#127 "Merry Christmas 2016" (By Grandma)

I'll let Dad's letter suffice for today.  I need to make waffles for the elders in a few minutes.  I thought I'd send some photos of our Christmas Eve dinner/party for the blog.  I spent days making desserts, and lots of time cutting up stuff for the main course.  I wrapped gag gifts, printed words for Silent Night, made a M & M jar with candies to count, and put out a puzzle for the children.  We had 33 people in our little apartment.  It was a miracle that it all came together.

I'm very grateful for ALL of you and I look forward to talking with you over the Holidays.  

Love,

Mother

#126 "Merry Christmas" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

Ten days ago, Grandma and I went with a pair of our YVs to a small mosque where a charitable organization was passing out blankets to Syrian refugees — one blanket per man or one blanket per woman with children. We were to help with crowd control and to chat with these people. Well, it has been a long time since I tried to engage someone in small talk in Arabic. And it showed. I did learn something about where people were from and other things about their lives. But no one asked me about myself. That said, the experience was a stark reminder about how blessed we are. My goodness, yes. When I was told that the earliest in line had been there, sitting in the below-freezing cold, since five o’clock or so, my heart sank. And multiple blankets were not in the works. Just one. From the stack in the little office, I guessed that all the men in line (25?) received a blanket. But the women’s line was four times as long. Fewer than half of them received a blanket. The women with small children in their arms kept trying to creep near the place where the blankets were being handed out. But they were shooed away. Many did not seem to have the required card that would allow them to get a blanket. I suspect that these people are living three and four families to an apartment, sharing the costs with one another. And trying to stay warm.

Last Wednesday, December 21, we celebrated Winter Solstice and passed our original release date. Ummm. We didn’t exactly celebrate the Solstice. But we bobbed our heads and noted that summer will soon be here. In passing our original release date, I was interested in how I did at packing certain items that I expected to use up in eighteen months. I ran out of my original supply of deodorant a couple of months ago. I am now on a local brand licensed under Dove. The special shampoo that I use once each week — I hasten to add that I wash my hair (what is left of it) every day — has lasted me well and I even have some for the next three months. The small bottle of Vaseline has just expired, or almost expired. I have maybe a week’s worth of it left. I hit that one exactly on the spot. I feel all warm inside to think I got one right. The pills? I still have an adequate supply thanks to help from family, especially Heather.

The big deal this past week happened Christmas Eve, last evening. It was the branch open house. As usual, Grandma did basically all of the work — thinking through the menu of foods for a light dinner, shopping and bringing the food items home, preparing and cooking the dishes, figuring out how to accommodate twenty plus people in our apartment, and setting up the whole experience. By good fortune, we had a couple of cancellations during the week before. Why was that fortunate? Because thirty-three showed up, many more than we could accommodate with any reasonable ease. Besides the YVs, the MP and wife, and ourselves, only three church members were among the guests. Twenty-two were either active investigators, semi-active investigators, contacts, friends of these people, or friends of ours and their relatives. Without the help of our MP and his wife, we would have sunk under the weight of our inability to work fast enough while moving through an impenetrable crowd. (See the photo of the shoes, which are three pair short because three persons came after I took the photo.)

Two moments were especially memorable. An eighteen-month girl discovered one of the gingerbread houses made the week before by one of our YSAs. One quick grab and she had a mouthful of hardened frosting. That encouraged her to go for more. By the time her mother caught her, she had cleaned off and consumed the decorated cookies that were stationed along one side of the house. The other was more traditional. Grandma thought that it would be good to sing "Silent Night" while our guests were together. So she assigned me to learn how the song was created and then to tell the story to everyone before we sang. I did so. She had printed out the song in Turkish and handed copies around to those gathered. With the help of one of the YVs translating, I told the story and then, with the help of Grandma’s Bose speaker, we all sang the hymn. That was surely a first for many who have never sung a hymn about the Savior.

As is customary, when we see a successful Saturday activity, the attendance at church meetings suffers the next day. And so it was today. Fourteen showed up in our hotel room and nine joined us by Skype for a total of Twenty-three. I was hoping for better because the MP and his wife had come to town. But I am happy with those who came. One of the investigators (five in all) is really solid and will be baptized next month. I see him as an eventual leader in the branch with a high potential. Now if we can get his wife and teenage son to come with him, I shall think that we have hit the proverbial home run.

This morning in our Sacrament meeting, our MP did something that I have not seen for a long time. He sang as a part of his talk. I spoke first and then his wife. He was our third speaker and, as usual, he did a wonderful job (as did his wife). At the end, he wanted to sing a hymn that is not in our hymnal -- "Did You Hear?" He asked if anyone in the room knew the song. No one did, at least not well enough to sing it with him. I had heard it long ago, but that qualified me for nothing. Besides, my voice would be no help. So he sang sweetly and tenderly. He had a difficult time singing some parts of it. He was obviously touched. And so were we.

I love you and pray for you every day.

Grandpa Brown

#125 "Another Sunday in Izmir" (by Grandma)

Dear Family,

This week has been a blur.  I know I’m getting older, but sometimes I can’t remember what I did yesterday, even though it was monumental.  I bet you are impressed I can still spell monumental.  In fact my spelling is improving with age.  Just ask the spell checker.

Check out my post on FB.  We are not allowed to post photos of members and “missionaries”.  But the photo represents an evening in our apartment with YSA’s and the YV (Missionaries).  The YV wanted to provide a Christmas activity for the YSA’s. They decided gingerbread houses would be great and it would be fun to make and decorate sugar cookies.  They wanted to do it all themselves because they didn’t want to bother me.  Oh my!  One YV spent his whole month’s allotment of $’s for ingredients for the project.  He said he had $1.20 left for the month.  They even had to purchase an electric beater.

