#75 "Dog Bite, Ephesus, Sunday Dinner" (By Grandma

Dear Children,

I have been getting in the groove of walking every morning.  It has been hard to have the self-discipline, but I know I need to do it.  If I don’t go early in the morning, I don’t go at all.  Wednesday started out to be just an ordinary morning for walking.  I usually walk along the Kordon, which is a wide sidewalk along the sea wall.  There are a number of walkers, joggers and bikers in that area.  There are always stray dogs around, but most of them are sleeping off their nights of barking.  They are all tagged by the municipality, and neutered.  Once in a while they get up and wander about, or chase another dog, but mostly they just zone out on the grass.  So I pay them no heed.

But as I was walking along, minding my own business, I felt a big pain in the back of my calf.  I yelped and whirled around.  A dog had attacked me from behind.  I hadn’t seen it at all.  I stood still, dumbfounded.  Two men had observed the attack… one behind me and one in front of me.  They both came to offer assistance.  One spoke English.  I pulled up my pant leg, and blood was spouting out of my calf.  They both called someone…. I guess a 911…. I don’t know, asked me to sit down and we waited for an ambulance.  If the men hadn’t been there, I probably would have walked home. 

I asked them to point out the dog, they did.  I took a photo of the dog.  It was just lying on the grass beginning to doze again.  There were several other dogs close to it. 

I could hear the ambulance in the distance, and when it finally arrived, it overshot us.  We had to walk to get to it.  I had called Kent on my cell phone, and he was on his way.  But I knew if I was whisked off in an ambulance, I’d be who-knows-where.  As we were walking to the ambulance, I looked at the dog.  It was watching us, and its head followed our movements.  It was like “gotcha, lady!”

I was helped into the ambulance and asked all sorts of questions in Turkish.  I knew the word for dog, but that was about all.  The men helped to explain to the ambulance people what had happened. 

The Ambulance worker looked at my leg, and put some yellow stuff on it.  She also stuck my arm with a needle.  And we took off.  Where to?  I had no idea.  So I called the YVs and had them speak to the ambulance worker.  She told them where they were taking me.  I called Kent and told them to call the YVs to find out where I was going.

We drove forever, so I knew we were not returning to my neighborhood.  Later a taxi driver told the YVs that I had been taken to the ghetto hospital.  Nice! 

I was taken in to an ER and taken to a bed and left sitting there.  A couple of people looked at me.  I didn’t have any official ID with me.  But I had my I-phone which had a photo of my Turkish ID.  After some discussion they bandaged me and it was decided that I should go somewhere for a rabies shot.  I was given a tetanus shot in the ER and an IV.  They took the IV thing out, and sent me to another place and gave me an address of a clinic for a Rabies shot.  I didn’t know what else to do, so I walked out.

At the entrance Kent and the two YVs had arrived.  Also Ibrahim was on his way.  Ibrahim is the MP’s special assistant who does special stuff for him and he happened to be visiting Izmir.  He is Turkish and of course, knows all the “ropes”.  When Ibrahim arrived he and Kent went back into the ER to settle the bill.  It took quite a while because the computers were down.  Ibrahim’s taxi was waiting for us, but the YVs used that time to have a missionary discussion with the taxi driver.

We took a taxi to the clinic for the rabies shot.  The taxi driver had a very hard time finding the clinic.  The streets and roads here are very challenging.  We finally arrived.  The YVs had beat us in another taxi.  We all waited in the waiting room for my turn. (I had 4 men flanking me:  2 YVs, Ibrahim, and Kent)  Interestingly, or depressingly, the room was full of people getting rabies shots.  They had all had dog bites.  As I was sitting there in a stupor, I noticed the YVs in earnest discussion with two men, and then they passed one of them a Bof M.  It was starting to feel like I’d been used as a weapon for missionary work.  I’d be willing to do that without a dog bite.

