Welcoming, goodbyes, MLC and Beautiful Gardens

Always wonderful to meet and see new missionaries. We were lucky to meet Sister Chhaya (pictured below/center) in New Delhi just a few weeks earlier as she was preparing. See our earlier post--

STL, Sister Shanmugam will be her trainer.

Saying goodbye to Elder Anand.

With our new assignment, we're typically not down in the office anymore when new missionaries arrive and depart, but today I happened to drop by at the right time.

Elder Joseph, left, was just about to depart for home. We loved working with him for about one year in the office. 

New arriving missionaries and a few getting ready to depart soon.

MLC

Learning and discussing

Getting ready for the group picture. A convenient auto in the parking lot was included in the picture.

Kannagi's cooking was devoured as usual.  Her noodle dish was so good we ran out.

Having a great Saturday late lunch with Elder and Sister Willnauer at Barbecue Nation-all you can eat buffet. The waiters were excellent and attentive to Sister Willnauer's dairy allergies.

They gave us a cake, "Welcome to India"

Had some of our wonderful friends over for lunch/dinner. Yes, I made Thai coconut ginger curry and Red Thai curry with rice. They are perfect dishes as Indian's love their rice with a sauce or gravy.

Anyone for some Indian-Italian food?

Pretty good Pizza and Veg Lasagna

Went to Lalbagh Botanical Gardens to see the annual beautiful flower show. The 2020 Republic Day show commemorated the 157th anniversary of Swami Vivekanada (1863-1902). He was a Hindu monk who was very wise and religious. In 1893, he opened his speech in Chicago saying, "Sisters and brothers of America..., at the Parliament of the World's Religions where he introduced Hinduism. He believed that service to man was the way to worship God.

Yes, we went with Office Specialist Couple Extraordinaire -  Elder and Sister Willnauer

Rose Garden

Lal bagh Lake

Inside the glass house was like going to a parade where everything is covered in flowers.

The Vivekananda Statue and Hindu flowered temple in the background. There were 100 poster boards about the monk's life.

Finish it off with a nice lunch at Hard Rock Cafe-buffalo burgers for us. Yum! We haven't eaten any beef in several months. This was Water Buffalo burgers.

A few days later we visited Bugle Park

Inside the park was a place called Bull temple

Up in the small tower we could view some of the park, including some interesting bats that were just waking up for the night.

Christmas through the New Year's Eve party * * * Y e a 2 0 2 0 !

A beautiful Poinsettia tree blooming on the Whitefield Road Ward church grounds

Christmas day - Pot luck lunch at the Mission Home

We made Pad Thai Noodles with Shrimp

The Mission President invited the young Elders who were working the visitor center up for lunch.

Don't forget to try one of my homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans

And a few members came up.

Arvind played the piano while we sang a few Christmas songs

New years eve dinner at the mission home with homemade pizzas. With the help of a local we found some cans of A&W Root-beer.

Everyone sticking to your new year resolutions??

After dinner we went down and joined the party with ward members and the young missionaries for a scripture story scavenger hunt. 

The missionaries challenged everyone for the new year to come to know Jesus Christ by reading and studying the Book of Mormon and other scriptures using the "Come Follow Me" program of the Church. Each group received clues to a scriptural event and then went to that area in the church find a puzzle piece. Example: John 3:5 "...born of water and of the spirit..." led us to the baptismal font room. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/john/3?lang=eng

The clue from 1 Nephi Chapter 8 that included the story of the "Tree of Life" led us to the display temporarily put up in the church courtyard. 
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/8?lang=eng

When all the pieces were put together, the puzzle was a picture of Christ. The activity was to teach us to search the scriptures to find Jesus Christ. Through our own personal experience we have come to learn that little by little and piece by piece, we can develop a relationship with Jesus Christ by reading and studying the scriptures, especially with the Book of Mormon.

Posing for a picture while others are assembling the puzzle pieces.

Members enjoying the New Year's Eve Dinner.

And even though we just finished pizza, we sampled a tiny bit of Biryani and curry.

A few days earlier we did some apartment inspections and then enjoyed lunch at a nearby restaurant with some of the young Elders.