#56 " We have Plenty of Paper Towels" (By Grandma)

It was time to replenish the toilet paper rolls in our apartment.  So I went to the cupboard where I keep such things, and to my amazement, all of the rolls I thought were TP, were paper towels.  We had about 36 rolls of paper towels.  I don’t know how that happened.  I thought  we were well-supplied with TP.  Not!

So we made a trip to a store about 15 minutes away and bought a giant supply.  I’m sure the people of Turkey were wondering why two old people were walking along carrying such a large supply of TP.  Of course it was out in the open, not in a camouflage bag.  But we were able to get it back to our apartment and we are now well-supplied.  Good thing we noticed it before our guests arrived for dinner today!  Our year-supply is very lacking!

We enjoyed our time in Armenia.  This time we were international travelers, so it added another dimension to our travel.  I can’t remember how many times we went through security.  And of course, domestic airlines and international airlines are not in the same buildings.  So we got to hoof it for miles and miles.  I still got the pat-down though, so I’m good.

Note to self:  NEVER purchase anything in a Duty-Free shop.  I don’t know exactly what that means, but I thought it must mean that it is a bargain.  So in the Armenian Airport I decided to indulge.  I had a little time before departure, and I went shopping.  They had lots of nice stuff, but it was all marked in Euros or AMD (Armenian) money so I didn’t really know how much stuff was.  And besides the language was Armenian so I couldn’t ask.  I just picked up a few cosmetic things I was short on, and a refrigerator magnet.  When I got the check-out counter it rang up $193.00.  How could that be?  But rather than make a fuss and act like I didn’t know what I was doing, I pulled out two hundred-dollar bills. 

The clerk ran my bills through a scanner, and accepted them.  So now I have a little lip gloss, fingernail polish, and face cream that cost more than our plane ticket.  I didn’t even consider the candy they were selling!

I have a new calling as Church History Advisor in this mission.  That is what all the training is about.  My trainer flew in from Russia.  She couldn’t fly to Turkey, just Armenia.  Our countries aren’t friendly right now.  She taught me lots of stuff about Church History projects.  We’ll go to Kiev next week for more training.  Then I should be able to conduct Oral History interviews with a recording device that will be loaned to me.  REMEMBER SELF:  NO Duty Free Shopping!!!!

The trainer took us to dinner two nights to wonderful Armenian restaurants.  The food was relatively inexpensive, and we loved it.  Luckily Dad and I like lots of different foods.  My favorite was borsch.  Borsch is really a Russian soup, but I thought the Armenians did a great job.  It is basically a beet soup.

I saw on FB that Marinn’s team took Nationals.  What a thrill for her and her team.  So much work for them.  So much pain for Marinn! 

It is great to hear from you now and then.  Thank you for your emails!  It makes my day and/or night.

Dad will fly away tomorrow for a day trip to the south.  He wants to meet some people.  I’ll probably continue to eat chocolate and paint my nails.  I am very productive.

I love you ALL,

Mother/Grandmother/Greatgrandmother/Sister

#55 "Marinn Triumphant" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

Some of you know by now that Marinn’s drill team took nationals. Yes, nationals! It is not every day that someone takes state. And it is much more rare to take nationals. Her drill team from Uintah High School in Vernal, Utah, swept up the hardware in Las Vegas. Slick as a whistle. Shucks, they went in as a lower seed from the state of Utah where they had fought to a second place finish a couple of weeks ago behind perennial power Hillcrest, topping longtime favorite Bountiful in the process. Though their tails should have been between their legs, they weren’t. Instead, they pulled on their boot straps, or whatever they grab just before going on the hardwood, and danced and strutted their way to the upper stratosphere of high school competition. (Remember, the last national championship team from Utah was a very good boys’ basketball team from Lone Peak a few years ago. And those guys got a ton of love from the media. Marinn’s team, I predict, will not.) Let it soak in, dear Marinn. It will be a bunch of decades before this sort of thing happens again in Utah.

