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 2nd 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
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