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The Kathmandu Branch gave us a wonderful send-off following our speaking in the Easter Saturday Sacrament Meeting. Our little choir sang Beautiful Savior beautifully. We enjoyed a nice linger longer and were showered with love and honor. Tears were shed as we bid farewell to these kind, guileless, faithful members of the Kathmandu Branch. Their example inspires me to be a better disciple.

Our flight home was over 24 hours with total travel time of more than 32 hours. It was very long to say the least. We appreciate that it was uneventful and that we arrived home safely on the same day that we left, gaining back the 12 hours lost in December 2022. It is surreal.

Since our 18 months were up on March 26th I have felt the mantle and the setting apart blessing fading away. That probably sounds strange and it felt strange. It was time to come home. It was time to leave life in Nepal behind, but we will be forever changed because of our experiences while serving the people of India and Nepal. I am grateful to have had such amazing experiences indelibly written on my heart and soul.

“Giving help to others–making a conscientious effort to care about others as much or more than we care about ourselves–is our joy. Especially, I might add, when it is not convenient and when it takes us out of our comfort zone. Living that second great commandment is the key to becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ.” —President Russell M. Nelson, General Conference, October 2019

 

Yes, this is our last week in Nepal. Winding down our mission. Passing the baton. Handing over the reins. It is indeed bittersweet as we disengage from the work that has been our life for the past several months. And while we may physically leave this beautiful country and its beautiful people, our hearts are inextricably intertwined with both.

Our trip to the Kevin Rohan Memorial Eco Foundation on Monday was a wonderful way to capstone our efforts to supply their newly-erected health clinic with state-of-the-art medical equipment. We officially did the “handover” of the equipment at a short but sweet ceremony.

 

Our humanitarian missionary service officially ended on Tuesday the 26th, and then we flew to Pohkara the same day. We had booked this trip earlier so we could trek to Poon Hill and see the majestic Himalayan mountains one last time. It was magnificent!

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Specific instances of general situations like the ones below arose this week, and the gentle, pervasive persuasion of my sweet wife matched the Spirit-whispered response: Let it go!

In a sleep-deprivation-induced fit of pique, you said something you shouldn’t have.

Let it go.

In a fog of mind, you neglected to say something you should have.

Let it go.

People you were counting on to come through by fulfilling an important request let you down.

Let it go.

You are leaving too many issues unresolved, loose ends not tied up, unknowns still unknown.

Let it go.

The Lord is able to do His own work — and He will hasten His work in its time.

Ever since I learned about it in the early 80s, Hofstadter’s Law has stayed with me:

Hofstadter’s Law (somewhat recursively) says:

It always takes longer than you think it will, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.

So long to waiting longer. So long to wondering when things will happen. Not that patience will no longer be applicable to our future adventures. Just our humanitarian adventures in Nepal!

With our departure rapidly approaching we have had many dinner invitations. The families we have come to know and love are so warm and wonderful. We will return home with our fill of Nepali food but I wonder how long it will be before we are craving dal bhat or momos. 

Monday we attended a gratitude ceremony at a local school where we had donated desks and benches, computers, hygiene kits and a few cupboards. It is a very poor school and they were extremely appreciative of our donations and the efficiency of CHOICE and LDSC. I am so glad we could help. School children should not have to sit on empty rice bags on the concrete floor for classes.

Our replacement couple arrived in the evening and they were equal parts excited and exhausted. It takes time to adjust to a 12 hour time change. The good thing is that traveling for 30 hours means you are so tired that you can sleep anyway.

The following day we had an Asia Area devotional over zoom. It was a great way to start the transition of responsibilities or shall we say pass the baton. After the devotional we went to a meeting to introduce the Nuffers to Maya at Days for Girls. We hope they are able to get a project going with that organization.

