#144 Sunday February 26, 2017 (By Grandma)

I’m enclosing some photos this time.  One photo is of the two bags I carry to church each week.  They contain my i-phone, my cell phone, bose speaker, cookies, corn nuts, napkins, orange slices, apple slices, 15 Turkish hymn books, hymn posters, my purse,  and photo copies of the English hymns we’ll be singing.  Dad leaves earlier and carries an even heavier load with sacrament supplies, laptop, i-pad, and various other equipment like temple recommend books, tithing envelopes, and scriptures.  We walk with these items for about 15 minutes to the hotel where church services are held.

Another photo is of a birthday treat I made for the elders’ birthday.  One of the elders had a birthday this week and I wanted to do something for him.  But then I realized I hadn’t done anything for any of the elders on their birthdays.  So I made up four gift packets and called it a group birthday.  Sometimes the elders are remembered by their families and sometimes not.  I hoped that this would make up the difference.  The treat included a couple of pairs of socks for each elder.  Visitors are required to remove their shoes when they enter homes and even offices.  So holey socks really show off.  I’ve seen a few holes in our apartment.  The socks were hard to find.  They don’t sell them in department stores or shoe shops.  We had to hunt and hunt.

One photo is of cookies I baked for church….snicker doodles.  It took about 4 hours.  I have a small oven and what you see is four batches.  I used to worry that no one would show up for church.  Now I worry that I might not have enough cookies for everyone.  We always have treats after sacrament meeting and before the 2^nd hour.  Once in awhile someone else will contribute to the snack. 

The last photo is of some of us in Ephesus.  We are actually standing around a baptism font in St John’s church.  It celebrates the burial place of John, the Apostle.  But we don’t think he was really buried there, because in LDS theology he still lives.  You can see a few MPs.

We received an email today from a counselor in our ward bishopric giving us instructions about our homecoming.  Luckily he told us we can relate some mission experiences and he gave us a time allotment.  I thanked him profusely but replied that we’d both need about an hour for our speeches.  So they can just plan to cancel Primary and SS that day.  I haven’t heard back from him. 

We enjoyed the visit of the Huntingtons yesterday.  They are a Humanitarian couple serving in Ankara.  Ray was a colleague of your father.  It was interesting to hear of the “work” in Ankara.  It is very different from our Branch.  It has a well-established Branch.  We toured Smyrna with them, took a ferry ride, had dinner yesterday, and talked and talked and talked.  As you know I crave someone to talk to.  Your dad listens politely, but I miss "girl" talk.  They spoke in our Branch today and flew back to Ankara.  The MP has the senior couples visiting the smaller branches now and then to offer support.  We’ve visited all of the branches except for the military branch.  That branch is on lock-down and cannot be visited.  But dad gives them a Skype lesson/fireside every other week.

I hope all of you have been well.  Evidently the flu that is hitting has been very serious.  It was what actually caused Joel’s father’s death.  One of my friends was very ill, but was told she couldn’t be hospitalized because she was too young.  She is about 60.  Several in our Orem ward have been ill.  I haven’t heard of any flu in Turkey.

While I’m writing this I hear Farsi in the background.  Our elders skype a number of Iranians and give them lessons.  They have had a number of baptisms, mainly in Ankara.  The elders come to our apartment to Skype.  They teach themselves Farsi.  I can’t imagine learning Turkish, and then also Farsi.  When the elders come they try to give 3-4 lessons while they are here.  And they have many more waiting in the background for lessons.  I gave them dinner today before they started teaching.  These elders are never invited to members’ homes.  We don’t really have any families in the area that they are assigned.  So, I feel for them.  They are good-natured young men and would benefit from a member’s meal now and then.  The other elders in our branch live closer to a couple of families, and they have invited them now and then.  But even they don’t get many invitations. 

This week I helped one of the Branch Presidents write his Branch History.  I’m supposed to be gathering all the histories in our Mission.  I knew this President would have a hard time writing his history and no one in his Branch speaks English.  So I interviewed him and wrote up his 2016 history.  Such things can be very challenging for the small branches in this mission.  Dad wrote up the history for our branch.  I have yet to receive the histories from other branches.  Perhaps they won’t be submitted before we return home. 

Dad is speaking in a fireside this week in Istanbul.  We’ll try to go and come in one day.  It should be a bit of a strain, but we don’t want to waste another day in travelling.  So we’ll catch a plane home at 11:15 PM.  I’ll interview the Istanbul's BP’s wife for an Oran History Interview.  I submit these interviews to the Church History library in SLC via dropbox.

