Celebrate good times, c'mon!

 This was an incredibly happy week with so many festivities. Are missionaries allowed to have this much fun? Well, senior missionaries sure are! It all started a week ago with a branch outing to a water park. (?) We had no idea what to expect but it turned out to be a blessing that we overpacked, as this wasn't exactly what we thought of when we heard "water park." The entire gamut of ages came out for this event, from Primary tot to aging grandma and everyone in between...

There were far more people who showed up than those who said they were coming for the bus count. (Every planner's nightmare.) Still, we left no one behind and managed to pack everyone into the 3 buses like sardines. We were assigned the young adult bus where those who didn't have a seat spent the entire two hours dancing in the aisles. It was great fun to hear the blaring music of youth and see their exuberance. Imagine us thinking to bring a pillow for napping! Hah!

The water park turned out to be a pleasant flowing river with super slippery moss-covered rocks and a tributary stream that fed into it. After the two hour ride and with no sign of bathroom facilities anywhere, everyone felt the same strange yearning to hop in the river, even the ladies in their saris and kurtas tumbled in (except the obedient elders with their bladders of iron).  The temperature was perfect, even for me who hates the jolt of cold water. I imagined we looked a little akin to the children of Israel crossing the River Jordan into the Promised Land, minus livestock.

                          Indian swimsuits

    Why pay entrance fees, this is way more fun!!

Rob was especially in his element frolicking with the youth of all ages, splashing, throwing balls, diving, etc. I sat like a mermaid on a rock, enjoying the water flowing over my alabaster legs while watching others cavort. 

I could tell the elders weren't having the funnest time of their life just watching from the shore. Luckily, I had packed a sheet for sitting on, and Uno cards and Play Nine. So I gladly got out and invited them to come sit in a clearing and play some games. The games eventually gathered a few more

of those who had drip-dried in the sun and were done with water too. Though we were told to bring a change of dry clothes, where could one change? It turns out our damp clothes kept us cool for the rest of the day and a fun time was had by all who had the right attitude.

              Some of the Relief Society ladies

Next party stop--Semmedu. Our goal lately has been to learn the bus systems so we can get to some of the outlying branches without having to pay a driver. So Elders Guntu and Koonesetti took us under their wing out to their area. Both going and coming, I was fortunate to find young women students who spoke good English to pass the time with, which made it very  enjoyable, even while standing up the whole ride back. Curve surfing was a riot! 

Unbeknownst to us, we had picked the day of the biggest event of the year in the village to visit. The video was unfortunately too long to upload but there were drummers and musicians, relatives from outlying villages who came in for the big event, folks carrying platters of fruit parading the street, and all for..........

a 7 year old girl getting her ears pierced! What a hullabaloo! Tradition says she will sit in her uncle's lap while the entire town watches her in her misery while the drums and horns blare (perhaps to drown out her wailing?) and the town cosmetologist, (a man with a sharp needle) does the job. If she looks at all distressed, by all means stick a banana in her mouth! I didn't see this poor little girl crack a smile the entire time, not even when they put on her new dress and surely not when the first earrings were inserted either. Ouch!!

 A rite of passage for young Southern Indian girls in Tamil Nadu

It brought back the mostly uneventful memories of me taking my own daughters to Claire's in the mall to get the deed done. The deal was they had to want it badly enough on their own and be old enough to take care of their own ears as I wasn't about to deal with ANY of it. Do not come bawling to mom about infected ear lobes! What a heartless mother I was. I think I was 14 years old and in highschool when I finally caved into peer pressure and have never been a lover of costly jewelry to this day. (I believe my negative feelings about metal against my skin began when my grandma zipped my chin into my parka!) Ironically, they gave us front row seats to witness it all and treated us like honored guests.  So even though we didn't quite understand the significance of it all and I personally wouldn't have wished it on her, we were still very grateful to be included in the village festivities and the feast of biryani afterwards. I loved the musicians most of all!

The legitimate reason we went to Semmedu was to give three prospective sister missionaries their Temple Prep lessons. They were absolutely adorable! May I voice my opinion that meeting live with people is 1000% better than any Zoom meeting ever could be? Definitely worth the long bus ride. And this branch is quite historical too, it was the very first organized branch in India by then Elder Gordon B Hinckley.  Brother Raja Joseph, a true Indian pioneer and one of the firsts to be baptized in all of India was present to translate our class into Tamil. Almost everyone in the branch is related to these early roots. Xanadu (our nickname) is a truly picturesque place and far remote from the hubbub sounds of the city. There's just an amazing spirit there on the grounds too. 

Our last celebration of the week- a birthday party for Sister Rosemary in Ghandipuram Branch. We again didn't know what to expect but Elders Adhikari and Mehta were invited too, imagining we would be ancillary background guests. Again, we were treated as the special people. We never imagined that the real guest of honor does all the cooking and clean-up for her own birthday party! 

         Joseph and Rosemary and son Abraham

She wouldn't dream of letting me help her clean up! 

Now we've eaten a bucket of biryani since we've been here in India but Sister Rosemary's seriously beat all! The chicken was so tender, it was the right level of spicy, oh and we ate dessert ladoos first off. Nice! She just kept loading food on our plates til you literally had to cover your plate with your arms so she wouldn't keep putting more on! I hope we ate enough to honor her!  It was her birthday after all. The family didn't eat a bite, they just watched us eat. I felt so guilty the entire time but this is just a cultural norm we've got to get used to. All we could think to give her for a little gift was a print of the Bengaluru Temple. When we saw her walls, she had two other unframed temple pictures so I imagine she liked it as well but they aren't verbal with their gratitude so you never quite know. Both she and her husband's only request of the night was to receive a blessing on their heads for health and well being. It's times like these I'm so very grateful Rob carries the power of the Lord's Priesthood and the eloquence to say just the right things as prompted by the Spirit. It was all she truly wanted from us for her birthday.

Oops, I almost forgot to mention one last happy thing- two walk-ins off the street to our English group. First time that has happened. A father and son duo, along with a friend of a frequent attender and a member made this a great group of attendees. 

Sometimes we walk home from the church. Tonight we floated. Another reason to celebrate with ice cream falootas at Bangalore Juicy!

"If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and Thanksgiving".

D&C 136:28