Gifts to Warm the Soul

We began our week by travelling to Erode to do an inspection of the missionaries' apartment. Now, you may wonder how that can be a gift, but we will work it in some how. On the way to Erode, we saw this tree with numbers on it. We have no idea why this tree has numbers painted on it, but we found it interesting. This was a gift to us because we had something out of the ordinary to see on our way. The highway to Erode has improved dramatically since we first arrived in India. Most of the new highway is complete, and we had a nice smooth highway for most of the trip. That, indeed, was a gift. The first time we went to Erode, the highways were bumpy with many diversions (detours) that jolted the vehicle and consequently, our bodies. This trip was much more pleasant.

We arrived at the missionaries' apartment safely, and we found them smiling and cheerful, even when we gave them a list of things that they needed to do to get the apartment in shape. Elder Wadsack-Stewart (left), Elder Dharavath, Elder Nepali, and Elder Dondapati were excited to have us come to see them. Elder Tiefenbach fits right in with the young elders! Elder Dharavath and Elder Dondapati are two elders that we helped get ready to go to the MTC in the Philippines. We always enjoy seeing how "our elders" have progressed since they first came to our office prior to their departure to the MTC. Of course, we showed increased love to them after we gave them a list of things they needed to improve upon - we gave them a gift of cookies. They were thrilled with that gift. We also gave them an extra gift; we took them out for lunch to BoomBoom Chicken. They loved that, too. BoomBoom Chicken is similar to KFC, only better.

On the way from Erode back to Coimbatore, we saw clouds dressed in pink, green, and purple. Back home in Canada, we often see the beautiful sunsets and sunrises with wonderful colours lighting up the sky, but these colourful clouds were in the middle of the day. We do not know the exact cause of how this happens. Obviously, it has to do with the way the sunlight hits the particles in the air, but we are still amazed when every once in a while we see coloured clouds. This was not a rainbow. These were clouds. This was one of those surprise gifts that nature generously gives to those who look for them.


This was the car we used for our trip. Our Coimbatore driver, Augustine, arranged for a friend to drive us to Erode (and back). Augustine's car would not make the trip; it is getting quite old and would not be safe to travel long distances. The car was small, but it had air conditioning! The air conditioned car was a great gift.







We arrived back in Coimbatore late Monday afternoon. One of the fist jobs we had when we returned was to make two cakes that would be given as gifts. When we left Coimbatore for Bangalore, we took most of our baking items, such as baking powder, baking soda, etc. because we assumed we would not be doing any more baking in Coimbatore, but that proved to be an erroneous thought. We have done baking three times out of the last four times we have been in Coimbatore.



The first cake was given to the missionaries in the Coimbatore District as a treat for their weekly district meeting. The gift was enthusiastically accepted. On Sunday, the District Leader, Elder Pydimalla, invited us to attend the district meeting. Now, the question is whether they wanted us there because they value our input or because they were hoping for a delicious treat! Maybe, they had both thoughts in their minds.




As things turned out, we could not have the district meeting at the church because the church building and grounds had just been sprayed for SNAKES!!!! Yikes!!!!! We are SO glad we did not see any. That was a heaven sent gift for us. We suggested to the District Leader that they could hold the meeting in our apartment. They ran it through the approval chains, and we had the wonderful opportunity to have the district meeting in our apartment.


This was the last part of the meeting when the missionaries broke into two groups. The above picture shows Elder Pydimalla (back left), Elder Massey, Sister Jackson (front right), and Sister Amala (a newly arrived sister from Delhi). The second group (to the left) consisted of Elder Stoll, zone leader (left); Elder Watts, zone leader; Sister Dhikao, and Sister Peddinti. The missionaries enjoyed being in our apartment. But, as all good things must come to an end, we had to tell them it was time to for them to leave. Having the missionaries in our apartment was a gift to us, indeed.


We were invited to the home of Sister Alice (not shown in this picture) and Sister Nisha (right). Their mother and father came home from their work to make some food for us, and then they went back to work. They prepared a special meal for us without chili and without coriander. The absence of spice was a wonderful gift to us. We expressed our great appreciation for the consideration they showed us. Sister Sweetie (not her real name) was also with us. She is a cousin to Sister Alice and Sister Nisha.



Sister Alice is in this picture standing beside Sister Tiefenbach.












 After our meal, Sister Nisha picked some roses from their rose bushes and presented them as a gift to Sister Tiefenbach. The were beautiful pink roses, and they had a wonderful, light fragrance. We were sad that we could not take them with us when we flew back to Bangalore.

