Working in Progress

 Since our arrival in Coimbatore 3 months ago, we've watched a construction project on the side of Lake Valunkalum where we frequently walk in the morning. This sign gave us an initial chuckle.

We've seen things on this work site that would make an OSHA inspector unable to sleep at night.

                                     Exhibit A

We've seen procedures that seem painfully slow

                 The entire staff at Slabs R Us

As we've witnessed the snail-like progress and imperceptible improvement on this project, it occured to us it was an apt metaphor for us. At first we had these lofty goals that had us unrealistically balancing on slotted slats without safety harnesses! And there have been many days we still feel like we're two inefficient, clueless, language-impaired slab makers for this gargantuan task of building the Coimbatore District into a strong Stake of Zion. We've come to realize, with a bit of time under our belts, all we can do is put our shoulder to the wheelbarrow and make a few more slow and imperceptible additions to the building of the kingdom. So here's just a few more of those small building blocks for the week:

Akash, a favorite young adult friend of ours invited us to his home to meet his family. We already knew his brother Harish from the YA group. Additionally we met his father and his identical twin cousins Janish and Jerish (sp?) Age 12

Robbash, Akash, Janish, Harish, Jerish, Dad-ish

 We had a blast the entire time! Watching a deserted-lot cricket game felt like something out of a movie.

           The Indian equivalent of The Sandlot

Akash then cooked us a fine meal, our first time eating beef in India and it was amazingly tender and the perfect level of spiciness. We brought along Play Nine and introduced them all to this golf card game. The twins' laughter sounded exactly like Chip and Dale and it didn't take much to get them giggling, so we had the best time just laughing with them! Dad didn't join in but we hope it softened his heart to even hear the fun going on. 

Another day we ventured out to see Vadivu and the Old Folks Home (OFH) again. The first time there, we were driven by auto but we always prefer walking and adventuring so we set out to see if we could find it on our own with only the sparse, scribbled notes Elder D took along the way. (Sometimes this is more reliable than Google maps.) Sure enough there was Smash Temple, Mega Church, and a few other recognizable landmarks. A few signs along the way made us wonder if angels were helping us. 

Hi Mom!

By now we were starting to wonder, "are we even on the right road?" "Please Lord help us find them," we prayed. So he sent Patrick. (If any of you are unaware of who the 3 Nephites are, you must read 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon to find out what we're even talking about). Patrick is one of our personal 3 Nephites. It's a complete miracle we remembered his name and face the 2nd time he appeared to us on the scene in a different part of town but we immediately recognized him and called him by name. Supah cwazy.  ('There are still many people at church we can't call by name). But to be far far away from our regular stomping grounds and run into him a 3rd time was borderline miraculous! "Patrick! What are you doing here?" It was so amazing to see him! Surely this is a sign! Another random fellow seeing us greet him so joyfully wanted to be part of this moment too and invited himself into our picture. 

Patrick our Nephite on the right.

With that assurance from his appearance that we were on the right path we ventured on. It was a little uncanny. We ran into every possible religious zealot from every walk of faith on this outing. Building bridges, I guess. We attracted a lot of attention, we usually do. But let's face it, soon it felt like we were lost again. But who comes next on the scene on his scooter but Brother Augustine! No way! Truly out of the blue. What amazing timing as well. He looked at our address and was able to point us in the final right direction before he headed off to his job. Now if that isn't divine intervention, I don't know how else to explain it. We arrived at the OFH and there was incredulous gaping mouths, to think not only that we'd found them but that we had walked there all the way from Race Course. We were greeted like old friends! Saraswati's son and daughter-in-law were visiting as well. Super friendly folks. Mahesh is originally from Malaysia and spoke good English. 

Saraswathi & son, his wife Mahesh, & Maghila

    Silver foxes modeling the latest loungewear

It was the 4th of July so we each sang our National Anthems. Theirs is called Jana Gana Mana which you have to admit is more fun to say and easier to sing as we joined in the chorus 

jaya he, jaya he, jaya he,
jaya jaya jaya jaya he.

