#101 Cappadocia (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

Cappadocia is not a name that really catches your attention unless you are a devotee of the first epistle of Peter in the New Testament where the place is mentioned in the first verse, along with a bunch of other places in Asia Minor (now Turkey; see also Acts 2:9). This name has stuck whereas the others in that verse have not. The region is not really very large and sits on a high plateau. Its main claims to fame are two. First, it features stone towers formed by erosion of a region originally covered by mud and igneous rock from a couple of long extinct volcanoes. Second, ancient inhabitants created both residences in cliff faces and underground places of retreat by digging into the soft rock, creating food storage bins and worship areas and a fresh air vent along with spaces for sleeping and living. Evidently, no fires were allowed in these spaces except in a communal kitchen because of the risk of detection from rising smoke. Some of those who fled into these man-made caves were ninth and tenth century Christians trying to get away from bands of marauders or foreign armies that tramped across this part of the world. I decided that this was not a happy way to live.

We went to Cappadocia on a two-day package tour. Now you know my interest in bringing this place to your attention. The first day began rather bumpily when we got up in our Istanbul hotel at 3:15 a.m. for a 3:45 pickup. Our flight left at 5:55. Ouch. We traveled with the two senior couples who are serving in Istanbul. For one couple, it was the first real P-day (actually, two of them stuck together) that they had enjoyed since coming last March. For two days we enjoyed visiting natural and human creations. Among the most impressive of the human creations were churches carved into the rock, complete with frescoes of biblical scenes painted on the walls. In the intervening centuries, the faces portrayed in many of these scenes have been damaged by zealous adherents of another faith that forbids the picturing of human forms and by those who believed that, by taking a bit of paint from these walls and stirring it in water, they could drink the resulting potion for good health or for producing children or for any number of other noble purposes.

Grandma will have a few things to say about our visit to Cappadocia, perhaps including the uninviting character of the carpet in our hotel room there and the leaky and occasionally non-functioning toilet. Yes, all of that. We were told that the cost of our room did not include dinner at the hotel, but it did. It was a so-called cave hotel, which means a lot of its rooms are built into the rock or into old caves (the backs of the caves, of course, are not visible; a wall has been erected over the stone of the caves). One of the couples moved out of their first room, a cave room, and into one that stood above ground. Too much mildew for them. Ours was ok on that score except for the mold in the bathtub. It seems that a selling point for visitors is offering them an opportunity of staying in a cave hotel. It didn't make much difference to me. More news on our YVs will come to you next week.

When I was in graduate school, I learned about the three famous Cappadocian Fathers, men whose written works in the fourth century AD shaped a lot of Christian doctrine and practice, especially monastic practice, after their time. But I had no clear idea what the term Cappadocian really meant in our discussions of those days. Now at least I have a visual sense for the general area where these men lived and wrote. It has taken almost fifty years to put the name and the place together. I’m a little slow, one might fairly observe.

We finally held it. The branch activity at the sea, that is. On Saturday. Planning for this activity has skipped all over the summer calendar, with one date and then another, all pushed to the side by something that came up, or would potentially come up. People could come and then couldn’t come. Others, refugees, could not even leave the cities where they resided. Through the generosity of one of our members who owns a condo near the Aegean sea coast, we got eleven of us together for a visit to the sea shore and some good food for an afternoon. It was wonderful. And even the cold water of the sea felt alright after the first thirty seconds. But those thirty seconds were pretty intense.

Sixteen were in our sacrament meeting today, eight in the rented room and eight joining by Skype. I find an immovable core of Skype attenders, including an investigator couple. They are wonderful. I am grateful for their continued faithfulness each week. The most important event to report is the sustaining and setting apart of a branch Priesthood Leader and a branch Relief Society President. Never mind that there are only eight potential priesthood holders and eight sisters who fit within their new stewardships. We have finally taken the needed step toward regularizing things like Sunday classes and home and visiting teaching. These may seem like small, baby steps, but for our branch these are major steps. It took a couple moving here from Europe to allow us to go forward with these callings. We are happy for their presence among us.