Such projects are overwhelming here.  Luckily the MP’s wife had picked up the crackers for a gingerbread house last year at IKEA.  She forgot about it and didn’t use it for Christmas last year.  So she sent them to the YVs.  All they had to do was make icing and get candies to decorate it.  But they made some sugar cookies at home to bring along.  Their tales of trying to get all of this coordinated were hilarious.  They said they had flour on the ceiling and all over the kitchen.  They bought cookie cutters, rolling pin, 8 boxes of powdered sugar, lot of fondant, pastry bags…. Many, many things I never would have purchased here. 

They arrived at our apartment with bags full of supplies….a little late for the YSA’s who had been here waiting.  Another sr couple were here visiting and helped whip up the frosting that included lemon juice and 12 egg whites.  The project could begin.

One of the YA’s brought her mother, who was properly clothed in her Muslim attire.  She seemed to have a good time decorating the little houses.  They never did have time to decorate cookies, nor bake any extra cookies.  (They brought lots of extra dough).  But the houses turned out to be pretty great and the Turks learned about the frenzy of a family activity at Christmas time.  The elders learned to appreciate a little bit the behind-the-scenes work I do when I feed them!

We had activities stacked up this week-end and with the visitors, most of the time was accounted for.  In the midst of this I received an email from the RS president saying she wouldn’t be there this week, and would I take charge and give the lesson.  I must have spent about five minutes of actual preparation time for this lesson.  She had actually outlined it, copied a bit in Turkish, and done a good job.  I tried to give her lesson….two sisters were on skype, three sisters were in the room, and two elders were in the room for translation.  But I felt impressed to talk about The Christmas Jar.  I can’t tell that story without crying.  I told a lot about Hannalyn and the early trauma of her trip to Primary Children’s Medical Center.  What a heart-wrenching time it was for Nashelle and Daniel and all the family.  The amazing gift of a Christmas jar to them was a true gift. Someone walked up to them in the hospital cafeteria and gave them a jar of money.  As you know they were very poor at that time.  I ended that part by saying that Nashelle and Daniel and replayed that event by going back to the Hospital two years later and giving a Christmas Jar they had saved money in to someone else. 

We spent a little bit of time with Syrian refugees this week.  Our YVs had been helping to distribute blankets at a mosque.  They thought our experience with Arabic might be helpful.  I guarded a door, and dad tried to keep some men in line.  Some had been in line for more than three hours on a very cold morning to get their blankets.  They had some sort of voucher and were given one blanket.  Many women were there with young children and babies.  I assume all these refugees have a place to live.  I don’t see them sleeping on the streets like we did last year.  But whatever, it would be a very tough life to have to stand in line for 3 hours for a blanket.  We are all so wealthy!  Most are looking forward to a time when they can be evacuated to a better place for themselves and their children.  But the wheels move very slowly, and sometimes not at all.

Our church room was almost full again today.  I often take cookies for treats.  But since they are so hard to make and my oven is small, I only take about 20.  So I hand-pass them around so that everyone will get one.  I also have orange pieces, and banana nut bread.  I’m getting very good at making banana nut bread.  Who would have thought I’d return to cooking?  I haven’t done my rice krispy (or in reality cocoa puffs) treats for several months.  I have actually baked.  But I have to convert cups to ml, and pounds to grams, and Fahrenheit to centigrade.   Luckily I have a conversion app on my phone.

I hope you all have a good week.  Enjoy the warmth of the season, the music, the decorations, etc.  We don’t see that here.  But we are trying to feel the Spirit in our souls.

Love,

Mother

 

#124 "New First Counselor" (by Grandpa)

Dear Family,

 

The run-up to Christmas always has a different feel than it does here. As you will recall from last year, the celebration that everyone aims for is the New Year. But we are piggy-backing on the seasonal good will and heading for Christmas Eve. Full steam ahead. Christmas day should be interesting. We shall hold a sacrament meeting and then welcome the YVs later for their Skyping sessions with their families. Those sessions that involve them and their families will make our day all the more meaningful. We know how much they appreciate our hosting them.

 

The YVs all went home a few nights ago with a big bag for each companionship. In those bags were large wrapped presents, one for each young man. Those large presents hold a bunch of little gifts that, we hope, they will like. Some of these small gifts will surely give them sugar highs. But hey! It only happens once a year. We went to a specific store that we discovered last year. This store has the best selection of gift items that we have found. So it was worth the trip back and the lengthened arms to haul all of the things back to the apartment. With longer arms, we wish you a Merry Christmas from afar.

One of our senior couples arrived on Saturday. They spoke today in our Sacrament Meeting. (You don’t know how much we appreciate the voices of people from outside of our branch. We hear from each other frequently, and it becomes kind of old. If you get my meaning.) We spent most of the day with them. It was good to be with them and enjoy a conversation with people who are serving as we are. We took them to the old site of Smyrna and then dove into the old part of town where, as we wandered down the crowded streets, three fellows tried to entice me into their shops "just to look at a nice leather jacket." I have a hard time communicating with them that at my age I have zero interest. I am just too old to begin to freshen my wardrobe. Nothing against a nice leather jacket. Or a Turkish rug. Or whatever the person is selling. At seventy something, I have passed any acquisitive tendencies in my life. Well most of them. Except, perhaps, a new bike.

With the senior couple present, we held a ginger bread house construction party at our apartment. We built two houses. Well, the other guys did the building from a kit of already baked parts. With the help of the senior sister, we got the right frosting mix for the glue to put up the walls. Then it was a contest between the two construction groups who could put together the more interesting house. One house, of course, turned out a little better than the other. But everyone was laughing throughout the whole process, including the mother of the two YSAs who were present. The rummy thing is that we cannot eat either of them. They have to be around next Saturday at our branch Christmas open house. Rats!

