Hospital and MLC

Mission Leadership Council (MLC)

What's for lunch? - You guessed it, Curry chicken. But this time with some extra veggies.

The mission president told everyone that he received two calls recently from branch presidents that have a big problem. They have more people attending their meetings than their total membership. Therefore not enough room to fit everyone in the classroom. He told them to have two Sunday school classes instead of one. Nice problem to have.

Off to the Hospital

Since we don't have a mission nurse, we sometimes help the younger missionaries with their health challenges. About a week ago I was asked to accompany one of them to the hospital for a procedure. Getting there was quite the challenge. The traffic is usually really bad but this morning was even worse.

We tried to leave the mission office but couldn't for about ten minutes, as the traffic was at a stand still.

There happened to be a transportation strike going on that day. It was for bus drivers (they estimated about 26,000 buses would be out of service), and other taxi unions protesting new laws that affected them. They said it would affect schools, businesses, government, and more.

As we finally started moving we saw that protesters were walking the street, so once they started moving, we moved as fast as their slow walk.

What normally would take about 10 minutes to drive to the hospital in the morning took about 35 - 40 minutes.

A picture of a sign in the waiting room in two languages.

Here's a picture of some hospital food they brought the missionary, which the Elder said was quite good. It was vegetable soup.

Vegetable Soup at the Hospital -  Called "Chef on Wheels"

The server asked to be paid for the soup so the missionary pulled out some cash and paid him. It was 35 rupees (about $0.50 US)

Except for the few hours for the procedure and then recovery room we were together and had a good time talking and sharing stories throughout the day. These missionaries have so many interesting experiences that also help to strengthen my faith in Jesus Christ and the missionary work. 

9:00 am - 9:00 pm... A great day helping missionaries here in India.

There have been a couple of other times I have accompanied missionaries to the hospital in the last month, each time an interesting experience. And the cost is a small fraction of what you would pay in the US for similar procedures.

The need is tremendous and the work fulfilling. Please spread the word that missionaries young and old are needed out here.  

A Great Little Church - Convent Road Ward

We visited a nice church in Bangalore (Bengaluru) City called Convent Road Ward. It was near a hotel that we stayed over night at so we were able to walk there. We arrived a little early and took some pictures around the grounds.

Meeting the members here was a nice treat as well. One sister had joined the church less than a year ago. She is a doctor, and said she also lived 8 years in Boston. She shared with us some of her experiences and struggles and was so happy to have found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When she found the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ she said she hoped this would help her to improve her life and become a better person. She said it has helped her to change for the better. She and many others have no other members of their family attending, but they continue coming alone. 

We love talking with these faithful members who are really some of the pioneers of India, since there are less than 15,000 here. When the pioneers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints migrated to Utah in 1847, there were less than 35,000 members at the time.

When this building was built they preserved many of the original trees on the property. Isn't it nice?

Meeting Young Adult members from the Convent Road Ward

Eagle Scavengers Dive Bombing the Marketplace

Commercial Street Shopping Area

Bangalore has some huge shopping areas. Commercial Street has been a big shopping area for many years. We heard it was an interesting place to visit/shop so we asked Prabhu, our friend, to take us there. The meat markets were especially different. There was a strong, disagreeable stench. What was quite surprising were the number of Eagles, Hawks and other birds. They were obviously looking for scraps of meat.

I saw several Eagles, one nearly hitting Prabhu in the face.

Perhaps we could add an interesting scripture about the 2nd Coming...Matthew 24: 28 For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

Prabhu ducking as an Eagle nearly hit him in the face.

Another large bird, perhaps a Hawk, swooped down near us...So close, I could feel the breeze on my face from it's wings. 

One of the young missionaries from India told me a story of when he was 11 years old. His classmates at school were playing outside during a break and a huge Eagle came down and picked up a 6 year old little boy. The Eagle carried him for about 10 feet and then dropped him. All of the children picked up stones and threw them at the Eagle until it flew away. The little boy was OK but ended up with scars on his shoulders.   

