#83 "My two cents worth" (By Grandma)

We have been on our mission for almost one year.  We went to the MTC June 29th.  Dad said that time whizzes by, and that is true.  I still count down the days until we return home, but I don't look at the counter daily and I did previously.   So we should still survive until March...... if we make it through the summer, that is.

We spent two days in Istanbul.  That means that we spent about 11 hours going to the airport, waiting in the airport, flying, departing from airport, and then returning back to the airport, waiting in the airport, flying, and travelling to our apartment.  We spent about 8 hours in the Mission Conference.  But it is a nice adventure, and Istanbul is cooler than Izmir.  We stayed in the villa and had some delicious food there.  We also had pizza at the Mission Conference.  For some reason, the pizza came with pickles.  I ate four.

When we returned to Izmir, our apartment was 95 degrees.  That was a warm welcome!  Our apartment is on the fifth floor and heat rises around here.... like everyplace else.  Even though we had all doors and windows shut, the heat seemed to creep in.  The only cool place in our apartment is inside the refrigerator.  We requested a walk-in refrigerator from the mission office.  They denied my request.  It is really hard for dad and me to crawl into our present refrigerator if we want to cool off.  But we can if we crunch enough and turn sideways.  I'd think if they really want sr couples they should be more accommodating.  

I noticed in Dad's email that he didn't mention our trip to Denizli.  Denizli is an inland city about 4 1/2 hours away from us.  We never use miles, and I don't "get" kilometers, so I know distances better by how long it takes to get there.  We've gone to D several times.  A few weeks ago an Iranian was baptized there.  There are a number of refugees placed there and given jobs in factories.   We visited an Iranian family... husband, wife and 16 month old.  Since we were visiting they invited us to lunch.  They joined the church in Ankara and join us for church via Skype.  They invited a neighbor couple to join us.  They were also Iranians and have been in D for 7 months.  They appear to be interested in the church.  We just picked up a Farsi Book of Mormon for them.  

As you know Dad is BP of a HUGE area.  So that is why we were visiting.  We took a taxi to the train station, and bought a ticket to D.  It was a 4 1/2 hour train ride.  When we arrived in D we took a taxi to the apartment and visited for about an hour.  After the visit  (I'd taken some little books for the child) we took a taxi to the bus station.  Dad had decided that the bus was leaving earlier than the train by one hour.  And they serve "food" on buses.... drinks and snacks.  A steward pushes a cart up and down the aisle.  But by the time we reached home, we'd been busing for 6 1/2 hours.  The bus arrived at a distant location, and we had to take two more buses to reach our neighborhood.  But we didn't have to wait for the train..  So this trip involved 11 hours of commuting for about one hour of visiting.  I guess there is value in that?  Be grateful for the short distances you have to travel for your assignments.  

Our MP is big on contacting.  I think it is interesting that Tanner is also big on contacting.  In our area we don't have big membership to count on to give us referrals.  He wants our JV's out there contacting like mad.  I really applaud those who are able to do that.  But I think our JV's do it with good grace and don't seem to be discouraged when they get bashed.  I think the unity/harmony/humor in companionships keeps them sane.  The MP truly believes there are those out there who are ready for the message.  It is a matter of the needle in the haystack.

I "served" snicker doodles this week at church.  I also brought nuts and dried apricots.  Everyone here loves dried apricots.  As you know, we have become less fond of apricots because of the abundance of dead apricots in our back yard.  But dad even bought a pack last week.  Maybe we'll acquire a taste for them again?

We are gearing up for your YSA Conference this week.  It will be five days and include English, Turkish and Russian speakers.  Luckily we are not in charge.  We have been in charge of lots of stuff, but not the over-all chairman.  We were able to get a bargain hotel, but it doesn't have stuff for powerpoint, microphones, etc.  But someone else has to worry about that.  Where is Roger?  It has a tiny elevator and if we all use the elevator, it will take most of the conference time.  We expect the temperature to be mostly in the 100's with lots of humidity.  It is right next to the Sea.  So we'll give you a full report next Sunday when the conference.  Since we'll be at the conference next Sunday our Branch will be without us.  Last time we were missing they said that the singing sounded like an alley cat choir.  So I guess our attendance counts for something.  

Julianne sent me a schedule of your activities for the coming week.  Good thing she is the event planner.  It would have put me under the table.  I do hope you will all have a good time together, and be very cautious and safe.  WE will be thinking of you.

