Pressures and Pleasures

What a week!!! We had transfers, missionaries leaving, and new missionaries arriving. Throw in some unexpected set backs, and we have the pressures of the week. The traffic always adds stress, especially on our way back to the apartment after we are finished our day at the office. The traffic with all the horns constantly honking passes us with only a few inches to spare as we dodge our way over the huge gaps, pieces of cement, and piles of rocks on the narrow, dusty sidewalk.



On Monday, our noisy, dusty walk back to our apartment was interrupted by a spot of sunshine as we met Elders Coombs (left), Ravi, and Vaddi. Even though we see Elders Coombs and Ravi everyday at the office, and we see Elder Vaddi often, our spirits were still brightened when we saw them walking that day. We took a few pleasurable moments to chat with them.

One way to deal with all the pressures is to get exercise. We continue to walk every morning, but in some ways that in itself is a pressure, as we get up early and walk fast. Despite our fast pace, we try to take pleasure in our beautiful surroundings. On Monday morning, the rising sun painted the clouds a peaceful pink, providing a beautiful background for the dark silhouettes of the trees.





The transfer flights began on Monday. We began receiving the elders transferred to Bangalore that evening. Unfortunately, one elder had a few problems at the airport. We always feel for the missionaries when they have problems. President Berrett decided that to avoid any other potential problems and pressures, the missionaries coming in the next day should dress casually. Elder Mills (kneeling) came wearing a green Hulk t-shirt. Elder Mattes was wearing a strange pair of shoes with toes. They looked like toe socks, but they were shoes, of sorts. We have to admit, we laughed out loud at them when they walked in. Elder Mills had "packed" his white shirt, and it was not presentable, so they improvised an ironing board and ironed shirts.

On Tuesday, we also received all the missionaries that were going home. We had seven great missionaries completing their missions: (left to right) Elders Mattes, Vaiphei, Singh, Massey, Sommer, Nelapati, and Kullai. Having all the missionaries in the office gives both pressure and pleasure. The activity level certainly increases when we have an influx of missionaries, but we get a LOT of pleasure interacting with them. They are a great joy in our lives.



We served with Elder Vaiphei in Coimbatore. He is a dedicated, obedient missionary. We wish him well as he goes home in Manipar.











We also served with Elder Massey in Coimbatore. After he was transferred from there, and we were in Bangalore, he called Sister Tiefenbach to ask her to send him some cookies. So, because Elder Massey is Elder Massey, she baked some cookies and sent them to him.









The farewell dinner was held at the Marriott again. President and Sister Berrett have still not moved into the new mission home, and  the distance from the office to the mission home is very far, so we are holding the dinners at the Marriott instead of the mission home. This arrangement lifts a lot of pressure from Sister Berrett's shoulders, but the food at the Marriott is not as good as the meals that she prepares. Going to the Marriott was also a great source of pleasure for us after the EXTREME pressure-filled day we had. At about 2:30 in the afternoon, we found out that the elder who was supposed to fly to Hyderabad in preparation for his trip to the Philippines did not make his flight. When American missionaries' visas are close to expiring, we fly them to the Philippines where they are given a temporary assignment as they wait for their new visas to re-enter India. Well, this elder did not get on his flight to get him to Hyderabad. Yikes!!!! He thought his flight was on Wednesday. Yes, elder, your flight to the Philippines was on the 15th shortly after midnight. That means you need to fly to Hyderabad on Tuesday! What were we to do? The pressure of the day escalated to new heights! We did not want to cancel his international flight, so we started to look to see if he could catch a flight to a different city and then fly to Hyderabad from there. Nope!!! No flights times would work for us.


Then, Elder Coombs received inspiration. He suggested that we look into the possibility of hiring a cab to drive the elder from Rajahmundry to Vizak where he could take a plane to Hyderabad and catch his international flight. We set the plan to work. We knew things would be tight time wise. We called the Rajahmundry zone leader, Elder Alosias, who made arrangements for a cab to pick the elder up. Within five minutes, the cab had picked him up, and they were on their way. That was about 3:15 p.m. The trip normally takes about three hours. That did not really give us enough time because the flight was to leave Vizak at 5:55. We also knew that the airports close the gates for flights at about 45 minutes prior to the flight. Despite this, we made the flight arrangements and emailed the ticket to one of the district leaders, Elder Smoot, in Vizak. We told him to be at the airport by 4:30 and wait for the elder. We were in frequent contact with Elder Smoot and with the travelling elder. We told Elder Smoot to go to the Air India counter on the outside of the airport building to plead our case. He showed them the ticket and explained the situation. They agreed to keep the gate open until 5:30 for the elder. Well, 5:30 came and went. Elder Smoot kept going back to the counter giving them updates as to where the elder was and to ensure them the elder was on his way and would be there. We are fortunate that this airport was cooperative with us. The elder arrived about five minutes before the flight was to leave. The authorities hurriedly ushered him through, and HE MADE HIS FLIGHT!!!! We all gave a sigh of relief and a prayer of thanks for this great miracle. Our travel agent was surprised and thankful that everything worked out for us. This was way too stressful, and the break at the Marriott was a welcomed relief!


Wednesday was a holiday for most people in India, but it was definitely NOT a holiday for us. Our day was busy and stressful. When we arrived home, we took time to admire the colouful drawing celebrating Pongal that decorated the floor in front of someone's door. We didn't see as many drawings here as we did in Coimbatore, largely because we don't walk through a residential area between our apartment and the office.





