Everything New and Beautiful

Welcome to our week where we had many NEW and BEAUTIFUL experiences. The first NEW and BEAUTIFUL experience of our week was sending four NEW missionaries off to the Manila Mission Training Center (MTC). They are (left to right): Elder Siyyadri, Elder Beeraka, Elder Sundrarajan (from Coimbatore), and Sister Nekkanti. We had taught Elder Sundrarajan the temple preparation classes while we were in Coimbatore; we have been blessed to have been so much a part of his mission preparation. Sister Tiefenbach finished preparing the documents needed for their trip and made some follow up phone calls to make sure everything was in place. Sister Wigg had prepared well for their departure, and we benefited from her hard work. What a thrill it was for us as we watched each new missionary come into the office on Wednesday to be set apart by President Robert William, 1st Counsellor in the Mission Presidency. What great joy we had as we watched each one come out of the President's office as an official missionary! All of them were enthusiastic, excited, and ready to go. They all got away in the evening and headed to the airport. Sister Tiefenbach had a restless night that night because she was worried about the missionaries, wondering if they got out of India okay, if they made their connection in Malaysia, and if they made it to the Philippines. The next morning, we received an email from the Philippines saying that all the missionaries made it to the Philippines safely. Whew!!! What a relief that was!

Another NEW experience was having the BEAUTIFUL sister missionaries from Coimbatore stay at our apartment when they came in for a multi-zone conference. We love to see (left to right) Sister Madbathula, Sister Jebamani, and Sister Dhikao. They arrived about 10:30 p.m., and then we fed them some scrambled eggs and toast before they went to bed.





We prepared pancakes for them in the morning for breakfast. Sister Tiefenbach is such a "Happy Homemaker!" That looks like a BEAUTIFUL stack of pancakes on the right.

The Assistants to the President planned to pick up the sisters after breakfast to help them get an auto to go to the Convent Road chapel for the conference. Well, the sisters took an exceptionally L - O - N - G time to get themselves BEAUTIFUL for the day. We have experience with BEAUTIFUL daughters, but this was definitely a NEW experience. Although the sisters took a long time, and the pancakes were cold by the time they ate, the sisters are BEAUTIFUL, physically and spiritually, and we just had to smile at their tardiness.

So, the Assistants had to wait for the sisters, and what else could Elder Ram and Elder Barlow do except eat pancakes for breakfast? They certainly didn't need much coaxing to sit down to a BEAUTIFUL breakfast to start their NEW day. A smile came across their faces, and their eyes widened. That was a good sign for us. Before they began eating, we told the Elders that they needed to eat fast so the sisters could be on time for their meeting with Sister Funk and Sister Gong (the wife of the General Authority who was visiting). Let's just say that Elder Ram can eat fast!!!! Elder Ram look at your plate; it is empty, and Elder Barlow is just beginning to eat. Maybe, Elder Barlow still has some pancakes left because he gives serious thought to the food on his plate. He does look serious!! Ahhhh, life would be so dull without the Assistants!

..So far, every Monday of each NEW week, Elder Solomon and Elder Aeshamalla come into the office. What a BEAUTIFUL ray of sunshine they bring with them. They both have such wonderful smiles that can brighten anyone's day. We look forward to seeing them each week. We are fortunate because we go to the same branch as Elders Solomon, Aeshamalla, Ram, and Barlow.






President Funk's driver, Sampath, particulary likes Elder Solomon. Every time Sampath sees Elder Solomon, he puts his arm around Elder Solomon. You can see in Sampath's eyes that he has a tender spot in his heart for Elder Solomon. Elder Solomon's father is a former mission president here and is the person who hired Sampath as a driver. Sampath has been driving for the mission president ever since. Sampath is not the only person that has a great deal of respect for Elder Solomon. One investigator, Titan, praises him greatly. He says the Elder Solomon is polite, convincing, caring, humble . . . . The list goes on. It seems he can't say enough good about Elder Solomon. We have been blessed here to have good missionaries; they have added to our NEW and BEAUTIFUL experience here in India. We had to think of a different way to get the word beautiful for this picture. We think Elder Solomon would not have been happy if we called him BEAUTIFUL!

