"I'm here!"

June 15, 2011

I'm here! Oh, where to start? I almost missed all three of my flights, a huge storm almost stopped us from landing, The drivers are crazier than I thought. And I. Am. Loving it! But seriously, we almost missed all of our flights (each indivdually) due to various reasons. In one, they had told us the wrong Gate and Terminal, so we had to walk briskly across the airport to arrive on time! How frustrating, right? It was all good. Did you notice to loop-de-loops that we made on the plane about 100 miles northwest of Delhi? There was a huge thunderstorm at Delhi then, so we had to wait for it to clean up first. I'm shocked that it stopped at all! We had to turn around in a circle about 3 times I think. But it went well. And here I am!
Driving is something of a joke here. There are no rules. Whatsoever. Drivers can do anything that they want, but they need three things: "A good horn, good brakes, and good luck." But beyond that, it's no different from driving in Yuma. Just imagine that every single other driver is a Snowbird and you get the idea.
And the rickshaws! They're called autos here. They're everywhere! I drove in one getting to my new apartment. A few wouldn't take us because of my luggage. One did come, and my companion, Elder Varada, had to haggle with him in Hindi. It was quite entertaining to watch; I so want to learn it!
Elder Varada is from South India; I don't know exactly where, though. He spoke Telugu and English when he arrived here, and has since learned Hindi, He says that it might be necessary for me to learn some Hindi in order to communicate properly (generally, Rickshaw drivers only speak Hindi, for the most part).
Apparently, we can't preach to Muslims in India. How sad. We're not in Bhutan at all. We have service missionaries in Bangladesh and Nepal. The church in Pakistan is bigger than the church in India! There are more Pakistani members, but only missionaries of Pakistani descent are allowed there. I think.
The culture shock hasn't competely hit yet. It's still the "deep breathe before the lunge." I ate KFC today. What's up with that? The popcorn chicken tasted better them America's, in my opinion. But it was spicier. Rough trade.
I am so happy to be here! The good the bad, and the ugly (and there's a lot of ugly) all mingle perfectly. There is truly no words than can fully explain my emotions. I know that this is where God wants me to be. I know that the Soirit of the Lord is with me. If you have any quesions, please do not hesitate to ask!
Love you all!
Elder Montgomery