The FIRST of the LASTS

This past week begins the FIRST of the LASTS. Well, in reality, we began our first lasts a while ago, but purposeful long drawn out lasts can become a burden and a bore to the recipients of the first of the lasts narrative. So, we will begin the first of the lasts this week. (This sounds a lot like "Who is on First?") This week was Elder Anderson's LAST full week before he goes to Chennai for his appointment with the USA Consulate to get his second passport in preparation for his trip to the Philippines to await his second visa for the LAST part of his mission. (Well, this sounds more like the first of the seconds of the lasts!) He was in the office on preparation day doing his email while his companion was playing basketball.

The newly arrived Elder Wigington did his emailing after playing basketball. This is his FIRST time for doing his emailing in the office. The missionaries no longer do their emailing at an internet café. They all go to the church building closest to them to use the computers there. But, when they are in the office, they can use our computers if we, the Smith's, and the assistants are not needing them.





This is the LAST setting apart of a new missionary in which Elder Tiefenbach will be assisting President William. Whenever President William sets a new missionary apart, he asks Elder Tiefenbach to assist. This has been a great joy and a wonderful honour for Elder Tiefenbach. The LAST elder for Elder Tiefenbach to assist with the setting apart is Elder Sundarrajan from Chennai.

Along with the LAST setting apart is the sending off of our LAST batch of missionaries. We have absolutely loved preparing missionaries for the MTC to begin their missions. Elder and Sister Pedely (brother and sister) are from Hyderabad, so their stake president set them apart. Here is our LAST batch: Sister Pedely (next to Sister Tiefenbach), Elder Pedely, and Elder Sundarrajan (next to President William). All three of these new missionaries had been attending BYU Idaho together (along with Sister Katuka from Delhi who will be joining them in the Philippines) and had already attended the temple. They are well prepared to begin serving the Lord. We love to see the excitement of new missionaries as they set off for their flights to the Philippines MTC. This LAST send off was a bitter/sweet experience. It was sweet because of the great feelings we experienced and the great relationships we developed with these young people in such a short time; yet it was bitter knowing that this is the LAST of such experiences.

This past week has been the FIRST week of training for Elder McDonald (left) and Elder Veera (right). Now, many of you will say, "Hold on! I thought you were training Elder and Sister Loewer." Well, you are correct. But, Elder and Sister Loewer had to travel to the States to attend the funeral of their son-in-law. That means they would be missing ten days of training, so Elder McDonald and Elder Veera were brought in to get trained. Elder McDonald is learning Sister Tiefenbach's responsibilities, and Elder Veera will take over in the finance office. They will then help the Loewers with additional training after the Loewers return. Next week will be the LAST week in the office for us.

This is likely the LAST sunrise we will see during our early morning walk in Bangalore. The sun will rise again - don't worry, but this was probably our LAST time walking in the morning. We likely will not walk next week because we have special guests staying with us next week. We have had a lot of smoke and other pollution in the air lately, which caused the rising sun to be blood red. This picture does not do justice to the colour of the sun.




These are our special guests!!!!! We were so excited to see our daughter, Carma, and two of our granddaughters. They arrived at 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning, but they didn't get out of the airport until an hour later. Picking up their luggage took forever!!! We were beginning to wonder if they were having trouble clearing immigration. We were about to call them, but Sister Tiefenbach suggested that we wait another five minutes before calling. A few minutes later, we spotted them! When they came out of the arrival doors to the outside of the airport terminal, Carma looked a little overwhelmed as she saw a sea of people standing behind the barricade, many of them holding signs to greet passengers. Luckily, we were right at the front and a little to their left, so they saw us quite quickly after her initial look of "Woa - how am I ever going to find my parents in all these people?" Sister Tiefenbach wanted to jump over the barricade to get to them faster, but she decided to do the right thing, and she ran to the end of it where she could get to them to give them hugs. Elder Tiefenbach wasn't too far behind Sister Tiefenbach. He can move pretty fast. This is likely the FIRST and LAST flight to India for our daughter and granddaughters. We think they look pretty good considering they had been travelling for 24 hours. This is definitely a new experience for them.

After an hour trip to our apartment, everyone was ready for bed. We reached our apartment between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m. We think they were definitely glad to be away from airplanes for a while. We get to do this all over again in less than a week when our daughter, Krista, and her husband, Danny, come to India. The LAST countdown will begin on Monday.