There were two birthdays in our family this week…. Nashelle and Benson.  Karilynne’s oldest and Julianne’s youngest. I hope you saved us a piece of birthday cake.   I think the next birthday will be Scottie.  But I’m getting old, so if I forget any of you, please let me know.

I love you all,

Mother

#143 "30" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

You want an anatomy of my third throat procedure in this fair land? No? Yes? I’ll tell you anyway. It started by standing on the bus most of the way to the Dokuz Eylül University Hospital. Sway, sway; jerk, jerk. Then, in the doctor’s office, I was asked to sign a bunch of forms, as I was in the past. But this time my attention caught on the form that would allow the doctor to perform a tracheotomy. Whaaat? Oh yeah. In the case of an emergency. I signed.

The botox delivery guy came just before 10 a.m., almost an hour after I arrived. The botox was on ice in a container, having arrived on some kind of motorized bike. The fellow wanted his money (about $100 for 100 units) but could not give me a receipt. Such receipts were to be given only to medical personnel, I was told. But his piece of paper for the delivery was close enough. At least I hope so. I shall need it for reimbursement when we arrive home.

Finally, I was escorted into the room where I had gone for earlier procedures. I sat in the reclining chair. The doctor could not get it to recline. He pushed and pulled. So he asked one of his husky assistants to make the chair go backwards. With a little effort, he lowered it with two big clangs. Later, when I was trying to relax in the chair, the assistant took it back one more click. Actually, as before, it was a very big click, almost like a shot. I fell back a few inches into the waiting folds of the chair. Now, according to the doctor, I should have been in a good, comfortable position. Ok.

The first thing the doctor did was to pour a dark liquid on a gauze pad and rub it all over my throat. It was an anesthetic, of course. Next, he sprayed the awful tasting numbing agent into my mouth (bleckkkk!) and one of the assistants sprayed something into my nostrils. The doctor and his two assistants then prepared the camera and its light that would be poked through my right nostril. Poke. This time, the intern would hold the tube in such a way that it did not keep moving inside my throat. (Unlike last time.) Instead, it stayed steady and I only did one big gag, almost ejecting all the stuff then in my throat.

At one point, the doctor grabbed my Adam’s Apple and held it firmly for a minute or so. Not to miss the fun, one of the interns then did likewise. For a moment, it felt as if that part of my anatomy would come loose from my neck muscles. Fortunately, my neck resisted and held on. Like a good friend. Is my neck sore? Yes. And if experience is a teacher, it will be sore for another eight or ten days.

Then came the shots before the shots. These initial intrusions into my skin were to deaden the tissues through which the botox shots would travel and burst. I was now numb inside and outside my neck. Next the light and camera went into my nose, lighting up all that stuff in there that I never look at. Besides, the camera and its associated TV screen must be pretty expensive. I am not in the market for such things. My curiosity about my nose and throat is not bigger than my pocketbook.

During the earlier two procedures, the doctor learned that he has to let me swallow when he can. Otherwise, all my efforts not to swallow only collapse into failure; and I swallow, even though he protests. So he was very helpful this time in allowing me to swallow multiple times before pushing the botox needle into my neck. As I have observed before, the office lacks one of those cute nurses who holds a suction tube and takes out all of the excess fluids and paraphernalia that, after a person’s throat has been attacked by foreign objects, begin to pour like a fire hose into the open space that is usually called a mouth but at this instant is just a filling, soggy hole.

Three. In the end, it was three shots into my neck. I thought it was to be two. But the doctor determined that I should receive three of those little darlins. Perhaps the three would use up more of the botox and not let so much go to waste. I did see him draw a bunch into a large syringe and press the plunger until a spray shot out of the end of the needle and dampened one of the interns.

After twenty or so minutes, it was over. I finally could exhale and relax, although I had been trying to relax throughout the process so that the discomfort would not overpower me. "Tell me when you feel uncomfortable," the doctor had said. Each time he said that, I was feeling discomfort in that moment. It was no use for me to say anything. Besides, foreign things were in my mouth and I could do no more than barely nod my head and gurgle. After another fifteen minutes in the doctor’s office, sitting on an uncomfortable chair, I was told I could go. I was glad to emerge into the sunlight and look for my bus.

