New Trainee

June 27, 2016

Hey Y'all,

This week started out with Elder Abel transferring to Rajahmundry, so I was with Elder Semadeni for the day. We were able to teach a guy named Deepak, he owns a  Whey Protein store. He believes in everything, Christianity, Muslim, or Hindu, he believes it all. The next day I flew to Bangalore for the trainers meeting. There about 5 trainers, All of us were American except one. The missionaries coming in had 2 indians, and the rest from the U.S. I was paired up with Elder Shuman who is from Idaho (U.S) and he still has that "new missionary" smell. He came right from the MTC, and didn't visa wait. He enjoys being here, and is just absorbing India for now. We have had some fun together, and get a long pretty well. He reminds me of when I first came to India, and the reactions I had when I got here. When we flew back to our area we got right to work. We only had two days of proselyting and I taught him how to go finding in India. Through our finding efforts we were able to find lots of investigators to teach, and are definitely people the Lord has been preparing for us to find. We have been able to get multiple lessons in with investigators we just met, and all we did was knock on their doors. That didn't happen ever in Rajahmundry. We'll be starting the training program so that Elder Shuman can understand the missionary life style a little better. But Im happy we are companions and should have a great 3 months together!

 Man am I happy Elder Conrad is here! We have had a lot of fun joking and laughing about the "good ole days". It feels weird that he is in my apartment again, but its awesome. He is doing well, and enjoyed the Philippians. My district is fully American :Elder Shuman and I, Elder Semadeni and Conrad. This is gonna be a fun transfer! district meeting and other district activities will be a lot of fun! We hope to see baptisms later this transfer with our investigators, but we'll see. We'll be putting them on a baptismal date this week. Our investigators are:

Krishna: He has family that is members, he talks about the importance of repenting of our sins and purifiying our hearts and says he needs to make a leap of faith towards God, but still refuses a baptismal date. 

Deva : has a cousin that lives in Bangalore and is a member, and tells us he knows what we are sharing is special because we came all the way from the U.s to share it. He also has noticed a big change in his cousins after they joined the church.

Deepak: Believes in everything, has a little girl and wife, he his friends that a members, but doesn't speak a lot of English, but enough

Chintha Family: Knocked on their door, completely understood the Restoration message and the apostasy of the Christ's church after he died, and wants to learn more.

Kranti Family: Has friends that are members, sees a big change in his friend, wants to learn about our church, and how it can change his life, but is too busy to meet with us. 

Have a good week!

Love 

Elder Magnusson

June 13, 2016

Hey Y'all,

This week was pretty good, we were able to get some new investigators this week. We started out by teaching a guy named Krishna. Well we kinda taught him. He invited us for dinner, so we tried to teach him before we ate. So we started to teach the Plan of Salvation, but since he was in a hurry he wanted us to teach in like 5 minutes, so that was interesting. We ate dinner, and then went on our way. Krishna is a Hindu and has family members that are Christian so thats how we found him to teach. He has been coming to church and is learning a lot about Christianity. Sadly Bro K was very busy, so he wasn't able to get baptized this week, but we are shooting for 2 weeks from now. We also had another member referral very far away, and taught them the Restoration. (I dont remember his name) but they were nice and were interested to hear more. There is a guy who is about 30 years old and his parents. We gave his father a blessing and will hopefully meet them this coming week. We also got a new bishop who seems really good, and understands that missionary's purpose is to teach people and not do other callings that are ward members' responsibilities. He had created a ward missionary plan that helps the ward assist with finding people to teach and to get some baptisms. I was able to eat at Mcdonald's this 

week, and a place thats called Cream Stone, which is basically Cold Stone. Other than that it was a normal week. President Berrett will be leaving at the end of the month so we will be having a last get together with him on Wednesday. He's been a really good mission president and it will be sad to see him go, but I know this new mission president will be awesome too!  

Love,

Elder Magnusson

I'm dull?

June 6, 2016

Hey y'all,

Again not much happened this week, we have implemented our plans to get member referrals, luckily we were able to get about 2-3. This coming week we'll try to visit these people so that they can learn the gospel. We didn't have much going on this week again, but went on an exchange with the zone leaders. Thats probably the excitement for the week. We have a baptism scheduled for this Sunday (Bro K). But we have 2 more lessons we need to teach him before baptism, and its really hard to meet with him because he's busy. His father is a member, and could possibly come to see his baptism. But if we cant meet with him this week, then the Baptism will have to be moved back. 

