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We have news, we are being reassigned to Nepal! Rick and I are excited to begin another new phase of our mission. Hopefully this will be the last phase although we will probably change apartments after three months. It will be fun to be able to do humanitarian work. In Nepal they have some fairly strict regulations and we will be limited in some regard, but there are clean water projects and they have a Helping Babies Breath program that we will help implement. We will be working closely with an NGO called Choice and some others that Latter-day Saint Charities has a long standing relationship with. There is a missionary couple serving there now and we will be blessed by their tutelage for the three months we will be working together.

Nepal is actually part of the India New Delhi Mission but there are no young missionaries there, just the one senior couple. We will be based in Kathmandu. One of the things we are excited about are cooler temperatures. Another is the Himalayas. We understand the people are wonderful. We are looking forward to meeting them and helping as much as possible.

As we have told some of the people we have met while walking and playing badminton they have expressed sadness about our departure and two in particular wanted to spend some time with us before we go. We were able to meet with a man and his wife who run a home for underprivileged and orphan girls. They currently house 20 girls. We met them and shared some singing and good wishes. Later in the week we were able to go visit a new property in the country that they are developing which will be more suited to their needs now and in the future. They are amazing people. We are not able to help them at this time but maybe future humanitarian missionaries will.

Another gentleman took us to the Andhra University campus (established in 1926) and showed us around. He taught there for about 35 years. This was something Rick was excited about doing because of his tenure as a university professor. It was a nice walk and interesting to compare the AU campus with the BYU-Idaho campus. It is more spread out and has lots of trees and many of the buildings are from the original university. He is another of our contacts and has been doing some leg work trying to help us find some projects. Again, the timing is not right and hopefully in the future there will be the opportunity for collaboration.

We attended the baptismal service for two teenaged girls. They will be a great addition to the branch. They already have strong testimonies. It is fun that after each baptism they serve a “birthday cake” which includes the tradition of feeding each other cake. It’s pretty fun.

India is hosting the G20 summit and various cities are hosting different conferences. These are some murals created here in Vizag to welcome guests.

The women here dress more in traditional clothes than in New Delhi. They are so beautiful. Women at the walking park wear saris and kurtis with tennis shoes and sometimes they even play badminton dressed traditionally.

We had another quiet week here in Vizag.

Yesterday we played badminton in the parking garage because it was too windy outside behind our building, where we played earlier in the week.

Friday we walked to the beach (about 2 miles each way) and on the beach (about 2 miles) — a total of 6 miles that left us pretty exhausted — and not just from the exertion of walking. We’re getting up at 5:00 now to try to beat the heat. By the time we get home it’s 90+ degrees on its way to highs of 100!

On our walks this week we met some more fascinating and friendly people (an accountant, a retired doctor, a police officer and his wellness-coach wife), and saw some sights replete with beauty and delight.

Rock On, Rock Art!

 

Architectural Beauties:

   

Our new favorite park, with flora and fauna and people too!

              

We have a grandnephew who can relate to this next picture. Here’s a bonus for you, grandnephew! If you see this by some small chance, enter a comment on this post telling me why you can relate and you’ll get a personal private email reply from me!

That’s all for now!

I was thinking about the restorative nature of, well, nature. We have the ocean here in Vishakapatnam and when we walk along the beach the ebb and flow of the waves soothes my soul.

We went to Darjeeling where we were in the foothills of the Himalayas and saw Mt. Kanchenjunga, third tallest mountain in the world. It would have been nice if it had been a clearer day so that we could have better witnessed the majesty of the mountain but we did get to see the sunrise gradually illuminate its peaks. It replenished my soul.

Today we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ and witness how His glory illuminates us in ways we didn’t think possible, cleansing us from deep within to bring light into our countenances that we in turn might glow with His love and share that light with others. He restores my soul.