Thirty was the final number for our Sacrament Meeting. I was pleased at the attendance. We expected a couple more investigators in the hotel room. As it was, we had nineteen total, with six investigators. Eleven joined us by Skype. The senior couple focused on the gift that the Savior is to us in our lives, without dealing much with Jesus’ birth. That will be the topic for next Sunday, Christmas morning. I also set apart my new first counselor and then I asked him to set apart his wife as our new Sunday School teacher. That was his first experience setting someone apart. I trust that it will not be his last. Though I did not understand his Turkish prayer, I sensed the love that he has for his wife as he spoke the words over her head.

I love you and pray for you all.

 

Grandpa Brown

#123 "To Worry or Not To Worry" (by Grandma)

Dear Family,

I hope you are all doing well.  Again, I love hearing from you.  I had to call two of you this week, and it was nice to see your faces on FaceTime.  Of course Shoshauna stuck out her tongue.  She always does that.  And I was able to see most of the Cleggs reclining on a Saturday afternoon and viewed their two birds.  I didn’t know they had birds.  Evidently they roam freely around the house.  I understand they also drop some items as they roam.  Only in the Clegg house do you have free-range animals

And I wanted to say something about Heather’s newest book, on one of the Salem Witches.  As you all know she is one of your gggg grandmothers.  But what I thought was neat was that Dana is the model for the book cover.  She is a model for her gggg grandmother.  How neat is that

As you all probably know I’m a worrier.  I always worry that something will go wrong or not turn out.  Your father is better at either not worrying, or hiding his worries.  Most of the worries I have in Izmir involve the church.  Most of the time I worry that no one will show up.  As you know we had 3 in attendance in our first meeting many months ago.  I learned at that meeting that we needed to provide “treats” after the meeting.  So for many months I’ve provided some edibles after church.

We’ve been on our mission for nearly 18 months now, and today I felt a huge surge of gratitude for “movement” in the church here.  Today every seat was filled in church!  That means there were 20 people in the room.  And there were 13 tuned into skype.   I’d forgotten my I-phone…. A very critical part of our services.  I left it charging in the apartment.  But I was able to get dad’s I-phone to do the music.  Something I never could have done earlier.  I didn’t have enough banana nut cookies.  I’d brought 24 which would have been plenty for a smaller group.  So I hand-passed them around so everyone could get one.  (I have to do that with the elders around).  One of the members brought a few cookies, and I also brought nuts and oranges, so we had enough treats.  

We had a guest speaker from the Ukraine.  He mentioned how important it was to recognize that we are children of God.  One of the members taught SS.  The new RS president came with her new baby.  We looked almost like a real church group.  Dad got a new counselor.  His other one was deported.  And for a moment I stopped worrying about the church here.  It seems that it is on the move.  Of the 20 there, 6 were non-members.  They all seemed warm and interested.  So, the sun is shining brightly here now.  I will have to bake more cookies.  Something I couldn’t do a few months ago.  I’ve made a little progress.

We invited the elders and the Ukranian for Sunday dinner.  I didn’t really have a clue what I’d feed them, but I did have some ingredients.  I made a sweet and sour chicken thing over rice.  I thought it was rather tasty, though no one commented on it. 

So, we’ll soldier on for a few more months.  Your dad is really the better soldierer but I’m learning how to bake again, and it seems to help out here and there.

I love you all,

Mother

#122 "Tight" by Grandpa

Dear Grandchildren,

 

The first of the week felt a little tight. As in brain tight along with chest tight. You know, one of those times when a lot is expected and you are not certain that you can deliver without kicking over the bucket of milk or dropping the serving bowl full of salad. The MP was out of the country and he had asked me to assist members of another branch get ready for a temple trip to Germany near the end of January. (The closer temple, Kyiv, is closed during that stretch.) Because these branch people qualify for the Temple Patron Assistance Fund, it was moving a lot of pieces at once — money for passports, where does it come from? what information about costs will satisfy the Area Presidency? call to the Freiberg Temple to determine dates (a very helpful sister spoke English so that I did not have to descend into my fractured, limited German); correcting the original list of participants; telling the branch president that some of the youth do not qualify to go (hard, hard); setting amounts that these poor people have to contribute so that it is clear that they are fully participating in the costs of the trip; etc.; etc. I would think that I had one issue settled and either it would change itself and need more attention or another two items would spring up and demand to be solved. By Thursday, I felt like a limp rag in need of some stiffening. More is to come. Stay tuned.

 
A branch member who is a refugee suffered injuries and a broken arm a week ago when a drunk fellow turned on him at a gas station in a distant city and beat him up for asking the drunk guy to put out his cigarette during the gasoline fill-up. Refugees have no access to the justice system without hiring a lawyer (the family has little money); wealthier people can buy the testimony of the police; legally the brother is not allowed to work because he is a refugee and so he has to pose as a friend of the station owner in order to receive a salary; and the branch member has a history of heart problems. I felt really sad when I heard the news about his trouble. So on Thursday two of our YVs and I traveled to give him a blessing. You know. The regular four and a half hours on the train, an hour at the home, and then four hours by bus to return. But it was well worth the trip and the time. He was very happy that we showed up, even though he had just been released from the hospital where he underwent surgery to fix the break with a meal plate. And the one YV gave the blessing in Farsi. It was not a long blessing, but was gratefully received. It was also a chance to bond with another refugee member who joined the Church nine months ago. I am going to treasure these experiences.
 
The brother who has charge of the self-reliance program in the East Europe Area arrived here late Friday morning. With the help of a friend, I took him to Ephesus Saturday. He gave a fireside that evening which he had to speed along because one of the YVs was doing a side-by-side translation, effectively doubling the time of the presentation. Sixteen of us were in attendance. That is good because the Istanbul branch drew 9 from the English group and 6 from the Turkish group. I am not sure how this program will fly in our small branch. It calls for 12-week courses that prepare a person to start a new job or to open a new business. And the program calls for a small group of people working toward the same objective and meeting together on a weekly basis. Well, one non-member wants to start a new business, one member is looking for a job, another is applying for graduate school. And so it goes. Only one person fits within each of the categories that the Church’s program addresses. Group meetings seem to be out of the question. But we have to start somewhere, right? Perhaps the program will work in the bigger branches and we shall eventually be the beneficiaries of their experiences.
 