We also visited Kranti, and I was with Elder Semadeni and taught him why we have The Book of Mormon. His wife read the first 4 chapters, and had some clarification questions. She actually was raised Hindu, but converted to Christianity. Kranti downloaded the Gospel library app, and has been listening to General Conference talks. They are great investigators, but are too busy to come to church, but will hopefully find time to come this Sunday. Some cultural things I've noticed this week is that here its okay to call people fat. Its so awkward to be at church or something, and someone telling someone else that they got fatter. Its also okay to call someone dull here. Some people have asked me why I'm dull, and why I don't talk. ( The reason isn't that I'm dull ((though some of you may disagree)) but we will be with a group of people and they'll all be speaking Telegu ((an Indian Language)) and obviously I don't know what they're saying, so how do I be apart of the conversation? I have pointed that out to them after being called dull numerous times, but they go right back to speaking in Telegu). So I guess I'll be called known as Elder Magnusson the Dull or something. 

Other than that that basically covers the week. I haven't died yet because of the traffic so thats good. 

Love,

Elder Magnusson 

Danger Everywhere

May 30, 2016

Hey Y'all,

Not much happened this week, we had some appointments but a lot of them bunked. We were able to meet with Kranti this week, and taught him the Plan of Salvation. After the first appointment he has been busy lately, but he has shared our message about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ at work, and wants to get his family and his co-workers in on a lesson with us. We taught Brother K about following the Prophet, and the Law of Tithing. His father is a member, in a different city. Bro K takes notes every Sunday about everything he learns, and studies it through out the week, he is very interested in learning more.

There is a lot of ice cream places in Hyderabad and go to this place called Ice stone all the time. Man, after being in Rajahmundry for 6 months, I kinda forgot what Good QUALITY Ice cream taste like. They also have Gelato there, which is fantastic and am sure I'm addicted to it. This Sunday is the 5th Sunday of the month, so in the Hyderabad stake they have the missionaries give talks. My talk was on the Holy Ghost, they told me to prepare a 20 min talk, but ended up talking for only 10 minutes. 

I talked about 4 of the roles that the Holy Spirit plays;

1.Comforter ( In times of sadness)

2.Witness ( testifies of Christ, and helps us know what is true and what is false)

3.Compass (Guides us on what we need to do in life/ decisions we make)

4.Protector ( from physical and spiritual danger)

I wish I was able to give the whole talk instead of give a watered down version of it in church, but it was a great opportunity for me. Last time I jokingly and statistically talked about the traffic here in Hyderabad.  Im not joking now, the traffic is extremely dangerous. The drivers don't care, or watch where you are. Side walks do not exist here. I could be walking on the side walk and have it be 20 feet from the road, and I still have the chances of getting hit. Cars and motorcycles use the sidewalk for some reason. They honk here all the time, which apparently means "get out of my way I'm coming through". I could be walking the direction of traffic and have a bus fly pass me being 12 inches from my body. Man I hope I don't die here. Other than that it's been a pretty good week.

Love,

Elder Magnusson

A Quick Week

May 23, 2016

Hey y'all,

This week was pretty good, there was a lot to do. We went to the mall last P-day , and it was the weirdest thing. The malls here look like the ones in the U.S, they're clean, big and have lots of stores. When we were in there, I felt like I was back in the U.S, and then when you look out the window and you see the dirtiness of India. It is the weirdest feeling, going from a mall to the outside "realistic" world of India. Mom sent me Twizzlers, so I opened them up and shared them with some members. One of the funniest things that I've seen on my mission is to watch a bunch of Indians eat Twizzlers. They didn't like them nor did they like the Gold fish either. TO give you an idea of the traffic system, and the dangers of India: The number of cars on the road in India is 74 million. The number of death rates due to accidents is 196,000 a year. Thats 22 people dying from a crash here an HOUR. One missionary told me when he was in Bangalore, he saw a family of four on a motorcycle (yeah, they try to fit as many people as possible on them) and this family hit another motorcycle head on, which caused everyone to fly off, and in that moment a huge bus came by and hit all of them. The bus was on top of all 4 people, and for some reason the driver ran away, so local people moved the bus away, and tried dragging the bodies to safety. This week I had to fill out an Absentee voters ballet, for Americans that are currently out of the U.S. So I had to go to the U.S Embassy and give them my form. It was pretty fun to step on American Soil. We looked through our phone I tried calling some people up to teach, and were able to get 9 new investigators this week. We met one of them in a pretty sketchy area, so when we went there we took off our name tags and ties to blend in a little more. We taught Ravi Teja who isn't progressing, but have started teaching his mom. We also met a guy named Kranti who is a golden investigator. We met with him and his family, and wants us to meet with his friends. He knows a lot about the church because one of his friend's is LDS. He is very interested and has asked many questions. They even fed us dinner and we only knew them for an hour, and gave us a ride back to the main road (which was a good distance away). Its hard to believe that I graduated a year ago, man time flys. We went to a resturant called Absolute BBQ, which was pretty cool. It was sweet , because people come with racks of meat and gives us unlimited chicken, fish, lamb etc. Other than that, it was a good week here in Hyderabad India. 

