Week 105 - June 19th - Last Week in India

Well everyone it is pretty crazy to think that my service is coming to a close.  What a ride it has been from the start to the finish.  As I look back, I see just how much the Lord has blessed me in my life.  All the amazing people we have been able to find and teach and help them come closer to Heavenly Father have all been because of Him. I was especially grateful that I had the opportunity to go back to Gajuwaka and see a lot of the people that we taught over a year ago.   I know without a doubt that I did nothing to soften their hearts or help them to where they are now, it was all the Lord. 

I know that without a doubt this is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today.  I know that today God has given His authority to man to perform the saving ordinances for all of us.  I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live today and that they still answer our honest prayers.  I'm so grateful for the chance that I've been given to serve the people of south india in just a small way.  I know that the Book of Mormon is really the word of God and that whoever will read and pray about its message, they will receive an answer through the Holy Ghost. 

I know that my family has been blessed like anything by following the commandments and these same blessings are available to all.  I am grateful for all that I have in my life and I hope to continue to bring more souls unto Christ for the rest of my life.  I know all these things to be true and I leave them with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Wakefield

PS Sunil, Gowthams younger brother, got baptized yesterday

Week 104 - June 13, 2016 - Back to Visag for the last week of My Mission

Whats up everyone!  Trying not to get too trunky out here but it is kind of hard knowing I'll be home about halfway through next week.

Well I got the news on Wednesday night that I was actually going to go back to Vizag for the last week of my mission so here I am.  (Editor Note:  Elder Wakefield told us in a separate e-mail that another Elder who had been in Visag had his visa expire and thus had to leave the country and since Elder Wakefield was in a tri-companionship, he got the call fill that spot)  This morning, I got to the Bangalore airport and I had forgotten how hot it was here so when they opened the doors to the airplane, I was like oh nooooo!  Then i get my bag and head out and I'm looking for the driver and no body.  I had to borrow a couple of peoples phones and I called the Gajuwaka Elders because I still remembered their number (Elder Wakefield served in nearby Gajuwaka about 12 months prior) but no answer and I eventually walked out to main road and caught a share auto to their apartment which is just nearby.  So eventually, I made it to their apartment and here I am. 

My new companion is elder Touthang from Bangalore.  We are the zone leaders for the next week and I guess we are just going to do as much as we can this week.

I just want to say thanks for all of the support and encouragement that everyone has given me for the last 2 years and that I really know this is the work of the Lord.  Before I came out out, I used to think that no one was willing to change their lives for the Gospel but I have seen so many lives blessed from following the commandments.  I know without a doubt that there is a God and that He knows each one of us.  I now that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true church on the earth because it has the priesthood authority of the Lord.  I know that there is a prophet of God and his name is Thomas S. Monson.  

Love you guys and can't wait to see/ talk to you guys next week.  

Elder Wakefield

Editor Note:
Pulled a couple of pictures off Elder Tuscano's Blog since no picture this week - I also pulled the picture of Visag below off the internet.

Week 50 - May 30, 2015 - Visag

This week will be a short e-mail as i still have to finish packing and the cab is coming in 45 minutes.  

It was tough to say goodbye to everyone this week and I'm really going to miss them and the branch.  After the baptism on Sunday, they did a small little going away devotional for me which was awesome.

They even bought a cake and I got to cut it and everybody kept trying to feed me some.  We took a lot of pictures.  Then last night we had 3 dinner appointments all back to back to back.

I will let you guys know how the Philippines is as I will arrive by Tuesday night.

Thanks for all of the prayers,

Love

Elder Wakefield

Week 49 - May 25, 2015 - Visag

Week 48 - May 17, 2015 - Visag

11 insanely fast months completed I cant believe it!!  This week was awesome mostly because we had Sister Latha's baptism service yesterday. Seeing her husband start coming back to church has been awesome.  She embraced the Gospel with a lot of her own effort and really helped her husband to see the blessings in his life.

Next week, Vamsi and Vinod are getting baptized too so its really awesome to see these people make these changes in their life.

I guess rumor is I'm headed over to the Manila Philippines Mission in 2 weeks.  Should be another really awesome experience.  Today we went to this hidden beach in Gajuwaka and it was beautiful - we were literally like the only ones there on this huge beach.  

We also had interviews with President Berrett on Friday and he was suppose to come with us on exchange but it turned out that he was too busy so he couldn't make it.  We had an awesome talk though and just the whole time you could feel how much love he has for the Lord and for the missionaries.  

