Sari Sunday

Yup!  This is the day!  I got my sari and wore it to Church on Sunday.

Hema, our landlady, came up to help me dress.  She taught me how to fold the sari correctly.  It's not easy.

 It is fun to dress up like a true Indian lady.

 How do you like my sari?

I love the embroidery, seen here better from the back.

 Elder Wigg and I, in the Bangalore 1st Branch courtyard.

Do you recognize me in my newest Indian outfit?  It's quite comfortable to wear.  

So many people commented and said, "Looking good in a sari, Sister Wigg!"

 There was a family of 4 baptized today.  It was wonderful.  

Manjula is the sister, along with her husband and 2 children.

 Manjula and her family, shown here with the Senior Couple, the Wigg's.

Elder Sampara is being transferred this week, so he wanted a picture with us.  

Pictured here are Elder Wigg, Elder Sampara, Sister Wigg, Elder Sodadasi.

These Elders are great servants of the Lord as they work so hard.

Flower Show at Lalbagh

We took a couple hours in the afternoon to go to Lalbagh Botanical Gardens for the Republic Day Flower Show.  It was so fun and beautiful.  The air was even perfumed!

 Welcome to Lalbagh!  It's a beautiful day to enjoy the outdoors.

 We arrived at about 2 pm.

 Pretty fountain

 This is a gazebo in the center of the park.

 From the main gates, we pass this fountain on the way to see the flowers.

 This is the main display of the flower show inside the Glass House.

 The colors are so great, truly vibrant.

 The flowers are amazing.  This flower display is on for a week, surrounding 26 January, Republic Day.

 Flowers here are like water flowing from a pot.

 I think this is 'Lilies' and 'Bird of Paradise'.

 Peacock feathers were used in this flower arrangement.

 Here is a cute display using a horse planter.

 So gorgeous, but can't remember the name of this flower.

 They had such great lines and colors.

 Elder & Sister Kellerstrass accompanied us to Lalbagh.

 It was such a beautiful day and we had a great time.

 I think these are yellow roses.

 Mostly roses and carnations, I believe.

 The picture on the left is made with grains of rice.  The one on the right is made with mustard seeds.

 This artwork of the Taj Mahal is made with rice.

 This is the Glass House where most of the flower show is located.

 There were many kiosks where people sold their goods. But look at the size of the trees!

 This is the ice cream salesman.

 This lady is cooking corn to sell.

 This is a health food store.

 This is local art work for sale.  I like the little hanging bird's nest.  The bird is a 'Baya Weaver'.

 The indians love color and these handbags are so colorful.  Sometimes they call it a 'vanity bag'.

 These are potted plants for sale. You can have your own herb garden.

 I think these are watermelons, growing like grapes on plants suspended in the air.

 This is an enormous tree.  They are wonderful as they offer such great shade from the hot sun.

This sign refers to the rose garden that exists here year round. You can look from outside the fence, but you can't go in or pick the flowers.

Sri Lankan Guests

We have had the pleasure of spending time with Elder & Sister Kellerstrass, who are a Senior Couple doing volunteer service in Sri Lanka.  They are here for a couple weeks while their Sri Lankan visas are renewed.

 We have really enjoyed the time spent together both in the office and out.  We have loved the meals out and sharing lunch in, but most of all, we have loved just getting to know this fine and interesting couple.

Here we are after dinner together at 'Italia', one of our favourite Italian 'pure veg' restaurants.

Regular Lunch Bunch!

We have the Regular Lunch Bunch at our apartment on Sunday.

 Elder Sampara & Elder Sodadasi

 Elder Kant & Elder Kumbhakar (doing dishes!)

Elder Ardhila & Elder Prabhakar (the Assistants)

Elder Ardhila is going home in 10 days, so I said I would cook him some hot food.  He said that he'd like Mexican food, so I made Beef & Bean Burritos and Chicken Fajitas with seasoned rice, refried beans, corn and apple crisp for dessert (and, of course, banana bread, his favourite).  It was good and fun.

Elder Ardhila has been our stalwart trainer in the Office.  He has been faithful through so many questions, mistakes, queries, interruptions and more questions.  Elder Katuka trained me but then he was transferred and still Elder Ardhila (such a great and humble man) stayed and carried on, helping, teaching and even translating the Indian English into Canadian English!  Even after Elder Pimsakul was transferred, we still had Elder Ardhila to lean on.

Many times when we couldn't understand the person on the other end of the phone, he patiently listened and explained to us so we could understand.  Thank you, Elder!

We will miss you.  But wait, I can still call you at home, right?

 This was sort of so-long to Elder Ardhila, and the guest of honor is sitting beside Elder Wigg.

Elder Kumbhakar, Elder Kant, Elder Sampara, Elder Sodadasi, Elder Kellerstrass, Sister Kellerstrass

Front: Elder Wigg, Elder Ardhila, Sister Wigg, Elder Prabhakar