LONG OVER DUE: EXCERPTS FROM BILLY’S LETTER’S, Nov 4th thru Dec. 25th

NOVEMBER 4:

It was a great week in the Lord’s vineyard. The sister who attempted suicide had a miracle recovery and it was absolutely amazing to see the hand of the Lord truly protect her and her family. She was the wife of a brother who was studying to be a doctor. She was from a muslim family and he is from a Christian family, they have a love marriage. She hasn’t received any blessings or support from her family and her brother would tell her to kill herself and that she wasn’t worth anything. It is very hard to explain the culture in India, but this incident was, in a way, a blessing for this family. They invite us over all the time and she is reading the Book of Mormon and praying everyday. I taught her the plan of salvation and you could feel the power of the spirit in the room.

I think it is time to live the word of wisdom. In my patriarchal blessing it speaks of the blessings of living the word of wisdom and I feel that I could do better. I really want to work on it. It is hard to work out sometimes because of all the rice, but I want to start working on it. I want to get back to skipping rope and running, so that I will be in great shape when I start playing lacrosse again.

We found a new amazing family. We were in a new area, I was with a member, and my companions were together in a different lesson. The lesson I was in had just ended and we were waiting for the other Elders. I felt that the member and I should knock on a door, so we knocked and we were received by a family of five. We knew prior to knocking that we had no pamphlets, nor did we have any copies of the Book ob Mormon. I felt we needed to teach this family.

We began to teach and the lesson was going very well. They expressed how they saw the flaws in all the other churches and that is why they did not go to church. They expressed that they had been searching for the truth, but did not know where to find it. All of their feelings and doubts were as if they were being quoted from the D &C. As the lesson drew to a close, I was kicking myself for not having a Book of Mormon. I pulled out my Preach my Gospel to show a picture of the first vision. After I shared the experience of Joseph in the grove, the father excused himself from the room. He came back with a copy of the Book of Mormon. He saw a picture of the Book of Mormon in my Preach my Gospel and he knew that he had a copy.

I was shocked. I asked where he had received a copy of the book and he shared with us that he received it two years prior from a worker in his office. Not knowing how to read English, he had held on to it for two years until someone could explain it to him.

We have continued to teach that family. Every time we see them, the father is full of questions. But not because he does not know the answers, but because he is testing us to see if we know the answers. He has studied the bible in depth and has asked us about the spirit world, final judgement, why Christ will return a second time and questions that other churches do not teach, but are a common teaching in the restored gospel. So far he has explained that this is the church he has been searching for and his family says that we were sent from God.

I love the work! Weeks just fly by faster and faster and I am loving everyday I have to serve. I hope all is well at home and I can assure you all is going well here! I have never been happier!

NOVEMBER 11th:

What a wonderful week... I am so jealous that you had the opportunity to go to the temple. It is so hard being so far from the temple. Every time we watch, Navoo: a Temple reborn, I feel the spirit is so strong and I get so excited to see the temple again.

Yesterday, as I was sitting in a lesson, I told a story about you and some of the things that you have gone through in your life, and because of the gospel, you have received so many blessings. The women we were teaching, sat in a small room with both arms around her children explaining how her husband walked out on her a month ago. She had tears in her eyes, but I can’t express in words the look of peace and comfort when I explained how you grew up in a home that experienced the same problem and how much the gospel blessed you and helped you through it.

Well, this week was nice. This week has flown by so fast. We should be having five baptisms in two weeks. The family we have been teaching is still preparing for baptism and it looks like it will be happening soon. A couple of weeks ago, I went on an exchange with Elder Cunningham and we found an amazing colony, a “steel plant.” We found amazing investigators and one of the young men we found is being baptized in a week and another young man we taught read the entire Book of Mormon in a week.

The work is going so well and I am loving every second of it.


NOVEMBER 17th: TRANSFERRED TO THE BIG CITY, BANGALORE

My companion was transferred to Bangalore to be the Mission Secretary. He will be great in the office. We just can’t get any visa’s right now so President needs to use Elders to fill in the shoes of the Senior Missionaries. President Nichols called me and let me know that I will be transferred on the 24th to Bangalore to be the new Zone Leader there. I am surprised that I am getting called to Bangalore, I never thought I would serve there. It only had 50 baptisms this year and it is the lowest in the mission. We have a lot of work that needs to be done there.

I am very sad to leave this area that I am in now, I have been in this branch for eight months and it feels like home. I love all the people here and I know I will cry all the way to Bangalore. Since I came here, I have seen almost 20 baptisms and this Sunday (my last Sunday) I will be baptizing six more people. Naveen, and part member: Paveen, an investigator and I have been teaching for two months: Joji, Prashanti, Teresa, Jamscie and Alakia (8th Birthday 3/27/10, a family who I have been teaching for two months and they are absolutely amazing. I cannot wait to hear that joji baptized his younger daughter. We told him that he would be able to baptize his own daughter on her 8th birthday and the look on his family’s face was worth a million dollars. You could see how proud they were to know that their father would soon be able to hold the Priesthood. I cannot wait to send you pictures next week of the baptism service. I hope everything goes according to plan. The work is going well, but we have been really just trying to prepare these six people for their baptism.

Naveen, the part member, will be baptized by his father. His father knows no English and cannot even read. We have been spending hours and hours helping him memorize the Baptism prayer so that he can baptize his son. They live in a little 5x6 cinder block home which leaks when it rains and he sits on the corner of the street everyday selling plastic flowers. He cannot even understand the teachings on Sundays, he only has the education of a third grader and yet, he has come to church for seven years because the feeling he has, entering the church house every week. If this is not a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel, I don’t know what is.

My next email will be from Bangalore. I am so grateful to be apart of this great work and I love every second I have to serve these people. I am heart broken that I have leave Visak, but I am sure I will love Bangalore just as much.

NOVEMBER 25th: A FAREWELL TO VISAG

This was the hardest move of my mission. I have grown to love Visag so much and I was heartbroken as I made preparations to leave. This weekend was also one of the greatest weeks in Visag has seen all year. On Sunday my companionship baptized six people and another companionship baptized a family of three which put us past the goal that the Zone had set for the year of 70 baptisms. When I came to Visag we only had 14 baptisms in the zone and we were 25 baptisms behind schedule to hit our goal by January first and this last weekend we hit the goal. I am so happy to leave the Zone with the goal completed.

Zone Conference was on Friday and it was a wonderful opportunity I had to speak about commitments and my experience with them. I based my talk around the scripture Jacob 5:41 and the assistants told me at the end of the conference that it was one of the best talks that they have heard on their mission. I am very flattered by the complement. President Nichols complemented me on my talk and said that he was proud of me.

Sunday was the last day of Visag. The Branch was wonderful, they asked me to bear my testimony at sacrament and then closed the meeting by singing, “God be with you til we meet again.” As they sang, tears rolled down my cheeks and I just didn’t want to leave. The rest of church went by so slow and I was so excited for the Baptisms. The entire Branch stayed for the Baptisms and everyone was so excited. It was the best baptism service I have ever seen. This was the biggest Visag has ever had in the first Branch. The best and most memorable part was watching Srinvas Gunta baptize his son Naveen. I have never met anyone who worked that hard to baptize their own son.

