Seniors In the Wild

We had a wild week, starting with the Couples' Conference. It began on Tuesday with the more spiritual side of the things. When we arrived, we all pitched in to help get things ready. Sister Woodruff (left) and Sister Porter (right with back to the camera) were so excited to come to Bangalore to meet the other couples. They are serving in Sri Lanka, so they do not get the opportunity to be with the rest of the mission on a regular basis.




President and Sister Berrett favoured us with many wonderful presentations, and they led us in helpful and inspiring discussions. We were buoyed up and energized about our service with the saints in India. The work in one part of Sri Lanka is particularly slow because of some political type issues, but we hope that things will pick up for the Woodruff's. This was the first time we met the Woodruffs and the Porters, and we all became instant friends. Our common service and love for the Savior and our Heavenly Father creates an affinity with each other that binds us together. Of course, a conference is not complete without food. We had a great lunch of salads, breads, and carrot cake. Our dinner (seen to the right) consisted of lasagna, green beans, breads, and fresh vegetables. For dessert we had chess cake with ice cream and peanut butter sauce.




We enjoyed the social aspect of the conference, as well as the spiritual parts. During the breaks, we talked and talked with each other. President Berrett had to reign these wild seniors in so they would get back to their tables for the discussions and presentations. We did not return on the first call!!! Senior missionaries are too wild! This picture was taken during the dinner. Sister and Elder ZoBell are seated at the left, followed by Sister Porter with Elder Porter around the corner from her. Sister and Elder Loewer are next in line.




On the left, next to the Loewers are Sister and Elder Smith. Now, they are the wildest of all the couples. They skipped out of most of the conference. They are SO unruly! In reality, they were busy with the FRRO. Early in the morning, they received a call from the FRRO telling them that their visas arrived and that they needed to pick them up today. Their visas arrived!!!!! So, why haven't Elder and Sister Tiefenbach's visas arrived????? Back to the Smith's . . .  They considered waiting until Thursday to go to pick up their visas, but when the FRRO calls, you go right away. So, they attended the first hour, left for the FRRO, came back for lunch (because the FRRO told them to leave and return at 2:30), went back to the FRRO, and finally arrived back for the last part of dinner. Congratulations to them for getting their visas.


 After the dinner, we all made our lunches for our wild adventure scheduled for the next day.

We ended the day with a group picture. This picture was taken by President Berrett. From the left, we have the ZoBells, Smiths, Porters, Loewers, Woodruffs, Tiefenbachs, and the Berretts in front. We had a great day! We hope that we can keep in contact with all the couples that we have served with.

For our adventure the next day, we went on a safari and visited the zoo. We arrived a bit early, so we were able to watch as some of the shops opened for the day. At this small shop, a person could buy roasted corn. Several of the couples opted to buy bags of chips instead.

Sister ZoBell and Sister Tiefenbach took the opportunity to get a picture of the two of them together. The Tiefenbachs are now the most senior (NOT in age!!!) of all the couples, with the ZoBells close behind. We will be leaving to go back home at the beginning of March, and ZoBells will return to their home near the end of March. We are so happy to have met them. We have been blessed to meet people from Canada and the States that we would otherwise have never met. The ZoBells know Elder Tiefenbach's cousin, Charlene and her husband, Dave.



These are the Woodruff's. They are from the Stettler, Alberta area. Her cousin married Elder Tiefenbach's cousin, Dave Berry. They are also know our son-in-law's brother, Rob Spencer. He is in their branch presidency. This is a small world.

We didn't have to wait until we went on the safari to see wild animals. While Sister Tiefenbach was walking around waiting for the safari to start, she saw a wild man who looked interesting. Sister Tiefenbach liked him so much that she decided to take him home with her.

The park area was quite clean, as many people were hired to sweep the area. As usual, the sweeping was done using this type of broom. It is interesting to see these women using both hands to sweep. We are sure we would have sore backs from bending over sweeping all day.

