Hello!
Well we just had zone conference and that means all the missionaries from the nearby surrounding areas head over to Visak, which I think is the second largest city in Andra (second to Hyderabad). It's kind of cool cause now I'm reminded of what being in a city is like and I can compare that to the quiet laid-back life of Raj. And I must say Raj wins but the cities have their advantages. The cities do have good food. Just yesterday we had pizza hut and there's also a KFC knock off hotel that's pretty good. (if you think I'm using the indian lingo of "hotel" instead of restaraunt just so i look cool you are absolutely right:) But at the same time in the cities you have to haggle with autos, turn away a lot more beggars and deal with traffic and pollution. In Rajahmundry it is a lot more peaceful and beautiful. The air is cleaner and the people are just generally friendlier. But you won't see American food. But that's easily solved by stocking up on barbeque sauce and mustard while in Visac. But I've developed a stomach for Indian food now and it is evident by the size of my belly (i now fluctuate between 180-185lbs). And thank you so much for the package Mom. It got here just in time. Visak is famous for giving stomach problems so I packed the pepto pills and I think they saved me from deadly motions.
This week was kind of let down missionary work wise. It wasn't a bad week by any means but we were just planning on having a way sweet week. We were expecting to have 11 people at least to come to church and instead we had 2 on time and 3 come late. I shouldn't be complaining because that is still a lot but out of all the people that came none of the people we were really hoping for came. It's kind of a bummer when you work with someone all week and both you and him or her are so excited and then he or she can't make it to church. We met with Norman on Saturday night and he was loving the Book of Mormon. He read 2 Ne 31 and was able to explain the whole chapter to us, which is a big deal where ever you are. He was so excited to come to church and told us he would be there for sure. But he got in a bike accident Sunday morning. He didn't get hurt but his bike was out of comission for the couple of days so he wasn't able to make it. But the will was there so we'll just have to try again next Sunday. Sometimes that['s just the way life is though.
And after this Zone Conference I am a lot more excited to get back to Raj and get back to work. President Nichols gave a very inspirational training and practice on our purpose as missionaries. He said that we are all focused to much on getting people baptized as quick as possible that we lose sight of our whole purpose. Often missionaries, myself included, will set someone with a baptism date for three weeks away (which is the minimum amount of time in this mission) and we don't take any thought about what the person really needs. Our purpose is to bring others to come unto Christ, beating someone over the head with a baptism date is not the way to do that. Instead of thinking 'who should we set with a date' we should be thinking 'what does this sister need to make her life seem more valuable' or 'what does this family need to do to bring more happiness in their lives'. I started to apply this way of thinking to many of the investigators we're visiting and I realize that I've been going about missionary work the wrong way. I feel I've just been doing missionary things without any real thought or real effort. I don't regret any part of my mission so far but now I am ready to take it to the next level. Elder Brown and I are excited because we feel like that with this mindset we can start moving others forward towards eternal life.
President Nichols also spoke to us about being childish. It was a really interesting talk. He said that a study was done on families in the US and they found that adolescence (that middle stage between childhood and adulthood) is a made up creation that started in Western societies about 50 years ago and began to spread all over the world. Not only that but adolescence has no benefit whatsoever. But he said that this only proves that the Gospel really does benefit all aspects of life because when the Gospel is followed correctly the effects of adolescence are lessened. When a child turns 12 he goes to young men or she goes to young women. There they will recieve some calling and responsibility. Then when they turn 19, young men will serve missions and carry one of the most responsibilities the Lord can give to men. The world sees this as strange and wonders why the heck would the church send immature 19 year old boys to do a man's job, but the truth is that the world has been decieved by this false notion of adolescence and that at the age of 19 a young man should be able to carry that responsibility. Now I don't think I am quite at that maturity level, which makes me extremely grateful for the atonement which makes up for all my shortcomings, but I know that this truly is the Lord's way of working. I just thought that was pretty interesting and wanted to share that.
Oh I forgot to share one experience that was pretty cool I thought. Elder Brown and I were roaming looking for a family to teach and we met a short, stout sister on her porch. We asked her if any Christian families were staying nearby. She told us she was Christian and with a big smile invited us in (I have to take a moment and describe this smile. It was like the chesire cat but with big buck teeth and it seemed to be plastered on her face). Her name was Kalyani and she was living with her mom and dad who were very old and knew absolutely no English. We started to talk with and found out she had pretty much no English either, but we started to teach her anyway. And I'm glad we did because for as little English as she knew she was trying so hard to understand. By the end of the lesson she was able to say "prophets...speaking God...Jesus Christ...Apostles...Joseph Smith...next Prophet...Church back to Earth". I guess the spirit taught her a lot because I have no idea how she was able to get that with her English skills. We'll have to see what happens but it was a very precious and simple moment at the time. I learned that if someone has a desire and faith, anything is possible.
Okay well I have to go. I love you all and I can't wait to read your letters.
Love you a million pepto-bismal pills!
Elder Mackay
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