I'm sad that I have to leave after this branch finally started picking up but it's cool to see other people stepping up in the Lord's work.  I hope I can do the same thing wherever I serve so I just have to remember that because I know that Heavenly Father will always lead you to those who are being prepared to receive His message.

Love you all,

Elder Wakefield

Week 47 - May 10, 2015 - Visak

We had an awesome week this week in Gajuwaka.  Some Elders handed off their investtigators to us who were living in our area so we got to meet them at the Church on Thursday.  They all come from a Hindu background but when we watched the dvd about Joseph Smith being called a prophet the Spirit hit them pretty strong.  I believe that reading the Book of Mormon definitely helps you come to know more about the Savior and his restored church today.

One of the most interesting things about being in India is all the weird foods and fruits and vegetables that they have.  Like I've never seen any of this stuff before and its all crazy cheap.  They have like these cool coconut things with these jelly pockets that you use your finger to dig out so its kind of cool.

Then the other miracle was that I got to teach the Gospel Principles class on Sunday and I found that out about 30 seconds before the class started.  I decided to teach about the Atonement and how we all need it in our lives.  It was pretty cool also because everyone in the room could understand what I was saying.  Either my broken English is money or they are learning English.  Maybe both.  

Our branch President found out this is my last month and he challenged us to work harder than I have in the last 5 months here so I'm pretty stoked about that.  The branch is really supporting us as well so in my opinion, things have changed a lot.  

The Gospel is true, read the Book of Mormon and Pray!

Love,

Elder Wakefield

Week 46 - May 3, 2015 - Visag

Finally mango season is here!!  In Vizag, they have like fruit carts everywhere so you just go up to people and buy them.  People like to rip us off though so we usually spend a few minutes bargaining until we get a good price.  My official date of travel for the Phillippines is June 3rd, so that means I get my full time in the month of May here in India. 

It was an awesome week because we met with a bunch of our investigators and set them all with dates to be baptized.  Then some people that had committed to come to church actually came so that was awesome too.  Pray for us and them so they will be ready.

We played cricket this morning and I'm starting to get better but still a big difference from baseball so a lot of room for improvement.  Today and this week will be pretty busy and some missionaries in our district finished their mission so we should get some more Elders here in Vizag.

Crazy story for the week:

We met a bunch of really cool investigators just on the streets and door knocking and from some other missionaries so we are busy teaching them and it never seems like enough time in the day but it is really awesome here.

Excited to talk to you guys next week.  Have a great time

Elder Wakefield

Week 45 - April 26, 2015 - Visag

First off Happy Birthday Mom!!  I will spare you until next year when I let everybody know how OLD you are haha.

The Lord really blessed us a lot this week with answering our prayers and telling us what people need most in their lives right now.  Recently President Berrett came up with a rule where we shouldn't progress in the lessons with investigators if they haven't read the Book of Mormon.  I never really thought much about it but we focused on that this week and saw huge changes in other peoples lives.

The first in SriKanth.  The brother of a recent convert family.  He wasn't showing too much interest and he knows less English so we brought a member to better explain things.  We sat down and read 1 Nephi 1 with him and the Spirit hit him strong.  He said a prayer and he was flowing.  Then on Saturday, he had his practicals or his welding class and he was the only one of 12 members to be chosen for the job he was praying for.  Miracle #1.

Then the next is Balaji and Sarojanni.  This guy knows this is the true church but his family lives in a village pretty far away so they are always making him go there on the weekends.  But Thursday night, we did the same thing.  He started with prayer asking God to help him understand us and the scriptures.  Then we read 1 Nephi 1 with him.  Boom the chapter hits him hard.  He couldn't believe what he was reading and he didn't want us to leave because he just wanted to keep reading.  Miracle #2

The Book of Mormon combined with the Spirit really is the most powerful tool in conversion.  I even feel that myself as I read in the mornings.  It's funny how everything that the Prophets and Apostles say are actually true.  So much happened this week but still so much more to do.

Week 44 - April 20, 2015 - Visak

So right now us 5 missionaries are sitting in this internet shop owned by this awesome Muslim guy listening to Elvis Presley Christmas music, pretty awesome.  

This week we taught a bunch of lessons to all our investigators and they are really prepared.  Everyday, they are getting tempted and problems always come up but I know that God is watching over them.  On Tuesday we fasted for our investigator Chandu who said that if he gets baptized his mom will never let him back into their family, so we are praying for God to soften his mother's heart.  

