#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