Not surprisingly, the whole experience left me with a greatly reduced voice. But I have more voice than a whisper, unlike the prior two times when I could hardly hear myself. Time will tell whether the doctor’s current effort will pay off. His work the other two times gave me almost six months of reasonably good voice, a longer time period than when I have received treatments at the UofU Medical Center. That is both worth noting and unexpected in a good sense.

***

I love it that we are regularly kicking down the door to a 30+ average attendance at our Sacrament Meetings. That image, of kicking, is a little bizarre, I admit. And I should probably hold back on strong images in favor of mild, more genial senses. Yet, in a word, in the language of Ammon, even after his brother Aaron had taken him to task for almost boasting, Ammon almost sang, "behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. . . . Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord?" (Alma 26:11, 16). I readily admit that we are not dealing in the numbers that Ammon and his brothers did. But even a little success is good.

Despite my sometimes bugling efforts, and despite our small numbers, we have begun to witness the resurrection of a branch that took it on the chin more than four years ago and basically shrunk to nothing overnight. Then, in the months before we arrived, a SV couple began to meet with a tiny group of members once a month, planting all-important seeds. We arrived just in time for a modest harvest and an extended period of growth.

We greeted 34 persons in our Sacrament Meeting today, twenty in the hotel room and fourteen connected by Skype. We have equaled or surpassed thirty each of the Sundays in February. Throughout January we were close four of the five Sundays after hitting thirty or more three times in November and December. Of course, our numbers today were augmented a little by the presence of an SV couple who had come to visit from Ankara. And to speak. They effectively replaced my two missing counselors who were absent (both to be back next week, I hope). I felt that in our branch council meeting we stretched the branch into the future so that it will do fine after our departure. At least, I am hoping for that result. I don’t want to walk out the door without nailing down as many pieces as Grandma and I can.

It is hard to believe that we shall see only three more Sundays in this town. But that is what it has all come to. Our big challenge, I judge, will be to make all the visits to members who live at a distance from here. (We have one set up for Wednesday). Added to that set of tasks are the extra events that are coming at us, like a branch conference and a zone conference in Istanbul. We intend to weather the surges and be glad that we were part of the group of needed people here.

We have begun to set out clothing to leave in a donation bin, and to take with us. We shall probably travel with a packed piece of luggage to Istanbul next month in advance of our departure so that we don't have to haul it the day we leave here (Monday, the 20th). Sort of like moving in bits and pieces. We will stay overnight in Istanbul the night before departure to enjoy a nice meal with the PM and wife and the three YVs who are departing with us. What seemed to be a long way off is suddenly becoming a high speed blur.

I love you and pray for you all.

Grandpa Brown

#142 "This Week" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

The capstone of our notable week came with the baptism of our former realtor who is currently between jobs. She is a dear and, at least twice, has had to postpone her baptism for one reason or another, the latest being her surgery on both knees almost two weeks ago. The day started with the YVs who taught her coming by 9:00 this morning to correct the nice program that they had been working on over a couple of weeks. It was one of the hymns that they wanted to redo. At that early hour on a Sunday, it was almost like a home invasion. Well, not really. But. But they then came for an hour and a half after our church meetings to take care of some things on the branch’s laptop. The baptism? It went fine. The other pair of YVs will show up this evening for a trilogy of Skype lessons. Few breaks in the action in our apartment, it seems.

Tomorrow is my next appointment for a voice treatment. Wish me luck. I shall need it, I am sure. Gulp. Groan.

During the past week, all the mission presidents and spouses from the Europe East Area met in our fair city with the area presidency for their annual seminar. Tuesday evening, I spoke to them about the three early apostles who traveled and lived in ancient Turkey — Peter, John, and Paul. Grandma and I were invited to dine with them before my presentation. We sat at the table with Elder N, the executive director of the missionary department. He was interested in the ideas of the MPs seated at our table about possible improvements in how we do missionary work in our area, effectively turning the meal into a working dinner. It was interesting to hear the comments. One sister was very adamant about the women YVs keeping themselves looking nice at all times. A fine idea as long as the care in putting on makeup does not become excessive and thus come to interfere with their more important tasks. Later, in my speech, I put only one person to sleep. Something of a record.