We were finally on our way on the safari. The first animals we saw were elephants. They had been led to a watering hole by a couple of men, where they (the elephants) enjoyed taking a dip in the water. We don't think the men took a dip!









We saw several Indian bears. They look different from the black bears and the grizzly bears that we have seen in Canada. These one have much longer hair. We were surprised that their hair was so long, considering the hot temperatures in India. This particular bear was pacing back and forth in front of the electric fence. Apparently, it knew enough to not touch it. We found it strange at how he kept pacing and pacing.





This picture is for all our grandchildren (okay, maybe a few of you may be too old, or should we say "mature," to be searching for objects in a picture). Can you see the tiger? Look carefully.










Here is a closer view. Now, you can see his majestic head.












We saw several tigers from the safety of our bus. This one paced the perimeter of the tiger area. There had been some workers walking on the path on the other side of the fence. He was watching them VERY carefully! Maybe, he was hungry. We were glad to be in the bus.








This white tiger was right beside the bus. It was definitely cool to see a white tiger this close. We were lucky to see him or her (we didn't get out of the bus to check it out).










President Berrett was able to get a great picture of the tiger's face. How cool is that???? Is "cool" still a cool word? How about the word "neat"? Maybe, we should say "groovy!" We will cease so we don't cause any more embarrassment to our children and grandchildren. But, that is one of the wonderful things about getting older.






We saw some lazy lions, as well. Why are lions always laying around in the sun when we see them? This picture was also taken by President Berrett. He had a much better zoom that we did.

 After the safari, we went back to the "safe" area and had lunch. We found a wall to sit on. Yes, Sister Tiefenbach hiked herself up there. She did NOT take the easy way out by walking around to the lower end and then walking along the wall to find her place. No, she used her strong arms to hoist herself up. Okay! So, it took a little longer to do it, but she made it!






She was so proud that she made it! We had a great lunch: sandwiches, fresh vegetables, chips, cookies, and fruit.











 
We then toured the zoo. We saw peacocks. We would so much like to see a peacock with his tail spread out, but we never seem to have the luck for that.

The hippos were interesting. They stood like that, with their mouths pressed against the wall for a long time. It looks like there was a gate just under their mouths that could be pulled up to let them into the adjacent part of the hippo pen. We are not sure what to call a place where the hippos stay.







This is some kind of a striped stork. It is in the same cage as a bunch of pelicans.













We saw MANY crocodiles. They look so prehistoric.

These monkeys were on the human side of the cage. Maybe, they were making fun of the monkeys behind the bars.











That wild man keeps cropping up! At this point, he was trying to make friends with the leopard. But, the leopard largely ignored him, so he decided that he might as well go home with Sister Tiefenbach.









The ostriches were fun to watch as they pecked at bugs or whatever they saw on the links of the fence.

How did so many pictures of that wild man get posted? He is a good looking guy. No wonder Sister Tiefenbach wanted to keep him. This is a passage way to where elephants used to be kept, but they are not longer there. Apparently, there will be a new place for the elephants that will be opening in the future.







This is a green-winged macaw. It was NOISY!!













This is a white peacock. Again, we did not see a spectacular show of the fanned out tail, but we enjoyed seeing the white peacock.

We arrived back at the civilized environment of the office from our adventure in the wild at about 3:30 in time to meet Sister D'Souza (left) and Sister Palli to get them ready to go to the MTC in the Philippines. We absolutely love this part of our service here. We feel of their great enthusiasm and we are filled with joy to be able to be part of the Lord's work here in India. Our testimonies have been strengthened as we have worked with the many young people as they prepare to serve missions. We are grateful for the other couples, such as Sister ZoBell, who work so hard with the young people to help them in their preparations before they arrive in the mission office. These sisters' flights did not leave until after 9:00 the next morning, so we had the wonderful opportunity to have them stay with us that night.

