it was a cool experience. I interviewed this kid who is from one of the strongest member families in that branch. He was an Alma the younger of sorts. I was most impressed with his sincerity. He had truly repented and turned his life around.
Everything else is going well. My studies are excellent. Elder Ward and I are trying to improve our ability to follow the spirit.
Love,
Elder Tuscano
I am writing to you from Bangalore. We came here for a Zone Leader council and it has been so fun to see some of the missionaries I had served with. I am especially excited for tomorrow; we are going to set our goal for baptisms this next year. I am happy that I get to be a part of that.
This past week was great. Transfers are never easy. It was hard to say goodbye to Chennai. But I was very excited to arrive in Visak and start working with Elder Ward. We both couldn’t believe that we ended up as companions. We are excited for our area and the zone. The week before I arrived they had achieved their goal for the year, and we had to re-set it. We have high expectations.
Visak is a great city...Very small in comparison to Chennai and Hyderabad so it is something to get used to. There are 3 branches in Visak. The church has been there for almost 20 years. It is a great place for the church to be also, they just formed a branch in March called Gajuwaka. It is pretty far from Visak, but it is a beautiful place. We went out there for a baptismal interview yesterday and it was a cool experience. I interviewed this kid who is from one of the strongest member families in that branch. He was an Alma the younger of sorts. I was most impressed with his sincerity. He had truly repented and turned his life around.
Everything else is going well. My studies are excellent. Elder Ward and I are trying to improve our ability to follow the spirit.
Love,
Elder Tuscano
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
transfer to Visak
Dear Family,
Happy Thanksgiving! We actually celebrated Thanksgiving two weeks ago at one of the American families’ homes. So my day tomorrow will be quite the same, but oh wait....I got transferred!
The Chennai chapter has come to a close and I will forever recall my time here with fondness. It was a great place to serve and I am grateful that President allowed me to stay here for this long.
I will be going to Visak; but even better than that...ELDER WARD is my new companion. Do you remember him? I haven't seen him in 8 months and now I will be his companion. When I got the call from Elder Mehan on friday I was overcome with joy. I think I got a taste of what Ammon felt. Elder Ward is my boy and I look forward to doing work up there in Andhra. I am going to be a zone leader. I hope that I can do a good job. I look forward to setting an example of obedience and hard work with Elder Ward. I honestly couldn’t have hoped for a better transfer.
I am excited to go back to Andhra and eat biryani. It is the specialty there and I am pumped. I will miss Chennai very much though. It has been hard to say bye to people though. Especially the people I prepared for baptism. But no problem I will see them down the road I am sure.
This past week was just short of incredible. We have been focusing as a companionship and district on the message of the restoration. A lot of times we will only teach the restoration first to those with a christian background. But recently we changed that. As stated in Preach My Gospel, The Restoration of the Gospel is our unique message to the world. So we are sharing it with everyone we meet, regardless of their background. We have seen some cool things happen.
We met a less-active member, Jonathan, his cousin from Bombay recently moved here. He was Hindu, but we shared the message of the restoration. At the end he told us that for the past few days he had been having these spiritual impressions, but he couldn't figure out what they meant. He then expressed his feeling that this message was the real explanation he was searching for. On saturday we met a brother named Rajesh on the bus. He invited us to his home right then, I was so surprised I almost said no. We went to his home and taught him and his friend the restoration. They were both hindu. At the end of the message, his friend told us that he had received some "divine inspiration" while we shared… sounded a lot like the Holy Ghost to me.
These reactions happened because the restoration is real. Joseph Smith saw God. That experience changed the world and if it did not happen we would not know all the other things we teach. That is why the restoration is lesson one -- I guess I have a hard head. But it does feel good to finally understand this for myself.
Love,
Elder Tuscano
Happy Thanksgiving! We actually celebrated Thanksgiving two weeks ago at one of the American families’ homes. So my day tomorrow will be quite the same, but oh wait....I got transferred!
The Chennai chapter has come to a close and I will forever recall my time here with fondness. It was a great place to serve and I am grateful that President allowed me to stay here for this long.
I will be going to Visak; but even better than that...ELDER WARD is my new companion. Do you remember him? I haven't seen him in 8 months and now I will be his companion. When I got the call from Elder Mehan on friday I was overcome with joy. I think I got a taste of what Ammon felt. Elder Ward is my boy and I look forward to doing work up there in Andhra. I am going to be a zone leader. I hope that I can do a good job. I look forward to setting an example of obedience and hard work with Elder Ward. I honestly couldn’t have hoped for a better transfer.
I am excited to go back to Andhra and eat biryani. It is the specialty there and I am pumped. I will miss Chennai very much though. It has been hard to say bye to people though. Especially the people I prepared for baptism. But no problem I will see them down the road I am sure.
