One such saying that seems to encapsulate the best of advice repeatedly given to me by President Bushi is this- "Sister, do the needful". I LLLUV it. And it's always the nod of approval I'm looking for so I can move ahead on a task. It's the perfect way to say, "don't freeze up with fear now, don't sweat the small stuff, just focus on what's important and it will all work out." We love President Bushi so much, he is an excellent communicator, leader, and teacher. And you can bet we'll be trying to "do the needful" long after we leave India.
So we've had a LOT of Zone togetherness lately starting with last Friday, our 4 new missionaries from the Bangkok MTC arrived, a little dazed and bleary-eyed to their orientation meeting followed by lunch at the mission home. They've perked up considerably since this photo and their initial shyness has worn off and their fun and distinct personalities have come into full bloom. We LLLuv them!
When they were looking for the prototype for a Ken doll, Mattel used Elder Moradi as their model. He has flawless skin, eyebrows, and hair, not to mention his slim figure! I never owned a Barbie doll, much less her male equivalent but I know the embodiment of Vintage Ken when I see him.
The following day was transfers and 2 of our noobies were flown to different districts creating a domino effect of changes. Only two companionships in the whole mission remained intact. I am in a perpetual dither on Transfer Day, making sure everyone gets their codes to check into their flights and praying that all their cab drivers show up and get them to the airport. By 10:00 pm, everyone was in their new areas and I was finally able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. I don't relish this anxiety-ridden position at all, but it went a little smoother this time. And it's mind boggling to think only one more transfer to go before it's our own transfer day.
Sister, breathe deep, you can do the needful.
To reward ourselves for having a recent birthday AND getting through transfers, we bagged laundry and grocery shopping til later and went the next day on P-day on an outing to Cubbon Park via the Metro. We did what old people do; walked around alot, and then laid down on the ground under a tree and took a nap. We snapped a few photos of things you find in parks:
We located a Subway, no not the Metro, silly, the actual eating establishment that was near the Marriot Hotel and thoroughly enjoyed an American meal ala salad, a footlong sandwich, and soft cookies. Ahhh, comfort food! You need to start appreciating these things that you have access to every day.
Sunday we made another contact at church with a first-time visitor, Sugandhi.
Fingers crossed!
We gathered again on Wednesday for Bengalore Zone Conference with excellent training on Finding and OYM, (opening your mouth.) Elder D and I are often used as Man and Woman on the Street, on the Metro, and in the Restaurant in role playing exercises. (Who says my years on the stage have been a waste?) Just like President Holmes did in our first mission, President Bushi gave us the most inspiring presentation on The Doctrine of Christ followed by a testimony meeting. The Spirit was felt so strongly by all of us. This is saving doctrine.
The Bengalore Zone
Me, sporting the Bo Peep look in my pantaloons.
We were all mega-pumped and eager to put our new finding skills into action, alas, we were severely waylaid by a special project. We were asked by the Asian Area Presidency to make a video for the Mission President Leadership Training before we lose Brother Micheal out of his Mission Assistant position and into his new role as Media Coordinator. For 2 days of filming, he had us standing out in fields singing, which I think began during Covid social distancing days, but is now standard protocol in every group music video you'll ever see. Like on every movie set during filming, there was so much sitting and waiting, which gave us more opportunities to deepen our patience. And because we were not a professional choir by any stretch of the imagination, there's some false hope that the more you sing a song the better you'll sound. Au contraire in this case. But we did bond to the hymn Now Let Us Rejoice as our director made us look joyfully at one another in "staged randomness" as we sang for dozens of takes. My voice was so hoarse by the end. And, oh the awkwardness of making eye contact and smiling at each other repeatedly! It was genuine the first few times, then it required real acting skills.
One of the final takeaways for this last season of our Indian mission will be the choice experience we've had of working with Elder Massey. There'd been talks of having him return home since he's struggled to keep up with the rigors of missionary life. But President came up with an idea to have him split his time serving in the office with us. When he heard this, he was so discouraged and his sullen mood spread through the zone and his apartment. I felt so much empathy for him. It's hard to be a literal 5th wheel in a setting and system designed for 4. Many of the elders not assigned to live with him would put their arm around him as we'd walk from venue to venue while filming to try and gladden his heart, but he was inconsolable. So we were determined to help him feel some success in his assignment with us in the office. To watch him bloom and smile and feel confidence has been a beautiful thing to watch. Somewhere, in the course of a few days, he turned a corner.
His smile is my favorite thing.
The Bengalore Elders have a ritual of going to Pizza Hut's all-you-can-eat Fridays because the price is right and they are notorious bottomless pits. We decided to take Elder Massey to reward him for his new attitude and work ethic and to let him know that working with a senior couple has a few benefits. We were completely unschooled on how India does this all-you-can-eat concept and ended up with 3 personal pizzas each.
Pijja-pijja and more pijja
We weren't even sure we'd like corn on our veg pijja but actually, it has a good snap to it.
Nice bake
Our encouragement and help has come to us
from many heavenly sources.
"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing."
D&C 88:119
Me.
"Cease to sleep longer than is needful"
88: 124
Not me but someone i know
"But one thing is needful, and (you) hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from (you).
Luke 10:42
Us
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I love love your letters!! They make me laugh!!
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