The next day we went to Ephesus with this crowd of impressive people. Our female guide was exceptional. She gave us more information than any of the three guides with whom I have gone in recent months, including the audio guide that a person can rent to walk through the site. The few times that I jumped in to add something, I think that I was able to supplement what she was saying so that people felt more of an informational tie to the New Testament. You have to be able to add these things in important settings, like Ephesus, when you are getting a big salary as we are.

On Friday, we flew to Istanbul, a trip that we shall take only twice more. Sadly, I am sensing the approach of the end of our assignment. We went to a zone conference that was held on Saturday with the executive director of the missionary department who had been in the seminar with the MPs of the area. Before we ended our Friday activities, which ended with Elder N’s fireside in the Istanbul branch, we went to visit the Chora Church and the Hagia Sophia, both important Christian landmarks in the city that were turned into mosques. Our MP had arranged for a guide, who was good and very personable. But because I had read a little about the Chora Church, I found that I knew more of the story captured in the frescoes and mosaics of the church. But he knew the stories that the images were telling about young Mary and the young Jesus. The only time we visited that little church was on our first day in the country and we were struggling just to put one foot in front of the other. And I did not then know the stories told by the images. The visit was much more interesting this time, I am happy to say.

It seems as though we are ready to search for more permanent digs. Our numbers regularly exceed 15 for Sacrament meetings in our hotel room, the baseline number. A new place to meet, that we can call our own, will have to be a genuine upgrade. Currently, the hotel offers us space, audio-visual assistance, carafes of water, and a clean room with a coat closet, for less than $500 per month. Brother Fitzgerald will probably recommend that we not change places, at least not for the present. The only drawback is that we have to pack items back and forth each Sunday, such as sacrament trays and the electronic devices to run our Skype outreach. The hotel is also in an easy-to-reach location. Hence, if we begin a search for space, we shall probably look in the neighborhood for a suitable place. If we locate in a business building, access to our rented space during evenings and weekends will be a matter that we have to solve. But I look forward to solving such issues. Maybe more later; maybe not.

Our number was 32 for Sacrament Meeting today, 20 in the hotel room and a dozen joining by Skype. Of that number, four were visitors from out of town, three were investigators, and one was to be baptized. She is the person whom we met while searching for a YV apartment. The talks in Sacrament Meeting each dealt with challenges that we face in life. In the baptismal service, I was asked to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. (It was notably shorter than the talk on baptism.) I also confirmed her a member of the Church while one of our YVs sat in front of her and translated what I was saying into Turkish. She understood everything that I said to her. Everything. Now we need to find a husband for her, one with whom she can spend eternity.

I love you and pray for each of you.

Grandpa Brown

#141 "Sunday February 19, 2017" (By Grandma)

I don't have very many more Sundays to contribute to the blog.  I don't think I'll write weekly updates of my life when we return to Orem.  Well, if public demand requires it, I might continue writing.  We'll have to see.

I'm getting older.  Duh!!!!  We are all getting older, but I'm getting really old.  And though I try to keep up with the 18-19 year-olds that surround us, I find that I quickly lose stamina, and patience.  This week I tried running on all cylinders.  We had lots of activities, and in addition, we had activities with some very sharp looking people.  So, in addition to enduring a week, I also had to try to look presentable for long periods of time.  

I've never been blessed with easy to care for hair.  And the humidity, rain, wind, and heat really whips it around.  I envy women with lovely coiffed hair-dos.  Prior to marriage I had my hair done once a week and it was securely "ratted" so it lasted until my next hair appointment.  I always looked stunning.  But with marriage and no hair budget money, I gradually had to try to tackle it myself.  I remember setting my hair in pink rollers.  It kept the curl for a few days.  I had perms that frizzed my hair up nicely.  And during one period of my life, I let it grow long and straight.  But now it is short and thin.  I blow dry it and use a curling iron, and ten minutes later, it looks like I just came out of a wind tunnel.  Aren't you all fascinated by this?

The week was actually a very nice one.  We met a lot of new people.... Mission presidents visiting from 20 missions.  We were able to dine with the group twice and take them to Ephesus.  Then we were able to travel to Istanbul and spend time with a Seventy, hear him give a fireside and conduct a Zone Conference.  It was a good time, but very tiring.

In the meantime, while we were on the bus full of delightful people, returning from Ephesus, we received a phone call from SLC with very disturbing news.  Not to worry, it didn't involve any of you, nor anything that any of you are connected with.  But it made me mad.  And while I was mad, I was called by a member of the Branch Presidency and asked to speak in church on Sunday.  I said yes because I know how hard it is to get speakers, but I was mad and couldn't get a pleasant thought in my head for more than 12 hours.  So while we were involved in lots of stuff, I was trying to be un-mad so I could have a clear head and think of a topic to speak on.

