The Question: Is It Still in the Box????

So, is the water heater still in the box?

We are happy to announce that the water heater is now installed and works wonderfully! Now, both Elder and Sister Tiefenbach can have hot showers when the power goes out (that is providing we turn the water heaters on BEFORE the power goes out). We are really enjoying hot showers. Prior to this, neither one of us were able to have HOT showers. Sister Tiefenbach would always try to conserve the hot water by having a warm shower so Elder Tiefenbach could have some warm water for his shower.

We did not get the heater installed on Monday when it was scheduled. So, we made arrangements for it to be installed on Tuesday. Well . . .  it didn't happen on Tuesday, so we made arrangements for it to be installed at 11:00 on Wednesday. We waited and waited and waited. Finally, at 2:00, they came. What a relief. But, oh no!! the power was out. They can't install it without power. The decided to get the peliminary work done. Luckily, by the time that was done, the power was back on. What a relief!!
We are also happy that the internet people finally came to fix our wifi working on our router.


We did inspections on the missionary apartments. Every six weeks or so, we inspect the apartments of the missionaries in Coimbatore to make sure that at least every six weeks they are cleaned. The sisters' apartment was great! They had everything cleaned nicely. We have been quite busy this week trying to make all the arrangements get the repairs done in the the sisters' apartment.  Elder Thanniru (right) and Elder Augustine also passed their inspection with flying colours. The fact that they fed us a wonderful breakfast had nothing to do with the good report. Honest, it didn't. They have kept it in great condition. It is the same apartment that we lived in when we first arrived in Coimbatore.


Now, the apartment for (left to right) Elder Solomon, Elder Thomas, Elder Challa, and Elder Smoot. . . wasn't as good as the other ones. On the bright side, it was much better than it was before Elder Smoot and Elder Solomon got there. Their apartment was very neat; it just needed a little more cleaning. We will go back this coming week to do a follow up.

Elder and Ram and Elder Racharla did not get their apartment inspected. They had to go out to Erode to do be with the missionaries there. This week, they will be going to Bangalore for a few days this week, so we will not be able to get their apartment done until later this week. Now, was their excuse for not having their apartment inspected a legitimate reason, or was it a contrived plan to get out of the inspection?


Because we had so much time waiting for people to come to do things in our apartment and in the sisters' apartment, we had more time than usual to make some special dishes for our suppers (dinners). The penne alfredo with meatballs and carrots with dill was great! The sauce was made with cream - thick, thick cream. It was so thick that we had to squeeze the container to push the cream out. Needless to say, the pasta was yummy!.





We had baked yogurt for dessert. Baked yogurt is similar in many ways to cheesecake. The recipe also called for cream. We served it with a crumble made from butter, brown sugar, flour, and oats. This is the same crumble as we use for apple crisp. The first time we ate it, we dirzzled chocolate on it. It was good, but the next times we ate it, we omitted the chocolate. We liked it better without the chocolate and more of the crumble.




Another good meal we had this week was chicken a la king (with a bit of an Indian twist). We cheated with the sauce because we used a package of Knorr Chicken Delight soup as the base for the sauce. It is much like cream of chicken soup, but it has a few more spiced in it than regular cream of chicken soup. We had carrots for this meal, too. A green vegetable would have been better to give the plate a better colour, but we didn't have anything green that day.




One of the jobs we had this week was to get a price on some UPS (uninterrupted power suppy) systems. We went to this business. We hope to get a UPS for our apartment, so when the power goes out during the day, we can at least have some fans to keep us cool. Our apartment building has a generator, but they do not turn it on until 6:00 in the evening. Our apartment gets quite dark, especially in the kitchen, by 4:00 or 4:30, so preparing supper becomes a bit more difficult. A UPS would definitely help out during the late afternoon hours, especially when the sky is overcast. We have become so used to the power outages that we often forget to turn lights on, and we end up working in our apartment in dim light. Then we remember that the power is on, and we turn lights on.

 

We received some training regarding our assignment with the PEF (Perpetual Education Fund) assignment. One of our responsibilities with this assignment will be to talk to participants in the program who have not been paying back their loans to help them find ways to begin to make payments. We also had a telephone conference call to talk about two new applicants.