Dad and I walked home from the clinic.  It turned out to be a couple of miles from our apartment.  We had to promise to have two more shots at a designated place and time.

So, I’m okay.  I posted on FB that I needed sympathy.  And I got that.  Someone said that they enjoyed my sense of humor.  What is funny about a dog bite?  I will now carry a stick when I go walking.  It interferes with the swinging of my arms, but I guess it is worth it.  I’ll also have to swivel my neck now and then to see if a dog is creeping up on me.  Lesson learned:  Watch your back!

So, if you are still reading.  We had a great outing at Ephesus one evening.  Ephesus is THE site around here and about one hour away from us.  We took the train for about $1.25 because we are seniors.  Because it was an evening performance we booked a hotel.  We didn’t think we could get home late at night.  Dad booked the hotel on-line.  It was about ½ hour walk from the train station, and we wondered if anyone had ever stayed in the hotel.  I’ll send a photo.  It wasn’t too bad though, and it included breakfast on its balcony.  We ate a quick breakfast and took a taxi back to the train.  The Ephesus program was wonderful…. 4 lecturers on Paul, some music.  A major tour group had booked the site for their tourists. Dad has met the owner and he invited us.

And today was church…  Duh!  We had 4 non-members, and possibly 4 baptisms coming up.  The whole church group came here for dinner… There were 12 of us.  (Those on Skype didn't come.  Ahem, that was funny).  I’d asked the YA to make something Turkish for us.  I didn’t know what else to provide.  So I cut up stuff, made hummus, bought stuff grape leaves, had olives, pita bread, bought baklava, and made a couple more desserts. I threw in a bag of potato chips just in case.  She made a coucous dish that was filled with spices.  She said 90% of the Turks enjoy it.  So we were good.  

The YVs left with two of the guests and got stuck in the elevator.  Never happened before.  The elevator went totally dark, and nothing worked.  Good think we all have cell phones.  Luckily we were able to find the building manager and he came and rescued them.  It isn’t like James Bond movies where you can climb out of the top of the elevator car if you get stuck.  You are really caged in.

Two people told the YVs this week that they believed the BofM to be true.  It was the first time they’d heard it from investigators.  Maybe things are looking up?  We’d love to have some more members. 

I hope you are all gearing up for an interesting summer.

I love you,

Mother

#74 "Interviewing" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

I just enjoyed the singular privilege of interviewing two brethren for the Melchizedek Priesthood. (Pause.) By Skype. They live in a community an hour and a half’s flight from here. I have met them each a couple of times. Their local branch features one Melchizedek Priesthood holder, the branch president. So he has been everything to the branch, its chief ecclesiastical officer, main Sacrament Meeting speaker, and biggest cheerleader, roles that he has played for months. He has worked hard to bring the number of attendees to 16 or 17 each Sunday, which represents about 90% of the membership of the branch (that’s a statistic that anyone would love). Now he will have some help. I was pleased when the MP allowed me to set up the interviews with the branch president who himself is a peach of a guy.

But this pair of interviews had to wait for a few minutes. We hosted branch members and our non-member visitors at church meetings for lunch today. On the way out, our YVs and two investigators climbed onto our small elevator and became stuck at the ground floor. The whole system shut down. Three of us tried to help them out, but to no avail. So I went to the fellow who owns the store below us and he called the doorman. Fifteen minutes later he showed up with a key which he inserted into a hole near the top of the elevator door, turned, and opened the door. The YVs said that we should have given them another five minutes to complete the Plan of Salvation lesson that they were giving.

A week ago I performed an experiment on the Sabbath. I went to the internet and looked up the LDS Video "Because of Him." We had viewed it as a part of our Sunday School lesson. I watched it on my iPhone and then opened up other videos that the Church has produced such as A Savior is Born. Much of the first one came from footage shot for the Bible Videos project. I basked in the spirit and feelings that came over me as I watched and listened. It was a wonderful way to spent an hour that afternoon. I recommend it.