After church we went to Probaker’s home and they feed us homemade biryani because I was leaving. When I came to Visag he was inactive and now he is the in the Branch Presidency. Then after that, we visited Baven and another investigators home. Then we went to Joi’s house and let me tell you.... That was the hardest visit I have ever made. They made me a huge poster that said NIXON BILLY and had a message in the middle. It was the greatest gift I have ever received because it took a lot of time to make and it was from the heart of a family who cannot afford it. They made me biryani as well. As I left the entire family fell into tears and I thought I was going to hold strong, but as I was saying goodbye for the last time, I started to cry harder then I have ever cried. I walked away from that home crying so hard. Leaving people that you love so much. I still remember the first time I taught them and thought, “If they are not baptized, I will live my entire life in sorrow because there is not another family I would rather see in the Kingdom of God.” I am so happy I was able to see them baptized, but so sad that I had to leave them.

President took me and the assistants to breakfast the next morning before our flight. We ate at the Grand Bay Hotel and the breakfast was amazing! Pancakes, eggs, ham...!!!! Then we caught a flight to Bangalore. On the flight I had the opportunity to see an Indian Actor. His arms were huge and he looked like Arnold and I sat right next to him and taught him the entire restoration and then gave him a Book of Mormon and Ensign. He was very nice and he was very interested. He said he wanted to meet with the Elders. His name is John Kokhan and he has been in some big movies.

Bangalore is very nice and is very different. It feels like I am back in America. The food is a lot more western and there are American Hotels, Pizza hut, McDonald’s, KFC.... And I am so excited. The weather is very nice and is about 70 to 80 degrees. I thought I needed a sweater when I first got here, I was freezing. The English is very nice here and it is easy to communicate. My new companion is Elder Singh and he is great. I need to get back to work. I miss Visag, but I am sure I will love Bangalore just as much, I just need to give it some time.

DECEMBER 8th

Days just run together and it feels like the weeks are flying by so fast and I wish it would slow down a little. It bothers me to think that I have only eight months left to serve. We had Zone leaders council last Thursday at the home President Nichols and it was amazing. During lunch President Nichols played the final quarter of the BYU vs Utah football game. While we watched the game we ate wonderfully prepared homemade food. Sister Nichols prepared BBQ chicken and noodles. President gave amazing training on the skill of “listening” and then he also gave great council about “administering blessings.” I learned so much and loved it. We also came up with the new goals for next year. Our goal is 600 Baptisms! By July, we want 325! I was really pushing for 625, and 350 by July, but everyone else was thinking 550, 300 by July. So we settled at 600 with the promise that if (when) we hit 350, I will be asked to stand in front of the entire mission and tell them “I told you so”!

Elder Singh and I are working really hard. Our Zone is looking really good. I am still a little sad to have left Visag. During Zone leaders council, they showed all the break downs of Zones iin Visag, it blew everyone out of the water. It is funny that Elders use to say that “you can’t baptize in Visag!” But Bangalore is doing well and Elder Singh and I have high hopes for this promised and choice land. The culture here is completely different. I haven’t eaten rice in three weeks!

Last week we taught a young man who was a Muslim and then he converted to Christianity, but his family beat him so he ran away. He has had a tough life and was so afraid of religion and confusion that is causes. He was physically scared to to open the Book of Mormon to allow more confusion into his life. We taught him one of the most powerful lessons on the power of the Book of Mormon. I asked him to read a couple of scriptures out of Moroni 10. As he read those scriptures, the room filled with the spirit and no one said a word as he kept his eyes set on that scripture. It was silent for about 4 minutes and then he looked up with tears in his eyes and said, “I can really be unspotted from the world?” Teaching this young man is a perfect example of what Preach my Gospel talks about in chapter 1. We are all heavenly Fathers children and some of his children are looking for the truth but are confused and do not know where to find the truth. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to help teach and bring people unto Christ.

Today I met with President Nichols and had a routine personal interview. We spent an hour just speaking about some future goals and ideas that I need to begin thinking about. I really cherish President Nichols and dad’s council. I am excited for what the future has in store.

DECEMBER 16th:

Today we had a huge Zone activity and went to Mysore Palace. It is an old Palace on the outskirts of Bangalore. We toured inside the Palace and road on Elephants. It was really a fun experience.

This week has been really busy. I had the opportunity to arrange all the food for the Zone Leaders Conference, so I arranged to have lasagna, french bread, tossed salad and apple juice. It was the best lunch I have had on my mission, it tasted sooooo good. The Elders and the couple missionaries really loved it, it was amazing. The training was great and I learned the importance of Power Statements. I conducted the conference and I was so nervous. Over half the mission was in attendance, 54 Elders. It was the first time I have ever conducted a meeting like that. I do not know how Dad does it and I hope it gets easier.

I am leaving for Goa tomorrow morning at 4:00 am. It is a two hour flight north and it is suppose to be the prettiest place in India. It was settled by Portugal and the Catholics settled there hundreds of years ago. Actually the entire city is 80 percent Catholic. What happened was when the Catholic Church cane into Goa, they forced people to convert. They replaced Hindu Gods with crosses in the Hindu Temples so people would worship the cross as their idol rather then a Hindu God. The only difference between Catholics and Hindus is the God they worship, everything else is the same. This force of conversion is the reason why everyone in INDIA is afraid of the word “ conversion” and are so afraid.

Goa has really struggled this past year with only two baptisms. Elder Siingh and I have high hopes for Goa and are looking forward to going up there and helping the Elders.

DECEMBER 23rd:

It was remarkable to see the pictures of the Missionary lunch that was held at the Capitol, in Washington, D.C.. I must say that I am a little jealous about the lunch they were given, but mostly of the size of their mission. We only have 1/3 as many Elders in India and they have a group the size of an army in the Nations Capitol. I am happy to hear that the three Elders that I met in the MTC , who promised to look you up and say hello, finally got around to doing it. I am so grateful for the tender hearts you both have, as I read your emails and saw the pictures of the lunch, my eyes swelled with tears because I know exactly why mother went to all that work and I am so grateful for both of you.

Last week we went to Goa and the weather was perfect. We spent three days in Goa and we feel that we really strengthened the Elders there. We are working really hard on getting Goa back on top. It has a lot of potential and there is a special spirit there and I feel the church will grow.

The richest man in Goa and one of the richest men in India is the 1st councilor there. He owns his own company and has steel, orr mines and ship building companies. He played professional tennis and was in the circuit before he served his mission in Haiti.

We woke up Saturday around 4:30 am and got back into Bangalore at noon. We had our branch Christmas Party and then attended church on Sunday. We worked hard for two days and then on Tuesday morning at 4:00 am we woke up and caught a 3 hour bus ride to KGF, KGF was amazing and it has a neat history. It is a little village outside of Bangalore, it was opened by the British and is one of the largest gold mines in the world. It was shut 8 years ago because they didn’t have the money to keep it open, but the gold is still there. Now because the British opened this town, a good portion of these villagers not only speak English, but they have a Christian background.

We worked hard and I was on exchange with Elder Frederick from Utah. We found 9 new investigators and met so many people who are interested in meeting the missionaries. It felt like everything went right on that trip. We went to bed and Elder Singh and I woke up at 4:00 am this morning to catch a train back to Bangalore. It has been a long week and I wish I had time to catch up on sleep. Being busy is a lot of fun, but it is also pretty exhausting.

