This week was awesome. Monday I got a haircut, and I am always so impressed with how well the barbers here do! And for so cheap :) After the haircuts we went to the night market and talked to some people. Da** and Ji** (the members who own the barbershop) came with us. We got some yummy stuff at the night market and I tried stinky tofu for the first time. It wasn't bad, but it tastes like fried garbage...still trying to figure out why people consider it a delicacy. Not bad, but not my first choice. At least the sambal and vegetables with it are good :) After the night market we met a Christian man from Nepal named D**. He was nice and agreed to meet with us again. Yay!
Tuesday we met with D** again. We taught about the restoration of the gospel (thankfully his English is good) and showed him the Book of Mormon, but we forgot to bring a Hindi copy for him (rookie mistake! :/ ) He told us about some men who claimed to be prophets from India and Korea who also have books of "scripture," which made him skeptical. He kept saying, "Jesus Christ is the only way," so we shared Mosiah 3:17 and told him we agree completely, and the Book of Mormon teaches the same thing.
We asked him who's name was under the tittle. He said "Jesus Christ." We flipped the cover over and asked, "Who's church does it say this is?" He answered, "Jesus Christ's". We explained that the purpose of the book is to bring us closer to Christ and to help us follow Him. Nowhere does it tell us to follow Joseph Smith or that we are saved by any other name than Christ. We told him that Joseph Smith never wanted anyone to think it was his church or to follow him, but he labored to build Christ's church and to help people follow Christ. That helped D** a lot :)
Wednesday we visited Su** and she is still doing well. Yay!
Friday we met with D**, and this time we gave him a hindi Book of Mormon. During my language study, I learned Hindi numbers so that I could open up to scriptures for him during our lesson. We reviewed with him the role of the Book of Mormon. He didn't want to read and pray about it because of other churches who run around speaking in tongues saying they have the Spirit, and he doesn't want this to give him "false spirits." I think that is understandable, and it is also proof of the apostasy and need for the book! Finally, we went a little bold and shared some verses from 2 Nephi 29. He is still hesitant and can't believe we claim to be the only true church, but he is willing to meet again. Cool!
Yesterday we called a potential investigator to confirm our appointment with him for later that day. A woman answered the phone and said that the young man we was in the hospital. We got the information of where he was and headed over. We got to his bed and found a bunch of nurses around an unconscious, young Indian man, close to our age. He was on a ventilator, but stable. The family was no longer there, so we left our card and said to call if we can do anything.
This morning I had to go to the doctor, and was surprised by the lack of cleanliness. It was gross...and it made me feel bad for all of the people here who don't have the option of better medical care.
We just got transfer news and we are all staying!!! Yay :)
Love you all,
Elder Avery
Forgiveness and Banana Cream Pie (August 17, 2015)
Don't Look a Monkey in the Eyes! (August 31, 2015)
