Ramming Speed!

It's only been a half week but we have up to the minute news regarding our future and our sudden imminent departure. Our new mission leader Is President Tandiman, who's name always makes us want to break into the song Dey-O for obvious reasons. We got minorly anxious that our visa processing was experiencing some delays, which should be old territory for us. They asked us to produce our marriage certificate and college diplomas, like we just keep those handy in our suitcases for such possible requests. Seriously? So our good-natured renters rummaged around our box of records and found our marriage certificate and some transcripts of mine but all this time we're wondering why would they need to know or care that we graduated from college. What's the significance?? I DON'T KNOW!!! (Name that movie!)  Undeterred, we next get a text from him that informed us while we wait for the Indonesia visas, we'll be sent to a little country called Timor-Leste. Wait, where?  Maybe we heard of it once in the Olympics Parade of Nations but we had to Google it to know where it was. We apparently have a very small branch there, truly only a twig with 26 members, so how great an opportunity to see how we can help a fledgling group of saints. The problem is they mostly speak Portuguese so there could be a small hitch in us being understood. Ah well, it will be a great adventure for sure!! We'll go where you want us to go, Dear Lord. And thank goodness for the international language of hugs and handshakes. We also were approved to leave India a week early to go to the Bangkok Temple for a few days. What a major blessing for us. We have been hearing of so many open houses and temple dedications right and left back home, it's hard not to feel out of the loop. So we'll spend 3 days there and then fly straight onto Timor-Leste, more or lesste. That shaved off our ending time by a week and makes our days here in Bengalore down to 5 days!  Gah!!😫 Just yesterday Wednesday we had our shared farewell dinner with our 3 American elders we flew here with. My sister says she calls them "scarecrow elders" because they are with you on the journey the longest. Elder Kaithwas was also heading home to Delhi the same day too. We do so love them all and will miss them. The Americans head back to their old missions to finish their time in Seattle WA, Lubbock Texas, and Ft Lauderdale Florida. The memory of flying here with them is still so vivid. We laughed about our escapade in the Delhi Airport where we forgot to pick up our luggage, thinking the airlines would forward it on but they didn't and they wouldn't let us go back into an unsecured area to get them, turning it into an international fiasco of magnificent proportions. Ah India!! We love you and will tell stories about you for years to come!

         Elders Harmon, Johnson, and McSwain

                            Our scarecrows

We didn't get too much time to mourn because today our new batch arrived fresh from the MTC!

                  Losing 4 but picking up 6

And who should show up on our doorstep for an overnighter but our old Coimbatore pal Elder "Pugal" Chinraj and his companion Elder Gudivada from Vizag!! What a joyous reunion with the Poog, even if just for 24 hours! It did our hearts proud to see him in his badge and white shirt, all his scruff shaved off and with his missionary "glow". Tomorrow we orient them and send them to their respective areas, so our overlap was just enough to say we got our hugs and air hugs in. Had he not preponed his MTC date we would've missed him altogether. Thank you Lord for such sweet tender mercies. And our water was turned back on. Two working showers! Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles! 1st World living once again. That's it for now. We have something incredibly special to report about after Sunday so we'll leave a cliffhanger ending...

"We did rejoice exceedingly to see (our) brethren; and what added more to (our) joy, they were still (our) brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

Alma 17:2