Well less then 48 hours until Christmas and time is flying. I am so grateful for my Savior that the love that he has for me. I’m grateful for the atonement and it’s power to clean us form all iniquity. I know that everyday we come closer to our Savior as we are obedient to the commandments and endure faithfully til the end. I know the Gospel is true and it gives up the power to change. The Savior is my everything and I do not think I will ever be able to repay him for his sacrifice and the love he has shown me.

I cannot wait to talk to you on Christmas!

Zoo Trip and More!

We went to the zoo last preparation day and got to play with the elephant and had the opportunity to stand within 3 feet of a white tiger and her cubs, a tiger, and a jaguar. It was a very neat experience. Only in India.


SEPTEMBER 9th:

The Chief Minister Ready, died in a helicopter crash and the state of Andra Pradesh was up in arms. People in India have a tough time with death and there were big riots in the streets and all the shops in Andhra had to close for three days. While this was happening we had the opportunity to go among the people in the riots and teach the plan of salvation. I AM JUST JOKING, we were on lock down and we were not allowed to leave our home.

Things are back to normal and better then ever. Elder Ludlow was transferred to Chenni and my new companion is ... Elder Schmidt!! I was so excited about that and I am so happy to be companions with him. (Elder Schmidt is the grandson of Coach Schmidt who was the coach for Billy’s dad when he played for Skyline High School) We have a lot in common and it is great to be with him during football season here in India. Elder Schmidt has already taught me so much, he is a great teacher and truly loves the people. He is very funny in his lessons and I can barely stop laughing every time he talks.

I have been waking up early so that I can work out before I get the day started. It has been hard and the motivation is not there. I know looking back I will be happy that I did it. I wake up and do 50 push ups and 25 pull ups and then depending on how I feel, I will either do some band exercises or skip rope. The hardest part is finding enough protein to eat. In India, they eat very little meat or protein. I eat about 24 egg whites a day and I have really felt a great difference. I am working hard on avoiding rice. It is very hard not to eat rice in India.

Yesterday we helped Karhik clean his house. It was a service project for the week. I was happy when it was done, it took us about three hours. I feel like the thing to bring him back to church will be love and charity. I believe that someday he will be a leader here and it all starts with him just getting his life back to normal and coming to church.

SEPTEMBER 16th:

Elder Schmidt and I are getting along great. He is a lot more relaxed then I am and he knows how to have fun, make me laugh and still get work done. It was a little hard because football season is here, but we have put that in the back of our minds and we are focused on the work. I’m sure that there were times that dad thought about football on his mission. Today, Elder Schmidt and I spent 4 hours talking to everyone at the beach on Sunday. We passed out about 50 pass-a-long cards and bore our testimony.

This is a letter that I wrote to the Ward members, please pass it along:

Dear Friends and Family of the Kingstown Ward,

My experience on my mission has been wonderful and I have loved everyday. The hardest part of my mission is the thought of going home and leaving the people I love. There are no wards, stakes or temples, only faithful saints who are working diligently to lay a foundation for a special place in the Lord’s vineyard. It is not about me, this is about them, the children of our Heavenly Father. These are out brothers and sisters, those we loved before the foundation of this world, those we stood next to in the grand beginning, and those we look forward to seeing in the kingdom of our Father in Heaven. I wish I would have learned this sooner, but I am grateful that I know it now.

There is no greater desire in my heart then to return with my brothers and sisters again. I know this gospel is true and the atonement is real and through the atonement all can be healed. There is no greater work to be done and I have never been more happy in my life. Thank you for all of your prayers and the many letters I have received. For those who haven’t written me yet, I still have 10 months. Just kidding!

Love,
Elder Nixon


SEPTEMBER 23rd:

This week we have found a family who is prepared to hear the Gospel. On Thursday morning, Elder Schmidt and I were walking down the street and we stopped at a house and asked if we could take a picture from their roof top. The brother followed us up to the roof. As we began to take pictures, the brother asked us about what book I was holding in my hand. I normally carry the books in my bag and it was unusual that I would be carrying it in my hand, but this day I felt like I wanted to carry it in my hands as we were trying to find people to teach, the first time on my mission. The man asked if he could have it... another first on mission.

I am embarrassed to say that up until that point, I did not think that this Hindu brother would take and interest to our message. But when someone asks for a Book of Mormon, the sirens go off! We went downstairs upon his request and began to teach him. We taught him the message of the restoration and spoke the majority of the time about apostasy and the restoration. He has a wonderful understanding and the lesson went great. In the end we asked him to pray and he accepted the invitation. He said a silent prayer and then when he concluded he looked up at us with tears in his eyes, “I have never in my life felt this way and I want you to come back as much as possible.”

As we were leaving he explained that he was undergoing surgery the following day and after his surgery he wanted to meet with us again. We surprised him the following day at the hospital and it was more of a surprise to us. He said, “at the conclusion of the operation I had a desire to speak with you, and wanted to call you, but I did not because I feared that I might disturb you.” It was the best welcome greeting I have received on my mission. We sat down and spoke to him and just talked about his family and his life. He then picked up the pamphlet we gave him the day before and told us that he read it right before the surgery and he wanted to hold on to it while he was in the hospital.

We taught his wife, and his 12 year old son in the hospital and gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon in Telegue. As we handed it to her, he said, “don’t just give it to her. Make her promise you that she will read a chapter a day!” Elder Schmidt and I were dumbfounded. We are visiting them tonight and we are more than excited. They have faith in Jesus Christ and they desire to follow him, but they told us they don’t know how. He even told us that a few weeks earlier he had seen us walking down the street and he told his son to run and catch us, but he was too late. I know the Lord sent us to him and that this is the family who was prepared and who we had prayed to find. I know that Heavenly Father answers prayers and that this is His Church and His work.

Elder Schmidt is a wonderful companion and I hope our friendship lasts a life time. We have such a wide variety of common interests and he keeps me laughing constantly.

I got a call Tuesday night, I am no longer going to be Elder Schmidts companion. I am getting transferred to another companionship in the same Branch. I am going to be Elder Bartletts companion starting on Friday. I have been called to be a ZONE LEADER, to replace the Zone Leader who went home yesterday. I know that it will be challenging, but I am grateful for the experience and I know that it will help me grow.

SEPTEMBER 30th:

This week I met with President Nichols and we had zone conference in which I was asked to give a talk pertaining to “my purpose for coming on a mission, and my purpose now.” These are my thoughts. My purpose is becoming like my Savior, I am here on a mission to invite others to come unto Christ, by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. I have come to know the blessings they have been promised.

My purpose is to help assist others in fulfilling their purpose. I have realized that this purpose is not just for a missionary, but this purpose is for all those who belong to this kingdom. My purpose goes far beyond that of teaching and baptizing, my purpose is more than inviting people to live a better life and join a better church. My purpose is to assist in opening the doors to the celestial kingdom to the sons and daughters of God, and no one else can do this! I do not just want to baptize, I want to assist and encourage members to go to the temple, to live obediently, to help others that stand in need, and lift as many as I can lift.

That purpose is universal, to invite men to come unto Christ, to take part of His atonement. When we are baptized we are not just joining a church, the membership in the church wont help us return to Heavenly Father anymore then membership in Catholic church will. It is having faith, repenting, and accepting the Saviors atoning sacrifice through the sacred ordinances of baptism which in return wash our sins away and allow us to return to Heavenly Father. This is not my talk, just my thoughts.

