Tearful Good-bye and Joyous Reunion

We returned from our wonderful trip to Goa the night of March 4th, and we flew to Chennai early in the morning on March 5th. After arriving in Chennai, we went to the bank to take care of some payments from our trip and then made our way to the Undersecretary of State office to get an exit permit so we could leave the next night. This was a VERY stressful time for us. We arrived before the office opened. We wanted to make sure we would be able to get in right away because we knew the process would take a long time. True to our suspicions, we spent about three hours at the office trying to get the required paperwork to leave India. Here is Sister Tiefenbach patiently waiting outside the office for it to open.

Well, we never did get an exit permit, but they eventually gave us a return visa, after a lot of persuasion and "discussion." Let us say that we were quite assertive and insistent in our "discussion." In the end, maybe just to get rid of us, they said they could give us a return visa, which would allow us to leave the country and return once within 90 days. The reason for the difficulty is that because we have an "X" visa and were in the process of renewing the visas, the state government did not have authority to grant an exit permit. Only the central government had the authority. As we waited for the office to open, we saw the police getting ready for their duty on the grounds that day.

Once we received our return visa, we were able to change our return ticket to an earlier flight so we could get back to Bangalore before Krista and Danny left for Canada. We were happy to be able to see them off for their flight home. On Thursday, we said our final good-byes to all the wonderful people we worked with in the office. This was difficult for us. If you notice, Sister Tiefenbach looks very teary. Elder Tiefenbach, too, was sad, but his tears did not flow as readily as those of Sister Tiefenbach. We were blessed to have worked with Shajan with the finances. He is a quiet, dedicated man. We shall miss him.

Sreedhar Sirigris (the former Elder Sirigris) was a great addition to the upstairs office. We loved seeing him everyday.

Sister Tiefenbach worked closely with Sunil and Judy. They have both been knowledgeable and helpful with many of the questions we both had when we first began our assignment in the office. We have been so blessed to have worked with so many great people. We have certainly been spoiled by being surrounded by strong, dedicated friends to help us in our own work. Unfortunately, we were not able to get pictures of other friends who work upstairs. We also appreciate their friendship and help.

Shankar fast became a good friend. He was always willing to help us in whatever we needed. The mission is blessed to have someone with so much integrity working in the office. He is a true friend, and we shall miss his cheerful smile. Those tears are really flowing now.








Sampath, the mission president's driver, is also a valued friend who was willing to help us. He seemed to know everyone, which came in handy so many times when we needed connections.

The Smiths fast became good friends. We were so sad to be leaving them. We went on several outings with them and enjoyed their company immensely. Once the office moved to the Whitefield area, they came to the office only twice a week, and we missed our daily contact with them. They have worked hard with many humanitarian programs in the area. We enjoyed seeing the excitement they had for the work they did.




We are grateful to the Loewers for agreeing to change their assignment to come serve in the mission office as our replacements. The were willing to do whatever the Lord needed done in the mission. Despite the hard work and the long hours associated with the office, they will find joy in the service they give there.








Because the Loewers' training for the office was interrupted for 10 days, President Berrett brought in two missionaries to help out in the office. We trained the elders, and they then finished the training with the Loewers. We loved working with Elder McDonald and Elder Veera.








This last good-bye was the hardest to do. Working with President and Sister Berrett was a fantastic experience. We can't say enough good about them. Unfortunately, Sister Berrett wasn't in the office the last day we were there. But, our final good-bye to her was also tearful. They were so easy to work with, just as President and Sister Funk were. Our lives have been blessed by their great examples of dedication as they gave selflessly of themselves to serve the Lord. They were so good to us and supported us in so many ways. They listened to us and genuinely valued our thoughts and opinions, a hallmark of great leaders.

After saying our good-byes, we went for a final shopping trip. We needed to buy another suitcase for our trip home. We are grateful that we did this because we were able to say good-bye to our auto driver, Baskar. He also was helpful to us and got us to wherever we needed to go.









We took time for one last sentimental reminder of our stay in our Whitefield apartment.

We are ready for our taxi to take us to the airport. Surprisingly, packing went quite quickly. The purple one on the far end is our new one.