Because we are currently “servants who aren’t serving” we got permission to take a little trip and went to Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. It is a hill station known for the production of Darjeeling tea and was a place of respite from the heat for the British. It has a lot of historical significance and beautiful places to see. We mainly went because we wanted to see the Himalayas (pronounced Him-al-y-as here) and got to see many other fascinating things. The people and customs are very different from Vizag and Delhi. I felt like they were more a reserved people although our drivers were very friendly. Language barriers made communication difficult. (Bengali is the official language along with Nepali.) Darjeeling has influences from Nepal and Tibet as well as that of the British and India. The main religion is still Hindu but there is also a large percentage of Buddhists. The roads are narrow, hilly and congested. It took over half an hour to go 6 km from one side of the town to the other. I call it a town but there are about 120,000 people who live there. At first I felt a little scared and definitely uncertain, but in the light of day (we arrived after dark and had to go down what seemed like a dark alley to get to our hotel) and as we learned our way around I was less nervous. The whole concept of building a city on a hillside is incredible. It was hard to get photos that really showed it though.

One of the places we visited was the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Center. We learned a little about the oppressive history of the Tibetan people and saw some of the traditional crafts they use to provide for themselves and keep their culture alive.

Yak fleece being prepared for carding

Woman spinning cashmere wool.

Tibetan woman weaving a beautiful rug.

I really felt the truthfulness of this quote that was on display in the photo exhibit:

“Tibet will never die because there is no death for the human spirit. Communism will not succeed because man will not be a slave forever. Tyrannies have come and gone and so have caesars and czars and dictators, but the spirit of man goes on forever.” —Jaya Prakash Narayan, Indian Freedom Fighter and Political Leader

Prayer wheels used by Tibetan Buddhists to accumulate wisdom and merit (good karma) and to purify negativities (bad karma).

Vertical Tibetan Pole Prayer Flags. They believe the prayers and mantras written on them will be blown by the wind to spread good will and compassion.

The last thought for this week was the feeling of coming home when we arrived back in Vishakhapatnam. We both felt it and I was very surprised that our flat with no personal touches in this huge city in a foreign country feels like home.

For a servant who’s not serving.

General Conference is such a great oasis in the desert of intense uncertainty we find ourselves in. Yes, we are still in a holding pattern, still not allowed to serve in our calling as humanitarian volunteers.

The closing hymn of the Saturday Evening Session really hit home, especially the phrase: “More used would [we] be.”

We sincerely wish the Indian government leaders would be more open to foreign aid to help their people, especially the poor and needy, of which there are so many. But it is what it is. Despite this reality we hold out hope for a sooner-than-later resolution to our immobility.

Every day we see something new, or meet someone who knows someone who needs help, or who can help. We can only smile and say we’ll know more soon about how we might be able to help, or collaborate with them in helping to lift and bless people’s lives.

In the meantime, we continue to explore Vizag and its many features and allures. Here’s this week’s highlight reel of photos and videos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caught some big ones without fishing boats!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waves at Yarada Beach

 

 

 

 

 

Make no mistake — he’s making stakes!

Yesterday, to celebrate Taunya’s birthday, we had lunch with the Bairds at a nice restaurant in the Dolphin Hotel downtown.

The food was great—not nearly as spicy this time as the food we ordered for delivery a couple of days before. Alas, I may never arrive at the point where the Indian degree of spiciness adds to rather than diminishes my enjoyment of food! Balance and moderation, the happy medium, the beautiful blend — give us more of that, please!

The phrase from “More holiness give me” I mentioned earlier has a precursor: “More fit for the kingdom.” We need to stay focused on the kingdom and each of our small but important part in building it. To be fit for the work we need to maintain and enhance our spiritual poise in the face of discouragement and uncertainty.

To quote Lumière again, “Life is so unnerving for a servant who’s not serving.” Far more unnerving than that, far worse than the pollution in much of this earth’s air, water and ground, is the pollution that festers in people’s hearts. Would that this pollution be rooted out, would that we all become pure in heart, a people prepared to bring again Zion, to be ready to meet the Lord when He comes! We know He IS coming, and when He does He will usher in a thousand years of peace. This planet will be cleansed from the filthiness on its face, and find rest with its grateful inhabitants in the healing presence of the Prince of Peace!

We are still in a holding pattern regarding humanitarian work in India. It isn’t exactly fun but we are finding ways to keep busy. We continue to meet new people and have unique experiences.

