Feb 25, 2012

Hey,
Was I really that bad in grade 10? I thought I was worse in junior high and I was better in high school... maybe not though. So Alyssa is doing okay? Not going crazy or getting in with the wrong crew or anything?
The cruise sounds decent... I probably would rather just go hang out at our Mexico place, but I'm sure it is nice to be able to hang out with the whole Skinner crew. I can't wait to hear either the Aunt T stories, or the Allison stories. Or both.
This week I have seen possibly one of the biggest miracles of my mission. The zone leaders have been baptizing a bunch of Nepalese people, and so we have always been on the lookout for some Nepalese people to teach. So last week we met this drunk guy on the street, he gave us his phone number and we gave him ours. He called us like an hour later, totally incoherent, but I was able to get his home address out of him. Elder Jones and Elder Curran stopped by their house when we were on exchange. They met the drunk man (Dr. Baral) and his family. Dr. Baral is actually a real doctor, he has a P.h.D. in physics. I thought he was just nuts and making up the Dr. thing, but I guess not. He speaks multiple languages, and was the vice-principal of one of the top schools in Nepal. I don't know how or why, but he has thrown that all away because of alcohol. Apparently he has not been sober a single day in 2 years. He wakes up still drunk from the night before and just starts immediatly. He is jobless, and his family is going through a really tough time because of his choices. His wife is working like non-stop to try and pay the bills and take care of their
2 kids. One is 9 and one is 11, and they are both really bright kids.
They are such an amazing family, except for the dad. I don't know how to help him. The addiction recovery program is too far away. All I can really do is to pray for him and try to teach him. I have not yet seen him anywhere near sober, but we will teach him anyways. And the Bishop said that he can come to church as long as he isn't rude to people.
His family is so amazing though. They came to church with us yesterday, and really enjoyed it. And the wife, Mrs. Baral, introduced us to 3 of her friends from Nepal who live in Slough also. They are all early 20's, and are all going to univeristy here. 2 already have their masters degrees and one of them is just finishing his degree.
They were raised Hindu, but said they have realized how it is not true. Last night, we got a member to drive us to the London Temple to go to a fireside hosted by Pres. and Sis. Shamo, and we took two of these Neplaese guys with us! Laxman and Arbind, and they loved it, and they loved the temple. The best thing was, all these Nepalese people that have just been baptized recently by the zone leaders were there as well, and they all started talking. All of the Nepalese started to walk around the temple grounds together, and one of the (who is a very strong and endowed member) started to teach these guys and testify to them. They also have 2 other house-mates that we haven't even met yet!
So we have like 10 new Nepalese people we can start working with. They are going to have us over Friday and cook us dinner, which will be awesome. They have met with Jehova's witnesses quite a bit, but we will just teach them about the truth. They all believe in Jesus, and after last night they said they would like more teachings and to be baptized. It almost seems to good to be true. I am so excited for all of this, and I pray I do not leave Slough on Wednesday.
That was pretty much the highlight of the week for me. Tonight we are taking Ernest with us to the temple visitors center, which should be awesome as well. He keeps having to work Sunday's, so he can't come to church. But we called him today and he was in London looking for a new job which I thought was pretty cool. He really wants to get baptized.
We have lost a lot of ground with Jay and Amit, we didn't see them at all this week and Amit has made up his mind and Jay is just unable to take a stand. They are great guys, but we are no longer going to teach them at the same time as it just doesn't work. We are still working with a lot of great people, but the Nepalese people seem to be my main focus at the moment. We are going with them tomorrow to distriubte photos of Dr. Baral to all the local shops and try to get them to agree to stop selling him alcohol. Mrs. Baral just doesn't want any government involvement (such as health care or the police) because she is afraid it will jeapordize them being able to switch their skilled-workers VISA into UK citizenship. It is a tough situation, but we will find a way through it.
I hope you guys have a great time on the cruise, give everyone my love.
Love Elder Steed