And alas, most of my mad left and I could come up with a topic for my talk..."natural man".  I think a "natural man/woman" revels in being mad.  Some of my mad left because I got some sleep and food and the situation partially resolved itself.  But I had sympathy for people who live with mads for long periods of time.  It is paralyzing. And the Spirit disappears.

Condolences to Jill whose grandpa Wells died this week in Montana.  We know he left a wonder legacy.  We have heard many great things about him.

While I've been typing this, two elders have been in our living room skyping and speaking in Farsi to members and investigators. They have begun a Group in Turkey in a location central to more of them.  It is the first Farsi Group in Turkey and has some very strong members.  The elders learn Turkish in the MTC and teach themselves Farsi when they come to Turkey.  Usually one or two elders help with the Farsi speakers.  It is amazing  that they can master two very difficult languages.  Farsi is Persian, and it is in the Arabic script, but it is different from Arabic.

We had a baptism today.  She loves Kent and calls him the "professor".  He gave one of the talks at her baptism.  And he also confirmed her.  She is probably 30+ and a very fun personality.  She was baptized in the hotel pool.   Unfortunately she speaks little English, but she is learning. We have missed a lot of opportunities because we speak very little Turkish.  Old people can't learn new languages, especially not Turkish.

Three granddaughters were in plays this week and one grandson-in-law.  Nashelle and Daniel, Dana, and Larissa.  We look forward to future productions.

Love,

Mother

#140 "Flights" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

You know how these things work. You think that you have matters settled for a airplane flight someplace, and you don’t. Well, that happened to us (me, actually). We received notice three weeks ago that our flights back to the States had been set. All on Delta. Fine, we said. We received the schedule from a very helpful woman at the travel department in SLC and were fixed. I learned then that the first flight from Istanbul to Paris is to be on Air France. I paid no attention. (You begin to hear a change in the background music.) I began to think of all those hours sitting in a seat with the seat in front of me pressed against my knees. Ouch. If I am sitting in an aisle seat, I can stand this sort of arrangement for the hour’s flight to Istanbul or a slightly longer flight to Ankara. But not the eleven hours from Paris to Salt Lake City. So in an email I asked the very helpful woman in church travel how I could upgrade to a seat with more leg room. Such seats exist. She told me. A simple two or three steps would give me what I wanted. So on the Delta website, I upgraded to a "plus" pair of seats for Grandma and me for that long flight. But that’s not the most interesting part of the story. Air France now steps visibly onto the stage.

Thinking about our arrangements, I decided to upgrade to a slightly better seat for our four-hour Delta flight from Istanbul to Paris on an Air France plane. I went to the Delta webpage, as before, and I was allowed to do the deed. Actually, I could only get exit row seats at this early date. None of the others were available through Delta. But the exit row seats were. So I signed up for two. You know what? The Delta website wanted money for my upgrade. I paid. And that was ok. I was at last feeling good about leg room. Then last week I decided to check that all was well. You know what? All was not well. I could find that one of the two exit row seats was bought and assigned to Grandma, but not the one I had bought for me. It was still open for purchase. And next to my name was an unsubtle invitation to upgrade by buying (again) an exit row seat.

I found a place where I could send an email to Delta about the evident disconnect. I sent it. I waited. Forty-eight hours later, I sent another because I had received no reply. This one had a little edge to it, I am sorry to admit. A day later, a representative for Delta wrote and said that Delta could not help me because the flight was Air France. I would have to contact that company.

I found an Air France number in Turkey and called. The fellow was pleasant enough. But when I gave him my confirmation numbers, he could call nothing up on his screen. Whaaaat? Nothing, he said. He could not even confirm that Grandma and I are on the flight out of Istanbul. I protested that I had paid extra through Delta. He suggested that I contact Delta. I told him that I had already done so and had been told to contact Air France. It all went nowhere. In a mild panic, I wrote to the very nice church travel woman in SLC asking for some help. But it was too early in the day for her to be at her desk. So I poked around an Air France website. I typed in my number from Delta and voila! I found myself looking at a screen with our reservations listed on it. Just as I had hoped. And something else. The confirmation numbers for the Air France flight were different from those that Delta gave us. Why am I not surprised? But all seems to be ok. For the moment.