 

We were also able to make several visits to people's homes this week. We continue to teach English to the Anand family at their home. Following our time at their home, we go directly to Brother Raja's home to visit with them and teach them more about the gospel. They always feed us when we are there. Every Saturday, we visit the Suresh family to teach them the new member discussions and other topics that will increase their knowledge and understanding about the restored gospel. Yes, they also feed us. We never cook at home on the days that we visit these families. The latter two families have both been recently baptised and have a special place in our hearts. We also visited with Brother Raja and Sister Renuka. They fed us lunch. We often have three meal appointments each week.

 

We attended the baptism of Sampson (2nd from the left) today. He is now a member of Coimbatore 1st Branch. Elder Smoot (left) and Elder Solomon (right) have been teaching him. The man with the beard is Brother Sharma. He was baptized last week. Sampson met the missionaries through Brother Sharma. Originally, the two did not know each other. The missionaries were talking to Brother Sharma at the bus stop just before they were leaving. Sampson was at the bus stop and overheard the conversation between Brother Sharma and the missionaries and wanted to hear more, so he approached Brother Sharma. The missionaries then began teaching Brother Sampson. This was a good experience for the elders. They have become keenly aware that the Lord helps those who are prepared to hear the gospel to come in contact with the missionaries. We enjoyed hearing Elder Solomon telling of this experience as he spoke at Brother Sampson's baptism.

 

We will be visiting Brother Paul Matthews and his wife, Sister Mary, later this week. He is in the Elders' Quorum presidency in 1st Branch.                                                                 Elder Tiefenbach received his assignment on the District Council this week. He will be responsible for missionary work in the District. He will help the branches with their missionary plans and goals and train the branch mission leaders. This seems to be a fitting assignment for him.

 

We leave you this week with an example of the dedication and commitment that many of the members of the church here have. This is Sister Mary (different Mary than mentioned above). She is at the beginner level of playing the piano, but she is always willing to play when someone needs a pianist. She is preparing to play for the baptism we had today. She knows that she does not play exceptionally well, but she is has committed to do whatever she is asked to do. Sister Mary is one of the first people to introduce herself to us when we first arrived here. She has a calm, gentelness about her. She is a great example of someone who shows Christlike love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why is The Water Heater Still in the Box?

So, should we start with the water heater or end with the water heater? Hmmm.....  We have decided to end with the water heater. Don't cheat and go to the end without reading the rest of the blog first!!!










We are now in the last week in October. Time is certainly marching on. Back at home, our family has experienced snow and slippery roads already. Here, we are still experiencing hot, humid weather. The rains we have had for the past two weeks has raised the humidity levels. We feel that it is just as hot now as when we came, but the actual temperature is are not as high, as we have not experienced any temperatures in the 40's for quite some time. This picture of Elder Ram and Elder Racharla's apartment complex shows that summer weather is still going strong here.

We have spent some time with the sister missionaries this week. We took them to a few appointments with us to introduce them to some of the members here. One day, we went to a restaurant across from the church and down the block a bit. What you see in this picture is a typical veg meal. They are served on a banana leaf. The person eating the meal is to pour a little water on the leaf to wash off the leaf. We really don't think that will actually clean the leaf, but that is what is done here. Then, the servers put several "side dishes" and some gravy type of food (curry) on the leaf, and then they put a huge pile of plain rice on it. The idea is to use the right hand (it must be the right hand because the left is used for . . . well, something else) to mix a little of the other food with the rice. Then, you pick up some food with your hand and put it in your mouth.

We did not have the veg meal; we had dosa with a few chutney dishes. Chutney in India is not the same as our Canadian idea of chutney. Our meals were presented on a steel plate with some kind of leaf on it. On another day, we took the sisters to a dinner appointment at a member's home, and Sister Madabathula laughed at the way Sister Tiefenbach was eating. Sister Tiefenbach thought that she had caught on to the Indian way of eating with hands, but apparently, Sister Madabathula didn't think she had learned very well, yet. Apparently, no food is supposed to fall out of your hand or your mouth when you put the food in. Well!!!! no one told us that before. Everyone else told us what a good job we were doing, and they were excited that we were eating with our hands. Now, Sister Tiefenbach will be self-conscious everytime she has to eat with her hands in front of someone.