This past week was just short of incredible. We have been focusing as a companionship and district on the message of the restoration. A lot of times we will only teach the restoration first to those with a christian background. But recently we changed that. As stated in Preach My Gospel, The Restoration of the Gospel is our unique message to the world. So we are sharing it with everyone we meet, regardless of their background. We have seen some cool things happen.
We met a less-active member, Jonathan, his cousin from Bombay recently moved here. He was Hindu, but we shared the message of the restoration. At the end he told us that for the past few days he had been having these spiritual impressions, but he couldn't figure out what they meant. He then expressed his feeling that this message was the real explanation he was searching for. On saturday we met a brother named Rajesh on the bus. He invited us to his home right then, I was so surprised I almost said no. We went to his home and taught him and his friend the restoration. They were both hindu. At the end of the message, his friend told us that he had received some "divine inspiration" while we shared… sounded a lot like the Holy Ghost to me.
These reactions happened because the restoration is real. Joseph Smith saw God. That experience changed the world and if it did not happen we would not know all the other things we teach. That is why the restoration is lesson one -- I guess I have a hard head. But it does feel good to finally understand this for myself.
Love,
Elder Tuscano
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
solid finding...
Dear Family,
We have been doing some solid finding lately. One of my favorite parts of finding is just being able to meet all kinds of people. You NEVER know what kind of people you're going to meet. We have been meeting some crazy people lately. On the bus over here I was talking to a brother name Rajan. He was going off about how dogs are much more faithful than human beings.
On saturday we met an interesting family. Vijayanand and Sonia. They are married and have two children. They attend a church called the brethren assembly. They are very strong members of the church and have many insights on religion. We sat down and began to teach the restoration. While my companion was teaching about how the gospel blesses families, she cut him off. She said we were wasting our time because we were teaching them the basics. She went on for about 10 minutes lecturing us and questioning our reason for being there. Needless to say, she lacked patience. I proceeded to politely cut her off and began to teach about prophets. When she understood that we were now teaching things she didn't know, she relaxed a bit. We shared Joseph Smith and the first vision. She loved it actually. But my favorite part of the appointment was the end. We taught them how they should pray and ask God if our message was true. They said OK. Then Sonia asked the question that I think all missionaries want to hear. "So if this is true, what should I do?" It really caught me off guard. She then continued and said something like, "do I need to be baptized again?" I tried to be as polite as possible and started talking about proper authority. She cut me off, repeated the question, and demanded that I tell her straight up. I answered, "Yes." She smirked and said "OK, if God answers me." I was surprised. We’ll see what happens... she is going to california in a few weeks and she said she wants to go to SLC and meet the Prophet. Interesting discussion.
We met a guy who lives in Uganda! He was taught by Elders there. I did not know we had Elders in Eastern Africa!
Thank you for the compliments. I am proud of the changes that have occurred in my life and hope that I can preserve them for the rest of my life. While I have changed a lot, I still feel there is so much more I need to change. But I guess that is a common feeling with those who have a goal to be like Christ.
That will be my email for this week.
Love you all!
Elder Tuscano
We have been doing some solid finding lately. One of my favorite parts of finding is just being able to meet all kinds of people. You NEVER know what kind of people you're going to meet. We have been meeting some crazy people lately. On the bus over here I was talking to a brother name Rajan. He was going off about how dogs are much more faithful than human beings.
On saturday we met an interesting family. Vijayanand and Sonia. They are married and have two children. They attend a church called the brethren assembly. They are very strong members of the church and have many insights on religion. We sat down and began to teach the restoration. While my companion was teaching about how the gospel blesses families, she cut him off. She said we were wasting our time because we were teaching them the basics. She went on for about 10 minutes lecturing us and questioning our reason for being there. Needless to say, she lacked patience. I proceeded to politely cut her off and began to teach about prophets. When she understood that we were now teaching things she didn't know, she relaxed a bit. We shared Joseph Smith and the first vision. She loved it actually. But my favorite part of the appointment was the end. We taught them how they should pray and ask God if our message was true. They said OK. Then Sonia asked the question that I think all missionaries want to hear. "So if this is true, what should I do?" It really caught me off guard. She then continued and said something like, "do I need to be baptized again?" I tried to be as polite as possible and started talking about proper authority. She cut me off, repeated the question, and demanded that I tell her straight up. I answered, "Yes." She smirked and said "OK, if God answers me." I was surprised. We’ll see what happens... she is going to california in a few weeks and she said she wants to go to SLC and meet the Prophet. Interesting discussion.
We met a guy who lives in Uganda! He was taught by Elders there. I did not know we had Elders in Eastern Africa!
Thank you for the compliments. I am proud of the changes that have occurred in my life and hope that I can preserve them for the rest of my life. While I have changed a lot, I still feel there is so much more I need to change. But I guess that is a common feeling with those who have a goal to be like Christ.
That will be my email for this week.
Love you all!
Elder Tuscano
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