We were 33 in our sacrament meeting today, twenty in the hotel room and 13 joining by Skype. Our biggest day yet. And a total of seven genuine investigators. As Grandma said, we are beginning to take on the feel of a real branch. In the meantime, I called a new first counselor since the prior fellow is stuck off in his native Tasmania with only a limited chance that he will be able to return. The man who is my new counselor has been our Sunday School teacher. I released him and sustained his less-active wife as the new Sunday School teacher (to give her credit, she has been coming regularly for the past six or eight weeks). Then I sustained him as her assistant teacher. Before the sustaining, I reviewed with those in attendance how we indicate our support in the Church for people with new callings. I think that it was a totally new experience for many of them to raise their arms to signify their sustaining intent. I shall try to set this couple apart next week.

Only fourteen days until Christmas. Well, that's what we think. But we live with branch members who come from places like Ukraine where the Ukraine Orthodox Church is the main religious institution. And that church, as well as a bunch of other orthodox faiths, celebrate Christmas on January 7. Just think, another two weeks of ads and buying. We could all go delirious if Christmas shopping started on Thanksgiving, or even on Halloween, and stretched through six weeks of glorious sales and counter-sales. But, I say to myself, my wallet already feels like I am carrying a vacuum cleaner inside. Why would I want to go for more of all that sales stuff? Exactly. Merry Christmas. Soon.

 

I love you and pray for you, especially in this special time of year.

 

SKB

#121 Socks (by Grandma)

I am embarrassed.  I complained to the MP's wife that my winter socks now had holes in them and that Sr couples out to be informed that they need to bring more warm socks if they have to go through two winters.  Of course my note to her was tongue-in-cheek.  I thought I was being funny.

 

To my dismay she bought me 8 pair of socks and had them delivered to me by an elder.  Now my feet will look much better.  I still have the Cabella socks that Jacquart's sent, but they are bulky for my church-shoes.  I keep throwing away the holey ones.  That is very sad too, because one becomes attached to well-used socks.  If I were home I might look at DI and see if I could find a match.  But here, I just have to throw them away.  

 

Since we live in a relatively small space we haven't lost any socks.  Our washer doesn't eat them like our washer at home does.  And we don't have a dryer.  Dad's socks seem to have remained relatively un-holey.  But maybe that is because they are gold toe.  He has always insisted on gold toe, as you all know.

 

Yesterday we had a Branch activity.  We went bowling.  There were 38 of us there and 28 were non-members.  How is that!  Our YVs can really drum up the bowling interest.  Actually all of those attending have been investigators.  I didn't bowl, but I wish I did.  I've had a weak knee for awhile, and I was afraid that I might injure it.  So I just watched.  As you all know, I used to own my own bowling ball and shoes.  So you might think I was a pretty avid bowler at one time.  It is probably good that I didn't bowl, because I would have beat everyone, and they would have been discouraged and not had anymore discussions.  A small price to pay being a senior SV.  

 

We went to a pizza shop afterwards and all ate pizza. It seemed to work out well.  The elders were really thrilled with the turn-out.  The Mission President has encouraged us to have regular socials and we don't have very many social options.  We don't have a building to meet in.  As you know we have Sunday services in a hotel, but that is pricey for socials.  And if you use their hotel you have to use their food, which is even pricier.  WE need our own building in Izmir.  Maybe some day....

 

We had our first RS meeting today.  There were four women present, two children, and two elders to help with the translation.  One of the women was an investigator.  The new RS president just had a baby.  One of the women was visiting from a distant city.  So basically it the the RS president and me who are full-timers.  The first Priesthood meeting for the men was better attended.  The YVs are only allowed to contact men, so usually they are the only investigators.  Dad said he thought it was great to finally have a priesthood meeting.  We hope that this can all continue and grow.  Since dad is now the only member of the BP he can use some help.  He looks a little lonely sitting in front in Sacrament meeting all by himself.  

 

Let us know what you re doing for the Christmas Initiative.  I imagine that you are having lots of opportunities to serve.  We are basically serving full-time here, so I'm not sure what we would do differently.  But I've seen some good ideas out there.  

 

As I write this, I realize it is Taylor's birthday today.  I can remember how concerned we all were when he was still an infant and had jaundice.  They put him in a box with some lights and he turned out okay.  Our oldest grandson!  We hope he has a nice day.

 

I hope you all have a great week.

 

I love you.

 

Mother

#120 "Grandma" (by Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

 

Grandma seems to have finally wrestled our convection oven into submission. For a long time, it was her master when it came to baking, or almost so, making her efforts to bake something into little more than a shimmering illusion, with hard, dark crusts — so that you don’t think of her products as a total illusion. Everything she tried to bake came out a little less than she wanted, or a lot less than she aimed for. A batch of hard cookies a couple of weeks ago seems to have been the last of the building blocks (no, they weren’t as hard as building blocks; this is just a turn of phrase). Since then, she has turned out a couple of batches of banana cookies, a couple of batches of banana nut bread, and a batch of coconut cookies that the YVs are raving about as the best they have eaten. I knew that this little machine could not keep her down and would finally become submissive. All is well, and is now worth the wait to eat whatever comes out of the oven.

 

A little more than a week ago, the branch president in Adana approached me about giving lessons on the New Testament to branch members on a weekly basis. Hey! That was nice. I said yes, if we could do something every other week. He agreed. So I gave the first hour’s lesson last Wednesday evening on the first chapter of Luke. I did it by Skype. (Maybe I should find some way to record these sessions for myself. But I don’t know the first thing about that sort of enterprise.) It was a satisfying experience for me. I simply reread Luke 1–2 and then read a few pages from my commentary to prepare. The branch members seemed to like the hour of information that they had heard little or nothing about. So we shall try it again ten days hence.