We took the sisters to our apartment, and then we needed to leave to go to dinner with the Berretts and all the other couples (minus the Loewers, as they wanted to get back to Chennai to get ready for a workshop they were conducting). We went to The Only Place. The new visitors LOVED it. They have not had good beef since they left North America. We invited the sisters to go with us, but understandably, they preferred to stay in our apartment rather than accompany us to dinner with a bunch of old, wild people.

The next day, we and the Smiths went for lunch at a place called "Crisps" with the Porters and Woodruffs. It is located just above a bakery called The Cakewalk. We had a superb lunch, and we enjoyed the visiting.

Now, we admit that sometimes Primary can get a little wild, but today they were quite tame because it was the Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation. Sister Tiefenbach helped the children prepare for the musical part of the program.  We did not have accompaniment for the songs, but despite that, the children sang very well. They were nervous at the beginning, but by the end they were happy because they knew that they had done a good job. The primary president, Sister Jennifer (center), provided a cake for them after sacrament meeting. One of her counselors is also in the picture. She is in the back row, two positions on the left of Sister Jennifer.


After all the meetings today, we had another baptism. This youth has been attending church faithfully for about eight or nine months. His parents finally gave permission to be baptized. He was excited to be baptized.









 On the road of life that is sometimes wild and crazy, we are fortunate to meet many wonderful people. The Lord has promised: "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!" (D&C 18:15-16). We may not have been called to "go and find," but we have been called to be engaged in the work of salvation, and our small, simple contribution in this great work of salvation in India has brought us great joy. We feel joy as we watch the Lord's kingdom in India grow and strengthen. We anticipate the great joy we will feel when one day we will hear the prophet announce that a temple will be built in India. We have all been called in the work of salvation; the Lord's promise of joy will be fulfilled as we all contribute to this great work and reach out to others.

More Apartment Hunting and YSA Conference

Our Sunday dinner last Sunday was wonderful. We had roast beef, mashed potatoes, beans, carrots with butter and dill, and gravy. The gravy was WONDERFUL! We used one of the gravy packages that Sister Ram sent. Yummy! The only thing missing from our Sunday dinner was the rest of the family.







On Monday, we celebrated Elder B. Singh's birthday. Actually, his birthday was the week before, but we did not know about it. So, we had cake for him this week. Sister Tiefenbach made banana cake. Of course, it was good. This is the recipe she received from her daughter Sheri. It is easy to make, and is always delicious.














Here we have Elder Singh with his companion Elder O'Dell.






















On Monday morning, we went looking at apartments again. The apartments we looked at on Monday were VERY nice. This is the first apartment we looked at. We had decided we wanted to get this apartment, but unfortunately the landlord would not negotiate on the rent, so we let it go. Standing with us is the real estate broker, Mr. Ganesh.

The apartment was on the sixth floor of this building on the corner closest to the camera. It is one of several tall apartment buildings in a huge complex next to the new mission office and home.
















We went back to the same complex in the late afternoon and looked at three more apartments. The grounds in the complex are beautiful. We ended up having to wait for quite a while for one of the brokers.















This is the apartment we have negotiated to rent. It is on the tenth floor. Yikes! We are getting higher! This is the view as we enter the front door of the apartment.










All the rooms are off the main hall (living room) of the apartment. A door on the left closes the kitchen off from the living/dining area. Two bedrooms and the guest bath are on the right side of the room. The master bedroom is off to the left. This apartment is the reverse of the first apartment we looked at that day. The landlord was asking the same price we offered for the first apartment we saw that day.

The cupboards and wardrobes are not finished, yet. The countertop that is shown here will need to be removed before the cabinets are installed. We are not sure why the countertop was installed already. Perhaps the flat initially came with the countertop. We will be the first tenants in this apartment. The owner purchased this flat when the building was first built, but the flat is only now ready for rent.

