We are happy to announce that the water heater is now installed and works wonderfully! Now, both Elder and Sister Tiefenbach can have hot showers when the power goes out (that is providing we turn the water heaters on BEFORE the power goes out). We are really enjoying hot showers. Prior to this, neither one of us were able to have HOT showers. Sister Tiefenbach would always try to conserve the hot water by having a warm shower so Elder Tiefenbach could have some warm water for his shower.
We did not get the heater installed on Monday when it was scheduled. So, we made arrangements for it to be installed on Tuesday. Well . . . it didn't happen on Tuesday, so we made arrangements for it to be installed at 11:00 on Wednesday. We waited and waited and waited. Finally, at 2:00, they came. What a relief. But, oh no!! the power was out. They can't install it without power. The decided to get the peliminary work done. Luckily, by the time that was done, the power was back on. What a relief!!We are also happy that the internet people finally came to fix our wifi working on our router.
We did inspections on the missionary apartments. Every six weeks or so, we inspect the apartments of the missionaries in Coimbatore to make sure that at least every six weeks they are cleaned. The sisters' apartment was great! They had everything cleaned nicely. We have been quite busy this week trying to make all the arrangements get the repairs done in the the sisters' apartment. Elder Thanniru (right) and Elder Augustine also passed their inspection with flying colours. The fact that they fed us a wonderful breakfast had nothing to do with the good report. Honest, it didn't. They have kept it in great condition. It is the same apartment that we lived in when we first arrived in Coimbatore.
Now, the apartment for (left to right) Elder Solomon, Elder Thomas, Elder Challa, and Elder Smoot. . . wasn't as good as the other ones. On the bright side, it was much better than it was before Elder Smoot and Elder Solomon got there. Their apartment was very neat; it just needed a little more cleaning. We will go back this coming week to do a follow up.
Elder and Ram and Elder Racharla did not get their apartment inspected. They had to go out to Erode to do be with the missionaries there. This week, they will be going to Bangalore for a few days this week, so we will not be able to get their apartment done until later this week. Now, was their excuse for not having their apartment inspected a legitimate reason, or was it a contrived plan to get out of the inspection?
Because we had so much time waiting for people to come to do things in our apartment and in the sisters' apartment, we had more time than usual to make some special dishes for our suppers (dinners). The penne alfredo with meatballs and carrots with dill was great! The sauce was made with cream - thick, thick cream. It was so thick that we had to squeeze the container to push the cream out. Needless to say, the pasta was yummy!.
We had baked yogurt for dessert. Baked yogurt is similar in many ways to cheesecake. The recipe also called for cream. We served it with a crumble made from butter, brown sugar, flour, and oats. This is the same crumble as we use for apple crisp. The first time we ate it, we dirzzled chocolate on it. It was good, but the next times we ate it, we omitted the chocolate. We liked it better without the chocolate and more of the crumble.
Another good meal we had this week was chicken a la king (with a bit of an Indian twist). We cheated with the sauce because we used a package of Knorr Chicken Delight soup as the base for the sauce. It is much like cream of chicken soup, but it has a few more spiced in it than regular cream of chicken soup. We had carrots for this meal, too. A green vegetable would have been better to give the plate a better colour, but we didn't have anything green that day.
One of the jobs we had this week was to get a price on some UPS (uninterrupted power suppy) systems. We went to this business. We hope to get a UPS for our apartment, so when the power goes out during the day, we can at least have some fans to keep us cool. Our apartment building has a generator, but they do not turn it on until 6:00 in the evening. Our apartment gets quite dark, especially in the kitchen, by 4:00 or 4:30, so preparing supper becomes a bit more difficult. A UPS would definitely help out during the late afternoon hours, especially when the sky is overcast. We have become so used to the power outages that we often forget to turn lights on, and we end up working in our apartment in dim light. Then we remember that the power is on, and we turn lights on.
We received some training regarding our assignment with the PEF (Perpetual Education Fund) assignment. One of our responsibilities with this assignment will be to talk to participants in the program who have not been paying back their loans to help them find ways to begin to make payments. We also had a telephone conference call to talk about two new applicants.
We were also able to make several visits to people's homes this week. We continue to teach English to the Anand family at their home. Following our time at their home, we go directly to Brother Raja's home to visit with them and teach them more about the gospel. They always feed us when we are there. Every Saturday, we visit the Suresh family to teach them the new member discussions and other topics that will increase their knowledge and understanding about the restored gospel. Yes, they also feed us. We never cook at home on the days that we visit these families. The latter two families have both been recently baptised and have a special place in our hearts. We also visited with Brother Raja and Sister Renuka. They fed us lunch. We often have three meal appointments each week.
We attended the baptism of Sampson (2nd from the left) today. He is now a member of Coimbatore 1st Branch. Elder Smoot (left) and Elder Solomon (right) have been teaching him. The man with the beard is Brother Sharma. He was baptized last week. Sampson met the missionaries through Brother Sharma. Originally, the two did not know each other. The missionaries were talking to Brother Sharma at the bus stop just before they were leaving. Sampson was at the bus stop and overheard the conversation between Brother Sharma and the missionaries and wanted to hear more, so he approached Brother Sharma. The missionaries then began teaching Brother Sampson. This was a good experience for the elders. They have become keenly aware that the Lord helps those who are prepared to hear the gospel to come in contact with the missionaries. We enjoyed hearing Elder Solomon telling of this experience as he spoke at Brother Sampson's baptism.
We will be visiting Brother Paul Matthews and his wife, Sister Mary, later this week. He is in the Elders' Quorum presidency in 1st Branch. Elder Tiefenbach received his assignment on the District Council this week. He will be responsible for missionary work in the District. He will help the branches with their missionary plans and goals and train the branch mission leaders. This seems to be a fitting assignment for him.
We leave you this week with an example of the dedication and commitment that many of the members of the church here have. This is Sister Mary (different Mary than mentioned above). She is at the beginner level of playing the piano, but she is always willing to play when someone needs a pianist. She is preparing to play for the baptism we had today. She knows that she does not play exceptionally well, but she is has committed to do whatever she is asked to do. Sister Mary is one of the first people to introduce herself to us when we first arrived here. She has a calm, gentelness about her. She is a great example of someone who shows Christlike love.
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