One Month In India

Hey Y'all,

 This week was not too crazy at all, we had an  exchange so I spent a day in Dowleswaram India. I was able to attend a farewell for a guy who left the next day to the MTC. It's fun being a missionary and going to Farewells, and reminding me of when I left (not long ago, I know).. 

We had a little less than average in lessons this week, we mainly taught about Luke 2:7-15 talking about the birth of Christ. It's interesting how some of these people are celebrating Christmas for the first time because they were previously Hindu. We have a new investigator named Satish (a different guy, not the 17 year old one).  He's Hindu but was a member referral, and is very interesting in learning about the gospel. The 17 year old Satish will be getting baptized on Sunday (the 27th). 

The food here has gotten to me a lot lately and not sure why. We were giving an investigator a blessing, and I had to go use the restroom, very soon or I was gonna explode. I went and used the restroom and realized they don't have a sprayer, just a bucket of water and a cup.. I will spare the details on this one, but it was not an enjoyable experience. My companion informed me they do wipe with their left hands here... Only missionaries and wealthy people have sprayers. I didnt know that. And now I do. 

The saddest part of my week was witnessing a dog getting ran over by a car. It was really sad, there are lots of dogs here that just sleep in the middle of the road. Something I realized (and I'm not sure why) but drunk people are attracted to us. We can't go one day without having a drunk person find us and say weird things in Telugu. I also (sadly) can't go one day without seeing someone naked. It's normal here for children to roam around naked, and I feel as if they all take turns. If you plan on coming to India do not look at the Homeless people. Because they too can be naked at times. They just sprawl out on the side walk and take a nap without any pants on. 

One of the Elders that live in our apartment area went home (cause he finally finished his mission) and another one that was only a year out went home due to health issues (he's from North Carolina). There are lots of health concerns here, and we are trained to be very particular about what you eat and drink. It's common for missionaries to go home due to health problems. Anyways until next week, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Love,

Elder Magnusson

                                                               Us, getting some ice cream

                                          "Yup, he's American" - says every Indian person

                                             Our study time includes being thankful for the USA

                                                                    A very large bull!

                                  People stare at us from their roof tops all the time

                                     This was taken from an investigator's apartment

                                          how they deliver bananas to businesses

                                                       Sewage freely flowing

                                                                       Dominos Pizza

                                                                           Puppy Love

Mission Impossible

Hey Ya'll,
This week was not as successful of a week as last week. We had to drop most of our investigators because they couldn't speak enough English for us to be able to communicate and teach them. We were able to see Geevan Raj this week and his grandparents, and his sister joined in on the lesson. They speak fantastic English and better than most the missionaries. 

I have been annoyed with India a little this week, because the way they do things is very un-logical. I am however surprised I haven't gotten sick yet, they definitely do not have the FDA here. We have been going over to a less active family (Ruydu family) and have made a great relationship with them. They told us; "missionaries have been coming over for a long time, and no one has made us have a change of heart as y'all have" They told us they would like to start coming to church again and we hope that they will.
We had District Conference so all the members in the Rajahmundry area came and the mission president spoke and basically chewed out the members. In 4 months he would like to send in an application to make Rajahmundry a Stake, but refuses to because (during the meeting)
1.  We didn't start on time
2.  No one was even there by start time (not even the leaders, or the people speaking)
3. The Piano wasn't even in the room until 15 minutes after start time
His point was that they aren't ready to be a Stake nor can function at the level Stakes do. That was frustrating though about India and am definitely learning to be more patient because of it haha. Other then that we have had lots of lessons this week, and will hopefully go and find more investigators.
The cookies you can buy here are really good and I think would be great in America. All the sodas here are Coke products so on the back of the label it says "Atlanta,GA".. Lets just say I try not to look at the back anymore. Very interesting though how no one knows what or where Georgia is. Also people walk up to us all the time and want to take pictures with "The Elders". Everyone here knows who we are (cause we wear white shirts and ties and a name tag) and enjoy  talking to Americans, they especially love Elder Conrad cause he's white. And when I start talking they take interest in me. I have been told I look like I'm from Hyderabad, not quite sure if thats a compliment or not.
You can't boil eggs in India cause their shells aren't strong enough (which I learned the hard way) so that sucks. We have a filter above our sink where I can get water from, since I can't drink the water here. Also anywhere you go you have to "water fall" when you drink the water cause they clean the cups with water and no soap. My Immune system is taking beatings constantly, and have visited the bathroom too many times. I have shared a lot of negative things about India this week, but have learned to love the experiences, and have loved being out here. It's a hard life but the blessings that have come from it are innumerable. Until next week!
Love,
Elder Magnusson  

The ugliest dog in the world

My bike broke again.. yes, the new one!

