Making Things Beautiful "...awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled." Moroni 10:31

The scripture from Moroni is so appropriate for Nepal at this time of year.  The dry season is here, no more monsoons, the festival of Dashain began on Tuesday of this week, and we are here to take it all in.  We are in Nepal to do a good work and that will happen one tiny step and place at a time.

First to dusty roads, the roads are torn up for a variety of reasons, the cars in turn stir up the dust and it then suspends in the air like a fog.
During this time a celebration begins "Dashian", I guess it a little like our Easter, it as a celebration of a new beginning and the families celebrate by giving lots of fancy clothes, and jewelry   The shops have very glitzy and blingy clothes.  Nepali women traditionally wear very colorful clothing but this time of year is extraordinary.

This shop is full of very colorful dresses and fabric to fulfill your every clothing desire.

The dress is first then the shoes, "Baaph re Baaph" WOW!

A shoe for everyone, at least if you are female.



As you can see the city is vibrant in spite of the complexities of the infrastructure or lack thereof in this city.

But, the reason we are in Nepal is to help bring a little of the saviors joy and peace and consequently tranquility to the brothers and sisters in Nepal.

With that goal in mind we began the transformation of our surroundings.
This is the story of bringing a little bit of heaven to us, there were unexpected consequences from this experiment that we could not have foretold.  To your right is our yard, maybe a little hard to see, but you see the overgrowth of plants and the lack of grass and a lot of dirt that amazingly becomes mud in the monsoon season, Janet will attest to that.  We needed to begin by cleaning up and thinning out.

Before we could get the grass and flowers we needed to replace some of the driveway, so off we went to buy bricks.  Once we had purchased the bricks we need to get them home and the brick store didn't deliver.  We hired a man and his pickup to take them to our home.  The picture to the left is in front of our home.  The load was large so he brought along some help to unload.













So now the fun begins!  We begin digging and pruning and hauling things around, I really didn't mean me literally, the people we hired  moved the dirt, as you can see they have different methods of moving dirt than we do, and when you look closely you will see a woman carrying her end of the sack filled with dirt, she was an inspiration to me for many reasons, first, her strength and stamina, and the second is a story I will tell you a bit later.






Bricks are in place and the old dirt is gone, I'm not sure what that was about but they removed some dirt about 2 inches deep.

This was starting to shape up and our Didi began to see the vision and jumped in to help haul the new dirt, that's her in the picture above with the bucket.

The dirt needed to be level before we could lay the sod, so this worker woman leveled the whole area with a stick about 1 X 1 maybe 30 inches long.  When it was getting late one evening I asked her if she still needed to go home and fix dinner for her husband, she told me she didn't have a husband.  You know me I asked her what happened to him, she told me her story.  She had left him because he decided to get another wife, which by the way is not to uncommon in Nepal.  She didn't like the idea and kicked him out, sounds easy right?  In Nepal when a woman has been married and, for whatever reason they lose there husband, they don't remarry, it is a cultural stigma.  This woman had two children and, would not be supported any way by her ex spouse, because the husband has no obligation to help support his family.  One of the girls is now in college and the other is still in a high school kind of school.  She is a inspiration to me, as we talked I asked if things could every change regarding women and she said maybe in the next couple of generations.  Ask Janet about the status of women in Nepal when you have an opportunity, you'll get an earful.

The soil is level and ready to plant grass.  The sod is cut a little different, they cut it into 1 foot squares.  Makes it easier to carry, but more pieces to put down.









Things were starting to look good, so much so, that or guard/gardener started to get involved and helping with the project.






That is Hari on the left cutting down the overgrown marigold plants that are full of bugs, little gnat like creatures that are very annoying when you are outside.

The next day we were away doing our missionary work.  We were meeting with the President of the Nepal Medical Association and then with the Director General of the Health Ministry, trying to get the HBB program implemented appropriately.


  While we were gone they finished the sod.  It look great!

When we got home Our Didi, Rukmina was sitting on her stool and I asked her what she was doing and she explained to us that she felt like she was in Manila at the Temple because is was so peaceful
 and beautiful.  She then told us about a place in the City call "The Garden of Dreams", We have this little piece of heaven our "Sapana ko Gagaicha".

I made Rukmina pose so you could see what we saw that day.  There she sits in the tranquil world that we created together.



She told us the she will go out each morning and sit and feel the peace and quiet that she feels in this place.





This last picture was very difficult to get, the reason is that Rukmina is always smiling.  She had a very difficult time standing so still and not smiling for this Nepali Gothic a copy of the famous American Gothic by Grant Wood.  I personally think they did a great job.

As you can see we can make a difference one small step at time.