Love,

Elder Magnusson

Hyderabad

May 16, 2016

Hey Y'all,

I am now in Hyderabad and it is a big city. Other missionaries were right Rajahmundry is a VILLAGE. Now granite Hyderabad isn't really THAT much more developed than Rajahmundry it is definitely a big city. Im in a stake now, and its nice to be in one. I literally felt as if I was in like Utah or something at times, because there are church members EVERYWHERE. The first day I got here there was like 4 members that stopped us on the street and talked to us. It was cool because that happened in a big city, in a country that is dominated be Hinduism. The names in Hyderabad are different than the ones in Rajahmundry. In Rajahmundry most peoples are named Satish or Naresh. In Hyderabad it isn't. And I can't pronounce the names let alone spell them. I haven't met a person here that I was able to say their name on the first try. One member who is 12 is named Deekshith (the way he pronounces it with an Indian accent, makes it sound, like a bad word)Both parts, the Deek, and the Shith part. We have lots of investigators and this area is a lot busier than Rajahmundry. Since I'm in a stake now, we get lots of Member referrals, and part member families to teach, so there is plenty to do thank goodness. I was able to eat at Subway and and was soo happy to know it didn't taste Indianized. I also got my package my mom sent me, which means I can now eat Easy Mac for lunch, and goldfish. Right before church I packed some Goldfish that I could eat for a snack during church. A lot of the investigators aren't really progressing and hopefully we can change that. One of the guys we are teaching is Ravi Teja, he is on date for baptism, but isn't coming to church. I got him to commit to coming to church this past Sunday, but he sadly didn't again. My new companion is Elder Abel, he is from Bangalore, and is a very interesting person. We don't have anything in common, but will see how this transfer goes. He enjoys doing work and cares about the members, and thats good enough for me. He is my second Indian companion, and is 24. I tried to talk to him about trucks such as the F150 or the Silverado, but the only truck he knew was the garbage truck. I'll have to find something else to talk to him about. Other than that I'm glad to be in my new area! I also heard that a missionary in our mission, locked his companion in the bathroom (while that person was showering), buzzed his head, and got on a plane ride back to his home (which will not be named). So now ELder Tuscano (my MTC companion) is in a Trio with other companions, while his companion went to fill in the place of that other missionary that went MIA in a different area. 

Love,

Elder Magnusson 

I sent him a big box full of stuff he needed, deodorant, and the all important mac and cheese!  He's in heaven!!

Transfers and Mother's Day

Hey Y'all,

This week was pretty good, I have gotten my transfer call, and will be going to Hyderabad Madina Guda 2nd ward. I heard that that was a great area, and Elder Kommalapati said that it is a very busy area. Also more people know English there, vs Rajahmundry. It was an enjoying 6 months spent in Rajahmundry, and am happy I'm going to a really busy area in the mission. This week, I found out one of the families I taught in Idaho (The Buckner Family) were baptized earlier this year. Which was really good news for me because they have been investigators for a year or so, and am happy that I could contribute to their conversion process. Aaron Buckner's parents live in Douglasville Georgia. They did some more painting for our apartment, so we had to be there for two days in a row. Our most progressing family is the John family, they have lots of questions that we can answer, and it's great to see them as their testimonies grow. I also met, Suneel, who is Ratna Kumar's son. He came to Rajahmundry as we are getting ready for Ratna Kumar's baptism. I sadly won't be here for it, but am happy I could assist with it. It finally rained here in Rajahmundry, for like one day, which made it feel very nice outside. Sadly its was only one day, and is back to being 100s of degrees. I was able to Skype home since it was Mother's day, and would like to wish all the Mother's out there a happy Mother's day! I was able to Skype my parent's and my brother. Naresh (the one that got baptized in Feburary) recieved the Priesthood this week at church. It's a great moment in my mission life when I get to see my converts participate in church callings and Priesthood ordinations. They really enjoy participating in the church, and have hopefully helped them gain a strong testimony. Though there hasn't been very many baptisms since I've been here, I have been able to activate multiple families and hope that they stay active and don't fall away when I leave. I told my recent converts and my "use-to-be" less actives that I will call them and remind them to go to church ( if they stop going) whether I'm in Hyderabad, Georiga, or am Dead, they will get a call. The best thing that I've taught these people is to recognize the blessing that God is giving them as they are following his commandments. I told them none of us on this earth can afford not to be blessed, there for we have to keep the commandments and do all God is asking to so that we can. It was a great experience being here in Rajahmundry and hope that the Lord will bless me with success while I am serving in Hyderabad. There are also American restaurants there, so i can now FINALLY eat American food.  

Love,

Elder Magnusson