On Wednesday we took the Nuffers to meet our accountant and also to take care of some business. We needed to quickly end the meeting so that we could go to a lunch/orientation with CHOICE Humanitarian. We had to eat and run to make it to an appointment at the bank to set Elder Nuffer up as a signer on the LDSC account. Unfortunately it was all for naught as the bank required a wet signature from our area director in Hong Kong. Rick was unable to convince them that it was not needed last time so should not be needed now. No luck. Since they were already at the bank Nuffers decided to exchange some money and it ended up taking an hour to exchange $300. They had to write down all of the serial numbers and provide all kinds of other random information. Welcome to Nepal!

That evening we had a lovely meal and a fun time had President Chandra’s home. It was both a welcome and a farewell.

Thursday was more meetings and introductions but the highlight was having dinner with President William, our India New Delhi Mission president, and his wife. Again it was a welcome and farewell. I am so glad we got to know the Williams in New Delhi as we don’t have much contact with them here in Nepal. Ironically the restaurant was having a special Northern Indian Food buffet that night. 

The highlight of the week was the water project inauguration in a village called Malta on Friday. The trip was 2 1/2 hours on rough winding roads with steep cliff drop offs. It was a high adventure to be sure. It has been so fun seeing all that makes Nepal unique through the eyes of newcomers.

As has been our experience with other ceremonies, the people are very excited to have us there and honor us even though we didn’t have much to do with the project. We are the current people representing LDSC and so we humbly accept the honors. 

This particular project should be a model for all water projects. Because the villagers contributed so much labor it came in under budget and they were able to add a small building for the water committee and the community. Another interesting fact is that there was already water here but the system only had 14 community tap stands and there wasn’t always enough water. They now have 195 tap stands, one at each home, and there is enough water and with excess to use for irrigation. It is amazing what engineering expertise can accomplish.

The Village

We rounded out the week with two more dinner invitations and find ourselves full of conflicting emotions. Saying good-bye is so much harder than I ever dreamed it would be. Turning over our work to someone else is also hard. The Nuffers will be great, but we won’t be able to see the projects we started through to the end. I guess that in life we just do our best and try to leave a place, a calling, a job or whatever, a little better than we found it and then trust those that follow to do the same.

When I was asked to speak at the water inauguration ceremony I explained that I was feeling very emotional because we were leaving Nepal and I felt sad to leave such a beautiful country and such beautiful people. I said that I was there representing an organization which has people all over the world who donate small amounts of money to make these kinds of projects possible. I told them that I am just a regular person like them and I was honored to be in their country and be a part of the project. That seemed to really touch them. While we were at a school in Lamjung a couple of weeks ago I noticed this thought on a poster, “One flower does not make a garland.” It resonated with me and the work we do here. We can accomplish so much more working together and create something wonderful.

I am speaking as Country Director of Latter-Day Saint Charities Nepal. It feels weird wearing that title. I much prefer to refer to Taunya and me together as Country Directors since we do our work in tandem, each contributing, one complementing the other, dividing and conquering our responsibilities.

But officially, I am The Country Director. And it will fall to another Richard to take over in just a few days, which suits me just fine. The scripture that captures the moment for me is

John 3:30 — He must increase, but I must decrease.

These words were spoken by John the Baptist (“I”), and he was referring to Jesus (“He”). As Jesus was increasing in popularity, so John was decreasing. He had fulfilled his role as forerunner, now it was time to exit stage left. (This is quite presumptuous of me, of course, likening this verse to such pale shadows of an Elias and the Lord Himself!)

Our next two weeks are shaping up to be very busy as we have many appointments to show the new couple the ropes. But since they’re not here yet (tomorrow!), I will mention another increasing and decreasing we did this week that doesn’t involve them.

On Friday we increased and then decreased our elevation as we hiked another (smaller) mountain at the edge of the valley. The gain was about half that of the big hike we did last month, but over a shorter distance, so it felt comparable.

We certainly increased our heart rates climbing those steep stairs! And the soreness of our muscles!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luke 17:5 — […] Lord, increase our faith.