We wonder if this is the LAST time this chicken will cross the road. We wonder why it was wanting to cross the road. Whether it was this chicken's last time or not, we do not know. But, we know it was definitely the LAST time we will see this particular chicken. We saw this chicken while we were on our way to Coimbatore. Back track a bit: After sleeping for about three hours, we all got up, had breakfast, and got into the vehicle we had hired for our trip to Coimbatore.

This is the LAST time we will have to stop here for a bathroom break on the way to Coimbatore. We will likely stop there on the way back, though. Here we are waiting our turn to experience the unknown condition of this gas station bathroom. Let's just say that it wasn't great, but it could definitely have been worse. At least, it was a western style toilet. The girls would definitely had problems with an Indian style toilet.




This was the LAST time visiting the Amalaraj family in their home. This is a picture of all the girls.











The girls decided to let the boys join them for the next picture. Brother and Sister Amalaraj's son was not home when we visited them, so he is missing. We have become close friends with the Amalaraj family, and they are very dear to us. They are gracious hosts and true friends. We shall miss them, but we will have them in our hearts forever. We hope this will not be the LAST of our meeting with them, apart from seeing them eternally.





We attended church on Sunday, of course. Many people were surprised that we would be leaving for home shortly; they thought the time had gone by far too fast. We also are surprised that the time has passed so quickly. Both of us had the opportunity to say a few words in the 2nd Branch meeting, and Elder Tiefenbach was also asked to say a few words in the 3rd Branch meeting. We did not attend the 1st Branch Sacrament meeting because we thought two sacrament meetings was enough for the girls, considering their bodies had not yet adjusted to the change of time. This is a picture of Brother and Sister Abraham.

Sister Shanthi and Brother Suresh were SO sad that this would the LAST time seeing us. We loved working and visiting with them when they were investigating the church and after they were baptized. They have become eager learners of the gospel. Their children love being involved in primary and other activities. Saying good-bye was difficult. Sister Shanthi hugged Sister Tiefenbach so tightly! Brother Suresh gave Elder Tiefenbach a big hug, as well. We hope they will work hard to go to the temple where they can be sealed for the eternities.


Of course, saying good-bye to Brother Raja and Sister Sumathi for the LAST time was painful, as well. From the time they were baptized to the time we left Coimbatore, we visited them every Thursday (or an alternate day if Thursday did not turn out). We read scriptures, sang hymns, and shared testimonies, and they always fed us. They are so giving. We visited them last night, but Carma and the girls were too jet-lagged to go with us, so we did not take a picture of us together that night. We made sure we got a picture of them with our daughter and granddaughters. We have seen the Vargise family receive so many blessings since they joined the church. The windows of heaven have definitely poured out a blessing in such a great abundance that they do not have room enough to receive it. This is literal as well as spiritual. They bought a fridge. This is the FIRST fridge they have owned. Sister Sumanthi opened the fridge to show us, and her face lit up with excitement and joy as she shared this wonderful news with us. Their house is literally getting filled with blessings. What is absolutely wonderful about all these blessings is that they always acknowledge the source of these blessings. They are truly a humble family. They are preparing for the temple, and we await news from them for when they will be going.

The FIRST of the LASTS has prepared us well for our departure. We are so excited to see family members, and we are grateful for the great experiences we have had in India. Saying good-bye to people who have been part of our lives is difficult. We knew when we started our mission that we would have difficulty saying good-bye. The people in Coimbatore welcomed us into their lives with open arms, and they have loved us from the first time they saw us. They continued to love us when we were transferred to Bangalore. Saying good-bye was difficult for them because they know they likely may not see us again. We plan to attend the open house of the first temple in India when it happens, and we hope to see many of the saints from Coimbatore there where ever it may be, but we will not see everyone. Coimbatore is the FIRST place we fell in love with the people of India, and it is the FIRST place we began to say good-bye; it is the LAST time we will be in Coimbatore while serving in India. We also fell in love with the people in Bangalore, and we will say good-bye to them. They shall receive our LAST good-byes. In being our LAST, they will lead us into our FIRST step into our life at home. Thus, we see that "many that are FIRST shall be LAST; and the LAST shall be FIRST" (Matthew 19:30). (We expect that no one has ever interpreted that scripture in that way.)