It seems that we have lost our Farsi speakers during Sacrament Meetings, including the four in our branch. That is because, what started out as an experiment a few weeks ago to include them with the help of a Farsi-speaking YV in Ankara, has now morphed into bringing these Iranian church members into the Ankara Branch meetings where the YV is located. This turns out to be a much better deal, both for him and for them. Even so, one of our branch members joined us as soon as he finished with the Ankara Branch service today because he speaks some Turkish and wanted to be with those whom he knows and loves. By the end of our meeting, we were fifteen — thirteen in the hotel room and two single persons joining us by Skype. With one of our German sisters in Europe, with the other one having difficulty with her internet, and with the loss of the Farsi speakers, our numbers plunged. But we were fortified by two investigators who attend church meetings for the second week in a row. Pssst. Don’t tell anyone, but one of them has a baptismal date.

Incidentally, our Sunday School classes for the last month have all been in Turkish. The three of us who don’t speak the language just grin and read in our Books of Mormon. I am really pleased that we are at this point in our services.

The past week has been medical week around here. It started with me going to a university hospital for my botox shots in my throat on Monday and continued apace with Grandma getting bit by a dog on Wednesday. No, she was not run over by a reindeer. But it hurt just a much. I had just come back from my walk in the park, had cleaned up a bit, and was thinking of the next task when I received a phone call from her. She: I was bitten by a dog. He: What?! Is it bad. She: Yes. It is bleeding a lot. He: Where are you? I am between the Konak ferry boat station and the shopping area. He: I shall be right there. (It is a 25-minute walk.) She: Two nice men are helping me. After I grabbed my hat, I went out the door. Five minutes into my walk, I received a text that I could barely read (I did not have my reading glasses). She: In ambulance. He: (after calling): Where are you? She: I don’t know. They made me lie down. He: Let me know where you end up.

I then walked to the main road to see whether I could spot an ambulance. None came by. I was walking toward our apartment where a taxi stand sits so that I could go at a moment’s notice when, on a sudden, I receives a call from our YVs asking to meet me. Grandma had called them to help talk to the people in the back of the ambulance so that she would know what they were going to do and where they were going to do it. So I went to the meeting place and we took a taxi to the hospital (in a city this size, there are a bunch of hospitals). In the meantime, I called another church member who was in town to help the YVs solve a problem with the electricity company and he joined us. For the rest of the morning, there was this clump of four men supporting Grandma, including going to the clinic where she got the first of three rabies shots. She and I walked home from the clinic.

Afterward, I tried to think of positives from her dreadful experience. I thought of a couple. The first was that the church member who was in town, and is the branch president of the two men whom I interviewed today, got a commitment from his taxi driver that he would call the YVs for a meeting. The second occurred in the waiting room at the clinic where we met a bunch of people there for rabies shots because they were bitten by dogs. One of the YVs got into a conversation with a young fellow and gave him a Book of Mormon. Right there in front of everyone. Talk about gutsy. I love him for that.

Somehow I don't feel the zing in writing today. Maybe it is because I was awake for a couple of hours in the middle of the night, a circumstance helped by a whining mosquito. I was dive-bombed three times in a matter of a half hour or so. I thought that I had every part of my body covered by our sheet. I thought. Then a spot on my hand began to throb and I knew that the mosquito had found an uncovered surface. I saw the varmint on our curtain sheers and took a whack at it. But it might still be alive. I found no residue of a dead mosquito body.

Grandma faces another rabies shot on Wednesday. Wish her luck.

We went to Ephesus this past week for an evening meeting to which we had been invited months ago. It was a wonderful setting for the speakers who talked about the Apostle Paul and his extended stay in Ephesus. I spoke with one of the guards before the event and he said that he is there five to eight evenings per month. Last night there was a concert at the Ephesus library and a bus went from here. It would be a wonderful place for an extended program with church members, if we had enough people to make it worthwhile. The attached photos show something of the set up before the meeting and then views of the library at dusk and at dark. They are for posting.