Overall, I think the steady increasing of my faith and the decreasing of my doubts has been happening. I feel closer to my Savior now than ever before. I know He lives. I know He knows me, feels my pain, succors me in my weakness, and draws me ever closer to Him as I let Him. Next Saturday the branch choir will have one final rehearsal of our Easter special musical number, Beautiful Savior, which we will perform in sacrament meeting the following Saturday, the 30th. I am counting on it being attended by angels to help us sing praises and give glory to our Resurrected Lord!

Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 — Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

Such is our daily challenge — and delight!

Stay tuned…

Early this week we headed back out to the Kevin Rohan Memorial Eco Foundation. We took a young couple from the US that we met at church to show them around and were also able to check up on the progress on the clinic and see some of the equipment that they ordered. It was a beautiful day and the first time we were able to see the mountains from that location. What an impressive view on a relatively clear day.

KRMEF is very grateful and excited about the equipment that has arrived and are looking forward to receiving the rest of it. We know they will be able to do a lot of good in their community and the nearby leper colony as well as other areas through their health camps. It has been a monumental task reaching this point and feels great to see the beginning of this investment benefitting thousands of people and lives.

As we make plans for returning home and are getting everything in order we are also trying to visit the “must see” places of Nepal. One of these is Mt. Everest. We knew hiking to base camp was out as was climbing the mountain itself, but we were able to take a helicopter mountain flight! We flew out of Kathmandu over villages and along the Himalayas to Lukla, the main starting point of the Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek. It has an amazing airport. The runway is nestled into the steep mountainside and is only 527 meters long making it one of the shortest runways in the world. Since we were in a helicopter it wasn’t a particularly scary landing.

After unloading some fuel so that the helicopter would be lighter and better able to fly at that altitude we headed toward Mt. Everest. Rick and I were dropped off at a flat spot to wait while the other three passengers flew around the point, over EBC and got a good look at the highest mountain in the world at 8849 meters or 29,032 feet. It felt strange to just be left there alone in the middle of the mountains. Fortunately our pilot returned, dropped the other passengers and then took us for a pretty close view of Everest. It was amazing although Everest is not as impressive as we imagined it would be. It is set back and just a triangle shape without a lot of snow. We saw other mountains that were more imposing. The Nepali name for Everest is Sagarmatha which according to one source means, “the Head of the Earth touching the Heaven,” however it can be translated a little differently depending on the source.

We landed to pick up our fellow travelers and then flew to the Hotel Everest View. It is the highest hotel in the world at 3880 meters (12,729 ft). We spent at least an hour there  just walking around, talking with people, and taking pictures because we opted not the enjoy the $33 per person breakfast. While wandering we saw half a yak! Well, it was actually a dzo which a cross between a yak and a domestic cow. Still cool. It was funny because the dzo just kind of walked into the clearing, posed for a few photos and then turned around and left.

After church and choir practice on Saturday we traveled part way to Lamjung where we would attend a ceremony turning over an addition to the school (funded by DōTerra) and the furniture LDSC donated. We got up early on Sunday and finished the drive arriving with time to visit the members of the community that have created a co-op to be able to sell their buffalo milk to Kathmandu. They needed a chilling vat and we were able to provide that and they will build a shed to house it. They have improved the road so the truck can make the pick up. Hopefully this will help the community to provide a better life for themselves.

The school “handover” ceremony was long and hot but good. There were many speakers and the students performed traditional dances. I was asked to speak and so shared a few words about choices determining the course of our lives. I quoted a little Dr. Seuss. “You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself any direction you choose.” I’m afraid it lost something in the translation though. I felt inspired by the local “boom band”  that played as we walked in a little parade from the area of the chilling vat down to the school.

On this momentous occasion as I officially turned over the keys for the school building it was the culmination of a lot of work done in this community over the last five years. Latter-day Saint Charities and CHOICE provided water for the community, cow sheds, poly houses, agricultural training and school furniture. DōTerra and CHOICE provided water for the school and six new classrooms. During this time there has been a tremendous amount of growth in these people and for their prospects in life.

I have to say that Mt. Everest is impressive and I am thrilled that we could see it so close but seeing the people blossom is so much more rewarding. They were some of the poorest of the poor and are now able to provide for themselves, send their children to school and look to even better things in the future.

