10 May 2012

Our power and our internet sure have been wacky the last few days. We can’t really depend on either one. It seems their constantly off and then on, then off again. And no clues as to why. . .

Gene and I were discussing what we were going to do in English today when Laxmi walked in and asked if we had heard any news. We hadn’t. She said there was a Bandh today. That’s interesting because when I woke up, I was thinking here we are almost mid May and the Constitution is supposed to be completed by the end of the month and they aren’t close to signing it – and we haven’t had any bandhs.  Anyway, we walked up to the roof and sure enough, not much going on traffic wise.

I did call Pratima at READ Nepal and she said ‘’yes there is a Bandh’. She said she would notify the women. I said we could have class tomorrow. I really hate to miss as there isn’t that many class periods left.

So, I’ve begun my last pair of hot pads. I’m using four different colors of yarn and it will be a patchwork pair, but there kind of unique. It’s been nice to have them to work on and now I will give them to some of my special friends here in Nepal.

Some of the pot pads I've done in spare time. . . .

Rakesh did come by and we had a nice visit. He is leaving to go to China tomorrow for a few days. We talked about the strike and he tells us there is another strike tomorrow and the next day and the next. He said the next few weeks will be very unsettled and he didn’t think we should make any plans to leave Kathmandu until after the first of the month. All of this is related to the signing, or not signing of the Constitution. In fact, he said he thought the whole summer could be full of protests and strikes. It makes me a little anxious to get on the plane headed for home.

 

We got the proposal request for READ Nepal’s new library. Gene is working at getting it entered into CHaS and a request for approval. I need to start thinking of what to enter into ChaS for a final report on the project. It’s truly been a great experience to teach these women. It’s one of the highlight’s of our mission – and there are many.

9 May 2012

First thing this morning, I’ve worked on getting some recipes typed up for the new missionaries. I know we struggled with food for a while. I would have appreciated a few food ideas. Hopefully they will be helpful. I also prepared some of the English lesson for tomorrow and Gene has been working on the Power Point Presentation for the PAC Meeting coming up.

About 10:00, Nick and Rajesh both came. They are the young men with mission calls. Our plan was to go with Deppong’s and have Gene and Ollie measured for a suit. The thought came to me that we should take Nick and Rajesh with us. They both need suits for their missions and we could combine the trips and perhaps get a better price. We met Deppong’s and were off.

There wasn't any power inside so had to take fabric outside.

 We got two suits for Rajesh and one for Nick. Brother and Sister Topham had bought one for Nick before they went back home. We also ordered white shirts and slacks for each of them. Then it was Ollie and Gene’s turn. Neither of them was overly excited but they succumbed to pressure from their wives.

Today there was quite a large article in the Kathmandu Post about Mormons. I’m sure it’s because of all the publicity about Mitt Romney running for President of the USA. I’m sure the church will get a lot of publicity and it will be good for the church to get some recognition.

Nick came by late afternoon with a couple of letters he had received from his mission. I’m starting to see some of the challenges for these young men to serve outside of India. One is lack of funds. The Branch doesn’t have access to missionary funds and the young men and their families don’t have any money. These letters were requesting that he have a bike available when he arrives in the mission field. The Mission Home works with a vendor there and they have bike packages ranging from $480 - $680. They also asked that he bring $200 so he can buy a winter coat and gear when he gets there. That’s a lot of money for a young man and his family who don't have much to begin with.

I suggested to Gene that we send an email to Pres. Jackson and Pres. Bishnu. I think they will be able to handle the situation or at least give us some guidance. We did send the email and got a quick reply.

Pres. Jackson responded asking us to email the mission and explain Nick’s circumstances. He said those form letters go out to everyone. He said they do realize that not all missionaries have unlimited money. There was s a phone number and we decided it would be best to call them.

We did call via Gmail ‘call phones’ and Elder Randall, a Senior Missionary answered the phone. He was great to talk to. We explained the church here in Nepal and the challenges these young Elders face.  Elder Randall asked a lot of questions - about Nick’s family, about him, and about Nepal. We did our best to fill him in and explain that neither the Branch or Nick has money for winter clothes nor a bike package. He was good about it and said he thought they would be able to work it out there in the mission. He said he would put the information in an email for Pres. Clements. We did explain the mail system here in Nepal and ask that they do correspondence via email. It’s a lot more reliable and he said he thought they could do that.

8 May 2012

I’m feeling better – finally. I want to be really careful for the next few weeks. I want both of us to go home feeling good.

We went to the bank this morning and then over to SWC. They had called yesterday and wanted us to bring in more copies of the Project Agreement and more copies of the Amendment. Sooo, we did. All we did was hand them to the guy in room 310 – he thanked us and said there were going to the different Ministries. Then we were out of there. I called Debbie. We were going to go get the guys measured for new suits, but she said the tailor shop was closed again. If they are closed tomorrow, we will go to Panna’s cousin. He’s farther away and more expensive, but this is something Debbie and I want them to do.

We came home and soon it was time for lunch. After lunch Nick and Krishna came with Krishna’s missionary papers. We went over them with him. He has most of it filled out. Then Nick went with him (after Gene gave them some money) to get his physical. They will go and do the dental part tomorrow.

I did mention to both of them that I would be happy to help them improve their English skills. Nick was excited. Krishna is just a lot quieter guy, but I think he is on board as well. We will do it two or three days a week and see how it goes.

