Dear my lovely family and friends,
I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. We tried to make the best of it and I think we did a good job. I can't believe it's already December, and actually India has spectactular weather right now, especially in Rajahmundry. Today I'm going to see if I can catch a couple pictures of the scenery and send you some today. It'll be hard though because on Sunday the mission president is coming so we have to have squeaky clean apartments, and our apartment is a mess. It's not that we're slobs, actually all the missionaries in our apartment are very neat, but it's just an old apartment that elders have been using for years and the pile up of junk and dust in certain areas that never get used has made the cleaning task a bit daunting.
But all is well and I received a lovely package from the Del Mar Primary. Thank you so much! How in the world did you know I loved Reese's so much? I guess a little bird told you (*cough*mom*cough*). They were a sweet gift and the jerky made it extra nice. I didn't realize how much I miss beef until I had jerky.
Well I'm sure you have all heard the Terrorist attacks in Mumbai and I hope you all didn't worry about me. It was kind of funny because at the time I sent the first email saying I was safe I didn't know what the heck was going on. All I knew was that our District Leader called telling us there were some problems in Mumbai and that we needed to email our parents. I guess "some problems" could describe terrorist bombings pretty well. But we really are in the safest place in India and I'd say one of the safest places in Asia. Rajahmundry has the most laid back people ever. They don't give a hoot about what religion you are, what country you're from or whatever. I feel so safe with them.
I just heard that Elder Wirthlin died. That is so sad. I was just telling my companion the other day about how he wasn't looking so good last General Conference. What a brilliant man though. I would always pay special attention to all of his talks. His last talk especially touched me, and I'm not sure what he exactly said whether it was "come away and loveth" or "come what may and loveth" (we haven't recieved the General Conference talks from October yet so I haven't read the text) but either way the message is the same and clear. It is definitely something I have to say at the end of a bad day or appointment.
But this week has been very good. Sundar was baptized last Sunday and he's going to be such a great member. I love the guy. He's only 19 but he has such a strong testimony and he already has so many friends in the church. He was introduced to the church by his good friend Shanti and Bhindu. Just goes to show how important it is for members to look for missionary opportunities. I truly regret not sharing the church with more of my friends back home. It's kind of strange that even though we love the church and the gospel we have a tough time sometimes sharing it with people we love. I'll make sure to send pics of the baptism next week (sorry I forgot my camera :(.
One sad thing that happened is that Sunni, a kid from a family we've been teaching, had to have surgery for his acute appendicitis. He's already broken his back from falling off a forty foot bridge and it's a miracle he's alive and walking today without any permanent damage. We went and visited him in the hospital and he looked in so much pain. His mom was really scared for him and I don't blame her. The hospital they were at was really sketchy and dank. It did not show cleanliness that Hospitals have in America. I was just hoping that the surgery room wasn't as shoddy. But the surgery went perfectly well. They did a new surgery that required three tiny incisions rather than one long one. After the surgery they found that Sunni, being the unluckiest kid in the world, also had the beginning stages of jaundice. But as unlucky as this kid is, nothing can destroy his spirits. He is the most optomistic kid ever. I told him and his little sister, Johanna who is the cutest little girl and has the cutest little voice, to write notes so I can send them home. I hope you like them:)
The work is going forward but it wouldn't be missionary work without some funny stories. I have two this week that are worth mentioning. The first one, we were in a home teaching an old uncle and his 30 year son. In the backround were a bunch of younger kids and a baby boy. While we were talking about apostles and apostasy I see the baby in the backround standing straight up with an awkward look on his face. Then he lets loose and a steady stream of urine.after a minute the father turned around and saw the puddle and motioned his girls to clean it up. The girls didn't know what to do so they shrugged at each other and went outside. By the time we left the puddle was still there and I thought about saying something but I didn't.
The next evening we had just finished a lesson with an older fellow who lived out in some more open areas. Next to his house was a small cow pasture where the gate was open (cows wander freely around India). There was one white cow, which had some sort of breathing problem because it was taking huge heavy breaths, that was sniffing our bikes. We thought it was pretty funny and laughed. We told him to shoo and we then stood by our bikes to make some calls. While I was on the phone we hear heavy breathing (if any of you have watched Hey Arnold, it was kind of like that guy who always creeps up behind Helga) and we look around and the cow is licking my companion's back. Elder Brown had the most disgusted look on his face. We ran away and the was trying to follow us so we quickly got on our bikes and sped away. I think he has a crush on my companion.
Anyways I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are looking forward to Christmas. I'm so excited! I get to call home in 23 or so days. Speaking of which I need to know what number I need to call. Mom I suspect that you're already on top of that. I think I'll be calling from some pay phone but we'll see.
I love you a million licking cows and peeing children,
Elder Mackay
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