It's Getting Hot Here - April 1, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

I am so sad to hear about Rafe. I just finished writing a letter to him and I was going to send it off to the MTC today but I guess I'll have to change that. I'm glad Elliott is having high spirits. When I saw the pictures the two things I noticed were Elliott's California State wrestling shorts and how grown up Paige was. And Paigey, since when did you start to want to do scripture study? We're going to have a ton a fun when I get back...but not to soon. Hearing about everyone having to come home makes me realize how blessed I am to still be out and not only that but how much of a responsibility I have. I have to find all of those people the Lord has prepared for me before my time is up and now I know that I can't be certain how long that will be.

Dustin and Ashley, I hope the treatment works out. I was praying about you the other night and I had a prompting that something good had happened or was going to happen. My first impression was that Ashley was pregnant so I was half-expecting a baby-announcement but now I hope that that impression is a future event about to happen.

It's been busy and a little confusing. Everyone with a baptism date is being really shifty, some for the good and some for the not so good.

There is Manikiyum, a young women about 20 years old, who knows the Book of Mormon is true, loves the church, wants to be baptized, but won't say when. We try to encourage her but there is something else there that she won't say. Her younger brother and his friend, Manindra and Vijay, are great though. They were set for April 12th but last week at church they said they wanted to be baptized the next week. Well that was just fine by us but that means we have a lot to teach them. But teaching them is a blast. It's more like teaching Sunday school than teaching an investigator. They soak up everything and they're both a bit of jokers so every once in a while they'll say something funny and we'll burst out laughing.

Then there is Angelica, the anglo-indian. This is a big deal because I have never seen an anglo member in India. She is set for April 19th and she has a great desire but her children are a mess. Her son Elton is kind of a punk, her daughter Saby is good and a nice girl but her faith is weak in God, and then there is a 2-year old daughter who is cute but is a little bit of a burden. A little difficult for a widow to handle. But she is slowly learning how to keep commitments and we're excited for her.

Then there is Kalidas and his family. Kalidas is a referral from his uncle Peter, a recent convert. They have a great family but they have trouble coming to church. It is very difficult to keep the Sabbath day holy in India because very few people understand the concept of a day of rest. We were thinking about dropping them for a while but when we met with Kalidas and told him our concerns he said that we would ask for his employer to let him take Sundays off or at least change the shift so he can come to church. He was really sincere about and it touched me and my companion so we decided to stay with him. Also there was a similar situation with another recent convert from our branch. It took him 5 months to be baptized because he couldn't come to church full time. Eventually after much persuasion with his boss he was able to get Sundays off so he could come to church. Well if it worked for him then it can work for Kalidas. We just got to have faith that the Lord will provide a way.

The other day I we were in a poorer area to meet one of our investigators. As I was setting an appointment with her a swarm of kids mobbed my companion. I thought he would get frustrated but instead I turn around to hear my companion say "Who...Let...The...Dogs...Out" and a chorus of little kids repeat "Hoo...Wet...Da...Dogs...Owt". They didn't do that bad of a job and I think that the Baha Men would have been proud.

Anyways thank you so much for your letters. I'll do my best out here and tell Rafe and Elliott I love them (in an Elderly way). Dad, please send me the notes and pictures of your science excursion, I would love to see them. The heat is getting to be a little much. When we go inside for lunch our shirts are stuck to our skin. In May it should be hitting India's worse.

Love you a million Broken English Children Choirs,

Elder Mackay

p.s. They are going to open up Sri Lanka again. It closed just before I got here but now they are obtaining legitimate year long missionary visas so we can go without any problems. Just thought you might think that was interesting.

p.s.s.
Dear Angie,

Happy Birthday! I never got to thank you for your Christmas card. I got to say that out of all of the cards I got, yours was the best. Mostly because it said so much in little words. I wish you the happy Indian birthday as well, but that won't do you much good because that means that you have to treat everyone else to candy, chocolates and cakes. But if you want to have an Indian birthday dinner go to a local Indian resturaunt and order Hyderbad Biryani. This is the special festival meal and it's really good...if you like rice that is. I hope your birthday is a special one.

Love,

Curtis