So, does the title of our blog peak your interest? You may be wondering how something like that fits into our experiences here in India. Well . . . we will talk about that later.
Sister Smith made a wonderful rhubarb cake to share with us at the office. It was so good. She found rhubarb at a store called Food Hall at 1 MG Road. We are not sure how much it cost, but Sister Smith said it was very expensive. Elder Raja had never heard of rhubarb; neither had Elder Ram for that matter. Elder Ram is from Hawaii, and apparently they don't have it there. They loved it. We told them about when we were children and we carried around a small cup of sugar and dipped a stick of rhubarb in the sugar before we took a big bite of it. We couldn't do it now, but it is such a good memory. Sister Smith also brought ice cream because rhubarb cake MUST have ice cream.
On Friday, Sister Anushuya, arrived from Toronto. She served in Toronto for 17 months. Then, her passport expired. She wanted to complete a full 18 months, so she asked if she could finish her mission here; she is originally from Coimbatore. She will serve in Chennai. She definitely lost most of her Indian accent. Both Sister Tiefenbach and Sister Smith had to laugh a bit because the Assistants seemed a little awkward with her at the office. They had never done an orientation for a sister before. Once they got going, they were fine, but getting going was interesting (from our view).
We all went out for lunch at, where else, The Only Place. We had several reasons for a special lunch. First and foremost, we were celebrating Elder Raja and Sister Tiefenbach's birthday. They both have birthdays on June 1st. Elder Raja will be going home next week, so this birthday celebration had to be special. He ordered steak and eggs, the same as Elder Ram.
We also wanted to take Elder Solomon out for dinner before he left Bangalore. Yes, Elder Solomon is being transferred to Chennai. We are very sad about that. But, he will be a zone leader there, so we will get to see him once a month when he comes in for the Missionary Leader Council meeting. We have known about this transfer before he knew about it, and it was very difficult not to say anything to him about it. Elder Solomon (and his companion, Elder Prakash) had the philly steak sandwich. His other companion, Elder Aeshamalla had a liberty steak (we are not sure what that is, but it looked like steak, and it looked good).
A third reason for the special dinner is that we like to take the new missionaries out for lunch. Although Sister Anushuya is not a green missionary, she is new to our mission. She will be a great missionary.
This is Sister Tiefenbach and Sister Anushuya. It is amazing how quickly the missionaries develop close bonds with us and how quickly we feel close to them. We received an email quite some time ago letting us know she was coming, and we received a few emails from her. Maybe, it is this short communication that starts this bond. We don't know how it happens; we just know that it happens.
A final reason we went to The Only Place is that the food is good, and we have been wanting to take the missionaries there because they are great to be with. They are so appreciative of anything we do for them, and they are so eager to do anything for us that we need done. We have enjoyed working in the office with Elder Raja. Elder Kumar (our Elder Kumar from when we first arrived in Coimbatore) will be coming to Bangalore to be the other Assistant with Elder Ram. We are excited to be with him in the office. Elder Ram and Elder Kumar will be fun to work with. We are so blessed to work in the office and feel of the spirit in this great work.
On Saturday, we went to a place about 90 km from Bangalore, Sangam, with the Lingarajapuram Branch for a branch activity. In the drier season, like summer, it is a popular place to go swimming and to have a picnic. The place is full of wild monkeys. The monkeys particularly like all the people bringing picnic lunches. Let's just say that they don't necessarily ask before they take things. Those little critters steal whatever they can get their hands on. So, what about the pee, you ask? Well, shortly after we arrived, Sister Tiefenbach (of course it had to be her) was standing under a tree when all of a sudden it started raining - only on her and only on her head. Hmmm . . . Why wasn't anyone else getting wet? Monkeys were in the tree. Need we say more? A woman in the branch doused Sister Tiefenbach's hair with water to get her hair some what clean. Another member told her that according to Hindu tradition, she would be considered "honoured' to have been peed on by a monkey. The monkey is one of the Hindu gods. If you look really closely, you can see a few wet spots on the ground. This is the spot where it happened. Luckily, the weather was hot, and both Sister Tiefenbach and the ground dried very quickly. BUT, Sister Tiefenbach was not as honoured as Sister Smith. A short time after Sister Tiefenbach had her encounter with this great honour, Sister Smith was standing under the same tree, and . . . let's just say that what the monkey deposited on her was thicker and gooier. That is right!!! She was pooped upon. We, indeed, have interesting experiences here in India.
Sangam, as we said, is only 90 km from Bangalore, yet the trip out there took 3 hours. At least 1 1/2 hours of the travel was within Bangalore. We met at the church building at 7:15 a.m., but we didn't leave until about 8:30. The departure time was an hour late, mainly because the bus didn't come until that time. The people from India laugh and say, "You have to remember we work on Indian Standard time." Most of the members of the branch arrived before the bus came. Here Sister Tiefenbach and Sister Smith are waiting for the bus with the other members of the branch.
