Is Christmas in Bangalore Different from Christmas in Hawaii?

We are sure Christmas in Bangalore is different from Christmas in Hawaii, but they both share the lack of snow. As we were walking in the grounds around our apartment, we found it hard to believe that it was Christmas. The grass was green; the trees were green, and the birds of paradise were still in bloom. Or, is the term bird of paradises???? Hmmmm . . . We think we asked that question before.






We were in the mall and saw many signs of Christmas: the mall was brightly decorated with Christmas decorations hanging from the ceiling, a huge Christmas tree, and lights. Christmas carols were being played over the sound system throughout the mall. That part seemed much like home; the difference between here and home is that no one was ladened with heavy coats, scarves, hats, and boots. That part - the lack of coats, scarves, etc. - is similar to Christmas in Hawaii.











The mall had a Christmas train running on the lower floor. Look out little girl!!!! The train is coming toward you!!! Now, a great story would be that Elder Tiefenbach put on his hero cape and rushed to the aid of the little girl, quickly whisking her away in the nick of time. That would be a great story, but it did not happen. The girl moved out of the way by herself, but the story conjures up a wonderful image. Picture Elder Tiefenbach with his red cape flowing behind him as he swiftly, but gently, pushes through the crowd of people to reach the little girl. Ah . . . that would be a grand sight. Never mind, Elder Tiefenbach will always be a hero in Sister Tiefenbach's eyes. This is the point where our children and grandchildren are rolling their eyes!

The outside of the mall was beautifully lit up, as well. All our readers who are real sleuths will see that the dates on the pictures of the mall were taken AFTER Christmas. We didn't make it to the mall before Christmas because we were extremely busy at the office, and we spent the weekend before Christmas in Coimbatore. We bought a few things in Coimbatore, and then we didn't have time to do any shopping until we were on our way home from the office on Christmas Eve night. We stopped by the small grocery store within the compound where we live, and we finished our shopping there. Hmmmm . . ., what can we buy each other at the grocery store??? Obviously, we didn't pay much attention to gifts this year.

We spent Christmas Eve afternoon at the mission home where President and Sister Berrett hosted a wonderful Christmas devotional for our zone. They have been travelling throughout the mission hosting Christmas devotionals for all the missionaries in each zone. They must certainly be exhausted from their hectic travel schedule. The devotional was both spiritually motivating and physically and emotionally uplifting. Here we have (left to right) Elders Pilli, Veera, Gottipati, and Stevens.




 Elder Pydimala is always having fun. Here he is enjoying Santa with Elder Vaddi.













Elder Dondipati (left) is one of the missionaries we prepared to begin his mission by getting his visa, arranging his flights, and sending him his mission call. All the mission calls come to our office from Salt Lake City, and then we send them to the future missionary. Elder Dondipati is now a district leader; he is doing so well on his mission, and we are thrilled. He is a great missionary. Elder Bean, next to him has been recently assigned to Bangalore. He was a missionary in Coimbatore when we first arrived there, so we have fond memories of working with him. Next to him, we have Elder Sarkies and Elder Manidhar.

Here we have Elder Rees and Elder Singh. The hat looks great on Elder Rees. Don't worry, he did not wear it during the spiritual part of the devotional. Elder Singh will be heading home in the middle of January.









Here we have Elder Yardley (middle) and Elder Newbill visiting with a former missionary. His wife is out of town, so President and Sister Berrett invited him to join us. You can see Elder Mills on the far right of the picture. He will be going to Coimbatore tomorrow (Monday). We will miss him in the office. We have enjoyed working with him. He is easy to work with and is always eager to help in any way we need assistance.




Elder Mills was sitting in the empty chair here, but he got up and left just as I was about to take the picture. He didn't leave intentionally at that time; he was not aware that I was taking a picture. In the back, we have Elder Ravi and Elder Anderson. Elder Anderson seems to be enjoying Bangalore. We had another special guest at our devotional; the sister on the right was recently baptized, so the Berretts invited her, as well. She enjoyed the fellowship. Of course, Elder and Sister Smith enjoyed themselves.




Elder O'Dell is way in the back in this picture. We all received gifts from President and Sister Berrett. AND, we also received Krispy Kreme donuts that were brightly decorated with Christmas designs. They were yummy!










