When the Cat is Away the Mice Will Play

Well, maybe we don't really have cats in the office, but President Funk left on Monday evening, and we were left on our own to play - I mean work. He told us that their apartment was being renovated so he and his wife were being "evicted." He then jokingly said that if the work doesn't get done quickly, they may have to stay with us. (This whole Likely story.) In actual fact, their apartment was getting some work done, BUT . . . why wasn't he in the office all week??????? We received a few emails from him, BUT where was he? He said that they would be leaving for a short while. Where are you going President????? Lo and behold, we see him at General Conference internet broadcast being held in Salt Lake City. What's that we heard? Did we hear right that Randy D. Funk was being sustained as a General Authority? President, that is a little more than being away for a few days! You are half way around the world from us. Truthfully, we are thrilled about the announcement. President Funk is a kind, caring, compassionate, humble man, and we sustain him whole heartedly in his office as a General Authority.

So, what did we do all week with the President so far away (well, we didn't know how far away he was at the beginning of the week)? We worked really hard!! Oops, sorry about that Elder Ram. When the cat is away, the mice will play. Transfers came out this week, so Sister Tiefenbach was very busy getting all the documents ready for the USA elders to de-register so they can register in their new areas. By the end of the week, Sister Tiefenbach had all the de-registration packets finished and mailed to the elders. She completed about half of the registration packets.

Transfer time can always be a sad time, especially when an elder leaves from where we are serving. This time, we say good-bye to Elder Barlow. We will surely miss him. He always brings a bright smile into the office every morning. We will miss his sense of humour, his hard work, and his dedication. We invited them over last week for dinner, as you may remember in our post, but we could not tell you the reason we invited them. The official word of his transfer was not out yet. We ended up having them over again this week. It was a rather unplanned invitation. At the end of a hard day at the office, I knew I didn't have anything prepared for dinner, but I asked if they wanted to come over for some pancakes. We set a time for 8:00 that evening, but they showed up an hour early. Obviously, their other plans fell through. They sure can eat a lot of pancakes. They still looked hungry when the pancakes were gone, so we made scrambled eggs for them, too.

All mail and packages for the missionaries come to the office, and Elder Tiefenbach ships them off to the missionaries. One day this week, we received a badly beaten up package for Elder Thompson. Elder Tiefenbach had a dilemna about how to get the badly beat up package in shape for the courier to take it. The package was fairly large, and he did not have a box big enough to put it in. There were also other items of mail that needed to go to the same place. So, Elder Ram and Elder Tiefenbach thought and thought and thought until their creative minds found a solution. Here it is. This looks like Elder Tiefenbach's suitcase that he had one time many years ago when Sister Tiefenbach went to the airport to pick him up from a business trip, but that is a different story.

Monday morning was a memorable day for Elder Solomon - well maybe, he would like to forget it. This is what he looks like when he put his foot in his mouth, only to take it out to put the other one in. Let us explain. Elder Barlow needed to go to the FRRO office to de-register, and missionaries always have to be with someone, so Elder Solomon and Elder Aeshamalla volunteered to accompany him. That means that Elder Ram would be able to stay to get some work done at the office. Just as Elder Solomon et al.  were leaving, he said to Elder Ram, "Does this mean that you are stuck here with Elder Tiefenbach as a companion?" Okay, how could Sister Tiefenbach let that go. She said, "Excuse me Elder, stuck with Elder Tiefenbach." Well, Elder Solomon seemed so embarrassed because that is not what he meant. So, he tried to explain further: "I meant that Elder Ram would be stuck in the office with Elder Tiefenbach as a companion!" Of course, none of us could let that go either. We all knew what he meant, but we were simply having too much fun with this. Elder Ram popped up with his C'mon Son! sign, which he uses whenever someone, including himself, is about to make a bad decision or do something stupid. Elder Solomon decided to take our advice and stop trying to make things better and leave with Elder Barlow.