Love,

Mother 

#82 "Time zips, except..." (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

 

Well, says one, how did your week go? Well, says I, it went. Mostly fast. But some parts seemed slow when they were upon me. Take my hospital visit last Monday. I went to have my voice checked out and have my ear checked out (that’s two check-outs, if you are counting). I had agreed to be there by 10 a.m. to meet the doctor. I reached the check-in counter and stated that I wanted to see a certain doctor. Twice I said his name. Then I sat down in a pretty packed waiting room. At one point I could see the doctor in the corridor, beyond the counter. I waited 35 minutes. Usually, I have been ushered into his office within two minutes. But not this time. Finally, I took his card to the young lady behind the counter and she found one of the interns and he took me along the corridor to the doctor’s office. Knock, knock. (This was not a joke.) Not in. (Not in who?) Finally, the intern found him with a patient in an examination room. I waited.

 
When I was ushered into the room, the doctor and four interns were waiting for me. Then they all disappeared. After a couple of minutes, he and one of the interns came back through the door and he produced that little camera and light that goes through the nose, stops in the throat, and then gags the patient. Yup. Sure enough. I gagged, even though I fought it. After I made some unintelligible noises that he wanted me to gurgle, he said that the left side of my voice box was beginning to work and all should be fine. (Actually, my voice has been coming back a little at a time.) Then it was off to the audiology department for a hearing test. I was told by the intern that there were a lot of patients that day, so I would have to wait.
 
And wait I did. Almost an hour and a half. In my anxiety to get going, I was just composing a text to the doctor, explaining that I had to do a couple of time-sensitive tasks and would be available later in the week for the test, when a young fellow, very young, came through the main door and asked for Mr. Brown. I stopped writing the text. He led me down a familiar corridor but into an unfamiliar sound room. He and several other teens (so they seemed) kept walking past the door and looking in at me as if I were the newest acquisition for the zoo. I did not see a competent person in the bunch. Fifteen minutes later, an intern came into the room and invited me to another sound room that I had gone to a month before for my first ear test. The young people there (mostly young women) seemed to be talking more about themselves than about the test that they were to administer. Oddly, I missed the older, professional lady who had run the prior test. These people kept fiddling with the controls while nothing happened inside the sound room where I was to take the test. At last, an intern came and began the test. Fine, I thought. At last.
 
The test was rather repetitious and, to concentrate, I closed my eyes (no, I was not dozing). After a few minutes of the test, a fellow in his forties poked his head in the door and said that the people running the test thought I looked bored. I responded that I closed my eyes to concentrate on what I was hearing through the head phones. Fortunately, I held my tongue and did not say anything about the very evident lack of competence and experience among those doing the testing. It turned out that I had four tests, all of which, according to the doctor, pointed to an eventual, natural healing of my ear. So far, no news has reached me from my ear that it is getting better. Oh well.
 
Last Thursday, we went to a conference in Istanbul. One of the enduring images was of a young fellow who had returned from his service in Turkey three months ago. He had taken a selfie on his tractor on his parents’ farm in eastern Washington. The MP put it on the screen. The young fellow went home expecting to see the girl friend to whom he had written for two years and learned from his mother that she was about to marry another guy. He wrote to the MP saying that he used to have more than a hundred conversations a week with interesting people and now he talks to no one while riding the tractor. When someone asks him about his two years of service, he has the distinct impression that they do not really want him to tell them. They want the six-word answer — "Fine, I enjoyed it very much." The MP tried to make the point that all should make these two years count because they don’t know what is coming after being released.
 
We are looking forward to our YSA conference that begins in a few days. Young people are coming from Kazakhstan and from all over this country. I for one will be interested to see how people interact with one another, especially when there are some substantial language barriers. The one last year, which included people from several missions, produced four marriages. The numbers for the one during the coming week are many fewer, but the potential exists for getting some folks together. I am to talk a couple of times. I hope that my voice makes some improvement. It is still suspect but is more or less working. If my voice goes south, there were be some people who won't know much about the three ancient apostles who once graced this land (Peter, Paul, John). My other presentation will focus on how the Bible Videos were put together. Wish me luck, and wish my listeners luck. They will surely need it.