Now that we are back from our trip with our feet on solid ground we are ready to make the most of our last week before our replacements arrive. Yikes! Our time here is rapidly coming to a close.

 

For a title I was vacillating between “High On The Mountain Top” and “I’m Sitting on Top of The World” — the former won out when I noticed it was the opening song in the Mill Hollow First Ward Sacrament Meeting today! (We love being on the list to get the program via email every week — it helps keep us connected to our home — thanks, Kerensa!) And in light of the Come Follow Me lesson on Isaiah with its mountain-as-temple metaphor, it’s a perfect match!

Mostly because of the fame of Mount Everest, Nepal’s position within the high mountainous region of the Himalayas justifies its “top of the world” moniker. No, we didn’t go to Everest, not on foot, not even in a plane (although we would still like to do that).

Instead, we went with Manoj on an outing to the south rim of the Kathmandu valley, where we undertook a hike that I can only compare to the hike I did as a teenager up the back side of Mount Olympus in Salt Lake City. Approximately the same elevation gain — 4000 feet — over about 6 miles. More like 7 miles for Mount Olympus, which also requires a bit of scrambling near the top, whereas you can drive to the (almost) top of Puhlchowki Mountain — the highest mountain in the Kathmandu region — 2,791 meters (9,156 feet)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come Thursday morning we were hurting big time. Due to the heaped-on abuse of the day before, every muscle in our bodies — not just legs, since of necessity we used trekking poles, so arms, shoulders and back too — was complaining — Loudly! But we’re so very glad we persevered and accomplished the journey “there and back again” — even if it took all day! Another entry for our We-Can-Do-Hard-Things file.

 

On Friday we were invited to help CHOICE Humanitarian employees assemble hygiene kits for local schoolkids. Still feeling the aftermath of our big hike, we were surprised that our old bodies were up to doing much repetitive motion that turned out to be a ton of fun! Some Young Single Adults from the Branch (and two older sisters) joined the activity. Four hours later we had completed 750 kits!

 

We all enjoyed mo-mos for a lunch break.

 

In humanitarian project work this week …

Yesterday morning we got word that our latest proposal was approved! This was one we had serious doubts that it would fly, so we and our NGO-collaborator were stoked! Now 16 schools in a poorer area of eastern Nepal will be getting new toilets, hand-washing stations, and other necessities and educational materials.

At Church yesterday it really hit us as we both shared our testimonies that this was our last Fast and Testimony meeting in the Kathmandu Branch. Oh, how we will miss these amazing people — so many of whom we have grown to know and love, because we have been blessed to be able to serve them in some small ways. Only 23 days left in our missionary service! Tomorrow our replacements enter the Provo Missionary Training Center, spend two weeks there and then fly to Kathmandu to arrive on Monday the 18th. So much to do to get ready for the passing of the baton!

Other sights that caught our attention this week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, we are down to 30 days left in our mission. It is hard to believe. As we wrap up certain aspects of our work and try to organize the rest, we are finding some time to go on outings and make better observations during our regular walks. Knowing we are leaving this all behind has caused me to evaluate my experiences over the last 17 months.

First, it has gone by quickly. Oh sure there are times that moved slowly along like waiting for our visas, waiting to be reassigned, waiting to leave India and waiting for the bureaucratic wheels to turn. Waiting provides a good opportunity to evaluate, regroup and accomplish things that you haven’t found time for in the fast pace of life. And as Dr. Seuss says, “Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing.”

While walking up to Nagarkot on an outing we came across what at first looked like a crack in the pavement but was in fact a procession of caterpillars creeping along end to end. As a follower one should always be sure of the direction the leader is taking you. The fork in the procession came about after the leader and those close behind were smashed by a vehicle. A new leader was born and the caterpillar train continued on.

The walk was 8 kilometers round trip and was more about getting out and exercising than for the views since it was a cloudy day. We did talk to some people and saw some pretty rhododendrons blooming. We walked past an army training area, saw some cute puppies, some flowers and pretty birds.