Gowda drove us to the airport, so we were able to say a proper good-bye to him. Thanks Gowda for all you did for us. You were a wonderful and safe driver.









We got through immigration at the Bangalore airport with a bit of difficulty and stress. The authorities didn't really know what a return visa was. They asked for some supporting documentation such as a police clearance letter, which we happened to have. But, alas it was written in Tamil. We were directed to a different desk, and fortunately someone there could read Tamil. We were then directed back to the original immigration desk. After about 15 minutes of being at the immigration desk(s), we were finally given a stamp in our passport that would allow us to leave India. We were relieved that the whole process was over. Our daughter and granddaughters, who were waiting on the other side of the immigration desks were also relieved. Our first stop on our way home was in Frankfurt where we had only an hour layover. We rushed through the Frankfurt airport with no time to spare to catch our next flight to Toronto. Here is Elder Tiefenbach relaxing in the Toronto airport, on Canadian soil, but still far from home.



But, wait! There is the sign! Home is getting closer.

What a wonderful sight at the airport. It was so good to see everyone.

Now, that is a great looking group! In some ways, it all seemed unreal. Sister Tiefenbach was busy hugging all the daughters and grandchildren, then she came to her youngest son and, in proper missionary style, held out her hand to shake hands with him. Woops!!!! He is her son; she can give him a hug. She was embarrassed and she withdrew her hand and gave him a big hug. When we arrived at our house, it looked so different.

The next day, we went to the temple with most of our family. That was a wonderful blessing. We love the temple. By the next Thursday, we received callings as temple ordinance workers. We were thrilled to be serving in the temple once again.









After the temple, we all met at our house for a turkey dinner. Yummy!!!!


















It was noisy and busy! What a great feeling. The food was great, and being together was exciting. Here are some of the our family members filling their plates with food. Life can't get much better than attending the temple with one's children and then having a feast with them afterwards.








Everyone loved their Indian clothes we brought back for them.

This picture was taken a few weeks later when we were visiting our daughter. We did not get a picture of the parents.

We are also missing a picture of our son and his family because our daughter-in-law had to leave before we handed out the clothing.



After the festivities, some of the family went outside to play in the snow. SNOW!!!! We don't like the snow, but somehow it was warm and comforting that day. Likely, the snow itself did not bring the feelings of warmth and comfort but rather seeing our family together brought those feelings. Our feelings of joy and peace come from our knowledge of the role of families in our Heavenly Father's great plan of happiness. We are greatly blessed to have the fullness of the gospel restored so we can have a greater understanding of the Lord's plan. His plan of happiness is centred on our Savior, Jesus Christ, and his atonement. What joy we feel for his precious gift that allows us to repent so we may return to our Father in Heaven. At this time of year, we shout for joy as we ponder upon the atonement and the resurrection of the Savior. Through his resurrection, we know that all people will be resurrected. Through his atonement, we know that we may receive exaltation, on condition of our repentance and obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

This will be our last blog for the mission we served in India. We hope you have enjoyed reading about our adventures in the wonderful land of India; we have certainly enjoyed sharing our time with you. We leave you with a few scriptures that explain why we chose to serve the Lord by going to India for nearly two years: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16); and "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people that they might have everlasting life" (3 Nephi 5:13). Thank you to all the people we met and worked with in India. India and its people will be forever treasured in our hearts.

The Tour Continues: Goa

On Saturday, March 1st, Elder Tiefenbach, Danny, and one granddaughter went to the aquarium, while the rest of us went shopping. They took an auto to the metro station and then the metro to the aquarium.











Don't be fooled, these were not real animals. They were in an area outside the aquarium.

After they were finished with the aquarium, they joined us at the mall. Sister Tiefenbach, Carma, and Krista all bought purses. We ate lunch at Chili's and then went back to the apartment to get ready for our trip to Goa.

Goa was fantastic! After landing at the airport, we were driven by our hotel cab through the countryside toward the hotel. The airport is in the village of Dabalim just outside the city of Vasco  da Gamma. Our hotel was outside the city, so the drive to the hotel was picturesque.








We passed through a town on our way to the hotel; it may be the town that the hotel is in.

As we drew nearer to the hotel, we saw many beautiful homes. Many of them were nestled in the trees with lots of space between the houses. It reminded us of some of the summer "cottage" resorts in Canada.

We arrived at the hotel, the Radisson Blu, and began the registration process. The registration area was beautiful. It had a roof but no walls. It was truly like a dream.









The rooms were separate from the registration area. Here we are walking to our rooms.













The rooms were in buildings that had about four guest rooms each, two on the bottom and two on the top.


















This resort was a beautiful, calm, carefree, peaceful paradise. It is definitely a place to go to get away from the hectic pace of the world. Many people from middle and eastern Europe come here during the winter to escape their cold season. We would love to come here every year, but we would have a lot more travelling to do to get here.

This is our first walk to the beach. It was about a five to seven minute walk to the beach. Subsequently, we walked a different route to the beach, walking through an adjacent resort. The path here was lined with beautiful flowers and plants.








Here is the Arabian Sea! Wow!  The sand was fine and light; the water was warmish; the waves were fantastic. We needed to pinch ourselves to make sure this was not a dream.










When planning for our Goa getaway, we opted for the beaches on south Goa. We were told that they were quieter, less busy, and cleaner (the North Goa beaches are not dirty - we were simply told that these ones were cleaner because they were less busy). If one is more interested in entertainment, etc. North Goa is apparently a more happening place. We were more interested in experiencing the tranquillity of Goa. Look at those waves behind us. How romantic!




We were able to watch the sun set on the Arabian Sea!












Here is Sister Tiefenbach trying to capture the setting sun. Perhaps she will put it in a bottle to take back to Canada so she can remember these wonderful times and keep her warm during the long, cold winters.
















Absolutely beautiful!














Although the sun had set, it was still fairly light out. On the way back to our rooms, we came across a wedding party that was on its way to the beach. The wedding celebrations were to last for three days at this resort. Here they are on their way to the actual wedding ceremony.

We walked back to our rooms through the adjacent resort and found a foot washing stand. Our feet were very sandy from walking on the beach.

 

This is the registration area from the side that faces the pool (backside).












We returned to the beach area later that night after we ate to see the Arabian Sea at night. Can you believe it? While we were there, we saw fireworks. What can be a better treat than watching fireworks on the shore of the Arabian Sea.

Here are Sister Tiefenbach, Carma, and Krista enjoying the sound of the waves as they roll to the shore.

The next morning, we made our way to the beach for a day of swimming and playing in the water. It turned out to be more playing than swimming. We loved to ride the waves. Here, we are fairly close to the shore. We found that the waves were more fun to ride a little further out (we were still very close to the shore). The waves right close to the shore line were breaking their crest so they were slamming against us quite hard. This was fun, too, but we loved riding the big waves more. We had to time our approach to the waves so they wouldn't break on us too soon. Sometimes, we didn't get to the wave in time, and it would break over us, throwing us back toward the shore. When we wanted to go back to our places on the sand, we would try to "run" back to the shore in between waves. We didn't always make it, and the waves would come crashing into us. What great fun! We laughed a lot that day.

 

On that day, we received a phone call from our friend in Coimbatore who was helping us with our application for an exit permit. He informed us that the office at Coimbatore could not grant us an exit permit. That news put a bit of a damper on our fun, but we decided that we simply needed to make plans to fly to Chennai on the 5th. The next morning, Carma, Krista, and the girls went to the pool to swim before we checked out of the hotel.




Good-bye, Goa. You were a place where we could truly relax and enjoy life.

We will have one more blog following this one to share with you with our final farewell to India and our arrival in Canada.

The creations of our Heavenly Father are truly magnificent. We are humbled and feel great gratitude for the wonders that he has created through his only Begotten Son, knowing that He created this world "that [we] might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25). We express gratitude to President Funk and President Berrett who supported us and encouraged us in our desire to take a few weeks at the end of our service in India to experience the beauties of other parts of India. Our tour has enlarged our appreciation and love for India. We have been overwhelmed by the love we have felt from all the people we have associated with while we were in India.