I'm not sure if texts or phone calls were sent or by sheer coincidence but suddenly their two Christian friends showed up; (Xavier and Stephen. Christian names are a big clue they are not Hindu.) We kept the singing going, this time trying to find common ground with songs like Blessed Assurance and What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Thanks to Rob's evangelical days, he knew the words and I harmonized.

This is Xavier. Not sure where Stephen is.

We showed them a pamphlet with the name of our restored church in Tamil on it. They acted like they had heard of us but didn't keep our pamphlet. Foundation building? Who of all those people were we sent there to meet? We may never know. But we tried. Oh Lord, we tried! It sure seemed like we were supposed to be there for someone. 

Vadivu of course, fed us like visiting royalty and then she and Mag walked us to the nearest bus stop to send us home, treating us to ice cream along the way. What a great day so far! Feeling a bit assured of ourselves that we could navigate this town with a little divine help, we arranged for Rithi the YW President to help us find newly baptized Racheal's home and show her how easy it would be to come to church on Sunday by bus. We even had visions of her helping in the Ang Women organization as Rithi's counselor. We left @ 5:00 pm in good spirits. Good thing we had brought a native along, we took the wildest bus/surf ride ever and soon discovered via a local girl we would have to transfer busses and walk to another bus stop. We love you Google Maps. This sweet Muslim girl from the bus acted as our guide and walked us 20 minutes to the place where we could pick up our next bus, 

 Angels veiled in disguise

Mormons meet the Muslims

By now it was dark, the drizzle had turned the street into a fine sludge and the mosquitos were feasting on my bare ankles. We waited forever for a bus. We gave up after 40 minutes and ordered an Uber but before it showed up the bus finally came. More bus surfing but I felt insanely happy to finally be on the Lord's errand to find Raechel. We were dropped off in a very remote place with no traffic or honking. The silence was eerie. The Google maps pin led us to a completely wrong place and Racheal had to come by scooter to rescue us and guide us to her grandparents' home, another mile's walk. This suddenly didn't feel divinely appointed in any way, shape, or form. By now it was their bedtime and the only way to get home was ordering another Uber, which took another half hour to arrive. We now understood with complete empathy why Raechel hadn't been out to church. During this awkward visit we found out her uncle was surprise (!), a pastor who's church was right upstairs on the 2nd floor. How convenient! They spoke little English and even Rob who can usually talk to anyone was tongue-tied. Rithi and Rachel were very quiet, maybe that's the culture for young girls to be quiet when elders are present even though she spoke Tamil fluently and we would've loved it if those two girls had chatted on endlessly. We passed the time by singing The Wheels on the Bus, Rise and Shine and Give God your Glory, Glory, Do as I'm Doing, with every verse we could possibly think of to entertain the little boys and pass the time. As we went to leave, I boldly gave them a Tamil Book of Mormon to thank them for being so kind to these late night visitors. The pastor may have readily refused the book from Racheal or her parents (his brother) in the past but he was polite enough to graciously accept it from us, complete strangers. Will he be brave to ever open it? Will we ever see any fruit from this ill-fated endeavor? I seriously doubt it anytime soon, much like our other attempts up to this point. But we tried, oh Lord, we tried and I've got the mosquito bites to prove it. 

Pastor of the House 

So I ask you, did we build up the kingdom of God this week? It just depends on your measuring stick I guess and whether we can see the finished building like He can. Working in progress is what we'll be doing for now, slab by slab, brick by brick. We'll try not to be "weary in well doing" in building this foundation. Yet in this construction process, the Lord is doing interior work in us, to build not just a "respectable cottage" but into a "fine palace."

Partial quote by C S Lewis 

Now the God of peace, that great shepherd of the sheep...will make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight.

Hebrews 13: 20-21