Monday while looking out from the balcony to the Kailasagiri Hill I noticed how bright and cheerful it looked. We got at least an inch of rain over the weekend and everything was rinsed and brighter. The air is clear and it just felt lighter (not heavy), more hopeful. Things are looking up.

Except that we got locked in our apartment! We could not get the lock to work. I was a little panicked. It is a long way to climb down from our 17th floor balcony. We used a spoon handle to unscrew the lock (we have no tools) from the door but that didn’t quite work because a plate went perpendicular into the door frame. I yanked on the handle but all that did was pull the handle off of the door. We shimmied and bent the lock and got it open but then we couldn’t get it back together again. A spoon handle was not adequate. We contacted the maintenance guy but he wasn’t able to come until the evening so we had to stay home all the rest of the day.

We had some meetings this week pertaining to the work here but we won’t know anything until April. We are looking at some places that might be fun to visit while we await direction. We were invited to serve at church by Rick speaking in Sacrament Meeting and me teaching Relief Society. An especially interesting experience since we had people translating for us.

Happy Ugadi! Wednesday was the New Year here in the state of Andhra Pradesh (and other Telugu speaking states). Our badminton friends invited us to the 7AM celebration at the Health Arena by the Buddha. They said there would be food and that it was a special time. We were happy to go and I had thought about bringing some food item to share. After reading a little I decided that they had some traditional food and that I should just enjoy that. When we arrived and got to the top of the ramp at the entrance there were a lot of chairs set up and the man with the microphone said something like, “Welcome foreign visitors! Please come and join us.” It was rather hilarious. We continued up and since they weren’t quite ready to begin we walked for a bit and then returned. At that point only one of the badminton people was there. It was so not what we were expecting. Once again language is a barrier. We speak the same words but they mean something different.

The program was about an hour long and mainly consisted of an astrology guru sharing the predictions for the year and pronouncing the traditional blessings. It was all in Telugu so we only understood a few words here and there. The man that “coaches” badminton came late and was decked out in his new clothes. New clothes are part of the tradition.

Following the program they served the pachadi which is a chutney with six tastes—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and spicy. These ingredients reflect the six aspects or emotions of life. They are a symbolic reminder that one must expect all flavors of experiences in the coming new year and make the most of them. It tasted pretty good but it all comes back to eating food prepared with unknown care…

I often forget how much we stand out. I honestly don’t feel that different but people continue to approach us just to say hello or say they see us walking and want to talk. Random people often want a chance to practice their English as well as get a photo.

We went to Tenneti park beach again this week and one of the men we met at the Ugadi celebration noticed us and was surprised that we knew about this beautiful place for walking. We would have just passed him by because he didn’t stand out. We do try to greet people as we walk and sometimes a conversation ensues.

The government has allocated funds to spruce up Vizag because of the G20 summit being hosted in India. There are conferences all year long throughout the country. Some of the projects we have noticed include painting the median concrete work, planting flowering plants in those medians and the traffic circles. There are a significant number of murals in Vizag and they are creating new ones as well as sprucing up those that already exist. We were surprised to find some paintings on boulders at the beach that were not there a couple of weeks ago.

 

Although we did not know what a mission to India would look like it is not going at all like we imagined. Life rarely does. I am thankful to feel at peace despite not knowing when we will be given the go ahead on projects or what that will look like. We have to take the sour along with the sweet and incorporate the spicy and the salty. It is all important to keep life balanced and to develop ourselves along the way.

Another shall-we-just-say interesting week in Vizag has come and gone. In many ways, our daily routine is pretty settled: up at 5:30, scriptures, yoga, prayers, breakfast or a snack, then out for our morning walk.

Lots of walking and exploring some new parts of town:

 

 

Everybody’s got a water buffalo!

 

 

In addition to our daily prayers, we do lots of thinking — but see the admonition on the tour bus! — some reading and writing, some online and in-store shopping, eating in and out, just your typical missionary life!

 

Lunch arriving at Platform 65

 

We’ve started playing early morning badminton (just back-and-forth birdie hitting, no net, no games) with our friends in the walking park. I recorded a short video of their “coach” playing with one of them. (They call him “our booster”.)