I love you and pray for all of you.

Grandpa Brown

#100 Another Sunday... 206 Days???? ... who's counting? (By Grandma)

The weeks and days all see to blur together.  And by the time I begin to write about the week, it seems like it was forever ago.

First, thank you for your notes and emails.  We love hearing from you.  We are happy to see some photos of prom goers.  Gone are the layers and layers of netting for prom dresses.  We hear Snoopy was fantastic.  We hear that Russell has gone to his hometown to recuperate.  Heather finished first draft of Ruth.  We get to be beta readers.  Shoshauna had a mad moment at Costco.  Hello Sam's Club!  Julianne has another 12 year old.  Tanner wrote a wonderful email to his grandpa.  Scott tried to pass off a prior newsy email as the current one.... but caught himself, just in time.   All of your lives are amazingly busy.  We hope you can feel the tug of heaven as you work through all your challenges and activities.

We spent one night and two days in Cappadocia with two other Senior couples.  Both couples live in Istanbul and are delightful company.  I became the travel agent and booked our trip through a company I found on-line.  It included a pick-up (at 3:45 AM) from our hotel.  So we stayed one night in Istanbul to get the pick-up.  Our hotel was close to a couple's apartment, so we were all picked up nearby.  We had to join the others in Istanbul and then fly to Cappadocia.  As you know we have been to some very exotic places, but this may be the most amazing place I've seen.  Who would have known it even existed?  When we brought 4 of you to Turkey 30 years ago we didn't go here  But I imagine it would have been like Death Valley in July.  It was pleasant in September.  

We had a guide and a van for just the six of us.  It was perfect.  The guide asked if any of us were claustrophobic.  I thought about it.  Last time I went into the Great Pyramid, I vowed that I'd never go to a place like that again.  And some of the caves in Israel were very confining.  But I decided I wouldn't be claustrophobic for this adventure.  

The Cappadocians/Christians basically lived in caves and built underground cities for miles and miles.  It is a huge area.  We went into one underground city and went down four levels, seeing living quarters, storage facilities, sleeping areas, burial areas, etc.  It was well lighted and not as bad as the pyramids.  Our hotel was actually a cave hotel as are many of the hotels in the area.  Many people still live in cave-like dwellings.  They have built onto them, but still live in caves.  The Cappadocians basically were hiding from the Romans.  The caves have easily been carved out of the rock formations in the area.  And wind and rain erosion have also made beautiful structures.

We've flown a lot lately.  And unfortunately the airline we fly on has the exact same meal for each flight.... a scrunched melted cheese sandwich and your choice of drink.  We had two flights coming home from Cappadocia.... two scrunched melted cheese sandwiches, yuk!   

We heard some GREAT news this week.  We received an email from the MP yesterday and he said the YVs will return to Turkey next week.  (They have been in Germany about 2/1/2 months) So we get to fly to Istanbul to greet them and have some meetings.  We will get the same 4 YVs back in Izmir.  That will be great!  We have really suffered with their absence.  This week there were 8 of us in the room, and next week we'll have 12 easily.  The future looks bright for Izmir.

In addition, the BP (your dad) called a woman to be RS President.  She just moved in, is 8 months pregnant, and was a RS President in Hungary before they moved here.  They'll be here for 3 years.  Her husband will work for NATO.  They are super active, enthusiastic members.  This will be their first child.  They appear to be their late 30's.  We have not had RS at all.  So now we'll have one week of RS/Priesthood and one week of SS.  We have Sacrament Meeting every week.  We have 10-15 still viewing on Skype.  

We had a branch social yesterday.  It was at a member's summer home at the beach.  It was a fun activity, but took lots of planning and turned out to be a "bad" week-end for some.  Dad kept arranging and rearranging the transportation.  We have to hire a driver and a van or a bus, the potential numbers kept changing.  In the end there were only 11 of us.  Five were non-members.  An activity like that would have been enhanced if the elders were there.  Next time!!!!