Lunch with a member (Ramakristna) 

The nastiest smelling sewer water!

Pugs in India? 

Riding in an Auto Rickshaw

An Indian Dealership

(Levi didn't say anything about this one... but it speaks for itself hahaha)

I asked him if this was taken from his apartment, but he didn't answer.  I'm guessing either his apartment or a members house.

Practicing "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" for District Conference

India India India

Hey Y'all,

 This week was a great week for my companion and I, we were able to find 10 new potential investigators and will be able to teach them this week! One lady we found (Sister Raja) is a less active and we knocked on her door not knowing she was a church member. She told us that morning she prayed for help and that night we knocked on her door! She asked how we knew to go to her house and I told her God sent us! Plus we saw her Christmas lights. (Here in India we only teach fellow Christians who speak English). Everyone has a sign on the top of their door that is either Jesus Christ or a Hindu God, and that is how we know their religion before we knock on the door. Lots of our new investigators are young adults who are college age. We are teaching a guy named Geevan Raj and his grandparents (who are retired pastors), they are excited to learn more about Jesus Christ. We teach people in their homes, and can only teach people that speak Telugu IF they are a strong member referral and we need a missionary fluent in that language to be with us. My week started out with me hanging halfway out of a Rickshaw singing Christmas songs and doing a queen wave. I have found much joy in Rickshaws lately and plan on going mudding in one when I get back (if I can get one). I also had another opportunity to pass a 50 year old man bathing out in the streets. We ate at a members house on Tuesday and her food was extremely spicy. I literally thought I had strep throat this whole week, but its cause the food burned the back of my throat or something. I luckily have been getting use to the food and have even started to like it. Yesterday our ward mission leader taught us how to make fried rice (no its not Indian food, but still fun to learn). We had a family get baptized yesterday, but I did not teach them. We also have one later this December that I have helped teach;  his name is Satish and he is 17. We do eat at members a good amount of the time, but it is an unscheduled meal (usually) cause everyone wants to feed us when we go to their home (its a cultural thing).

Bad news of the week:

1. After teaching a part member family I walked outside and learned my bike had gotten stolen. I'm waiting to see some Indian kid on the streets riding my bike. :( I was able to borrow another missionaries bike.

2. We were on the way to a lesson and the petal from the bike I was using broke and had to get it fixed.

3. I also managed to T-Bone a guy on a motorcycle and yes damaged a part of the (borrowed) bike.

This week was not good for me when it came to bikes. I will be getting a new one this afternoon and will have to pay half of the cost (since I didn't lock my bike when it got stolen) and the church will cover the other half. I have lots of pictures I will send. This week was pretty good in Rajahmundry. Btw I cover Rajahmundry 3rd branch.

Love,

Elder Magnusson

Since my bike was stolen I rode on the back of Eder Conrad's bike when my rental bike was being used by the actual owner

There are dogs everywhere!

 The truck you see is full of ox skin. I was riding by and stopped because it smelled absolutely horrible and then I looked up and saw that truck.

college students playing Cricket

eating dinner at a members house

Yes, on the floor which is the way they do it here... and yes with fingers... also just the way its done!

In Levi's note to us he mentioned he was heading out for his first Indian haircut.  I told him they are really good with machetes... he said he hoped so, haha.

I was surprised to see additional emails and then realized Levi was still on, so chatted with him this morning for a few minutes... so here's the rest of the story.... 

This is where im staying I sleep on the bed with the Georgia blanket (of course)

This is our bathroom we have three that all basically look like this.

This is a pic of our desk where we do bible study in the morning and plan our day.