The women, especially the older women, wear sarees all the time, even for an outing where they will be stepping from rock to rock to cross the water or wading in the water. The building this branch meets in is a rented facility. To the right, out of your view, is the doorway to the church.
When the bus finally arrived, everyone piled in.
More people turned out than expected. So, what do you do when you have more people than seats on the bus? The answer is simple: bring in chairs from the primary room and put them in the aisle and at the front. Elder Smith was a gentleman and gave up his "comfortable" seat part way through the trip and sat on one of the primary chairs so a mother with a car-sick child could sit and hold the child on her knee.
On the way to our picnic spot, we passed through several villages. The villages are certainly different from Bangalore. We also saw farmers ploughing their fields. The fields are much smaller than the large fields that are common in Saskatchewan. One farmer was using a plough that was pulled by oxen (cows).
Sangam is a place where three rivers come together. It was not as lush as what we thought it would be. It was largely rocks with water in several spots. On the other side of the water, you can see sand, but it was not really a beach as we know beaches. Nevertheless, everyone seemed to be enjoying the water. We did not go into the water, but Elder Tiefenbach put his feet into the water. It was warm. Sister Tiefenbach got splashed by some children playing nearby, so she was also able to feel the warm water. It seemed strange to experience a river with warm water.
During the monsoon season, the river is much higher. The area where these women are sitting will be completely under water in a few months, if we get the usual amount of rain in this monsoon season. Swimming is not allowed during the monsoon season because the river is flowing so fast and is full of whirlpools. The trees in this picture have many monkeys hanging from the branches. Unfortunately, you can't see them. We couldn't get more pictures of the monkeys because our camera died.
The rocks were less than comfortable to sit on, and they were hot. The temperature was very hot, too, when we were out sitting on the rocks. The whole area behind us is rock. The rock in this place reminded us of Peggy's Cove, but this was not as spectacular. We used an umbrella to give some relief from the scorching rays of the sun. Sister Tiefenbach wishes she brought out the umbrella sooner - if you get the point!
Remember, swimming is not allowed during monsoon season because of the speed of the water as the three rivers rush together and the whirlpools that result from this confluence AND because of the . . . crocodiles. Yes, it is true. During the monsoon season, crocodiles live in these waters. We never saw any crocodiles. It would have been interesting, but . . . it was best that we didn't see any.
We end our blog this week with the baptism that occurred today. We are so happy that Elder Solomon was able to end his time in Bangalore with a baptism. These children are brother and sister. The boy is 14 years old. His parents are very supportive of them, and hopefully, the parents will soon join the church, too. This is their father. He seemed very interested in the talks, nodding his head in agreement several times.
The most exciting news we received this week was that the mission president and his wife, President and Sister Berrett, received their visas. We are SO happy. Things go so much better when the mission president is in the mission. Apparently, the visas were ready about two weeks ago, but no one informed Church Travel. When the word finally arrived, they quickly went to pick them up. The mission president's presence will make a big difference in the entire mission. Everyone is looking forward to working with him. We will be picking up the Berretts late tonight (midnight). We are so blessed to be led by such great leaders, such as President and Sister Berrett. We pray that the Lord will continue to bless the people of India as the gospel is taught in this land.
On Friday, Sister Anushuya, arrived from Toronto. She served in Toronto for 17 months. Then, her passport expired. She wanted to complete a full 18 months, so she asked if she could finish her mission here; she is originally from Coimbatore. She will serve in Chennai. She definitely lost most of her Indian accent. Both Sister Tiefenbach and Sister Smith had to laugh a bit because the Assistants seemed a little awkward with her at the office. They had never done an orientation for a sister before. Once they got going, they were fine, but getting going was interesting (from our view).We all went out for lunch at, where else, The Only Place. We had several reasons for a special lunch. First and foremost, we were celebrating Elder Raja and Sister Tiefenbach's birthday. They both have birthdays on June 1st. Elder Raja will be going home next week, so this birthday celebration had to be special. He ordered steak and eggs, the same as Elder Ram. A third reason for the special dinner is that we like to take the new missionaries out for lunch. Although Sister Anushuya is not a green missionary, she is new to our mission. She will be a great missionary.This is Sister Tiefenbach and Sister Anushuya. It is amazing how quickly the missionaries develop close bonds with us and how quickly we feel close to them. We received an email quite some time ago letting us know she was coming, and we received a few emails from her. Maybe, it is this short communication that starts this bond. We don't know how it happens; we just know that it happens.
