Hi!
Well I'm pretty sure that little Millie is the cutest little baby that has ever lived. Thanks for the pictures of Jen's late Birthday party. Happy Late birthday Jen!
President Clements sent us a cool video about the Mormon Helping Hands getting to work after hurricane Sandy. It was pretty cool. You should watch it too: http://vimeo.com/53357089?action=share&fb_source=feed&ref=feed&refid=8&_ft_=qid.5810285575497751782%3Amf_story_key.546484545365183 I was secretly looking for Timmy the whole time. Ha ha. But President sent it to us so we can share it with investigators. We sure are part of an amazing group of believers in Christ.
I can't believe that Thanksgiving time is already here. I'm just going to explode soon because time goes by at the speed of light! But anyway, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Who is coming to Thanksgiving this year? Ruesch or Anderson? Either way I hope you all have lots of fun and eat at least two whole pies by yourself. For a while there this morning I had Elder Shrestha convinced that the Thanksgiving tradition was that every person get's their own turkey and they had to eat it themselves over the next several weeks. I probably shouldn't play with his ignorance to American tradition but it was irresistible. Don't worry, I told him the truth shortly after. Anyway, for this Thanksgiving we have a super awesome family that invited us over. Our P-Day was actually changed to Thursday but President wanted us all to still do our emailing today. It's kinda different in the Nepali work though because they don't celebrate Thanksgiving. I think some of them are going to attempt to cook a turkey for the first time but no one knows how to use their oven since they don't have ovens in Nepal. It will be funny to see how their turkey's turn out. Ha ha. And I will make sure to eat a huge meal at the families home that invited us over. From what I heard there was somewhat of a battle for who was going to have the missionaries over for Thanksgiving during Relief Society today. Which is funny because there are 4 sets of us and so there are plenty of missionaries to go to various homes. I guess everyone wanted the missionaries to come! We are popular!
This week was crazy. I have too many things to share! The festival of lights was this week. It is called Dewali. And it was super awesome!!! Except the 7 meals was not awesome. We didn't realize everyone was going to want to feed us so we ate lunch before we left the apartment that morning and little did we know we would be eating 5 more times that day! We weren't even intending on visiting several people but they saw us and called us over to their apartment just so that they could throw a plate of rice and meat and break-like stuff in front of us. Geepers. I was way too fat and full by the end of the day. Elder Shrestha actually threw up a little bit halfway through the day. He he. It was hilarious.
I'm glad that Sister Baxter sent you the pictures. She is so awesome. I guess this festival is about a celebration between the relationship of the sister and the brother in the family. So a family that we are close to invited us over that evening and the two sisters in the family put Tika on us and the Baxters forehead. It was just some paint stuff this time and I guess it comes with many blessings. After that we went to another apartment and a bunch of kids were doing this traditional dance. It was super cool! I think I am a Nepali-American now. Awesome! I think that Dewali is pretty much equivalent to our Christmas. So serving in this area I get two Christmas' this year! Score!
Unfortunately, due to the festival, missionary work was not up to full speed. We had ZERO investigators come to church. It was awful. I never thought I would see the day. I don't know what was going on! We even had some people tell us that they were coming that morning but when we went to pick them up they backed out. Oh well. Next week will be back to normal.
We had some other crazy experiences too. There are two young fellows that we visit that are totally ready to be baptized but their family is holding them back. After one lesson with one of the guys, his mom came barging in right as we had finished the lesson and got SUPER mad at us. She told us to stop trying to make her son believe our teachings and to not take her son away from her. It was totally unexpected too because we love his mom! We thought we were good friends. And the Baxters do a lot of service for them so I don't know what the deal was. But it sure is scary to have someone yelling and by their face you can tell they are mad but you can't understand a single word they say. I definitely knew I needed to keep my mouth shut and leave. Ha ha. Family opposition is the main thing holding back almost all of the people we teach. It is a really strong force. And we don't quite know how to overcome it.
Well, I need to go. Time to preach! Here are a few things i am grateful for: My family, my mission, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Restoration, the cutest niece in the world, the chance to live in America, the internet, mail!, excellent ties, great friends, and the list goes on and on. Happy week of being SUPER grateful!
Love,
Elder Ruesch
NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.