Next chapter:  Dashain what is it?

Going to church and other Saturday activities. "Now I would that ye should understand that the word of God was liberal unto all, that none were deprived of the privilege of assembling themselves together to hear the word of God."

Going to church is an inspiring event.  The cacophony of your surroundings, your olfactory senses enduring the unknown, the vision of eternal bliss all just around the corner.  The sounds I will describe a bit later, and the smells you will just have to speculate about, for now you can experience with us the short mile walk to our branch meeting house, through the winding, "bango tingo" roads of Kathmandu.

The walk begins precariously as we navigate the construction of Bansbari road.  The rubble is sometimes two or three feet high, that is when we walk in the roads.
Did I say walk in the roads?  I mean we dodge traffic as if we are the frogs in the old game "Frogger", find it some time and play it, you'll get the idea.  Did I mention if a car hits us it would be our fault because we are in the road.  Watch out when you hear a horn because a car is coming and it's not going to stop for you! 


 Yes, that is a power line in the picture, but don't worry, the power company will take care of it soon.  Nepali time is very different, or time keeping, should I say is non-existent.  They get things done when they get done, "samasyaa chhaina bhai!", no problem brother!

We are getting close to the street we will be walking on but, there are still a few more obstacles. 




You can see that the store fronts and the houses are getting rebuilt, it will be nice when they are completed.

This is the reason we often walk in the streets, or what ever I just described above.

We get through the rubble and on to a sidewalk only to find a parking lot there instead, I guess they forgot to put up the NO parking sign, but it wouldn't matter any way someone would run over it or move it to park.

Never a Cop when you need one, Oh, did I tell you cars have rights on the sidewalk.  It's just like I always told the kids when they first got their drivers licences, "the sidewalks won't be safe now".  Little did I know how prophetic those words would be.

Safely off of Bansbari and down the street to our meeting house, it is a very cool walk with old walls made of brick and mortar and winding back roads to places unknown, at least to Janet and I.

Janet and Rukmina walking along near the soccer field.  The streets are mostly clear of debris, with just a few street dogs to contend with.  I'll tell you about them a little later.

We  meander down the lane what do we see, yes a church or temple, they are on just about every corner.

This is the season of Dasahain which is a religious holiday for the Hindus and the rest of the country.  These little stop off prayer houses are in constant use with the congregation touching the Vishnu statues and ringing the prayer bells, I still believe it's very efficient!.  Next month they will have another festival which is associated with lights consequently the light festival,or "Tihar".

 This picture shows you the candle holders on the side of the structure.  They light candles and incense to honor the Gods. I believe the incense serves two purposes one for the odors, did I mention that already, they get pretty strong sometimes, and second for honoring the Gods I'm not sure the order.







This stately tree is a Peoples Tree or Holy Tree.  They  grow very large and become a focal point of a neighborhood.  There are offerings placed on or around the tree, for paying homage to different Gods, within the Hindu religion.  When one of these trees is designated holy they stay put.  They are in the middle of roads and other unusual places.  Yesterday as we were driving into the Ministry of Health, lo and behold, there was a tree growing in the middle of the road.  These Nepalis are thoughtful, they turned it in to a round-about which they call a chowk, pronounced choke (very fitting), or maybe half of one, it works.





This is the street passing the holy tree, with shops on every corner.  Just up another street to the left is an elementary school, you should see this place around lunch time.  It reminds me of  the Arctic Circle across from Lehi High School at lunch time!  As we were walking I saw this little "Babu", boy blowing bubbles and I stopped to talk with him and he blew some bubbles for me to see.  Look closely you can see the  bubble about on his forehead.

His mother is standing just to his right, I'm sure she thought it was funny that I would pay so much attention to him.  He was having a great time.  Maybe some time he will have the opportunity to see another missionary and remember us and listen to the gospel.






This is a Buddhist Temple on the way, the little guy wanted to see the white faces behind him and his dad wasn't sure about that, as you can see.

Nepal had a very violent war just recently, where different ideologies were being determined and it became very violent   Some of the frustration was being vented onto the middle upper class and consequently there was a lot of robbing and looting going on, the solution became the walls and gates, unfortunately people became skeptical of each other and have hidden behind these walls from each other.  That is tragic because the very nature of the Nepali people is the bond they have with each other.  A typical greeting is God be with you "Brother or Sister".  As we walk down the streets we often greet the people we see with the familiar "Namaste Bhai or Bahini", they will always greet us and smile.




There is still some burglaries and that is why we employ a guard for our house.  I think that people think we are very rich, and it doesn't matter anyway,because we  can get more of what they've taken.  It sounds like some of the conversations I have had with inmates at the prison, "your insurance will pay for it".

