That's all folks 2/12/19

Well can't believe I'm actually saying this but this is my last update on my mission, the next time you'll be hearing from me is when I'm back home in Australia! 

It all feels very surreal like I know I'm going home and going through all the motions of saying goodbye, taking pictures and packing but honestly it still doesn't feel like I'm going home. I'm not sure exactly when it'll hit me, maybe on the plane ride home? 

As usual I'll start with what I did last P-day. We went to the national railway museum which was pretty cool, it just had a lot of different trains and some we could ride on then they had these cool simulators where we pretended to drive a train and the room would shake and move, we had to blow the horn when there were elephants on the track to make them go away which was funny. There was virtual reality headset thing that we did to! 

We then went to a place called lal Qila (red fort) which is exactly as a the name suggests, a red fort. It was pretty cool but the best part was the markets they had inside! No one told me there would be awesome markets inside! They had such nice stuff which was different than other markets and at reasonable prices too! 

I'm glad our P-day was switched to Tuesday again and i got to see these places that are usually closed on Monday. 

On Wednesday I had my very last exchange! I was with Sister Rayudu in Vasant vihar and she took me out for lunch at maccas then I got to visit some families I wanted to say goodbye to. My favourite was visiting brother Gott! He is the kindest and friendliest man ever! It's impossible not to like him! He took us out to dinner with another member Sister Bolton and we ate at this super nice Italian restaurant! I ate carbonara and it had bacon in it! I haven't eaten bacon since being here! The Italian food wasn't Indian spiced either. Just good ol Italian tasting food! 

It was very weird going to church here for the last time. Saying goodbye and taking pictures with everyone but still thinking like what I'm going to see you all again next week right?? 

I'm sure I'll send a final update once I'm home but this is the last one from India!!!

Love Sister Watts

Final week!!! 26/11/19

Hello!!

Our P-day was switched to Tuesday last week because we went to Akshadam! It's not open on Monday's like a lot of other places which is unfortunate. Our P-day was delayed too so we still had to work in the morning from 11am-2pm and then the fun begins because this place has a really cool water and light show which is like the best part of the whole place! 

In the morning we had our district Council and then Sister Thyagarajan, me, Elder Millett, Elder Wolcott, Elder Brady and Elder Cheng were off! There had to be a lot of exchanges to make this happen because you can only go to this place once on your mission. We had to be with more Elders too because President wanted us to have protection haha. 

Akshadam is a Hindu temple and it's on 100 acres. There's heavy security to get in and you aren't allowed any bags or phones so all you have is your wallet and that's about it haha of course Sisters don't have pockets most of the time so it was handy to have the Elders and their pockets! 

We all understood pretty quickly why President said it would be more worthwhile to spend our money on some momos and a cold drink rather then learning all about this God's life. We did not enjoy it. The way they presented it was cool though with wax robot things acting out stuff and we had to keep moving to different rooms to follow along with the story and we had to walk through this stormy forest across this bridge where the planks kept moving and it was dark with loud noises 😬. There was also a boat ride where you went along and saw all this stuff on either side of you. There was a movie too which was in Hindi so we had to have headphones to understand it and before the movie had started there was just this loud buzzing if you tuned the headphones on and you couldn't hear anything else so Elder Wolcott, Elder Brady and me decided to play that game where one person wears headphones and can't hear anything and then the others have to say something and you have to guess what they're saying haha it's a really fun game! The Elders were terrible at it but I was able to get full sentences right off the bat and they were like how are girls so good at reading lips 😂 

I like to shoot my companion for fun, not with a real gun but one of those trick shot guns that makes the loud noise and so a couple of times when my companions not expecting it I come out and shoot her and her reactions are the best haha she gets so scared! 

