The first great blessing we have on our mission is that we have wonderful missionaries to help out whenever we ask for assistance. One of the lights above Sister Tiefenbach's desk was flickering (most annoying), so she asked Elder Aeshamalla (reaching into the light fixture) and Elder Solomon to fix it. You know that sometimes when parents ask their children to do something, they say something like, "Why do I have to do it?" Well, these elders did not say anything like that. They didn't even roll their eyes! The immediately began the task. They both had their turn on the chair to reach the light. They stood on a swivel office chair, so the other elder definitely had to hold the chair for the one reaching for the light. In the end, they took the bulb out so it wouldn't flicker any more.
Having the missionaries over for pancakes on Monday evening was the second blessing this week. Interestingly, Elder Solomon mentioned that this is the second time we invited them over to our house for something to eat when they had no food left in their apartment. We did not know they had no food in their apartment. That is what made it so interesting. We are blessed to help the missionaries even when we don't know we are really helping them. By the way, they were out of food because they had just had MANY elders staying at their place because of transfers, etc. We made Dream Whip (courtesy of the food left in the cupboard from Wiggs) for their pancakes, which they loved. We also made applesauce to compliment the pancakes, and of course we had bananas, as well. At the end, but before they were finished, we provided ice cream and chocolate sauce (thank you, Sister Wigg), which they put on their pancakes. Elder Ram looks full; he should be. They all ate well. Elder Solomon patted his tummy several times that evening. Elder Raja (end of table) shows how desperate he was for food, and Elder Aeshamalla looks so happy to experience pancakes with Dream Whip and ice cream. We are so blessed to work in the office and be with the young elders. They bring great joy to us.
We have been blessed to have Elder and Sister Loewer stay with us for several days. They received their assignment on Saturday. The choice was to go to Chennai or Coimbatore. Their assignment was Chennai. They were also told that they will visit Coimbatore, too. We are not sure how that is all going to work out, but they are glad to be on their way with a specific assignment. They were given two priorities: 1) get the family history center organized in Chennai and 2) work with the young single adults and the youth. The first day they arrived (Tuesday), they attended a YSA Conference. What a great blessing it was for them to have an activity so geared to their specific assignment right away!
We are also blessed to have Elder and Sister Smith in Bangalore. We invited them for lunch on Tuesday so they could spend a bit of time with the Loewer's before they left. Both Elder and Sister Smith jumped right in and helped carry the Loewer's luggage downstairs. This was a great blessing because Elder Tiefenbach is not supposed to lift anything over 5 pounds because of his operation. Elder Loewer hurt is leg when he first arrived (hence the cane), so his ability to carry the luggage down two flights of stairs was quite limited. Here we are waiting with the Loewer's for their taxi to take them to the airport.
We have been greatly blessed to work with Elder Watson (Asia Area President) in President Funk's absence. We are continuously amazed that we are working so closely with a general authority every day. What a great blessing this is! He has a great sense of humour and is very warm and kind. He will be leaving early this next week. Elder Berrett will not be arriving until next Sunday, so we will be without a "leader" for several days. Elder Smoot (working in Vizak right now) was hoping that Elder Tiefenbach would be given authority to do temple recommends during that time, so he could get his from Elder Tiefenbach. He really likes Elder Tiefenbach. Elder Smoot is so funny. In this picture, Sister Tiefenbach is talking with Elder Watson and Elders Kandikuri (front) and Thanniru.
Each day, we are blessed to cross 100 Feet Road safely. Here we are waiting in the middle of the street to cross the second half. We will dodge between the motorcycles and the autos.
One of the great blessings we have working in the office is to receive mission calls for missionaries from southern India. This is Sister Peter. Sister Tiefenbach phoned her at about 3:00 in the afternoon to tell her that her mission call came. She was SO excited. She was laughing and filled with so much joy that she could not contain herself. She lives in Bangalore, so she IMMEDIATELY came to the office to collect it. She did not want to wait for us to courier it to her. She was so excited that she opened the letter right in the office. She has been called to serve in the India Bangalore Mission.
We all clapped our hands and cheered for her when she read the letter. She has not been able to erase the smile off her face since that day! She will be a very enthusiastic missionary. (Sorry, the picture is not good). How many people in Canada would give such an enthusiastic reaction to be called to serve in the mission in which one already lives? It wouldn't happen in Canada, but would we be just as excited to serve in the province next to us? These young people want to serve - anywhere. Many are called to serve right in the mission in which they reside. We need missionaries from India. We are so blessed to see such enthusiasm!
