I mainly taught myself, And you know I did pretty well, Except there were a few mistakes…

So, bear with me now, I am not going to fool you. This is going to get a bit messy. Today’s blontry title comes from a song, “Building Steam With a Grain of Sand”, performed by D.J. Shadow. This song was played at the end of an episode of the American television show, Person of Interest.  The name of that episode was, “Bury the Lede”. All of this makes sense because we don’t want to bury the lede tonight: JEREMY PASSED THE OREGON STATE BAR EXAM!

(I know, pretty convoluted, right? Once I get an idea, there are no limits how far I will go to make a joke.)

Well, with that out of the way, on to the rest of the week.

The big activity at the campus this week was a flag making contest. On Friday afternoon, students were given the materials and asked, either in groups or as individuals, to create a replica of their countries’ flags or those of another country if they would prefer. Here are a few pictures of the process:

What I can’t convey in these pictures is the sound of the event. There was music from Africa, Afghanistan, India, and Nepal playing VERY LOUDLY! That caused everyone to raise their voices in order to be heard. Of course, then the music had to be raised so everyone could hear it, which led to louder voices, louder music, etc. And then, as often happens when music and our students mix, dancing broke out. What energy! What fun!

Once the flags were done (and we could get everyone to quieted down enough to hear) we lined everyone up to judge the best flags. Here are some pictures of the line-up.

Turns out Nepal won first place, Afghanistan won second place, and Kenya won third place. It was a great activity. Lots of fun, laughing, music, and creativity. It was a nice way to end the week.

That’s it for me this week. Here’s Rae.

My part of the blog is going to focus on a picture also.  Last evening there was a Relief Society Social.  Because it was not announced in Sacrament Meeting and I go to young women during the 3^rd hour, I was not aware of the social until a few hours before it took place.  Phil and I had already made plans for our afternoon and early evening so I didn’t attend.  One of the women in attendance sent me the picture and I want to share a bit about the sisters in the picture.  

Each of these sisters have their own story and while there is a lot that they have in common there are also unique things about each one of them.  I have had more interaction with some of these sisters than others so I will have more info on some than on others. Because this blog is a history of our time in India I want to post this so I don’t forget their names and faces.  These are not all of the RS sisters, but most of these sisters are the ones that are among the most faithful. 

Back row far left to right: Sonia Yates, Amy Paul, Jean Slocombe, Sister Mani’s mother-in-law, Rimpy Juriel.

Middle row left to right: Ruchika Massey, Vimala Mani’s daughter, Vimala Mani, Asha James.

Front row left to right:  Rebecca John, Shanti Thukhl, Rekha Dhikao, Trija John.

Sonia Yates is married to a Scot, Robert.  Robert served his mission in Cypress and met Sonia there.  She was a student there at the time.  After Roberts mission he returned to Cypress and they started dating and were later married in Cypress.  Six weeks after they were married they moved to Delhi, where Sonia is from.  While here they went to the Hong Kong temple and were sealed.  In June Robert had to go back to Scotland and Sonia is still here trying to get her visa so that she can join him there.  Her visa keeps getting rejected, by the UK, for various reasons.  So this newly wed has been here since June without her husband and continues to try different avenues to get the visa that will allow her join him.  She is the only member of her family and gets resistance from them regarding the Church, but she never misses a meeting or an activity.  She is so strong and always optimistic.  Right now it looks like she will be going to Spain where she will go to school while she waits for her visa to be granted. Sonia has a degree in Psychology and speaks English and Spanish.

Amy Paul is a single sister.  She is a nurse and is our district Relief Society President.  She tries to make it to a temple at least once a year.  Right after I moved here she talked about being in New York for several weeks and attending the temple there.

Jean Slocombe is a senior missionary serving here with her husband Eric.  They are from Canada.  While this is not common, they have been back to Canada twice while they’ve been serving here.  The first time was because of the accidental death of their youngest daughter, Emily.  The second time was to spend some time with Eric’s father who was expected to pass away at any time.  They will be here until mid-January, 2015.  They have become dear friends and we’ve spent time
together seeing some of the sights of Delhi.

Vimala Mani’s mother-in-law is visiting from southern India. Vimala’s daughter,Stella, has just had a baby and she came to help with the baby. 

Rimpy Juriel is married to Vinay, our branch president.  She was the primary president until just a few weeks ago.  She just had their first baby, a little boy that they named Ryan. She’s very sweet to share him and let me hold him.

Ruchika Massey is married to Navin Massey who is a counsellor in the District Presidency.  She was the YW President until a few weeks ago.  She was released from YW’s and called as the new Primary President.  They have a 3 year old daughter named Rachel.  Ruchika is the only member in her family.  Her family is Hindu.

Stella, Vimala Mani’s daughter, is actually a member of another branch here in Delhi, but has been staying with her mother and attending our branch.  It is not uncommon for Women to go to their mothers homes for the delivery of their babies.  Stella came to stay with her mother a few week before her baby was due and will be here for about a month after.   I haven’t seen her husband, but I expect he has come for visits.  He hasn’t come to our branch though.

Vimala Mani’s (they pronounce it like money) has been a member of the branch for quite a number of years.  She has three daughters, Stella, Caroleena, who is at BYU Idaho and Stephanie who is one of our YW.  Vimala also has a son whom I’ve never seen.  The granddaughter (Megan) that she is holding is her 1^st grandchild.

Asha James is someone I’ve not gotten very acquainted with.  She doesn’t speak much English.  She is a faithful member who always makes a point of greeting me and shaking my hand.  She is married and has one teenage son, Arin.

Rebecca John is the RS president.  Her husband Johnson is the Elders Quorum President.  Rebecca's maiden name is Massey.  There are a lot of Massey’s here that are members.  She has one son Joshua who is a deacon.

Shanti  Thukhl is another sister that I’ve not gotten to know.  She speaks limited English but is always one to come shake my hand and say hello.  I only see her at church by herself so don’t even know if she’s married

Rekha Dhikao serves in the RS Presidency.  When I first came to the branch she was the RS President.  She is a return missionary and not yet married.  She is currently dating a young man (Joshua) who served his mission here and has now moved to Delhi.  I think he’s hoping to marry her.  We’re all waiting to see what happens.
 

Trija John is married to Gagan who serves on the High Council..Trija is in the RS Presidency and also teaches the gospel doctrine SS class every other week.  Trija is employed by the church and works at the mission office.  She has two children, Bhoomika who is in YW and Saransh (10) a son. 

All but a couple of these women speak English well and that certainly does make life easier for me.  They have been welcoming and as I come to know them better I come to love them even more.  These women and others that are not pictured are the early pioneers of the church here in India.  Hopefully I can collect some other pictures of some of the women that make up our branch.

Namaste