A Very Merry Christmas

So as you saw, we had a member take us all of us elders out for a Christmas dinner. He is here in Bangalore for work, and has been here for about 3 months, and will leave next month. He doesn't really have any family or friends to celebrate Christmas with here in India, so he said he might as well spend this special day with the missionaries! Very nice for us, because he definitely treated us very well. The restaurant he took us to was insanely nice (and expensive. Good thing he treated!) It was weird being in that restaurant though, because everyone around me was just dripping with money... haha I have felt so out of place, being just a poor little missionary and what not! It really was a lot of fun though. 

And as you saw, before that we also had a Christmas lunch with Elder and Sister Smith. They made GREAT Christmas food, including delicious mashed potatoes and what chocolate chip cookies! woo woo! Fun fact: Indians don't like mashed potatoes. Crazy, huh? 

And also later in the day, Keerthi Sagar invited all of us over for an Indian Christmas dinner! Ghee rice and chicken curry. It really was good food, but it was difficult to ear, because, well, I'd already gorged myself with 2 Christmas feasts just a couple of hours before that! 

A very merry Christmas indeed! 

Oh, and of course I thoroughly enjoyed talking to you all as well! You know how I don't like calling people, but I think that phone call with you all was still definitely the highlight of my week. :)  

I also just want to mention to you about our star investigator, Vidya Sri (not 100% sure if that's how you spell her name... haha I'm doing my best!) She is only 14 years old, but she literally is a perfect investigator. No joke, I don't think I could design a better investigator myself if I got to choose all of the traits that an investigator had. Just a few examples of how great she is. 

"Joseph Smith was very confused, and was trying to figure out which church to join. He turned to the Bible to help find an answer. He found one verse that really helped him discover what he needed to do." 

"Can I know which verse that is???"

"Actually, yes, yes you can! We were just about to turn to it now!"

"Will you be baptized?"

"Well YA, of course!" *giving us a "would you expect anything else?" kind of face*

"Hey Elders, my uncle is actually interested in learning more about Jesus Christ. Would it be alright if you came over and taught him too?"

"Yes, yes that would be QUITE alright!" :D 

Some people understand what we teach mentally, but don't want to accept it in their lives. Other people want to do the right thing (the things that we teach them to do), but they are mentally incapable of understanding what we are teaching (usually due to a language barrier). But Vidya Sri can understand what we are teaching AND she wants to accept it and change her life! A very very great combination indeed. 

Have a happy New Year! And be sure to set some awesome possum goals! :)