Sabbaths are missionaries' favorite days of the week. We live for them! Not only did Joel come out to church for the 3rd time but a brand new fellow named Ravi showed up as a result of Elder Cook's OYM in Hyderabad. How awesome is that?! Joel had asked before if I would teach him some music lessons from the Conducting Course and of course, I was more than happy to do that. Ravi sat in on it too, followed by a missionary discussion given by the elders that we got to join in on. Experiences like these are the moments we'll treasure forever on our mission. We are praying and fasting for these two men to receive their own witness about the truthfulness of Jesus Christ and his Restored gospel. The manifestations of the Spirit can't be rushed or orchestrated but wouldn't that be the ultimate best ending to our time and energies here in India to see these men enter the waters of baptism? Feel free to add your prayers to ours.
Both The Book of Mormon and hymns are powerful conduits of the Holy Spirit.
We had a dinner invitation later in the evening with another wonderful family in our ward--the Wilsons. Great parents, delightful kids. They have been in India for 5 years working for Exxon and have also lived in Russia. We had a scintillating visit with them. All of the expat families have been so very good to us. What a great start to our week!
We woke up Monday morning to no water in our bathroom sink or shower. The toilets still flushed, thank goodness. They run on a "brown water" system. All is well in Zion! We still had water in our kitchen sink and in our guest bathroom. We were baffled what was going on. The explanatory email came later in the day. Bengaluru hasn't had the typical rainfall this year and our Brigade Complex, which is 11 buildings of 19-floor highrises, is daily having to truck in clean water, even when there's not a drought situation. So in an effort to conserve, the HOA powers that be cut each apartment's supplies by 2/3. We're not sure how long this arrangement will be but drastic times call for drastic measures.
Honestly, it's really not all that bad for us, just inconvenient we have to now take our showers and brush our teeth in the guest bathroom, the 1 sink that doesn't have a purifying filter on it. Not a big deal for us. We're only 2 people. But for the APs and Whitefield elders in a trio, they are trying to get 5 bodies ready every morning in 1 working bathroom so it's been a major ordeal for them. Hence, the Mc-APs have been coming over in the morning to shower here. Each shower has a geyser (pronounced by the locals as "geezer") which gives a limited tank amount of hot water. A half hour before, we have to remember to "turn on the geezer" which gives the first showerer a hot one. No such luck for the 2nd one. Or 3rd or 4th. No matter. We love roughing it! It builds character! And it may be our new normal . We've grown quite fond of our Americano elders and love their company, morning or evening. We've had them over for dinner for American cuisine on occasion because sometimes we all just need a break from biryani. To show their appreciation, they gave Elder D a thoughtful gift this week.
There's another fashion trend here I'm sporting that luckily is already socially acceptable.
When the AC is blowing full blast in the office, I've found this to be a real help to keep me from freezing up and no one bats an eye or gives me strange looks. All ages wear them here, we've even seen grown men wearing ones that look like bunnies and elephants.
Granted, most people wear them outdoors but hey, these are camo so maybe no one even sees them.
So what else is trendy in India? Now's a good time as any to explain the nuances of the Indian head bobble with a short video:
Let's face it, Indians just have more talent and flexibility in the head/neck region than the rest of the world combined. I have so much stiffneckedness! Here's another video of our talented elders.
No matter where we are in the world, some trends stay constant. Friday night is date night, a perk only senior couples get to enjoy! This week was Valentine's so we celebrated that on Friday. After an early dinner eating out, (we had the restaurant completely to ourselves as Indians eat their dinner meal as late as 9:30 at night) we walked down a side street off the main artery, taking in the early evening vibe. We haven't done as much walking in Bengaluru except to church and the engraving shop on occasion. Walking is a great date anywhere you find yourself, but in India, it's a sensory and cultural event! The sights, sounds, and smells are something you won't find anywhere in Americana, that's for sure.
Now that's a tub o' turmeric!
Using the rough concrete of the street for a laundry scrubbing surface. How resourceful!
Every variety of banana you can imagine
It's inevitable you'll run into a few street dogs during your walk and "Coleman", named after Elder McSwain, is our local favorite.
A new yoga position. Sideward Dog
And to end our date,
a small slice of sunset betwixt the skyscrapers.
Saturday on P-day after chores, we ventured to the place where the Elders bought Rob's tie. They described it as a thrift store so we were really excited about it, thinking we might find some good secondhand treasures. As it was, it was more like a markdown place for irregulars and items with slight flaws but were still brand new. We looked the whole store over but only came away with men's socks, which is actually outstanding because we have been looking everywhere for months for men's socks that come up high enough on the calf but apparently the trend in socks in India is ankle high for men. These ones we found are Dr. Scholls brand and they are great and are going to get him through to the end of his mission. So it was a score. Thank you Shopping Angel. There's still a couple of things I'd like to find and take home with me from India too. Tomorrow, the 18th, we'll be down to 30 days so our days are numbered and shopping isn't usually my favorite activity. It's gonna be tight.
Trending back home are photos of bath time and story time. 
Let's see now, I have no idea how to tie all these loose ends together for a cohesive final point. Do I even have one? Here's my attempt.
There are times trends are good and positive and point us all in a good direction but other times we need to have the discernment to not follow the dangerous trends we see swirling around us that lead to dead ends or onto forbidden paths and strange roads. May we all strive to be soft hearted and open to the enticings of the Holy Spirit to guide us. May we not have stiffneckedness and stubbornness that makes us stuck in our ways and also vulnerable to the lures of Satan, and the emptiness and vanity of the world, to wear costly apparel and to vaunt ourselves above our neighbor. May we all value the Living Water that Christ offers us and drink deeply from its never ending wells. He promises that if we will drink of it, we will never thirst again and we will never be caught in a spiritual drought. That's a promise that can get us through the hardest of any trial.
"I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."
Revelation 21:7
"and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel...because ye suppose that ye are better than they"
Jacob 2: 13
PS Let's pray for Joel and Ravi!
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You guys are doing amazing work!! You look so happy! Love you guys!
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