We were 18 in our Sacrament Meeting today, twelve in the room and six joining us by Skype. The only two non-members sat in the living room of a member family living in a distant city. The woman in the member family is a hustler and has gotten the couple interested in reading the Book of Mormon. During the coming week, the YVs are going to that distant city to visit another member and to meet an investigator. They will take a small supply of Books of Mormon with them. Flowers seem to sprout where we least expect them.
 
I love you and pray for each of you every day.
 

Grandpa Brown

#81 "And it's Father's Day" (By Grandma)

Dear Children,

It is 105°F outside right now.  That is rather warm.  I’m sitting under the AC that blows in one spot in the room.  It gets too cold, so I turn it off, and then it warms up, and I turn it back on.  I have the remote control by my side.  I want you to know that I walked to and from church in the heat.  It is about a 15 minute brisk walk, and also about a 12 cat walk.  Even the cats seemed lethargic this morning. 

We just had 15 people in our living room for “lunch”.  We used to invite people for “dinner”, but I decided it was better to call it “lunch” and then I didn’t have to prepare so much.  We never know how many will be coming to eat after church.  We usually have six “for sures”. 

Five of our guests were children… from about 1-12.  So I had to think of something to feed them that they would eat.  I settled on sandwiches.  I’ve only just found some buns that can be used for sandwiches.  And it only four shopping trips to get enough food for the lunch.  All of the shopping trips involved a lengthy walk.  Are you appreciating this yet?  I found some cheese in one store, and some deli meat in another.  Dad found a huge watermelon that I couldn’t even lift at one fruit stand.  I bought some other stuff for potato salad at another fruit stand.  And we took our pulled shopping cart to a distant market to get other supplies.  I bought potato chips… they were a hit with the children…. And the adults.  I made hummus and my special rice krispy treats (cocoa puffs).  Almost everything got eaten except we still have watermelon left. 

In addition I bought 10 candy bars for a treat for the fathers at church.  I didn’t how many men would be there, but there were 7 (including the YVs and a YA).  I worried that they would melt in my bag by the time I got them there, but I assume they were okay.  I copied a nice little quote from President Monson and added it to a little bag.

Yesterday we had a Branch bowling party with 24 people.  That was huge!  Only seven of us were members.  The elders did a great job of inviting people.  Even their Turkish Tutor came with his son.  One of the YVs is almost a professional bowler.  We had four lanes.  I didn’t bowl because I’m a little cautious about my knee.  But I told the YV that I would have beat him if I could have bowled.  He didn’t believe me.  I was serious.  It isn’t fun getting old and not being able to display your prowess.

We went to Dominos for pizza afterwards.  We could have eaten in the bowling alley, but it is in the Hilton Hotel, and I know it would have been very expensive.  We may be paying for this, so we wanted to minimize the costs.  We sat outside of dominos and ordered pizza and drinks.  It was probably only 99°F.  About 16 of the guests are relatives.  One family was baptized in the Ukraine, and the others were family members who now live in Turkey.  The YVs have been meeting with them a little bit.  I know their interest in the church will be sparked if we have frequent bowling-pizza parties.

We had a baptism scheduled next week.  It isn’t going to happen, yet.  It seemed like a golden contact, and the YVs were very excited.  I’ve been around enough to know that “things” can happen.  So we’ll see what is next.

We’ll go to Istanbul next week for one night.  WE are having a Maxi conference.  Part of the Maxi conference will be 10 hours in airports for us.  Oh well. 

I hope you are all having a nice Father’s Day.  I know that our ward gives Father’s a piece of pie to take home.  Shoshauna said she was making 3 pies.  She is much better than I.  I helped out a time or two, but I always bought the pie.  Too bad Shoshauna doesn’t have a Costco membership right now. 

BTW… I have a woman here who does my hair.  She is actually very good and expensive.  She even drives a car…. No one drives here.  I had an appointment this week, and just as I was leaving, she called and asked if I’d like a ride to the salon.  She lives in my neighborhood.  I said sure, I was just leaving.  So I met her and climbed in her car.  I told her (she speaks English) it was the first time in almost a year that I had ridden in the front seat of a car.  And it occurred to me that I haven’t driven in that long either.  It was an unnerving feeling to be in the front seat of a car.  But I survived the drive to the parking garage, and let her fuss with my hair.  I really looked beautiful for about 10 minutes. 

