I assume you are all
living a peaceful life and everything is going great... not challenges, no
stresses, no strifes. I know that all the children are getting A's in
school, all YA's are getting raises at their jobs, all the parents have model
children, and that economic security abounds. I know that the minor
repairs that you have to take care of must be exciting for you like a broken
water heater, a broken computer and other appliances. And I know
you must all be basking in the sunshine. Are you all in Arizona?
We have had a very busy week. We flew to Kazakhstan and were
gone from our apartment for 76 hours. Out of those 76 hours we probably
spent 46 hours travelling. Kazakhstan is far away - 3 time zones from
Turkey. We visited two cities: Astana and Almaty.
Dad gave a fireside in branches in both cities. The language
spoken there is Russian and Kazakhi. Both of his talks were translated
into Russian. He basically spoke about the three apostles who spent time
in Turkey: Peter, John, and Paul. I thought he did a good job, and
the audience seemed receptive. There were several investigators in both
groups. They had treats afterwards. One of the elders made banana
cookies that I thought were very good.
It was interesting to
visit these two branches. We spent time with a senior couple in each
city. Both of them go home about the same time we do, and there are no
replacements on the horizon. There are currently 12 missionaries
(volunteers) in this country, including 4 sister missionaries.
They were able to tell us
all about their experiences. We are grateful we are in Izmir. But
they do have more members to work with than we do in Izmir.
Kazakhi are a very
distinctive-looking people. I actually think the women are very
beautiful. We had met some of them at the YSA Conference in July.
They were part of the Soviet Union at one time, and strongly resemble
Mongolians. In addition to the Kazakhis there were a number of expats
there. Some are associated with State Department, and some with other
entities like a University.
We stayed in two different
hotels... Just one night in each hotel. In our last hotel, the hot water
didn't work. We didn't realize that until about 9:30 at night. I
called the front desk. They sent the final repair man at 11:00 PM.
We were already in bed. It worked for a few minutes, but when we
got up in the morning at 1:45, it was not working. So no hot showers.
We caught a taxi to the airport and began our looooong journey home. The
hotel prepared a box lunch for us. The box lunch had some veggies, two
fried eggs on top of them, no utensils and no napkin. I picked up the egg
in my fingers and stuffed the whole thing in my mouth. Yumm.... We also
received breakfast on the airplane, so we were not without sustenance.
When we arrived at one
city the "taxi" driver who took us to our hotel at 4:00 AM said it
was 37,000 tenge. That is about $118.00. We were astounded, and
refused to pay. We knew that the going rate was 2-4000 tenge. He was
a rogue taxi driver who said it was 1,000 Tenge per kilometer. I got out of the
taxi and said I'd go to the hotel front desk and have them settle it for us.
But eventually dad gave him $20.00 and we went on our way. When we
returned the next morning to the airport we paid 2,000 tenge for the trip.
We had arranged for a taxi from the Sr Couple there. Quite a
difference!
One of the Sr couples fell
and broke her arm when she arrived in Kazakhstan. It is understandable
because all the sidewalks are covered by ice for about 8 months of the year.
They aren't salted, nor cleared. Some of the members wear a blade
over their shoes, like an ice skate. We slipped a few times, but didn't
totally go down. It was cold, but I had my parka.
We had a record number of
people in church today. 22!!!! As you know I take treats each
Sunday. I wondered if I would have enough. I'd made my trusty rice
krispy treats, with cocoa puffs. Everyone could have one. So I
worry if we only have a few, and I worry if we have too many for my treats.
Will I every be happy? Well, yes.... in a few months when I see you
all again!!!!
Two of the YVs are
currently in our living room doing their gospel study. They did a skype
lesson earlier... had dinner with us... and will have a skype lesson later.
They are two very sharp YVs, and I enjoy having them around. One of
them knows how to do dishes and does them. His companion knows how to
wipe a few items.
We've had five YVs here
for about a month. One was transferred away last week, and the other two
will get their own apartment tomorrow. So they should all have a lot more
space. It should be interesting to have them in two distinct areas now in
Izmir. I think it was feeling pretty crowded for five of them to be in
the same apartment. Doing the wash, preparing meals and showering was a
challenge. Evidently they do not share meals, so that is a problem.
I do hope you are all
doing well. I love you.
Mom
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