Well, definitely the biggest news of this week is I got to see my all time favorite Indian family again!! :D I was so so so happy to see the Raman family once more. They live in a different branch in Bangalore, and I arranged for us to go on exchange with the elders serving in that branch. Really, it was so awesome getting to see them again after 5 months of being away from them.
When we first got to their home, my exchange companion, Elder Grimmett, called up them that elders were downstairs (they live on the second floor of the building, and you need to call down to them for them say it's okay to come up). After a minute the daughter, Vidya Sree, came out to the porch to see us, and after a moment of looking she realized who it was (myself), and shouted out, "Mom! It's Anderson!!" (I hadn't told them I was coming) 2 seconds later the mom, Manjula, comes hustling down the stairs as fast as a little overweight middle age woman can go. :-)
Manjula told me that she really wasn't feeling very well, and when she heard Elder Grimmett shout that elders were there, she thought "I'm not really in the mood for elders to come visit right now..." but that quickly changed when she knew her favorite missionary was downstairs!
It was kind of weird at first though. What are you supposed to say to some of the dearest people in your life after you haven't seen them for 5 months? "How are you?" just doesn't seem to adequately describe your emotions.
We focused our lesson on the dad, Raman. He still isn't baptized... however, since the rest of his family was baptized, he now has given up drinking, and reads the Bible every day without fail. His only concern with coming to church is, common enough, "I don't know English." Sigh... a difficult concern. We did our best to encourage him to come anyways, and try to learn English (he already knows 4 other languages, so how hard could it be to learn a 5th?)
An awesome evening. :-)
Also, while on exchange in Convent Road branch I called Keerthi Sagar to ask if we could come visit him. His response was "Your family! You don't need to ask to come over." It's great to see old friends again.
Also, this last Sunday we had a young guy named Raju just walk into church. He stayed for all 3 meetings, and really enjoyed it. We set an appointment with him, and met him later in the week. Taught the Restoration. Agreed to be baptized. The only concern being he didn't feel like he knew enough to be baptized. We said we would help him with that. Perfect! I had a smile from ear to ear after that lesson. Hopefully, next month he really does make that sacred covenant with God.
This week I celebrated my 1.5 year mark with Krispie Kreme doughnuts! It tastes like I'm back in the USA. Amazingly delicious.
I've noticed a clear difference with meeting with President Berrett, depending on if I'm meeting with him for an interview (where he is trying to help me) or when I go into his office to offer my assistance to him. It's nice to be able to actually help him, and let him relax for a minute. He is one super man.
This week I am on exchanges all week. Roaming around India! And best of all... I get to go on exchange in Kakinada!! woooooo!! I'm so excited.
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