People Make the Difference

We had another busy week in beautiful Bangalore. It was busy with many people coming through the office. We knew we were going to have many people through our office today, so we decided to make a special treat of cinnamon buns. The missionaries were very appreciative. Here Elders Peck and O'Dell, the zone leaders in Bangalore, are enjoying a break from their preparation day activities.







 Elder Bean (left) and Elder Newbill loved the cinnamon buns, too. The missionaries in Bangalore got together at the Whitefield Branch building to play basketball. You can tell from Elder Bean's shirt that they had a good workout. You can also see Sister Loewer in the picture. We will explain her presence later in the blog. We love having the missionaries come into the office. Their presence brings enthusiasm and excitement to our lives. They actually seem to enjoy seeing us. They definitely make a difference in our lives.



Our friend, the former Elder Raja, come into the office on Monday and invited us to join him for dinner. We very much enjoyed a quiet evening with him at California Burrito. It had been a busy day, but it ended happily. People make all the difference.









More people came to the office on Tuesday. We look forward to missionary leadership council. Our friends from throughout the mission arrive in the mission office for a day of meetings. They all bring greetings and beautiful smiles. Here we see MANY missionaries crowded into Elder Tiefenbach's office. We love to think that they are crowding in just to see him, but in reality, they are getting reimbursements from him. Nevertheless, they love to visit with Elder Tiefenbach. Some of them simply come into the office, sit down, and have a good chat with him. Here we have (left to right) Elder Wadsack-Stewart, Elder Solomon (fellow Canadian), Elder Loewer, Elder Cunha, Elder Erupula, Elder Aeshamalla, and Elder Anderson.


Here we have what looks like a very serious conversation between Elder Solomon, Elder O'Dell, and Elder Anderson. Both Elder O'Dell and Elder Anderson seem focused on Elder Solomon; he must be saying something highly profound.  Perhaps, they are simply discussing where they will go for lunch. Whatever it is, they look serious.






President Berrett is sharing his great spiritual insights with Elder Randall while Elder McDonald is working on his documents for reimbursements for Elder Tiefenbach. We are so blessed to work with so many great people. We can't imagine our lives without having had this great experience. Our lives have been touched by our leaders, by the missionaries, and by all the couples who have served with us. They have been a support and an inspiration to us.

 What a great pleasure it was to welcome nine new missionaries to the India Bangalore Mission! Four of them have been waiting for over a year to come here. This was a great blessing indeed. Our prayers and fasting for the elders to receive their visas have been answered. Here they are partaking of lunch/breakfast before they begin their orientation. Elder Brimhall and Elder Weatherford are not in this picture because they were delayed at the airport at Hyderabad. They arrived a few hours later than the others who flew into India through Bangalore.

Our new missionaries are (back row left to right): Elder Burnett, Elder Larsen, Elder Larson, Elder Hansen, Elder Kesterson, Elder Van Wey, (front left to right) Elder Wigington, (President and Sister Berrett), Elder Brimhall, and Elder Weatherford. We are excited to have them. Unfortunately, we have only a short time to get to know them before we return home.

This week Elder and Sister Loewer, assigned to the Chennai District, transferred to Bangalore to assist in the mission office. They will be our replacements and came in for training. This reminded us of our transfer twelve months ago when we got the call from President Funk to come work in the office for a few months. Those few months turned into twelve wonderful, rewarding, spiritually filled months. We have witnessed many miracles. We still miss our friends in Coimbatore, but we love the office work despite the hectic schedule.

On Saturday, we went shopping with the Loewers. They were looking for some gifts to take to their grandchildren next week. Early this week, the Lowers received news that their son-in-law died from his long sickness with cancer. They are going to the USA (they are from Canada) to be with their daughter for about one week. They will return later in February to resume some training from the office elders that have been brought in to help out in the office while the Loewers are gone. Elder McDonald and Elder Veera will be in the office beginning Monday. We will spend some time training them, and they will continue to give more training to Elder and Sister Loewer. The President isn't quite sure how everything will settle in the end. The Loewers departure for ten days put a kink in the training schedule we had planned for them. The office elders may end up staying, and the Loewers may be given an assignment in Bangalore. We will have to wait to see how everything settles. Well, we won't see because we will be home.

The haze over Bangalore has been bad lately. When we look out on the horizon from our balcony, we can see the haze hanging over the city, but when we look straight up in the sky, we see the blue, blue sky. The blueness reminds us of home.

We have thoroughly enjoyed teaching both the temple preparation class and the mission preparation class in our branch. We did not get a picture of our temple preparation class. Today, was the last day for both the classes. It was a bitter, sweet day at church today. Sister Lobo (next to Sister Tiefenbach) was very emotional because she knew that we would not be sending her off on her mission at the end of March. Of course, Sister Tiefenbach became very emotional, too. We hope that the brothers and sisters attending the temple preparation class felt the spirit bearing testimony of the importance of temples. We hope the desire to go to the temple will burn brightly and strongly within them. We love the temple, and we hope they could feel that love as we taught the lessons. Sister Lobo and Brother Anthony (next to Elder Tiefenbach) attended both classes. They will make great missionaries.

This is Brother Inyavan with Brother Anthony. Brother Inyavan also attended both classes, although he was not able to attend all the missionary preparation classes because of his work schedule. He will need to work on his English some more before he will be able to go on a mission, but his English is continuing to improve, and he has a strong testimony and a strong desire to serve. We were impressed with the talk he gave a few weeks ago; it was filled with the spirit.





We have said many times that we love the people here. The people make the difference. They have loved us and welcomed us unconditionally. Those in our temple preparation class and missionary preparation class have drawn very close to us. We shall miss them. Although this picture does not have everyone we know in India, it represents all those who have touched our lives and who have made a difference in our experience here in India. This week, we do not have a scripture to leave with you. Rather we offer a hymn that best summarizes our thoughts this week as we reflect on the people that have made a difference in our lives: What greater gift dost thou bestow, What greater goodness can we know Than Christ-like friends, whose gentle ways Strengthen our faith, enrich our days (LDS Hymn #293).