He also said he got his Indian haircut, and thought they did a great job.  He also got his new bike, which broke twice and had to take it back to keep getting the chain fixed, until he showed them how to do it.  He also mentioned that his air conditioner is still broken and how hot it is at night to sleep.  He's hoping it will get fixed soon or they will get a new one!

Then he wrote this:  I forget to tell you I also got hot wings here in India but tasted more like curry than they did wings not anywhere near as good as the Dawg House... and the french fries here are horrible!

Rajahmundry, India Week 1

Hey Y'all,

This week I was sent to Rajahmundry.  It took a plane and a 3 hour car ride to get here from Bangalore. Before coming here, I was told Rajahmundry was the most non westernized place in the mission. My companion is Elder Spencer Conrad. He is a great guy and we get along very well. Nothing much really happened this week, besides going around and meeting some of the ward members and our investigators. The place I'm staying at is very clean, but the A/C is broken. Our water heater is also broken so no hot water for showers. It is very hot here, even though its basically winter here. I would rather take a cold shower anyways. I have been adjusting to the food, and am having less problems eating it. We talked to this girl Shanty who is investigating the church. I asked her what Americans eat. She told me, Burgers, Turkey, and Chicken Lollipops.. I looked at her funny and asked what a chicken lollipop was, she said it was a chicken's leg.  I laughed and told her we call them drumsticks. The majority of the people here don't speak much English. They all speak Telugu so it is hard to communicate with them. We helped a family move into their new home yesterday and couldn't help but notice they didn't have a toilet. Instead it was just a room with a hole in the ground, which is called a "squat-er". During our process of moving them, their next door neighbor who happens to be in the ward bathed himself right in front of us. It is an interesting experience watching a 50 year old man bathe on the side street. One of the missionaries had a birthday yesterday so we woke up at midnight to sing happy birthday to him and eat India's version of a cake. I did not get a Thanksgiving this year it was just a normal day for us. We will have something for Christmas though. Until next week!

Love,

Elder Magnusson

The first photo was taken in Bangalore at a members house.... the lovely large cow and the little dog are in Rajamundry... Levi says he'll take more photos this week!

I asked Levi some specific questions, so here are his answers:

Me:  What is Rajahmundry like?

Levi: its not too big, and is a very back woods indian town. The people are nice and humble though, but are still very poor. There are some wealthy people here,. but even to american standards its very poor. They dont have any american restaurants but they do have them in Bangalore but they dont taste as good so I've heard.

Me:  Do the missionaries end up learning the language, how do you communicate?

Levi: no its english only, only few times can we use Telugu to teach lessons. But thats what the indian missionaries do. We just use simple words they understand. If you point to stuff they will know what you're saying

Me:  How many elders in your apartment?

Levi:  4 so that is two companionships

Me:  Is there a branch there?

Levi:  Yes, we cover Rajahmundry third branch

Me:  Where do you send your emails from?

Levi:  The church

Me:  Are you on bikes or do you walk everywhere?

Levi:  Bikes

Me:  Are you adjusting okay? Remember that time will go fast when you start to love what you are doing!  Truly love!!  Give yourself time to adjust!  I warned you that you might feel funny for awhile.. part of it is the emotions of being from there... but never having experienced things there.. it's emotional as well as physical!!

Levi:  It's a hard mission, and am trying to not think about how long of a time I have left.  I do have a bed so that's good.  It's good it's shaping me to be the man I need to be in life, but dang does it hurt!  I've been praying for motivation and I'm finally starting to truly see how short my time is here.  But missions are really hard and I knew that going into it.  I just wish I was more like 6 months in because I'm tired of being the "new" one here.  

I'm praying for love.  It's hard to love this place especially when it's exhausting work!  I am hoping to love it soon!

Me:  Do you know yet the plan for Christmas?  Do you get to call or Skype?

Levi:  Skype.  Can you send me your Skype address?

Me:  Yes!  Can't wait!  Remember, YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS!!  Love you so much!!

Letter from Levi's Mission President....

Dear Brother and Sister Magnusson,

We are grateful for the arrival of your son in the India Bangalore Mission.  He arrived safe and in good spirits.  We have great need for him as a missionary. 

