Entry #9 - August 1, 2008 - August 30, 2008

Nobody told me it would be like this...You'll never find any meat here and chicken is pretty scarce as well. We haven't brought ourselves to picking out a live chicken, having its head chopped off and bringing it home for dinner. Kent can barely stand eating anything that has had a fly on it! Maybe that is why he has lost 16 pounds. It really is due to a lot of walking and sweating. The electricity goes out every day and possibly several times. We have a back-up generator, but that will run only the lights and fans. It is due to low water levels in the resevoirs, so we are glad for rain when it comes. The retail business is thriving in India, but many times we yearn for an Ace Hardware and a WalMart. Because we are so used to one-stop shopping, it is hard to go from shop to shop purchasing only a few items in each. In some shops, you can stretch out your arms side to side and touch the walls! Driving a car ourselves is highly discouraged so we travel by "auto". No roads in Visak run parallel or perpendicular to each other. There are no stop signs, few traffic lights and no signs that tell you what street you are on (and this is a big city)! The "autos" dance, dodge and weave through traffic. The biggest vehicle, like a bus, rules the road. Everybody has a horn, and uses it. When you honk your horn it doesn't mean that you are mad at someone, it means "I'm coming through, get out of my way". If you choose to walk on a sidewalk, it is just as treacherous, with large holes, uneven pavement, dirt, bricks, trash and hanging wires. Most people find it easier to walk in the street.
Just when we thought that things should be going smoothly, the cord on the iron caught on fire, the geezer, which is the hot water heater for the shower, gave out, Carol and the computer each got a virus, but not the same kind. Then we ran out of propane gas for the gas stove. Kent's ear started bothering him, so we broke down and took him to Seven Hills Hospital when the pain became too great. It is the only hospital that is approved for us to go to. Carol regrets having watched the doctor put a very slender wire into his ear to remove ten years of wax. The paperwork cost 50 cents, the doctor charged $5.00 and the prescriptions cost more than the two combined.
In spite of the challenges, we enjoyed celebrating Friendship Day on the 3rd. People exchange bracelets and say, "Happy Friendship Day". We traveled by train for 14 hours to Hyderabad for a combined zone conference with all of the missionaries. You have to do some of these "brave" things just once. Besides, you are going to miss the great views if you go by plane. On India's Independence Day, August 15, we helped with a branch service project at a school for children with handicapped parents. We traveled again to Hyderabad, via plane this time, to attend District Conference with D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve. Kent and I splurged and stayed at the beautiful Kakatiya Hotel. The best thing was, no, not the free breakfast, or the 10 pillows, or the flat screen tv, but that Kent got his clothes dry cleaned.
In August, we discovered where to buy the best bread, that we really could trust the pharmacist and when you go to the rooftop of our apartment building, you get a stunning view of the sea. A friend gave Carol fresh lemons from their lemon tree -- and she made lemonade . . .

It may seem unusual to you, but this is where we meet for church. This is the location of the Visakhapatnam 1st and 2nd branches. The "auto" drops you off in front, you climb the stairs and go through the entrance inbetween the Reliance store and the optical shop. The chapel and classrooms are on the second floor, with offices and more classrooms on part of the third floor. Can't you just hear the horns honking!

On August 15, Independence Day for India, the Visakhapatnam 2nd Branch had a service project. We traveled by bus to a government-run school for children with handicapped parents. The families live in a colony nearby. I can't read the sign, can you?

All of the children were given a bag of lemon rice and lengths of cloth so they could have a school uniform made. We also had "chocolates" for everyone.

Everyone wanted their picture taken! The man with the blue shirt and beard is handicapped and a parent one of the school's students.

If we could speak Telugu, we would know the names of each person. I like this picture because it shows the rolling hills in Visakhapatnam, the vegetation and the apartments in the background.

We created quite a commotion in the village. Everyone came to get their picture taken. I had a difficult time selecting which ones to use. Naturally, I wanted to use this one, because it shows the women in their beautiful sarees.

I knew we would find a McDonald's in India! This one was at the City Centre in Hyderabad. They serve chicken burgers - very spicy, so we had fish sandwiches instead. The french fries, though were just like home! They get used to people coming by and having their picture taken.

This is the West Maredpally chapel in Hyderabad. You come in on the ground floor and go up a flight of stairs to the chapel. Nice!