By now, you may be aware that Grandma and I went off to Yerevan, Armenia, for some training in the Church’s history program that is not family history. This one is called Church History, not a scintillating title. Armenia is bordered by Turkey on its southwest, but its time is two hours ahead. Don’t ask me why. It just is. In my opinion, it should be only one hour ahead because Turkey is all in one time zone and Armenia is the next country to the east. But no. The Armenians do it differently. I don’t know why. They just do. That meant, of course, getting up two hours earlier than we are accustomed to rising. Like going to New York City from Salt Lake City. It’s time is just way out there. But the only morning we paid was coming back. We got up at 3 a.m. our bodies’ time so that we could catch the plane back to Istanbul where we waited for three hours for the next flight.

I must say that there is a different feel about Armenia. I don’t know what it is. I didn’t sense that people were any friendlier or better looking. To be sure, they don’t have as many pharmacies as the Turks do, so maybe they are generally healthier (here we see a pharmacy every block). The capital city is very open to the sky with wide streets and large squares and park areas. We found an ice skating rink, something that we don’t see here because we don’t see that kind of cold. The food was good, except at one restaurant where it was not served hot and it seemed that the waiter was trying to avoid us rather than taking care of us. Almost everyone we met speaks at least three languages, Armenian, Russian and English. An Armenian woman from the Yerevan stake, who was also receiving training, is a professor of math and physics at a local university. She was introduced to the Church by her sister fifteen years ago.

A family of three showed up at our services this morning after a three-hour bus ride from a city in our branch where they have recently moved. They brought her sister as a translator from English to Farsi. You see, they are from Iran. The mother and father joined the Church in Georgia (the country) three years ago. It was the first time we have seen a child under a year and a half in our meetings. As you might imagine, he brought a lot of life to our gathering after he warmed up to his new surroundings. The father recently received the Melchizedek Priesthood. Now we have to figure out how to accommodate them on Skype three weeks of the month when they don’t come to the branch. None of them speaks much Turkish and no in our branch speaks Farsi, although a fellow who speaks the language is moving closer and closer to joining the Church. We are becoming a most interesting mix of cultures and languages.

Thursday I received a text from the MP asking that I call him. I did. Among other things, he wanted to talk about another assignment for me. No, not one to replace an assignment that already sits on my lap. One to be added on. You are already ahead of me. I am now a new counselor in the mission presidency. He said that we wouldn't meet much because the other counselor is in Kazakhstan, four hours away by plane. And three time zones. So we shall meet on occasion by phone or by Skype. The temple recommends from our Orem stake run out tomorrow for Grandma and me. I asked him whether I could sign on all three lines of the form for my recommend. That brought a laugh but not permission. I know that we shall go on the road to other branches, perhaps as often as once a month. We shall see. I want to figure out how to take some of the load from the MP, if that is possible from a distance. I told him that my job heretofore was not to hear from him very often because that would mean that he was not worrying about what we were doing and how we were doing it. Now I shall hear from him rather regularly, I suspect. But that will be for the good.

I love you and pray for each of you.

Grandpa Brown

#54 Holding Firm (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

Learning about a bombing in the capital city is not exactly an enthusing experience. Nor a comforting one. Grandma first saw news about the blast when she was looking at the internet for news. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the victims. It is beyond me why people think that it is ok to end innocent people’s lives. To mind come a couple of passages from the Book of Mormon. The first is the answer to Ammon’s prayer whether to take the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi down to the territory of the Nephites after enemies of these people had organized to take their lives, knowing that these people had made a non-retaliatory covenant. The Lord’s response — probably audible — was that "Satan has great hold on the hearts of the Amalekites" (Alma 27:12). The second comes from the Resurrected Savior himself when dealing with the disputations that had grown up over doctrinal questions, including the proper mode of baptism. He responds with a sweeping observation that a person who has "the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil" (3 Nephi 11:29). In my mind, these two passages cast a direct light on what is happening in parts of the world.

