Flying in India

The days, weeks, and months seem to fly by. Elder Rees' arrival from the States seemed to be in the distant future not long ago, but all of a sudden, it was upon us. He arrived on Wednesday morning at 4:30 a.m. as all our American missionaries do. He arrived by himself, as the other missionaries that were supposed to arrive with him were waiting for visas or OCI (overseas citizen of India)  identification. That morning he attended the orientation at the mission home and then arrived at the mission office for the final part of the orientation. Elder Tiefenbach went over financial information with him, and Sister Tiefenbach took his picture for the President's Board and completed several other tasks to complete his orientation. Elder Rees will be serving in Bangalore with Elder Coombs as his trainer.

As soon as we flew through the final tasks of the orientation for Elder Rees, we headed to our apartment to prepare for our flight to Coimbatore to submit our application for our second extension for our visa. Remember, we still have not received the first extension. Shortly after we arrived in Coimbatore, we handed in our paperwork and were told to come back next Thursday to sign the papers and finish the application. Needless to say, we were disappointed that we couldn't complete it at that time. We are somewhat frustrated with the whole process of getting our visas renewed so we can continue our service here. We feel that we have been flying a lot lately.

 But, flying can have some good points. We were able to see a beautiful sunset far above the clouds. It was really quite amazing! The clouds below us were very thick; it was like being in a different world, with us suspended in time and space. It was truly an opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate the wonderful creations of our Father in Heaven.






Thursday evening, we went to Brother Raja and Sister Sumanthi's house. The time between our visits with them seems to fly by, and we feel as though we have not been gone from them for very long. We surprised our driver, Augustine, with a birthday cake. We celebrated a day early. His birthday is on August 23, but this was the most convenient for us to give him a cake. Fortunately, we had all the ingredients in our Coimbatore apartment to make him this cake. He was very surprised. When we started singing "Happy Birthday," he thought it was for someone else. He was shocked when we said his name in the song. Even then, we don't think he really comprehended that it was for him.

Brother Raja and Sister Sumathi had company over for our visit. They were not members of the church, but they were planning to go to church on Sunday. We were happy to visit with them. Elder Tiefenbach had the opportunity to give one of them (far right) a blessing. She felt the spirit during the blessing and was grateful for it. Brother Raja participated in the blessing. This was the first blessing that Brother Raja helped with, and he was quite nervous, but Elder Tiefenbach coached him through it.

 Elder Mills (left) was our District Leader when we were in Coimbatore, and he is still the District Leader there. Since we were in Coimbatore, Elder Mills has been to the Philippines to renew his visa, and he returned to his former assignment. Time has flown by so fast since then, but we feel that because we still see Elder Mills in Coimbatore with the same assignment that time has stood still. Can time fly and stand still at the same time? Maybe, Einstein has some insights on that! Oh, by the way, neither Elder Mills nor Elder Stoll (right) actually wear glasses. They bought these non-corrective glasses (clear plastic with no prescription) simply to look more intelligent, we suppose. They have fun with it. Things like this makes the missionaries endearing to us.

While in Coimbatore, we were able to visit with some of the members in the Family History Center. Here are Sister Shanti Arul (branch president's wife and our good friend) and Sister Deepa (another good friend). Sister Deepa, her husband (Brother Reynald), and their children are preparing names to take to the temple. They will be going to the temple next week-end to be sealed as a family. They have prepared for this day and are so excited to be an eternal family. The time has certainly flown by since they fist told us that they were preparing to go to the temple.


Here are Brother Reynald with one of his children and Brother Suresh Jayasingh. Brother Suresh and his family are also going to the temple for the first time. They will be travelling with Brother Reynald and Sister Deepa. Families in India make great sacrifices to go to the temple in Hong Kong, which is the nearest temple to them. We will be so happy when India gets its own temple. Having a temple in India will allow the saints in India to attend the temple more often so they can enjoy the blessings of the temple more abundantly in their lives.


 We went for lunch at a restaurant called Little Italy. We were the only customers there at that time. We had been to this restaurant a couple of times for our evening meal. They make great bruschetta! We were flying on the wings of love.

We also visited with Sister Radha (left) and her family. Her daughter, Priya, is getting married on November 7 to Brother Rangaraj. They will go to the temple a week later to be sealed as husband and wife for eternity. The whole family is excited about the upcoming marriage. We attended Sister Priya's baptism shortly after we first arrived in Coimbatore. How time flies!






Sister Divya, daughter-in-law to Sister Radha, is expecting her child in a few weeks. This will be her second child. We don't understand how she can sit on the floor when she is pregnant, but she seemed to be quite comfortable.

We were quite busy while were in Coimbatore. At times, we felt that we were indeed flying from one thing to the next. While we were "flying" from one appointment back to our apartment, we stopped in have a look at the room Augustine (our driver) is building. Currently, he is sharing an apartment with one of his sisters. The apartment is located on the top floor of a house owned by a different sister. That sister wants to rent out the top apartment to someone else once the other sister moves out. So, Augustine is building a 10x16 room on some property that he owns. We are happy for the progress he has made in his life since we first met him.

We have two sets of Sister missionaries in Coimbatore. They are always a delight to see. Sister Peddinti (second from the left) is a "greenie." She returned from the Manila MTC at the end of July. She is a sweet missionary and is excited with her first assignment. Sister Dhikao (second from the right) is always thrilled to see us. They are seeing great success as they work together. Sister Peddinti's English has improved a lot since we first met her a little over a month ago.



Ahh, and then we have Sister Punitha and Brother Amalaraj, our good friends. We continue to be impressed with them, and we love to visit them. They are gracious hosts, and we always have great conversations with them.They are adapting well as their son is serving a mission in Delhi. We are grateful for good friends in Coimbatore.







President and Sister Berrett were visiting Erode Branch on Sunday, so we caught a ride with them when they returned to Bangalore. Their driver, Sampath, drove to Coimbatore to pick us up after he dropped President and Sister Berrett off in Erode. Riding in a car to Bangalore gave us a different view of India than flying high above the clouds. We drove through some very picturesque areas of India on our trip to Bangalore. Sampath drove VERY fast at times, weaving in and out of traffic. At times, we are sure we were indeed flying. A couple of times, we stopped to take in a wonderful view and to take a picture. We loved the splashes of colour of the Hindu temple peeking through the dark, green trees. 

We may have been flying along the highway, but we took a moment to view the splendor of the setting sun. We commented several times on this trip that we often are amazed as we realize that we are on the other side of the world from our home. We are actually here - in India - seeing the sun set IN INDIA. This is truly amazing.

 We have been flying in an airplane, and we have been flying down the highway. But the greatest flying that we can ever do is when we "wait upon the Lord," for we "shall mount up with wings as eagles; [we] shall run, and not be weary; and [we] shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31). As we soar on eagles' wings, we shall truly see and understand the love that our Heavenly Father and the Savior have for us.