Why is The Water Heater Still in the Box?

So, should we start with the water heater or end with the water heater? Hmmm.....  We have decided to end with the water heater. Don't cheat and go to the end without reading the rest of the blog first!!!










We are now in the last week in October. Time is certainly marching on. Back at home, our family has experienced snow and slippery roads already. Here, we are still experiencing hot, humid weather. The rains we have had for the past two weeks has raised the humidity levels. We feel that it is just as hot now as when we came, but the actual temperature is are not as high, as we have not experienced any temperatures in the 40's for quite some time. This picture of Elder Ram and Elder Racharla's apartment complex shows that summer weather is still going strong here.

We have spent some time with the sister missionaries this week. We took them to a few appointments with us to introduce them to some of the members here. One day, we went to a restaurant across from the church and down the block a bit. What you see in this picture is a typical veg meal. They are served on a banana leaf. The person eating the meal is to pour a little water on the leaf to wash off the leaf. We really don't think that will actually clean the leaf, but that is what is done here. Then, the servers put several "side dishes" and some gravy type of food (curry) on the leaf, and then they put a huge pile of plain rice on it. The idea is to use the right hand (it must be the right hand because the left is used for . . . well, something else) to mix a little of the other food with the rice. Then, you pick up some food with your hand and put it in your mouth.

We did not have the veg meal; we had dosa with a few chutney dishes. Chutney in India is not the same as our Canadian idea of chutney. Our meals were presented on a steel plate with some kind of leaf on it. On another day, we took the sisters to a dinner appointment at a member's home, and Sister Madabathula laughed at the way Sister Tiefenbach was eating. Sister Tiefenbach thought that she had caught on to the Indian way of eating with hands, but apparently, Sister Madabathula didn't think she had learned very well, yet. Apparently, no food is supposed to fall out of your hand or your mouth when you put the food in. Well!!!! no one told us that before. Everyone else told us what a good job we were doing, and they were excited that we were eating with our hands. Now, Sister Tiefenbach will be self-conscious everytime she has to eat with her hands in front of someone.

 

We went to visit the Sekar family (pronounced Shaker). This is another good, solid family. The father's name is Sekar; his wife is Shanthi; and their children are Sujithra and Sathish. Sathish recently returned from his mission. We had pictures of that a few blogs ago. Sujithra is engaged to Solomon, who is the branch president in Chavadi. Brother Sekar is thrilled with the engagement. It is not an arranged marriage. We think that one of the reasons Brother Sekar likes President Solomon is that they can continue the tradition of everyone's names beginning with "s." Sujithra does a good job of conduction music. She is very patient with Sister Tiefenbach's slow organ/piano playing in sacrament meeting. Sujithra is also very supportive of the choir. When Sister Shanthi was showing Sister Tiefenbach her kitchen, she showed her where she keeps her food storage. When she showed her food storage, she said, "We listen to the prophet's voice." We are impressed with their dedication. The food storage here is not as extensive as it is in many homes in North America, largely because of space shortages, but their commitment to heed the counsel of the prophet is inspiring.

 

First Branch Relief Society held an activity on Tuesday. At the beginning, we played a game that Sister Tiefenbach introduced. It was the game where everyone gives themselves the name of a fruit or vegetable. Everyone sits in a circle, then they do a clapping and snapping of the fingers rhythm. The person who starts calls her own name on the first snap and the name of anther fruit or vegetable on the second snap of the fingers. Then, that person calls her fruit/vegetable name on the next first snap and someone else's name on the second snap, as so forth. They had a good time with that. Notice the skirt that Sister Tiefenbach is wearing. That is one of the skirts that she received from the long-awaited package from home. It has seen the world. The skirt began its life in India; it probably cost about one dollar to make. Then it travelled to Canada to be sold at Old Navy for - I'm not sure how much it cost in Canada, but definitely more than a dollar. Then it was sent back to India with a travel cost of about $80.00. Now it is home.

 

 

Following the game, we had a "talent show." Some people read scripture, others danced, others sang, while others told stories. Yes, Sister Tiefenbach sang a song. This is Sister Sareetha William (Branch President's wife) and her mother-in-law, Sister Mary, doing a great dance. Sister Mary was dressed up as a gent. They were fantastic!! What great fun!

 

As the 1st Branch Relief Society activity ended, the 2nd Branch Elder's Quorum activity began (the women were invited to it, as well). We had a spiritual presentation, and then Elder and Sister Tiefenbach conducted a game called "Do You Love Your Neighbour?" It was great fun, that is until Sister Sumathi somehow had her toe cut and had to be taken to the hospital for stitches. She is doing fine, now. After the game, we had food: parotta (sometimes spelled barotta and is a one type of Indian bread) and some kind of curry. The curry was spicy.

We had a fairly good turn out for choir practice. We are making good progress with the numbers we will be singing for the Christmas program. Sister Tiefenbach has written the Christmas narrative , and the Branch president has said we will use the narrative for the program. We presented the narrative at a joint meeting of the two branches. We based the narrative on a request to have a spiritual evening that helped people to focus on the Saviour. We will see what the people think when it is over. Christmas is not as big here in India. The whole present tradition is not widely practiced here, but they have other smaller traditions of making treats and giving them to friends and family. Christians decorate their homes with lights, and many Christians will have Christmas trees.

 

Today, Sunday, 2nd Branch had another baptism. Manoharran Hellen Sudha was baptised. Elder Thanniru (left) and Elder Augustine (right) shared in the happy occasion. Elder Augustine performed the baptism. First Branch also held a baptismal service. Brother Sharma was baptized, but we did not get a picture of it. We both had other things we needed to do, so we weren't present when pictures were being taken. Interestingly,  Brother Sharma's wife and one daughter were baptized today in Bangalore. Brother Sharma works in Coimbatore, but his family lives in Bangalore.

 

 

Does anyone need some good quality tires? We know where you can get them.

 

 

OK!!! So, why is the water heater still in the box?????? That is a very good question. We bought the water heater (geyser) two weeks ago. The company was supposed to come the day after the delivery to install it, but they didn't come. Then, we made arrangements for them to come last Monday, but they didn't come. So, we made arrangements again, this time for Saturday morning at 11:00. Well, . . . We had to leave for the church at 1:30, and they hadn't come by that time, so we left. We couldn't wait any longer. (We won't discuss the communication difficulties we had.) Of course, they came 15 minutes after we left. As it turned out, we could have waited longer because the meetings and appointments that we had in the early afternoon all fell through, so we didn't really need to be at the church until close to 4:00. English class was supposed to start at 3:30, but no one showed up until 4:00. We felt we spent most of the day waiting for people. We were tired at the end of the day, even though we did not get much accomplished. SO, we now have made arrangements for the water heater to be installed tomorrow. Should we count on it? The reason we bought another water heater is because the power is off every morning, and the 15 litre heater that is in our bathroom isn't adequate to give two people a hot shower. If the power was on, it would not be a problem. But, with the power off, the water cannot be heated up during the shower. We end up having enough hot water for 1 1/2 showers. Elder Tiefenbach lets Sister Tiefenbach have a shower first, so she most often gets a warm shower, but she keeps the temperature cooler than she would like it so Elder Tiefenbach can have more hot water. Even with her wise use of the water, Elder Tiefenbach usually has a cool shower. What a gentleman he is!!!