We have 413 more days left. I guess the good news is, I haven't looked at my counter app for several weeks. So the time is passing.
We have had a flurry of activity in our little neck of the woods. Often we have nothing particular scheduled for the day and stuff just happens. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is a pain. We spend much more time than previously doing such things as paying utility bills. We have to hand-walk them to a payment center. And, of course, they never come at the same time, so we make 3-4 trips.
We have patiently been awaiting our wifi. We still don't have it. So we have to whittle little bits of time on our hotspot.
Now and then I have to spend money on something. Things here are usually less expensive than at home. The way I justify an expense is thinking of what one trip to Costco would cost and go from there. I can actually do a lot of things here for the cost of one trip to Costco. Food is relatively inexpensive if you eat the way the natives do. But if you want luxury items like peanut butter, you have to give it more thought.
We participated in 3 baptisms in October. I wrote about the first last week. It began with a drenching rainy day, and ended with a beautiful sunny seaside baptism. Yesterday we had 2 baptisms that dad performed. The father of the children took us out to sea on his boat to a thermal pool where the baptism was performed. Dad didn't even get chilled. We had a nice service on the ship and thought of the miracle of all of this coming together. It was a long day for us. The event took place in a far away city.
Today a member of the branch said that the coming of Elder B had brought new life to the area and to him personally. He said he very much needed answers to gospel questions and someone with insights. At times I've listened to your father talk to him and thought he was talking his ear off. But evidently this man reveres everything he says, and appreciates his knowledge. As you know dad can expound on almost everything.
I assume you all know about Mary and Martha in the scriptures. I think about that story a lot, and often there are debates about which is more valiant, etc. I have decided that I am "a Martha", and that is okay. I like doing things behind the scenes, but I don't enjoy being in charge, and I'm even restless at too much seriousness. Dad and I seem to be able to work like that. He says the profound things, and I help him when his computer crashes. He has Branch Presidency meeting and I make Halloween treats in the kitchen. He takes Turkish classes, and I crochet hotpads. You didn't know I did that did you? We both shop for food. He has cold feet, I have warm feet.
But I have had to learn to shower like he does. As I mentioned we have a tiny step-down shower with nothing mounted on the wall. So it is like shampooing a dog when you take a shower. But I've learned how to do that, and I'm actually coming out rather clean. I would like to soak in a bathtub with a novel again, but I guess I'll have to wait 413 days for that.
We'll go to Istanbul at least twice in November. Elder H is coming this week-end and we will have a Mission Conference. The Durhams will come a week later, and Louise is also coming and they will spend a couple of days with us, and then Cole is responsible for some sort of Religious Conference in Istanbul.
We have enjoyed having two elders arrive our city, the first since the apostle Paul. They are actually outstanding and very independent. Currently they are in a hotel, and we are trying to find a reasonably price apartment for them. We have invited them to dinner a couple of times. We pretend they are our grandsons. And we fed them pomengranets tonight. I thought I needed Rose to help prepare them. I made chicken soup with barley. They ate 3 loaves of bread.
I hope you are all well. Take care of one another.
Love,
Mother
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