To switch gears, Grandma has been invited to receive training in a family history program which essentially means gathering histories from church members in a specified region of the world — if I understand the program correctly, which I may not, well, which I probably don’t. She remarked that this was the first time in our married life that we were to go somewhere because of her and because of something that she is involved in. We have regularly traveled hither and yon when the travel has involved me and my work. I guess the message is that I can expect this kind of thing again forty-nine years hence since that’s how long we have been married. This time we are going to Yerevan. I don’t know what Grandma will do in forty-nine years to top that.

I am getting back on a bike again. I rode three times this past week on one of the bikes that the city makes available for those who sign up for its bike-riding program. It feels good to breath hard again (I feel strange saying that). I was actually perspiring the last two times I rode. I guess that means washing clothes. Otherwise, well, you know.

I have been experiencing trouble with deleting emails, or large portions of them. Grandma has googled the problem and it apparently has to do with the Outlook system that I use for emails. Even putting in the email addresses for you offered a temptation just now to the computer to ruin one or another of your addresses. And when I lose an email, or part of it, I don't show the sweet self control that I should and say, "Oh, my goodness. Look at that. I just lost the last thousand words that I typed and I have to retype them. Shucks." I hasten to add that I don't swear, at least not much. Well, not in a way that people in the street can hear. Maybe I shall have to upgrade to a better system, but I don't want to until after we are home again. And maybe not then. I know. I shall just keep getting angry, showing my black side. Or is it brown?

 .

I love you and pray for you.

Grandpa Brown

#53 Valentines (by Grandma)

Ho hum, another flight this week.  The security agents at the airports are starting to call us by our first names.  And luckily I usually get a pat-down.  I ask them to massage my shoulders while they are at it, but they ignore my request.  

We try to reserve our seats prior to departure.  Then at the gate, Dad asks for an exit row.  One time he was told he was too old.  But that doesn’t deter him.  He still asks each time.  We really are pretty old to help everyone off of the airplane in case of an emergency, but we figure that if it was a REAL emergency no one would need help.  They would just stampede.

On this trip our carry-on baggage was too heavy.  We’ve never had our carry-on weighed before, but this was a cheap airline.  Mine was 2 kilograms over, and dad’s was 4.  So we started taking things out.  Dad took out an orange, an apple, and a banana.  Finally the agent just threw her hands up and said we were okay.  They would do better if they would just weigh the passengers and compute the fare that way.

We know almost every nook and cranny of the airports by now.  We have also visited most of the WC’s.  All of them still have squat pots so you have to choose the proper stall or you’ll be sorry.

Our destination this week was a lovely resort hotel called Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort & Spa.  If you have time on your hands, you might google this resort and reserve it for your next R & R.  It “only” has 8 swimming pools.  Part of the property is on the Mediterranean Sea.  Its food area exceeded anything I’ve seen on a cruise ship with even more choices.  The bathtub in our room was enormous, and even though I’d showered that morning, I took a bath.  I haven’t had a bath for 8 months and I wasn’t going to miss out.  

Your father spoke to the Mission Presidents about the Savior.  Even though I’ve heard him tell the stories many, many times, I thought he did a great job.  He basically focused on how the Savior taught.  Several of the MP’s said they’d taken classes from him.  They were all very gracious.

Today we had a Valentine’s dinner.  It is the first time I’ve made mashed potatoes.  I found a hunk of turkey at IKEA, so we used the cranberry sauce that Debbie Peterson brought to us.  I also made stuffing.  We had invited the two YA’s, and the 2 YVs.
  