We had companionship study with President and Sister Hansen on Wednesday through video call. That's the last we'll have someone joining us for our companionship study 😁

We had so many food appointments right after each other on Wednesday and I was so stuffed! I wasn't even hungry the next day! We started off at the Massey family and the mum kept trying to put more food on my plate and I'm like no I really can't eat any more! She learnt after she was about to put stuff on my plate and I quickly moved the plate away and made a Puri drop in my lap instead 😂 

Then it was on to Honey Rai and her appointments are always the best! She has all these snacks and she was like do you want an iced chocolate or a hot chocolate but we couldn't decide so she was like okay you can start with an iced chocolate and then before you leave have a hot chocolate 😂 she also has great stories to tell especially about all the times she's dressed up like Santa claus and it's gone completely wrong 😂 she also has super cool and old family heirlooms which are more than 100 years old! She has this super old camera and it's awesome! 

Then it was off to the Chauhans, we hadn't visited them for awhile so they kinda refused to let us leave unless we ate something. I ate a Chili pakota! It's like a deep fried chili! It was spicy....very very spicy.....

We talked to a family who were Sikh and they were helping us catch a rickshaw and I was like they're asking too much and they were like you know how much this is in Australian dollars? The Indian economy needs your money 😂 They also  planned out my wedding with their 18 year old son and were like see in Australia this would never happen in a five minute conversation. We got a sandwich they bought too which was nice.

We gave the hedgehog slice to the Singh family and the first bite Siddarth loudly exclaims "This is so good ahh!!" The whole family loved it especially since they all have a sweet tooth and they put it in the fridge and then at different moments they'd be like I need more and go get another piece 😂 

We were sharing a message with their family and we were finishing it up and Sister Thyagarajan was bearing her testimony and then suddenly we hear this loud noise and me and Sruti just start bursting out in laughter. Siddarth had just let one rip if you know what I mean and it was hilarious! 😂😂

This was my last Sunday meeting in a wedding hall with our Janak Puri homegroup! How crazy is that! 

I'm going to miss seeing people not knowing how to use escalators and get all scared and end up nearly doing the splits 😂

Came across another really nice bus conductor who let us ride on his bus for free! He refused to take any money from Sisters. 

The reason our P-day was switched to Tuesday again this week was because we had a special mission meeting on Monday to discuss the new missionary handbook which is really good! I love how it focuses more on helping us become better disciples of Jesus Christ and how these standards will help us for the rest of our life! It was kind of like a special Thanksgiving activity too and so for lunch we had pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, banana pie, chocolate cake, apple crumble and cream! It was so good! We also watched the movie pollyanna! Watching any movie with a group of missionaries is just the funniest thing ever 😂 when the couple kissed everyone cheered so loudly and then Sister Hansen was just like "you can handle it." 😂😂 Pollyanna taught us a good lesson. We need to play the glad game and always think positively and be glad for everything! 

Love Sister Watts 

We wanted to have a batch picture but we were missing Elder Kneeland since he's in Mumbai so we improvised. 

Getting eaten alive! 19/11/19

Hello!! 

Last to last Monday we went to the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib! It was awesome! We had to cover our heads with these bandanas so we all looked like bikers 😂 I was trying to find one that best matched my outfit and so Elder Wolcott helped me out in deciding which one matched best which was pretty funny as he went through being like nah that clashes, try this one 😂 We had to take our tags off being entering and we washed our feet in water. we went and sat in a hall thing where they have people singing worship songs I guess and people praying to their God. The exciting part was the floor was covered in carpet! None of the floors are covered in carpet! It felt so good to walk on after so long!! 😍 We then went outside and there's this massive pool of water and people are bathing in it and washing themselves, I think it's some kind of Holy water so we stepped inside it too 😂 

Last Tuesday I had my last ever Zone Confernece! So crazy! Our Zone Leader Elder Wolcott came up to me before it started and he apologetically asked me like I know you have to do it every single conference but can you please conduct the music. I was like sure because I will never get the chance again! I wonder who will take over after me. I gave my farewell testimony which was crazy! Never thought I'd be up there giving one! After President spoke to me and he was like that was a lovely testimony, thank you for focusing on Christ. Sister Hansen and him were also really sad when I was giving my testimony because they were like you know we're really going to miss you! You were the first one we picked up from the airport and now you the first one to leave! Pretty crazy actually! I'm the first missionary to leave who has only seved under President Hansen! 😱 

The pollution as I've said before is really bad! Delhi is the capital of pollution! It's been so bad that president has said that if its above a certain level then we aren't allowed outside unless we have a confirmed appointment! We've had to have a few days just staying inside. 