For District Conference on August 23rd and 24th in Hyderabad, D. Todd Christofferson (left), member of The Quorum of the Twelve, presided and Donald L. Hallstrom (right), Asian Area President also attended, with their wives.

Entry #8 -- July 1, 2008 - July 31, 2008

In July, we just yearned for a routine, but along with that came challenges and first-time events.
Firsts. We attended our first zone conference (a meeting with the other missionaries) on July 4th and celebrated with pizza and chocolate cake. Kent got his first haircut. It cost $1.50 and included a head, neck and shoulder massage. Carol got her first haircut as well. She asked for a 1" trim and they took off three! She looked just like her school photo from 3rd grade. We took our first train trip, to Rajamundry, to visit two branches (congregations). On the way you can enjoy the view of the countryside and watch the villages pass by. No one is shy about hanging their laundry! We stayed in the Anand Regency hotel (which has a flat-screen t.v.) but the town has no American food, so you pack your pb&j. On another weekend we traveled to Kakinada. They have one branch. There are no hotels, that you would want to stay in, so we hired a car and driver for the day. Another pb&j day.
Challenges. We know that the power can go out at any time, so we each have a penlight flashlight. At first our washing machine took 5 hours to run a load. Now that we cleaned the filter and removed a washer that was obstructing the water flow, we are down to 45 minutes. The toaster oven took 3 hours to bake a batch of brownies, but no one cared and they were eaten quickly. All of the adapters and converters that we brought with us do not work in our outlets. It doesn't make much difference because Kent blew up Carol's hairdryer and her curling iron broke in transit. We don't feel like total idiots because we do know how to work the water filtration system (our life depends on it) and can even log on to Skype and call our children and grandchildren(that keeps us going).
People are all so friendly and want to help. We speak in English to other people who are speaking English, but we can't understand each other. Sometimes we are lost, or just look lost. We stand out so much, that people tend to stare at us; yet we must be staring at them as well. We should have our own reality show!


Train station in Visakhapatnam. Our trip to Rajamundry took 3 1/2 hours and the trip to Hyderabad took 14 hours. The railway system in India employs 1,100,000 people. The trains are a major mode of transportation.

The church building in Rajamundry is two-story. Everyone calls it the A/C church because it is the only church in the city with air conditioning. There is a basketball court in the front which doubles as a parking lot (for motorcycles!).

This is Sister Azra (in the suit) who is leaving on her mission. Her friends went to the train station to send her off. She will travel by train for 24 hours to Bangalore. Then she will fly to Manila, Philippines where she will be at the Missionary Training Center for 19 days. She will be assigned to serve in Hyderabad.

This is President Ratnam, Branch President of Visakhapatnam 1st Branch, and his wife and two teenage children. They invited us to their home in "Steel Plant" for an authentic Indian dinner. We traveled by "auto" and by bus to get there and home.

These are the Primary children from Visakhapatnam 2nd Branch. They were enjoying a Primary activity but stopped to get their picture taken. They love the camera!

This is the George family. The youngest daughter was baptized. In the picture with her is her father, mother, older sister and grandmother.

Entry #7 -- June 20, 2008 - June 30, 2008

Getting settled in our home away from home required cleaning up, cleaning out and making some repairs to our two-bedroom, two-bath apartment. Setting up the computer took 10 days, 4 cords, 3 boxes, 1 salesman, 2 line installers, and 1 technician and a whole lot of patience. We soon found out that everyone speaks Telugu but not everyone speaks English. Or, we are both speaking English, but we can't understand each other. We do not have a car, so we travel by "auto". It is more exciting than any ride at DisneyWorld! We have had to change our sleeping patterns, find where to pay our bills, and remember where we live so that we can get home. We are now official residents of Visakhapatnam because we filled out the paperwork in quadruplicate at the Foreign Registry Office and actually met face-to-face the Deputy Commissioner of Police . (Do we look like terrorists?) Fortunately we can walk to three "grocery" stores; More, Fresh Choice and Karachiwala's (where they stock Skippy peanut butter). Subway, a pharmacy, an ATM machine, a newspaper stand, an open air post office and the barber shop are also within walking distance. We have discovered where we can buy slices of cake (FoodEx) and ice cream (Jack Frost), the two busiest places in town. Now we know we won't starve!


Our apartment (or, flat) is located around the back. It is called Ville Royale and it is located at Siripuram Junction in Visakhapatnam.

