August Highlights

August started out with a fun visit to the Chauhan family with one of the new couple missionaries, the Hubbards. Brother Chauhan is a chef and Elder Hubbard wanted to learn how to cook from him. We first went shopping for all the needed ingredients and then the cooking began, with both Brother and Sister Chauhan doing the teaching and help from their daughter and son as well. 

We first met the 3 Chauhan children in our English Class in Dwarka and they have since been baptized. Their mother joined just a couple of weeks ago. They are a great family!

Dwarka Branch was the location of our next wedding: President Arpit Pandey (1^st counselor in District Presidency) married an RM Sister he met while she was serving in Delhi a couple of years ago.

They are a very handsome couple!

And everyone dresses up for weddings!

Some of the Young Women loved the dance floor at the reception.

One of the youngest in attendance at the reception held by her proud father—Branch President Stanley Massey of Delhi 3rd Branch.

August 14 was the baptism of Brother and Sister Talwar.

They are a couple in Dwarka that we have been teaching since last fall. Their son joined 7 years ago but it was last July when they went to his wedding in SLC and they couldn’t go inside the temple that they decided they wanted to learn about the church. They spent a month in Utah and loved it.

They were all smiles after the ordinance, and then the next Sunday, they were confirmed members.

Now we are visiting them as new members. It has been a great experience getting to know them and watch their growth in the gospel.

August 15, we celebrated our 41^st anniversary by eating at Barbeque Nation.

Someone had gone all out and decorated it with lots of balloons and they even knew my favorite colors are green and orange!

Actually, it is India’s Independence Day, so everyone was celebrating something with us that day.

When we got home, I noticed all these returned emails that I had never sent. I had been hacked!

I immediately changed my password and hope that none of you were adversely affected.

We get excited when new missionaries join us, but the opposite also happens.

Here are five Elders from the US all going home soon. Elders Hagen and Gustin worked with us in Noida and are already sorely missed.

Now we are hoping the seven missionaries from the US waiting for their visas get to join us soon!

I finally bought and conquered a coconut.

It was delicious! My seminary students helped me enjoy it last week.

Here are some repairmen working on one of our air conditioners.

They brought it in from our balcony and bring their tools in their backpacks. It is now working fine. Yeah!

Last week India celebrated Raksha Bandhan—a festival celebrating the relationship between brothers and sisters. Sisters tie some bracelet around their brother’s wrist and he gives her gifts of sweets or acts of service. A couple of families we visited the next day shared their extra bracelets with Elder and I.

What a great relationship to honor.

Here are a few interesting photos:

13 passengers packed inside a share auto with 4 more upfront on our way to visit members.

One family lives next to a dairy.

Look what was causing a traffic jam on a narrow side road:

A Tractor!

A goat tied to a tree in the median.

Narrow side street scenes while waiting for a member to come guide us to their home.

Traffic Jam: when the light turns green, no one moves because there is no place to go.

A herd of cattle using the same road as our taxi.

Life continues to be very busy and most interesting here in New Delhi, even at our slightly slower pace. 

Sweet is the Work

It’s hard to believe that July is over already! But it has felt good to ease into full-time missionary work again. We are so thankful for all the skilled professionals that helped Elder in the hospital. Here is a shot of a few of them as he leaves.

And Sister Adams made sure he felt welcomed as he returned home.

He also received a few homemade get well cards and many get well wishes from friends and family. Thanks again for all your prayers.

We did take it easy for a couple of weeks, and it was such a sweet blessing to be able to again attend church with all our friends out in Dwarka. In the weeks we had missed, it’s like they realized that we almost got sent home and we aren’t going to be with them forever, so it’s up to them to start doing more of the things they need to be doing. Branch council meeting was so fun to experience! And average attendance is up from 65 when we got here to 85-95. Way to go!

And the next Sunday in Noida we saw our first baptism out there—there have been a few others but we just weren’t there for them.

Their baptismal font is also on the roof of the building. And here is a shot of the neighborhood

and one of its residents sitting on the gate of the church.

So Noida, the smallest branch in the district, who was averaging only about 15-20 at Sacrament Meeting when we first got here (8 of which were us missionaries), is now averaging 35-45 a week and one week they were above 50. There are only 80 members on the role so President Gygi and those young missionaries are working super hard on both reactivating and finding.

We had a super fun visitor on July 22.

Many of you will recognize Rob Schill, who served as ward clerk when Elder was bishop, and then replaced him as bishop of the Marston Lake Ward in 2008. He was in town for a week and made time to come spend an evening with us, going to Dwarka Branch’s Pioneer Celebration.

He seemed to enjoy mingling with the Indian Saints,

listening to stories about pioneers then (Utah) and now (India), watching stick pulls

and biscuit eating contests

and getting a taste of real Indian food.

Here is some of what he shared about the experience:

“I happened to come when they were having their branch celebration of Pioneer Day and saw Sister Allen lead the primary children in a song and heard Elder Allen bear a wonderful testimony of his mission and about being a pioneer. I got in my cab that night with a hot plate of food, a warm goodbye from the branch and such an uplifted feeling for having been there.”

Any of the rest of you who might find yourself in New Delhi in the next 8 months, just let us know and we will give you a taste of the real India!

We are in the middle of monsoon season over here and I caught a glimpse this past week of a couple of the Noida Elders trying to protect themselves from the downpour.

And I’ve noticed that even if it isn’t raining at the time, the humidity is often 95-98% so it might as well be raining.

A week ago, the number of senior couples in the mission doubled with the arrival of the Hubbards (on the right--Public Affairs, Humanitarian and supporting one branch) and the Blunts (MLS like us so supporting two branches).

We are so excited! Sister Adams has made up a FHE schedule for the first Monday of the month and we get to host this next Monday evening. What’s on the menu? The Allen family’s favorite--Chicken Sundaes/haystacks of course!

Last night all of us senior couples, plus the Hodges, attended the wedding, dinner and reception for the daughter of President and Sister Katuka, he having been baptized back in the 80’s and one of the most experienced members in Delhi.  I believe he was the first missionary from Delhi, he is a current Branch President—but also previous branch president many times—not always serving in the branch where he resides, and previous District President. Sister Katuka is District Relief Society president, branch YW president, and also teaches a combined Institute/Seminary class in their branch. They both were on the couple’s conference committee with us, plus they serve on the district Self Reliance committee with us. The groom is also from Delhi but both he and his new wife are currently attending BYU Provo. It was the largest wedding we have yet attended as President Katuka is also very well connected in the community.

Here is a picture of President Katuka on the left with current District President Suku and his counselor President Palanivel at the Branch Presidents training on July 2.

Here is the wedding, and then the reception with the bride and groom in traditional Indian Wedding clothes.

Elder enjoyed the dance floor.

The work continues here in Delhi—there is always much to do. We are thankful to still be here participating in it.