Dear Family,
Wow! This past week has been soooo busy. Last Monday night, we had the Young Single Adults at our apartment for Family Home Evening. There were 12 in attendance, which we were very happy about. Two young Elders directed the evening. They had one new young member give a short lesson, then they all played a fun game. They all seemed to really enjoy themselves. I had fixed a huge tray of cheeses, ham cut in squares, carrots, celery, and cucumbers and gave them those sticks like you kabobs on. They just kept getting what they wanted on the stick and all stood around the table. That's the way they do it here--no one sits down. They just all stand around the table and pick off the things they want, while eating and talking. It is pretty interesting! Then I had made lots of chocolate chip cookies and Texas sheet cake. I think the evening turned out to be a great success!
On Thursday, we had to make our monthly presentation to the Area Audit Committee, where Elder Golden of the Area Presidency presides. It is always such a nerve-wrecking thing to do because his time is so limited, so we work so hard to try to make it interesting and informative (as you can do with just lots of numbers! Hah!) George gives me all the directives and information, then I make the Power Point Presentation. We were so happy with how the meeting turned out. I believe we are getting more accustomed to what is expected and how to get it presented, then from there, how to problem solve.
Friday, we worked so long and hard to finalize all the presentation for five countries that we would be visiting. Every country has their own statistics and items that need to be addressed, as well as we have to make some with language differences. In addition, George had to line up the auditors, Branch Presidents, Mission Presidents, etc., in each country that we would be working with. Then, there was all the airline tickets and hotels for each country, going to and from. It was monumental! Whew! But, after really working on this for the last month, we felt ready to leave!
Saturday, we caught a taxi to the airport and left for Istanbul, Turkey. It has only just recently opened up to allow Americans back in.
(What a difference between the two climates--Moscow as we left and had to have the run-ways cleared and plane de-iced to Istanbul where there was beautiful green grass!)
We had our Turkey Visa ready to enter, and surprisingly enough, it went very well in getting there--however, there were so few booths going through the Passport Control, so we stood in huge lines for over an hour.
Then finding the luggage and finally getting outside was a miracle! We were thrilled when Kyle's Area Manager's best friend came to pick us up. We were like little kids seeing a parent when he found us! It made us so happy to have someone take over to get us where we needed to be. He was so kind to wait for us through all this time that we were in Passport Control--and he doesn't even work for Kyle! He is a friend of the man who does! That is truly a good person! Anyway, we bought him lunch--everything was a specialty from Turkey, and it was delicious.
Then he took us to our hotel--Wyndham Old TownIstanbul. We had asked to be close to the tourist sites so we could just walk from there, but being literally across a little narrow street from a Mosque was maybe a little too close! Hah! Calls to prayer happen five times a day, and we definitely admired those who adhere to that strict of praying when they hear that call! We were so tired, however, it didn't bother us as much as I thought it was going to.
(Our Hotel--Wyndham Old Town Istanbul)
Sunday, we took a taxi to the church. It is a small Branch that had about 60 people in attendance, but seriously was one of the best meetings we've been to in a long time! There were several Filipino ladies there who are housekeepers or nannies and just send their money back home (just like what you had, John and Alison, in both Paris and Shanghai). They were so enthusiastic and one played the piano who was self-taught because they didn't have a piano player in that branch before, a couple were in the Relief Society Presidency, one spoke in Sacrament Meeting, anyway, they all added so much. In addition, they had several young men from Ghana who were very active. One young man, a Returned Missionary, gave the Sunday School lesson. They, also, had a few couples who were there working in the embassy, and they said more were coming soon. Anyway, the meeting was fantastic! Afterwards, two senior couples and George and I went to one of the senior couple's apartments where we were doing the training. In addition to the two couples, we added in two other senior couples from far out places that were too far to come in. We felt really good about the presentations this time--but sometimes we laugh because some seniors are very set in their ways--shall we just say?! Hah! I think the one was kind of being stubborn because he and his wife had just arrived in Turkey three days before and they were still pretty tired. Plus, they hated their apartment and weren't thrilled about having to live there. They had two homes in the U.S. and live in an area close to where John and Alison live in California, so they were used to nice things. But, we all had an enjoyable time--especially afterwards. The one senior wife made us probably the best homemade meal we've had since we left home. It was absolutely fantastic!
Anyway, enough of this past week. Next week, I will let you know about our travels through Istanbul, and our time here in Armenia. We just got in about 1:30 in the morning here, but had to be ready for the church van to bring us up to the mountain area of a little branch to do the auditing here. Gpa George and his AAA Auditor, Elder Cook, are actually performing the audits themselves here, so we'll be here six days.
We send our love to you all. We couldn't ask for a better family who supports and loves us so much!
Gma Laura
No comments:
Post a Comment