On Wednesday, we celebrated Elder Ravi's birthday. We didn't have time to bake him a cake, but we were able to buy him a cake from a shop in the Arcade (the mostly empty shopping mall that is within the Brigade compound).

















President Berrett, why are you looking so suspiciously at the cake??? Look, Elder Coombs has no problems with it. Go ahead! Dig in! 

On Thursday, Sister Matialagan (we know her as Pratheema) stopped by the office to do some final preparations for her mission. She will be serving in the Canada Vancouver Mission. We are SO excited about that. We would love to find out where she is serving when we get back to Canada. We don't know if we will be able to go all the way to BC to see her, but we would like to. She flies to the Provo MTC on Sunday night/early Monday morning. President Berrett is out of town, so President William will set her apart late tonight after he returns from the Coimbatore district conference.




Elder Mulampaka and Ravindran arrived back from the Manila MTC on Wednesday night and arrived at the office Thursday morning for their orientation before they go out to their first assignments. Elder Mulampaka will be serving with Elder Mills in Coimbatore, and Elder Ravindran will be serving in Chennai with Elder Taylor.






Friday was a quiet day. We were the only ones at the office in the morning. It was generally uneventful. We were grateful. Saturday was a very welcome P-day. We and the Smiths went to the Lalbagh Park to see the annual flower display. We had a great time. We left our apartment at about 9:30 and returned about 4:00 or 4:30. The park had wonderful displays of colourful plants and flowers. Elder Tiefenbach certainly looks good against the colourful background.




But, then Sister Tiefenbach looks great, too!!! All these plants are potted plants, and we think they were brought in specifically for this event. Neither one of us remember such beautiful plants the last time we were at this park. We came to this park the first time shortly after we arrived in India. Our memory of the park is that it was dry and brown looking. This is certainly not the case this time.

We saw a fire truck sitting outside one of the buildings. We don't know if it was there for display or there as a precaution. It is certainly not as elaborate as the fire trucks we see screaming down the streets in Regina. We have seen only one fire truck racing to a fire since we have been in India.







This is the part of the floral display we were waiting for. This is inside the Crystal Palace.

This is a the flag of India made of coloured rice.














The flowers were mounted on forms of different shapes. This was a fun part of the display. Sister Tiefenbach thinks that Elder Tiefenbach looks much better than the guy in the back with the big mustache!

This is the orchid display.



















This is the poinsettia display.
















Sister Tiefenbach thought this was  beautiful. We don't know what this is, but it looks great!













The last display we want to share with you contains a lot of familiar flowers: petunias, marigolds, larkspur, etc. It is always good to have reminders of the beautiful flowers we see every summer at home in Canada.









Now, what/who is older?? The 164 year old tree behind Elder Tiefenbach and Elder Smith or the combined ages of the two elders? The tree wins by a few decades.

The background to this picture is behind a short cement wall and is a part of the park that is in its more natural state. Or, we could say that it is in its more wild state, a fitting place for Elder Tiefenbach to show his "wild" side. Does Elder Tiefenbach have a wild side???







We were celebrities with the many school children who were at the park. A few of them asked if we could take a picture of them. Once a couple stood beside Sister Tiefenbach and Sister Smith, the rest swarmed in to take advantage of being photographed with two famous people. How lucky we were!








This picture is taken looking up the trunk of a Royal Palm tree.


















And, what floral display would be complete without a rose garden? This one is huge. The fragrance of the roses filled the air, making the world a fresh, clean, invigorating place.









We were also favoured by seeing some wild life at the park. The monkeys put on a great show for us. This man comes to the park everyday to feed the monkeys. They were very friendly to him. He spoke to them as though they were his children. The man put some food on his head, and this monkey reached down to take the food.  The man began to walk away, but the monkey saw some food left on the man's head. Realizing food was still available, the monkey reached out and grabbed the man's hair so he couldn't walk away. It was cute.










We saw quite a few hawks flying around. We think these are hawks. If any bird experts, like a couple of our grandsons, knows better, please enlighten us. We tried several times to get pictures of them with their wings spread wide as they came swooping in for a landing or as they began their flight, but we could never click the camera fast enough. We had to settle for the birds perched in the trees.






This is another hawk, we think, but it looks different from the other one. We need the help of our bird expert grandsons to identify these types of birds. We look forward to hearing from them.
















This tree was interesting. It looks like bricks were placed inside the tree to keep the tree standing. The trees in Bangalore are amazing. We wonder how old this tree is, and we wonder what stories they have to tell.















Here is another amazing tree. The branches spread out forever! The branches look bare, but they are not. Leaves grow at the tops of the branches, providing a delicate, lacey canopy. You can compare the size of the tree to Elder Tiefenbach and Elder and Sister Smith.









Again, we see another amazing tree. The trunks of so many of the trees are so big! The roots spread on top of the ground, giving the appearance of feet and legs. Trees give so much pleasure. They provide shade and clean air. They provide a sense of stability and belonging.















On one side of the park is a huge rock outcropping. The sun felt so much hotter here than down in the park amidst the trees. Again, we were celebrities.










This picture is for our son, Shayne! That is all we have to say.



















We are so thankful that we were able to spend the end of our week in a much more pleasurable way. As we view Bangalore from the top of the rock outcropping, we can reflect upon the many pressures, with one HUGE one, throughout the week. From this vantage point, we have a broader view of things, and the pressures seem to diminish. We know that Heavenly Father and The Saviour have a broader view, for "the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words (1 Nephi 9:6). Neal A. Maxwell expands on this and tells us that "God, who knows the beginning form the end, knows, therefore, all that is in between" (All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience [1997], 6-7).