ONE Year.....complete!! Birthday package finally arrived :)

Hello everyone!! 
HAPPY YEAR MARK! I can't believe that one year is finished! I still feel like a brand new missionary, but after seeing all the missionary noobs in the Worldwide Leadership Training I felt much older than where I was at one year ago!  :)
This week was a really good week missionary work wise. We found a bunch of people last week and after carefully following up and reminding them about their baptism dates, we had 9 people come to church yesterday! And 7 of them have baptism dates! Two of them will be baptized this week, 2 on the fourteenth, and there is another family of 5 that we are working on for the twenty-first and some others  that we are working on to get in the last week of July. Unfortunately I won't be here for any of those! That's okay though! The numbers don't matter. I'm just really happy that we found a bunch of prepared people. 
I got my birthday package... Thanks so much! I share with everyone because if I keep them all for myself I will gain all the weight that I lost here! The new glasses are great, but they are a little different from my other pair.. It's okay though. My companion got sick this week and then he got the other companionship sick, but I haven't gotten it yet so hope and pray for me that I don't get sick! 
I really really liked that Worldwide Leadership Training.  The missionary work really would explode if the members were as helpful as they were in the videos. ;) Haha just kidding! I know that the members work hard, but if we jointly worked together then nothing could stop this work! I love missionary work! 
Love,
Elder Head

Not registered in Bangalore??? 6-23-13

Hello everyone! 
This week was not a very exciting week.. Birthdays on the mission just aren't as exciting as they are at home. For my birthday, I took us to an Indian restaurant called Feast. I took my district: Elder Fitzpatrick, Elder Singh, and Elder Alosias. The food was pretty good and the price in rupees was expensive but in dollars it was cheap! Before that we cut cake, had pancakes, and then made another cake that we bought from the store! They had Betty Crocker, but the power here isn't the best and the power cut during the cakes baking time and so it didn't really cook all the way.. But we still ate it! 
In other news, I tried to register here in Bangalore to be legally residing here and they won't let me register! I hate it! But it's okay. Sunday was good this week. Church was pretty good. The other elders had a baptism so we stayed for their service and then after that we made lunch (of the preparation I was of integral importance...) and then we went out proselyting. We had a couple of kids show up at the church and so we went to their house after lunch and taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel. It was a really good lesson that we had and the Spirit was there. In these times as we teach and the Spirit is there, my testimony of the truthfulness of the work that we are doing grows. 
As soon as we finished that lesson we received a call from our branch president, President Prince, telling us that there was a brother in the church who wanted to be baptized so we got on a bus and went to the church to meet this brother. We taught him and his wife (who is from a Hindu background) about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what He expects from us. That also was a really good lesson and they asked us after the lesson how soon they could be baptized..... It was really cool! We set them with a date for July 14.... 4 days after I leave. I am really sad, but I'm excited to go to the Philippines. 
Things here on this half of the world are good. I didn't get my birthday package yet.. Hopefully it didn't get lost! But I hope everything there is going great! Love you! 
From,
Elder Head

Happy Birthday Ryan!! 6-17-13

Hello everyone! 

Thanks so much for all the people who wished me a happy birthday! And for all of you who haven't yet, you still have one day! 

Haha so this week was a pretty normal week here in Bangalore. Things with my companion are really good. Elder Alosias is a really good missionary and especially he is a really fun and funny guy so being with him is more of a present from the Lord than I deserve. I am really grateful that I get to be with him. The days just fly by and it is really sad because we won't be companions after I go to the Philippines. So we found out that we will be flying from India on July 10 to the Philippines and that just happens to be right on the transfer schedule for the North Quezon City Mission so fingers crossed, I will be able to serve with Ed! 

Haha anyways, church this week was good. Nothing really eventful happened except that all the American families that are living here are leaving tomorrow and then Elder Fitzpatrick and I will be the only two Americans in the branch again. Yay! I love all the attention ;) 

I don't really have any big plans for my birthday.. We have district meeting and then I'm going to take my district out for a nice lunch (thanks for the money) and then we will be off doing the Lord's work. Nothing stops the work from progressing here! 