We went back to the flat on Wednesday so the landlord could show us the plans for the kitchen cabinets and the wardrobes in the bedrooms. This view from our apartment shows the front of the complex. It is behind a huge business complex, seen on the right. On the left is a series of shops, a few restaurants (mostly Indian), and some other small businesses. The store will not provide us with all our groceries, but we will be able to pick up a few things. The location is definitely not as convenient as our present apartment. We will need to take an auto to a grocery store to get most of our supplies. We will be able to walk around the complex for our morning exercise, so that will be good.


The building in the centre is our apartment. It is on the front left corner of the building, tenth floor.

The missionary leader council met this Tuesday. After the meeting was over, we invited Elder Watts (from Australia) and Elder Erupula (from Hyderabad) for dinner. We went to McDonalds. That was their choice. We enjoyed our visit with them.

On Thursday, we attended the YSA conference on Thursday. It was held at the Confident Cascade Resort in Bangalore. The conference was for all the young single adults from Bangalore, Chennai, and Coimbatore Districts. We drove to the resort with President and Sister Berrett. They are always such good company. We enjoy being with them. The Berretts conducted a workshop, and we conducted an activity.





We had a great time! One of our favourite parts about this conference is that we were able to see SO many friends from Coimbatore and former missionaries. Elder Aruldoss served with us in Coimbatore. We were excited to see him. His brother attended the conference with him. They both served missions at roughly the same time. Elder Aruldoss' brother served in Delhi, and they were released within a week or so of each other. We can't remember the exact time difference.

The activity we conducted was called "Getting to Know Your Neighbour." For the first part of the activity, we had the YSA sitting in two rows facing each other. The had two minutes to talk to each other and get to know each other. At the end of two minutes, one row shifted down one seat. Then the two new friends had two minutes to get to know each other. The process continued until each person had the opportunity to talk to everyone. This is a take off of the 2 minute speed date. The next part of the activity was playing "Do You Love Your Neighbour?" Everyone had a blast playing the game.












We were excited to see President Allwyn Kilbert and his wife, Sister Sonia. Unfortunately, we did not get a picture of Sister Sonia. Here we see President Allwyn at the dessert table.










We were able to get a picture of one of their sons. When their sons saw us, they came running up to us to greet us. We were thrilled to see them running to us. Seeing them run to us, made us think of when our own grandchildren will hopefully run to us when we return home. We have so many substitute grandchildren here, and we are so grateful that so many parents share their children with us.






Here is the former Elder Sharma (left) and the former Elder Raja (center). We have the fortune to see both of these elders several times in the office, as they often drop by. President Vincent Paul, the district president from Coimbatore, was enjoying the food and conversation with them.








This is a picture of Brizer Paul (President Vincent Paul's son) and Sister Christine (President Vincent Paul's wife). We had a good conversation with Britzer. He was relating to us about all the progress Coimbatore District is making with music and with people learning more about music. We are grateful for being able to be a small part of their progress in music. Brother Britzer is thrilled that he has been able to progress in his musical ability. He indeed has a natural talent.



We also saw Sister Sathiya and Sister Blesy from Erode. Sister Blesy is in the Young Women Presidency.

Elder Chelladurai returned from his mission in the India Bangalore Mission a few months after we arrived in India. We met him a few times while we were in Bangalore as we waited to go to Coimbatore. It was good to see him.

The grounds of the resort were beautiful. Unfortunately, the purple flowers on this vine are not very visible in this picture. This was the "fence" between two parts of the grounds. Elder Tiefenbach thought it would be great if we could have a fence like this instead of a painted wooden one. There is a chain link fence here, but it is covered with the vine.

Today, we had a baptism at our branch. Elder Mills baptized Brother Anthony Dass. Elder Ravi (right) is obviously thrilled with the baptism.










We have met many wonderful people in India. We love visiting with all our friends we have made in the past in India, and we love to meet and fellowship with new friends. As we saw old friends and met new ones at the YSA conference, we were reminded of Paul's words: "Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19). We may be foreigners in the land of India, but the people here do not see us this way. They indeed see us as fellowcitizens with the saints, and we see them the same way. We do not feel like foreigners.