Well, have a good Sabbath

Love,

Mother

*80 "Putting on the Parties" (By Grandpa)

SKB at the tree of Pergamos

Dear Grandchildren,

Sign that points to the bathing pools

My interest in ancient stuff never seems to dim. This past week, a young friend from the branch, who has plans to become a tour guide, and I visited Bergama (Pergamos in Revelation 2:12). It was our second trip. This time we went to the old hospital that was dedicated to the god Asclepius, the Classical god of healing. Within its confines, the famous Roman doctor Galen plied his craft in the late second and early third centuries, taking time during his lifetime to go study medicine in Rome and elsewhere. He began as a physician for a group of local gladiators in Pergamos. I am sure that the wounds of those guys were pretty severe.

One of the bathing pools

The day was pleasantly warm. We followed part of the sacred path that led to the enclosure, entered the main gate, saw the place of the second most important library in antiquity (only superceded by the library in Alexandria until the fire that destroyed much of it in 48 BC; after that incident, the Pergamum library was raided to provide books/scrolls to refurbish the newly built library in Alexandria), the impressive theater that seated 3,500 people for plays and other high literary experiences, the bathing pools (now covered by a green growth and inhabited by small turtles), the temple built to honor Asclepius, and the hospital where some of the rooms are more or less intact.

For only the third time we hosted a branch activity outside our apartment. We had planned a bowling party for yesterday, followed by pizza at Dominos. The party went off tremendously. Twenty-three came, of whom only eight were church members. You can do the math. Fifteen were visitors. The YVs’ Turkish tutor and his son came as well as an active investigator and his son and a friend who expressed interest in the YVs’ message. And so it went. It was good that something positive happened this week. Two days before, the YVs got a text from a red-hot investigator to the effect that he felt he was moving too fast and would perhaps see them in three or four months. This from a fellow who said that he had a dream about the Savior three or fours years ago assuring him that he would eventually come to the truth about Himself. For this fellow to step down was really a blow that even I felt. I know that it hurt the YVs.

Not to be outdone by a mere pizza parlor, Grandma hosted fifteen people for lunch today, including a one-year-old from the Ukraine (and his parents and older brother and sister, of course). We all came to our apartment in 105 degree heat, but cooled down in the cold air stream of our AC that sits in our living room. Grandma is really the only one in the branch who can do this sort of thing, in part because we have the only biggish apartment in the branch which is reasonably close to where we meet for services on Sundays. Nothing that she served was hot, from the potato salad to the humus to the watermelon pieces. But there was plenty of heat in our kitchen when, a couple of days ago, she boiled the potatoes, etc. But hey! What are potatoes for if not to boil?

We were twenty-five in our services today, sixteen in the room and nine linked by Skype. One of our speakers is a branch president in the second largest city in the Ukraine and his translator was his good friend, a member of our branch, who took his Russian and turned it into Turkish. It was a nice touch. For, listening in by Skype, is a fellow from Turkey who is meeting with the YVs on the island of Cyprus, in a completely different jurisdiction from ours. That was the first time we have gone international with a Sacrament meeting. I do not expect that we shall see this fellow and the YVs who accompanied him very often. What we did was really a favor and, sooner or later, the man will have to join the local branch, even if he does not speak English or Greek, the official languages of the Greek half of Cyprus where he currently resides.

All the cool air left earlier this past week. I could almost hear the rushing noise as it was trying to get out of town. Nights were going down into the 60s, even down to 63 one morning. Now life outside has taken a turn for hotter temperatures. We have seen almost no one outside today. Except ourselves walking to and from church meetings. Because one survey after another has declared 2016 the hottest year on record, we have decided to willingly submit to the science that makes this declaration possible.  Our YVs will travel to cooler climes this week, one to Ankara and the other to Kazakhstan on special assignments. Hence, we shall probably stay pretty close to home unless we have to venture forth. And then only in the mornings and evenings. For instance, I have a voice doctor's appointment in the morning. Right where I want it. We hope and pray that you are well. Happy Father's Day to those who are fathers. I love you all. And pray for each of you.

I love you and pray for you.

Grandpa Brown

#79 "The fan is blowing on me" (By Grandma)

Again I read Dad's email before I began this one.  He really writes so well, and told all the details of our week.  I don't have much to add.  

But I think it is important to communicate with my children, so I will write something.

I'm sitting at my laptop

I've eaten dinner

A fan is blowing on me

I'm barefooted

My roots are grey

I finished my piece of carrot cake very quickly.  Dad has more self-control, but his is gone also.