It has begun. My throat treatment, that is. In my return to my ear, nose, and throat doctor, he sprayed a mist into my mouth before looking at my throat. Oh my goodness. Oh My Goodness! It tasted awful. I was ready to spit out the whole thing. But it was only the anesthetic. My tongue went numb pretty fast. Then he proceeded to take a movie of my throat with his camera poking through my right nostril. Afterward, he proclaimed that he would give me two botox shots in the right side of my throat when I go for my treatment. He also talked a lot about my right "false" vocal chord, a piece of tissue that sticks out past my normal right vocal chord. Talk about growing stuff I never knew I had. More to come.

Thursday Grandma and I went to the city of Denizli where five Iranian members reside. We took non-perishable foods to a single man and to a couple with a two-year old boy who fell and broke some teeth the day before, his two-year birthday. We also carried some rent money. The husband was the one set upon by a drunk man at a gasoline station more than a month ago and is undergoing physical therapy for his injured arm. The thirteen-hour day was easily offset by the feeling that we had genuinely helped someone.

The Area President and his wife and small entourage arrived yesterday in our fair city for a seminar. It turns out that he was in the terry cloth business at one time and came regularly to Denizli which is a major manufacturing center for such items. Who would have thought?

In our Sacrament Meeting today, the opening prayer was in Hungarian and the closing prayer was in Russian. In between, the service was conducted in Turkish with an English translation and the talks were given in English with Turkish translations. What is more, the talks were from the Area President and his wife. They are in town for a special event during the coming week. Their talks were clear, simple, and carried important messages about how to stay connected with the Lord. Because we welcomed a group of seven from Moscow, including our main speakers, our numbers hit 37 for the meeting — 24 in the hotel room and 13 joining by Skype. I mark it down as our largest crowd so far. After enjoying a notable Testimony Meeting last week, we basked in an intense light again as one of the Lord’s anointed spoke in our meeting. And the reactivated sister who gave the Sunday School lesson was superb. I thought that this Sunday we would see a baptism. Next week it is to happen.

My first counselor almost swallowed his tongue this morning when he learned that he would be conducting our Sacrament Meeting that would feature a General Authority who is a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. You can imagine that a good two-thirds of our branch presidency meeting was taken up in discussing just how to proceed during the meeting. One of the important points had to do with how to sustain a person whom I had called to be a Primary teacher. My counselor had never asked for a sustaining vote in a meeting, though he had put up his hand when needed to sustain someone in a prior branch or ward. Another point was that a conducting officer never says anything after a General Authority speaks. About all a person can do is say thank you and then announce the closing hymn and prayer. That is exactly what my counselor did. So the lessons were learned. He will do fine. I just have to be patient.

By the way, our Area President was taken by our Skype outreach to people who live at a big distance. Our success in this area really interested him. In Russia, some branches are as far from each other as Chicago and Salt Lake City, with only five or six active members. He was curious about how and whether we can ask distant people to participate in our meetings. (We can.) He wondered how they receive the sacrament. (If they can hear the prayers, they can partake.) He was impressed with Grandma's ability to make her speaker work with her iPhone to produce the music that we sing for our hymns. For him, attending our branch was a mini education about how to bring in those who are far from a branch headquarters.

This kind of outreach will all improve with time. It has to. Our Iranian members cannot get permission to attend meetings as long as the state of emergency is still in effect. So it is imperative that we find a means to connect.

I love you and pray for you all.

Grandpa Brown

#139 "Please Thank Your Ward Clerks" (By Grandma)

Dear Family,

I’m sure you are all sitting by your computer anxiously awaiting our latest news.  When we return we will give you all a quick quiz to see how carefully you have read our emails/blog.  We actually have no idea who reads our blog.  Julianne has been our agent in this matter, and we appreciate her making it available to all of you who really want to know about our lives. 