A breath of NEW, BEAUTIFUL freshness walked into our office Wednesday morning! That was the day the NEW missionaries were set apart. Sister Mary William, who is from Coimbatore, was in Bangalore for some medical tests and came into the office. We felt such a thrill of excitement when she walked through the door. She is truly a BEAUTIFUL woman and an elect lady. She was one of the first ones, if not the first, to extend a genuine hand of fellowship when we first arrived in Coimbatore. Sister William is the mother of President William (center), President Funk's 1st Counselor in the Mission Presidency. President William also works in the same building as the mission office, one floor above us. He is the Manager of the Indian Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His brother, Lawrence William, is the branch president in Coimbatore 1st Branch.

Whenever we are involved in a multi-zone missionary conference, we are always asked to help provide food for the lunch. So, this is not NEW. But, this is the first time we have done this in Bangalore, and it is the first time we had another couple, Elder and Sister Smith, help us. So, this is something NEW! When we were talking with President and Sister Funk during the planning of this conference, President Funk asked if Sister Tiefenbach would be able to make cinnamon buns (rolls) for the conference. Of course, Sister Tiefenbach readily said, "Yes." So, making cinnamon buns for 43 people became a priority this past week. By the way, they were a big hit. They were so yummy!!!! The cinnamon buns were definitely BEAUTIFUL. The elders from Bangalore, who had not experienced this wonderful treat were amazed when they saw them. The elders from the Coimbatore District and those who were formerly from Coimbatore District told us that they missed us so much. We are not sure whether they miss us or Sister Tiefenbach's baked treats. The multi-zone missionary conference was held on Thursday, March 14, 2013.

We had a NEW experience right after the multi-zone conference. When the conference was over, President Funk asked us if we were going to the office when we were done. We told him we weren't sure. He then told us that Elder and Sister Gong wanted to see the office and that Elder Gong (his head can be seen over the shoulder of the Elder - Elder George, who happens to be from Coimbatore) wanted to talk with us. Okay  . .  . that was definitely NOT expected. We were nervous because we couldn't imagine why he wanted to talk to us. As it turned out, he was simply interviewing a few of the missionaries, and we were picked as some of the missionaries to be interviewed. Elder Tiefenbach had been interviewed by General Authorities before, but this was a first for Sister Tiefenbach. The interview lasted no more than 5 minutes, but it was a BEAUTIFUL, spiritual experience as we bore our testimonies of the Book of Mormon to him.

We and the Smith's were also asked to help prepare food for the Area Training meeting that was held the day after the multi-zone missionary conference (Friday, March 15, 2013). We had never prepared food for an Area Training before, so this was NEW. We were happy to be involved in this great event. The training was held in the Whitefield chapel, which is a brand NEW, BEAUTIFUL building. We will show some pictures of this building later in the blog. We have enjoyed working closely with Elder and Sister Smith. Here we are waiting for the lunch break before we were to take all the food out to the brethren. We were happy to give up our preparation day to help with this Area Training.

One great benefit of this NEW experience of serving food at the Area training was that we were able to see the District Presidency from Coimbatore. Presidents Raghu (1st counselor), Vincent Paul (Pres.) and Allwyn (2nd Counselor) were, indeed, a BEAUTIFUL sight to our eyes. We saved some cinnamon buns and frosting for the Coimbatore District Presidency to enjoy after their training. They certainly deserve a special treat. They will always have a special place in our hearts. They told us they miss us and that both branches in Coimbatore miss us. They keep asking when we will return, and they tell us that they pray for our return. We love the people in Coimbatore, and we also love the work we are doing here in Bangalore.