Speaking of signs, Sister Tiefenbach found this sign on her computer screen Thursday morning. Hmmm.... does that mean that Sister Tiefenbach did something or was about to do something she would not be proud of? He said that it was to encourage Sister Tiefenbach and to let her know that she could do it (referring to all the work she needed to get done in a short time period. The sign made her smile. Have we said how much we love working with the missionaries in the office?

This was lunch for the missionaries on Monday (KFC). Elder O'Dell was still here at that time; he left on Wednesday morning to Hyderabad (we think that is where he went). Elder Solomon and Elder Aeshamalla often drop by the office on Monday to have lunch with Elder Barlow and Elder Ram.

This was our supper (dinner) Monday night. Hmmm . . . which looks more nutritious? Okay, so we cheated a bit. We started with a package of dry soup mix and added chicken and fresh vegetables. We didn't get home until late that night, which is becoming a habit lately. We were tired, and neither one of us felt like spending a lot of time cooking, so we opted for simplicity. The soup was very good, especially with some whole grain bread to accompany it. No, Sister Tiefenbach did not make the bread. We certainly don't have time for that right now.

We took our camera on our walk Friday morning in hopes to find the sun rays filtering through the trees, but alas, it was not to be. But, we were able to get a picture of our friends. This group of men walk every morning - well almost every morning. The man in the red t-shirt is Santosh, the man who gave us some t-shirts from his clothing company. We are each wearing one of the t-shirts he gave us.

Friday was the last day at the office for Elder Barlow. Before he left, he and Elder Ram took a few moments to remember Giri, their trusted horse that got mangled in their fan. They exhumed him from his grave to have one last look at him.







They gently placed him back in his final resting place in the floor of the office and reflected on their friendship. We don't know if the office will be the same without this kind of wierdness!










So, we say good-gye to Elder Barlow.

He will be a Zone Leader in Vizak, so hopefully, we will get to see him every month when he comes to Bangalore for Zone Leader Council.
















We went shopping for some groceries on Saturday. On the way home, we saw a big Amway building. Amway is big in India. We know several people in Coimbatore who are involved with Amway. One day at church in Coimbatore, a couple of foreigners visited our branch. As usual, we welcomed them, and in the course of our conversation, we found out that they were high up in the company and were in Coimbatore to do training, etc.

We don't see as many carts pulled by cows here in Bangalore compared to Coimbatore, but we see a few of them.  We see a lot more cows roaming the streets here, but not as many carts.










Bangalore also has far more western style stores than Coimbatore, but street vendors are still plentiful.

This is New Frosty's, a store where we buy most of our chicken and beef. Chicken is about half the cost as in Regina, and the beef is also cheaper; however, the cost would probably be considered fairly expensive for many people in India. We see a lot more people in Bangalore who are well off  compared to Coimbatore. The IT business is a big thing here.





Today, we attended Sacrament meeting and Sunday School in our branch. Then, we went to Whitefield Road Branch to attend a baptism. Brother Raj (left of Elder Tiefenbach) was baptized. He is the nephew of Augustine, our driver in Coimbatore. We were happy to be there in place of Augustine. Elder Randall (next to Raj) performed the baptism. Elder Pydimalla (left) is Elder Randall's companion. Elder Randall is being transferred next week to a different branch in Bangalore.




When we returned from Whitefield Road Branch, we made the final preparations for the dinner for Elder Solomon, Elder Ashamalla, Elder Ram, and the newly arrived Elder Raja (front left) (Elder Barlow's replacement). We had lazagna, garlic bread, carrots, and Sister Tiefenbach's famous "rainbow" salad. We finished the meal with apple crisp and ice cream for dessert.






The cat (President) will be away for another week, and we will carry on the work at the office. We will likely take a little time out to play a bit, too. President Funk is highly dedicated. Just before we left the office on Friday, he emailed about a few things that needed to be done. This would have been 6:00 a.m. in Salt Lake City the morning before he was to be sustained as a general authority. President and Sister Funk have many Christlike qualities, are spiritually in tune, have great spiritual knowledge and insights, and show great devotion to the work of the Lord. Our lives have been blest and changed as we serve with them.