LAST PARTY NIGHTY

This was our last party night. The Tuesday night before we left a lot of our friends came over to spend time with us. We have been so blessed in knowing this group of people. They were our family while we lived in India. They loved us and cared for us. I was trying to feed

have them clean out my fridge but it was a party planned by Boddu and he had ordered pizza...So much for cleaning out the fridge!!! Jane Carter and Sirisha

Sannie and Rajesh

Nikhit and Boddu

Boddu and Elder Kasper

Srivali, Shilpa, Hema and Sannie.

I love their smiling faces. It makes me happy when they are so happy.

Vani

She and Boddu will soon be sealed in the Hong Kong Temple....An early congratulations you two.

Kishore and Padmaja came late. They are temporarily living in 3rd branch and it's a long ways from West Marredpally. By the time they got to our apartment, everyone else had left...But we were happy to spend a few minutes with them. Love them so much!!!

Last Visits

Our last days were spent visiting special friends.

This is Parimala our friend in A.S. RaoNagar.
Krishna and his family in 4th branch. It's unusual to find a family with 5 children. Krishna and his family fed us our 3rd lunch this day. We love them and will never forget what great people they are.

Conference Oct 2009

It was hard to say goodbye to all our friends in Hyderabad. Pres. Venkat announced at the end of conference that "The Kaspers" were leaving. Our last Sunday in Hyderabad. It was a bit teary....but filled with so much love.
This is Shanth Kumar and Prasanna.

Sangeetha is pregnant with baby #2. She and Praveen and Jason moved to Puni several months ago but came back for conference this weekend. We were so happy to get to see them one more time before we go. We love their sweet family.

Israel Solochana and his mom. They are members of 1st branch.

Elder Barr, Elder, Elder Jenks our district leader, Elder Reiley and Elder Chigeraputi. We've had so much fun with these 1st branch elders. They make District meeting fun but we learn also. We're so blessed to have served with so many good elders.

Elder Barr getting a back and neck adjustment by Elder K...

Sister Shante took good care of us when we first came. She was the first member we visited for dinner. The kids are just branch members who wanted to be in the picture.

Brother Gopal served in 2nd branch presidency. He is a Homeopathic doctor. We always looked forward to his pleasant personality. He's married to Vanaja Sudhamalla. She is also A homeopathic doctor. They have their own office.
The pretty lady in pink is Alice. She is Shanth's mom and she lost her husband about a year ago. Her husband was the 1st funeral they have ever done in West Marredpally church and Pres. Venod did a great job of putting the details together for that.

Archana Thomas and her 2 boys. Arhcana is a new member of the church. She is also Kumar's sister. She's a delightful person.

Our 4th branch Single Adults with Pres. Venkat. Just before lunch inbetween the conferences.

Hema Gutty and Saritha. Hema always looks like that!! Love her big smile and laughter. She also sings indian music very nicely.

In between conference sessions the sisters gathered in the relief society room to put together bags of clothing for the flood victims. There has been some tragic flooding in the villages near Hyderabad. Many lost their lives. Some villages lost all their belongings. Our church was the first to respond to a village about 4 hours outside the city. They went by bus and took food and helped to clean stuff up. Smot, the company who helps us with the projects of clean water for villages also came and distributed fresh water. Our single adults were there and helped distribute the water, food and etc...When it was time for them to go the villagers begged them not to leave. Our district Pres. told them they would come back. The church does so much good in this country. (Sudha in the orange. She is Vani's sister. Married to Padimala.)

Sister Das Relief Society pres of 4th branch for the 2nd time.....helping to bag clothing for the villagers. She and her family have been members about 4 years...Leaders from the beginning.

Mamatha, a beautiful new convert.

Vindya her daughter....I loved this girl from the beginning. She is not a member because she is only 17 and her father and grandmother will not allow her to join until she is older. Her mother has no say.

More of the same humanitarian project!

Last Visits

We've been trying to visit some of our special friends. Mary and Rajesh invited us to their home for lunch and presented us with these flowers as well. They also sang for us.

Kumar and Promod's family telling us goodbye from the balcony of their home.

Kumar the man of many talents who is always willing to take some time and serve the Lord in anyway he can. We love him and his family so much. This is his son Ammon.

Kumari and Angeline. Kumari is a lot of fun and I have liked her from the moment I met her. I've always said if we lived in India full time these are some of the people we would constantly surround ourselves with. Very devoted church members and they laugh and have fun!! I want to mention they adopted Angeline...We have a special spot in our hearts for our babies that come as Angeline did!!

Bharti crochets very well but didn't know how to do the baby booties! It was fun to teach her because she is a quick learner. She also learned to make the blanket and the hat....In teaching her the hat, I learned a new hat pattern that I found on line. It was fun for me. This is at Kumari's home.
Bharti and Kumari taught me to make Poori this day. Sweet sisters!!

Sumanth and Hemanth....the boys downstairs. Elder Kasper taught them guitar lessons and they have learned well. We really enjoy listening to them. They've learned to play lead and rythmn. Cute boys. They told Elder K that they would miss him so much. Could he come back??? Elder K bought a guitar when we got here and recently traded Sekhar Boddu for this smalled guitar that Hemanth is holding. He gave Sekhar's guitar to these boys. They were excited.

Favorite scenes

This is a crickett field on East Marredpally, near our home. We love walking by and catching a little glimpse of the people enjoying this sport. This was such a beautiful day and I really liked how this picture turned out....Game time in a field surrounded by beautiful folage.

Typical scene. This was on the busy road of Paradise, near the entrance of General Bazaar....Nap time...This little doll just fell asleep right on the cart where her family was selling fruit.

Near the post office you can buy bananas, get your shoes repaired or have a cup of tea....The postal drop is on the right side....

The man who prepares our packages that we have sent home. Post office behind him. The 2 guys on the right stopped so they could be in the photo!!

DEAR FRIENDS

These are some of our dear friends.
The Murthy family, Saritha and Murthy and their two children. Saritha is one of my best piano students. She's had some health issues so she hasn't played much at church but she is capable.

They invited us to their home on Monday night and fixed chicken beriyani and other good things to eat.

I'll never forget my Saritha Murthy friend!!

Future Sister Missionaries

These 2 sisters:
Apurna Vuppada
Sowjanya Gorella
Are from Rajhamundry. We met Apurna at a youth conference in Rajhamundry when we first came to India. They both received mission calls to the USA but it was pending to see if they could get a visa. That's why they came to Hyderabad. We did a lot o practice interviews with them and tried to prepare them as best we could for a tough interview. After being interviewed at the embassy they came back to our apartment with these smiles. We took them to Paradise Cafe for lunch to celebrate. Sowjanya said, "We already feel like missionaries." It was hard work to get this far. Apurna has been called to serve at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Sowjanya will be a proslyting missionary in Tacoma Washington. We're so excited for these 2 sweet sisters. We are in hopes of making a trip to Provo and going through the temple with these cute sisters. Sowjanya enters the MTC 20 Oct. and Apurna enters the MTC 27 Oct..

After the hard day, Archana (left) came to see her sister in support of her mission call and visa success. Archana lives in a hostel here in Hyderabad. Apurna has no other support. Sowjanya has a family that are not members but her boldness is teaching them more about the gospel. These 2 sisters will serve well.