I made cheese puffs today.  Remember them?  I found a store that had cheddar cheese.

We had surprise company for dinner today.

The elders ate with us today.

One of them had a Skype meeting during the dinner hour, so how could we eat in front of them?

I made spaghetti

One of the elders hates tomatoes.

I fixed one sauce with tomatoes, and one with finely tomatoes, so he wouldn't know.  

I have a little bit of sweat on my brow

Had my 4th rabies shot

Dad gave his fireside in a castle in Ankara*

* The church leases a building that used to be the Portugal Embassy.  It is huge and beautiful.  It has copper doors, beautiful bathrooms, a swimming pool in the basement, five levels, lots of rooms, lots of space.  I think of our hotel room where we hold our services and I feel jealous.  But at least we don't have to clean the castle.   We enjoyed meeting with members there for an evening.  There are four elders serving in that city.  They have several expat families connected to the State Department, Turks, Iranians, and others.    

Anyway, I love you all.  Wish we could be together this summer.  Save some of the fish in the streams for me.

Love,

Mother

#78 "The Capital City" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

You know it has to be a very slow week if a major event is an airplane ride. Well, this was almost a main event. Truth be told, it was two airplane rides, one to Ankara and one from that city. The city itself, which holds a population of about four million persons, sits among rolling hills. A cyclist’s nightmare or dreamscape, depending whether he/she likes to ride up hills all the time. Forget about going downhill. Those rides are over way too soon to even count. The ride is always up hill. Or feels like it. Actually, we had been in the Ankara airport to change planes once. That was it. This time we took a taxi all the way to the city center, and then beyond, to a nice hotel that sits across the street from the very commodious branch house. That branch house was our destination. For Friday evening I gave a fireside in that building and afteward Grandma made contact with all kinds of people who want some help with family history things.

Want to know something about the fireside? Well, it started Thursday when I asked the YVs to give me a blessing for my voice. It has been on the fritz since my procedure three weeks ago, and my follow-up visit to the doctor earlier in the week was not one that would enhance my teeny weeny breathy voice. On that occasion, he slipped a tiny camera up my nose, guided it into my throat, and proceeded to hit the one spot that brings out the best of my gags (not jokes). I was lucky to stay seated calmly in the examination chair, although my throat took extreme exception to the activity. But I survived the examination. The next exam will presumably be less invasive, in his office.

After the YVs gave the blessing to me, mentioning specifically the good functioning of my voice at the coming fireside, I was full of confidence. But that did not stop me from praying a lot before the hour came. I am happy to report that things went well. My voice was barely above a whisper when I started. But it strengthened as I went along, as Grandma observed. A wireless microphone helped a lot too. I was to talk about the Apostle Paul’s travels in ancient Turkey, which I did. I also threw in some information about the times that the Apostles Peter and John spent in this remarkable country. Got you there, didn’t I? Peter made it as far as Antioch/Antakya, according to the second chapter of Paul’s epistle to the Galatians. And then in his own first epistle, Peter wrote to church members in northern and western Turkey/Asia, hinting that he was acquainted with them after traveling in those areas. Besides, a couple of early Christian writers record that he traveled through those regions, making the case more firm.

I don’t want to leave anything undone. Nashelle has just completed the first step in taking over the theater that she has bought in Vernal — getting it clean. A big bunch of young people worked hard for a couple of days and cleaned the thing from top to bottom, an activity that, Nashelle said, would have taken her a couple of years by herself. Congrats, my dear, at the first big step. And tons of thanks to those young helpers.

We were fifteen in our branch meeting today, with no one joining by Skype. The few who might have joined us from afar were experiencing internet woes where they were. Our number at the hotel included a branch president from Ukraine and his three very rambunctious children who had the place scoped out very soon after arriving. And our most faithful person to join by Skype has been in Germany with her children visiting her parents. So it was odd to look at the place in the room where the Skype people usually appear on the laptop screen and see no one. But next week will bring another opportunity to include those people out there.

I am sitting with a piece of Grandma's carrot cake in front of me. It is pleading for me to eat it. I must obey. As I usually do, I say to myself, "I shall walk it off in the morning" or "I shall ride it off in the morning." But by morning time, all the clinging stuff has already clung to my body, and the other stuff that doesn't cling has moved on. So walking and riding don't do much except bring a little glistening to my brow from my effort. Those exercises surely don't do much to keep the clinging stuff from doing its thing. That's a hard lesson to learn at my age, especially because I have enjoyed the art of eating for so many years. But hey! What is volunteering for if not to learn new tricks that I am very slow, and unwilling, to learn.