Elder Magnusson has been assigned to work in the city of Rajahmundry.  He will be serving with Elder Conrad From the U.S.

Many parents have asked about sending packages to their missionaries. Postage is expensive for those sending from outside India and custom charges are often assessed. We recommend that for birthdays and holidays that you put money in their personal account to save on customs charges and risk of damage.  If you send a package, especially from outside India, it should be sent to the mission office.   THE FIRST LINE OF THE ADDRESS MUST READ -- “Indian Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,” This is for customs purposes. The missionaries name should be written elsewhere on the package. Please keep in mind that most of our transfers are done by air travel. The local airlines have a 15 kg (about 33 lbs.) weight limit.  Missionaries struggle to keep within that limit so they transfer very light and discard items not necessary.

The mission office address is as follows:

The Indian Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
No. 2, Rear Building
Garudarcharpalya, Mahadevapura Post,
Opp. ABB Tech Park         
Whitefield Road, Karnataka
Bangalore 560048
India

Thank you for your help in your son's preparation and your support of him as he serves.  The people of India are so grateful for the truth and knowledge the missionaries share.  I know he will come to love the people with a deep love. He is a great young man and we were grateful as he shared his testimony with us.  He expressed his excitement to learn new things and then be able to compare how he is now and how he will be at the end of his mission.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.

President and Sister Berrett
India Bangalore Mission

                                                   Levi with President and Sister Berrett

                                                   Levi with his companion... Elder Conrad

Episode 1: Indian in India

Hey Y'all,
Yes, I will still use that word even though I'm in India. I took a long plane ride Tuesday afternoon to get here to Bangalore India. I first stopped in Denver, and then Frankfurt, then finally Bangalore. Upon arrival to India, we went through customs and they questioned us lots, on why we Americans wanted to come to India.  Next we went to baggage claim to pick up our bags and learned our bags weren't even put on the plane. So we (Elder Tuscano and I) were without our checked bag for a day. They paid us 4000 rupees (I think that's $65 U.S dollars) and then met the mission president outside the airport.  Indian traffic is insane and doesn't quite make sense how no one crashes. I was put in the Bangalore area and have been out with three other missionaries for the past 4 days. I am temporarily here and will find out  the area I'll be serving in  later today.  

This week I have had lots of Indian food, and have smelt certain smells I didn't even know existed.  The people here are very poor and it shows how blessed we are in America. Lots of people eat on the floor, and I saw a man eating lettuce off his house floor. The accents are very thick here and takes sometime to understand. They can understand me just fine. When we go to peoples homes and I tell them I'm an American they get me a chair to sit on and silverware to eat my food (not complaining one bit). 

They don't wipe their butts with their left hand (or at least most don't), but they use a sprayer. I have adjusted pretty well here so far, but still working on the food and their accents. They always want to feed people for some reason and constantly ask how many languages I know  (but when they find out I'm American they assume I only know one, which I do).  

We ride our bikes through all the traffic here and am surprised I haven't been hit yet. They use all motorcycles and small cars. I wait for the day when I see a Ford f150 rollin down the streets. Many people use the bathroom wherever they please, and you can litter wherever you want. There is trash everywhere. No one here has trash cans in their homes or even paper towels. The American food here is expensive, and I have been eating Chocos (Indian Coco puffs) and Nutella. I thank the Lord for all we Americans are blessed with, and am very humbled by the way they live here. Most people sleep on one mattress on the floor, for the whole family to share. I cant drink the water here it needs to be filtered, and it surprised me cause the Indian people also can't drink their OWN water without it being filtered. 

Everyone is very friendly here, and will hear what you have to say even though I'm a stranger. We do not do service in this mission only proselyting. We only Proselyte to fellow Christians that speak English. The mission president said none of the American missionaries gain Indian accents (So take that, all of you who think im going to). India is definitely an interesting place and is an eye opener for sure.  One of the companions I have been with is from India, and is obsessed with Lil Wayne.  He thinks everything in America is free for us, and wants to visit New Orleans, LA (cause that's where Lil Waynes from). I told him to not step foot there cause its a weird place, and will not bode well for him especially cause he's foreign. I have enjoyed my first couple of days here and can't wait to experience more. 