 

Coach putting on a show!

 

Yesterday we went to lunch with the Bairds, then attended a first branch baptism (Satya, who got married our first day here, three and a half weeks ago) and then a third branch YSA (Young Single Adult) activity, which we came at the tail end of while they were just talking and cooking and eating. The chicken kebabs smelled wonderful, and they offered, but we politely declined to partake. All four of us seniors were given the opportunity to share some thoughts with the YSAs and bear our testimonies. The Spirit was strong!

 

 

Now, how’s that humanitarian work going, you ask?!

Well, we had our momentous meeting on Friday that included all three humanitarian couples (us, the Jones, and the Gerlachs) and our immediate chain of command — our direct manager, his supervisor, and his supervisor (the Director of Temporal Affairs), plus two lawyers from our legal team in Hong Kong.

The meeting went for about 90 minutes during which the lead attorney told us very clearly that because the government is clamping down on how foreign contributions come into and are used in India — pretty much all the types of projects we have been doing we can no longer do. All the ideas we brought up in the meeting were shot down — no can do. We asked for a concrete example of a project that we CAN do, and got nothing. We left the meeting very confused, frustrated, and disappointed. Why are we even here if we can’t really do anything?

Basically we were left in the dark about what value we can add by being here in our current calling as humanitarians. We were asked to brainstorm, and pray for guidance to come up with ideas we could discuss in a follow-on meeting that will happen hopefully as soon as tomorrow.

Taunya and I thought, prayed, discussed our ideas just with each other, and pretty much wound up going in circles and getting nowhere. We went to bed pretty unsettled, but we each slept better than we thought we would. So yesterday morning we decided we had enough energy to tackle “the stairs” again. Which we did. Resting about 3 times during the 20 minutes or so it took, we climbed 816 (yes, I counted them!) stairs, which had several landings breaking them up (which I didn’t count). During one of our rests, a man who we greeted briefly as we began to climb, and who had shortly thereafter started following us, caught up to and then passed us on his way to the top. As we exchanged greetings, he said we inspired him to make the climb — that wasn’t his original plan! We greeted him again at the top, and then had the most amazing and enlightening conversation where we learned, first, that he was a retired engineer after a career working at the naval base.

His English is excellent, and we learned so much more from him as he freely shared his thoughts about his country, its history and current status, its people and their mindsets and struggles. He asked why we were here, and what we thought of his country. That triggered more learning about our mutual desire to do good, to act charitably toward our fellow beings. He shared with us what he saw as opportunities to do humanitarian work here. I won’t go into details now, but will just say that his ideas felt promising! We’ve been pleading with Heavenly Father to guide us and lead us to people who can help us in our quest to lift and bless the poor and needy. We know that he was a direct answer to these pleas — and he was pleased when we told him that!

We were walking while having our conversation, and we ended up walking all the way to the other end of the Kailasagiri hill, then down the long road that ends at the beach road, and back along that road to where he had parked his car. He kindly drove us home, and we exchanged contact information with intentions to reconnect.

At the YSA activity last night we learned that the branch president is the principal of a private school with 800 students. Another brother in the branch who I talked with briefly has a PhD in chemistry! He works for the government on sanitation works. So, we can’t help private schools, and we can’t do sanitation projects with the government, but it still felt like another door opening a crack, letting in a little light, beckoning us on through the remaining darkness. There are people here who can help us learn and grow and figure things out!

Because as Taunya reminded us by putting 2 Timothy 1:7 on the fridge: “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” We have not given up, nor will we succumb to wishy-washiness about the work. What work we do not know right now. But we will learn, and then we will not try, we will go and do!

As you may have noted our blog site was down for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately all of our posts were lost and it has taken Rick many hours to recover the data. Because of this my post is a little long.