Exams are also a really big deal in India and peoples entire lives rest upon these exams so they study and go to countless classes to do well on these things.  Everyone is always really busy but they understand that they need time for God.  The mission Presidency recently set a goal for every member to read the Book of Mormon before October 6th so when our family of Prasad and Latha came to church it really hit them and they decided to participate in the challenge which is what we have been pleading for.  

We set some really high goals for May because everything got postponed in April so we are looking for the miracles.  This week we went to a members birthday party and it was crazy with members everywhere and their old pastor came to say a prayer for them so that was weird too.

Then we went to this village literally out of nowhere to visit this inactive family and everyone at church was so happy to see them again after almost 3 years.  We get so many blessings out here it is unreal.  The work of Salvation is a real thing and I know its the only way we can reach our Heavenly Fathers kingdom one day.

Jesus Christ has an answer for every question or doubt that we have, we just have to look to Him to find it.  

Until next week,

Elder Wakefield

Week 43 - April 13, 2015 - Visak

Well the weather in Vizag is going crazy after some really hot days this week and yesterday and today has been raining and lightning strikes like crazy.  It was kind of cool to see some more rain here but I think the people are scared another cyclone will come.  Everything should clear up and get back into the 40's (Celsius) though.

Pretty awesome that they announced another temple in Southern Asia.  That really means a lot for the people here and will now bless millions of lives.  Our investigator Chandu stayed for all 10 hours and loved it. props to him for that.  He's excited for his baptism in the coming weeks.

The Lord really blessed us with His Spirit this week and I liked what they said in the conference, "If you lose the Spirit, then you are lost."  Made me think a lot about what I can do to help myself stay worthy for His companionship and how we can help others to feel that same way.  

We traveled super far to this place in the middle of nowhere village this week and I thought we might not ever return haha but it was good and it was really crazy how this brother spoke English considering his circumstances in what he grew up.  But I do know that God has called a Prophet to guide us in these last days and if we follow what he says then we will be blessed.  Their words literally give us the peace and direction that we need in our life.

I hope everyone has a great week and remembers to look for God's arm in their everyday lives.

-Elder Wakefield  

Week 42 - April 6, 2015

Whats up everybody.  This week we had an awesome time visiting people in Gajuwaka.  It was really cool because I could really feel the power of the Spirit directing us where to go and who to visit.  Everytime we went into someone's home I could just tell that this was the home where we were suppose to be.  

We went go karting again this morning and it was really funny watching some Elders in my zone driving who have never driven before.  It's always funny to do crazy stuff with a bunch of missionaries. 

I've been trying to help explain the area to Elder Broderick but its so big that he has sometimes no idea where we are.  We get to watch the General Conference this next week so that should be fun.  All of our investigators are really awesome and they really progress in the Gospel as they read the Book of Mormon.  We are trying to have a baptism in every week during the month of May.  

I've been talking to a lot of people lately about the difference between following and living the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Too often people just kind of lay back during the 3 hour of church and just go back home not doing anything different than what they have been.  But when we make it a part of our lives to be anxiously engaged in a good cause we develop our own testimony and find the blessings that come along with it.

Will be another awesome week preparing for this weekend.

Elder Wakefield

Week 41 - March 30, 2015

The weeks are starting to feel like days out here so I guess that means we are having fun.  We had some awesome lessons this week and some days there weren't enough time to visit all the people we needed to.  It takes minimum 30 minutes to get to appointments because of buses and traffic and walking so we try and schedule our days geographically.  

Yesterday we had the baptism service of Mukthi and it was awesome because her brother came from Hyderabad to baptize her and her mother looked really happy.  She's really quiet but really cool.  Yesterday my companion asked her what she wanted to be when she was older and she said I want to be just like you so that was cool.  Also a lot of our investigators came to the service so I think that really inspired them when they were watching.  The Lord has blessed us so much out here I almost feel unworthy of all these blessings.

My second passport should come next month so they are getting arrangements for us to leave in June.  April will bring hotter weather but we know there are always people ready for our message so we are excited to find them.  Also we bought a blender this week so I've been going crazy making some milkshakes as of late.  Next Monday we have our Visak branch championship cricket match so I'll try my best to prepare for that.

Also started a Mission Book of Mormon challenge where they are trying to get everybody to finish the Book of Mormon by June starting.  I've already learned so many things from Nephi it's awesome and I hope everyone reads so they can feel the Spirit and know of its truth.  