 

We went to visit the Sekar family (pronounced Shaker). This is another good, solid family. The father's name is Sekar; his wife is Shanthi; and their children are Sujithra and Sathish. Sathish recently returned from his mission. We had pictures of that a few blogs ago. Sujithra is engaged to Solomon, who is the branch president in Chavadi. Brother Sekar is thrilled with the engagement. It is not an arranged marriage. We think that one of the reasons Brother Sekar likes President Solomon is that they can continue the tradition of everyone's names beginning with "s." Sujithra does a good job of conduction music. She is very patient with Sister Tiefenbach's slow organ/piano playing in sacrament meeting. Sujithra is also very supportive of the choir. When Sister Shanthi was showing Sister Tiefenbach her kitchen, she showed her where she keeps her food storage. When she showed her food storage, she said, "We listen to the prophet's voice." We are impressed with their dedication. The food storage here is not as extensive as it is in many homes in North America, largely because of space shortages, but their commitment to heed the counsel of the prophet is inspiring.

 

First Branch Relief Society held an activity on Tuesday. At the beginning, we played a game that Sister Tiefenbach introduced. It was the game where everyone gives themselves the name of a fruit or vegetable. Everyone sits in a circle, then they do a clapping and snapping of the fingers rhythm. The person who starts calls her own name on the first snap and the name of anther fruit or vegetable on the second snap of the fingers. Then, that person calls her fruit/vegetable name on the next first snap and someone else's name on the second snap, as so forth. They had a good time with that. Notice the skirt that Sister Tiefenbach is wearing. That is one of the skirts that she received from the long-awaited package from home. It has seen the world. The skirt began its life in India; it probably cost about one dollar to make. Then it travelled to Canada to be sold at Old Navy for - I'm not sure how much it cost in Canada, but definitely more than a dollar. Then it was sent back to India with a travel cost of about $80.00. Now it is home.

 

 

Following the game, we had a "talent show." Some people read scripture, others danced, others sang, while others told stories. Yes, Sister Tiefenbach sang a song. This is Sister Sareetha William (Branch President's wife) and her mother-in-law, Sister Mary, doing a great dance. Sister Mary was dressed up as a gent. They were fantastic!! What great fun!

 

As the 1st Branch Relief Society activity ended, the 2nd Branch Elder's Quorum activity began (the women were invited to it, as well). We had a spiritual presentation, and then Elder and Sister Tiefenbach conducted a game called "Do You Love Your Neighbour?" It was great fun, that is until Sister Sumathi somehow had her toe cut and had to be taken to the hospital for stitches. She is doing fine, now. After the game, we had food: parotta (sometimes spelled barotta and is a one type of Indian bread) and some kind of curry. The curry was spicy.

We had a fairly good turn out for choir practice. We are making good progress with the numbers we will be singing for the Christmas program. Sister Tiefenbach has written the Christmas narrative , and the Branch president has said we will use the narrative for the program. We presented the narrative at a joint meeting of the two branches. We based the narrative on a request to have a spiritual evening that helped people to focus on the Saviour. We will see what the people think when it is over. Christmas is not as big here in India. The whole present tradition is not widely practiced here, but they have other smaller traditions of making treats and giving them to friends and family. Christians decorate their homes with lights, and many Christians will have Christmas trees.

 

Today, Sunday, 2nd Branch had another baptism. Manoharran Hellen Sudha was baptised. Elder Thanniru (left) and Elder Augustine (right) shared in the happy occasion. Elder Augustine performed the baptism. First Branch also held a baptismal service. Brother Sharma was baptized, but we did not get a picture of it. We both had other things we needed to do, so we weren't present when pictures were being taken. Interestingly,  Brother Sharma's wife and one daughter were baptized today in Bangalore. Brother Sharma works in Coimbatore, but his family lives in Bangalore.

 

 

Does anyone need some good quality tires? We know where you can get them.