We won the award for the cleanest apartment!! Which meant that Elder and Sister Toone took us out to eat! We got to choose the place we ate at and we chose Barbecue Nation! All the missionaries love this place but I've never been there for some reason and I really wanted to go! It's an all you can eat Buffett and they have this coal cooler thing in the middle of the table and they just keep bring out skewers with all these different kinds of barbequed food like chicken, fish, prawns, pineapple, mushrooms, potatoes, corn and paneer (like tofu - really good!). They also bring out food to put on your plate! Plus theres this Buffett table with all this other food you can eat! Don't forget the dessert section! The food was so good and I'm craving it as I'm writing this right now! 

It always pays to keep your apartment clean! "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" 

We had Stake Conference last weekend which was really good and exciting! New Delhi stake finally got their first Stake Patriarch so that's awesome news! President Holmer spoke at the conference and he said that he's seen the artists drawing for what the temple in India will look like and he says it's really beautiful and that it fits in India! I'm just imagining this Taj Mahal looking temple 😂

The conference was video broadcasted to all the different wards and it was really funny because Elder Gillen gave his testimony and he's really tall and everyone here isn't that tall and so when he got up to speak in the video all we could see was this body without any neck or head before the camera had to quickly re-adjust 😂

We found a new family to teach last Sunday! We were at the home of the Wilson Massey family who are recent concerts and then their relatives came over! This family has been taught by missionaries before and has come to church once but I think the connection was just lost, not any more though! The dad says he wants to be baptised and I was like wow why is that? He said that he feels such peace in our church and that he's found what he's been looking for through Jesus Christ! 

We had one morning where we were on  lockdown due to some court case between the muslims and Hindus which had been going on for 26 years and the verdict was being determined that day so it was expected to get pretty rowdy I guess. My companion needed some medication though so our brave zone leaders went out to buy it and rocked up at our house with no tags and their shirts untucked haha. 

It's also mosquitoe season here and I've been getting eaten alive!! They're smart so they attack me during the night when I can't defend myself! For some reason they love to bite me on the face which is really annoying because now it just looks like I have all these pimples all over my face. It's becoming winter now too and the only way I've found to fend off the mosquitoes is to have the fan on full blast! Its freezing at night and hard to sleep but I just really don't want to get eaten alive! 

Funny story! We were meeting with a member named Sandra on Sunday and of course the mosquitoes were out to play and so she just sat there with a pair of pants she had hanging up to dry whacking us to scare them off! She always caught me so off guard whenever she hit us and she whipped my face once and it hurt! She was also slapping us to kill them. She suddenly just hit my leg and killed one leaving a blood stain 😂 she was saying how she was recovering from malaria so I'm thankful she was helping us out!

Last P-day we went to Purana Qila which is an old fort and it was really cool! I love all the history in India. 

Due to my companions sickness we had to cancel some appointment and I felt so bad becuase after I found out they they had made all this food for us so I decided that I would make some hedgehog slice to make up for it! I didn't have the recipe when we were outside so I had to try and remember the ingredients and Heavenly Father was inspiring me and when I thought I had everything he'd be like hey dont forget this or you need more of this. Heavenly Father is there to help us in ALL things! 

Love Sister Watts

Everyone looks like little sprinkles! 04/11/19

Hello!!

On Monday we went to a place called Jama Masjid which is the largest mosque in India! 

Your not allowed to wear shoes inside and you're meant to have your skin covered but we forgot about that so we had to wear these big and long dress cover things haha. We went to the very top of one of the towers which took us a while! It's a tiny little staircase that seems like it just keeps winding up and up and up. On the way you occasionally have to back up to the wall and get as high on your tippy toes as you possibly can to allow people to descend the stairs. Once we were on top I was pretty shocked to see just how many people were squished up there on this tiny little ledge which just didn't seem safe at all haha. It was an awesome view though! You could see everything! We could even see red fort and Qutub Minar. The little people below looked like little colourful sprinkles! 