I love you all and pray for you each every day.

SKB

#73 "Out of the Crowd" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

Grandma has already sent to some the story of the ten buses, our trip to the city of Ayvalik and the nearby town of Cunda that sits on an island. Another story follows her story which is clearly connected to it. Here goes. For that day-long trip, I took with me a notebook in which I had written some Turkish vocabulary and grammar exercises. I wanted to study, just like the YVs were doing. (They went with us to join in our meeting with the sister member who lives in that area.) Of course, owing to my delapidated brain, I forgot the notebook as I cleared my items to take from the bus which had taken us to the distant city. I had slipped it into the pocket on the back of the seat in front of me. When I finally recalled my oversight, I recruited the YVs to talk to the bus line agents at the bus terminal and ask what I could do to recover my notebook. They did and the agents called someone at the end of the line in Çanakkale. The notebook, they promised, would be back in our city the next morning. No problem.

The YVs volunteered to go to the bus terminal in our city and retrieve the notebook. At first I thought, "You think I’m weak or something?" But a second thought told me that they would like a reason to climb on a bus the next day and talk to some people. So I agreed. The next morning, Friday, they were at a bus depot of sorts waiting to board the bus that goes to the main terminal. Just before climbing on, a fellow comes out of the crowd saying, "Mormon missionaries, Mormon missionaries. Where is your name on your chest?" At first, they thought they were in trouble. They had no idea what this fellow’s interest was in them. They spoke briefly with him and learned that he had been baptized almost thirty years before in the Canary Islands. They then climbed on the bus which was ready to leave. But wait. They had second thoughts. They could take a bus to get my notebook anytime. But they might lose an opportunity to establish contact with this man. They got off at the first bus stop and caught a taxi back to the depot. They then hunted for this fellow. By happy circumstance, they found him. Next, they spent an hour sitting on a bench with him and talking about his past. It was, as one of the YVs said, "the craziest day of my mission. It was wonderful."

It turns out that the fellow was indeed baptized in the Canary Islands within four months of that area becoming its own mission (1988). He remembered an Elder Allen from Montana who taught and baptized him. He said that he attended church meetings for ten years while living there and in Spain. But because his work was in the ocean shipping industry, he eventually moved and lost track of the Church. He said that he tried to find the Church in Turkey when he came back (this is where he was born). But he had no luck. Then last Friday happened. He came to church services today and beamed the whole time. He has never married, is almost sixty years of age, and is evidently unordained. We shall change this last circumstance within coming months, if he continues to come. Perhaps oddly, his membership record is in our branch, but with no notation of contact information. There was no way to reach out to him.

For Grandma’s birthday I rented a room in a nice hotel that has a bathtub, something that she has not reclined in since July 12, the day before we flew to Turkey. She seemed to be happy with the arrangement.

Last Monday, I went to see my voice/throat doctor. During the examination, he cleaned the wax out of my ears with a suction tube, leaving my left ear with the sense that I was hearing as if I were under water. I thought little of it at the time because I have never had my ears cleaned out. But I have seen only marginal improvement. So maybe I get a shot in my ear as well as botox shots in my throat tomorrow. More on these little adventures later.

We were 21 in our church services today. Thirteen were in our sacrament meeting in the hotel, with three investigators. These three, who all look professional, had found the website maintained by a branch president in the country and referred themselves. They are all Christian, are all Turks, and are all unhappy with the churches they have attended in the past. We shall see what happens. It could be really interesting.