 

 

OK!!! So, why is the water heater still in the box?????? That is a very good question. We bought the water heater (geyser) two weeks ago. The company was supposed to come the day after the delivery to install it, but they didn't come. Then, we made arrangements for them to come last Monday, but they didn't come. So, we made arrangements again, this time for Saturday morning at 11:00. Well, . . . We had to leave for the church at 1:30, and they hadn't come by that time, so we left. We couldn't wait any longer. (We won't discuss the communication difficulties we had.) Of course, they came 15 minutes after we left. As it turned out, we could have waited longer because the meetings and appointments that we had in the early afternoon all fell through, so we didn't really need to be at the church until close to 4:00. English class was supposed to start at 3:30, but no one showed up until 4:00. We felt we spent most of the day waiting for people. We were tired at the end of the day, even though we did not get much accomplished. SO, we now have made arrangements for the water heater to be installed tomorrow. Should we count on it? The reason we bought another water heater is because the power is off every morning, and the 15 litre heater that is in our bathroom isn't adequate to give two people a hot shower. If the power was on, it would not be a problem. But, with the power off, the water cannot be heated up during the shower. We end up having enough hot water for 1 1/2 showers. Elder Tiefenbach lets Sister Tiefenbach have a shower first, so she most often gets a warm shower, but she keeps the temperature cooler than she would like it so Elder Tiefenbach can have more hot water. Even with her wise use of the water, Elder Tiefenbach usually has a cool shower. What a gentleman he is!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Royal Treatment after Missionary Moves

This title can be read with a little humour, but it means that after helping the missionaries move into their apartments, we we were invited to a members home where we received royal treatment. Our week began by frantically making arrangements to get the keys for the new apartment for the zone leaders, Elder Ram and Elder Racharla. We were supposed to meet the landlord's representative at 9:30 in the morning. Finally, about 11:30 all the people arrived at the church so we could get the keys. The sister missionaries were arriving later that night, so we needed to have the elders out of the apartment so we could get their old apartment ready for the sisters. The elders are VERY happy with their new 3 bedroom apartment. We think some of the other missionaries are a tad jealous. It is a great apartment. We were also making arrangements for the delivery of all the elders' furniture, appliances, and kitchen items.

Their apartment building has some nice landscaping, with great walking paths. It even has a playground, which may be too much of a temptation for the elders. We will have to keep our eye on them to make sure the playground doesn't distract them from their work.






By the way, Sister Tiefenbach also made about 4 dozen cinnamon buns on Monday, as well, in preparation for the zone conference to be held on Friday.

We picked up the sister missionaries from the airport on Monday evening at 8:35. Sister Madabathula (next to Sister Tiefenbach) and Sister Jebamani were excited to be in Coimbatore. They were the last passengers out of the terminal. We were beginning to wonder if they had made their flight. The sisters stayed at our apartment on Monday night because the nearly vacated elders' apartment was not ready for sisters. As of Sunday evening, work still needs to be done on their apartment. We hope that the person in charge of the church buildings will work on some of the repairs early this coming week.

While at the airport, we kept company with an elder that arrived on a flight shortly before the sisters. The elders were scheduled to pick up Elder McDonald, but they were delayed in arriving, so we took care of him until the elders arrived. At first, we couldn't find Elder McDonald, but we soon found him around a corner sitting talking to some local people. He was easy to identify. He was happy to see us. He stood up when he saw us, and as he stood up, our eyes kept going up and up and up. He is 6 feet five inches tall.


We spent most of Tuesday helping the sisters clean their new apartment and to buy some items for their apartment, such as a frying pan, a rice cooker, a pressure cooker, a mop, and other household items.

We returned to our apartment in time to be picked up to go to Brother Amalraj's and Sister Punita's home. They have two great sons, Akash and Abhishek (Abu). They have done a great job in raising their sons. Their family was baptized about four years ago, but they seem as though they have been members for over ten years. They are a wonderful family. They have a great knowledge of how the church functions and a great understanding of the gospel. We are impressed with this dedicated, solid family. As soon as we entered their house, we felt a calming peace, created in large part by the soft music that was playing. This feeling was a big change from the hard work and busyness of the day. Sister Punita prepared a wonderful meal for us. She made an alfredo pasta dish, mashed potatoes, brown beans, stew, dinner rolls, and hot dogs. The hot dogs were the meat part; they were not in a bun. They were served with browned onions and green peppers. The presentation looked great. The food was exceptional, and the conversation was wonderful. We hope we did not over stay our welcome. We were indeed treated royally.