G C stopped by to have us help him a bit more with his IRDF loan for school. These loans are great for these return missionaries and we are glad to see some of them take advantage of this program.

7 May 2012

Surprise! Skype was ringing and it was Susan Webb. She thought I had called her, but no matter, it was good to talk to her. Their daughter Kim was married last Friday and she said it was just wonderful. Alan and Susan are going to drive her car back east and stop at church sights along the way. They are excited and look forward to it. What a great trip that will be.

I was up fairly early knowing our kids were together at our house. Pretty soon Skype was ringing and it was the girls, Alison, Samantha, Konnie and Tracey. They were planning for our coming home. I think we are all excited. I was glad they had gotten together and seeing them visiting together made me just a bit homesick. But it won’t be long and we will all be together again.

We went to READ Nepal at 9:00 AM and met with Pratima to talk about the closing ceremony for our English class. We’ve had a hard time getting connected with her. She was very supportive and said that READ Nepal would do what they could to help with the program. So. . .We will email her the information for the Certificates of Participation and they will have their IT guy make something up and forward it to us for our approval. They will take care of refreshments.

Some of the women in our English Class

We did tell her we would like a committee of women to plan, conduct and give talks and share talents. She was fine with that. We will ask four or five women to be on the committee and help guide them, but let them plan and carry out the plans. It should be a good experience for them. We will hold it at READ Nepal. They decided they just wanted the women, not invite families as many family members are working or are in school. Sounds good to me.

We came home, had a sandwich and then called Deppong’s. We were going to go to the tailor to get Gene and Ollie measured for suits – but the tailor was closed. We then got a call from SWC saying they needed some copies of the amendment and the Project Agreement, so we had to go get copies made and will take them in tomorrow.  While we were down by the Chowk, we took some photos in to get developed – more for the Branch History.

Elder Bagoti came with his acceptance letter. We scanned it in and sent it to Pres. Jackson. Elder Bagoti is so excited and anxious to serve. We will need to get him going on getting his preparations made – Mid July will be here quickly.

Tonight I cooked some zucchini that Laxmi brought in from her ‘garden’. I sautéed it with some onion and tomatoes. When it was about done, I added some cooked cubed potatoes with a bit of oregano and basil. It really tasted good to us and we cleaned it right up.

 

6 May 2012

I slept better last night than I have for a while. I got up thinking we should be ready for the day a bit earlier than usual. Brent would be calling and we have missionary meeting at 9:30. I did get my hair washed. Of course, there was no power so it needed to air dry. Thank goodness for short hair and hair with some natural curl – ‘thanks mom.’

Brent did call. We love his calls. He is so diligent about it. He said he had been on a Father Son campout. The Bishop told him next year it was his turn to plan it. He will be sustained as Young Men's President in their meeting today. He just seems so much happier. We are so grateful! Missionary Blessings!

Selling fresh produce . . .

We did walk over to Deppong’s and it was good to get out and walk. It started out just a little cool, but I was warmed up by the time we got there. It’s so nice to meet with them. For the spiritual thought Debbie talked about prayers being answered. They had gone to Lukla last week and weren’t able to returned as planned on Thursday. The weather was bad and she said when planes do fly out, who gets to be on the plane is the people who have had their tickets the longest. Some people had tickets a year in advance and they just got theirs a few days ago.

Friday, they said they knew they needed to get home. The weather was still ‘iffy’. We had looked online to see the forecast and it looked stormy all week. We thought they might have to stay a few days ‘at best.’ We were praying that they would be able to make it back. Rukmina and Hari were praying for them, they were praying and Rakesh had called them and said he was praying for them as well. (Now, that’s something. Rakesh is Hindu)Anyway, a miracle happened and they were able to get out Friday morning on the 10:00 flight. We all know that was an answer to prayer. There were many people up there waiting for a flight out. I know prayers are answered.

We had a good meeting. They told us they had Skyped with Mendenhall’s this morning and they are delightful. They had requested Nepal and they got it! They are excited about HBB and being involved there. Hopefully we can get together with them sometime between the time we get home and they leave. That shouldn’t be a problem.

Debbie said that she has been trying to get Ollie to have a suit made. I said I’ve been trying to talk Gene into it as well. We decided to go after the meeting and check it out. Rukmina and Hari showed us the suit he had made and it was at a tailor not far from them. Hari said he would go with us to negotiate a price. We walked down there and they were closed. Today is a government holiday. It’s Buddha’s birthday. So, the plan is to go tomorrow after English. I’m glad Gene has finally consented.

We came home stopping at Bhat Bhateni’s on the way. We bought some tomatoes (the Roma kind, that all there is here) and when we got home, I put them in a bleach solution and then because we did have power, we had toasted tomato sandwiches for lunch. Not quite as good as at home, but it did taste pretty good to us. We will do it again.

After lunch, Rajesh Bogati came. He had a draft of his mission acceptance letter. He wanted us to read through it and it was just great. He will write it, have Pres. Bishnu sign it and we will send it to Pres. Jackson. I made some chocolate chip cookies and he (and Gene) thought they were great. Then it seemed, he stayed and stayed. Finally, I said I needed to get some things done. We had asked him to check out Bhat Bhateni’s as far as shoes and white shirts go. We will check with the tailor when we get Gene and Ollie measured and see what the price of suits and slacks will be. We could be giving this tailor a lot of business..

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