The only annoying part was how many people ask for selfies! That is always the annoying part about visiting tourist sites! Once you say yes people swarm you and it literally looks like how the paparazzi react when they see a celebrity! 

We ate lunch in Chandni chowk and had their kababs which they are famous for! It was delicious!!

We took Vaishali out with us on Sunday to go to an appointment which ended up falling through once we were already there but you know what that means! It means there's someone nearby who we need to meet! Vaishali is so sweet and she was like I really want to give a Book of Mormon to someone can you please teach me how. She then went and started to talk to different people and we finally found someone who would listen and was really nice, Akash accepted the plan of salvation pamphlet and said he'd read it! Hope we will get to see him again! Members are the key! 

We had our monthly pump up meeting on Friday! This time we got a big bottle of appy fizz, lays and oreos! Of course lots of motivation to find especially with Elder Millett's inspiring huddle! 

The pollution is so bad in Delhi now ever since diwalli! I'm probably gonna die. Just imagine how it looks on a really cold winter morning and like all the fog and you can't see anything yeah well that's what it looks like here except it's all day everyday!! Heard it's like smoking 50 cigarettes a day or something and 12000 people die every year! I was here for winter last year but I don't remember it being nearly this bad and not so early either 😬

I apologies if you have sent me an email and I haven't replied! My emails haven't been working lately and I'm unable to receive any which is annoying. 

Love Sister Watts 

Photos are from jama masjid, me eating kababs and pump up meeting! 

Final lap! 28/10/19

Hello!!!

It's been a while and hey guess what! I'm in my final transfer!!! 😱😱😱

I have a lot of catching up to do so let's start with three Monday's ago. We went on an excursion to find elephants! Sadly the guy who usually has the elephants like literally just sold them which is super depressing. So my mission is to find another place I can ride elephants before my times up! 

We also celebrated Elder Pandian's birthday in bikkane biryani...it was crazy! Just imagine sitting in a restaurant doing the whole cake thing and then suddenly the whole cake gets smashed on the Elders face and then everyone ends up with cake on them, except me! I made my way to the exit real quick! I'll never get used to the birthday traditions here. 😂

We went to a medical shop and I needed some new perfume and i befriended the medical shop guy so he gave me a major discount on a Gucci perfume which was 7000 rupees but I got it down to 1000!  We also got his number and he actually came to church last Sunday! 

We are teaching someone named Cindy who is from Nigeria and she taught me how to make Nigerian fried chicken and tomato stew! It was pretty good! 

Found another rat! my companion didn't want to kill it and was caring for it and petting it to calm down when it was squeaking. She eventually put it outside though and when she wasn't looking I dropped a massive rock on it to kill it 😂 I told her the other day and she was just so shocked haha it was hilarious. 

We gave a member named parul a card and chocolate and she's like no one has ever given me something like this before, she had the biggest smile and just kept saying thank you and hugging us. Doesn't it feel so good to make someone's day! 

We found the sweetest bus conductor I've ever met. We happened to catch his bus consecutively for three times and when we want to get off the bus and others are trying to get on  he like pushes them away to let us get down and when the bus was super crowded and we were like nope we don't wanna get on there he practically forced us to get on as he hoped off the bus and had us get in and it was super crowded so we were just standing on the steps and then he stood behind us so that we wouldn't fall out of the bus 😂

I played chupan chupai (hide and seek) with some kids in a gully (street) and it was so much fun!! Its just this little road with houses on either side and all these things to hide behind haha it was just the best. 

We were going back to our home and one of our elderly neighbours called us over and we were just being nice and stuff and then suddenly with  a smile on her face she slaps me and Sister Thyagarajan in the face and I was like what! I left straight away and my companion was like she's just showing her love and I was like eh if that's how she shows her love I don't think i want it! 

So obviously our song playlist is very limited so it's great when you call people and their ringtones are just these really good songs and so you just know that if you call a certain person you'll get to listen to a certain song 😂

Two weeks ago we went to a lake which was awesome! There were monkeys everywhere and all these adorable little baby monkeys!! One monkey tried to steal an Elders backpack which was pretty funny! 

