Elisabetha is the STAR at her First Birthday Party

We had such a great time docorating and getting ready for this party.  The kids helped out a ton by cutting out stars and glittering them.  They even helped make Lissy's crown.

It was a delicious Chocolate cake with fondant and butter cream frosting.

Out of order but I love this picture of her and I under the star mobile.

She is the star for the day!

Our Star themed food.

The girls worked together under Ha-Na's supervision to decorate these.

She isn't sure what all the fuss is about.

Not sure of what to do....

Ok, now she is starting to get the idea.

Both hands!

What is this fork for, hands work great.

Oh my, she is beyond happy!

Time to get cleaned up.

Presents!

She was fascinated by these.  We kept them up for days and she loved touching them.

Burjeel hospital birthday party for Elisabetha

The hospital she was born in decided they wanted to do a birthday party for all the babies who were born in September.  It was so bizarre including a dance floor, dj and clowns.   Here are the pics to prove it happened.  

Peanut and Ha-Na, our blue eyed girls.

Lissy is getting her groove on.

They gave her a pom, pom.  She LOVED it!

MJ was brave enough to let the clown paint her.  Can you tell I am not a big fan of clowns?

She got a new pom pom.  

This paint stayed on for days!!  I was a little nervous after day three and it still wouldn't wash off.

Carl dancing with MJ

Babies on the dance floor.

She loves the balloon!

Balloons, really for one year old?  O.k, lets just hope none of them pop them and then asphyxiate.  

The Arab parents kept posing their kids with Lissy.  One kept trying to getLlissy to kiss her boy.  

Love the pretty flowers on Ha-Na, she matches Peanuts dress.

Each one of the kids got to cut the cake with the hospital director.

Lissy just wanted to eat the cake, she does love chocolate.

Rising Star Wrap-up

We have been home for about a week now, but I really feel that a wrap-up is needed to really go through the experience.  The last dinner we had as group we were asked what we would take away from the experience.  There were quite a few answers that it would take some time to really sum it all up.  I felt that way too.  But I have pondered on this opportunity and the blessing of being able to participate in it.  I now feel capable to really sum it all up.  I am not great with word like others in my family, but I will do my best to bring forward the thoughts and feelings that I can.  This was a truly humbling adventure for me, and made even sweeter that I was able to do it with my son.  For many reasons this is a next step in a redemptive process for me.  A correction in a mistaken path, to a path that leads me home to my God and Savior.  My life was once self-centered, but I am trying to change that, correct my paths and seek to do for others.  This week gave me the chance to be among the poor, both in spiritually and temporally.  These people have nothing, most live without electricity, and indoor plumbing.  Things we definitely take for granted.  Despite not having these things, and being completely cast out of their society, these people were able to take day by day with such humility.  My mind is still so impressed on the man that without feet had to slide around the clinic on his bum, but with a happy and proud smile on his face.  He had leprosy, but leprosy was not going to dominate him.  He was making the most out of the situation.  Daily there are hundreds that are in the same situation there.  Some give up, turn to destructive paths of alcohol  drugs, and other things; some make the most out of what they can, they sell beaded jewelry or paint in the school.  They do what they can, and they are humble in what lowly station.  My mind has been heavily on the children of the outreach school.  My love for them is indescribable.  On the last day Vinarteson gave me a letter, thanking me for befriending him during the week.  My heart was touched.  I was in tears reading it, and hold it among my most prized possessions   I did not just befriend him, I came to have a love for him, and many more at the school.  They are truly loving and special kids.  They don't have Ipods, Ipads, cellphones, matter of fact they don't have much, but they have a capacity to love and share.  Volunteers come and go there, they could withdraw, because when you become attached and then they leave it is very hard.  They do not do this, they love, care, play and give with all of their hearts each week.  They do this for each group coming in, it is truly amazing.  I see in each of their eyes the love of the Savior.  Most don't know Christ, they are Hindi, but he is still there in each of them.  Their love for life is truly amazing.  I came closer to my Savior this week.  The faces of those I met, played with, and served are permanently impressed into my mind.  I see things, even at work a little more clear. I know that my savior lives and loves me.  I am so very blessed to have had this opportunity to serve among the people in Chennai, India.  Especially to serve among those affected by leprosy, for My Savior and Redeemer also served among them.  This I will take with me forever.  I want to do more and am seeking at this moment for ways to serve with Rising Star Outreach some more.  Probably with a mirco-grant business.  Something that we are working on.  I will always remember this opportunity forever, so humbling.  While this experience was amazing, and it showed me the need to serve, I encourage all that care enough to read this wordy blog all of the way through to look around you.  Where can you server?  Whose burdens can you make light?  This is my humble prayer that we will find ways to lift another, make their burdens light, and emulate our Savior Jesus Christ in all that we do.  In finality I need to thank my dear sweet wife for dealing a week without me or Carl to assist, (though I think Carl is a greater help to her) and encouraged me to go on this adventure.  She is the light of my life and I cannot make it through lives rough patches without her.  I love her with all of my heart and thank her for encouraging me, and providing me with a perfect example of Christ-like service.