For months we have been aiming at a branch activity at a local bowling alley in a hotel. We did this initially back in mid-June and had a wonderful turn out of twenty-three. Once again, we spread the word through the YVs. They promised a good turn out. And it was. Thirty-seven, including children, showed up for bowling and pizza. A family of four from Bodrum even showed up. A pair of YVs reserved five lanes and my agent friend and I went to a pizza place and got the owner to agree to set up tables for thirty (we were thinking of a lesser number, as you might guess). Twenty-five were non-members and nine are active investigators. In my humble view, it was well worth the planning, the arranging, and the cost for the almost four hours that we were together.



Our attendance was twenty-four in our Fast and Testimony meeting, nineteen in the hotel room and five by Skype. The testimonies borne were deeply felt and carried a message to the non-members in attendance. We followed that impressive meeting with our first bona fide Priesthood and Relief Society meetings led by our recently called priesthood leader and Relief Society President. I did not attend the Relief Society meeting, but the priesthood meeting felt normal and upbeat. Our leader opened by asking for volunteers who would help to bless and prepare the sacrament for the next week’s sacrament meeting. That was a first in our branch since we have been here. Then he proceeded to give the lesson in English, a language that he is studying hard to learn (he natively speaks Magyar, or Hungarian). He did a wonderful job, sticking to the teachings of President Hunter on the family (chapter 17). I can’t wait for more.




I have been assigned to help members of a branch in the southeast part of the country get ready for a temple trip a couple of months hence. Most joined the Church a little over a year ago. Many live below Turkey's poverty line and some are unemployed. So even with Church help that is available for first-time attenders, it is a tough task to bring everything together and make sure that there is enough support. The biggest issue that the majority faces is purchasing a passport, the most expensive in the world. The big question is where they can get money for that one purchase. These are people who have traveled little in their lives, except to Istanbul and Ankara. Our area's temples are in Ukraine and Germany. The Kyiv temple will be closed during the two weeks that they can most easily travel. So, if things work out, they will likely end up in Freiberg, Germany, much to the delight of the branch president who went to the Freiberg temple for his first experience. It will be an interesting meeting with him tomorrow to see whether we can make good progress.




I love you and pray for each of you.

Grandpa Brown

#119 Visitors (by Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

One of the SV couples came to our fair city yesterday. They came as part of a rotation of the SVs through the smaller branches in Turkey. The only small branch that we cannot access is in the south of the country where military personnel are more or less locked on base. And the rest of us are locked out. Probably as it should be. This SV couple spoke in our church services today on the plan of salvation. Their presentation was simple yet profound. Only one adult investigator was with us in our meetings, but the message was perfect for him. That man, we expect, will become one of us on Christmas Day.

The coming of this couple adds an important dimension for us. During the last seventeen months, we have enjoyed the companionship of another couple only when we travel away from here. When we go to Istanbul, this couple is there. We have formed a good friendship with them over the months since they arrived in Turkey. Our time with them allows conversations with another couple who function rather like we do. Without them and the other couples, our main interactions are with either young single adults, including our YVs, or with branch members who speak little or no English. Just being able to talk about what we are doing and planning to do is a wonderful piece of therapy. But I don’t want to make too much of this because we get along just fine without this sort of conversation on a regular basis.

Oh, and by the way, one of my counselors has been deported. That news caught me completely by surprise, I will admit. He went off to Germany for a meeting and, when he returned, he was denied entry. The problem seems to be that he owns a company and does not have a current work permit. At least, that is what he was told. It is a long story. He was able to talk the border officer into deporting him back to Germany where he had traveled for the meeting rather than to his home country which is much farther away. Now he has gone to the Turkish Embassy to begin the process to obtain a permit that will allow him to return and take up his work again. Nary a dull moment, it seems. We are not expecting to suffer his same fate. We have no immediate plans to travel outside of the country.

For the record, we were 28 in our sacrament meeting today, 15 in the hotel room and 13 by Skype. We and the YVs were expecting several investigators. Three showed up, one adult and two older children. They all have a date to be baptized on Christmas Day. Our realtor lady, who had come twice in a row, did not come but joined one of our pairs of YVs at our home this evening for a lesson on the plan of salvation and the Word of Wisdom. She is a very generous person and took Grandma and me and the YVs to one of the very impressive breakfasts that a lot of restaurants serve on Saturday mornings. Yummm. And now she is going to pray about the Prophet Joseph Smith. Why is that important? Because, she says, she drinks everything that is against the Word of Wisdom. Knowing whether Joseph was a prophet will have a huge impact on how she lives her life. It will all be for the good, I promise.

Naturally, I cannot forget our Thanksgiving meal. We took the four YVs to the Renaissance Hotel in town. It is the only place that serves this dinner. We met in the lobby earlier than the meal began so that we could go to the restaurant in plenty of time. When we arrived, we spotted others seated a few minutes early. And the food was already set out in lovely fashion. So a person showed us to our table for six (I had reserved the table a few days before). Then we went on a tour, walking the length of the serving tables before diving in. And in we dove. For one YV, it was a complete diet of meat and potatoes. Another finished his meal with a serving of fish. For a third, it was mainly a question of how much he could pile on his large plate. And so it went. For me, one of the oddest dishes was a mint flavored pudding in a small wine glass with three chocolate cake cubes resting on the top. The surprise came when I discovered kernels of corn in the pudding. That was a new combination. Shall I try that again? Probably not.

I love you and pray for each of you.

Grandpa Brown

#118 Thanksgiving Week November 27, 2016 (By Grandma)

I hope you all had a wonderful week of activities for this holiday.  I've seen on FB a lot of the stuff you did.  I can't believe all the activities the Pearson family members were involved in.  Vernal has major celebrations after Thanksgiving.  I saw some Brown family racers.  I saw Cassidy's damaged shin from a soccer injury.  She was kicked in a game.  I was able to see the screws that were taken out of Nelise's leg.  They were huge.  I assume Joel will use them in the remodeling of our bathroom, or make a necklace for Nelise.  I saw Rose's clothes laid out on the floor awaiting the snow.  And I wonder if you all enjoyed Black Friday.  We didn't.

