The Week December 30, 2008

Dear family,

Well this week has been an interesting week. Two days after you called Elder Brown was transferred to another area and I received my new companion, Elder Chagoya. I remember before the mission that I heard something about the India mission saying that transfers were far and few between. So far that seems to be a lie. But that is mostly because of the huge rush of new Elders coming in, I think it's finally starting to cool down. Anyways Elder Chagoya is a really great elder and super excited so I'm super excited to have him. His family lives near Chicago and his name comes from his dad who is from Mexico. He's been out for only one transfer so I think we're going to learn a lot this next transfer about missionary work.

Leading the area is tough, especially since I'm the only one who knows who the investigators and members are. The first weekend there were a couple speed bumps but I finally got hold of the reigns. Just as that happens the mobile goes missing. Elder Chagoya accidentally put it in his front pocket and as we were riding it fell out. The road was so dark and busy that we couldn't find it. We had a member call it but it didn't even ring hinting to me that it got ran over by a motorcycle or some auto. So that makes the situation a little tricky and replacing the phone isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I have to call the phone company and even though the language barrier isn't so much of a problem, call centers are just made to give headaches. I just hope we can get the phone back sooner rather than later.

But despite all of these complications and disturbances, it does not stop the work from progressing. Chaitenya was baptized on Sunday and we have Jitendra being baptized the next. Both are really good young men. Chaitenya is going to be a super star and Jitendra, while he is a little lazy, has an amazing testimony. Last time we met with him he said he developed a habit of reading the Book of Mormon everyday for at least 15 minutes. Chaitenya's baptism was really great. We had Siva, one of our investigators, stay and watch and afterwards he said he wanted to be baptized. I was happy and a little bit shocked. We tried setting him a with a date before but then he was hesitant and unsure. Now he can't wait. We're meeting with him tonight so I hope that enthusiasm stays.

Also at church we had a less active member, Sarathi, come to church and I was so excited to see him. We've been teaching his wife and at the same time trying to get him to come to church. He only came for 20 minutes before he received a call from work, but he called me that night and told me he had payed his tithing in full that day and that he was going to keep paying tithing for the rest of his life. He was so excited. He actually does have a good testimony but has a tough time conforming to church standards. Little by little though he's coming back and that is helping his wife Renukha so much. She is seeing how the church can bless her and her family through foremost her children's activity but also through her husband's reactivation. I have really been putting faith in the miracle of repentance and obedience when teaching this family and my testimony has grown so much because of it.

Sorry no humorous or funny stories this week. Everything has just been either super high or super low but I've always been told to expect that on a mission. But I love you all and all your support.

Love you a million new years,

Elder Mackay