A Surprise

One day when I left on an errand I noticed two little boys sitting on the curb across the street. An hour later when returning I noticed that they were still there. I didn't get right out of the auto but was visiting with the little girl who is my friend and had been riding with me. After a few minutes I noticed that the little boy in the green shirt was standing on the driver side of the auto. He waited for a few minutes and then leaped over the bars on that side of the auto(you can only enter from the left) stood straight and grabbed my hand and shook it as he said "I am so very pleased to meet you." I was surprised!!! It turned out that he and his brother were the cousins of the little girl. She ignored him so he finally made sure that he met the "American lady." Needless to say with all that charm he got on my Christmas list.

Cold And Flu Season

The little girl in the middle wearing the pink skirt is my newest English class student. She missed all the celebrations and the Christmas party because she was sick. The diseases run through the city's population. Deep chest colds, chills, fever flourish in this heat, we have it all, just like wind and snow chilled Chicago.

A Winter's Tale (or tail)

There he is .......................look quick...

Right there, gold, near the bushes.

Oh you missed him! Last year two days after we arrived it rained and when we went out in it every corner was sparkling with dragon flies. Since we didn't know any people yet I decided that the dragonflies were the most enchanting thing about Chennai. I determined that next rainy season I would get their picture. One day right after the rain I was coming home in an auto and we saw a cluster of dragonflies buzzing around a green filled corner. Out of the auto I leaped like a little girl and with the aid a a fresh tree branch we caught one.

Backside...look closely at the gossamer wings.

Front side and his little face. Undoubtedly the best gold creation that India has to offer. (No animals or dragonflies were harmed during this capture. He flew away home.)

A Perfect Time

The Monsoon was over. The extra storm gone and the sky was freed of its typical gray. Heavenly blue reigned in the day and...

The night sky was dramatically full of birds and dragonflies. It was a perfect time for the Christmas season.

It All Started

A few months ago the younger brother was baptized. In December the decision of the older brother started our Christmas season. He was now ready to be baptized.

The younger brother had the proper authority to baptize his brother. This was a first since we have been here. Usually the missionaries do the baptism. Letting new members use their priesthood helps them to grow faster.

It was a very happy time for the missionaries as they came up to the end of a year with lots of work, lots of walking and lots of high temperatures to make their missions interesting.

This was an exception rather that a rule, but we celebrated a few days later with American food. Both of these young men love everything American. They were amazed at this restaurant with surf board on the wall and

License plates from every state.

A Unique English Class

The assistant takes over the class. She is good at drilling and they increase their vocabulary.

Since this is conversational English the girls figured out that they could speak English and paint and so we do.

At the tree trimming party we added dancing.

And of course board work with a little art.

TIP: If you have marble floors don't teach nine year olds to swing dance. They will expect you to dance with them and it takes at least two days to recover from the high intensity impact.

It's Beginning to Look Somewhat Like Christmas

A friend wrote asking, "How do you get in the Christmas mood in a land of the Hindu?" This year we got a little rain and it took the edge off the heat. I got the tree up early and invited girls from my English class to help.

If you noticed green ribbons around their necks. They are not for Christmas decorations. It was too easy to get similar names of sisters mixed up so I made cute name tags and got the right name with the right girl finally. They like the tags so much that now they wear them every week.