 

On Thursday, we went to the furniture store to order 6 more mattresses so all the elders coming in for the zone conference would have a mattress to sleep on. We also bought fruit and vegetables and prepared the fruites and vegetables for the lunch that would be served the next day. Thursday evening, we picked up the two sisters from Chennai at the bus stop at 10:30 p.m. They stayed at the sisters' apartment.

 

Elder Ram and Elder Racharla were in charge of ordering the main course for  the Zone Conference lunch. They ordered butter chicken and roti, and we provided the vegetables and fruit. The cinnamon buns were served as a snack during the morning break. 

Zone Conference was great. Missionaries from two zones, Coimbatore and Chennai, attended the meetings. The sisters loved being together. Sister Batula (2nd from left) and Sister Jebamani (right) were both serving in the Philippines until they were transferred to India. They are both from India. They were surprised by this big transfer. We wonder what the mission president from the Philippine mission thought of ths re-assignment. Everyone is thrilled to have sister missionaries in India. The other two missionaries are brand new. Sister Batula and Sister Guptha (left) are serving in Chennai.

 

It was good to see all the elders from our zone as they sat together.

 

 

 

On Sunday, we went to Semmedu Branch. Both of us gave talks in Sacrament meeting. After the meetings, the young men enjoyed visited with us. They liked looking at our family pictures on our ipads. 

We arrived back in Coimbatore to attend the baptism of Sister Grace. We did not take pictures.

 

Elder Tiefenbach has been given the assignment as a District Counsellor. With this assignment, he will have more opportunities to help  the leadership in the District.

 

 

Miracle of miracles!!!!! Our package that our daughter, Sheri, mailed at the end of May finally arrived!!! It took 4 1/2 months. We think that our inquiries helped move the package along. It was not in good shape when it arrived at the mission office on Tuesday.

Elder and Sister Wigg put it in another box for the trip to Coimbatore. We received the package in Coimbatore on Thursday night. We received everything that Sheri sent, so we are happy. We have already used the mosquito repellent.

 

A great ending to this week's blog: the beauty of the dragonfly. We have had many dragonflies lately. We sit at out dining room table and watch them out our balcony door as they fly around. This dragonfly was at the church. Maybe the increased rain has brought the dragonflies out. We have had rain almost everyday since last Tuesday.

 

Busy, Busy Week

We are getting desperate for titles for our blogs. But, this title does reflect our week, although it may not differentiate it from other busy weeks. We are much busier than when we first arrived. We prefer to be busy. We have finally had rain. It rained Tuesday evening, Saturday evening, and again this evening (Sunday). Although we have had some rain, the temperature doesn't seem to have cooled off. The days are still quite sunny, hot, and humid. Today, we saw billowing clouds forming, and we wondered if we would have rain.

The thunderstorm and the rain began a bit before 5:00 this evening. The rain is difficult to see in the picture, but it was a downpour. Fortunately, we were in our apartment today when it started to rain. Yesterday, we were at the church when the downpour started. We were NOT going to walk home in it, so we called our regular driver, Brother Augustine, to come and get us. He was sitting down for his dinner when we called, but he came right away. He is always so helpful to us.



Many of the apartment buildings, including ours, have hallways that are open to the outdoors. That means rain is free to come into the hallways. At first, we were surprised to see the open-air hallways, but the openness is helpful in reducing the heat. This is the hallway just to the right of our door. The shininess of the floor seen here is the rain water on the floor.













We see many buildings under construction in Coimbatore. There seems to be a lot of building going on here. One building that is under construction is on a road that we take to see Sister Mary. They have now put up an effigy on the front of the building. We think that we have posted a picture of an effigy before, but this one is a close up view, so it can be seen clearly. Apparently, hanging these on buildings that are under construction is supposed to bring good luck.

Some of our busyness has been because we were shopping for furniture, appliances, and household items for a new missionary apartment. The Zone leaders, Elder Ram and Elder Racharla, are moving to another apartment so the newly assigned Sister missionaries can move into the apartment that the Zone Leaders have. The decision was made to have the Sister missionaries move into the Zone Leaders' apartment because it is closer to the church than the new apartment. The Sisters arrive in Coimbatore on Monday evening, and we will be going to pick them up from the airport. They will be staying with us for Monday night. The new apartment for the Zone Leaders is supposed to be ready by Monday, but we have had difficulty contacting the landlord to confirm the address and to determing whether or not the apartment will be ready.