We have a busy October coming.  We already know of three trips to Istanbul.  One of the flight attendants asked dad if he travelled a lot.  She recognized him.  

Our next big "chore" is to figure out how to get our Branch members... up to 35 of them... to Istanbul for a District Conference in October.  This includes airline reservations and hotel reservations.  Help!  The herding cats analogy is very adept.  

Have a great week.

Love,

Mother

#99 "Driving, Driving" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

Last Wednesday, we went east to Denizli, a drive of over 250 kilometers. We went to hold a Sacrament Meeting with a couple from Iran who, with their young son, are refugees waiting for help from the United Nations to move to a different place. We also wanted to include another Iranian fellow who joined the Church last March. The three form the core of Iranian church members in that city. Before we went to the couple’s apartment, we visited with a Turkish church member whose family home is in this city. He lived in our fair city last school year as he finished his college degree. After leaving him, we picked up the church brother who hails from Iran and drove to the couple’s apartment, expecting to see them and a pair of friends who have been joining our church services each Sunday by Skype. To our utter surprise, we were greeted by a house full of other guests. One is the mother of the sister, another is a sister to our sister, and four others are friends, including a couple who just arrived three days ago. The four friends expressed openly their interest in learning more about the Church.

After a very nice lunch, we held a short Sacrament Meeting for the thirteen of us in the apartment. I invited the two Iranian brothers who hold the priesthood to bless the sacrament. (I had brought the sacramental prayers in Farsi, whose script looks like Arabic.) I then asked the three Iranian members to tell briefly why they had joined the Church. Graciously, each told a short story of his or her conversion. Then matters became really interesting. Brother Y. and I were informed that three of those in the room needed blessings. The young son, who is just shy of his second birthday, has been sick and is suffering from a bothersome tooth. By the time we blessed him, he was asleep in his mother’s arms. The member sister underwent an appendectomy more than two weeks ago and has still not recovered her strength. In addition, she said, she wanted a blessing that she and her family would be allowed to go to America. The sister’s mother, the third person, suffers pain in her right leg, from her foot to her knee. One of the culprits is arthritis. Before we began, Brother Y. and the Iranian Melchizedek Priesthood holder consecrated oil for the blessings. It was an important moment for these people to witness. Then Brother Y., the Iranian brother, and I began. After each blessing, which I uttered in English, I summarized what I had said to the sister’s sister who speaks both English and Farsi. She was then able to tell each recipient, and the others in the room, what I had said in my summary. Though I was surprised by the request, I was glad for the opportunity that this moment offered to the three of us who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood. Later, Brother Y. said of our experience, "It was truly one of my greatest ‘Mormon Moments’ ever, and I have had a few."

Yesterday, Saturday, we repeated the venture all over again, this time to a different city (Bodrum) and with Grandma sitting in the back seat where the sun poured in on her. Of course, we went to a different home. This time we met the two sisters from Germany and their children. Naturally, I was happy when the two three year olds climbed onto my lap (see the accompanying photos). Because the children had been waiting for us so that they could eat lunch, we began with a delicious meal. In a message to their mothers a couple of weeks ago, I had asked the two six-year-olds (one in each family) to talk during our Sacrament Meeting . They were prepared and each spoke in German. I was proud of them. Then the requests came. Each of the mothers wanted a blessing. Like "a father’s blessing" that they had received as young women. I gave one of the blessings, Brother Y. the other. I sensed that one of the sisters needed the blessing more than the other. If the Lord respects our words, the two women will receive wonderful gifts from a divine Father. I knew through their words and facial expressions that they were grateful for our visit and attention to their families. God bless them!