As with most tourist areas Nagarkot has various temples to visit. Here is a Buddhist Stupa that was looking very festive with all the brightly colored prayer flags.

Secondly, the experiences we’ve had will impact us for the rest of our lives. Yesterday as we were walking our usual Saturday route a guy went by on a bike (motorcycle) with plastic bags of freshly prepped chickens hanging from hooks on his bike. This is a common sight, but I always chuckle because the feet are usually poking out and it just looks funny.

We pass at least eight different butcher shops on this route with varying degrees of hygienic procedures. One shop has cages of chickens, ducks and pheasants outside the shop entry along with a goat or two tied to a post. Very fresh options. Another shop is always chopping goat meat on a tree stump that is on a tarp on the sidewalk. People are usually hanging around and some help to divide the meat into little piles that are put into plastic bags and sold to different families. There are a couple of shops that have a hose at the front of their store and they sit at the edge of the sidewalk removing the guts and clean their chickens as well as the intestines of the goats. Others have clean metal or marble work surfaces and a sink for washing the carcasses and seem pretty clean. It’s all very fascinating to me. Oh, and there are usually dogs waiting patiently for scraps.

As I made these observations on Saturday I realized how removed we are from the day to day necessities of life. I buy my frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts and call it good. In the US we have prepackaged salads, ready to cook vegetables and whole meals that cook up in a few minutes. Here you buy some vegetables at one shop and others at a different one. They come with roots and dirt and bugs. Food preparation takes more time that’s for sure. 

This level of detachment from basic needs extends beyond food. It took me a while to figure out that people brushing their teeth at the curb were not people watching but it was of necessity because they don’t have indoor plumbing. I’ve seen this just down the street from our apartment and we live in a pretty nice area. Some days they have a system of pumps and hoses bringing water into their homes. At least the water in Nepal is relatively good, just not always convenient. We feel blessed to have helped to make water convenient for many villages here.

I am more aware and appreciate all the hard work of the people who make my life easier. I also appreciate the chicken both for the eggs and the meat. I am grateful for the indoor plumbing and the washing machine we have in our apartment, especially when I see the back neighbor washing all her laundry by hand.

I don’t know if I will seem different to anyone else, but I truly hope that these experiences have helped me to become a better person.

 

 

The most unusual one, anyway. Unique. What made it so? That’s the goal of this week’s post — to tell this tale.

As far as celebrations go, my 69^th will probably be the acme of unusual birthdays, as I don’t see it being surpassed next year for my 70^th birthday, or beyond. (Although having more of my family around would make it so!)

Having another lull in the work, coinciding with the Chinese New Year celebration closing down the Hong Kong office for a couple of days, we decided to go on another excursion to see more of what Nepal has to offer.

We searched online and settled on Sapana Village Lodge, a very serene, peaceful (Sapana means Dream in Nepali) oasis as the place we would stay Monday and Tuesday night and experience the delights of a two-day tour package.

 

 

 

 

 

Sapana Village Lodge is right next to Chitwan National Park, which is located in the Terai, the subtropical southern part of Nepal. The first national park in Nepal, Chitwan National Park has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site “in recognition of its unique biological resources of outstanding universal value.” No kidding!

The best thing happened shortly after we arrived. We got to feed an afternoon snack to the “retired” (from tourist-riding service) elephants (all of whom were female). Given a basket of fruit (apples, unpeeled bananas, watermelon chunks) and vegetables (potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower) — with a little trepidation at first (which soon vanished) — we gingerly held out the snacks and were enthralled as a powerful trunk reached out and waited for us to put it in the tip (nostrils?!). Thus firmly clutched (maybe even with a little suction!) she curled her trunk around to deposit the goodies in her mouth. Then stretched it back for more! I had a powerful feeling flow through me while touching the trunk, the ear, and looking up into the gentle, intelligent eyes of this magnificent creature. It was unforgettable!