 

Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving. While we did not have turkey with all the trimmings, we were able to make a "special" meal with mashed potatoes. Thanksgiving came up quickly, and we did not purchase a chicken when we went shopping at the supermarket. Had we purchased a chicken, we would have had chicken. We had ground beef in gravy, mashed potatoes, buttered carrots with dill, and tomatoes. We had chocolate cupcakes for dessert. The most special thing about this dinner was our company. We invited Elder Smoot and Elder Solomon. We wanted to make sure our fellow Canadian, Elder Solomon, had a real meal on Thanksgiving.

We were able to attend an exciting event this week. Elder Sekar (pronounced Shaker) came home from his 2-year mission in the India Delhi Mission.

His parents and sister were so excited to see him. We told them to smile for the picture, but for some reason, most people do not smile for pictures here. Really, they were so excited. Of course, his mother shed some tears when she saw him. He hugged his mother longer than anyone else, or maybe, his mother just held onto him longer. It brought back many memories of when our son came home from his mission in South Africa.



Of course, everyone wants to have their picture taken with the missionary couple. We are definitely treated with much respect and love. The people here are so welcoming and loving to us. As we watched this young man return from his mission, our thoughts turned to the time that we will leave these wonderful people. We will have a difficult time saying good-bye to all the people here. We will be filled with joy to see our family, but our hearts will ache to leave so many people who care for us so much.




This little girl has got to be the cutest thing ever. Well, we consider just about every little child here to be the cutest ever (except for our grandchildren, of course!!). She is the daughter of Sister Devya and Brother Suresh. Sister Devya is the sister to Brother Anand, and it is Brother Anand's entire family that we go to every week to teach English in their home. When we entered their home this week, the little girl came up to us excitedly jabbering away in Tamil. Of course, we couldn't understand a word she was saying, but she was certainly intent on telling us something. Her mother told us she was telling us about a new kitten they had. At the end of each English lesson, we teach some songs. One song that we sing (every week) is "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." She absolutely LOVES this song!! She is so fun to watch.

Elder Hodgson (seen in the picture) and Elder Challa (partially in the picture) accompanied us to the Anand family this week. Elder Hodgson is being transferred to Rajahmundry on Monday. We are sad to see him go. We do not like transfers because we get stongly attached to the missionaries. Elder Hodgson has been in Coimbatore since we arrived here. He has always watched out for us, making sure that we don't eat in places that might not be good. Whenever we had a question about whether or not to eat in a particular restaurant, we always talked to him.


This is a scene we don't see very often!! Pigs!!! Yes, pigs rummaging around in the garbage on the street that we always walk down. We have seen cows, goats, chickens, roosters, dogs, and cats, but NEVER pigs. We think the men let the pigs out of the truck to have a little snack.








After the pigs were finished their snack, the men rounded them up and put them back in the truck. We watched as they put one pig in. The pig was NOT happy. It was squealing and squealing frantically in protest.









Our Saturday and Sunday was spent at the church attending the General Conference sessions from Salt Lake. As many of you know, General Conference was held last week in Salt Lake City. In North America, most people watch it live, but because of the time difference between there and here, we watch it a week later. If we watched it live, we would be up until past 3:30 a.m. We heard all the new announcements almost right away last week end, but we did not listen to the talks until this week end. All the talks were wonderful. The spirit was strong as the all the speakers bore witness to gospel truths. We are blessed with technology that allows us to hear the words of the prophets and other speakers. Elder Holland gave a particularly powerful talk. President Eyring also gave a wonderful talk about prayers being answered in God's time, and he reminded us that we need to remember that God keeps His promises and that sometimes our own timetable can obscure God's plan for us. We have been spiritually edified for the past two days.


Between the sessions on Saturday, we bought pizza for the missionaries. Here is Elder Racharla representing all of them. Dominos pizza is . . . different here. We had green pepper with chucky chicken pizza. The chicken was spicy. Although the pizza has an Indian twist here, it was still good.








After being spiritually fed on Sunday, we returned home to be physically fed. A meal of rice with cheese & tuna sauce, peas, tomatoes, and cucumbers was a fitting meal for a stormy, rainy evening.