We have been taking a lot of time to get to know where things are here in Vizag, the City of Destiny, as it is called. We are getting more comfortable with the supermarkets, travel by auto rickshaw, the warmer weather and cooking with ingredients that are just a little different. My observations…The people here dress in more traditional clothes than they did in Delhi. Lots of saris for the women and dhoti for the men. Fewer people speak English. The weather is more tropical. The language is Telugu and that is what is mostly spoken at church making it challenging for us. Prayers are generally long, heartfelt, faith filled and personal even over the pulpit. We thought the people in Delhi looked at us with surprise and interest but here we really stand out. In Delhi we lived in a neighborhood that had several embassies and so we were not the only foreigners around. It was a relatively quiet area within walking distance of a small outdoor mall and a short ride to a very large mall. The mall here doesn’t have a lot to offer us and is a 15 minute drive. We live on a busy four lane road. There is traffic and honking all hours of the day and night. The traffic is still crazy but there are a lot more scooters, motorcycles and rickshaws. Seeing women driving scooters is common as is riding side saddle on the back with their colorful saris flapping in the breeze. There are not as many stray dogs, but the ones we have seen are often very scrawny and mangy. They have more water buffalos and although we haven’t seen as many cows wandering the street the ones we do see are so much healthier. We are no longer able to walk to church because it is too far away. That is a little disappointing.

Early in our exploring we found some small neighborhood parks that required many laps to achieve any distance. Fortunately we found another place that is called a health arena which has some nice paths along the base of a large hill. There is also a stairway up one end that has 500-600 steps. We have climbed the stairs twice now. This is a good option as long as we get an early start so that we beat the heat and walk when it is still below 80.

Kailasagiri is a park and tourist area on top of the hill. Last Saturday after climbing the stairs we walked through that area and met a group of Indian tourists from Telangana. After taking my first photo of the 40 foot statues they noticed us and everyone seemed to think they needed a picture with us and to shake hands. It was a little crazy especially seeing as we were sweating profusely after our climb. The last photo was with a small woman that only came to my shoulder. After our picture she reached up and wiped the dripping sweat from my chin. They have a very different concept of personal space!

We walked to the beach one morning and there is a nice park there but it is a long walk through traffic and along broken or blocked sidewalks. We get a lot of curious looks from people as we walk by. The children are more likely to smile and are excited when we talk to them. One day they were actually chasing after us calling out asking our names.

You may be wondering when we are finding time to do our humanitarian work. Well the sad news is that we are on hold for a couple of weeks as we wait for the area leaders in Hong Kong and the church legal department to figure out what we can and can’t do here in India. There are some restrictive laws and requirements and legal has concerns with some of the projects we have been doing meeting those requirements. So until we get the go ahead we will continue to explore and adapt.

While walking at the health arena we came across a group of people that get together each morning to practice badminton. They are very friendly and have invited us to join them. We purchased some racquets and played a little on Saturday but because of our late start we didn’t have much time. Rick didn’t get as much practice as me because he was drawn into a conversation with a man who is making a movie about the Indian freedom fighters. He was asked to play the role of a British officer! It doesn’t seem to fit with the reason we are here and may be politically problematic so he will probably need to decline but it was a fun thought for a minute.

 

Unusual sights not captured in photos:

-Two guys on a scooter carrying an 8 foot ladder.

-An old man with long gray beard dressed in white robes zipping along on his scooter.

-Two camels being led along a busy road.

-A beggar/vendor trying to sell windshield sunscreens to Americans in an auto rickshaw.

-A man carrying a 5 gallon bucket on his head full of sheep (maybe goat) heads.

-My forehead sweating while eating some delicious biryani. (The manager came by and asked how the spice level was. Apparently the chef toned it down for us!)

Random things we saw while walking around the neighborhoods:

It seems that every day brings something new and different in our lives here in India. Just when we think we have things figured out, they change, or something new comes along. It requires our faith to take that one step into the unknown and continue moving forward never knowing what to expect next. Kind of like life.

Or as it’s officially known, Visakhapatnam, a way-smaller-than-New-Delhi city of only 2.4 million (!) on India’s east coast — the Bay of Bengal. 17° North latitude, 83° East longitude. Tropical weather indeed, high temps in the upper 80s to lower 90s, with high humidity. But the air is so much cleaner than Delhi’s!

Here’s the blow-by-blow of our once-again-unusual week — which saw no humanitarian outreach efforts to speak of, as we’re just getting settled in.