This week was wonderful because we painted the stairway going up to the church. Many people spit tobacco on the walls leading to the church and I felt it was time to get that picked up. We scrubbed the walls and white washed them. Following that we used 3 bottles of acid to scrub the floors which were stained by the spit. It looks a lot better and my testimony of Emma Smith’s council to Joseph, grew tremendously. I now understand how she felt. It took 12 of us 4 or 5 hours to get the dirty deed done.

My new companion is great. Take the exact opposite of me and that is the best way to describe him. I am amazed at how much I am learning from him.

OCTOBER 14th:

This week has been very busy. We ended preparation day early last week in order to give a blessing to Shyam’s Uncle. His uncle underwent brain surgery and was not looking so good. We went to the hospital and made out way into the ICU. It was the worst situation I have ever been in, as I saw this man's head bandaged up and using machines to live. Right away my heart beat faster and faster.

There was only one little spot on his head to drop the oil and we had to beg the officials to allow us to place our hands on his head. The next day we found out that he had expired. I was at peace when I heard the news and I knew that it was the will of the Lord.

Transfer calls came in and I am still in Visak with Elder Barlett for another six weeks. However, there will be a new elder named Elder Sarapu.

OCTOBER 21st

We are beginning to think of goals for next year and it is really starting to hit me pretty hard that I only have 9 months left. I am starting to get overwhelmed with the thought of going home, I still have so much to do. President gave us training on delegation, setting people with baptismal dates and influence of leaders. Right now we are on track for having 550 baptisms for the year and we are leading the Asia Area in the work. The Lord has really had his hand in this great work.

We have 9 people set for baptism and we baptized two people in the last couple of weeks.

I LOVE YOU ALL

AUGUST 5th

Well, yesterday was an amazing day. As we looked through the former investigators section in our area book, we found a 24 year old named Caesar, who taught and lived at the Spoken English Center. We happened to find his classroom at the end of one of his classes. The secretary went to check with him to see if it was alright for Elder Ludlow and I to sit in on his class as he taught the differences between WILL and SHALL. Five minutes into the lecture he asked his students, "Will Jesus come, the second time before I die?" Some say "Jesus shall come, I don't know." And then he invited us to the front of the class so that the students could ask us questions about America and answer questions about India. It was absolutely incredible. We spoke for 30 minutes with the class about food, movies, places to go and the family in America. We also spoke about the food in India and the families in India. For most of them, it was the first time they spoke with an American. I absolutely loved it. I told them some jokes and they loved it.

We then taught Caesar and had a very successful first lesson.

Last night we went to Brother Bazil's family. Elder Ludlow and I have been working with them for almost two months and the children have come to church once and his brother has come twice. We taught the Restoration again, but this time using only The Book of Mormon. Brazil is quite an entertaining man, he has sailed on a ship for most of his life and has been all around the world. Apparently, ice cream is best in China and Australia. US hamburgers are delicious and Germans like to fight. He can imitate a pretty decent Scottish accent and says he is smarter than most people he sails with. His family is Catholic and he has been Catholic for 58 years. He has agreed to let his children be baptized if they want, but is pretty attached to the Catholic Church himself.

We compared the church to a ship, with a prophet like the captain, and his apostles like the crew. Not anybody could run a ship, but someone with training or authority. The apostle were given authority to lead Christ's church. After Jesus Christ died for our sins, persecution grew until all of the apostles were also killed. From history we learn Peter was also crucified, James was beheaded. It is thought that Thomas even died in Madras. The ship had the Holy Bible, or a radar, but no one knew how to correctly decipher the radar. When Joseph Smith prayed and asked God what church was true, God chose Joseph to be a prophet and restored the authority God gave to the apostles. We now have someone who can understand the radar, who can teach us God's plan. Joseph Smith was commanded to call 12 apostles and restore Jesus Christ's church to the earth.

Brother Bazil looked more humble then I have ever seen him. Elder Ludlow said, "Brother Bazil, as I look into your eyes and those of your daughter's and wife's, I know you can feel the Holy Spirit. I know that you know this message is true." The spirit was very strong and they did not need to answer Elder Ludlow's question for us to know the answer.

"It is true," Brother Bazil responded. "I know it."

It was a remarkable lesson last night, and a great way to tie off a remarkable week.

August 12th

This was a great week. I was able to perform a baptism last Sunday, I always love the baptisms and they really make the week great. The best birthday gift in the world is bringing someone into the Gospel. I am so grateful that I was able to baptize Brother Kumar the day after my 20th
birthday.

On my birthday I was fed so much that I think that I'm 4kgs heavier for the past 5 days. In India, people like to feed you on your birthday. I did not go starving that day. We started out the morning teaching and then Elder Ludlow and I went to pick up a birthday cake he had ordered for me. The birthday cake was the face of a girl and the cake said "Happy Birthday Elder Nixon, Love Sister Nixon!" I loved the cake! This is the only girl I have been able to hold in the past year! We cut cake with all my converts and Missionaries at the church, then we went to eat at a members home. Later that day, we taught some great lessons which was the best part of the day. Then finally we ate at another members home for dinner and they made us banana bread in celebration of Birthday.

It was fun, but I have to say that a birthday is not a birthday without family. I am so grateful for the love and support for the people here in India. I received Uncle Randy's package on my birthday and it was amazing, he packed it with very nice treats and homemade jerky.

This week has moved by so fast and many great experiences happened. One day we had been knocking all day and we came upon this man that looked very surprised to see us. He quickly invited us in and we went and began to get to know him. After a few moments of introductions, he looked at us and said, "I need you, I know the Lord sent you to me, I have waited for you," He had tears in his eyes and he confessed that he has some serious struggles that he is dealing with. It was not the first time we have had an experience like this, but this time I was very humbled as I sat back thinking that here is a man that has a family, he is in his 50's, he has a career, he had children in college, and he is looking for help from a 20 year old.

I am constantly humbled by situations like these. I know that the Lord has really blessed me with such a wonderful calling which allows me to help people through their struggles. I had another experience this week with an investigator who is a 65 year old University MBA professor and knows English better than me. He has struggled with tea and he just couldn't get over it, his confidence was low and my companion and I really didn't know what to say. We went in and taught him the importance of obedience and how this is the way to honor our Father in Heaven. We then taught repentance and how when he repents he will fell that guilt completely leave his body. The next day we came back and he was so happy. He was celebrating that he did it! He did not take tea and he repented and felt a literal weight taken from him. He explained it was the greatest of all the feelings he has ever had, and he is so grateful for us and he knows that as he keeps the covenants is making, "His Father" is very happy. I now realize the importance of the gospel. Some of the people I teach have money, families, cars and other materials of worldly value, but they are all not happy because they are missing the gospel in their lives.

My favorite part of the mission is watching the Gospel change the lives of families.

August 19th

This was a great Birthday!!!!! I am so grateful for you and dad. I'm grateful for all you have done for me and continue to do for me. I love my family and miss you all.

The work is going great. I have to tell you a funny story. There are 12 girls that came to Visag for a summer exchange program, from BYU. They really stick out like sore thumbs because they are all white as snow, like they have not seen the sun in a very long time. Rumors are flying around the city of Visag that a "dozen American Girls brought swine flu to Visak!" I guess the swine flu is starting to spread through Visag and people believe that these girls from BYU brought it with them.

September 8th

I loved hearing about my lacrosse buddy, Neil Watterson and how he walked on and made the BYU football team. He was quite the football player in high school and I know that he will be a great asset to the team.

