8/21 3 Nephi 18:20;24

I was so blessed to be able to go to church today. We saw an elephant in the back of truck on the way there. To the right is a picture of the baptismal font in the church. A new church is currently being built in Chennai. The building currently is not very...church like to say the least. However, the spirit was so strong in the meeting. I am very grateful that I stayed home from the New Dehli trip for this reason alone. This Sabbath day has been phenomenal. I was asked to lead the music during Sacrament Meeting. Our first song was "How Great Thou Art". That song in kind of a night mare to lead so I just waved my hand around. Ha, but the others went smoothly. I was blessed to have that opportunity. The talks were phenomenal. The church is the same wherever you go. The members have such strength here. They spoke a great deal concerning missionary work. My Sunday School Teacher was very knowledgeable young woman. I was also asked to teach sharing time with Lyndee. We taught about the Word of Wisdom. I think the kids enjoyed it. We sang primary songs and I just thoroughly enjoyed myself. We visited with the members for a little while afterward. The churchwas about two hours away so the whole ordeal was about 8 hours. However, it was so worth it. To the right is the ward librarian :) He was so great.

I've been struggling with some of my wonderful prideful weaknesses and it has really hindered me in several aspects of my service. I was blessed with a great deal of alone time after church. I was able to go on the roof of our hostel and just sit alone for awhile...I've just been yearning for some alone time so I was very grateful. I also read and pondered prior to that in my bedroom. I prayed earnestly for humility and realignment of desire and motives. I felt as though my service was disconnected from the power of the Lord. In church I felt prompted to seek to be a conduit of God's love and light so that it may penetrate the heart of the children. I also recognized that the Lord is teaching me how to deal with trial in a new way. Rather than isolating myself and becoming very reserved throughout trial, He is teaching me how to find healing through serving. I really didn't expect these internal struggles when I came out here, but I am learning to be grateful for these experiences. I read 3 Nephi 17 and 18 today and was so focused on the Father's love for His children. After reading I wrote in some memory books about the kids that I'm working with and realized that the love I have for these beautiful children is so pure and full. My heart began to be softened. As I read 3 Nephi 18:20 and 24, I felt that I had received a direct answer to my prayers. They say, "And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you...Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up--that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed." I knew that the Lord was pleased with my desires and I had been forgiven for some of the weaknesses that had been overwhelming for a short time. Also, my prompting I had received at church was confirmed, that I should be the means whereby the Lord's light is made manifest.

The picture above is of a boy named Chrisraj. He attacked me with a water balloon the other day. Love him :) he's such a spaz.

The coolest part about this experience is the three-fold nature of it. I gained knowledge and understanding. Then I had the opportunity thereafter to exercise what I had learned. I spent time with the kids at dinner and with my individual family after that. I went to dinner with my heart full but the girls were surprisingly very quiet and somewhat unresponsive. I took it as an opportunity to spend some :) one on one time with some of the girls I didn't know as well. It was a really sweet experience and realized how hard it is for them to have left their families. But they also recognize the huge opportunities they have through this program. One girl I spoke with today hopes to become a nurse and because of this program, it's possible whereas otherwise, she would be confined to her leprosy colony and cast out from society. These kids are amazing and are so intelligent. After dinner I spent a lot of time with the boys in the cafeteria. One boy, Stephen came up to me and told me all about his life. His Mom is one of the house mothers here and he's a member of the church. He's awesome. I chilled with Ruthish for a little bit and just hung out with all the other boys. They're so much fun. "Aunty! What is your name?!" Ha I just love them. Oh! And Basha :) The boy I struggled with the other day at tutoring still loves me even though we had a rough time. He came up to me smiled and I exclaimed, "Bashsa! How are you my friend?" He embraced me. That warmed my heart. Especially since I thought he hated me.
(The boy on the right is my little lover Ruthish. I can't remember the other boys name) :(
My heart was so happy. Then I went to my family's house about an hour and a half before bed time. I got to talk to Ramia and Brianca. They're both so adorable. They were telling me about their families and they both said, "Our Father's drink" and talked about all the drinking in India. I told them that many Americans drink and they were horrified. Brianca said, "No! I don' t believe!" Ah it was so precious. I said that the Americans that come to Rising Star are all very good people as many Americans are but not all. They were seriously heart broken. America is just the pure dream land to them.
After spending time with them I laid down by the younger girls who were going to sleep. I sang hymns to them for about 45 minutes. They make me so happy. While they all started going to sleep, Nagash grabbed my hand, Maryiambe put hers on top of it while my arm was across Nishanti and Ramia held my other hand. I felt very loved. I'm beginning to understand the commandment to become like little children. I got up about 10 minutes before 9 to say goodnight to the other girls. They were sad I was leaving. I hugged them all goodbye and Sathya gave me a kiss. I've never felt so loved in my life! It's so great! So as I've exercised what I learned, in one night, I feel as though I've become more like my Savior. Again, three fold in one night. The Lord loves these children so much and I am so blessed to be able to work with them. It is a sanctifying experience for sure.

Oh I forgot to mention that I picked coconuts with Lyndee and Devin today as the pictures shows. It was sweet. I love getting to know the people I'm serving with. They all have really neat backgrounds. India is bliss :)