Rising Star Outreach - Day 6

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Today was Good Friday so the kids were off school on holiday.  People in the Colony were also off for the holiday, so we did things a little different than we would have.  We headed out this morning for another charity that was down the road by Chengleputt.  We stopped off to get some candy for the kids there.  When we got there we were welcomed by a custom sign that welcomed us to the school.  This charity is a school that takes in homeless, begging kids off the street.  Clothes them, feeds them, and teaches them (if they are unable to go to regular school).  There are some kids that are there that had had no formal school before this charity picked them up.  They are almost 3-4 grades behind, so they teach them at the school since they cannot put them in the local school.  The kids there were so sweet and excited to have people to play with.  Then at the end they did a little talent show for us.  They danced around, and then we joined them.  It was really fun.  After that we went to Pearls for a Purpose and the Bindu Art School.  Both are micro-grant businesses that are targeted to teach the local leprosy affected patients to have a skill.  The ladies at the pearls business are all leprosy affected in some way, either themselves or someone else in their family.  They custom make the jewelry and then sell it locally and online.   They seem to do quite well, then of course Rising Star helps them out quite a bit as well.  The Bindu Art school is the same.  I am not too sure if the money gets back to them the same way as with Pearls.  But we helped them out nonetheless.  We were able to get pictures with the artists that painted the pictures which was really cool.  After that we headed back to the outreach and we had a special play time with the kids.  They setup a full cricket field and we played cricket.  I was able to bowl and hit.  I did reasonable with both.  That was quite fun.  After that we had prayer time.  We repeated the first house that we went to, which I thought was really good since that house has Mousa in it.  He was the first to approach Carl and they have been more or less inseparable the entire week.  They totally forged a close relationship.  After prayer time we came back for dinner.  It was the last time the group that came for this week was together.  It was really neat, we talked about what we are going to take away from this week.  I was amazed that it was all almost the same about living in the moment and not in the future.  It was also along the lines of making life more simple and doing what is most important.  We often get bogged down in trivial things and we let them bother us.  I am really blessed to have this experience and and see that life is simple, and we have to keep it that way.  There was a great conversation on the car yesterday that was so profound and amazing.  We were talking with Virginia about loosing her husband to ALS.  She said that as soon as they stopped thinking that it was terminal they were able to enjoy the time that they had together.  Several years ago Elder Eyring taught that we should catalog what was good in our day.  And always find the good around us.  I find that to be very important.  I am thankful for this opportunity that I have had here.  It has really changed me in a deeply personal way.  I am so excited to take this new outlook back home and try to refocus on my daily highs and lows, and fully commit to serving those around me and to this wonderful gospel that I have. 