This week has been kind of emotional because I look and see the end of the tunnel and realize that I have 11 months left on my mission and I feel like I have so much work left to do.I love the mission so much and I am shocked looking back in time to see how far I have come.

On my way back to Visag, after interviewing with the President Nichols, the train ride back was 13 hours long and it gave me time to reflect and think about my mission. In reading D&C section 15 verse 6, this is why we are all here. This is what makes me tick, The greatest desire of my heart is to dwell with my brothers and sister in the Celestial Kingdom. Everyday serving these people is the greatest blessing of my life. I am so grateful to be here and to be working diligently to bring my brothers and sisters to a knowledge of their Redeemer.

On Sunday, as Elder Ludlow and I were walking through a neighborhood trying to find people to teach, we came across a bunch of workers who were tearing down an old two story flat. Now in India, they do not use power tools, they use sledge hammers and picks to tear down a building made of concrete. We felt like we should give the workers a rest, so we picked up hammers and began to work. We worked and worked and worked ......We worked until our hands were literally bleeding and so badly blistered, we couldn't shake hands, let alone pick up our bags. By the time we were finished and leaving, we noticed the entire neighborhood was hanging out their windows and on their roofs watching us. We met a lot of people and received a lot of contact that day. It was a great experience.

I challenge you to read the scriptures and study by specific topics. I promise the things that you discover are worth a lot more than any earthly possessions. I am grateful our family has worked hard to follow the teachings of the prophets.

I love you,
Elder Nixon

Happy 20th Birthday!

Just wanted to take a minute and wish Billy a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY this Saturday, August 8th. We are so proud of the wonderful young man he has become, and we look forward to all of the great things he will continue to accomplish.

Happy Birthday Billy!

We Love You!

Life in Visakhapatnam

Excerpts from the Letters of
Elder William L. Nixon II

June 10th

I love and enjoy working with Elder Ludlow. He is disciplined and determined, and I have been very blessed with great
companions. Our teaching pool is growing so big and we are constantly teaching lessons. We have two baptisms set for this
Sunday and one for the following Sunday. There has only been one baptism in my area in the past seven months and the drought is coming to an end. We are hopeful that we will see several baptisms within this next transfer.

One of our primary objectives is to build the Branch and to strengthen the members. We put together a huge "Mission Board" where members can find tips to help with the mission work, the Branch goals for the mission work, updates on missionary firesides, and pictures of recent baptisms this year. This area has a lot of potential, and I know that with the help of the Branch members we will meet our goals. There is a new energy within the Branch and everyone is beginning to support the Elders. We have worked with the Branch President and the Mission Leader to develop a Branch Mission plan.

This past Sunday we brought a man by the name of Karthik back to church. He is a returned missionary and has been inactive for a year. I don't know why he went inactive, but every missionary attempt to bring him back failed. He knows more about the gospel and Preach My Gospel, then anyone I know. He quoted word for word an entire page from Preach My Gospel. I feel he will be a Stake President here someday, and I have never felt the Spirit as strong as I have in trying to get him back to church.

Last Sunday, he entered the chapel and you could hear a pin drop. You could see the tears in the eyes of several members when he walked through the door. He bore his testimony that day and it was truly amazing. His sister is the wife of the Branch President, and she said that she couldn't believe that he finally returned. It was the best moment of my mission so far. He has already committed to teach the Gospel Essentials class in Sunday School.

We had the opportunity to go back to Hyderbad for our Zone Conference and we had a great time seeing the members that we served with and converts that we have baptized. I love those that I have taught and I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to introduce them to the gospel. Mother Stella, the older women that I taught and saw baptized, made me dinner and told me that she had missed me too much. Jay Raj and his family are doing great and it is amazing to see how much the gospel has blessed their lives.

Right now we have 16 different people who we feel will be baptized in Vizag. I am loving the mission, and everyday it seems like time is moving very fast—almost too fast.


June 17th

This week has been great. I had my first baptism in Vizag. The Spirit was strong and I am so grateful for the opportunity to a part of bringing souls unto Christ.

When I came to Vizag, Elder Jenks told me that they had walked the same streets and knocked on all the Christian doors and there is no one to teach. Right away I knew that we had a lot of work to do and it was going to be very hard. We attended church the following Sunday and there had been only about 40 members in attendance. The few returned missionaries from the branch were dressed in jeans and not very engaged in the meetings. The companionship that had been there for six months had tried very hard to change things, but it was very difficult. We had to gain the trust of the members, so we suggested a movie night and it was something that had not been done in the branch. It was a huge success and the members loved it.

One of our goals was to get all the returned missionaries back to church in their Priesthood attire and to use them to help us teach the gospel and baptize. Our objective is to get them into a leadership mode to take charge and build the Church. And I can attest that miracles do happen. Last Sunday was on of the happiest days of my mission. I walked in the chapel with tears in my eyes as I saw all the returned missionaries in their Priesthood attire and the Chapel was completely full. The whole branch stayed for the baptism that we had that day. I felt like we were making a difference. We were on the right path.

Last night I received a call from the Zone Leaders and they were calling to report on the Zone Conference in Bangalore and to let us know about the success of the Zone. They informed me that the Vizag Zone is number two in the mission. They thanked us for working so hard to build the zone.


June 24th

Things are going great and I love the mission! I have been really sick lately, but I am working hard to get better. We had another baptism and it feels great to have back-to-back baptisms. Sunday we found a family of 14 with perfect English and a great understanding of our message. We are going back to teach them tonight and I am hopeful that the lesson will go well.

My companion and I are working really hard to build the kingdom and things
are really starting to pick up here in the Vizak Zone.

July 1st


I had the wonderful opportunity to talk with President Nichols during our regular transfer interview. It was very spiritual and joyful. During Zone Conference they displayed the numbers of all the districts in the Rjumondy Zone and Vizag Zone. It was a thrill to see how far we had come.

Rajumondry is the leading baptizing zone in the mission. So far this year they have 80 baptisms and have doubled other zones numbers. My first Zone Conference in Vizag, our numbers didn't even reach a quarter of theirs. I told the other Elders in the Raj Zone that I was so inspired by their hard work and that they are an inspiration to us.

It is a blessing to be a part of a great work and see a dramatic change in the Zone. Right now our teaching pool is growing. Some days we have so many appointments and people to see that we have to go on splits with other Branch members. Last week we had 20 member-present lessons and 25 new investigators. I was a little disappointed with our sacrament attendance. We only had 15 investigators. Still, I really feel that things are going great.

I am loving life and I am so grateful for this Great Gospel and to be a part of this Church. I could never do anything contrary to the teaching of the Church, because I know that nothing is worth giving up the blessings promised to us. One of my favorite stories is when Moses sees the glory of God and then when God leaves Satan and tells Moses to bow to him.... And Moses’ reply is a clear testimony that nothing in the world compares to that of our Father’s Kingdom. Satan can offer us nothing that can even substitute for the reward we are promised. I have never been happier in my entire life, and this happiness comes by living the gospel.

July 15

The work continues! It is funny to think that I am almost done with the first year and I guess it is true what they say, "the first year is slow, but the second year is down hill from there!" I know that I have much work to do before the end of my Mission and I am even more determined. I know that the next year will go by fast and I don't want to waste a minute of it.

The first year of my mission has flown by and it is scary to think that I have less then a year left in India. I am so far from reaching my personal goal of baptisms on my mission and I have really reflected on what I can do better to bring more people the truth, faster.