From a season’s low of four people in our hotel room last Sunday for the branch’s sacrament meeting (Grandma and I were in Gaziantep), we jumped to six today. A fifty percent increase. Not bad. With the thirteen who joined us by Skype, we hit nineteen, a very respectable number. We hope to see our YVs back fairly soon. They will make a difference in our attendance since they always seem to gather a person or two to bring to our services. Our new couple from Hungary will make a big difference in our branch leadership and participation. They have already invited us to a house warming after they move into their new apartment. They do not seem to sit still, a characteristic that will serve them well while they are members of this branch.

I love you and pray for each of you.

Grandpa Brown

#98 The Shelley Dance (Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

It is the rarity of rarities. What other family has a member who wants to buy a theater? And then acts on her impulse? Then enlists the aid of a bunch of friends and others to help clean and spif up the place, arranging for financing along the way? Then she and her husband work hard to ready the place for an important open house? And days later introduces the first "family friendly" performance on the stage, "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown"? (And she had no idea that her Grandpa Brown had at one time been known as Charlie Brown when he was a student in California?) Bravo, Nashelle! We could not be prouder and happier for you! A tour de force. 

All of last week, it seems, was aimed at the past weekend. We had to prepare. Grandma was getting ready to interview a few pioneers, one in Istanbul and another two in Gaziantep. I was getting ready for a fireside in Istanbul and a series of events tied to our planned district conference next month. Then came the days. 

We flew to Istanbul on Friday where we met other SVs, Grandma going initially to get her feet upgraded and I to visit a couple of hotels to see their meeting spaces. Why hotels? Because we don't have any space big enough among our meeting facilities in the country. We don't expect a huge crowd -- perhaps 140 or so. But it will be big enough to cause us to plan well. (Isn't that exciting to learn about? It is for me because I have been leading the discussions on the planned conference in Turkey and -- can you believe it? -- for some of what we will do in Kazakhstan.)

Our travel and rest day was Saturday which ended with us hosting the branch president and his wife and two daughters for dinner in Gaziantep at a very busy restaurant. 

Sunday was a different experience. Grandma and I were on the proverbial hot spot. In the sacrament meeting, she talked about patriarchal blessings, a timely subject in light of the fact that at least seven members of the branch had received such a blessing fewer than two weeks ago. She did a really nice job. Then it was my turn. 

I had toyed with a talk on how Joseph Smith kept the plates safe during the last months of 1827, after receiving them from the Angel Moroni and before going off to Emma's parents' home in December so that he could begin to work at a translation. During those months it was a tremendous job to keep the plates hidden and to keep all the people at bay who wanted a peek at the plates, including his own family. (I did learn that his sister Catherine was the first person to heft the plates besides her older brother.)  

But Grandma urged me to tell a simple story. So I went with the tried and true story of Jeremiah and his crisis of faith when the huge Scythian Calvary came toward Jerusalem in seeming fulfillment of his prophetic message that a force from the north would sweep down upon the city and punish it for its sins. 

And then it was my turn to teach a Sunday School lesson on preparing for the temple, which many branch members are doing. I asked a lot of questions and most answers came from the youth from ten to twenty years of age. (You see the ten-year old in the accompanying photograph.)

Tomorrow we head toward Istanbul again for an important meeting before swinging south to our fair city again where we will do some wash before heading out to see some members of our branch who live a far distance from us. All part of a week's work, right?

I love you and pray for each of you. 

Grandpa Brown

#97 "Slow" (By Grandma)

Dear Family,

This was a pretty slow week.  Dad has piles of stuff to do for the Branch and the District.  But most of it does not involve me.  Without the missionaries here, my life has slowed considerably.  You’d think that as I get older, I’d like the slow pace…  But not this slow.  BTW.... I do do some indexing in my "spare" time.  