Monday

We packed, weighed, repacked and wondered how we were going to fit everything in our suitcases. We eventually did, and were (only!) 34 Kg overweight! We bought some flowers and a card for Elder and Sister Jones, as a small token of our appreciation for all their excellent help and training. They were out and about while we did this so they were surprised when they came back. They and the three other couples took us out to dinner to say farewell, although not so much farewell from the Bairds, as they were going to be coming to Vizag too, and very soon after us.

Tuesday

Getting to Vizag was something of a hassle at the airport, pre-flight, but nothing earthshattering. The flight was 2.5 hours, and included a meal — which we weren’t expecting but were very grateful for! Post-flight went smoothly, our bags were some of the first ones off (LIFO advantage!) and our drivers were there to meet us and take us to our new apartment—which is very nice!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday

We were planning on spending a quiet day getting organized, making shopping lists, relaxing a bit. But at 11:20 the Vizag 1st Branch President called to invite us to come to a wedding! It was supposed to start at 11:30, but we didn’t get there until 12:10, and still arrived in time for the opening song and prayer!

The program included introductions of the bride and groom by friends and family members, and marriage counsel by branch and district leaders. The actual ceremony was conducted by another brother who had a license to perform civil marriages. He was a pastor in a different church before his conversion. The ceremony was long, about 20 minutes, after which the couple hung flower garlands around each other, and another pair of matching neckware, among other things.

Lalitha and Satya were the bride and groom. She’s a recent convert, he’s currently taking the lessons. They were a very nice couple, pleased to meet us afterwards, even inviting us to participate in the wedding cake ceremony, which had them first cutting and serving each other small pieces of cake, then inviting many others (including us) to likewise serve them and be served by them.

The wedding overall was quite different from the first one we went to! The venue was much more modest (the cultural hall of the soon-to-be-Stake center) and the food served after the ceremony could fit on three 10-ft-long tables. It looked catered so we weren’t concerned about eating it. There were neither utensils nor napkins — everyone ate with their fingers, so we did too. A nearby washroom provided the sink to wash our hands afterwards.

 

After coming back to the apartment, we decided to look for a grocery store nearby. Google maps found one, which turned out to be a hole-in-the-wall type of store, not exactly what we were looking for, so we went with Google Maps’ second choice. It then led us on a walk through a slum, which elicited a lot of stares and giggles, mostly from the little kids. But some of the adults looked at us warily, almost like we were intruders in their realm. And when we got to the Google Maps’ destination point, the store wasn’t there! We asked and got directions to another one about half a mile further, so we were still able to pick up a few groceries. It made us smile that 6-8 employees of that modest store drew near and competed for the opportunity to try to help us find what we were looking for!

Thursday

We found a mall where we had lunch after looking around a little, and then went on a short walk to a big supermarket. We picked up a few more essentials and were disappointed at what we couldn’t find — like vanilla extract for making chocolate-chip cookies, or banana bread. But we ordered that and some other hard-to-find things online.

 

 

 

 

 

Cows still rule in Vizag!

Typical sights and sounds riding along in Vizag.

Friday

We went back to the big supermarket today, and had an interesting encounter. A lady came up to us and just started talking. Her English was good, and so it was easy to understand her story. She’s been trying to talk to people who look American in hopes they can help her find a job in the US. She’s a widow with two grown daughters, both in college. She has a bachelor’s degree in special education. She just wants to have a better life than she thinks she can have here — being a widow with daughters in India comes with many disadvantages. I kept thinking, the restored gospel would give her a better life regardless of where she lives, however, we were not at liberty to steer the conversation in that direction.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster restaurant, near the Andhra University campus, was our choice for dinner. The name was fun, it looked interesting, and the Italian food we ate there was okay, but it was noisy and the service was very slow. Still, reading their witty menu was amusing, and it even made reference to EMACS (for all you former students)!

 

Saturday

We decided to check out the beach today. We took an auto-rickshaw to the Ramakrishna Beach, and spent about 45 minutes just walking along the beach and observing the (mostly domestic we assumed) tourists frolicking and relaxing there. It was fun to see palm trees on a beach again! Towards the end of our walk, a half dozen people approached us and asked if they could take selfies with us. We couldn’t refuse!