Church was nice today.  One of our speakers spoke from Germany.  She lives in Turkey, but she was in Germany visiting family so she still wanted to give her talk.  We could hear her via Skype.  Dad also spoke because another speaker cancelled.  Luckily he can always find something to speak about.  He spoke about the Sacrament.  He also spoke about feeling the spirit, and told the story he heard the Jacquarts’  bishop tell when we visited for Nathaniel’s baptism.  The bishop said that his daughter was in the movie theater that was shot up and, just prior to that event, she had a feeling she should leave the theater.  And she did!  Many were killed and injured at that time.  A good reminder to “stay in tune”.

We may come home hearing-impaired.  We, of course, are of the age that it could happen naturally, but we think our environment might contribute negatively.  Our street which is basically a sidewalk mall has stages set up occasionally with music groups that perform at decibels higher than any sounds I’ve ever heard.  They have huge amplifiers all around the stage.  If I plug my ears, I can still hear the loud “music” very clearly.  It pounds, and pounds, for hours on end.  I have no idea how anyone can stand it.  Our windows do not shut out any of the noise.  It lasts until midnight, or one or two AM.  And it occurs about 4 times a week.  I’ve always revered silence or soft music.  We’d move, but it is such a pain to do that, and we have a year lease.  

I hear it is beginning to snow in Utah Valley and that the air pollution is the worse in 17 years.  The air here is very clean.... Just NOISEY.  

I hope you all celebrated Valentine’s Day royally.  It actually is celebrated here.  I bought some heart candy, and dad bought some flowers and chocolate bars for me.  We also took the bus and the metro to deliver a little treat to a family far away.  We had the elders call them and ask if we could drop something off.  (They don’t speak English).  Turks are very hospitable and we were afraid if they thought we were coming for a formal visit, they’d want to feed us.  So we were able to make a quick drop-off.  The dad is in the Ukraine right now.

I love you all.  

Mom

#52 "Antalya" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

Antalya, or Antalia, was the place where the Apostle Paul apparently first came ashore in Asia Minor during his first missionary journey. It is the closest port town from the city of Paphos which lies on the west end of the island of Cyprus, from which place Paul sailed. (I know, you want to know all of this stuff.) Of course, Paul was born and raised a few hundred miles to the east of Antalya, in a town called Tarsus. For one day last week, Grandma and I attended the mission presidents’ seminar for the Europe East Area in Antalya. But we never went to the town. We landed at the airport, were met by an agent (to our surprise), and were driven eastward in a van to our hotel, which was about twenty miles away. We thought that we would have to take a taxi. In fact, we had looked on line about the cost for a taxi from the airport — $31 per person. Just before we walked out of the airport door, there was a fellow holding a sign that said "LDS Church." We strode up to him and he asked, "Mr. and Mrs. Brown?" We sensed that something was up. So naturally we said "Yes." He led us to a van and told us that the driver would take us to the hotel. Which he did. We arrived about a half hour later, were met by some of the EEA staff from Moscow, were given our room keys, were told that the area president wanted us to join the mission president group for lunch, and were then ushered into the room where the fourteen mission presidents and wives were finishing their lunches. The room had a spectacular view of the Mediterranean Sea. It turned out that I knew three of them, besides our own mission president. One, whose bishop I was when he and his wife were newly married, presides over an area larger than the United States with fifty-six missionaries and seven branches. I noticed that he was on his phone several times during our brief stay in that hotel. Amazingly, he has become fluent in Russian during their two and a half years.

Well, I am not fluent in Russian. And I am a long way from mastering very much Turkish. I feel a little better after meeting a minister for a local Christian congregation who has spent ten years in the country and has yet to master much Turkish. Somehow, I suspect, that lets me off the hook a little. Well, very little.

Today we were nine in our Sacrament Meeting with three joining us by Skype. One of the persons was a fellow who came with one of our member women. It appears that he was mostly curious. But another man is a recent convert from another branch, and just last week received the Aaronic Priesthood. So I invited him to bless the Sacrament. It was his first time. He had written out the prayer on the bread and practiced it before coming to the meeting in the hope that he would get a chance to say that prayer. He was really pleased. He works as a security agent on a cruise ship line and is headed out to sea in the next couple of days. Of the three joining us by Skype, one gave a talk from Germany where she is visiting family. The electronics were a little tricky, but it worked out. We could hear her well enough and she had provided a written text for our Turkish speaking translator. All in all, it was a good experience. We shall now evaluate whether we want to repeat this kind of contribution from members who live at a distance. I was encouraged.