Well, I don't really have too much else to say. Things here are great. I love being a missionary! 10 days until I finish my year mark.... CRAZY! 

Love,

Elder Head

We can't believe that Elder Head has been out on his mission for nearly a year already! We were able to email back and forth with him for a little while last night....which was nice because we haven't done so for a couple of weeks :)  We sent Ryan his birthday package on May 23rd and sadly he has yet to receive it but hopefully it will show up before he leaves for his visa renewal trip!! We love you Ryan!! As per Indian tradition Elder Head will be taking his district out to lunch tomorrow for his birthday :) Wow!! 20 years old tomorrow.....where has the time gone!?? 

Bangalore 6-9-13

Hello everyone! 
First things first.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA! I know that today is the 10th, but emailing yesterday was not an option so... I still love you though! Also, Happy Fathers Day Dad! 
I have a little bit of a funny thing to tell. I got a mail from Elder Taylor who is now in the Phillipines and he bumped into the famous Elder Jeong! They both emailed me and talked about it. Its pretty funny. I seriously hope that I get to go to Ed's mission. That would be so fun to see him halfway around the world! 
This week was a pretty good week. I got to go to Hyderabad to do my second passport stuff and we left Tuesday morning, got there Tuesday morning, and then had some training stuff on what we were supposed to say. Then I went on exchange with the Elder's in West Marredpally 1st Ward (my last area) and I got to visit my converts! I hope they got baptized this week, but Elder Britton hasn't sent me any news yet. Anyways, it was very fun to see them and get to hang out with them for a little bit. Then Wednesday we went to do the passport stuff and they didn't even ask us any questions so that was really easy. It took only twenty minutes. Then I went on exchange with the Zone Leaders in Hyderabad and that was pretty fun. I was close with them so it was really enjoyable. Thursday morning we flew out and resumed missionary work in Bangalore! I know that I am supposed to be here though. Being in Hyderabad was fun, but I really just feel at home here (for now). 
Church this week was really good. We had a baptism service for one of our investigators and that went pretty well. Church was good. I miss knowing everyone, but still it was pretty fun to be here and observe how things work. 
I want to share a cool experience from last week. So when you travel in India by air, you need to have identification to get through security. My passport was with the senior couples in Hyderabad and I was flying from Bangalore, so I didn't have any identification. If you don't have any, then they don't let you fly. So I only had a xerox copy of my passport, but they don't allow copies. So basically I was in trouble. I said a prayer in the cab so that the Lord would soften their hearts and allow me to go and finish the work in Hyderabad and the Lord answered my prayer! It was really cool and they let me through without any problems. 
I love India! 
Love,
Elder Head

Excited to be in Bangalore! 6-2-13

Hello everyone!

My name is Elder Head and right now I am serving here in Bangalore Whitefield Branch! Bangalore is such a sweet place! The weather is really awesome. It's cool and you get a cool breeze.. It's really nice! I don't know too much about the branch because this Sunday was district conference which was good. The building here is so nice! It is a legitimate stake center! It is super sweet. I love my companion. He is so fun and funny and we enjoy a lot together. 

In other news, I am going back to Hyderabad this week! I have to go to the U.S. Embassy there to get a second passport so that I can go to the Philippines next month to renew my visa. It is a pain in the butt to go all the way back after I just got here, but I'm excited to go back and to see the people that I taught in Hyderabad. That is what I am most excited for. Also, the food there is so much better there than it is here. Hyderabad has the best food! 

My new district is sweet. I live with one american and two indians so we all get along well and enjoy one another's company. Missions are fun when you have fun things to do. I'm really grateful for this transfer because the last two were so hard. I met one of the former assistants who just finished his mission and he said that this transfer was a vacation for me ;) haha it is funny but really I'm way happy here in Bangalore! 

Love you! 

Elder Head