Rising Star Outreach - Day 5

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Ok, so not a terribly long post today since it is really late and the internet was down half of the night.  but on a bonus side the power has only gone out one time tonight, issue was I was just getting out the shower.  So that was rather dark.   Today we had school duty and the other group went to colony.  We get to the computer lab to work with the kids on fractions and multiplication.  So that was fun.  We had fun with that.  Some kids are so smart and rip through the material and others really struggle.  I tried to help as much as I could.  The next it was off to reading time in the library.  I had a little girl and we took turns reading "On the bank of Plum Creek", the girl was really really good at reading, but it is hard to comprehend 1800's prairie culture if you have never understood the American prairie.  It was rather interesting.  I guess I took for granted being able to conceptualize that kind of life.  Next we went to eat with the kids at the dining hall.  This was really fun.  I kind of dragged Carl to it, and the others did not want to go, but I want to spend as much time with them as possible.  So Carl and I went over to the dining hall and sat with the bays and ate lunch.  That was a really good time to get to know the kids.  They were beaming with excitement that we took the time to eat with them.  After lunch and a nap, we went back to the computer room for more tutoring this time it was an older group.  I sat with three girls from the 7th Standard class.  They were working on fractions.  I was really proud that I was able to remember the fractions.  After computer lab we were supposed to go to do a class for the 9th standard about values, but they were all at the hospital for check-ups.  So were got a little break before going to play with the UKG kids.  UKG time was really hot, too hot to go out of the shade, so we stayed close to the hostel shade and enjoyed some time there.  We played different games.  Then it was general play time.  I played one-on-one basketball with one of the boys.  I lost, but had a great time.  Although now my quad is really hurting.  Finally we had prayer time with the kids.  It was really a good one.  We talked about gratitude and I showed off the pictures of the whole family.  It was really cute when I carried around the tablet with the pictures up on it.  They would touch the screen and say "God bless" and they would bless the family.  It just means so much to them that we are here with them.  I am not sure what I was expecting when we came here, but it has exceeded my expectations in so many ways. 
Thoughts from Carl:
day three was enjoyable.  We helped people who had leprosy.  they beamed at us as we washed their (occasional almost nonexistence) feet 

then we went to see a birds sanctuary.  You would not believe the different amount of birds there.  we came back for general playtime and we played Magic.
Day four we went to the hospital.  The man we where in charge of was over the moon.  Then we came back for general play time and played Magic again (this game didn't end yet).  I was whopped.
Day 5 we taught.  It was in the computer lab and i had to juggle two trouble makers by my self. we left for a mini break and then came back.  this time i insisted that i be in charge of one child, so i found one.  HE. WAS.  A.  MATH..WIZA!!!! Then we left for UKG time and came back to the lab and i had to stop one kid from getting the awnsers from another.  then i went to bed, but the Magic game finnally ended.

