Alisha Palikot

India New Delhi Mission

2014 - 2016

I started going to church when I was six years old with my grandmother . All I loved about the church was the Primary at that time. Eventually I could recognize that attending the primary classes helped me gain testimony about Jesus Christ and his true church . I am eternally grateful to my grandmother who unfailingly brought me to church every Sunday and taught me the gospel. I have wanted to be baptized since I turned 8 years old ,but my dad was not willing after a few years since I was persistent about my decision and my desire grew strong , my dad agreed and I was baptized at the age of 11 in the year Oct 2003.

Serving a mission was something on my priority list since I was a child. As I grew up that decision started to waver and I finally decided not to go on a mission.That was the time I could say I was showered with all kinds of blessings which made me feel guilty . I later decided to show my gratitude to my Saviour Jesus Christ by serving a mission .

All I thought was Mission is a 18 months of sacrifice and a token of gratitude to my father in heaven but later I understood by serving the mission , more than giving I received much . I can never say mission is a sacrifice, rather I would say Mission is loaded with immense blessings to make one's life happier and better, conditional on our obedience to the Lord.

I can still remember the great excitement and the eagerness I had waiting for my Mission call letter .I was called to serve in the India New Delhi Mission ( 10 Sep 2014 - 31 Mar 2016 ) . As I read that I was called to serve in the New Delhi Mission, all my excitement turned to despair. But I could hear the still small voice telling me that this is where the lord wants you to go . I finally made up my mind and entered the MTC which was an amazing experience which helped me to overcome the fears I had communicating with people.

I reached Delhi , started the day with prayer followed by exercise as all missionaries do. I am a person who never wanted to exercise ever .I have bunked all my physical exercise classes in school . But now Mission changed my perspective. I started to love exercise now , isn't it a blessing to me . Then comes personal study and companionship study. I was reminded of the days I was forced to study . Mission was a platform which taught me and helped to understand the joy and beauty of studying scriptures. I recognized the joy which comes from searching the scriptures especially when we are preparing to teach and I realized scriptures are a treasure only on mission .

As I entered the streets of Delhi , searching for people to teach ,It was crazy and I was almost shy to talk to people on the streets but gradually I got used to it . I can never forget the ' Instant Joy' that filled my heart when I taught about Jesus Christ and his Atonement to the people on the streets , who don't even know who Jesus Christ was . This was the most beautiful feeling I ever received on a mission. I loved finding people on the streets to teach throughout my mission.

How could I miss telling you all about the companions I had , with each companion I learned something new and they were all great teachers. especially my Mission President Sackley who taught me many things especially Time management through his actions.

Mission taught me to SMILE , Mission taught me to be specific in prayers and made me closer to the Saviour . I could go on forever writing about every blessing I received on my Mission . Mission was and is the best 18 months of my life and I would treasure those moments forever.