So I think about all the activities you are involved in and wish we could be helping out.  I wonder how all the activities in Vernal are going.  Nashelle has bitten off a huge chunk to begin a theater.  I hope the Open House went well.  Larissa posted herself with a big ComicCom character.  Heather sent us a clip of Kara playing Volleyball.  We miss seeing her.  Raynelle sends us regular messages on the i-pad and reports on the bathroom remodeling project.  Larissa and Tanner both had birthdays.  We miss Cassidy’s games.  I hear that Tanner spends a lot of time trying to find a parking spot at college.  When I was his age I walked miles and miles in snowstorms to school.  Kaelin still posts about his fish.  Karilynne spends most of her time lounging in a hammock because things are so quiet in Vernal.  Not!.  Julianne wishes she had more cars.  They only have five, but they need a few spares while others are being repaired.  Heather and “Ruth” are becoming BFF and her newest book is out.    Shoshauna loves taking 3 graduate classes while working full-time and managing other activities.  Scott and Jill are busy teaching dating etiquette to Josh prior to the Prom. 

And Mom and Dad.  What are we doing?  I decided we need a P-day.  Dad has already written it up.  I searched for a place to travel to that we had not been to.  I found the perfect beach town.  This country really has wonderful beaches.  You just have to travel a bit to get to them.  I had to search the internet for a while to find a transportation mode.  I finally found one, and it was almost free.  We arrived at a distant city and booked an island tour which included lunch.  People take these trips to swim.  Of course we had not brought swimwear.  The boat stopped at four spots for swimming in beautiful clear water.  This is the Aegean Sea.  We had a nice lunch on board.  Dad and I lounged around for about six hours on this boat.  Dad did get to swim because the boat owner loaned him some trunks.  He didn’t offer to loan me any.  As dad mentioned our return trip was very lengthy.  As I was sitting in the back of the bus on one leg of the journey I remembered our first trip to Turkey with four children.  Their memory was it was hot and stinky.  This bus was VERY hot, and I was melting.  After about an hour on this bus, we got off and were able to get on the metro.  I’ll never go that route again.

Oh ye of little faith…. I always get stress prior to Sunday services.  I worry that no one will show up.  I have such empathy for parts of the world with few members.  But so far we have had people attending.  This week-end we will be gone… and I worry about our little branch.  Dad has a counselor, but we all help out a lot during the meeting.  Dad blessed and passed the sacrament today.  There were six in the room.  It included a new couple from Hungary.  They are moving here.  She is 7 months pregnant.  He will be working for NATO.  They come from wards and stakes in Hungary.  They seem enthusiastic to be a part of us.  We invited them to dinner, but they seem to be all booked up for a couple of weeks.  They are currently staying in a hotel untill they can find an apartment.  We need the elders back!!!

So, I now have a Fitbit, whatever that is.  Any advice?

Love,

Mother

#96 "The Week That Slowed" (By Grandpa)

Dear Grandchildren,

You can sense the lack of movement during a week when two of the highlights were a boat ride and a visit to a big vegetable market. But before we walk down those paths, let’s talk about another good moment. An important one.

Gary Browning, the traveling patriarch for this part of the earth, and I have been acquainted for almost sixty years. We showed up at BYU the same year (1958) and went on our missions about the same time, two or so years later. We became acquainted after our missions, in 1963. Following my mission, one of my roommates was studying Russian. So was Gary. In that matrix, I met him. But over the years we have had little to do with each other except an occasional contact on campus. He was a person to be admired. He had finished a Ph.D. at Harvard, he had become a linchpin in the university’s Russian studies program, he was called as the first mission president to serve in Russia (1990), and was widely respected among his colleagues. It was only through his arrival in Turkey that he and I really became acquainted with one another. The MP told me that, when Bro. Browning arrived in our part of the country, he would love to go to Ephesus. For some good reasons, that site is a very big draw for Latter-day Saints, and he was not exempted. For it is weighted by the earlier presence of two apostles from the Savior’s dispensation — Paul and John.

