Bea-Ooty-ful!

 It was a week of many "firsts" for us. For the first time since our mission began, Elder Dunlap and I found ourselves in different cities for a whole day. Way weird! He was required to fly to Chennai to meet with government representatives along with another brother from the church from Bengaluru who helps with the foreign missionaries. All this for a 10 minute grill. You'll be glad to know it all went smoothly and we are staying put. It felt very odd not to be together. But, I had the rare privilege 

of tagging along with the young missionaries for a special P-day outing to Ooty, a beautiful city up in the mountains with picturesque scenery and cooler weather. With a name like Ooty, it had to be good! Since the sisters serve in a trio, I got to be companions with Sis. Thananki but mostly we were all together the whole day which was non-stop fun on a disco mini-bus. Oh the strobe lights! The main activity of the day was one gigantic day-long photo shoot. Seriously, they never tired of taking photos (I did). We did see some pretty botanical gardens and parks and we took a chocolate factory tour which was a very nice change from busy traffic intersections but my favorite scenery was missionary watching. I just can't get enough of their beautiful souls! (Truth be told, I think the elders are dorbs ) 

                       United Colors of India

  Elders Adhikari, Magesh, Benson in bloom

                     Not quite Kathmandu but...

                  Their brotherly love abounds

                India GQs and future India GAs?

My Dollar Store glasses were in high demand

                         Sing Sister Singh!

          Universal signs of peace and good chill 

Moving on, another first achievement this week was our first English Conversation group! No photos were taken to commemorate the event but we were glad to have even 3 people show up. We meet people every day on our walks who express interest but we never know who will actually show up. We believe from small and simple things, great things can come to pass. We had our 2nd class just a little while ago and only 3 participants again but 2 were brand new so 5 total. 

Another first this week- our first Indian Wedding! This was a marriage of two members of the church who were beloved by all who know them. We weren't personally acquainted with either of them but by virtue of being in the branch, we were invited to attend. We enjoyed seeing both aspects of this hybrid event; the church wedding and the traditional Indian parts.

                            The best men!

The bride festooned with her entourage

Unfortunately, when the buffet line of Indian food became available, I put my camera away and didn't get good documentation for the rest of the night. Oh my, we did eat! What a spread! I don't think the bride or groom even got one bite, they were busy receiving guests and gifts and taking endless photos to remember the day.

            Guests young and old in their finest.

We were blessed with a shower of good wishes

Looking everywhere but at each other. 

The shyness of an arranged marriage.

This photo was taken before they changed into their traditional costumes. So negligent on my part to not get that on film! Hopefully we'll get another chance to see another wedding and I will be more vigilant. One thing I found interesting and different from American tradition was the mothers were the ones to feed the bride and groom their wedding cake. There is no smashing it in their faces either, (I'm not fond of that part anyway.) I thought it was perhaps symbolic of the last time their mothers would hand-feed them, which interestingly moms do here, even as old as teenagers but I was told that's not the reason they do it. (See, what do I know?) It was a beautiful night from beginning to end, the night before we witnessed firsthand a terrific downpour and the power going out in the church so the weather cooperated miraculously. We came home very well fed but soon discovered the mosquitos had enjoyed an evening buffet too. Me. 

Lastly, I may have mentioned this before in previous blogs but we have found a unique method of meeting people on the street. They always say every experience in your life prepares you for your mission. Well, who knew that picking up litter on Indian Hills Road would be mission prep? When we don rubber gloves and go pick up trash along the lakefront, so many people stop to talk to us, thank us, or some even join us! It has proven to be an effective way to break the ice. Perhaps they are just curious about why two Americans would engage in litter control when it won't even matter the next day. Regardless, it must give them a chance to do more than just walk by us and stare. We have had countless positive encounters with both men and women, young and old, teens, seniors, parents, and children. This morning two women were waving their arms frantically at us from across the busy 4 lane highway, gesturing at us from their balcony to come up to their 3rd story apartment. At first I thought we were in trouble because they were yelling so loud. We always pray before we go out that the Lord will put people in our path that will be receptive to us and our message but also protect us from harmful situations. So we knew we couldn't ignore them, we had to find an opening in the fence, cross the busy 4 lanes of traffic and climb 3 flights of stairs with growling dogs at every turn to see what these women wanted. Well, it turned out that Anne and Irene were two sisters who had lived abroad in Ireland and Dubai and we're simply looking for friendship with two Americans. Their brother Benjamin had seen us once before so I guess they had kept an eye out for us to return sometime. They spoke fluent English and were not typical Indians in their dress or cultural norms. They cooked eggs and toast for us for breakfast and introduced us to all their pet cats and dogs. (Two of each) Rob was in Pet Heaven! Mr Fluff was a miniature pom with deformed back legs that he dragged around like a little sea lion. It melted our hearts. But what a face! 

                         Cuteness overload 

                                Insta-friends

With all the pictures of Jesus on the wall we dared asked them if they'd like to come to church with us tomorrow and they said they'd love to!  So everyone, please say a prayer that they will make it out and that the Spirit will touch their hearts. Neither of them have any children and being Mother's Day and all, I am praying it won't be the wrong day to have them come to church. They want us to come have breakfast with them every morning and I told them we would surely disappoint them in that request but that we'd love to visit them as frequently as we could. What a blessed day! And week! We just never know what's in a day when we wake up, do we? After English Group and Institute class with the Young Adults, we ended the night with a 80 ₹ (1.00$) chocolate shake at Bangalore Juicy that just opened on the corner of our apartment street. Mmm...mmm.  Life simply can't get much better than this. 

"...and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God."

4 Nephi 1:16