A Special Easter Sunday

It was a special Easter Sunday for us because it was the first time we were able to worship in person since we returned from our second evacuation!

In March 2020, Covid cancelled all church services, and while our Indian ward was meeting remotely, our church building was torn down to make way for the coming temple. In March 2021, we met for three weeks in a rented banquet hall, but even then there were government restrictions on who could gather (no one below the age of 10 or above 60), which meant that not everyone could attend. And then positive cases escalated and we were back to doing church over zoom.

By the time it was safe enough to meet in person again, we no longer had a place to go. Our church leaders had leased the second floor of an office building that was empty aside from the car dealership on the ground floor. It took months of construction to make the space usable for church. If I’m being honest, I half expected to get a message Saturday night saying church would be postponed, but the bishop said that he was there until 10:30 pm getting all the last minute things—like two brand new pianos!—in place.

So meeting today felt like a long-awaited accomplishment. And as I accompanied our congregation in singing “I Know That My Redeemer Lives,” my heart filled with gratitude that after more than two years apart, we can finally meet together again.

The sign from the street

Our building

This statue sits outside at the entrance of the building.

The inscription says:

Ancient Lady Bathing Child

This sculpture is the depiction of social life.

The expression, attire and accessories represents

contribution of woman to the family & society - a rich Indian heritage.

The Chapel

Egypt is the Place to Be: Luxor!

A short flight to the small airport of Luxor opened up new touristing opportunities! We checked into our hotel and then caught a cab to Karnak Temple, definitely a highlight of the trip.

 

Next we went to Valley of the Kings! Christiaan had a list of which tombs were the most interesting and those were the ones we went for. It was a hot day so we were happy to have a game plan instead of wandering around and picking tombs randomly. (There are a lot of tombs.) Plus--we wanted hieroglyphics and we got hieroglyphics! These tombs were amazing!

 

Then we went to some lesser-known tombs nearby. The sun was blazing (we are spoiled with our Bangalore weather that rarely gets above 90) and E was melting a bit in the heat, but it was usually cooler inside the tombs so as long as she could get inside for a while, she was ok to gear up for the walk to the next one.

After getting back to the hotel, the rest of the gang wanted to be done for the day, but Brandon and I walked the couple blocks to see the Luxor Temple. We were blown away that this temple complex was in the middle of the city!

The next day we drove to see a few temples farther afield. There were definitely less tourists at these places!

The view out the window might as well have been India.

Although I gotta say, Egypt had amazingly smooth roads.

Do not discount the importance of nice roads!

First up was the Temple of Edfu, which was so cool! It had lots of winding hallways for the kids to explore and carvings everywhere.

Before we left, we took a break at a little shop by the entrance and rewarded ourselves with ice cream. CJ tried a bite of E's popsicle and her loose tooth came most of the way out. A small pull from Brandon finished the job! She thought it was so funny that a popsicle pulled out her tooth and the cold of her ice cream helped ease the pain.

This is the second time CJ has lost a tooth while we were on vacation

Then we went to the pièce de résistance--El Kab! Christiaan has studied hieroglyphics and could read the entirety of one tomb wall, giving the history of the man who was buried there. It was amazing!

The driver neglected to take us to our last out-of-the-way stop (no tip for him!) so we had an early dinner at our favorite restaurant in Luxor--ok the only restaurant we tried in Luxor, but it was good! Who knew that we could get authentic Thai food in Luxor, Egypt? We ate there three times. 

Then we went to the harbor to take a ride on a sail boat. There wasn't enough wind for a sail, so we settled for a motor boat ride. It was lovely.

CJ is uneasy about boats

--the past couple experiences she's had with them have been a little rough--

but she finally warmed up to it.

It was an amazing trip--made even better because we were able to go with our dear friends. A million thanks to Nathan and Christiaan for showing us a great time! Where should we meet up next?