Hope everyone to have a great week

Love

Elder Wakefield

Week 40 - March 26, 2015 - Visak

Man it is getting crazy hot out here in Visak but its still an awesome place to be.  It's funny because our apartment is like a half km to the bus stop so even in the morning when we get out there we are already full sweating.  The district is doing awesome though and everyone enjoyed President and sister Berrett coming for district conference.  They talked about how they are trying to start construction for their own building out here but facing some problems so maybe in  years they want to open it up as the stake center out here.  I think people got excited out here about that so now they really want to help out.

My companion came on Tuesday night so I took him around to visit a bunch of families and investigators.  I think that we will be able to do lots of good work out here now.  We are blessed with finding new people to teach every week and lots of people are starting to accept it in their life.

We talked about how the most important tool we can use out here is the Book of Mormon and is literally the do or die for conversion.  Anyone that reads it and thinks about it and prays about it WILL receive an answer and know its divinity. I had an experience where we met a less active brother and his friends who stopped coming to church 5 years back.  Everyone had questioned him as to why we needed the Book and he didn't know how to answer them so we answered his question and it was like the answer he had been waiting for years for I guess but he was so happy.  He came to church the next day too so I guess the Spirit really touched his heart.  The Lord has blessed us with so many miracles out here its unreal. 

Love you all enjoy

Week 39 - March 16, 2015 - Visak

Well this week I spent in a tri-comapionship up in the city so it was a lot of travelling back to my area with some members from the branch.  We did find 2 new investigators this week that were golden.  One is brother Chandu who is a referral from a member named Karunaker and he was super prepared.  He was ready to listen to our message and now he is prepared to receive an answer to his prayers.  The other was sister Mukthi who is about to turn 10 and loves coming to church with her mom and already knows so much about the gospel.

I had this fever this week, so I had a lot of time to think about things because you always realize how much you miss your health once its gone.  Made me think of what other blessings I maybe haven't been thankful for so I started making a list and every time you run into a road block you immediately think of like 10 more things.  Anyway the list got to be pretty long and it made me realize how great life is.  Getting to serve here has been awesome and time has been flying by.

So many good things to look forward to this week as long as my companion actually comes one day.

Thanks for all the love and support,

Elder Wakefield

Week 38 - March 9, 2015 - Visak

Well I'm getting a new companion sometime this week so now hopefully things will progress a little faster.  This week India celebrated holi which is like a festival of colors where they mix color powder with water and spray people, especially white people.  And the colors don't like to wash off so all those white people are stuck with weird colors on their bodies for like 2 days.

So when Friday morning rolled around they thought it be funny to spray us so it was fun to walk around all green and purple and yellow.  We had this fireside activity the same night and we did a bunch of object lessons to help teach everyone so I think people like it.  You can google iodine, bleach and Christ to see one of the things we did.  

Then yesterday everyone found out my comapnion was leaving so we had 2 lunches and a dinner within like 6 hours.  I thought i was going to explode last night.  

We are still looking for more people to teach but this week I learned how important prayer can be.  If I'm here serving God and the Lord then I realized it might be pretty important to seek their help every minute of the day as to how we should use our time. And then I read this cool quote the other day which said, "The strength of a nation is rooted inside the walls of its home."  If we can't solve our own problems, then how will we be able to help others with theirs, really made me think so now is the time to change to bless the lives of others.

Love you guys next week pics for sure,

Elder Wakefield

Week 37 - March 2, 2015 - Visak

Awesome story of the week:

Friday we go up to the city for an early morning meeting and after it finishes I get that I'm so hungry i could throw up feeling in my stomach So i grab my comp and we just go down the street to grab some watermelon and lassi.  My stomach feels a little better but then we grab all the missionaries to go eat lunch.go eat lunch.  We are waiting at the bus stop when I get this feeling that now I know I'm going to throw up.  I look around and find this underground parking lot, perfect.  I'm starting to be sick and the watchmen starts yelling at me in full Telegu while I'm throwing up!  Another repeat of Chennai!!  The cool thing was that the watermelon made it red so the people watching probably thought I was throwing up blood!  Not sure if its actually that awesome but to me I thought it was awesome...

Another cool story!

We had a meeting in church about a testimony vs. conversion and how people should be sacrificing for the gospel of Christ.  People talked about all their problems and how they don't have enough time to fulfill their responsibilities in church and I shared about a Sister Preethi who is super strong in the gospel and hasn't missed a day of church since she got baptized 2 years back!  She had been looking for a job for almost 4 months and finally found one and after sometime they told her she needed to come work on Sundays.  She very kindly told them that she could not do that so she left the job.