I had arranged for a guide, a driver, and a car. That way, we did not need to worry about how to get to our destination, by bus or by train or by some other means. We simply rode and enjoyed our conversation. Our guide was a fellow who spent a semester at Ricks College way back when. And at the site I inserted information where I thought it was appropriate. After going through the huge Ephesus site, we visited the basilica of St John where the massive remains of a sixth century church still stand, built over the place where John is said in tradition to be buried. (My guide friend said that archaeologists opened up the burial place and found nothing in it.) Naturally, I made it clear that John is buried nowhere. Rather he still lives on, as both ancient and modern scripture, as well as the Acts of John, affirm. In the end, Gary said that it had been a memorable day. We dropped him off at the airport for a flight to the next branch on his list and a half-dozen persons who were looking forward to their patriarchal blessings.

Thursday evening, after Grandma had spent a bunch of time on her church-issued laptop, she announced that we were going to the town of Focha (or Foça in the common spelling). There we would go on a boat trip for a few hours for some P-Day action. Fine, I thought. But the delight only grabbed me when we finally arrived in the town and made our way to the boats that take guests out onto the sea. It was about $15 for the trip, including a fish lunch. So we went. At the first inlet bay we stopped in, the owner of the boat explained that the burned out buildings we were looking at on the shore were once a Club Med resort. Hard to believe. But that is what he said. He loaned me a pair of swimming trunks and I ventured in. The water was pretty cold, but refreshing. Getting back home from Foça was another story. We took a mini-bus to the Metro stop, a trip of more than an hour in an overcrowded bus with no air conditioning and no open windows. Hoowee. Our seats slanted in such a way that we had to keep pushing ourselves onto them so that we did not end up on the floor. To say that we felt relieved when we climbed out of that bus is an understatement. By the time we walked into our apartment, we had been gone twelve hours.

The vegetable market is one that we have visited in the past. It sits in a city south of us in the direction of the airport. We sort of gave up going there four or so months ago after a couple of merchants insisted on making the choices of the goods we were buying. As a result, we ended up with some items that we had to throw away. So we went again, in a forgiving mood. For the most part, we were happy with our purchases this time, except for a suspicious hole in one of the tomatoes. The challenge is getting the stuff back to our apartment. The journey involves a fair walk to the Metro station, lugging the bags onto the train and settling them at our feet as we sit, carrying the bags to the bus stop, herding them onto the bus, yanking them off the bus, and hefting them to the apartment. But now we have a very nice supply of vegetables, and a couple of delicious fruits (grapes and a melon).

See, I told you that the end of the week was a little flat. The beginning with Gary Browning was superb.

We were fourteen in our fast and testimony meeting today. Six of us sat in our rented hotel room and the usual eight joined by Skype, including an investigator couple who speak Farsi. The big news is that we welcomed a couple into the branch from Hungary. He is now stationed here with NATO for the next three years. She is expecting a baby within a month and was formerly the Relief Society President in her ward. He is the former stake Young Men’s President. They are ready to serve, but must find an apartment soon. They will not live on the base (I don’t even know whether that is an option). Grandma and I are thrilled that they are here.

Let me add another dimension. Grandma and I have been talking for a long time that we need the Lord to send some help to our branch. (I think that she has also been praying for help.) Help arrived, of course, in the persons of our first two YVs last October and then the next two in July. They added a badly needed dimension. Then they were gone. To Germany where, we pray, they are able to make a big difference in their respective areas. Two nights ago, when we arrived back from the day on the sea, I found an email from a sister who said that she had obtained my contact information from one of our former YVs (this YV's friend is serving in Hungary). She wrote that she and her husband are staying in a hotel until they find a more permanent place to live. She wanted to know how to get to church meetings from their hotel. I gave her the name of our hotel where we meet. They were satisfied. When they walked into our meeting this morning, I was almost transfixed. They seemed happy to join us and she is expecting a baby within the month. They do ok with English, which helps me and Grandma. Most notably, they want to serve. So we shall soon find a way to put them to work in our little branch. They will be an important addition to our numbers. I, for one, am very grateful for their arrival.

I love you and pray for you all.

Grandpa Brown