Our week was quite busy also.  We have had lots of visits from the YVs to our apartment with investigators.  They are scooping them up.  I "graciously" feed all of them bits of edibles.  It is Turkish culture to always feed a guest.  

We enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner in a hotel.  The YVs were our guests.  I think they enjoyed themselves, and could eat all they wanted.  The only two things I missed were cranberry sauce, and stuffing.  But they had lots of wonderful foods.  My favorite dessert was a lemon meringue pie.  Our dinner wasn't until 8:00 PM, so it was a looooong wait.  

On Saturday a Turkish woman took us and two elders to breakfast.  Turks are big on breakfasts, and all restaurants feature a special breakfast.  I've enclosed a photo of our breakfast.  We were actually sitting outside on a hilltop.  She had a car and drove us to the outing.  We spent about 4 hours with her.... three of those hours were eating.  The YVs also got filled up again.  

That same day a senior couple from Istanbul came for a visit.  So we spent seven hours with them, touring them around Izmir, shopping and eating.  The man bought a new suit for about $65.00.  The shop had it hemmed and ready for him in about one hour.  Dad bought his second pair of pants from the shop.  The pants cost about $18.00  They were also hemmed for him.

We enjoyed having the couple spend time with us today also.  We fed them a yucky chicken/rice dish.  Oh well.

You'll see our Christmas tree.  It was a gift from Bobbie and Gayle.  They sent individual gifts with scriptures attached that we can open for 25 days.  The package was very expensive to ship, and had obviously been rummaged in customs.  There were 8 caramels in the package.  They have tasted sooooo good.  Haven't had caramels for soooo long.  I threw away our Christmas tree from last year because I didn't think we'd be here another Christmas.  But here we are.

I hope you are all doing well.  We miss you a lot.  But we are okay.  And we will survive!

I love you all!

Mother

#117 Two (by Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

The week was essentially defined by two events. The first was the move of two of our YVs into a new apartment (well, new to them) and the second had to do with our visit to some members in a distant city. First things first.

The week before, the new apartment came into view with the help of a willing pair of realtors who actually wanted to help these young fellows find a place to live. The capstone was one of the realtors attending church services last week and then meeting with the YVs for a gospel lesson at a later date. Cool. She also showed up at our church meetings this morning for her second week in a row. What is more, for the second week she was the first person to arrive except for the YVs and myself. She might be a keeper. We shall learn later in the coming week when she comes to our apartment for a second lesson.

Last Monday was moving day. The two YVs showed up at an appointed hotel with their big bags stuffed into a taxi. The Church’s representative and I went with them, in another taxi, to the realtors’ office. There they took care of the formalities of signing the lease and paying two months’ worth of rent as a deposit. The landlord and landlady could not have been more gracious. He remembered me from an event that honored our illustrator member and she, with the YVs in her car, drove them to the Metro stop near the new apartment to show them where they can catch rides to different parts of the city. Except for a couch that crowds their study area, they are happy as clams in the sand. And that’s really, really happy. I know. I used to ask clams how happy they were when I dug them up on New England sandy beaches.

For the visit to the distant city, we went on a weekday which cut our attendance a bit. We stepped on the train at 8 a.m. and walked into our apartment just before 9 p.m. A long day by any account. We went to the apartment of a member couple who have been faithful attenders at our Sacrament Meetings via Skype. Her sister joined us, the one who speaks good English. And one of their Iranian friends who, with is wife, has been meeting with a Farsi-speaking YV in Ankara, also was there. This fellow and his wife have also been with us regularly by Skype for about four months. By whatever expression I might choose to describe them, they are the salt of the earth, the cream of the crop, the top of the mark. And they are all refugees from Iran. The sister of our member now has information from the UN that she and her husband will be relocated to the US six months hence. She asked about Trump and then declared that he does not like people from her country. I sensed a bit of worry in her words. Even so, the others in the room are hoping for similar news.

We were slightly off our game today at Sacrament Meeting. But only slightly. We were twenty-seven total, compared to thirty last week. Seventeen were in our hotel room and another ten joined by Skype. The part that impressed me is that five in the room were serious, adult investigators. And two joining by Skype are golden investigators according to the YV who has been teaching them in Farsi during the past couple of weeks. The YVs in our branch have set three baptismal dates for Christmas day. Let’s see whether they hold. I think that the possibility is good, even excellent, that we shall see three new members join our branch that day. At last!

We are waiting for our second pair of YVs to show up with an investigator for a lesson. The other pair came right after church services to meet with a young woman, married, who became a Christian after growing up otherwise. She stepped into a Christian church a few years ago and felt a friendship and love that she had not felt before. She came to our branch this morning. Her husband grew up Christian but is now an atheist. She was nice, very polite. She apparently enjoyed our services. She met with other YVs in Istanbul but is here for a short while.

The YVs who are coming are bringing a fellow who asks a lot of academic-type questions about the Bible. I spent a good deal of time with him during the first lesson. We shall see what this second lesson brings from him. I am hoping that he feels satisfied about the issue of the inerrancy of the Bible and such questions.

I love you and pray for you each day.

Grandpa Brown

#116 Another Sunday, November 20, 2016 (By Grandma)

You would be seeing us in a month if we were leaving Turkey on our original release date.  But we still have another 4 months.  I wonder what that will mean?  As I think of each name on this email header, I know I will miss each one of you more by then.  As you know it is hard to spend holidays far away from loved ones.  Gratefully I still have one loved-one by my side, but the other 38 of you are still only "perfect" visions in my memory.  

