Week 19 - January 29, 2018

Dear Family,

Happy Birthday today to Riley!  I can't believe we are going to be missing his and Gavin's baptisms.  That makes us so sad!  We were really trying to get to every single grandchild's baptism.  The only one so far that we missed has been Tyson's in China, and that made us so sad.  We vowed to never miss another one!  Life has a way of changing some of the ideas you have, for sure!  Hope Riley has a great day!  He is such a nice little guy who really works his hardest in all he does, and we surely love him!

In my e-mail last week, I talked about the training we did in Istanbul with the four senior couples.  The idea is to get priesthood holders in the area to take this responsibility and then train them.  But the sad fact remains that in many of these areas, there just aren't enough priesthood holders to be able to be auditors when some of the branches don't even have counselors or clerks, and many of the young Elders are filling in for many callings.  So, Senior Missionaries and young Elders are so indispensable in areas like this to keep everything running smoothly as possible.  When we went over to Armenia, almost every single branch we audited (11 audits total between Gpa George and Elder Cook, who also came out from Moscow), it was usually the young Elders in the capacity of a Branch Clerk and some were in the Branch Presidency.  Gpa George was so impressed with the wonderful job they are doing after the training they are receiving.  Just think of how prepared they will be when they get these callings  when they get into their wards back home.

Turkey ended up being a fascinating place to visit.  It is probably about 96 percent Muslim.  There were huge mosques every three or four blocks apart, it seemed.  With 15 million people in Istanbul, that makes for a lot of places for them to worship.  For all those who visit a mosque, you notice that the women and men are divided with the men having the beautiful main worshiping hall, and the women usually in a tiny little area behind another wall or another entrance with the reason that most women probably want to worship at their own home rather than come to the Mosque.  As a woman, your hair must be covered to enter, and no one enters with their shoes on.  The floor usually has little rectangles divided all over it so that when they kneel on the floor or their little rugs, they each have their own individual place and it is very organized.  The call to prayer comes fives times a day and they are reminded by the sound of a singing prayer over a huge loud speaker on the tall minarets that are by the mosques.  All very interesting, to say the least!  

We visited many interesting places such as the Grand Bazaar, the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia,  the Bascilica Cistern (one of many underground waterways in the city that was built to supply the water for the palace), and the Topkapi Palace, which was used by the sultans for four hundred years for their family and harems.  But the best part was when Kyle's General Manager took us the two hours out to his home where we were treated royally to a real Turkish dinner.  His wife and son were so kind to us, as well, and his wife had cooked the entire meal.  Amazing!  They were such wonderful people!  

Memories of Istanbul

The old city walls dating even earlier than the Third Century BC, started by Constantine in 324 AD. still stand in many places and were originally built as protection against the country from attacks from other countries. 

Walking over to the Grand Bazaar, a Turkish woman shared some of her bird feed so we could feed the pigeons.

It was great fun until the birds were startled and seemed to be flying right at us!

The Grand Bazaar seems to go on forever with every kind of item you could think of.

George stopped for a trim at a little barbershop inside the Grand Bazaar.

This was interesting--women had to go through the detector because with the flowing robes they have on, I guess it would be easy to conceal items underneath them.

Pomegranate in Islam is as symbol, it seems, of harvest, wealth, and wellness. The writings of the Quran refer to the fruit in three different instances and each time it gives you the sense that it's talking about a great harvest, land of plenty, and being good stewards of what has been provided.  We not only saw the fresh pomegranate fruits, but many works of art and jewelry involving the pomegranate.

Istanbul is a city of many cats.  Everywhere we went, we saw cats roaming.  

The Obelisk of Theodosius transported from Egypt in 390 AD.

The entrance to the Blue Mosque, so named for the blue tiles surrounding the walls of the interior design.  It was built between 1609 and 1616.  

This is still an active mosque, so women must cover their hair with a scarf, and everyone must remove their shoes.

It was quite a cold and rainy day--and the wind would whip up at any time.  We kept laughing at how our umbrellas were completely turning inside out--and basically not being of much help at all!

Interior of the beautiful Blue Mosque.

We next visited the Basilica Cistern, which is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople).  It was built in the 6th century. 