Ok, I will tell you what Grandma and I were doing in Antalya. The area presidency, through the mission president, invited me to come and talk to the mission presidents and wives about characteristics of the Savior that they could share with their YVs. So I picked out a number of distinctive elements that I thought were most impressive from the records of the Savior's ministry and made an outline. I sent the outline to the area executive secretary who was to put it into a packet for everyone. But I saw no packets in the room when I was talking. I noticed that the first counselor of the area presidency was typing like mad during my presentation. He came up to me after the meeting and asked whether he could share his notes with the others in the room as a file of information that they could refer to. I said yes. One of the wives, whom we met on a trip to Egypt with the Maxwell Institute, said that she had taken four pages of notes. It was a heady time, with me standing in front of people who represent real consecration in their callings. I also felt humbled to be in their presence. They do exhibit real dedication, far more than I do.

I love you and pray for each of you.

Grandpa Brown

#51 "No Old People"

Thank you for your prayers.  I really am surviving quite well for an elderly person.  

I had my hair done this week.  My hair dresser works in the Hilton Hotel, and is a beautiful blond Turk married to an Italian.  She also lives in our neighborhood.  I told her that we never see older people out and about.  Where are they?  We have numerous side-walk cafes surrounding us and they are always full of younger looking people.  I rarely see anyone very old.  She said all the old people are dead.  She said Turks don't live very long.  So I guess I’m a rarity here. 

Dad mentioned our trip to Istanbul.  I don’t know if I can describe how hard it was for me.  I kept thinking if I survive this, I’ll survive anything.  We walked with gale-force driving rain for blocks and blocks, in a dress and dress shoes.  I don’t know why it wasn’t snow, because it was freezing.  I wasn’t with Dad when his umbrella broke.  I was out purchasing pastries and bread for the dinner with the GA to take to the Mission Home.  I couldn’t even put up my umbrella because the rain and winds were too heavy.  I just walked with the purchases and took each step wondering if it would be the last one.  The sidewalks are uneven, sometimes non-existent and hilly.  The MP and wife had gone to the airport to get the visitors.  I was helping out while they were gone. 

When I arrived at the Mission Home I deposited stuff in the kitchen and then took off my clothes, ironed my skirt and scarf, put my shoes on the radiator heater, and hung my drenched coat over a chair.  Later dad came in, and went through the same routine with his stuff.  The MP and others arrived about 2 hours later.  They were delayed because traffic was awful coming from the airport. 

We had a very good dinner.  I’d helped cut and dice the night before when the MP and wife and invited us to their home.  Dad and MP watched a recording of BYU football, and the wife and I worked in the kitchen.  She is a very good cook.  Hopefully I can create some of her meals when we return.

BTW… The MP said we can’t leave here until we find replacements.  Will you please put an ad in the paper? 

As I’m writing this the YV's are in the living room skyping someone.  I gave dinner to them and an YA today….spaghetti.  I’m so good at that!

I hope the Cleggs and Browns enjoyed Arizona.  I’m proud of Marinn’s team.  I hear progress is being made on our bathroom.    

Another BTW… For the first time our plane was searched for suspicious objects.  A woman tried to change seats with me when we first got on the airplane.  I declined because I’d delibertly chosen an aisle seat.  It turned out that she didn’t even have a boarding pass.  I don’t know how she got on the plane.  Luckily I hadn’t traded seats with her.  Finally they ejected her from the airplane, and did the airplane search.  We all had to take down our stuff from the bins, and they searched.  They didn’t find anything, and we were cleared for departure.

