Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A Sister Returns

Sister Ganta has returned from her mission in the Philippines.

Sister Ganta flew in at midnight one night.  Elder Wigg and I took Gowda, our taxi driver, to pick her up.  She stayed at our apartment overnight, then was released by President Funk at 7:30 am the next day, just in time for Gowda to take her back to catch her flight home to Vizag.  It was fun to see her coming home!

English Breakfast

We had a fun time when Elder Wigg cooked a Traditional English Breakfast for guests.

 We had Elder & Sister Kellerstrass, Jonas and Uday for dinner.  It was fun.  Elder Wigg was the English cooker and we had fried potatoes, sausages, baked beans, fried tomatoes, toast and juice & fruit.  It was so yummy.  I think all enjoyed it.
We watched Johnny English on Jonas' computer, ate grapes that Uday brought, and laughed.  It felt good to really laugh.  I mean, I smile and laugh all the time, but this was a big belly laugh, right?

Have you seen Johnny English?  It's Mr Bean, and I love Mr. Bean!

Monday, February 20, 2012

A Family That Plays Together

A Family That Plays Together Stays Together!

We had a fun Family Home Evening with Vivian, Teresa and Emmanuel.  
They came over for dinner and then we had a song, prayer and a short lesson.  

Then we played 'Duck, Duck, Goose'!
 Some people didn't understand the rules very well, but we had a great time!
 There were people running....flying through the air...
 ...taking turns...(Elder Wigg is such a great sport!)
 ...laughing...
 ...sometimes the small people rule!
 What a fun night we had!  But wait, it's not over yet!
We made peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies!  Mmmm!  
What is Family Night without a warm, sweet treat?
 Then it was time for a group picture!  Emmanuel is a great kid!
 We had a fun time playing Grandma and Grandpa to this sweet family!
Vivian and Teresa are super people.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

A Lovely Lunch

We had a lovely lunch for 13.

We wanted to have the 4 new Brothers (cousins) in Bangalore 1st Branch for lunch, but Harsha couldn't come.  We also invited a few others.
It was  a fun Sunday with 13 for lunch after Church.

Pictured here left to right are:
Elder Kant, Elder Kumbhakar, Mike, Terrence, Elder Sommer, Elder Sodadasi, Elder Smith, Elder Prabhakar, Jake
Front: Elder Kellerstrass, Sister Kellerstrass, Sister Wigg (where's your name tag?) Elder Wigg

We ate beef spaghetti, salad, corn on the cob, garlic bread with fruit and chocolate cake & ice cream for dessert.  It was so yummy and fun.

The Indian brothers don't get American food very often so they think it's fun.  And the American Elders love to have a taste from home.  We're happy to do it and try to have the Branch Elders over for lunch at least once per transfer (every month to 6 weeks).

Kolar Gold Fields

We went for a day trip with the Kellerstrass' out to Kolar Gold Fields, generally known as KGF. 
There used to be a huge gold mine here, but it is long since mined and closed down.

There is one set of Elders there and a Branch of the Church.  It is about 2 hours drive to the South East of Bangalore.  President Funk's driver, Sampath, drove us out and back.  
It was a beautiful day for a drive.

 This pictures shows a view of the countryside and a nearby town.
 This part of the country was just rocks.
 When we stopped for diesel, there was a tractor filling up.  I found that funny.
 So this shows you the cost of diesel and how much it cost to fill the Ford Explorer in Rupees.
 There are some beautiful homes at the turn-off to KGF, that we could see from the highway.
 This area is quite densely populated.
 There is a lot of rail traffic in India.
 This lady is bringing the cows home.
 This is the pretty street where the Elders live.  The people love color on their homes and clothes.
 This is a beautiful house across the street from the Elders apartment.  The flowers are pretty and there is a guard dog which we didn't see until we got up close.
The house is called 'Blossom Side'.  I like that!
 This lady has her cow just hanging out in front of her house.
 There are so many butterflies, but it's not easy to get a good picture.

 Many people keep there plants in pots, which these are,
 This area is so lovely, and quiet.
 This is the Elder's apartment building.  They live on the 1st floor (we would call it the 2nd floor) just above where Sister Kellerstrass is standing.
I'm not sure if this is the name of the building or the owner, but it's interesting anyway.
 This is a quiet side street in KGF.
 This is not an uncommon sight even in the city, but normal here in a smaller town.
 The KGF Elders: Elder Kottangi and Elder Ashton
 The Church rents space in this building for the KGF Branch to meet and worship.
 Here is one of the main side streets in KGF.
 This is a busy little town general store.
 Still traffic even in downtown KGF.
 I'm not sure what this is, but it's interesting looking.
 Normally the animals, including these goats, just sleep during the day.
 The drinking water salesman distributes fresh water to the community.
 These people are purchasing water from the water truck.
 These homes would be occupied by a little bit poorer families, I think.

 The owners of these homes would have a little more money.
 I think this is a middle income home.
 This is a Christian grave yard.
 This is a pretty house, with palm trees and a rock fence.
 I think this is the school gates.
 This lady has a load of laundry freshly ironed.
 Hanging out outside the store downtown.
 This lady is transporting her water home.
 There are 2 water towers in KGF.
 This home has the animals tethered outside the front door.
 They have 'auto' lineups, but this is a 'truck auto' line up.  
They are waiting for a job or customer, I think.
 These school children are just finishing a half day of school on Saturday.
It is always fun to see the school kids.

We stopped for lunch at a tourist Hotel called SN, I think.  They had an extra cost to the meal if you wanted the air conditioned dining room.
 This sign makes me laugh.
 Elder & Sister Kellerstrass
 Elder & Sister Wigg, on casual Preparation Day.
 This is Butter Naan with Butter Chicken.  We also had Tandoori Chicken, Roti (another kind of flat bread that's good) and Veg Fried Rice.  It was all good.  We all had pepsi to drink, which was the first time, I believe, that Dad has had pepsi since we've been on our mission.  That's pretty good for him.
 The Restaurant name sign.  It cost us 610 Rupees for lunch, about $12 for 4 of us.
 The area around the hotel was well groomed.