We have been here for twenty two Fast Sundays.  Today is the first time that dad has NOT conducted that meeting.  His new counselor conducted the meeting in Turkish.  An elder stood by his side and translated it for us English speakers.  He did a great job.  A newly baptized young man passed the sacrament.  The testimonies were very nice.  One investigator bore his testimony about the BofM and how it speaks to him.  He quoted a passage.  One new member also bore his testimony and quoted another part of the BofM that spoke to him.  Both of these men are Turks.  A German sister bore her testimony and her 6 year old daughter also did.  They live in a distant city and are usually with us on Skype.  A newly baptized 11 year old gave the closing prayer in Turkish.  She is Ukrainian/Turkish.  An Iranian woman bore her testimony over Skype.  One of the Elders could translate her Farsi.  All of this is amazing to me.  People have begun to come out of the woodwork.  The elders have done an excellent job.  And our new Hungarian family weren’t even there to add to our numbers. 

The room was full… 20 people there and a bunch on Skype. 

On the first and third Sundays we have Priesthood/RS.  We have to rent another room in the hotel for this.  The German sister taught RS today.  She tried to translate the lesson into Turkish.  She has a Turkish husband and speaks some Turkish.  But it was too hard for her, so she gave the lesson mainly in English and our YA translated it into Turkish for her.  The German sister has two daughters.  One daughter is a HUGE challenge.  I think she is about 3.  She likes to have 200% of her mother’s attention.  I tried to distract her while her mother was teaching by doing origami birds with her.  It helped a little.  They came to our house for dinner afterwards.  The 3 year old didn’t want anything we were eating (waffles).  But later she saw a jar of skittles and wanted some of them.  The members of this family were very sick a couple of weeks ago, and Kent and an Elder went to their city to administer to them.  It was a 13 hour day for them.  Everyone in the family is in good health now. 

Dad mentioned that we have lots of visitors in our apartment.  At one point it got to be too much for me, so we asked the elders to not come between 6-7 each evening.  They have respected that, and we can usually now have dinner.  I often invited them for dinner because they were here, but I didn’t really have enough food.  They are often here for lunch though.  We are not a mission area where the elders get invited to homes for meals.  Now and then it happens, but very rarely.  They have long distances to travel to return to their own apartments to prepare their own meals.  I imagine they eat out a lot.  The local food is pretty inexpensive for them.  I do notice that some are HUGE eaters.  So when they eat here I dish up the food and then let them have extras after that. 

You father has done very well as a presiding church leader here.  He seems to handle all the twists and turns that arise in an emerging church area.  He gives wonderful talks, he is very gracious to everyone.  But he does have his vulnerabilities.  In his church positions he has always had clerks, executive secretaries, etc.  But he “gets” to be everything here.  Most recently a young elder was called to be Branch Clerk. That should help.  But prior to that he’s done all the finances, reports, etc.  He had to open bank accounts, deposit funds, withdraw funds, hand-create tithing settlement receipts, etc. 

The Area has now instituted IMOS for Turkey.  Dad went to Istanbul to be trained.  He took his counselor who is quite tech-saavy with him.  They gave them a large PC and printer to haul back to Izmir for IMOS.  That counselor was deported shortly after the training.  That left Dad, the un-tech-saavy person, with the boxed computer and printer.  He delayed as long as he could in opening the box.  (2 months) We had to purchase a table for it.  It now sits in our dining room.  We set up the computer and when dad tried to log-in nothing worked.  I looked at his notes, and we found a work-around.  Then he brought in his clerk and he couldn’t log-in.  Then someone from the Russia office said they’d come to Istanbul to help everyone but everyone had to bring their PC’s to Istanbul.  Dad was really excited about that!  But then the Russian guy got sick and didn’t come to Istanbul.  So we took the computer out of the suitcase.  This is not a small PC. 

This week someone from Russia (our Ares) called dad to help walk him through the process of logging on.  He spoke to dad for one hour while he was standing on a cold street corner.  He called back the next morning when dad had the young elder here.  When he failed to help him, he told dad to call SLC and get help.  Dad said he didn’t have international calling and couldn’t do it.  The young elder was also part of this conversation.  They worked and worked at it and finally got him into the program.  They were also able to add the young elder as a clerk.   IMOS has all membership records, finances, etc.  And of course Dad is finding lots of misspellings in the membership records that he is trying to correct.  And if you are still reading this, it goes on and one.  Please give the ward clerks of the church your thanks for saving people like your father from near annihilation. 

And his cell phone also has a mind of its own.  It shuts off for no reason, drops calls, etc.  It really makes your dad happy.  He may have been happier if the computer world didn’t evolve during his lifetime.  But then I guess it would have been harder for him to write 1,100 pages about Luke.