There are many different kinds of fences and gates along the way.  A couple of them that are really cool.














Blue is a favorite color and white with blue and trimmed in gold is seen very often.  They really do like bold colors, and high gates.  


Our next sight to see, Walls, walls, and more walls, many shapes and sizes and colors.

Does this wall remind anyone of the walls anywhere else in the world?  

Those are definitely 16 penny nails embedded in the concrete on the top of the wall.  As dangerous as the wall may appear it won't hurt you if you don't try to climb it.  That is a little like a sin, it won't hurt you if you don't try to embrace it.  Notice how nice and clean the street is, kind of like life, we go along a straight and narrow way with evil on both sides of us and all we have to do is stay on the clean yet narrow path! 
Duh, to easy, we say, and test to see if the nails are really sharp, Duh again!
It really is easy, I think!

We are just around the corner from the holy tree and and we find a home of one of members.  The shop next to the staircase is a sewing center, it is run by the father and mother of our members.  Our member is deaf and doesn't talk, however, that doesn't stop him from actually running to us when we see him and greet him.  He does not come to church, he is quoted by a member that he doesn't come because he can't hear anything anyway.  Now envision this I tell him to come to church anyway because he can feel the spirit, that being said by a non Nepali speaker to a deaf Nepali man.  We'll see if the spirit will talk to him.  

We walk down the road past these two little shops, where as you can see the owners are always curious, and always friendly to us.  One Sunday as I walked by and greeted the owner he said are you going to church, I told him yes.  Anywhere else we would have talked to him about us and what we do, but not now in Nepal, so sad.

This is a small shop with most of the items you might buy at a
7 - 11, and Janet is walking past another of the many shops we pass on the way to to church.







We walk down a road before turning left along another narrow roadway.  You can see Kathmandu Valley is very hilly, and the streets are all very narrow. 




We turn to the left and encounter another obstacle cars trying to pass us on the road, we simply move over and they pass us.  Most of the time on these narrow roads the drivers are fairly considerate.  When one begins to honk it is usually a very large car, Adam's Honda size car. They need lots of room.

Just down the street and around a corner is a field where kids fly their kites, I wish I had a picture of them flying their kites.



This a view of the field, to the left of Hitson and Janet.  A house is being built on the property which is the field.









This young man is a barber and this is his shop on our way to the church.  Just to the left of his shop is  this little shop. 


 It is as you can see a Beauty Parlour.  The children are not going to church they are dressed for "Dashain" a major big deal in Nepal.  All of the girls are ready for the party.  I'll tell you a little about it soon. It is a little different than a party in Highland.




WE MADE IT.  This is our Meeting house from the street, I'll take you inside and have a look.

This is the court yard of our branch meeting house, it also serves as our parking lot and...

Our cultural hall when the need arises.  We met for LDS General Conference and after the Saturday morning session we had a small lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and also the hit of the day was with bananas, who would have thunk!  

In the picture on the left are two white faces one nearest is Chris Patch, a member, he works at the US embassy.  Far down the table is a visitor for the day he is the father of a member who's family is working in Nepal with a health organization helping with, and studying, health issues facing young children in Nepal.








This beautiful you woman is Anu Lama, she will be leaving for a mission in November.  She was originally going to the Phillipines then her call was changed to the India New Delhi mission.  She was excited when she found out her mission was changed.









This is inside of our chapel, the families here are the Magar Family Hari and Rukmina on the left, and Saharda and her daughter Ruth.  They are one of Janet's visiting families.  Saharda's husband has been out of the country working for about two years and will be back in about two weeks.  Needless to say she is very excited to have him home.


I mentioned in the beginning about the sounds of this valley, well there was an article in the paper just this week that addresses this same issue, I quote from the news paper headline, "Growling at night, mewing all day" and now from the article,


 "Once darkness falls and most residents are safely asleep in their beds, the city of Kathmandu plays host to a different breed of animals.  The darkness is an open invitation to the  canis lupus familiaris, known invariably as the man's best friend.


Street dogs all kinds and shapes noisy at night and sleepy by day.

The dogs in the picture to the left is not dead just sleeping, the road is as good as any place to sleep.  I guess he's tired because he barked all night.

Just another mangy dog that sits around waiting to find something to eat on the ground around this little pub.





These two dogs do not belong to these two girls they just found a warm place to lay and sleep.


Below is an indicator that dogs from all over the world show up in Nepal, do you recognize this dog?

Enough of the dogs, could be a good joke there but I'll refrain.




'Til next time when we look at beautifying the earth one house at a time.