Love,

Elder Magnusson

NOTE FROM MOM:  Levi says the missionaries there tell him he may be going to Rajahmundry, because it's the most "non western" and if the missionaries can survive there, they can survive anywhere.     I think he might be joking.  Just don't know.  

Arrived in India!!

Levi:
i am now in India, didnt have time to call y'all in Denver. Long plane ride but it wasnt too bad. Big cultural difference, but cant wait to learn more. Interesting to hear the way indians live. I'll be a day ahead so email me on saturday!

Me:
Where will you be, do u know yet?

Levi:

yes but its a hard name to say and could tell you monday

 

Me:

Ugh!

Are you still at the mission home?

 

Levi:

Yes

 

Me:
Met your trainer yet? Are you going by plane to your city? Bus? Walking?

 

Levi:

no, Ill be driven there, gotta go ill email on Monday ( or at least monday in India)

 

Me:

Love you, glad you are safe.

 

 

 

 

This I'm sure is our last conversation... as I'm up in the middle of the night waiting to hear he had arrived, so chatted briefly.   I'll wake up to his emails from now on! So proud of that young man!  I'm sure as he gets to work, he'll be happy to serve!  I'm curious about how Indians live as well, haha... I stayed with some Indians in a guest house when I went over to pick up Levi, and it was nice enough, minus the mice that ran freely up the curtains each night.  They probably ran up the bed too, but I was asleep, haha.  

If you are emailing Levi, remember that he will be reading emails on Sunday (which will be Monday for him), so as he says, write on Saturday!    I'll post photos as soon as they start to come in!

Final Week from Idaho

Hey y'all,

This was my last week in Boise, Idaho. I will be leaving for India tomorrow at 2pm. I have packed a lot and will hopefully fit everything in my bags. This week hasn't been too crazy, we have had plenty of appointments this week, and have done a lot of less actives visiting. I was able to find a Bible written in the Hindi Language. So while im on the plane I can learn Hindi or something. We had exchanges this week and was able to go to another area again just for the day. Elder Thompson (my companion) is now going to be the District leader, and will be training again. I had a few sad moments this week thinking about leaving some of the people here. I may not see some of these people again, but it was good getting to meet people here. It snowed a little last night but nothing stuck to the ground. So im assuming that's God telling me its time for me to leave and go to India haha. The plane ride will be 20+ hours of travel time. We have done lots of yard work still, and lots of people are putting their Christmas lights up. Nothing else really happened this week, cant wait to write next weeks letter, cause the next couple days will be quite interesting. My companion in the MTC (elder Tuscano) and I will be flying together so I wont be alone thank goodness. Ill miss the American Luxuries, and being able to stay with Dwayne and Julie Denison in their home. My next place most likely wont have nice showers, heated tile floors, or a good working toilet. But im up for the adventure and cant wait to see what I can make of it! The Denisons were able to get their family (their kids and their family) to come over and we took pictures before I head out. I also found out there is another missionary here, from our stake who lives in Cumming, Georgia. His name is Aaron McChesney. So that's cool, its a small world. Until next time!

Love,

Elder Magnusson

Week 5 - Boise

Hey Y'all,

 This week went by pretty fast and have been doing lots of service and what not. The leaves are falling down fast here, so we have helped the community with raking their yards, and they put their leaves in bags you can by at Lowes and a truck hauls them away. I thought that was interesting cause I'm  used to just raking the leaves back into the woods. We helped Thomas with lots of service this week, and he helped me make a Georgia Plaque. It's Georgia carved out of pine wood. Its pretty sweet and was an idea I got when I was moving firewood. Elder Thompson has been spray painting a mural in Thomas' garage and looks pretty sweet, I'll attach a picture, but It doesn't show the complete painting. We have a baptism this Saturday for Derek a guy I'm sure I've talked about before. I also attended a funeral this Friday for a lady at the church that died of cancer. We had the primary program yesterday and will have another one for the other ward (congregation) we cover. We were also able to pick up a new investigator this week, who has relatives who are LDS and wants to learn more about the church. A man also gave us green tomatoes so we fried some and put it in a sandwich and gave some to him. I had the same experience as Layne did, cause we knocked on a lady's door and she looked through the window and never answered the door. I also told some one that their cooking makes me wanna slap my momma and they took offense to it cause they thought I was saying its so horrible I want to slap them. I guess the definition of phrases change where every you go. I also enjoyed Layne's email it was very funny, I lived in Colorado long ago and don't remember people being so weird and high. I will be leaving for India in a week so I'm excited and will be flying from Boise to Denver to Frankfurt Germany (however its spelled) to India. From then on I can only assume I'll ride an elephant or something down to where I'll be living. Anyways life is good and can't wait to get outta the cold! I have also been thinking about writing a country song, that I can sing to the people of India, have any Ideas on how it should go our what I should talk about?