Since this is the second time around for us in this season, it is often easy to compare where we were last year at this time.  Today we had 17 people in the room at church.  That is HUGE.  Last week we had 22, but some were out-of-town visitors.  Of those 17 people in the room eight were solid investigators.  The elders have set Christmas Day as the day for baptism for some of them.  We think that will actually happen.  The MP will not allow anyone to be baptized in Turkey unless they have attended church 8 times.  He is very interested that those who join have been thoroughly taught and are "keepers.  

I think we have some of the best YVs in the church here.  Of course our own grandsons are also among that number.  The YVs here have a very challenging language to learn, and they have many restrictions that they have to follow.  It varies from day to day with the security messages we get from the US Embassy.  And as far as I've been able to detect they are ALL very obedient.

I'm also amazed at how much church knowledge they have to have.   They all far exceed anything I've ever learned.  Your father supplements their knowledge when there is an opportunity.  He really enjoys that role.  The elders YVs all over the Mission call him with questions.  I wonder why they don't call me?

We rarely see a day that we do not have a set of YVs or both sets of YVs come to our apartment for discussions or skype discussions.  We had one discussion in our apartment after church today, and we'll have another one in a few minutes.  Most of the discussions are in Turkish.  I sit and politely act like I'm enjoying not being able to understand anything.  Sometimes the visitors speak a little English, so I can communicate with them in the beginning.

It is a Turkish custom that you always feed a visitor.  Usually you offer them some Turkish coffee, or tea.  So each time the elders bring someone to our apartment I "get" to provide some "nourishment".  I usually put out some juice and a couple of bowls of something... like nuts and/or cookies.  And more often than not, the YVs meetings run over the lunch hour or the dinner hour, so we often feed the 1,000.  I think we had lunch together 4 times last week, and dinner 3 times.  And that didn't include the juice/snack feedings.  I used to have left-overs.  Now I don't.  If I make a pot of chili, it is all consumed.  Luckily I can supplement with bread.  Bread costs the equivalent of $.30/loaf, so we can always feed them lots of bread.  The loaves of bread are called baggettes, and they are delicious.  

We visited some Iranians in a distant city this week.  They are refugee status and joined the church more than a year ago.  Turkey is full of refugees from many countries.   Some have adequate housing and employment, some do not.  They are all in the waiting game hoping that some agency will take up their cause and move them on to another country.  They mainly hope to go to the USA.  Some wait for years.  I can't imagine how hard it would be to be in such a state of limbo.  Not knowing where or if you were going anywhere.  Trying to be optimistic and facing delay after delay.  Most have left their country-of-origin because of threats to their life, or any number of things.  The church does assist some indirectly, but they have to be careful to not become a target also.  

We plan to eat our hearts out on Thanksgiving at the Hotel.  It is the same place where we ate last year.  They try hard to make it look like Thanksgiving.  The meal includes two glasses of wine, so we are grateful for that perk.

I hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving.  I'll miss you all.  Good luck to Nelise in her surgery.  Good luck to Cassie in her soccer tournament.  Good luck to all of you and your bulging mid-lines.

Love,

Mother

#115 ... 21, 30 (by Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

Twenty-one dollars. That’s how much US currency I had in my wallet when we started our trip to Kazakhstan. When I came to Turkey sixteen months ago, in my wallet I brought forty-two dollars in new bills — two twenties and two ones. I held them for an emergency. Or two. I had spent one of the twenties and one of the ones during the past months. I sank the remainder during this most recent trip. No symbolism here. Just a fact. The twenty went out of my wallet when we were arguing our way out of a $120 charge by a gypsy taxi driver who wanted to charge us the equivalent of $10 per kilometer for the ride from the Astana airport to our hotel. In my book, $20 is better than $120 any day. Even if the true cost in a regular taxi was closer to six or seven dollars. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the two old Middle East travelers were taken for a ride. Actually, we took a bath on that one. Hard to admit it, but we did. The other dollar? It is in the possession of a bell boy from Africa who took our bags to our room in the Almaty hotel. We had met him before and didn’t want to leave him without a small gift at our presence.

We had gone to Astana and Almaty for me to give a fireside in each branch. We left Wednesday afternoon and arrived home Saturday afternoon. We covered a lot of ground, mostly by flying above it. It is amazing what a red-eye flight can do to a person’s outlook, especially when factoring in a time difference of three hours — sleeping little on the flight and trying to catch up at the hotel after arriving at four in the morning local time. In the snow, of all things.

We have been enjoying delicious weather in our corner of Turkey for weeks (I suspect it will soon chang.) Then, as we were descending into Astana, Grandma noticed all the snow flakes whizzing by the airplane window. Yep. The season’s first snow fall in that city. It will become worse in Astana as the weeks wear on and the snow turns to ice, especially on the sidewalks that no one ever cleans. Our senior sister there broke her arm when she fell on an ice encrusted sidewalk almost a year ago. We were told that, after the first snow, the snow and ice will be on the ground until spring. As if to reinforce this observation, we learned that the river running through the city is already frozen over. And the natives of the place say that it is not yet cold. The real cold comes later (the senior couple arrived almost a year ago on a day that was 30 degrees below zero).

Almaty was a different story. The temperatures are still rather mild and snow has fallen only in the mountains. When the weather patterns get around to it, more snow will fall but will remain on the ground a shorter time. Never mind that the elevation is higher than in Astana. Milder winters are the norm.

The firesides? They went fine. As part of my presentations on the apostles Peter, John, and Paul in ancient Turkey, I drew a map on the whiteboard in each chapel. After the second fireside, I left the map unerased. Within three minutes, two boys in the Almaty branch came up to the map and, with other colored marking pens, began to "bomb" Turkey. At least they enjoyed that part of the evening.

Monday I spent the day looking for an apartment for our second pair of YVs. The threesome in our city became a simple companionship on Tuesday when the YV who has been here for a year was transferred to Istanbul to open a new area. Losing him is like losing much of our branch's institutional memory. I went apartment hunting with one of the YVs, who will remain in our city, and with a member who works for the Church as a facilities representative. On two earlier occasions this YV and I had gone together to check out some apartments that were listed on line. Both times at least one of the apartments was rented as he and I were either in the apartment or were on our way to inspect it. He and I both had the impression that the landlords and agents were reluctant to rent to young foreign fellows. But on Monday, we literally stumbled onto an agency, while walking around in a desired neighborhood, that seemed anxious to help find a place for them.