This experience really strengthened my faith at how this Sister knows that working on Sundays is not what Heavenly Father wants but she has hope that He will lead her to a better job.  I know that if we truly keep the commandments of God no matter how enticing or hard they might seem, He will surely bless us with what we need because it is His purpose, "to provide for my saints."

Sorry I haven't any pics in a while, we go to these sketchy internet shops that are probably filled with viruses but this week we are chillin.

Love you all,

Elder Wakefield

Week 36 - February 23, 2015 - Visak

Pretty sweet week.  President Berrett came to Visak so we got to hang out with him and he went on exchange to visit this part-member family and it was awesome! Everyone in that family is pretty short and they have a little 6 year old girl who cant be more than 50 pounds so he was playing with her during the lesson.  I was also messing with the brother and telling him that President Berrett was my Grandpa and they totally believed me so that was fun.

The Spirit was super strong and the wife is planning to be baptized this week but she was admitted to the hospital this morning so pray for her.

Had some good food this week and some weird dreams too.  But everything is going well out here.  I love the feeling of just being totally exhausted at night and the other day I woke up in the middle of the night on the couch so I walked back to the room for bed but the work is progressing and more people everyday are learning about the restored gospel.

Elder Wakefield

Week 35 - February 16, 2015 - Visak

So I read this awesome quote from President Benson yesterday and I believe it said, "The world would take people out of the slums.  Christ takes the slums out of the people and they take themselves out of the slums.  The world molds men by changing their environments.  Christ changes men who then change their environment.  Christ changes men and changed men change the world.

Hope that makes sense to everyone but it really hit me hard.  I realized that we can't change people out here and they dont even have to listen to what we say but the second they open the door for Christ in their life, they experience a change and I have seen it in so many people including myself.

Love is the only way we can reach out to those around us and it may be really, really hard but I know its best for all of us no matter what.  

This week was awesome and included riding a camel, setting a japanese lantern to the moon, seeing a waterfall and exploring a cave.  India has it all.  This week I'm really hoping to see more changes in everything so we will see how that goes.

Thanks for the love and prayers,

Elder Wakefield

Week 34 - February 9, 2015 - Visak

An awesome week out here in Visak where the weather is warming up fast.   On Monday, I split with Brother Venkat Reddy who was born with only 7 fingers but has an awesome testimony.  He took me to the home of one of his new clients at his bank and we got to meet the wife and her children.

He pretty much expounded upon like 25 scriptures from the Bible about Jesus Christ True Church and how it is on the earth again today. It was full Telegu but I could understand about half of what he said.  The spirit was strong and when he showed a picture of Joseph Smith to this lady.  Her daughter ran to the dresser and pulled out some church material she had acquired like 10 years back.  It was Chennai all over again!

Pretty amazing how Heavenly Father prepares the hearts of His children.  Even though I have no idea if people will undertsand me or have any desire to follow Jesus Christ, I just share our message of Jesus Christ with everyone because I know it is what they need in their life and what will make them happy.  So grateful I've had the opportunity to live this way my whole life.  

Hope evryone has an awesome week and watch out for swine flu!

Elder Wakefield

Week 33 - February 2, 2016 - Visak

We went on splits a few times this week and taught some super spiritual lessons which are always good.  Our branch is starting to help out more too so that really helps.  We saw a lot of people at church yesterday too and it was awesome to see all the fellow shipping that goes on when new people come.

So they switched off our power this week because we didn't pay our power bill, but we've been asking the electric office for like the last 2 months for our bill but they haven't done anything!  So this week I lost a little bit of my patience and scolded this one guy pretty good.  I think it was mostly because he said he would come later than night to put our switches back in but then they didn't and I woke up with a bunch of mosquito bites but we are friends now.  We actually ended up coming to his home and teaching him a lesson too which was crazy!!  Not sure if that was God's plan but worked I guess!

We also started teaching this joint family next to our apartment and they were almost too nice!  People here always put others before themselves but sometimes they go to the extreme.  If I make the slightest move of discomfort during the lesson  everybody just loses it and the Spirit goes away so I try and sit as still as possible so no one worries about me.  They seem very prepared though so it will be fun teaching them.  

Should be another interesting week filled with more awesome stuff so I will let you know.  

Have a great week!

Elder Wakefield