On Christmas Eve, we made sure that our stocking were hung by the "chimney with care in hopes that Saint Nicolas soon would be there." Well, okay it wasn't a chimney, but it worked just as well. We don't have chimneys in India. We were a little worried about that and wondered how Santa would get into our apartment. We checked our stockings on Christmas morning, and Santa indeed had visited us. We thought maybe he might stay too long in Hawaii enjoying the sun there and forget about us in India. But, Santa would NEVER do that!

Elder Tiefenbach received a new pair of slippers to wear around the house. His old ones were completely worn out.











Sister Tiefenbach received a new cake pan. Without the free standing stove and oven she had in our previous Bangalore apartment, she could no longer make 9x13 size cakes in the microwave/convection oven. She had no cake pans to fit. Now, she can bake to her hearts delight - and to the delight of all those who get to share in the cake. What flavor should she bake first? The choices are chocolate, carrot, or banana. Hmmm.... Does anyone have any advice?












She also received some beautiful bangles. They will go wonderfully with her traditional Indian dress. Elder Tiefenbach received another gift from Sister Tiefenbach: a treat for him to eat with his breakfast.











Elder Tiefenbach's new tie is from the Berretts.













Sister Tiefenbach received a beautiful scarf from the Berretts.


















For our Christmas morning breakfast, we had back bacon, scrambled eggs, juice, yogurt drink, some fruit, and toast. We enjoyed it.











Shortly after breakfast, we headed over to Smith's apartment, where they and we hosted a Christmas dinner for all the missionaries in Bangalore and the Berretts. Here, we have some very eager missionaries waiting for the meal to start: (left to right) Elders Anderson, Veera, Kullai (we missed a picture of him at Berretts), Gottipati, Pilli, and Singh.






Elder O'Dell and the Berretts seemed more patient. Oh, there is part of Elder Peck (we didn't get a picture of him at Berretts, either).











Here the missionaries are pretending to be patient as they wait for the food! Elder Anderson became engrossed in a book call The Hindu Child. He enjoyed learning a few things about the Hindu religion.

At long last the food was ready. The missionaries eagerly partook of the food. We had chicken (although it looked like white turkey meat), stuffing (LOTS of delicious, wonderful stuffing), potatoes, gravy, pickles, buns (rolls if you are American), and vegetables. It was so, so, so good!

Elder Ravi and Elder Anderson dug right into the food. Elder Ravi was so enthusiastic about eating, he flung his tie back over his shoulder so it wouldn't get in the way of his eating. Elder Anderson was a lot more conservative. He was the elder that was, let's say, more polite in his eating when he first arrived in India. He was a bit hesitant to eat with his hands, and he seemed somewhat awkward in his first attempts when he arrived six months ago. Luckily, we provided utensils for our Christmas dinner.



And, here we have Elder Peck! Need we say any more?????? We love him. We told President Berrett that he should never put Elder Peck and Elder Mills together as companions. He agreed! They would have an absolute blast!










Elder Kullai heaped his plate up very well. All the missionaries were filled. We were happy.












Elder Newbill couldn't help but proudly display his plate.

Christmas day came to an end, and we got back to work the next day. We had no boxing day to sit around the house and relax. It was a good thing, too, because Elder Anderson needed to come to the office (along with his companion, Elder Pilli) to pick up his debit card. The long awaited debit card had arrived. Now, Elder Anderson could buy food! Don't worry; he didn't go hungry. Elder Tiefenbach gave him cash to tide him over until his card arrived.




What could be a better way to end the Christmas celebrations than with a baptism. The Whitefield Branch had a baptism today. A young man, Kumar Raj, and Joseph Felix and his family were baptized. This was a wonderful way for Elder Mills to end his time in Bangalore, as he was able to perform one of the baptisms. Elder Rees was delighted to perform one of the baptisms, as well.





This was a great Christmas. We were able to Skype and Facetime with our children and watch our grandchildren open some of their presents. What a great joy we experienced with that. We have been blessed with the technology to reduce the distance between us. We were also happy to experience a Christmas that held some similarities to the Christmas experienced by the Ram family in Hawaii. We experienced a Christmas with no snow, and we also shared in the same turning of our hearts more intently to the purpose of our celebrations. Let us rejoice in our shared knowledge that while Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem, "she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was not room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7). Let us share in the hope of the angel's announcement: "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people. for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10, 11).