The three of us saw three apartments that had no furniture in them — they had just been refurbished. Then came the fourth that had furniture in a high rise apartment building. The look was totally different. But the price was, well, a little pricey. But only about $35 per month too pricey. So we asked if the landlords would cut the price by that much. (The woman was with us and, miracle of miracles, she was willing to call her husband, the co-owner, and discuss a discount with him. They agreed.) I don't know how long the apartment had been on the market, but it was a relief to identify a place for the YVs to settle into after two weeks of searching. After they move in on Monday, they can get back to doing what they do best — talk to people.

Thirty is the next number. That is the number who joined us for our Sacrament Meeting. Following conversations earlier in the week with our YVs, I had a sense that we might need more chairs in our hotel room. I am glad that I requested more because twenty-two were in the room for the service. The place felt packed. Eight joined us by Skype. I expect that another four or so would have been with us except for the current Metro strike. Of the twenty-two, five are serious investigators. Well, one has yet to participate in a lesson. But she shows promise and participated in our Sunday School class. She was the real estate agent who helped to find the new apartment for our YVs and accepted my invitation to join us for our meetings. She came and felt good enough to accept another invitation for a lesson later this week in our apartment. I am anxious to see how she responds.

I love you and pray for you all each day by name.

Grandpa Brown

#114 Sunday, November 13, 2016 (by Grandma)

I assume you are all living a peaceful life and everything is going great... not challenges, no stresses, no strifes.  I know that all the children are getting A's in school, all YA's are getting raises at their jobs, all the parents have model children, and that economic security abounds. I know that the minor repairs that you have to take care of must be exciting for you like a broken water heater, a broken computer and other appliances.   And I know you must all be basking in the sunshine.  Are you all in Arizona?

We have had a very busy week.  We flew to Kazakhstan and were gone from our apartment for 76 hours.  Out of those 76 hours we probably spent 46 hours travelling.  Kazakhstan is far away - 3 time zones from Turkey.  We visited two cities:  Astana and Almaty.

Dad gave a fireside in branches in both cities.  The language spoken there is Russian and Kazakhi.  Both of his talks were translated into Russian.  He basically spoke about the three apostles who spent time in Turkey:  Peter, John, and Paul.  I thought he did a good job, and the audience seemed receptive.  There were several investigators in both groups.  They had treats afterwards.  One of the elders made banana cookies that I thought were very good.

It was interesting to visit these two branches.  We spent time with a senior couple in each city.  Both of them go home about the same time we do, and there are no replacements on the horizon.  There are currently 12 missionaries (volunteers) in this country, including 4 sister missionaries.  

They were able to tell us all about their experiences.  We are grateful we are in Izmir.  But they do have more members to work with than we do in Izmir.  

Kazakhi are a very distinctive-looking people.  I actually think the women are very beautiful.  We had met some of them at the YSA Conference in July.  They were part of the Soviet Union at one time, and strongly resemble Mongolians.  In addition to the Kazakhis there were a number of expats there.  Some are associated with State Department, and some with other entities like a University.  

We stayed in two different hotels... Just one night in each hotel.  In our last hotel, the hot water didn't work.  We didn't realize that until about 9:30 at night.  I called the front desk.  They sent the final repair man at 11:00 PM.  We were already in bed.  It worked for a few minutes, but when we got up in the morning at 1:45, it was not working.  So no hot showers.  We caught a taxi to the airport and began our looooong journey home.  The hotel prepared a box lunch for us.  The box lunch had some veggies, two fried eggs on top of them, no utensils and no napkin.  I picked up the egg in my fingers and stuffed the whole thing in my mouth.  Yumm.... We also received breakfast on the airplane, so we were not without sustenance.  

When we arrived at one city the "taxi" driver who took us to our hotel at 4:00 AM said it was 37,000 tenge.  That is about $118.00.  We were astounded, and refused to pay.  We knew that the going rate was 2-4000 tenge.  He was a rogue taxi driver who said it was 1,000 Tenge per kilometer. I got out of the taxi and said I'd go to the hotel front desk and have them settle it for us.  But eventually dad gave him $20.00 and we went on our way.  When we returned the next morning to the airport we paid 2,000 tenge for the trip.  We had arranged for a taxi from the Sr Couple there.  Quite a difference!

One of the Sr couples fell and broke her arm when she arrived in Kazakhstan.  It is understandable because all the sidewalks are covered by ice for about 8 months of the year.  They aren't salted, nor cleared.  Some of the members wear a blade over their shoes, like an ice skate.  We slipped a few times, but didn't totally go down.   It was cold, but I had my parka.

We had a record number of people in church today.  22!!!!  As you know I take treats each Sunday.  I wondered if I would have enough.  I'd made my trusty rice krispy treats, with cocoa puffs.  Everyone could have one.  So I worry if we only have a few, and I worry if we have too many for my treats.  Will I every be happy?  Well, yes.... in a few months when I see you all again!!!!

Two of the YVs are currently in our living room doing their gospel study.  They did a skype lesson earlier... had dinner with us... and will have a skype lesson later.  They are two very sharp YVs, and I enjoy having them around.  One of them knows how to do dishes and does them.  His companion knows how to wipe a few items.

We've had five YVs here for about a month.  One was transferred away last week, and the other two will get their own apartment tomorrow.  So they should all have a lot more space.  It should be interesting to have them in two distinct areas now in Izmir.   I think it was feeling pretty crowded for five of them to be in the same apartment.  Doing the wash, preparing meals and showering was a challenge.  Evidently they do not share meals, so that is a problem.

I do hope you are all doing well.  I love you.

Mom