During our branch conference at the beginning of May, the MP said a fair amount about weekly branch presidency meetings. I caved. I thought that every three weeks or so was often enough for a small fry operation like ours. During the past four weeks or so, we have been meeting every Sunday morning. To date, we have never had everyone there. One fellow came this morning with his two children in tow (they had nowhere else to go and could not travel to the hotel by themselves). Another person just forgot. Another was gone with work-related projects. Next week, at least one of our numbers will be in Europe. And so on and so forth. But I am going to play this one until I am convinced one way or another that we meet weekly or we don't. And I will have some experience to back up my decision. I know that most church leaders do not enjoy this kind of flexibility. In earlier callings, I did not -- as a rule. We do seem to have items to discuss each Sunday, although many are reviews of the previous week's discussion. For example, last week we discussed the possibility of enjoying a branch activity (bowling). This week we decided on a date and time. (Now that I check my calendar, we shall have to change the date. Ahhh. The blessings of old age and an old mind.)

I love you and pray for you all.

Grandpa Brown

#72 "AP Restored" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

News comes in small doses on this anniversary of the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood 187 years ago in the little burg of Harmony, Pennsylvania. The first, big item is Grandma’s successful venture yesterday into baking cookies for the first time. Before she began, we went to a number of stores looking for cream of tartar. No luck. So she made do. On one website, the suggested substitute was lemon juice. Lemon juice? That is a real fine attempt to hoodwink me. But it didn’t work. And it didn’t work with Grandma either.

While Grandma was in our apartment tending to sweet matters, I went off with my first counselor and the YVs to a distant city. A brother there had recently suffered a mild heart attack and is temporarily out of work. The YVs had made contact with a potential investigator who lives there. And we all wanted to see our recent convert. According to the YVs, their convert has been making wonderful progress during the almost six weeks since his baptism. That progress brought me to think of ordaining him to be a priest. So off we went, with the threat of rain hanging in the air.

As usual, some things take longer than we expect. Our meeting with the recent convert took about two hours, a meeting that I judged would be no longer than an hour and a half. But we got him ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood. For me, that was the main event. Because we were now a little short of time, we rushed off to a Burger King for a very quick lunch while the rain poured. Then we rushed off to see the ailing brother and his wife and son. I took enough money from our branch account to pay for their rent. Evidently, three days after he had experienced his illness he tried to go back to work (they very much need the income). While at work, he experienced pain in his back and an elevated heart rate. So the doctor has banned him from work for the time being. I also packed a bag of rice, some spaghetti noodles, and tomato sauce. They were very grateful for the help. Grandma had selected a couple of children’s books for the little boy. He seemed to enjoy them. Then he climbed on top of the coffee table where a container of trail mix sat. He began to put pieces from the container into a small bowl. Then he began to throw them all over the room. His father intervened and lifted him off the table. But the show was fun for as long as it lasted.

I arrived at our apartment a few minutes after eight o’clock and found two of our YSAs in the living room waiting for an institute class that I had scheduled. So we held an institute class for twenty-five minutes (it had taken some effort on their part to reach our apartment), focusing on Jesus’ calling of his first disciples as retold in Luke 5:1–11. It worked out.

Today we were nineteen in our Sacrament Meeting. Ten were in our rented hotel room and nine joined us by Skype. A brother who has been in the Ukraine for three months brought his two children to join us. For some reason, the wifi in the hotel was acting a bit "crazy," as one of the YVs said, and kept dropping willy-nilly those who were joining us by Skype. Unfortunately, we did not have the usual crowd of Farsi speakers nor our Farsi translator. I felt bad that we had made an effort last week to include them in a meaningful way and then fell flat this week. I can only hope that next week we get a good response from our efforts to bring them inside our meeting. For me, one main event was my talk. My first counselor was to give the talk, but he came up hurting this morning. So I talked off the cuff about the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood, doing my best to paint the picture of the valley through which the Susquehanna River runs.