Love,

Elder Magnusson

Week 4

Hey Y'all,

 This week went by pretty slow, but was full of meetings. We had a zone meeting and a missionary training meeting on two different days this week that lasted 6 hours each. We haven't taught too many lessons this week. We were helping Thomas with his RV still, while my companion is going to do some graffiti art in his garage. We helped a guy with his bike and are close to finishing it, but he'll be in the Bahamas for the next two weeks. We also helped set up a haunted house at the local middle school which was lots of fun. I was a guide through the haunted house so no one got lost or had a panic attack. It was interesting being in a middle school and being around middle schoolers. I can't believe that once upon a time I acted as bratty as they did. It was still fun and brought me back to my middle school day memories.That was on Thursday and Friday. Saturday we had to be in by 6:30 since it was Halloween, and we carved pumpkins and I made a (cruddy attempt) batman logo. I would of done something about cars, but didn't have a template. Also that night a lady from the church made an Indian dish ( Chicken Tikka Masala). The next night we had pizza, and at the persons house they had built a pizza oven outside and we could custom make our own homemade pizza. That's about the extent of my week. Also I got to watch Kameron (the Denison's son) skin the head of a deer you might want to close your eyes for that one Kayli! (my sister). I found out that I will be receiving my OCI card shortly and will be heading to India in 16 days! I'm excited to go, I have the feeling its gonna start getting really cold soon, and I don't want to be here for that. Apparently a year ago it was snowing right now. So I'm happy its been pretty warm! I'll send some pics, apparently it only allows  me to send two pics at a time per email idk why.

Love,

Elder Magnusson

WARNING!!!

Okay, for these next two... if you are squeamish, DO NOT LOOK!  I did and I that did me in for food for the rest of today.  I'm sure Levi is laughing at my remarks back to him on that one.  He did try to warn me, but the thumb size was little... until I opened it up to my very LARGE computer screen.. and that poor deer was looking right at me!!!!!!  

 I warned you!!!!! 

Week 3 - Boise

Hey Y'all,

This week was pretty good, and also pretty busy. We have been teaching lots of people and and some are progressing well. We also went on companion ship exchanges and it was fun being able to have a new companion for the day! I also was able to see Elder Tuscano my former companion but he sadly hasn't received his visa yet. I have 3 more weeks till I go to India and am super excited! One of the companionship exchanges that I went on was in a very wealthy area here. One of the guys houses we went to he had a moose on his wall. I was very proud, cause every time I see a deer on a wall I tell them they need a moose also. A lot of people were out of town this week because it was the last week of open season, The Denison's (the family im staying with) went hunting and got a lot of deer! We also had stake conference this Sunday which was good. But during stake conference they announced that I would be going up to bare my testimony on Jesus Christ to the whole stake! I kinda saw it coming, but they never warned me before hand to do it, I got no warning on it. That wasn't very fun. We met this guy that goes by the name of "Crazy Horse" and he is really Crazy. He has a "man cave" in his garage where he hot boxes with his cigarettes. Sadly My companion and I were in there trying to talk to him while he was smoking, so we got a bad headache for the day. Other then that its been a normal week for me, it has been getting colder here but not too over baring. We went tracting (going door to door) to talk to people ask them if they needed any service or a message about Jesus Christ. Since its fall we have been raking lots of leaves, but luckily they don't have as many trees as the east coast! 

Love,

Elder Magnusson

(This is Levi's mom... I was doing great til I saw these.... GROSS!  For all you deer hunters, and I suppose, moose hunters... you can envy Levi, at least for this season.)