I love you and pray for each of you.

Grandpa Brown

#77 "Too many mirrors" (By Grandma)

Dear Children,

Today is Russell’s birthday.  Yesterday was Nelise’s birthday, last week was Rose’s and Daniel’s birthdays.  Nathaniel and Megan are next.  Evidently Nelise had her first birthday party ever for her 12^thbirthday.  We now have two 12 year-olds:  Rose and Nelise.   Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays.  I guess it is better than no birthdays.

Last night was Marinn’s Miss Uintah county pageant.  She is First attendant.  We think that is great.  Her photos on FB are beautiful.  I can’t imagine parading in front of judges and feeling any self-confidence.  But maybe it is possible?  Do they have any grandmother’s pageants?  Would my stretch pants be acceptable for part of my wardrobe?  My talent could be making rice krispy squares.  You might think I’m kidding.  I’m not.   I’d really like to enter such a contest.

I just read Dad’s letter to you all.  It was very lengthy and informative.  I don’t have much to add to “his” week.  I was home during his adventures.  I did get attacked by another dog.  But luckily 4 taxi drivers, waiting at a stand, came to my assistance before the dog could actually put his/her fangs into my still bruised leg.  Other than that, my week was rather quiet.  I slept, ate a few things, drank some water, sent a few emails, did a little indexing, did some Church History, listened to some audibles, did some crocheting, adjusted my make-up every time I walked past a mirror.  And, waited for Dad to come home.  He finally came home pretty tuckered out.  He might not look much different, but he is aging.  I can tell because I find him asleep lots of times when he is “studying”. 

BTW our apartment has way too many mirrors.  I know I’m gorgeous, but getting a glimpse of me every time I make a movement is getting a little tiring.  At home the only time I had to look in the mirror was in the bathroom.  Now I can catch glimpses of this old unfamiliar person flitting through the house.  I have no idea who she is.

Well, I hope you are all well and enjoying the summer.  I remember putting the TV in the closet for a whole summer because you abused it.  I wanted you to read, play the piano, help around the house, interact with others, go fishing, and be very productive.  I found you propped in front of the TV one too many times.  I’m sure that you learned from that experience that children do not need TV’s, computer games or I-phones.  Gratefully we as parents were excellent examples and taught you proper parenting skills. 

Please tell everyone we love them. 

Love,

Mother

#76 "Three Big Things" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

If I were smarter, I would talk about four big things because last night Marinn was named the first runner-up in the pageant for Miss Uinta County. That is pretty heady stuff for a young lady.

It must have been a pretty good week to see three big things happen to me. Not many volunteers, whether young or old, have that occur. In my case, it left me pretty tired. And worn out, of course. But it was all for a good cause.

The first event left me with no fatigue. It’s because Grandma was the major player. A person in the branch offered to provide a Turkish meal for last Sunday’s lunch after church services. Ok, thought Grandma, but what if a bunch of people show up? Truth be told, fifteen came, including four investigators. Sensing that one big dish might not feed any kind of a crowd, Grandma made sure that we had plenty of food on hand to supplement. And that is exactly what we needed. Without the extra, the main dish would have been gone in no time. The only role that I played was to be the mule, carrying home the goods that Grandma prepared and put out as trimmings for the meal. That was not very tiring to me, just to her.

The second: A week ago Saturday I received a notice in a brown envelope that books shipped from BYU’s Maxwell Institute had arrived in the Istanbul airport and were being held in customs for a duty payment. As I would later learn, that was because the two boxes of books had come with one shipping document. Had the boxes come separately, each with its own shipping papers, and had each of the boxes weighed less than 15 kilograms, they would have sailed through and been delivered to me. Or so said someone who was supposed to know. But that did not happen for me and I now had to do something to free the books from the grasp of the customs people and see that they got to our apartment so that I could take them to a couple of university libraries in the city as gifts. That kind of gift is called public relations.