It's about time to move a fan into the kitchen. The outside temperatures have been creeping up and up. That means that the kitchen temperature has also been creeping and creeping. Hence, some action is required. Grandma had the bright idea that, instead of muscling a big box onto the Metro and then onto a city bus, we could just take a taxi home (here they spell that term taksi). So we shall go to IKEA tomorrow and see what we can see. While we are at it, I intend to purchase some nice food items that can also ride in the taksi with us. I like the granola a lot. And so forth. Besides, IKEA offers a nice lunch for not a lot of money. What more incentive do we need?

I love you and pray for you all.

Grandpa Brown

#71 "To Paul's Country" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

This week saw a small group of visitors roll into town from Istanbul. Two senior couples arrived on Thursday, for a grand total of four, of course. I had arranged for a driver and van to take us directly from the airport to Ephesus and beyond. Grandma and I brought sandwiches for the six of us, thinking that we had made everyone’s day. Then these people started pulling out baggies filled with nuts and other light fare. So our little effort to help with our lunch was thrown into stark relief -- as rather modest. These people travel with enough to sustain themselves, and others too. I like the way they travel.

This time to Ephesus, we went looking for what is traditionally Luke’s tomb. The identification of the place as Luke’s tomb is late. So I don’t take it seriously. But it was fun for me to come upon a place associated with the gospel author whose work I have come to revere. I had known of this place for months, but I had not gone looking for it either because I was with a group and a guide, or because I had entered the site from the other end and could not exit to go looking without incurring an extra entry fee.

Because we had the van and driver through Thursday and into Friday, I called my agent friend and got permission to go to another archaeological site, for an extra fee of course. So after spending three hours visiting the huge site of Ephesus, we piled into the van and asked the driver to take us to the place where the Apostle Paul last met with Asian saints, his friends from Ephesus, at the city of Miletus which now lies in ruins (see Acts 20:15–38). The driver said it would be an hour’s drive. Off we went. When we arrived, no other tourists were visible. Almost no one goes to that place. Eventually, a couple emerged from the big theater. They were the only other people at the site. In fact, after we got past the theater, we found an enormous spread of ruins, including the quay where in antiquity boats sailed in from the sea and docked to unload their goods. We walked over most of the site that was exposed by archaeologists years ago. It was the highlight of the trip because we had the run of the place and explored more or less off the beaten path.

Today we conducted a grand experiment of trying to render our Sacrament Meeting into two languages at the same time. Our Turkish translator was in our meeting; the Farsi translator sat in Ankara, connected by Skype. Our YVs turned two of our smart phones into microphones. We set up two laptops, one dedicated to the Turkish translation and one to Farsi. We began by keeping the one "microphone" under the voice of our Turkish translator, hoping that his voice would not be so loud in the other "microphone" that was a couple of feet away, feeding the English talks to the YV in Ankara for his translation. But the Farsi hearers, unfortunately, were hearing first the English speech and then the Turkish translation mashed together with the Farsi. It was confusion for them. Finally, the light went on in one of our VY’s heads. As the second talk began, he brought his cell phone to our little podium, with an open connection to the YV doing the Farsi translation, and took the smart phone which had been connected to the laptop that was carrying the Skype signal to the Farsi speakers. He shut off the smart phone "microphone." Now, the translator in Ankara was hearing the English through the cell phone, but none of the Farsi speakers could hear that. What they were hearing, and the only thing they were hearing after the "microphone" was turned off, was the YV in Ankara translating the talk into Farsi (he was connected to them via a Skype connection that allowed them to hear him and see us). The experiment was working. Someone — our YV — had figured out how to make our effort a success. Next week, it will be a completely different experience for the Farsi speakers. A sigh of relief.

We were nineteen today in our Sacrament meeting, nine in our hotel abode and ten joining us by Skype. I keep thinking that our numbers will go up in the hotel. But each Sunday, the numbers remain modest. I saw one of the YVs’ contacts yesterday and he said that he would see us today in our church services. But he did not come. I was disappointed. But a thousand things can happen in a matter of sixteen hours. So there may be a good reason why he did not show up. Maybe next time. I remain optimistic. I like this fellow and he has accepted the idea of a baptism. The next step ...

