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Some aspects of our first four weeks here are forgettable.  Getting used to the climate, environment and food takes a toll on 69 year old bodies.  That’s all we need to say on that subject!

We have adjusted well and are enjoying the city of Chennai, the people here and — yes, the food.  The main staple here is a spicy rice concoction known a Biriyani (BIR ee ohni).  It comes in many different forms (chicken, goat, vegetarian – NOT beef) and levels of spicy (heat!).  Victor Garcia’s salsa – the spicy version — would be well accepted here.  If the warm weather doesn’t make us sweat – the spicy food certainly does.  Elder Gibson found an ice cream parlor in the colony (neighborhood).  On the menu, is “ice cream sandwich”.  Eager for some ice cream and a delectable dessert from the States, he ordered.  Minutes later, the waiter came out with an ice cream sandwich:  strawberry ice cream between two slices of bread.  It tasted quite good, when we were done laughing.  The Tamil speaking attendant could not understand why we thought his carefully prepared ice cream sandwich was so hilarious.

Sister Gibson wrote the following in late September.  We later learned that this and other emails did not make to family:

Dear Friends and Family —
We have been out for a month now. This week has been amazing. We have been healthy and the work is starting to move forward.
We have attended sacrament meetings in each of the branches. In fact last Sunday we spoke in three of them. We are working with 3 branches that meet in our building and 2 that meet in the other building here in Chennai. We have attended the young single adult activities in both buildings. Our building is only 3 blocks from our apartment, but the other building we have to take the metro and it takes about 45 minutes for us to get there. The metro here is really nice. The cars are clean and airconditioned. The first 2 cars are for ladies only. It seems we can get around pretty good between the metro and Uber. We use Uber to go to the mall, because we usually have a lot of bags to carry and it is too far to walk. We mostly walk where ever we go. Our apartment is on the 4th floor and we almost always take the stairs. Between our stairs and the ones at the metro I am going to have buns of steel by the time I am through.
This past week we meet the most amazing girl that we will be giving the temple prep lessons to. Her name is Meenakshi (muh NOK shee). She is a little older because she finished her education in aeronautical engineering. She will be going on her mission on Nov 4. (She is) going to Delhi. Here (in India) they can’t interrupt their schooling to go on a mission. If they leave for a year and a half or 2 years it is almost impossible for them to get back into school. Most of the missionaries go when they are finished with their degree.
We also met 2 other amazing families that we will be teaching the Temple preparation classes to. One the husband has been on a mission so he has been to the Temple, but he and his wife were only married civilly, since they couldn’t afford to go to the temple. They have 2 children.  The other family has never been to the temple. They have 3 boys. It will be wonderful for them to go to the temple and be sealed forever. The people here have to go to the Taiwan Temple. It a really big expense for them. The closest temple is Hong Kong, but the Chinese won’t let the Indian people into their country. It will be so wonderful and so much easier when the Bangalore Temple is finished. It takes them about 3 months to accomplish all that they have to do to get (ready to go) to the temple. They have to get passports and visas. We give them the temple preparation classes. Then we have to arrange for housing and food for them. Most of them stay for 3 or 4 days and there is housing by the temple. They have to complete as much of their 4 generations (on familysearch.org) as possible so they can do the (ordinance) work for their ancestors while there. These families are so grateful for the help we are able to give them. We are learning to really love them.
It is the winter rainy season here so the humidity is about 70% with the temperature of about 85. So far it is pretty nice, but we sweat a lot.
Love to everyone
Elder and Sister Gibson

The area of Chennai (name is Telagu origin) that we live in is called Saidapet – a “sub city” or district of the greater Chennai area.  Chennai is a city of 12 million, so there are hundreds of these districts or areas.  Within Saidapet is an area called “Little Mount”.  This is where our chapel is located – on one of the busiest thoroughfares in Chennai.  Tradition says that the ancient Apostle Thomas (some call him “doubting Thomas”) visited here during the 1st Century A.D.  He established a church or enclave on a little granite outcropping known as Little Mount.  It is also said that he was martyred here.  Sister Gibson and I visited this site and photos are attached.  There is large statue of the Savior on this spot and it is lit up at night and can be seen for miles (kilometers).  When the Portuguese landed in India in the late 15th century, they were surprised to find that Christianity was already established here – again, according to tradition.  The Syrian (has nothing to do with the civil war torn country) Christian Church exists to this day and is said to be an outgrowth of the ancient church.  There is a Roman Catholic Church on a large nearby hill, known as St. Thomas Mount.  More on that in subsequent posts.

Shortly after we arrived, a cyclonic storm (hurricane) swept through the neighboring state of Kerala, dumping huge amounts of rain.  Severe flooding destroyed the homes of many.  Our local Branches (church congregations) met one afternoon and assembled cooking kits for the stricken families.