Service Project

On Saturday we did a service project with our church.  We woke up early, and headed to the church. When we got there they divided everyone up into three groups, one group would start at a nursing home, one group at a government run school, and the other group would start in a slum neighborhood.  Our family was in the group going to the slum neighborhood.  When we got there, we put on our gloves and got to work.  There was a big water container on the corner of the street.  This was were the people around that area would get their water every day.  Around it, mud had built up on the road, and across the street there was a garbage pile.  Our job was to scrape the mud off the road, and put it in the garbage pile.  But after some time of doing that, they wanted us to put the dirt around the water container, and then put bricks around that.  So then we started bringing the dirt back over to the water container, and then brought brick over to it.  The whole time while we did that, the little kids of the slum would run around us, and they would want my mom and dad to take pictures of them.  After they had taken the picture, they would show it to the little kids.  The kids would then get really excited and laugh and run around.  It was really cute.  When we finished with the water container, we went across the street to the garbage pile.  It was overflowing onto the road, so we scooped it back onto the pile. 
Then we headed over to the government school.  There were not any children there at that time, but the rest of the people from church were.  We had to do a lot of things at the school.  Out front there were big mounds of dirt that they wanted us to flatten because the kids wanted a basket ball

court.  We didn't have very good tools for that, so it was taking a long time.  But then a bulldozer truck came and helped us out.  It went a lot faster after that.  Then we repainted the doors and the windows, and cleaned up around the school yard.  I found a small snake while digging in the dirt. The children at the school did not have any clean drinking water, so a bunch of people did some plumbing and wiring, and installed a water purifier.  Right as we finished it started to rain.  So we all got in our cars or on our scooters, and went home.  It was very fun serving people the whole day.

Cricket Match

We went to a Cricket Match on Saturday.  It was the first match I've ever been too.  We brought our driver and his son with us.  On the way, my dad and driver explained to us how the game works.  It was the Mumbai Indians versus the South African Cape Cobras.  The Mumbai Indians batted first.  After twenty overs, the Cape Cobras were up to bat, but then it started to rain. Monsoon season must not be over.  They quickly tried to cover up the infield with tarps.  If the rain would stop soon, they would continue the game, but the rain just kept on coming.  We sat in our seats for about half and hour before we decided to leave.  Because the game could not be finished, they tied one to one by default.  It was still very fun even though we only saw half of the game.

Our Trip to Mysore

Here is a video of our family's trip to the city of Mysore: Our Trip to Mysore.

Hit by a Motercycle

Today, I got hit by a motorcycle.  We had stopped and gotten out of the car to see this big statue.  We crossed the street to get a better look at it.  There was this little goat on the side walk, so while my mom, sister, and my brother Ben, crossed back to the side of the street the car was on, I took a picture of it.  Then my brother Nathan and I started to cross the street.  We looked left and saw some rickshaws coming in the distance, but we didn’t think to look right.  In America, everyone drives on the right side of the road, but here, everyone drives on the left.  So we were not used to looking right.  When we walked out on to the road I looked to the right for a slit second and saw the motorcycle right before it hit us.  It didn’t hit us straight on, but the edge slammed into my side and turned me just as I watched it hit Nathan, who was standing next to me.  My sister Kayla turned around right as it hit us, and freaked out.  Nathan and I were both stunned.  We cautiously walked back to the car and got in.  We were both fine. Nathan had a few scratches, but none of them bad.  It was very scary, and now I will be a lot more careful when we cross the street.  

Botanical Gardens

We went to this amazing garden yesterday. It had really cool trees, plants, and flowers from all over the world. There were these awsome little plants called "Touch me Nots".  They closed when you touched them!  There was this huge pine tree that was really old. The flowers were butiful.  There were so many colors. There was this really cool tree. It had so many branches. From one side it looked like and elephent.

Commercial Street

Today we went to Commercial Street. It's kind of like a china town. We walked around a lot. I bartered for some sunglasses. It was fun. This dog wouldn't stop following my mom. We went into a store to try to get rid of it, but when we came out the dog was there just waiting for her! It was really funny. Some people eventually shooed it away for us. We saw a rat that was run over on the street. It was a really big rat. A bird flew over and started picking at it.

First time at church in India

Today we went to church.  We are in the Bangalore 2^nd branch.  It’s pretty big for a branch.  For Sunday school, all of the youth 12 to 18 are combined.  It was fun.  When we went to priesthood, I went with the teachers.  There are nine teachers, not including myself.  Two teachers gave a short lesson, and one gave the main lesson.  When we were done, they assigned me to give the main lesson next week.  Also on Saturday they have seminary.  We have to do things on our own during the week and then we all meet on Saturday.  So not only do I have to prepare a lesson to give on Sunday, but my sister and I have to catch up on seminary, because they are already 4 weeks into it.  At least I have something to do with all the free time I have sitting in the hotel.