In one of the very nice touches of the day, our YVs showed up at services with roses for the three sisters, two in attendance and one who joined us for lunch after taking an exam. I give them many kudos for their thoughtfulness.

I keep thinking that the cool weather is finished. And then we see some rain and the outside temperatures come down a few degrees, keeping the nights cool. But it is hazardous to our sleep health to open our windows to enjoy the air. Like most cities, noises from outside continue well into the night, including an occasional honking horn and a person's sustained yelling. Or, as in our case, someone cranking up the volume about ten o'clock for the singer with a bad voice in a nearby restaurant. What is more, about five o'clock in the morning, the ravens and seagulls decide to serenade one another. Or shout at each other. Some mornings I can sleep through the racket, others I cannot. Oh well. Perhaps noise pollution from all quarters is here to stay.

I love you and pray for you. And I wish the women a very Happy Mother's Day. The mother here prepared a meal for nine. Not bad for her Mother's Day. She needs to get a special treat out of this.

I love you and pray for you all by name.

Grandpa Brown

#70 "Parker & Lindsey" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

Congratulations to Parker and Lindsey! We are happy, happy, happy for them. We can only hope that their future together works out just as they want, with school and all. July will be the big month for the wedding, we hear. They just need to decide on a day. It is ok to be married, but to make the celebration last for the whole month gets very expensive. They will figure it out. They are smart.

Have you been attacked by Windows 10? I have. For months, I have received notices for a free upgrade to Windows 10. Consistently, I have refused because I have been satisfied with my Windows 7. Five days ago, I left my laptop for thirty or so minutes and returned to find the download of Windows 10 more than 50 percent complete. I shouted at the screen, I danced, I pranced, I hollered. And I really came close to shutting the whole thing down. I felt violated, set upon, bushwhacked, and the rest of it. Grandma said to me that Microsoft claims that it does not load anything onto a computer without permission from the owner. Not in my experience. Not in my experience. (Did I just repeat myself?)

This week I met the USAF chaplain. He had to come down to the ground level of the hotel and escort me to his office. I asked for the meeting. I wanted to give him an update on our church meeting times. When I called, he said that, only a few days earlier, a fellow had come to him and identified himself as LDS, wanting to know about services. But the chaplain could not remember the fellow’s name and he has not shown up at our meetings. I hope that we see him soon. We shall soon know just how interested he is in us.

Grandma and I went to dinner with the pastor of a local church group and his wife and daughter. They are originally from Mississippi and, as you might expect of southern people, are very polite. We enjoyed the evening with them. We went to a restaurant in their town, a place that is known to serve American cuisine. I ordered a cheeseburger. Why would I choose something else when I had a real choice? It came with a large patty of meat, a "normal" bun, and a bunch of fries. Just what I need for my dwindling cholesterol count.

We were twenty-one in our Sacrament meeting. Two-thirds of them, fourteen, joined us by Skype. Our most pressing need continues to be for a Farsi translator. At least six who join us by Skype speak only Farsi. One of our regular young sisters (the only regular one in fact) went home to be with her parents for the weekend. And we welcomed only one investigator. But he came last week and survived the "alley cat choir," as my counselor calls it. So he may be a keeper. I surely like him, even though I can’t really communicate with him. The YVs have taught him twice in our apartment.

Two mornings this past week we awoke to a non-functioning internet. We could not figure out what the deal was. Our bill was paid on time. After a while, the internet came on again. Since the system is controlled by the government, it seems that it was fiddled with by higher powers. It was not clear to us why the slowdown. But during that short span, Grandma decided that a whole lot of her life is tied to that little darlin'. It wouldn't do to have it off for an entire day. I am afraid of the consequences around here. We would probably have to fire up our hotspot so that we could send an email or two out of here and feel that we are connected.

I love you, whether connected or not. And I pray for you each day.

Grandpa Brown