July 22

We continue to work hard. Lately we are working harder then ever to help our investigators progress. We have done some things that we feel will help the people we teach and help them gain a stronger understanding of the Book of Mormon and receive a witness of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. The most important question that is asked is, "is the book true?" The difficulty of this question is that no one on this earth is able to answer that question. You must find out for yourself by reading, pondering, and praying. Our determination to find the answer lies within ourselves and our personal commitment to know it is true.

As a missionary, our job is difficult. Often people make the commitment to read, but most of the time the result is that they did not understand or they failed to keep the commitment they made. Elder Ludlow and I developed a 25-day scripture reading list. This took us about three hours of diligent studying, and the end result seems to be very positive. Within the 25-day reading list lay the scriptures which explain the Restoration of the Gospel, our personal Salvation, The Atonement of Christ, the relationship between our Father in Heaven and his children and the entrance into the Kingdom of
God. I feel that this is going to be very successful and I am more then excited. I know that if they follow the schedule accompanied with prayer, they will receive a witness of the truth of the Restored Gospel.

Everything is going great, and we are now working with a lot of investigating families. We are hopeful that there will be at least two baptisms within the next three weeks. Right now we are working with a family and they are keeping all of their commitments and the Father has already committed his family to baptism. Elder Ludlow and I are confident that they will be baptized within six weeks. I sure hope so because we love this family dearly. He calls us his angels and whenever we teach about the Prophets, he says that he thinks that we are going to be future prophets. We laugh. He is a funny man.


July 30

I want to let you know how much I love you. I understand that you are down in the Bahamas on business. I must say I am extremely jealous and wish I was down there with you. I think that our deep sea fishing experiences are some of my most fond memories, and I absolutely loved it. I really hope things are going well and that you are able to help the resort properties for Mr. Li and his company.

This week has been a little rough, I was sick again and I really just don’t know how to get feeling better. I am still working through it, and we had some great successes. A fireside planned for July 24th went very well, and we had 110 people in attendance. It was the most successful fireside I have seen thus far in India. The Chapel was packed and the Primary performed Pioneer story skits and we had a "curry cook off." I won "Best Man Made curry." I made three kilograms of Beef curry as a joke and it was all gone within five minutes. The People absolutely loved it. I don’t think they knew it was beef, though, because I almost guarantee if they all knew it would have not gone as fast. People really loved it. I used a tomato base rather than the Andra Special coconut base, and it was very good.

Last night I received a call from the Zone leaders after zone leaders council in Bangalore. They reported that Vizag Zone is now leading the mission. They also said that during the conference President Nichols spoke about leadership, how every leader has a vision and knows how to execute that vision. President had them watch Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and talk about it. The Zone leaders were very complimentary. They told me that as they watched that video they thought about our vision in Vizag and how we have been able to get the branch and Elders excited about that vision.

I was so touched by what they said and that they would take the time to call me about it.

Well, besides the success of the mission work, I have thought more about my plans for my future. I think that I am pretty determined to work for Policy Impact and I feel that I have thought of the way I want to go about doing it. When I get home I want to go back to BYU and major in public relations, then I want to go on to get an MBA from one of the great universities in Washington.

While I attend the evening program I want to also work on Capitol Hill and get some political experience under my belt, so by the time I about 30 I will have my graduate degree from a great school, experience on Capitol Hill and in the military. I feel politically it will be a very good start to a career in PR, and I feel that it is something I want to do. I think I will be in good position to join Policy Impact at this point. I don’t want to be like some sons who feel that things are owed them or who just get what their fathers earned and then spoil the company. I want to be self reliant and work hard to learn and to be able to lead rightfully. I want to prepare my self before coming on. Of course, my ultimate goal is to take over Policy Impact and help it continue to expand into the future.

Well my time is up, and I better get going. We could not email yesterday because the LDS server was down and I was unable to log on all day. So sorry for the delayed email. I love you so much and I am so proud to call you my parents. I love you.

Update From Billy -- July 10, 2009

This past week gave me an experience in which I never thought I would have. I share this experience with you to show the tender mercies of the Lord, are over all those whom he has chosen.

Friday was a great day and filled with many wonderful appointments. The spirit was strong, we worked hard, and it was one of the better days of the week. We had our recent convert, Brother Shyam, with us on exchanges. He has such a wonderful testimony and he has really helped with the mission work since his baptism 3 weeks ago. As custom, when we take Brother Shyam, we treat him with ice cream to thank him for his work and his willingness to help us. The time was growing late and we really needed to be getting home. We rushed through the ice cream parlor and jumped into a auto to give us a ride back to our apartment. We made an agreement with the auto driver that we would pay him more if he dropped us off first and then he would take our member exchange home, the driver agreed.

As we were getting closer to our Colony, we made the decision to go the back way, which would put us at the top of the hill going down to our apartment building, rather than attempting to drive up a very steep and rocky road. As we looked down the steep road we could see our apartment building, it was several feet away. We were all having a great time laughing and joking around. Those laughs and jokes faded away as we began to realize that the brakes failed and the auto was out of the driver's control. The auto began picking up speed and we were bouncing fast down the hill.

I can recall, as clear as day, the feelings I had and the thoughts that ran through my mind. There was not a doubt in my mind that we were going to crash. I felt like the Lord was comforting me at that time and I felt very calm and at peace. Never have my thoughts been clearer than they were at that moment. I knew that whatever happened was the will of the Creator.

We sped through a small intersection and swerved to the right of a turning car. We barely scrapped past the turning vehicle and then landed right in back of a parked car. It was in slow motion as we were racing towards the back of a suburban. I won't go into any more detail about it, other than saying, imagine yourself as an empty coke can smashed under a child's foot. Right away, my companion and I jumped out of the auto as fast as we could. I hit my head hard and I thought it might have been cut open. But I knew I had hurry because I felt a sense of urgency, but at the same time I was calm and I felt no pain. My companion and I exerted all our energy trying to pry open the crushed auto so that we could pull the crushed driver out of the vehicle. He was bleeding badly and he was in very bad shape. I quickly tore my tie off and wrapped it around his head; he had a huge gash across his head. I got him to the side of the road quickly and a crowd began to form. His leg was shattered and he was cut very deep, but I felt like he was going to be alright once we got him lying down.


Then I ran to the member who was walking in pain. He explained that his knees hurt and that there was much pain. After a quick examination of his injury, I realized that he just had some bruises, but nothing serious. I am so grateful for the Athletic Training class I took at BYU. I turned my attention to my companion who I thought was fine and I realized that he was going into shock. He was white as a ghost. I told him to lie down quickly and try to control his breathing. I asked if he suffered any head injuries and he said that he was fine. I ran as fast a I could to a small shop to purchase water packets for the driver, the member and my companion. I bounced between the three of them until the ambulance arrived. They took care of all of us and then they rushed the driver to the hospital.

As we were leaving the area, a community pastor came up and asked how we survived, and then he said "God surely protected you." I know that my Heavenly Father was there the entire night with me. I have never been more at peace in my life. It wasn't until I jumped in bed that night, I realized that I had cuts across the top of my shins and I had bruises that had appeared all over my legs. As I laid in bed, I could not stop thinking how great is my God and I began to hum my favorite song, "Abide with me tis even tide" as I fell a sleep.

