Woot!
General Conference was delicious! Since I've been a missionary,
General Conference has been extra awesome. I just get so much more
out of it! That might be because I am paying more attention but I
don't know. The satelite in our building wasn't working for the first
20 minutes of the first session so we missed President Monson's
announcement of the temples and missionary age change. And then later
speakers alluded to it and we were wiggin out wondering what
happened! Eventually we got help from someone who pulled out their
computer and we watched his announcement. That is CRAZY COOL news! I
am super duper excited about it! I am especially excited about the
sister missionaries age change because we need a lot more sister
missionaries. I hope this makes the number of missionaries in the
world go way up! I was wondering if MJ were going to go right away or
wait till the summer. I would love to be able to spend some time with
you fellas before you leave but if it is the right thing to go right
away then that is okay. Just do the right thing!
Things are moving along really well in the Nepali work! The
temperature dropped significantly this week. The week started in the
70's and finished in the 40's consistently. Elder Shrestha died a
little bit. Ha ha. I asked him the coldest weather he had ever been
in and he said about 15 degrees Celsius which is in the 50's or
something for Fahrenheit. Ha ha. So he is going to be pretty cold
for a while until he gets used to it. It's alright though, it will
just make him tough. :)
Service is such a powerful principle. Did I ever tell you about the
senior couple that we work with? There is a senior couple here that
is also assigned to the Nepali work that is SUPER awesome and they
help us so much. Their name is the Baxters. Want to hear something
crazy? Sister Baxter worked as a teacher at Alpine Elementary for
several years. I think she said she taught 3rd grade. But we figured
out that she left when I was in 2nd grade. Small world. They now
live in Provo, Utah. Hey mom, do you know a Mary Baxter? Anyway,
they are so helpful. They just do anything they can to help us teach
people and to serve the Nepali peeps here. Recently they have been
getting everyone quilts and winter clothes that don't have the money
to do it themselves. Because of their service, the Nepali people are
so welcoming to us and willing to listen to our message. It is really
neat.
I don't even know where to start with all the things to tell you. I
don't think that I have had more rice in my whole life than I have in
the last week or so!
It's amazing how powerful the spirit is when people are humble. I
feel like Alma teaching the poor Zoramites. The problem we run into
is everyone tends to be flakey and not remember appointments. Ug. Oh
well we are learning to deal with it. Ha ha. And it's true, I might
not be able to speak the language but I am amazed at how the language
of the spirit is the same for everyone. Everytime I teach, I share
something and then Elder Shrestha translates. And whenever I share my
testimony the spirit is really strong and they can feel it. And
that's about all I can do, I bear my testimony. Ha ha. Basically,
the only thing I am able to do to have an effect on these people is
teach Elder Shrestha how to be a powerful missionary. Hopefully, I
can do that.
We have several families with potential for baptism. The huge problem
is they all have family holding them back from being baptized. Ug!
That is the problem with everyone. We are teaching again a teenage
boy who has a powerful testimony already and he has been helping us to
teach the rest of his family. There is also a woman who's husband is
against it. I guess everyone has to overcome their specific challenges.
I am being a little rushed here. Things are delightful over here. I
am loving the work. The gospel works for you no matter who you are or
where you are from. I love it!
Love,
Elder Ruesch
