Sunday, June 28, 2009

A Fun Day with the NRT Team


I mentioned the baptisms we had on May 31st in the last post. Here is Elder Swanborough from Australia, Sarup and his brother Kanul, and Elder Erekson from Cache Valley, US. When anyone talks about finding the elect, this is an example. Neither brother had ever spoken in public before until after their baptism and they were asked to bear their testimony. What a choice experience that was to hear them express their testimonies so eloquently.

The NRT team arrived Friday evening, June 5th. Saturday was a free day, so we joined the team, Barry and Sandra Anderton, Shannon and Alysha Jenkins, and Steven Komandina for breakfast and then to do a little site seeing around Delhi. We have visited a few places in Delhi in the course of our stay, but had never gone and done any actual site seeing so this was first. In Delhi, the Red Fort is usually one of the first sites when places to visit are mentioned. I was not too impressed with Red Fort as it was very commercialized with shops and hawkers. The group did enjoy the opportunity to shop though as there was quite a selection.



On the way to Red Fort. Sister Tanner has yet to see an elephant, camel, monkey or any other critter she hasn't loved.







Outside Red Fort, Delhi.







Some serious shopping going on here ...










Some of the Mogul building inside the fort.






How many bare feet must have stepped on the marble threshold to wear it down in 400 years?








After we left the Fort, we debated going to Old Delhi which would have been for shopping, something we had just experienced. Steve Komadina, who had worked in Delhi 40 years ago, in fact delievered his first baby in Delhi, mentioned he believed Humayan's tomb was nearby and he remembered it as being a site worth seeing so after checking with Raj, our driver, that was where we headed. Good choice. The site has had extensive restoration work done on it and it was really impressive. Quiet, peaceful, and no commercial activity except for a small food and drink concession tucked out of the way in a shady area.




Looking back at the gate we passed through to enter the Humayan complex.







As you enter the complex, this tomb is in an area to the right. These are all Muslim buildings and tombs from the Mogul era in India when they ruled almost the entire country.


Humayan's Tomb. I was struck by the similarities of this tomb and the one in Agra, the Taj Mahal. Humayan's was built over 100 years before the Taj, but has the layout used for the Taj. The tomb itself is up on an elevated area with symetrical buildings to the left and right that you cannot see in the picture.















Front entrance of the tomb from the elevated courtyard.






How many repeating patterns can you identify in the picture? Left click on the picture to see it full screen. Click the Back button to return to the Blog.
I identified 2 patterns. What do you see?



Looking towards the front gate from the tomb's courtyard.
After Humayan's Tomb, we made a stop at Dilli Haat for more shopping which I survived in good form. It was fun to see those new to the country or looking for remembrances for loved ones find "treasures" of their own.
We headed back to the team's hotel for a late lunch which we completely enjoyed then caught a taxi home and called it a day around 7 PM, well, almost, we still had packing to complete to get ready for the NRT trip that began the next day.

1 comment:

Elder Tyler Nash said...

I really miss you all and hope things are going well on your mission. I am really loving my mission its so awesome! I love the pictures too! Keep up doing the lords work! Love, Elder Nash