"For, Consider the Lilies of the field, how they grow---" What a beautiful statement of the Lord's hands in the creation of everything. I know that Heavenly Father has his hand directly in our life. We are the balls of clay in the Creator's hands, he molds us and forms us into a beauty that we cannot comprehend, but we must have faith, hope, and know that he does everything for us to bring us closer to him and help us prepare to receive all that he has. I am so grateful for the Gospel and the blessing
it has been in my life. There is not a greater power than that of the Atonement of Christ which grants us the "Power to change" and the possibility of always being able to receive the reward which our Father has prepared.

Love,
Elder Nixon

Billy's Testimony and New Pictures

Let me tell you, I absolutely love my companion, and we are working harder than ever. I feel edified every day after working and I can tell that the Father in Heaven is well pleased with our efforts because I feel that He is constantly sending more people for us to teach. Since the phone call home on Mother’s Day I have an extra bounce in my step, and I literally am searching to gather the "elect" and bring them to Zion. Last week Elder Ludlow and I met with 22 new investigators, and it has only been two days into this week, but we have already met 10. It is back to back appointments, and while walking from appointment to appointment the Lord sends us people. I know baptisms are on the way.

I have dedicated some the past week of my free time to studying about Zion. When I completed my studies yesterday I was shocked to see that it came out to 14 typed pages on the matter. One of the most important things I learned was the truth that Heavenly Father is the same today, yesterday, and forever. I also know that everything that has been promised is coming to pass, that the Lord knew of the Great Apostasy and the Restoration far before man was sent to the Earth. The promise that the Lord made to Noah is being fulfilled. The veil of Darkness which covered the earth was lifted the moment Joseph Smith bore his heart to the Lord seeking truth in the Sacred Grove. The truth being brought forth out from the ground was fulfilled the moment that the Book of Mormon was uncovered from the Earth. And the Earth is being flooded by Elders of Israel sent forth to search after the elect.

So where are we now? We are preparing Zion and establishing Zion amongst our Wards, Stakes, Branches and most importantly our homes. We need to search after the elect and gather everyone who is chosen to a unity of the faith. We need to be of one heart and one mind, dwelling in complete righteousness. Which came first, Zion, or the Holy City?! Once we establish Zion then we will be able to gather to the New Jerusalem and walk with our God, the King of Israel. How great is this plan.

My study really strengthened me. As I walk everyday I feel like I am running from appointment to appointment, with "Come to Zion" singing in my heart.

Some Elders say this is the easy time in their life. No worries, no college, no having to work. Those Elders are missing out. This is the time where we need to gird up our loins and diligently assist the Father in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. I love my calling and work hard to magnify it.

Update on Billy

Billy’s mission is quickly approaching its first year, but then who’s keeping track of time, especially when so many exciting things are taking place in Visak, where Elder Nixon is serving as District Leader. Among his growing love for the people, Billy’s messages home reference the lifelong friendships he is making with companions and fellow missionaries in India.

Elder Jenks (They never really do use first names, so it makes it difficult for those of us keeping up the blog.) is one of those. He and Billy met first in the Mission Training Center, and Billy was excited to learn that they would be serving as companions. Both quickly realized that their excitement was not misplaced. Working along with the other missionaries in the coastal city, they quickly built a pool of investigators, spending long days in 110 degree heat.

Billy shared how his testimony grew as they were directed to specific individuals and used novel contacting methods to meet investigators in a nation that has an official ambivalence toward religious freedom and missionary work. They built their investigator pool to eight, despite the fact that all the missionaries battled illnesses, which seem to be ever present for the young men serving there. Billy at one point was hospitalized but knew better than to let his Mom know, at least until he had fully recovered.

Among those novel approaches, Billy and Elder Jenks organized a movie night the local church congregation, showing The Prince of Egypt. Striving for authenticity, Billy even succeeded in tracking down a popcorn machine, another completely novel idea in India cinema. The evening was a success, but not to the level that Billy’s earlier open house had been in Hyderbad, where he showcased the life of Christ in video and the remarkable photographs of Mark Mabry.

Reporting on the success of the movie night, Billy said the members and the visitors loved it. The Elders had arranged to bring in a big movie screen, large speakers, a huge projector, and they borrowed rope lights that were run along the floor in
the aisles. At the end of the movie when the song “Miracles” came on, you could feel the spirit was so strong. “It was priceless,” he said. At the end, he bore his testimony of living prophets and the fact that there is one on the earth today—that they receive revelation from God. He said that is the strongest testimony he has ever shared concerning prophets. While he spoke, there was complete silence. “You could feel the emotion as well as the strong spirit in the room,” he said.

Along with the spiritual work, Billy and Elder Jenks challenged each other physically, working out regularly, despite the heat, and getting together with the other Elders to play football on the beach during their preparation day. For the game, Billy and Elder Jenks had special shirts made up that had their names printed in Telugu with their numbers on them—NFL Indian style. The shirts hit the comedic chord, and Billy admitted that while his competitiveness may have decreased this past year, his love for making others laugh has not.

The walking and exercise has taken weight off of Billy, which is noticeable in the photographs. “When we come home at the end of the day we can actually wring out our shirts and ties,” he wrote. “There is so much perspiration that we have a puddle on the floor.” With it all, he is enthusiastic, reporting that being with Elder Jenks is like working with his best friend. Their personalities are infectious as they work to make people smile and laugh in the streets, and challenge each other to set and keep goals. Billy wants to return to his lacrosse, and Elder Jenks has been inspired to go out for his university’s soccer team when he returns home.

April and May were also good months for Billy and his parents. For Easter he received a CARE package with new ties, his much love licorice, and most importantly insoles for his shoes. In May he was able to call home for Mother’s Day and let Tammy hear his voice and the family feel his enthusiasm and love for the gospel. There is no question that an already disciplined and mature young man is changing into a remarkable leader, even though his brother Joseph thinks his accent is funny. In his voice you can hear a genuine love for the people and an understanding of the importance of the work and the transformational power it has in the lives of those who embrace the gospel.

“I have never been happier,” he told us, expressing his love for his mission president and for all that he is learning. “It is a remarkable journey, and I can feel direct blessings in my life as we love and teach the people.” It was also during the telephone conversation that he admitted to his hospital foray. “I was running a temperature of 104. I went for a couple of days hoping it would go away, trying to work through it.” It did not abate. In fact, it was soon accompanied by abdominal pain and at the insistence of his companion he called the Mission President and checked into the hospital.

“It’s important to be very careful on what you eat,” he said, explaining that the only American food they have is pizza, though it does not taste like anything we’re used to in the United States. Still, his spirits are higher than we have ever seen, with the only let down being when Elder Jenks was transferred from Visak to the Hyderbad 1st Branch on April 29. “I feel like I have lost a great friend,” Billy said, but then quickly rebounded with, “But I know that we will continue our friendship.”

The family excited to talk to Billy on Mother's Day. He had sent his Mother a beautiful traditional India dress with a strand of pearls. He expressed the love he has for his family and he feels like if he had it to live life over again, he would focus more on his family and be less concerned about friends. He has seen the worst living conditions and yet the people seem happy and are very friendly and loving. “The most important possession to have is your family,” he said. “That is what matters most in India. The families are very close and live near one another.” He said that he has come to appreciate that family and the Gospel are the real essentials in life.

His new companion is doing great, and Billy is really enjoying working with him. He is a great Elder to train, hard working and eager to learn.

