Well, we finally got Billy's first REAL letter from India. It takes a little while for them to come. We have gotten a couple of short e-mails from him, but he says that he only gets 30 minutes on the computer once a week so there is not a lot of time to read and write e-mails. He appreciates everyone's letters and e-mails but again asks to please write him letters instead of e-mails since he is not allotted very much computer time.
Okay, I'm done lecturing onto some news! He says that things are going great. The people there stare at him and his companion because they are white. He said "it is neat to see how much people care about religion here. People would rather go to church than live in big homes. Above every door people hang flowers which represent what faith they believe in. Many people allow us in their homes, but they won't convert because their families do not support it. Family is huge here. Everyone lives together or around each other, and no one moves away." He says he feels like he can fit in because Ben and I are temporarily living in the same house as mom and dad (ha ha very funny Billy) and that the only difference is that the house the Indian people are sharing is about the size of our garage. He goes on to say "for being so poor the people here like to party a lot. They have many festivals, some of which restrict mission work."
There is no American food there and India has a different smell to it. He says that there does not seem to be any major effort to keep the land clean and free of litter, and personal hygiene traditions are different from Americans which takes some getting used to.
He is currently in Hyderabad which is the leading baptizing area in the mission. He has already taught many lessons and has a couple of baptism dates. He hopes that he will be able to baptize someone in the next six weeks. He really likes his companion although he will not be with him next transfer because his companion is a zone leader and he will be assigned another senior missionary in Hyderabad. He says he loves his area and hopes he won't be transferred yet.
Not long ago he and his companion had a dinner appointment with an Indian couple. It came out during dinner that the lady remembered meeting our dad four years ago when he was visiting India and spent sometime with the senior missionaries there. Billy was pretty excited about that. It definitely proves that it is a small world!
He says that it is sometimes very very hard and he wishes he could just come home. However, he says that "at the end of the day this is the most fulfilling work I have ever done. It is so amazing to see how much Heavenly Father helps me everyday. This is not my work, this is the Lord's work."
He asks that we all eat "cookies and good food" for him, and he sends his love!
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