 

 

Sunday

We did our morning routine, yoga, breakfast, etc., but this time we decided to check out a nearby park and get in a little walking exercise.

 

 

 

Our leisurely morning made us almost late for church, as the Vizag 2nd Branch met at 11. But we were there before 11, and were warmly greeted by several branch members who were excited to see a missionary couple!

The meeting started in English, but the two speakers switched to Telugu soon after starting their talks, only intermittently coming back to English. They were very excited as they shared their messages, about the importance of staying on the covenant path, and repenting and forgiving.

Afterwards, two members asked me to give them a priesthood blessing with help from another Melchizedek priesthood holder. Their simple faith was wonderful to behold!

Taunya had a better time in Relief Society than I had in Priesthood, as Elders Quorum was almost exclusively Telugu. An occasional English word was written on the board, and interspersed in long passionate comments by several of the brethren.

We chatted with and had some lunch with the Bairds, who arrived yesterday and are happy to be here and to serve the members and leaders. They have such a good spirit and zest for the work!

We met with the district presidency for a few minutes, and discussed ways they could help us carry out the Church’s mission to care for the poor and needy in this area.

Back to the apartment to reflect on life’s little adventures, and the big adventures that are still to come!

This week began with another new experience and not because it was Rick’s birthday. Several missionary couples went together to the Surajkund International Crafts Mela in Faridabad which is about an hour south of Delhi. It is kind of like a ginormous farmers’ market without the selling of fresh produce. There were over 1000 booths that sold textiles, clothing, trinkets, pottery, furniture, dried food products, and so on. There was also a food court area with many yummy offerings. As always we were hesitant about eating food but found a hotel culinary school tent that looked more professional. (Each morning we pray with gratitude for our food and for it to provide the nourishment we need but now we add a prayer that it will not do us any harm!)

The fair was fascinating in and of itself, but we were amazed when we kept getting requests for photos with people. I think we were the only white people at the fair. I think Jawan and I had at least 20 people ask us for pictures.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday we had a meeting with a representative of the National Council of Churches in India. We expected it to take 2-3 hours but it lasted more like five. The Indians we have met like to share stories and just have a more leisurely pace. We did take him to lunch and that took some time. The culture here requires hospitality that includes food. We are always offered a beverage and frequently a snack as well. If our meetings are anywhere near lunch time they want to provide a meal. It is challenging to convince them that it is our turn to pay.

We spend time regularly developing relationships and connections. This particular gentleman has some great contacts with people and groups that can help us with distribution and maintenance for the wheelchair project the Joneses are working on here in Delhi.

Friday and Saturday we ventured even farther than Faridabad. It took 2 to 2 1/2 hours of travel each way. Friday we visited five rural schools near Jewar where we evaluated the need for RO systems. As we were driving along the roads between fields of grain, sugar cane and marigolds I could feel the tension leaving me. I didn’t even know I was feeling uptight. It was lovely to leave the chaos of the city behind for a few hours.

The children in these rural schools were absolutely adorable. They are very polite and well behaved. Some had uniforms, some did not. Some had shoes, some did not. They all had big brown eyes full of curiosity as we walked around their schools. It was a long 8-hour day but very rewarding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While traveling along the backroads we encountered young men who were carrying decorated bow-like contraptions with containers of water attached. They were traveling with sacred water from the Ganges river and taking it to a Hindu temple. It was about a 250 km trek and the processions were accompanied by other people, support vehicles and there were resting spots along the way. It was all part of the Mahashivratri celebration.

 

 

Saturday’s trip took us north to Baghpat where we visited a hospital to learn more about the community and their need for the diagnostic equipment we are hoping to supply. They were very accommodating and of course gave us beverages and snacks. I tasted but didn’t care for the Pudina flavored potato chips. It had kind of a minty, garlic, cinnamon taste. (We were able to excuse ourselves from the lunch invite.) We learned all that we needed to and saw lots of interesting things during the drive. Here are some photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have no great insights from this week, just the realization that no amount of words or photos can relay the sights, intensity of colors and sounds and the feeling this all invokes. Maybe there is a life lesson in there somewhere. How about this? You can only rely on the testimony of someone else for so long and then you have to develop your own. Some things just need to be gained through personal experience.