So Long Hyderabad, Hello Visak.

I’ve been transferred!

After three months and two baptisms, Billy has been transferred from Hyderabad to Visak. He just had the first baptism in Hyderabad in over 8 months and a second investigator was due to be baptized the following week. Upon hearing of his transfer, Billy’s companion was very emotional and took the transfer hard. Billy said that there were many tears and he struggled to say good-bye.
Billy loves the people of Hyderabad and said that you never realize how successful you are or what an influence you have been until you see how many people you have affected. He feels that he did exactly what the Lord wanted him to do and thereby strengthened the members. Between he and his companion, they were able to baptize two young men and he feels like he helped his companion gain the confidence he needed. His companion expressed to Billy that he helped him a lot and he would miss him.

Billy expresses frequently how much he loves his mission and India. He says that if this is the way he feels over being transferred, he doesn’t know how he will feel when he leaves India at the end of mission. It is hard to say good-bye to those you love and respect.

For his transfer, Billy took a flight to his new area of Visak and upon his arrival, he felt like he landed in the Bahamas. It is not as big, and certainly not as western as the Bahamas, but the weather is amazing. He even likes the humidity in the air and loves seeing the ocean. There are cocoanut trees everywhere and the people are very loving. Billy is now a district leader and said that his area is so small that he can easily walk it in a day. In his last area, Hyderabad, there were more people in just his area than there are in the whole city of Visak. They don’t have a church building so they use a small rented office to conduct their meetings.

Billy’s new companion is Elder Jenks. They started their mission together and now they are companions. They are exactly alike and they haven’t decided if that is a good thing or a bad thing. The other night Elder Jenks and Billy were in their beds and they heard a loud banging that woke them up. They were a little scared—OK A LOT SCARED. It sounded like someone was banging something in their apartment. Elder Jenks grabbed Billy’s football and Billy grabbed his belt and they set off to investigate. They were determined to beat whatever had gotten into their apartment, so they ran into the kitchen. Elder Jenks had forgotten that he put about 10 eggs on to boil several hours ago, much to their surprise, the eggs were exploding all over the kitchen. Billy said that he had no idea that eggs exploded. There were eggs everywhere—ceiling, walls and all over the floor. Billy and Elder Jenks couldn’t stop laughing at the situation.

The mission is going great. They have set some high goals for the area. They walk in the hot sun all day long, teach lessons, and love feeling the spirit of Lord beside them.

Thank you for all of you who have written and continue to write. He truly appreciates all your letters and hopes that you will continue writing to him.

Update from Hyderbad

I’m sorry that we haven’t updated Billy’s blog since Valentine’s Day. We had asked friends and family of Billy’s to participate in a Valentine Surprise package. We wanted Billy to receive a package filled with cards and letters from those who love and support him. The box was chalk full of letters from well-wishers, and he was so excited to hear from everyone. He was surprised and grateful for all of you that participated. Thank you.

One of the packages we had sent to Billy was a copy of the book “Reflections of Christ” with its accompanying DVD. He was so taken with the photographs of Christ’s life that he spoke with the Branch President about having an open house where the missionaries would talk about the different organizations in the Church, and end conclude the meeting with the DVD and the pictures of Christ in the chapel. They printed over a 1000 cards to pass out, and ended up with over 200 people in attendance. 50 of them were investigators! Billy was really excited with the turn out, and they feel that it was a great success. A BIG thank you to Mark Mabrey for being inspired to take such beautiful photographs of the life of Christ, so that we all have this as a wonderful missionary tool.

Billy and his companion have been teaching a 14-year-old boy who is scheduled for baptism next week. This will be the first baptism in this area in over eight months!

Billy is enjoying his mission and loves the people of India. There is a young man who travels two hours each way to attend church every week. He takes the bus and has to transfer four times to get to church. Every week he works hard to earn money for his transportation, and the thing that touches Billy’s heart is the fact that this young man has polio and has a manmade wheelchair at home. He uses his crutches to travel, but when the time comes to bear his testimony in church he struggles to the podium without his crutches, and he is always the first to bear his testimony.

Cooking with every type of curry has certainly become a fun thing for Billy to do for investigators as well as the other missionaries and the zone leaders. They are surprised that the food tastes so good and that Billy has mastered the art of cooking Indian cuisine. It is a special event when Billy cooks 20 lbs of rice, chicken, and curry for all, and they look forward to Billy’s tasty meals. He is always telling us about the different types of curry to cook with and he is excited about showing his skills to us when he comes home.

We got a sweet email from the daughter of the Mission President who had the opportunity to visit Hyderbad and to attend the Zone Conference with her 10-year-old son Ethan. After the Zone Conference Billy was assigned to be Ethan’s companion for the day and had the opportunity to show him around. According to Ethan’s mother he really enjoyed being with the missionaries and his time with Elder Nixon. Ethan sat next to Elder Nixon during Zone conference, and Billy said that because they were mission companions he would have to go home with Ethan in ten days. Ethan thought that was pretty funny so he ran up and shared that with President Nichols. Billy got really embarrassed because he thought that President Nichols would think that he wanted to go home. President Nichols laughed more because Billy was so embarrassed. According to his mother, Ethan loved serving with Elder Nixon and he thought he was really fun to be with.


President Nichols told the Elders that they would be getting fewer Elders this year, so they are going to have to work harder. They talked in depth about baptism goals and how they still wanted to meet those goals with fewer missionaries in the field. He also said that the Lord has sent very dedicated, spiritual, and hard working Elders to India. Sister Gee mentioned that she could feel the spirit in Zone Conference and that it was so strong. We are so grateful to Sister Gee for sharing this wonderful experience with us.

Picture Time!

Cruisin' Around India Style

Hyderbad Happenings

Things are going very well in his new area. Billy said that Heavenly Father didn’t drop him in a goldmine. He really has his work cut out for him. There has not been a baptism in this area for five months and the Elders that were there before him didn’t have any investigators. Billy said that he remembered a mission experience that his dad had in Spain. Billy’s dad was sent to a city that the Mission President was going to close because they had not had a baptism in over a year. The Lord provides a way for the message and the work to get through. With the success story that Billy remembers fondly, he is up for the challenge and knows that the Lord will be with him every step the way.

His new companion is from Idaho and they get along great. They had a little excitement last week when, at ten o’clock in the evening a pipe burst in the bathroom. Bill heard the running water but just assumed his companion was in there. After ten minutes went by his companion walked in and asked Billy what he was doing in the bathroom. You can imagine the mess, and the worst part is they had no way of shutting off the water unless it was shut off in the whole building. There would have been a riot on their hands for sure. Billy said that it is amazing what you can do with a shoelace, a stick, and a hammer.

Billy loves his new area and he has met some very loving families. He said that there was another Hindi holiday and they were flying kites everywhere. He said that he has finally found success flying kites after flying them with some of the families that he has met. Billy said that it reminded him of the movie The Kite Runner.

We have heard Billy’s testimony grow and there is no greater joy than serving our Heavenly Father. In Billy’s last letter he writes “The Lord will always bless us, but he will not make the trail easy. I am on the Lord’s journey and I am pushing on with faith. This is the hardest thing that I have ever done and I’m sure it will get harder and harder, but the reward will be greater and greater. I know that the Lord is perfecting me through this trial of faith and service. Every day I am grateful to be here serving, it is not easy, but it is by this journey, that we grow.”