one in a million miracle...

Dear Family,

It sounds like the weather in old St Geezy is not too bad. Enjoy it. They say it cools down here after may here...and maybe it has. But I haven't noticed it. How cool it is that you met Elder Schmidt's grandparents! I have known about them since the MTC but I didn’t know they were in the 7th ward. It is weird, the more time I spend out here, the more little things I forget about home... irrelevant things like street names, ward boundaries… it’s kinda funny.

Elder Schmidt and I are having a great time serving together. This is one of the most enjoyable times of my mission so far. Not that it has not all been good, but now I'm really living it up. We took Jeremiah on exchange last night and it was amazing. I always thought he was sort of shy and I was a bit apprehensive to take him on exchange. But we were teaching him about missionary work last night. We had an appointment the next street over and asked him to come. It was SICK! He was money and not shy. He was honestly one of the best member exchanges I've taken. He was resolving concerns, testifying and promising blessings. It was so neat for me to see that happen.

I want to share an incredible experience. We have been in a companionship threesome the past two days with our boy Elder Naulu. On Monday, we were running a little late. We had to catch an auto from a far place in our area back to our apartment. The whole night Elder Naulu was carrying his bag around with him for the exchange (valuable goods inside). Anyway, the auto dropped us outside of our apartment at 9:29pm. We stopped to buy biscuits at the store for breakfast and Elder Naulu realized that he left his bag in the auto (which was long gone). Now just to put things in perspective, there are about million autos in Chennai... once he told me he forgot his bag I knew the chances of finding it were low. The only thing I suggested, and it was immediate, was that he'd better pray and ask for a miracle. We walked around the streets for a few minutes looking to see if the drive stopped nearby. No Chance. My logic started taking over, I thought maybe we could go back to that part in our area and see if he returned. Out of any ideas, all the chances of actually finding the bag were really low. It was 9:40 and we knew we should be in the apartment, but he needed his bag. We stopped in the middle of the street and I prayed. I asked for guidance and as soon as I said Amen, Elder Naulu said we gotta get in the apartment. We didn’t question, we just rolled. We got in the apartment and planned for about 15 minutes. Then the doorbell rang. I must admit, I was actually expecting this. Two guys were standing there trying to say "bag" in english. We went downstairs and there was the auto guy with his bag. I learned from the experience, obedience really comes first. Sometimes we have to step into the dark with it. We were obedient to the spirit and almost immediately – a miracle! Through faithful obedience we can expect miracles.

That story took up a ton… I love my studies. I’m learning more about the mysteries of Godliness. I have become really attached to Doctrine and Covenants section 88.

Love you all,
Elder Tuscano

(below are excerpts from individual letters to family)

Things out here are sweet. We have a huge area now and we spend a lot of time on buses. Here you have to run and jump to catch them and jump off when they are still going. This is a pretty athletic mission bro, so you better prepare yourself.

My companion and I were so pumped to hear that our families were chilling together in STG. It is cool that at home you can have that connection. I may be far away for now, but it doesn’t really feel like it.

Raja helped us out this week, our fridge was broken and he sent one of his boys to come fix it. It’s so cool having cousins up the road.

Thanks for the advice about charity and showing people that I care. It is such a true principle. I try to show them and I know that when they know we care then they will keep their commitments.

You're right; there are a ton of people to learn from and to emulate. I have been trying my best to do that throughout my mission and it has helped.

Our new area is huge and we are just trying to figure out how to travel in it and meet everyone. It’s fun though, and I love serving with Elder Schmidt.