Disclaimer: As tender mercies go, this first one was pretty low key, compared with other ones we have seen this week.

But still so exciting! We and two other couples were invited by President and Sister William to visit Agra and see the Taj Mahal!

This happened on Monday. We had a very early start to our day, leaving by 5:15, riding with Anil (the professional driver for the mission) in the mission car. The others — President and Sister William, Elder and Sister Bingham, and Elder and Sister Baird — rode in the mission van. It was a long ride — 2.5 hours — but we enjoyed talking with Anil, who regaled us with his miraculous conversion story!

We got to Agra, and after a pit stop at the Marriott hotel where we were going to have lunch after our tours, it was off to the Taj Mahal.

A crazy number of souvenir hawkers accosted us on the way from the parking lot to the shuttle, but then our tour guide met us and we shuttled away from them.

The tour, complete with historical and political commentary, and of course descriptions of the marvelous architecture and workmanship, lasted about 90 minutes. We saw the Taj Mahal from three of four directions, saw the optical illusion of the four towers — one at each corner — whose cylindrical sides looked parallel due to the flare in size at the top to counter the perspective. We went up to the main structure and touched the ivory-white marble facing, then after putting on booties went inside where no photography is allowed.

 

 

 

Our guide, Muhammed Ali, took many pictures, of couples and the whole group, along with some specialty shots (mirrored and reflected images).

 

 

 

 

Interestingly, there were signs around the grounds warning visitors to not tease, irritate, or even make eye contact with the monkeys — however, no monkeys were to be seen, because the groundskeepers had cleared them all out in preparation for visits by dignitaries in conjunction with the G20 Summit to be held in India later this year. I looked it up and learned that India, during its G20 presidency, intends to hold in all about 200 events across the country!

After that, we drove over to the Agra Fort and had another fascinating tour of that structure complex.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saying goodbye to our guide, we went back to the hotel for a delicious buffet lunch with all the Northern Indian food we could eat. We swapped with the Bairds for the trip back to New Delhi and had a delightful conversation with President and Sister William.

Another huge highlight of our week was meeting Elder Uchtdorf. He was visiting India this week to meet with government officials, and also the missionaries and the members.

Thursday is when we saw him and Sister Uchtdorf, shook their hands, had pictures taken, and most significantly were taught and edified by their words in the afternoon Mission Conference, and again that evening at a New Delhi Stake special devotional. One thing Elder Uchtdorf said, more than once, and that really stuck in my mind, was that Christ is the center of everything. It reverberated and resonated and surfaced in some thoughts I will share below.

We met again with Vinay Stephen on Friday. What a good man! He took us to see two buildings they have and use for their charitable work, and for which we are working on a proposal to refurbish and make them more suitable to helping more people. (Like adding on a kitchen to serve meals to some of the homeless.)

The people we saw who are employed by the Sadik Masih Society, as well as Vinay himself (their director), have a great spirit about them, and it is a joy to try to figure out ways we can collaborate with them on humanitarian projects to serve the poor and needy.

Here are my thoughts as I pondered our collaboration with these good people.

How do we learn to make Jesus — the center of everything — the Author and Finisher of our faith — how do we make Him the central focus of our lives?

Taunya reiterated the hows in her talk today (see below). Pray to Heavenly Father, read and study the scriptures (feast on the words of Christ), and serve.

Another thought: Learn to look for and see Him everywhere, in every sight we see with our natural and our spiritual eyes, especially looking at people and seeing the Light of Christ in their eyes. See the goodness and virtue in them.

It was Monday evening that the Bishop of our ward here asked Taunya and me if we would give the talks, which we did today in Sacrament Meeting. It was fun, although a little stressful, as any of you who have given talks can relate to!

And now for the great news! It was a wonderful tender mercy that we have been certified to move! The inscrutable gears of bureaucracy fell into place and the paperwork was completed. (The e-certificates were emailed to us as proof!) We are now one step closer to moving to our new assignment.

More info to come as we learn more!