A final reason we went to The Only Place is that the food is good, and we have been wanting to take the missionaries there because they are great to be with. They are so appreciative of anything we do for them, and they are so eager to do anything for us that we need done. We have enjoyed working in the office with Elder Raja. Elder Kumar (our Elder Kumar from when we first arrived in Coimbatore) will be coming to Bangalore to be the other Assistant with Elder Ram. We are excited to be with him in the office. Elder Ram and Elder Kumar will be fun to work with. We are so blessed to work in the office and feel of the spirit in this great work.On Saturday, we went to a place about 90 km from Bangalore, Sangam, with the Lingarajapuram Branch for a branch activity. In the drier season, like summer, it is a popular place to go swimming and to have a picnic. The place is full of wild monkeys. The monkeys particularly like all the people bringing picnic lunches. Let's just say that they don't necessarily ask before they take things. Those little critters steal whatever they can get their hands on. So, what about the pee, you ask? Well, shortly after we arrived, Sister Tiefenbach (of course it had to be her) was standing under a tree when all of a sudden it started raining - only on her and only on her head. Hmmm . . . Why wasn't anyone else getting wet? Monkeys were in the tree. Need we say more? A woman in the branch doused Sister Tiefenbach's hair with water to get her hair some what clean. Another member told her that according to Hindu tradition, she would be considered "honoured' to have been peed on by a monkey. The monkey is one of the Hindu gods. If you look really closely, you can see a few wet spots on the ground. This is the spot where it happened. Luckily, the weather was hot, and both Sister Tiefenbach and the ground dried very quickly. BUT, Sister Tiefenbach was not as honoured as Sister Smith. A short time after Sister Tiefenbach had her encounter with this great honour, Sister Smith was standing under the same tree, and . . . let's just say that what the monkey deposited on her was thicker and gooier. That is right!!! She was pooped upon. We, indeed, have interesting experiences here in India.
Sangam, as we said, is only 90 km from Bangalore, yet the trip out there took 3 hours. At least 1 1/2 hours of the travel was within Bangalore. We met at the church building at 7:15 a.m., but we didn't leave until about 8:30. The departure time was an hour late, mainly because the bus didn't come until that time. The people from India laugh and say, "You have to remember we work on Indian Standard time." Most of the members of the branch arrived before the bus came. Here Sister Tiefenbach and Sister Smith are waiting for the bus with the other members of the branch.The women, especially the older women, wear sarees all the time, even for an outing where they will be stepping from rock to rock to cross the water or wading in the water. The building this branch meets in is a rented facility. To the right, out of your view, is the doorway to the church.When the bus finally arrived, everyone piled in.
More people turned out than expected. So, what do you do when you have more people than seats on the bus? The answer is simple: bring in chairs from the primary room and put them in the aisle and at the front. Elder Smith was a gentleman and gave up his "comfortable" seat part way through the trip and sat on one of the primary chairs so a mother with a car-sick child could sit and hold the child on her knee.
On the way to our picnic spot, we passed through several villages. The villages are certainly different from Bangalore. We also saw farmers ploughing their fields. The fields are much smaller than the large fields that are common in Saskatchewan. One farmer was using a plough that was pulled by oxen (cows). Sangam is a place where three rivers come together. It was not as lush as what we thought it would be. It was largely rocks with water in several spots. On the other side of the water, you can see sand, but it was not really a beach as we know beaches. Nevertheless, everyone seemed to be enjoying the water. We did not go into the water, but Elder Tiefenbach put his feet into the water. It was warm. Sister Tiefenbach got splashed by some children playing nearby, so she was also able to feel the warm water. It seemed strange to experience a river with warm water. During the monsoon season, the river is much higher. The area where these women are sitting will be completely under water in a few months, if we get the usual amount of rain in this monsoon season. Swimming is not allowed during the monsoon season because the river is flowing so fast and is full of whirlpools. The trees in this picture have many monkeys hanging from the branches. Unfortunately, you can't see them. We couldn't get more pictures of the monkeys because our camera died.Remember, swimming is not allowed during monsoon season because of the speed of the water as the three rivers rush together and the whirlpools that result from this confluence AND because of the . . . crocodiles. Yes, it is true. During the monsoon season, crocodiles live in these waters. We never saw any crocodiles. It would have been interesting, but . . . it was best that we didn't see any.We end our blog this week with the baptism that occurred today. We are so happy that Elder Solomon was able to end his time in Bangalore with a baptism. These children are brother and sister. The boy is 14 years old. His parents are very supportive of them, and hopefully, the parents will soon join the church, too. This is their father. He seemed very interested in the talks, nodding his head in agreement several times. The most exciting news we received this week was that the mission president and his wife, President and Sister Berrett, received their visas. We are SO happy. Things go so much better when the mission president is in the mission. Apparently, the visas were ready about two weeks ago, but no one informed Church Travel. When the word finally arrived, they quickly went to pick them up. The mission president's presence will make a big difference in the entire mission. Everyone is looking forward to working with him. We will be picking up the Berretts late tonight (midnight). We are so blessed to be led by such great leaders, such as President and Sister Berrett. We pray that the Lord will continue to bless the people of India as the gospel is taught in this land.
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