In a small panic, I called a friend who helps the MP and, from my phone, sent photos of the outside of the envelope and of the form letter that came inside the envelope. He called the customs office and learned that indeed a fee was to be paid and someone had to go to the Istanbul airport to take care of the matter. Fortunately, he was going to be in Istanbul the next week and was willing to do some ground work. With the MP’s permission, he spent much of last Tuesday running between customs offices (there are several) and the FedEx facility. At the end, his message to the MP and me was that either I get a letter from a librarian at a university where the books were to go and send it to the airport in the hopes that the customs people would charge no fee and allow the books to come to me or (pant, gasp) I had to go to the Istanbul airport and deal with the issue myself, probably paying money to fix the import duties. The more secure approach was the latter. I had to go.

Grandma found a seat on a flight for Wednesday morning. The adventure had begun. I was in the international terminal, the proper destination, by 11:15. But my friend was delayed and did not arrive until about two o’clock. I wondered to myself whether we could finish this thing in three hours, by five o’clock (actually we had until 5:30). It would be the closest of calls.

You know the story of these kinds of efforts. You are always in the wrong place and need to go somewhere else. Well . . . We started where he was told to start, at the customs office in the international terminal. No. That was the wrong place. We needed to go to another customs office, about a mile and a half from the airport. After two further attempts to find the right place to start, we found ourselves in a government office managed by a couple of nice young women. There I signed the first of many forms. Then to another office in the same building. Then to the FedEx facility which was about five miles away. All of these trips between facilities, of course, required a taxi. After we paid the customs fee of 200 Turkish Lira, a small fee as it turns out, and got a promise from a head fellow that we would not have to pay a storage fee because the books were to be gifts for academic institutions (he was later overruled by an accountant), we rushed back to the customs office and I signed a second set of forms. But that was not enough.

By now, it was five o’clock. We headed back to the FedEx office, signed some more forms, paid a storage fee (for the life of me, I didn’t see the rhyme or reason for the storage fee except to make money — the boxes were sitting on a bench by themselves, not talking out of turn or sassing anyone; apparently every cubic centimeter in that huge warehouse was worth something) and then walked around to the loading dock where the two boxes were sitting, just waiting for us to present all the signed papers and receipts, so that we could haul them away. But wait, I said to my friend, wasn’t FedEx paid to deliver the books to my apartment? He said, Things have changed. So we picked up the boxes and took them to the other end of the warehouse where the taxi driver was waiting for us. I barely made the seven o’clock flight after paying a overage feel for sending the boxes as my luggage. Grandma met me at a curb and we put the larger box into our shopping cart, almost crippling it, and I carried the other box to our apartment. All was safe. But I was tired. And I know my friend was tired.

Finally I get to the third big event, a trip on Friday to Antalya, a city the Apostle Paul traveled through (see Acts 14:25). I went with the YVs on Friday. We caught an early flight (I got up at 4:30) and then came back on a 9:00 p.m. flight. We went to see two non-members and a member. We only saw the member. And his non-member mother. The other two disappeared. One would not answer his phone and the other is a student who was facing a final exam at the end of the day. The latter said that his phone died (that, it seems, is a common excuse) and, because of his studying, he could not meet us. But we met with the member, who needed some fortifying. And we met his dear mother. In my mind, I can see her apartment someday becoming the meeting place for a small group of Latter-day Saints. And it was important that we establish in her mind that we are good folk and that religious lessons in her home are ok, and even welcome (we talked with the member about the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood because he is yet to receive the priesthood). For those reasons alone it was important that we went. Saturday, I was just barely able to mope around the apartment. I had little energy though I was very happy and satisfied for what had happened during the week.

We were eleven in our church service today, the lowest total since February 21. For the first time since December, no one joined us by Skype. However, three investigators sat in that meeting, one of whom will be baptized before the end of the month. The other two are young fellows, one a thirteen-year old who is the son of the man who will be baptized, and the other a twelve-year old whose parents are members and will be baptized soon (we hope). Those two young fellows, when they are baptized, will give us a real Young Men program, something that has been missing since the beginning in our branch, a beginning that goes back to a time long before we arrived last July.

I ask myself what I can do to top the events of the past week. Probably nothing. We shall go to Ankara for a fireside (myself) and a family history workshop (Grandma's self) on Friday and Saturday. And I go to see my voice doctor this coming week. But it all looks rather calm and quiet. It is not as though I am looking for something wild to occur. But a notable event will need to come quickly because Ramadan begins Monday (tomorrow) and that will really quiet things down. My main task will be to arrange for a future baptism at the hotel. I like that kind of an assignment.

I love you and pray for each of you.

Grandpa Brown