18 AUG 09 letter

Dear Family,

I wanted to share a little about one of the less active families we are working with. I have mentioned them before. It is Peter's family. They were baptized awhile back and haven’t been to church in years. We went to visit them on monday evening. The family was in disarray. They have so many conflicts, it was very sad for us to see them in this condition. Granny was begging us to find her a room where she could stay by herself. Peter was saying he had completely given up on God. Anitha was so mad, she feels targeted by the other two. Their boy is deaf and they blame him for many of their problems. We sat and just listened to their problems. They all hate each other. We had no idea what to do. Eventually we had to leave and all I could say was "We love you." I don't know if that helped, but I had no idea what to do or say. We talked about it after we left. In discussion we both determined that their problems were not really a direct result of their inactivity in the church. If they had stayed in the church it is possible that the events could have transpired in the same way. But we came to the conclusion that the present condition of their family was a direct result of their inactivity. Does that make sense? If they had been living the gospel, they would have had adequate tools to help. We just hope that it is not too late for them to come back into the light.

Sri Raj was confirmed and even received the priesthood last sunday. We were so happy for him. It was so cool to see the light in his eyes. It wasn't there a few weeks ago.

Something cool happened at church on sunday. We were standing at the door greeting people as usual. Every week a lot of americans come to church, they are the volunteers out therein Chenglepet. Just like abbey. So the wave of white people came in and I was so astonished to see a friend from school. I had no idea she was even coming here. She was just as surprised to see me. She knew I was serving in India and thought she might see me, but didn't know for sure. Her name is Karly Kimball. It was so tight to see her. Right after sacrament meeting I introduced her to Priya and her family. They loved her. She came out and took them to relief society too. I thought it was so cool. I never would have guessed that my friends from BYU would be giving fellowship to my investigators in Chennai!

My studies continue strengthen my testimony. I have been reading the bible daily, but I have realized how much I miss the book of mormon. So I stopped neglecting it and made sure there was time in my study for both bible and book of mormon study. It has made a difference.

Love,
Elder Tuscano