We were treated to a sightseeing trip up the mountains to Araka Hill Station and the Borra Caves. Nearby are the Anantagiri Waterfalls and the Shimiliguda Railway Station. The road takes you through tribal villages and it has lots of hairpin turns.

These are all of the missionaries who work in Visakhapatnam. We got together one day for an authentic Indian meal.

We were invited to our very first Indian wedding. This is Jonas and Ashra. It was supposed to start at 10:00, but the groom walked down the aisle at 11:00 (with his family) and the bride walked down the aisle at 12:00 (escorted by her family). That gave us time to count the 37 fans!

This cow is really moving fast! He passed us and by the time I got out the camera, he was "hoofin" it down the street. Also in the street is the infamous "auto".

Entry #6 -- June 17, 2008 - June 19, 2008

After a good night's sleep at the Mission President's home in Bangalore, we returned to the Bangalore Airport via taxi and were reunited with our luggage which came in on a later flight. We flew to Hyderabad and were met there by the Lylerlys, who are serving a Humanitarian mission. They hosted us for two days, "showed us the ropes", and took us to some touristy places. We were able to hear Julie B. Beck, General Relief Society President, speak at the Hyderabad Chapel. On Friday we flew to Visakhapatnam where we were met by the Branch President and went directly to our apartment. We sure were tired of dragging eight pieces of luggage around with us -- and everyone else was tired of being our "porters".

Tombs of Qutb Shahi Kings, or, Seven Tombs at ruins of Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, 16th C.

Students at Holy Bell School, Hyderabad. Most of these children do not have a mother or father and/or are professional beggars. The Church's Humanitarian Services provide their uniforms, school bags and a daily lunch.

Charminar and Bazaars, Hyderabad's principal landmark was built by Mohammed Quli Qutb Shat in 1591 to commemorate the founding of Hyderabad and the end of epidemics which affected or killed many people.

Entry #5 - June 14, 2008 - June 16, 2008

Our trip across the Ocean(s) began when we were picked up by a shuttle and taken to the Salt Lake City Airport (with our four suitcases and four carry-ons!). We wistfully said good-bye to our luggage, wondering if we would ever see it again, and went through security. The seasoned traveler figures out how to get through security quickly and we will learn to perfect the process on each leg of the journey (even with a laptop, Kent's two new hips and a pair of scissors that Carol forgot to take out of her purse!). Our plane took us to Chicago but with only a short time to catch our plane to London. We had to wend our way through walkways with construction, wait for a tram to change terminals, cut in line to get through check-points, go through security again, and then find that our gate assignment had been changed and dashed to another gate. Fortunately, someone had bumped us up to business class and we had luxurious fold-down beds, private tv's, delicious meals, quilted blankets, and people waiting on us (if we just knew the secret of how to fall asleep!). Our plane, on Sunday, leaving London was delayed because (you'll never believe this) President Bush's plane, Air Force One, was at Heathrow and it was creating "an interruption of the flights". Our next stop was Bangalore, India, but we had to endure an even longer flight and there were no upgrades. We truly felt like cattle. We arrived at our final destination at 4:40am and were met by the Mission President (but not our luggage!). What did we expect! Fortunately we had packed pj's, toothbrushes and extra shirts in a carry-on.


As much as she tried, after three days of traveling, she just couldn't stay awake any longer. I'm sure that she is not the first person to fall asleep on the couch in the India, Bangalore Mission Office!

Entry #4 - More Pictures from the Missionary Training Center.

This is the view near the entrance to the MTC. We took a good look at the snow-capped mountains, green grass and blue skies (and took a deep breath of the fresh air). Hopefully India will offer some of the same.

Most Wednesday mornings, the new missionaries arrive and this is what only one sidewalk looks like. They do have a system and there is never any lost luggage!

Group picture of the senior missionary couples and single sisters who are going on missions to places as close as Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah and as far as, well, India.

Everybody does this, so we had to do it as well. You go to the map and point to the place where you are going on your mission and you get someone to take your picture. Smile!

Entry #3 - You Bump Into the Nicest People at the MTC!

These are our good friends and former Lee's Summit, Missouri neighbors, Doug and Carol LeMon. They are presently Directors of the BYU Family History Library in Provo, Utah.

Elder Poli, from Independence, Missouri is on his way to ...(we forgot). We found him in the cafeteria. (You are not allowed to take pics in the food area.)

Elder Kent from Independence, Missouri is on his way to California. He is not in his white shirt and tie because it is his p-day. He was on his way to a service project.