   

This is known as the Crying Column, because it has the appearance as if it were crying.  It is wet, unlike other columns.  It is reported that the Crying Pillar was built for the memory of hundreds of slaves who lost their lives during the construction of the Basilica Cistern.  Our friend, Devrim, said there is a tradition that you must hold you thumb in the middle and completely go around in a circle for good wishes.  Here he is showing George how to do it.

From the Roman period, there are two Medusa heads in the Cistern.  The myth was that Medusa loved Perseus, the son of Zeus.  Athena was also in love with Perseus and this made Medusa jealous.  Therefore, Athena converted Medusa's hairs into snakes.  Now everybody that happened to look at Medusa was gorgonized (paralyzed or stupefied.)  Therefore, both Medusas were not put in right side up so that no one could have this effect happen to them by looking straight into her face.

 A vendor outside selling roasted corn and chocolate dipped roasted chestnuts.

It was becoming ridiculous with these umbrellas!

Finally, Devrim did us a favor and just threw the most damaged umbrella away!  

 We next visited Topkapi Palace, which is now a museum.  Started in 1460 and completed in 1478, it is built on the Istanbul Peninsula between the Sea of Marmara and the Golden Horn.   

 The palace was the administrative, educational, and art center of the Empire for nearly four hundred years.  

Painting showing the many dishes that were presented at the meals when guests came.

Some of the many silver pieces used by the Sultans.

This tree is over 600 years old that is in the courtyard.

Family area for the harems and the children.

Such a fascinating and fun day!

After a great day of touring with our good friend, Devrim, he drove us two hours to his home outside the city.  There, we were delighted to meet his wife and 13-year-old son.  

We had one of the most pleasant evenings we have had in a long time.  Devrim's wife had made the most wonderful Turkish dinner that just went on and on!  It was absolutely delicious!  He had his driver return us to our hotel in the city.  There wasn't quite as much traffic at that time, so it only took about 2/3s of the time.

The next day, we visited the HAGIA SOPHIA, which had been closed the day before.  

This enormous structure, built in 537 AD was n Orthodox Cathedral, later an imperial mosque, and is now a museum.  That's why you see many indications of many religions here.  

George, along with our guide--we only understood about every tenth word!  

For 1,000 years, this was the largest cathedral in the world.

The Empress Lodge where the empress followed religious ceremonies during the Eastern Roman Empire.

The beautiful mosaics were destroyed or plastered over when it changed from a cathedral to a Mosque but they are now painstakingly being uncovered.  

Wall and doorway made of marble.

Truly an amazing place!

We will miss this fascinating city.  Heading for the airport, we again saw parts of the wall built right into present day structures.  The wall was originally started by Constantine in 324 AD.  We were now headed for Yerevan, Armenia.

After three days there, we flew to Yerevan, Armenia, to do the audits there.  We really enjoyed meeting so many of the people there and loved attending church at one of the Armenian Branches on Sunday.  We ended up  both speaking in Sacrament Meeting with interpreters, along with the Branch President's wife and 15 year old son.  That young man gave one of the best speeches I've heard at church, almost without notes for about 15 minute talk.  His little brother 12 not only passed the Sacrament, but, also, led the singing in Sacrament.  The Dad, who is the Branch President, gave the Sunday School lesson, and we had no Priesthood or Relief Society--just two hours.  You can see that without this Branch President and his family, this branch couldn't function  They are so strong, and along with the four young Elders there, they have a functioning branch.  We have seen so many people working so hard to keep the church going under very difficult circumstances.  It is amazing.

We, also, visited some very interesting places in Armenia, too, and enjoyed our stay there.  (Pictures on a separate post to follow.)  This morning, we got up at 3:30 a.m. to get ready to leave for the airport.  We flew to Kiev and then on to Vilnius, Lithuania.  We are excited to be here, but it has rained since we got here, so we hope tomorrow is not quite so wet so we can get around a little easier.  We do the training tomorrow night.

Well. that's about it for this past week.  We will be gone for another week and then go back to Moscow.  I hope we can last with the clothes we have!  Hah!  Two weeks is a long time to be gone with the few clothes we brought, but we'll  manage.

We send our love to all!  Gma Laura