We were saddened at the passing of Joel’s father this week.  His service will be next Friday.  WE had the opportunity of visiting with his father when we visited Colorado.  One time he picked me up at the airport when I went for the birth of a baby.  He will be very much missed by his family.

We expect the elders shortly.  I have some cold waffles I’ll give them if they are hungry. 

I hope you are all doing well.  WE love hearing from you.

Love,

Mother

#138 "Bunches of YV's" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

The other SV couples who serve in Central Eurasia usually see the YVs who serve in their areas about once or twice per week, usually for a meal, or a lesson with an investigator or two. In our case, well, it is more like ten or a dozen times per week. Or more. Last week there were fifteen meetings in our apartment. One pair working with Farsi speakers would like three evenings per week for two Skype lessons each evening. You see, the Farsi speakers who are talking to each other about the Church, and enthusing one another, live about 250 miles from here. And that means lessons by Skype. The YVs are trying to take things slowly. But even in slow motion, the demand even for a reduced number of lessons almost exceeds their capacity to keep up. And our capacity too. We have set the six o’clock hour as our dinner hour. And our YVs are being good about respecting our wishes.

That said, twice this past week we found two pair in our apartment at the same time because we scheduled one on top of the other. Once, I was working on the Church’s record system (MLS) with the YV who serves as our branch clerk. His companion was studying. Then another pair showed up for a Skype session with an investigator. So one pair was in our living room with me and we sent the other two into our bedroom. In a second instance, I had written on our calendar the meeting of one pair but not the meeting of the other pair. So they came within a few minutes of each other. Talk about bad timing! Again, one went into the living room with a laptop and the other went into our bedroom with the iPad. Only one evening during the past week was clear of meetings or gatherings of some sort. That would be Monday. But the perceived inconvenience to us is working wonders in the lives of those on the receiving end of the YVs’ lessons.

It's about time for me to go in for a procedure on my voice. I surely do not look forward to the experience. The two prior occasions left me a bit smashed, to say the least. I am to call the doctor's assistant in his local office for a pre-procedure appointment. (Fat chance because she speaks no English and I speak minimal Turkish.) Then he will schedule me for a hospital experience. And an experience it will be. More later, I am sure. I just have to expect a sore throat for a few days. Don't cry for me. He has not yet charged me anything for these voice fixings. Except for the regular doctor's visit. Those run about a hundred dollars a pop.

Several months ago I wrote to the family organization of the man who ordained me a high priest, Jesse Stay. Graciously, a granddaughter wrote back. With her help, a member of the family sent to me the priesthood lineage of this man. Then I learned that I could write to church headquarters for my priesthood lineage, knowing Brother Stay’s full name. So I did. I received the document within two weeks, as I recall. Because I have been the one who ordained two of our new converts to the Aaronic Priesthood, I have been happy to hand to each of these brethren my priesthood lineage, which is now their priesthood lineage. It was a rewarding moment for me to share that piece of paper with the two of them.

We did not touch our record for attendance today (33 on December 11, 2016). But we were close. 30 people were with us, 20 in the hotel room and 10 joining by Skype for our Fast and Testimony meeting. From those who bore testimony and participated in our services, we heard five languages — Turkish, Farsi, German, Russian, and English. (The closing prayer was in Russian.) The whole of our Fast Meeting was conducted in Turkish, with English translation for the few who don’t speak the language of the country. That is as it should be. Heading in the direction of Turkish only in our services, with a courteous translation into English when needed. It is working wonderfully for our Farsi-speaking YV to step to the laptop while people are still with us by Skype and to give to the Iranian church members a synopsis of what was said during our meeting.

One of our German sisters from Bodrum was in town for our church services. She had been asked by our Relief Society President to give the lesson because the President was to be out of the country. Our German sister and her non-member husband and two daughters came. This sister also needed to renew her temple recommend. So my Turkish- and Russian-speaking counselor gave her the interview that a member of the branch presidency can give for a recommend renewal. That was so that I could interview her later in my role as a member of the mission presidency, giving her the needed two signatures. At the end, my counselor said in his halting English, "It’s the first interview for me." For him and for her, the experience went well. I equipped him with the temple questions in Turkish and I saw that she had the questions in English, a language that she speaks very well. She also knows Turkish to a rather competent level. So they got along fine in the interview. I just made sure that they sat in a room with a table between them. Proper protocol. Putting one piece at a time into its place inside the branch.

I love you and pray for you all.

Grandpa Brown