General Conference feels like a long time ago now but I never got a chance to write about it! We had a brother and Sister Niki and Aryan attend with us which was awesome especially when we gave them those General Conference notebooks that came in the Liahona and saw them taking notes! 

My favourite talk in conference was by Terence M. Vinson of course! We need to be fair dinkum about the gospel! Everyone in the mission  thought about me with this talk and they were all like what does fair dinkum mean??

I love mehandi (henna) and I'm learning how to actually do it on people which is pretty fun! It's actually a lot harder than you'd think! 

Last P-day was Elder Pandian, Sekar and Burnett's last P-day! The whole mission excluding four missionaries gathered and we all played volleyball which was a lot of fun! Me and Elder Robison hadn't played volleyball since the MTC so it was fun getting to play together again! 

Sister Thyagarajan lost her debit card but she knew she lost it in the food court in the shopping center we ate lunch at the day before so we went back there and it was just a miracle that we talked to all the right people and actually found her card!! We got into a conversation with the guy who helped us out too and he's like yeah I'd love to come and see your church! He's not in our area but I hope he gets to come and see!

We just hadn't had a very successful transfer of finding new people to teach and in our companionship prayer on the last day of transfers I was just like please please please help us find the elect who is ready to hear the gospel! The next day we called someone named Rani who we had contacted at like the beginning of the transfer and instead of not answering or saying we couldn't come she was like yeah you can come over right now and so we were like sweet! We went to her home and she's just awesome and has a lot of faith! We were able to teach her and get a return appointment for the next week! It was a great start to the new transfer! 

Also usually when it's your first time in someone's home they treat you super special and so because it was our first time in her home and it's Diwali time she gave us a big box of Cadbury chocolates which I was very happy with! 

I love Indian festivals and now is a great time for them! There was a festival called Dussehra and this is all about an evil guy kidnapping Lord Ram's wife and then him having to go and save her and he defeated the guy but shooting a fiery arrow at him and destroying him so during this festival they have these massive like paper mache things made of the evil guy and then they light him on fire! The thing is stuffed with fireworks too and so it just explodes everywhere! Unfortunately we weren't able to watch it because for some reason the place we went started really late but it was still cool seeing the statues! The members that took us there were meant to take the elders there but they told them they wouldn't be able to go haha then we rock up and they were like hey let's go haha the Elders were not happy about that 😂 

It was Diwali yesterday! This festival is linked with dussehra as everyone has lights outside their homes and candles and light all these fireworks and crackers and it's just an amazing time! This is all to light the way for Lord Ram to come back home after a long 15 year quest. Missionaries have to be home by 8:30pm and name tags are optional after 4pm because it gets crazy! There's just loud noises going off everywhere even though the fireworks are actually banned 😂 there was one that went off right outside our house and it literally sounded like a machine gun going off!! The night before we watched some of our neighbors light some fireworks and it's funny seeing them light them and then quickly run away and one guy actually lit one in his hands and then it exploded all over him hahaha it was hilarious 😂 some when you light them are just loud bombs that go off and it sets the car alarms off 😂 it was a very noisy night with all these bangs and car alarms going off and our apartment filled with smoke and the air filter was on overdrive and couldn't handle it 😂

Diwali is also the time where everyone cleans, buys fancy new clothes to wear and gives everyone gifts! We received gifts too! Our District leader Elder Millett gave us two kit kats each which was delicious! Then a families home we went to gave us a massive box with a mix of snacks and sweets! My favourite though was when we went to the Chauhans home and they gave us Saree's!!!

Yesterday was my favourite Sunday in a while because the Samson family came to church again! I was so happy to see them walk through the door and just ran to greet them! They said they'd continue to come each week from now on! I think what has really helped their family is making sure to read from the Book of Mormon everyday. I'm telling ya there's great power in that book! If you aren't reading it each day, today is a great day to start! 

Love Sister Watts 

Eating coconut is my favourite! 

Volleyball 

Stationary shop

Police officers waited while we got our uber to make sure we were safe on Diwali 

Ice cream! 

Hindi book of Mormon  

The lake!

Anjali's farewell

First mehandi 

Dussehra