Mary and Rajesh

Mary and Rajesh celebrated their first wedding anniversary January 11 and invited us to celebrate with them at her sister's home (pictured below). This couple (only members in their families) was steered toward each other by the Lyerlys (couple before us) who saw in them a good match. We have spent quite a bit of time with them for couples' activities, PEF, employment, etc. even before we were directed to help in these areas. We invite them to ride home with us in our auto whenever we are at church together and leaving at nearly the same time. Mary speaks excellent English and is currently teaching English to children at a school as well as to adults at church. She has an inner beauty that causes her to glow. I told her one day how beautiful she was and she blushed and ducked her head and said, "Oh, no, Sister, not me!"

Above on the right are some of Mary's friends from work at a previous job. Sareesha (left) is a returned missionary in 2nd Branch. To the left (if it turns out that way) are family members. Others came as well prompting us to leave after we had eaten so there would be room for all the invitees. All who came were fed a hefty portion of rice and different curries. The buffalo below were on the ground floor of the apartment area where Mary's family lived--literally at the foot of the stairs. Boddu was there and said that he drinks their unpastuerized milk but we're not too interested. There doesn't seem to be any area for them to graze in as we went quite far back off the main road where small apartments are huddled closely together.

A Few of Us

Day of the couples conference, these guys used my camera to take couples' pictures which were flashed on the screen during one of the presentations. The four at left are all in 1st Branch: Leo (district clerk), forgot next one' name, Rocky (nickname that we can remember; branch mission leader; member only 8 months), Vasanth (assistant district clerk). Leo's father is a counselor in our branch presidency. Great guys!

President Naka (2nd counselor in District) is also in 1st Branch. We're hoping he changes his marital status before we leave, especially since he has a good chance. He's on the grass in front of our chapel with the camera looking toward the street which is West Marred Pally. Little around there looks as nice as our church and grounds. A Catholic church two doors away is actually quite nice and across from it is a big colorful Hindu temple.

Boddu and Vani again. He has a fetching smile as usual. Pres. and Sister Gutty are below (John and Sudha; John isn't his real name but the one he tells us).

President and Sister Joseph with Rosie. Dad has a bad cold today accompanied by loud coughing so we stayed home from church and the Josephs are bringing dinner over tonight. He's a fire and brimstone kind of speaker (you should hear him) but loves to have fun. Rosie likes to cuddle with us.

The three couples here in Hyderabad along with our District President Prasad Rao were trained in PEF and employment by the Asplunds and Eichelbergers (green top and orange) who are in Bangalore. We had a fun day together divided by lunch at Paradise, fairly well-known inexpensive restaurant where I can get chicken chow mein which isn't spicey. They are known for their chicken biriyani and Sister Kasper tells me you can order it non-spicey, but that's what everyone tells us about their spicey food. She handles it better than I do. Elder Fullmer won't eat it at all and makes quite a production of it. Dad just looked at the picture and said, "None of you are that big." Pradeep, 1st Branch video man, told me my camera is good but it certainly adds width and pounds. Sister Kasper is tall and thin. I don't see a bump on her in person. Sister Fullmer is very petite. Sister Asplund would probably feel terrible to see herself in this picture. I'm not this wide and neither is Sister Eichelberger.

New Year's Eve Bash

The Indian members certainly know how to let their hair down and have a good time. We wouldn't have imagined if we hadn't seen them because even though they are happy and service oriented, they also are serious and somewhat sedate. (We actually see their other side when we play games at FHE.) President and Sister Joseph are the couple in red. He loves to dance with abandon while Sister Joseph is much more inhibited although she accommodates him.

They rented a type of gym (very old and dirty) so they could play music which President Joseph deemed inappropriate for the church building. Pavan (w sound for v) who is jumping in the white shirt had just told us at the workshop that evening a story of his life that caused my tears to flow unceasingly. (To start with, his father was killed by friends in a land dispute when Pavan was only 6--and it doesn't get better.) But here he is leading the pack with wild gyrations and sweat. You rarely see these people sweat; they always comment on mine. Leo, to the left of Pavan, is an extremely intelligent and religious young man. We had fun watching them have so much fun. They have very few breaks from the rigors of school, which is pure academics from pre-school on, and work and family responsibilities. Actually, the Indian people love celebrations which occur frequently and are understandable when you think of their lives otherwise.

Above left are Shekar Boddu (we call him Boddu) and his wife Vani who is the RS president in 1st Branch. We really love this couple. To the right are Theophilus and his wife Usha and their son Abraham. Jessie wasn't there. What a handsome and good family! Theophilus is a police inspector and the one who had us for his son's birthday celebration. Bottom left are Krondhi, Tinku and Chiru at the fireside where we did the budget workshop. Other missionaries taught other classes. Tinku and Chiru are Madhu's brothers--great young people.