Watch this video that these pictures were taken from.

Fresh chickens butchered and ready for sale.

We must have walked for two hours or so through these shopping streets.

The only thing we ended up buying was this rechargeable, electric zapping mosquito bat (cost just over 3 US dollars).

Elder Martin closing in on a mosquito with his new electronic zapper bat

Here's a different picture. We saw this cow eating some garbage or something so we decided to take a picture with it.

As soon as we took the picture the cow started to pee.

Learning some history and seeing the city of Bangalore, India

Bangalore Palace

On one weekend we broke away  from the office to take a look at a few of the sites in the city. 

Maharaja - Chamarajendra Wadiyar X

We started at Bangalore Palace, a residence for the Maharaja of Mysore while he was training at Bangalore. The interior was a little neglected and in need of repairs, but it was a nice place to see. The gardens outside were nice but not great. Some of the flowers were blooming which made it worth seeing.

This was a cool archway of flowers

Cubbon Park

We then visited Cubbon park, a huge park in the center of Bangalore City. It was close to the big court house and government buildings. 

Our new friend, Prahbu took us around to see the park. 

Some of the trees in the park with the long branches like arms kind of reminded me of the "Whomping Willow" tree from the Harry Potter movies

Quite a beautiful walk. The shade was nice since I forgot my hat.

Some of the trees were beginning to flower.

Some of the roots of these trees were amazing.

I didn't want to touch this plant

Vidhana Soudha - The Grand State Government Office Building

Just outside the park were the government buildings. We weren't allow to see them up close or inside. Prabhu said it must be by invitation or special permission only.

Interesting statement - "Government Work is God's Work" is engraved on the front of the government building

About two years after India gained it's independence from the British and the year after Mahatma Ghandi was killed, Dr B.R. Ambedkar finished the India constitution. He is named, "The Father of the Constitution of India", pictured below.

Statues of Mahatma Ghandi

We continued our walk to see the many statues of Mahatma Ghandi. There was a great movie made about him called "Ghandi" that is worth seeing if you haven't. He was named, "The Father of the Nation".

These three statues of him were in Mahatma Ghandi Park

Ghandi made his own clothes in a movement to promote home-spun clothes instead of British made

We enjoyed our little tour around Bengaluru city. The next two blogs continue the journey.

Sisters Saying Goodbye To The Sisters...and more

Sisters Saying Goodbye To The Sisters

The Sisters of the ward said goodbye to Sister Beesa and Sister Chadda going home to New Dehli, India

We continue to be amazed that so many young missionaries come and serve for 1 1/2 to 2 years, postponing college and work until they finish. They tell how they have grown immensely in both their testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and in wisdom, filled with experiences and wonderful stories. 

Had the Sisters over for a farewell dinner

One of the Sisters talked about stories of adversity before their mission such as being raised by her uncle because both parents died. They talked of special experiences teaching people the Gospel and watching their faith grow as they read "The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ" Link, pray to God asking if it is true, and receiving the answer as a "Yes", and then entering the waters of baptism. 

Sister Ambrose, Sister Beesa and Sister Chadda

Many have health problems during their mission but they keep pressing forward and endure through these challenges the best they are able because they are called to serve. Check out this great video...Called To Serve  

Had the Elders over for breakfast - Saying Goodbye to Elder Fullmer

We were invited to and attended a wedding. They served a dinner called Biryani Rice and chicken. Almost every party or function that serves food includes this and perhaps a curry of some kind. Always a great treat. A little too spicy for Sister Martin but she likes it as well.

We attended another India Wedding - Beautiful

More interesting walks to and from the mission office during the Metro construction.

Wasn't sure what they were trying to do here with this new wiring. We're always walking over wires, sometimes tripping.

We watched a very large tree fall that workers cut down, clearing more space for the new Metro railway going in. Here's the videos...

Always see a couple of stray dogs wherever we walk. They seem to be nice and haven't seen any aggressive ones, thank goodness.

We even see some goats. We laughed as we watched one of these goats climb on top of a nearby car.