 

 

The early-next-morning canoe trip took us down the river at the edge of the jungle. What a glorious ride! Taunya took some amazing photos. So many birds to see! And more than one crocodile (snout — actually head) and lair. (We saw many more of them and more than their snouts later that day.)

 

Leaving the canoe, we walked through the jungle to where we would have breakfast and saw a rhino from across a clearing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The afternoon jeep safari took us deep into the jungle to look for more wildlife. We missed seeing any wild elephants or tigers, but our guide pointed out footprints of both. We also saw deer and peacocks and more crocodiles on the opposite bank of the river and in the breeding center. And another rhinocerous up close as it came near and sauntered across the road right in front of us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We met as part of our group some delightful people, who we got to know a little. Dennis and Laura, a young vacationing couple from Frankfurt, Germany. She is an HR professional for air traffic controllers, and he works for a banking startup. Isabel, a professor of biology at the University of Porto, Portugal, was there with a group of colleagues, mainly to attend a conference. She accompanied us to the Tharu Cultural Dance celebration Monday night, where, at a general invitation from the performers, Taunya strutted her stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shaking dirt off her food

 

Other animal sightings

 

All in all, a most memorable excursion, and a reminder of the beauties of creation and the marvelous workings of the natural world. But while there are so many more of these types of experiences that could fill to overflowing anyone’s bucket list, I think the best-yet-to-come will completely overshadow anything this world has to offer.

As recorded in Scripture — Isaiah 64:4 —

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

— and echoed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:9 —

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Loving God and waiting for Him. It will be worth the wait!

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Another entry for the “Whose Language Is This, Anyway?” file:

And one for the “Who Would’ve Thought We Would See This in a Nepali Airport?” file:

As previously mentioned, we have been working in a “hurry up and wait” fashion. We decided we could squeeze some activities in during the down time and Tuesday we went on a hike in the Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park. It is in the hills that border the Kathmandu Valley on the North. It was a pleasant hike until the stairs leading up to our destination of Bishnudwar, the place of worship at the spring. Coming down was even more challenging. We were glad for the trekking poles we recently purchased.

I have often heard people say that they feel closest to God while in nature and both the Hindu and Buddhist people of Nepal have created so many temples and sacred spots for worship in the mountains. There are several cable cars in Nepal and they are all designed to take people to a temple. We tourists go for the views.

Thursday we made a spur-of-the-moment decision to go to Chandragiri. We had hoped that the wind would clear the skies enough for good views of the Himalayas from the top of the cable car and it did. It wasn’t a perfect day but it turned out to be good enough. This is an activity that would have been better to do in the Fall, but we were way too busy then. At this time of year in Kathmandu there is not much rain and the pollution gathers in the bowl-like Kathmandu Valley. 

     Anyway, we had pretty clear views and could even see Mt. Everest—barely and very far away. It is sad that when taking a picture the mountains look so much farther away than with the naked eye. That said, it was really cool how the mountains looked like they were floating in the air. The haze and clouds below the peaks made it seem that way.

This made me think of Shangri-La which is a utopian community hidden in the Himalayan mountains of Tibet. The book Lost Horizon is a story about people whose plane crashes and they are taken to Shangri-La so they can survive. A famous quote from the book is, “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years”. This statement offers a profound perspective on the value we place on our time on earth. I hope that our time here in Nepal (and India, and Salt Lake City) will have made a difference in the world and in the lives of the people we have met and served. I know it has made a difference in my life.

     A thought from the song, Reflection, in the musical remake of the movie Lost Horizon is:

“Doing something for someone else

Isn’t really for someone else

It does twice as much for you as something you do

Just for yourself”

My experience has been that not much of what I give is actually a sacrifice. God is so good to me. He blesses me constantly. I am forever in His debt. Serving a mission is often seen as a sacrifice, but I don’t feel like it is. It is true that I am giving my time and using my financial resources differently than I would be if I were at home, but it doesn’t feel like a sacrifice. Yes I miss my family and friends, but I can stay in touch and I have made new friends and met people that I consider “family”. There are things here that are hard and frustrating and so very foreign, but I am enjoying my time here and know that when I get home and am able to enjoy the conveniences and comfortable aspects of life in Rexburg I will miss the uniqueness of Nepal, Manoj’s smile, the people that we meet on the street, the spirit of the Kathmandu branch, and giving very meaningful service.

     Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise, particularly a mythical Himalayan Utopia – an enduringly happy land, isolated from the world. We can’t live our lives isolated from the world. We need to be willing to give of ourselves, our time and our talents to build Zion which is the only Utopia there will ever be.

Or “Ke garne?” (kay gar-nay) as they say in Nepali.

This is a common Nepalese exclamation (with equivalents in every tongue and people), kind of like a sigh of resignation (“What can you do?”). It’s an expression to use when you face a dilemma, or a challenge where you don’t see a way around or through it. Like when a project you’ve worked for months developing gets stuck in a holding pattern, waiting for the higher-up decision makers to work through issues of funding levels and budget allocations.

That’s where we find ourselves this week. Hurry up and wait. And wait. And wait! Ke garne?!

The question of what to do always has an answer, generic though it may be:

Do good.

Orson Scott Card’s “Ender in Exile” has Ender, the main character, saying:

“In philosophy class I think we finally decided that ‘good’ is an infinitely recursive term — it can’t be defined except in terms of itself. Good is good because it’s better than bad, though why it’s better to be good than bad depends on how you define good, and on and on.”

So much for the philosophies of men!

Paraphrasing another character plus Ender’s unspoken thoughts — and substitute ‘Nepal’ — or your own country — for ‘China’):

“China’s a beautiful country. More variety inside China than in the rest of the world. [But he knew] that China was full of human beings, and that the mix of good and bad, strong and weak, courageous and fearful was bound to be about the same as in any other country or culture or civilization… or village, or house, or heart.”

So we continue to work through the dilemmas and challenges of “doing good to all men” (13th Article of Faith).

Here are some more of my favorite “do good” scriptures:

Acts 10:38

Jesus […] went about doing good.

We’re trying to be like Jesus; we’re following in His way, and we have His words:

2 Nephi 33:10

[The words of Christ] teach all men that they should do good.

Doctrine and Covenants 6:33

Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward.

Doctrine and Covenants 11:12

[…] put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.

Doctrine and Covenants 58:28

For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.

Jacob 2:19

And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.

This last one really speaks to what we are about here in Nepal. Administering relief in various forms to the poorest of the poor and the neediest of the needy. Nepal surely has its share of those. But it certainly does not have a monopoly on suffering. So of course there must be hard decisions made at every level as to who to help and how much.

Though we didn’t go ourselves as observers this time, pictures were sent to us showing some beneficiaries of our earthquake-victim food and blankets relief package.

Does the share Nepal gets of a limited pool of funding depend on recognition? Much discussion and speculation on this question has been happening lately. In the midst of all this I can’t help but remember the counsel given to Elder and Sister Jones (who trained us in New Delhi) that they passed on to us:

It’s okay to be seen doing good. It’s not okay to do good to be seen.

PR-type recognition or not, what long-term positive impact all the humanitarian work we do will have is something we can only guess at.

What we KNOW is that Nepal has many, many good people. Parents who love their children, and children who love their parents. We love serving them. And not all work we do has been seen but not recognized, at least at the local level. Here’s a letter of appreciation we received (we meaning the royal Latter-day Saint Charities we) when we went to the inauguration ceremony Taunya described in her New Year’s Eve post:

 

We know others who are extremely appreciative, even profoundly grateful, for our help. Two in particular. We love Krishna and Santosh at the Kevin Rohan Memorial Eco Foundation, whose health clinic is nearing completion, and who we visited this week. We love them for the tremendous good they do serving their community.

Hopefully very soon they will receive the approved funding (currently stuck in our finance department’s gears) to outfit this clinic with its needed equipment.

 

 

From the Now-how-often-do-you-see-that? department: