By the way, did we mention that he really likes the cakes?
We are not sure what we are going to do without him. Who is going to volunteer to clean up after the cake is gone? Elder Smoot really takes his cleaning assignment seriously, and as you can tell he puts all his effort into doing a great job.
After the District Meeting, we had Elder Smoot and his companions, Elder Justesen and Elder Samaria, over to our place for hamburgers. Elder Smoot had not had a hamburger since he came to India. He really appreciated the lunch. Does there seem to be a theme going on here with Elder Smoot?????
On Monday evening, we went to Brother Suresh and Sister Shanthi's home for Family Home Evening. We enjoyed our visit with them. We taught them lesson 3 of Preach my Gospel, which is The Gospel of Jesus Christ. This was done as part of the new member discussions. We are late in teaching that particular lesson. We had several appointments set with them, but Brother Suresh kept getting called into work, so we had to cancel. We were able to keep the appointment on Monday. We love to see newly baptized members progress so well in the gospel. Brother Suresh's father was visiting that day. We tried so hard to get Sister Shanthi to smile. She always smiled right after the picture was taken. She has such a wonderful smile. 
We often have a fun time by simply watching what is happening outside our balcony window. We have been watching the progress of the painters as they worked on this house since last week. They were putting the final touches on. From what we could tell, this was a husband and wife team that was hired to paint this house (husband on the left; wife on the right). All the painting was done with a brush. This house likely houses more than one family. Often, the house owner lives on one of the floors and rents out the other floor(s).
On Friday night, we had an Elder's Quorum/Relief Society activity. The Elder's Quorum presidency taught a lesson about the lds.org website. After a demonstration, we were divided into groups. Each group was to use the website to find an article on the topic of "Love Thy Neighbour" as a basis for a short talk. We were to use two quotations from the article, one experience from one of the members of the group, and one experience from the article in the small talk. 
Then, one member of each group was to give the talk. This is Sister Shanthi (the same one as above). We were so pleased with her because she gave the talk in English, mind you, she simply read the talk, and she probably didn't understand everything she read, but this is a great step for her. She wants to learn English so badly. We could tell that she was very pleased. Her husband was beaming! He was so proud of her.
Of course, food was part of the activity. The church is the same everywhere. Food is always a part of getting together. This is typical of the type of food that is served at church activities (and is typical of the type of food that is served to us when we go to people's homes). The larger portion here is parotta (often spelled barotta), made from maida (white flour). At the top of the plate is idly, which is made from rice flour. Different "sauces" are served with these: dahl, coconut chutney, sambar, and something else that we can't remember.
Today, we went to Erode. Elder Tiefenbach gave a talk in Sacrament meeting, and Sister Tiefenbach taught a family history lesson in Sunday School. The traffic was heavier than the last time we went, so it took us a little longer. We were a bit rushed because we had to be back in Coimbatore by 3:10 to teach a temple preparation class. Consequently, we did not have the opportunity to talk with many members there today. We made it back just in time for the class. Then, Sister Tiefenbach did music time in Primary. After the meetings in Coimbatore, we stayed for a practice for a choir that Sister Tiefenbach is conducting and for a training meeting for all the branch presidencies in the District that Elder Tiefenbach attended. Many people were at the church while the choir practiced and the training was going on. It was like a big family reunion or party. Here we have (left to right) Sister Shanthi (different one from above), Brother Akash, and Sister Christie (District President's wife).
This is Sister Punita, one of Sister Tiefenbach's good friends. She and Sister Tiefenbach have many things in common, although Sister Punita is MUCH younger than Sister Tiefenbach. Sister Punita is Brother Akash's mother.
Sister Gigi and Brother Paramesh are engaged and will be married on March 6. This is the reason for the choir practice. Sister Tiefenbach was asked if she would get a choir together and have the choir sing for the wedding. They will be married at 5:00 p.m., will have the reception and dinner at 6:00 p.m., and will fly to Hong Kong later that night so they can be sealed in the temple.
We might as well add a baptism to all the activities that were going on this evening at the church. Brother Shan was baptized by Elder Sambaria.
We often enjoy taking random pictures of the streets of Coimbatore. This is a good view of a typical pharmacy in southern India. This picture shows clearly that the counter is right on the street. A customer simply walks up to the counter and asks for whatever it is that s/he needs. One does not even have to open a door and walk through aisles of merchandise to get his or her prescriptions. It is defintely different from pharmacies back home. Because we don't walk into the store, there is no browsing. One asks if they have a product one is interested in.
This is a typical street in Coimbatore. It shows all the tiny shops lined up on the street. When we first arrived here, scenes like this looked so different and strange from home; now this looks normal to us. We have begun to think that things don't look so different from home.
We were very busy this week and worked hard, but we also tried to find the fun in all that we did. Let us all remember that the Lord has said that He sent us here "that we might have joy."
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