Hursts in India

Here is Grant with Rhada and Soni two darling girls from the Udayan Home in Mehrauli.  Tuesday night we talked about managing anger.  They are extremely well behaved and well adjusted and we love to be with them. A mural on the wall of the orphanage. Indians love to add color and bling to everything, including their trucks.  They are almost always painted and tasseled.  This one is especially glitzy. We liked the added effect of the artificial flowers. This has to be the worst idea for a toilet I have ever seen.  The traditional Indian toilet is a hole in the floor with a place to put your feet on either side.  This seems to be a hybrid between that and a western toilet.  So you can take your pick????  My experience is that if there are four western toilets and one Indian toilet in a ladies room, the stalls with the western toilets will always be occupied and women will stand patiently in line to use them while the stall with ...

This has been a slower, more relaxed week.  We were able to catch up on much of our work and Jeanette led another successful mission prep activity for the India New Delhi Stake. Udayan Girls Residence - where we spend most Tuesday afternoons for an hour or so interacting with these wonderful children.  They are a joy.  This week we had them making Valentines and were overwhelmed by their creativity and detailed work. Wednesday evening local market with Jeanette seeking bargains on everything from beets to earrings! As we were attending English class on Thursday evening (Valentines Day), we celebrated the next evening by going out to dinner at Haveli Dharampura in Old Delhi.  "Haveli" means a traditonal townhouse or mansion in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.  To quote from the website:   Haveli in Dharampura its distinctive features, attributed as Late Mughal style, though part of it is a later addition in the 20th century. ...

On Saturday night February 3 we had a little farewell party for our friend Vinay Singh who left for America the following week.  We are sad to see him go but wish him the best in his new home. Pictured above are us, Elders Cheng, Saker, Jue, and Cook,  Stella's neighbor,  Tejpal holding Meghan and Stella Kholi, Tamanna Bhatti holding son Ethan in the back,  Kunal Yadav down in front, Vinay, Sam Massey kneeling, Prince and his mother Nirmla Dass with Elias kneeling in front with the balloons, and then Sunitha and Sharin Massey.  We love these dear people! Sunday afternoon we flew to Mumbai to attend an International Symposium on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights organized by the South Asia Consortium for Religion and Law Studies and the BYU International Center for Law and Religion Studies at BYU in collaboration with the Mumbai University Department of Law.  We sat in meetings like this Monday through Thursday where academics and law...