So, Sister Tiefebnach did something dumb! She can't remember what it was, but it involved Elder Bown (center). True to their nature, the elders whipped out the sign. Elder Bown got right into the spirit of it all.
We were blessed to have a quieter Saturday this week. For the past two weeks, we have worked at the office everyday, including Saturday and Sunday. We didn't mind going into the office to help President Funk, but it was nice to have a break this Saturday. We went shopping for groceries in the morning. In the afternoon, we had time to bake some chocolate chip cookies and BREAD!! Mmmmmm . . . homemade bread. This was the closest to the bread that Sister Tiefenbach makes in Canada. She is so blessed to have daughters who sent her some North American yeast. The yeast made all the difference in the world to the end product. The flour is a bit different in India, so that made a difference, too. But, this was SO close to the bread back home. Sister Tiefenbach was even able to bake both loaves at the same time. She is blessed to have a gas oven in this apartment, although it made the apartment a LOT hotter than it already was. Who bakes when the temperature outside is in the high 30's anyway??? It is all for blessings!
Elder Tiefenbach is blessed to teach the youth Sunday School class each week. He is remembering all their names, so that is always a positive sign. They are responsive to his questions, so that is another good sign. Some of the youth in his class are not members. All the girls in the back row are members.
We had another missionary, Elder Prakash, come to Bangalore to serve for a while. He is serving with Elder Solomon and Elder Aeshamalla. Welcome Elder Prakash. We are blessed to serve with Elder Solomon. He blessed the Sacrament today, which he often does. Both Elder Aeshamalla and Elder Solomon do a wonderful job. We noticed this week that when Elder Solomon blessed the water, we felt an added measure of the spirit. Elder Solomon is truly a humble, spiritual elder.
We are blessed to know many people in India. We are becoming more familiar with the people in our branch. Our branch is very small, with Sacrament meeting attendance around 45. Most of the women serve in Primary or Young Women, so unfortunately, getting to know them is taking a little longer. Here is the the Sunday School president and his family going home after church.
SO, you may be wondering about the lost passport! And, how was that a blessing? Well, it involved Elder Smoot. Yep! Our good friend Elder Smoot had a very big problem. This is a long story, but we will try to make it as short as possible. Four elders flew to Hyderabad last Thursday for an appointment with the American Consulate to apply for 2nd passports (it all has to do with going to the Philippines to get a visa for the second year of their missions). So, Sister Tiefenbach called the four elders MANY times to make sure they took all their paperwork with them and to make sure they knew the times of their flights so they wouldn't miss their flights (which occurred TWICE with the last batch of missionaries). Elder Smoot had his paperwork in a folder, went on the plane, put the folder in the pouch in front of him . . . well, you have guessed correctly. The folder did not make it off the plane. The folder had all his documents, including his passport, that he needed for his appointment the next afternoon. Around 5:00 Thursday evening, Sister Tiefenbach answered the phone. It was Elder Smoot. He said, "Sister Tiefenbach, this is Elder Smoot; don't kill me." Sister Tiefenbach immediately put her head in her hand. "What now?" she thought. He proceeded to tell her of his predicament. ("At least he made his flight!" she thought. But, that would have been a more simple problem to solve.) He also did not have a driver's license because it had been stolen a while back, so he couldn't even get into the Embassy to explain his lost passport. A person must have government issued ID to get through the gate. Security is TIGHT. Sister Tiefenbach told him to check with the airline, and that we would figure something out. While he was doing that, Sister Tiefenbach received a phone call from a doctor who sat in the same seat as Elder Smoot when the plane flew on to Mumbai from Hyderabad. The doctor found the documents. He realised the importance of the documents and called the number that was found on some of the documents, which was Sister Tiefenbach's office number. We talked about a few possibilities for getting the documents. In the end, this doctor saw another doctor friend of his who was flying from Mumbai to Hyderabad, so he gave his friend the documents to take back to Hyderabad. We got all the phone numbers of these doctors, and we called Elder Hatch (missionary couple in Hyderabad). Elder Hatch went to the airport to meet this second doctor to get the documents. By 10:00 that night, Elder Smoot had all his documents in his hand. This was a miracle! The Lord's hand was so obvious in this. This was the great blessing in the lost passport. The next day, Elder Tiefenbach thanked Elder Smoot for the opportunity to have such a spiritual experience in witnessing a miracle. Thank you Elder Smoot (we think).
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