In just a few days I'll be back to normal civilization. Even though I've enjoyed this "educational" experience, I am ready to come home. I had a chance to visit the Mumbai Branch on Sunday for church. The church meets in a small apartment-like building that has a small room for the chapel and a few other rooms for other meetings.
The branch has only been in existence since 1999. There are only 28 official members of the branch but average Sacrament Mtg. attendance is around 8-10 per week. I guess many of the members live a long ways away and it is difficult to travel to the church each week. The drive out there from my hotel only took about 45 minutes (about 19 miles). I arrived about 15 minutes before church and met another sister visiting on business visiting from Brea, California (Orange County). The active branch members are pretty much all one family. The President and his wife happened to be in New York and wanted to go to a church and so they found the LDS church one Sunday not knowing what it was. Needless to say they had a good experience and they came back to Bombay and were baptized along with two sons and a daughter and their families. The picture here is of the President and his wife (center) two of the daughters and a son in law and grandchild. Nice people. There is also a small baptismal font in the back.
I was asked to give the opening prayer in Sacrament meeting and I of course blessed the speakers and teachers that would be talking today. I realized 10 minutes later after Sacrament meeting was OVER that it wasn't necessary. We had the opening song (using the "Hymns on CD" as the music), prayer, sacrament song, sacrament, closing song and prayer. That was it. They cancelled Sunday School too. One of the shortest services I've been to. We hung out in the chapel and talked for awhile afterwards though where the President told us his story in broken English. All in all I was there for less than an hour, which was nice because I was able to go back to the hotel and relax for the rest of the day. With 17 million people in the city, I can only imagine what the church would be like here if there was a thriving LDS community. A lot of work left to be done. The closest temple is the
Hong Kong Temple, about an 8 hour plane flight. I really can't complain that our chapel is about a block away from our home and the nearest temple is a 20 minute drive. It was a humbling experience.
The branch has only been in existence since 1999. There are only 28 official members of the branch but average Sacrament Mtg. attendance is around 8-10 per week. I guess many of the members live a long ways away and it is difficult to travel to the church each week. The drive out there from my hotel only took about 45 minutes (about 19 miles). I arrived about 15 minutes before church and met another sister visiting on business visiting from Brea, California (Orange County). The active branch members are pretty much all one family. The President and his wife happened to be in New York and wanted to go to a church and so they found the LDS church one Sunday not knowing what it was. Needless to say they had a good experience and they came back to Bombay and were baptized along with two sons and a daughter and their families. The picture here is of the President and his wife (center) two of the daughters and a son in law and grandchild. Nice people. There is also a small baptismal font in the back.
I was asked to give the opening prayer in Sacrament meeting and I of course blessed the speakers and teachers that would be talking today. I realized 10 minutes later after Sacrament meeting was OVER that it wasn't necessary. We had the opening song (using the "Hymns on CD" as the music), prayer, sacrament song, sacrament, closing song and prayer. That was it. They cancelled Sunday School too. One of the shortest services I've been to. We hung out in the chapel and talked for awhile afterwards though where the President told us his story in broken English. All in all I was there for less than an hour, which was nice because I was able to go back to the hotel and relax for the rest of the day. With 17 million people in the city, I can only imagine what the church would be like here if there was a thriving LDS community. A lot of work left to be done. The closest temple is the Hong Kong Temple, about an 8 hour plane flight. I really can't complain that our chapel is about a block away from our home and the nearest temple is a 20 minute drive. It was a humbling experience.
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