Rising Star Outreach Trip -- Day 4

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So day 4 is over, which is really rather sad.  It means that it is flying by way too fast and we are not able to do everything.  It was another incredible day, then of course all of the days seem to be words like amazing, incredible, ect.  So we started bright and early since we were taking a group of kids and patients to Chennai to the big hospital there to get things done.  We gathered up the kids and we waited for the teacher van to get here since it "had A/C"  It blew something that might be considered A/C at one point in time.  It no longer had A/C, it was rather hot in the van.  We then went to two different colonies to pick up three patients, those who are afflicted with leprosy.  And off to Chennai.  We went to the hospital there, which was huge, and circa 1970's hospital.  When we got out we broke into groups.  Carl and I were assigned Rajeth from the outreach and Issac from the colony.  Rajeth needed an eye check-up and Issac had just had a successful cataract surgery and needed a check-up.  We breezed into opthamology and they were seen almost instantly which was kind of amazing.  I then got into issues when the nurse started to ask questions about Rajeth that I could not answer.  Luckily Navamando (the Head Nurse from the outreach program) came by and bailed us out of that one.  Then we took Issac to the head of Opthamology to get looked at.  They were really nice.  I really loved the attitude and demeanor of Issac.  He was so very happy-go-lucky.  It made me smile, because every two to three minutes he would look over to us and smile.  Most of the patients from the colonies don't speak English, so we act out a lot.  He has at this point in his illness lost most of his fingers, and a fair number of toes.  He struggles to get around, but does so with a really light conscience.  He really inspired me, and made me think, about how I carry myself.  I think there is definitely some improvement there.  After the doctor's visit we waited for the rest of the group, they took a fair amount of time to get back.  So I let the boys from the outreach play with the tablet, they really loved it.  They got it taken away if one of them cursed when they died or fought over it.  After the hospital we went to St. Thomas' Mount.  It was supposedly where St. Thomas was stoned to death.  It had amazing views of the city.  I had to pay 10 Rupees, so I made the most of it.  The pics are in the slide show, I am going to inflict the 10 Rupees on all that are reading the blog.  They had a Mother Teressa Statue there, I am not too sure if she ever visited the spot, but after having been here and served here, I can say I have huge respect for her.  After that we stopped by Dominoes for some pizza, it was OK.  They did have on the menu for a pizza called the Boloroni pizza, which is a pizza and pasta bake in one.  So it is crust, noodles with sauce, cheese, and toppings.  It was rather nasty sounding, we definitely did not get it, but it apparently the favorite of the outreach kids.  We then returned to the outreach and went out for playtime and then prayer time.  Both were great.  Prayertime I taught them some Russian.  Which was fun.
I don't think that I can properly put into words the feelings that I have here.  The closeness with the Savior and the love I have for the people here.  I love this experience, makes me think that I definitely need to find more outlets for service, within and without the walls of my home, to give more freely with all that I do.  I know that this experience will bring me closer to my Heavenly Father.

Rising Star Outreach -- Day 3

Ok, so there are few pics from today, but incredible memories.  we went to the colonies today.  We went to Calvary Colony, about an hour from the outreach.  We pulled up to the church that we were doing the clinic in.  The church has all of the windows broken out, it was very plain.  The medical staff pulled up and were so efficient to get the van unloaded.  They had a fully operational leperacy treatment center in about 5 minutes.  My assignment was to wash the feet for the afflicted patients.  These are patients that have sores on their legs from the leperacy.  Many don't have much of their feet remaining.  The first patient came in, and was handed his file.  (They keep very good records of their patients.  I am amazed at how well they are taken care of by the outreach.) The patient did not have fingers left, the leperacy had taken them, so he held his file between his hands.  He was first in line, I don't know how long he was standing there waiting,  but he waited so patiently, he came in ran through the whole testing with a huge smile.  He came to the washing station.  He had his bandages cut off, then he was washed.  I did not wash him, but watched as he patiently sat there having his little nub of a foot cleaned.  He could not walk without a special shoe he has to wear, but proudly he sat on the floor and scooted to the next station to be rebandaged and get more medicine.  It was people like him that made this day so amazing.  I was sad that there were only about 15 patients out of 60 that showed up, I hope that it means that the other are doing well.  I washed about 6 or 7, Carl my trusty assistant provided the towels and helped with the process.  Each patient was in different stages, but all were reasonably affected.  There is something amazing about washing the feet of the afflicted.  When we were finished, with the same efficiency they packed up the van.  After that we went to a bird sanctuary to watch some birds.  It was interesting, there were monkeys.  Love the monkeys!  Then we came home, back to the outreach.  We took a break to teach the younger volunteers magic, which they are digging on right now.  Then we ran off to play time with the kids.  Again, like yesterday it was really awesome.  "Uncle" do this, "Uncle do this" we ran all over.  I am sore all over from throwing kids.  It was really fun.  Then off to prayer time.  Tonight was much better than last night.  We sang "I know that my redeemer lives" and then talked about being thankful.  It was really neat.  I was truly thankful for this experience here.  It is so amazing.  Tomorrow we are taking some kids and patients to Chennai for check ups.  I will track down the official pictures from today.  We are loving it here.  Carl is already freaking out about leaving.  I don't think he would ever leave.