The second cake was given as a gift for a little boy's fouth birthday. He is the youngest son of Sister Shanthi and Brother Suresh. We still get confused at people's ages here. For example, we had to ask if this little boy was four complete or beginning his fourth year. He is beginning his fifth year, so they would say that he is now five, but in reality, he is four. Another interesting custom they have in Coimbatore (possibly all of Tamil Nadu) is that if the person is born after 12:00 p.m. (noon), his/her birthday will be celebrated the next day. If the person is born before noon, his/her birthday is celebrated on the day s/he was born.

Sister Shanthi (left) had invited us for supper (dinner) to their house. When we showed up at her house with a cake for her son, she insisted on inviting some of her neighbours. We had met these neighbours before, and we were thrilled to share this gift with them. They were so happy to have some cake with us.







Elder Tiefenbach bought some bangles as a gift for Sister Tiefenbach about a month ago. So many people in Coimbatore were thrilled that Sister Tiefenbach was wearing bangles. They love to see us participate in their culture. They were very surprised when she told them that people in Canada wear bangles. One of the first questions that many of the people in Coimbatore asked was whether or not they were gold. Sister Tiefenbach quickly let them know that they were NOT gold. She explained that gold would be way too costly. Elder Tiefenbach would like very much to buy a gold bracelet for Sister Tiefenbach, but Sister Tiefenbach is resistant to the idea.

Sister Tiefenbach received some very special gifts while we were in Coimbatore. Sister Lakshmi painted this cloth. It is truly beautiful. She is highly artistic and is hired by many people to do paintings on many mediums, including sarees. Sister Lakshmi does beautiful work.








Sister Lakshmi presented some egg shells that have been decorated with a type of clay as another gift.

She also presented a beautiful traditional painting as a gift for us. This entire painting was done with a sponge. The picture was painted directly on the back of the glass. The outline of the figures are done with a pen, but all the paint was applied with a sponge. The greatest gift that Sister Lakshmi gave us was her love. Each gift she gave was filled with her love for us. We shall treasure her love forever.





We returned to Bangalore on Wednesday night. The next day was Sister Smith's birthday. We didn't have time to make a cake for her, so we asked the elders to pick up a cake to bring to the office as a gift for her. It was delicious! It had a very thin layer of cake on the bottom, and the majority of it was a creamy mousse covered in a layer of chocolate. Now, that was a YUMMY gift that we as the gift givers were able to benefit from.

We shared the cake with others who work in the offices upstairs. The two other missionaries from Indiranagar Branch were also there. Hmmm..... Did they hear that cake was going to be served that day? Elder Ramaraj, Elder Ravi, President William (counselor in the mission presidency), Elder Prakash, and Elder Mills thoroughly enjoyed the cake(s). Oh, we didn't mention the plural form. Yes, we had three cakes all together. We were in the office beginning our work day when Elder and Sister Smith came into the office. They brought in two boxes with what looked like cake boxes. Sister Tiefenbach asked what they were. "Cakes for Sister Smith's birthday and our anniversary," Elder Smith replied. The expression on Sister Tiefenbach's face was a dead give away that she had already made plans for Sister Smith's birthday. The surprise was out of the bag! Three cakes! This was a great gift to share with everyone.

Elder and Sister Smith accepted the invitation to feed each other a piece of their anniversary cake. On the outside, Elder and Sister Smith seem very quiet and conservative, but put a piece of cake in Sister Smith's hand and another person emerges. At first, it didn't look like she was going to do anything nasty, but at the last minute, she shoved the whole piece of cake in Elder Smith's mouth. That was a great anniversary gift!

Well, Elder Smith wasn't about to be out done by Sister Smith. He gave his own gift to her. He literally threw a blob of icing straight at her face. It landed all over her mouth and her chin. She laughed, and we all laughed. After the laughing they gave each other a sweet kiss. Awwwww, that was great!







We had a surprise gift during our celebrations. We had an unexpected guest, the former Elder Srigris (now Brother Sreedhar), who was one of the assistants to the president for President Funk. Everyone goes by their first name; very few people use a surname. It is something that we are slowly getting used to, but we have to really switch our thinking when we meet a returned missionary because we have to begin addressing him or her by an entirely different name. Brother Sreedhar has been hired as the membership record person. Brother John, in the back, had been hired in this position in a temporary capacity. He will likely be returning to Delhi next month. Brother Sreedhar will be wonderful to have around the office.

We truly have been blessed to have given many gifts and to have received many gifts this past week and throughout the entire time we have been in India. As we think of these great gifts, we are always reminded of the great gifts our Heavenly Father has bestowed upon us. He has created this beautiful world for each one of us. When Moses asked the Lord why he created all of what he saw before his eyes, the Lord replied, "For mine own purpose" (Moses 1:33). The Lord then explains further that "this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). Our Father in Heaven loves us so much "that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Nephi teaches the sublime eternal truth that "there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God" (2 Nephi 31:21).