Well, I love you all and hope things are going well in the frigid land of Utah, and the warmth of Arizona.

Love,

Mother

#50 WEATHER SMACKER

Dear Grandchildren,

I have rarely been smacked by weather. But for the second time in a row, we were smacked by wind and rain in Istanbul. Last trip, it was actually wind and snow. A few days ago, we went back to the big city for a conference. The first day, we were with the MP and MM. They did a superb job of sensitizing the YVs to the varied situations that people here find themselves in if they express interest in the gospel message, given the character of the population. The second day we were instructed by the Area President and his wife. They, too, were terrific. But outside the building where we met, the rain began to pour on the first day. Through a window we could see a large stream of water in the street that was being pummeled by huge drops of water. Later in the meeting, I could see that the building’s windows had fogged. When I stepped outside, the wind was blowing its best. Out into the elements Grandma walked with one of the other Sisters to go to the Villa to continue preparations for a meal honoring the arriving Area President and his wife. An hour later, after I had led a discussion with the YVs on incidents from the Savior’s life that illustrate his character, I walked out into the now cold wind and rain. Needless to say, by the time I had walked two blocks to the Metro, my suit pants were soaked. Before I reached the Villa, my umbrella was shredded. I went downstairs and pressed my pants with an iron to put the crease back in and to dry them out. No, I didn’t leave them on while I pressed the pants. I was alone, so I took them off and plugged in the iron. At the end of the evening, we walked — rather, pushed our way — back to the apartment where we were staying. The wind kept folding Grandma’s umbrella almost in half and kept driving the rain into our faces. Grandma’s skirt that had dried and my pants that I had pressed were all dripping wet again. Oh well.

We made our flight back to the city easily, although I swear that the taxi driver had his meter on super drive. It was the most expensive taxi ride that we have enjoyed in Istanbul. On the other hand, the YVs missed the flight. They were hanging out with other YVs and doing some studying before they left for the airport. They arrived at the check-in desk with fewer than 45 minutes before the flight was scheduled to leave. (The flight did not leave on time, in case you are wondering.) The agent refused to let them on the flight even though they had reservations. Evidently, the seats had been sold. So they flew in later, paying the full fare. Ouch!

Our numbers were down today in our meetings. One of the sisters in a far city had a sick child, so she and her children could not join us by Skype. One of the young women who often joins us by Skype was at her parents’ home which does not have Wifi. In our meeting, we were seven, with one investigator. The investigator is an interesting case. He is a student from Afghanistan and styles himself an atheist. He has now been to church three times. He received one of his lessons in our apartment, which did not go very smoothly because of his nettlesome questions. A week later (last Monday), he came with the YVs for an FHE. The YVs brought the game and the treats. Unexpectedly to me, this investigator seemed to be a willing participant. So I am not sure what is up with him. Perhaps he likes our company. It is hard to say. He goes off to Germany the first of next month and I would like to hand him off to YVs there. The total number in Sacrament Meeting, with the woman who joined us with her two children by Skype, was ten.

It appears that the YVs have decided to introduce contacts to the world of FHE on Monday evenings. In our apartment, of course. I am all for it. Grandma and I don't have a strict routine for Monday evenings, so it is ok with me if they bring people for a lesson, a game, and some treats. A less active sister, whom we visited this past week with the YVs, opened up and said that she had not gone back to church regularly since the death of her mother three years ago. Her mother had died before this woman could reach her to spend even a few minutes with her at the end, and she became mad at God for not keeping her mother alive until she could get to her. I think that this kind of opening up is healthy for this sister and I hope that she can now adjust her thoughts and feelings so that she feels comfortable coming back to church meetings. We shall see.

By the way, congratulations to Marinn and her dance team for pushing their way to second place in their recent state competition. They finished ahead of Bountiful which had been one of their goals all year long.

I love you and pray for all of you every day. By name.

Grandpa Brown