After the lunch at the Area Training, the Smith's and we went on a tour of the NEW mission home/mission office/service center with Sister Funk, Sister Gong (wife of the visitying General Authority), and the wife of the District President in Sri Lanka (we can't remember her name). The mission home will be on the top floor, the service center on the 1st floor (2nd, according to North American terminology), and the mission office will be on the ground floor. The building is right behind the new chapel, which is a BEAUTIFUL stake-sized building. Although it doesn't look like much now, as it looks like a cold, square mass of hard, grey concrete, it one day will be a BEAUTIFUL building. Elder Tiefenbach was pleased that we had to wear hard hats when we were walking in the construction zone. His pleasure comes from working with work safety standards.

Here, we are learing to walk on water! Now THAT is a NEW experience!!! Throughout the building, we saw many places where water was standing. Here in India, they fill sections of concrete with water to test the integrity of the concrete seals. They want to make sure that no water seeps into the lower floors. So, in order for us to see some parts of the BEAUTIFUL mission home, we had to "walk on water." The workers put down blocks of concrete so we could walk to the bedroom section of the mission home. The mission home is going to be absolutely BEAUTIFUL. The living room/dining area is huge. There will be plenty of room to have the furniture arranged more central in the room with lots of space to walk around the furniture. This NEW building is scheduled to be finished in October of this year, but some people suggest that December of this year or January of next year is more likely.

 

This will be the home of the NEW mission office. The question is whether or not we will still be in Bangalore to work in this BEAUTIFUL environment. As we are scheduled to work in the mission office temporarily, Elder Tiefenbach took a moment to get the "feel" for the NEW office. 

 

As part of the tour, we were able to go up on the roof, where eventually a BEAUTIFUL garden area will adorn top of the building. From this NEW vantage point, we were favoured by a BEAUTIFUL vista of the NEW Whitefield chapel and the city of Bangalore. (The city is not as visible in the picture as it was in person.) We could picture the NEW mission president and his wife spending a few relaxing moments to rejuvenate their spirits and their physical strength in the BEAUTY and serenity of this space, surrounded by green, lush plants and colourful flowers. Unfortunately, President and Sister Funk will be released before this building will be done.

 

 

On Sunday, a special District Conference was held to dedicate the NEW, BEAUTIFUL Whitefield Road Chapel. It was a great meeting. President Funk gave the dedicatory prayer, in which, many references were made about the future of a stake here in Bangalore and the future of a temple in India. This building is a stake sized building; a stake-sized building would not be built if the Lord didn't know that growth will occur here. Now, the members need to get to work and be a "light unto the world." We know with every fibre of our being that India will get a temple in our lifetime. We can see it!!!! That is a BEAUTIFUL vision. This is the NEW chapel in the Whitefield Road building. It's BEAUTY is apparent.

 

The BEAUTIFUL dedicatory prayer that President Funk gave also emphasized that the building does not belong to us; it belongs to the Lord. In a short talk before the dedicatory prayer, President Gong reminded us that during the dedicatory prayer, we dedicate the building AND ourselves to the Lord. Every room of this NEW and BEAUTIFUL building is dedicated to the Lord and His work. This picture shows the view that members will see everytime they come out of the chapel. As people leave the chapel, where they have learned about the Savior and His Gospel, they will see a picture of the Savior before He ascended, instructing the Twelve before they go out into the world to proclaim the gospel. This BEAUTIFUL picture, chosen by Sister Funk, is reminder of the obligation and privilege we all have to be a living example of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to be "a witness of God at all times and in all things, and in all places."

 

As we beome a disciples of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, by being a "light unto the world" and by "stand[ing] as a witness of God at all times and in all things, and in all places," we can develop a NEW view of the world and see the NEWNESS and BEAUTY of God's creations, just as we have seen the NEW and BEAUTIFUL blossoms appear, gracing the branches of the tree we have seen out our kitchen window this week. We pray for the Lord's blessings and peace to be upon you throughout this week.