Weeks 44 and 45 - August 6, 2018 - Armenia

Dear Family,

We are finally home from our 12-day auditing trip to Armenia and Turkey, so we can get a little back to normal.  Those 12 days were filled with such interesting experiences involving church people, as well as people in general in the countries.  By far, the most frustrating aspect of our whole mission is not being able to talk about the gospel like we'd like to!  We'd just like to share with everyone the message of the gospel and how much it could help them in their lives, but our hands are so tied.  We can't wear our badges--in Turkey, we were advised not to even wear them in the churches.  We can't talk about the gospel in anyway outside a church and the real challenge is to get people to ask us--we can't approach them.  Usually, if they ask what we are doing, we tell them we are volunteers for our church doing service in the Europe East Area.  (Again, in Turkey where they have taken out all missionaries and the mission president, we only went as tourists.)  But hopefully, we try to show them as Americans we are friendly, good people and aren't the people they usually hear on the news about or should have any fear of.  

Armenia is such is nice country to go to--not so large that you are overcome with people everywhere.  

 We stayed in the Paris Hotel again.  We love to stay there.  They have built the nicest little veranda on the top floor where we have breakfast.

Our two favorite waitresses at the breakfast buffet.  They remembered us from six months ago, and are always so good to us!

In the distance, you can make out Mt. Aarat by standing on the veranda at our hotel.

We LOVED being able to see Mt. Aarat (where it is believed Noah's Ark landed) this time--it always has a haze over it, but this time, we could definitely see it.  When the countries were divided up, it was drawn into Turkey, rather than Armenia, which many people are still upset about.  When you are at the Khor Virap Monastery, you can get the best view.  

 Spotting Mt. Aarat as we drove to the Monastery.

This monastery is only five miles from the Turkish border, so Mt. Aarat is actually on the Turkish side.    

This is where Gregory the Illuminator was initially imprisoned for over 13 years in a prison hole by King Tiridates III of Armenia.  When the king started having nightmares, his sister convinced him to listen to his Christian prisoner, Gregory, and that led the proselytizing activity in the country.  In the year 301 AD, Armenia was the first country in the world to be declared a Christian nation.  

This is only five miles from the closed Turkish border.  Russian soldiers actually guard the border since Armenia is surrounded by four countries:  Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, and Georgia, so they don't have a big enough military to guard all their borders, so the Russian soldiers are paid to do it--again a source of agitation because the Armenians think they charge too much.  Anyway, political conflicts in every country. 

Very old cemetery, along with the new one, right below the monastery.

You may pay to let a dove fly as the Bible says that Noah did.

Not only does Armenia have wonderful lavash, but they fix all kinds of things with their wonderful bread dough.

One evening, we had such a cultural experience as we went to eat in a wonderful Armenia restaurant that the Mission Transportation Director took us to.  

The food was absolutely delicious!

The Cooks (AAAs) and us.

Who knew this quiet Armenian driver was, also, such a great dancer!  George had to give it a try, too!

Later, we went to the Square and mingled with all the people who came to enjoy the beautiful evening and dancing waters.

Trendy shopping street in Yerevan.

Yerevan Cascade, which connects the upper city to the lower city.

Between the Cooks (the AAAs) and us, we audited nine branches there.  Mostly, the young Elders are the financial secretaries, and they do such a great job.  It is really a priority for the Mission President, President Bostrom, and it really makes a difference when they feel that way. 

 Elder Power from Utah, who went to school with our grand kids at Lone Peak.

We met a few cows on our way back from one of the branches.

Entrance to Metro is a bit different than those fancy ones we have in Moscow.

Flying to Turkey turned out to be a fiasco!  We flew into Istanbul and wondered why we had a four-hour layover before flying to Gazientep.  Well, when we got ready to go to another terminal at that airport, we were informed that it wasn't just another terminal, it was a whole other airport that we needed to go to!  What???  Then we knew we had to hurry, but then the luggage from our flight didn't come in for two hours, the whole plane, not just our luggage--don't know why they couldn't unload our plane, but we thought it was never going to get there.  Now, we just had two hours to go clear across Istanbul to the other airport.  We really got taken by a slick talker who said we should just get a taxi because the buses were too slow and we needed to hurry.  So we paid $90 and got into a taxi with a woman driver who had to be the most cautious driver we've had in the entire time we've been gone, plus she knew absolutely NO ENGLISH and my translator on my phone only works if I'm in Russia or have Wifi!  Great--but, we needed to hurry!  I snapped a few pics on the way, since I was a nervous wreck and had nothing else to do!

Beautiful flower and shrub arrangements along side the freeway were amazing.

 On the Bosphorous Bridge, one of three suspension bridges across the Bosphorous Strait.  This actually connects the two continents of Europe and Asia.  

 

 The Blue Mosque--we visited it last time we were here.  It is absolutely amazing!

Finally, after THREE hours in the taxi, we get near the airport, and she motioned for us to get out.  Again, what???  Then, we saw that a lot of other taxis were pulled along side the road, too.  We finally realized that only certain cars could go into the airport, and we had to be loaded into a small bus that COULD go in.  They do explosive sweeps under cars, so they only let in the ones that are okay in their minds, I guess.  Anyway, by the time we got to the airport, our nerves were shot!  And of course, we had missed our plane!  But, a definitely tender mercy.  As we were wondering where to go and what next, I suddenly asked a man with a badge on if he could help us.  I don't even know why I did that--but it was definitely so spontaneous, it was a blessing!  He took us to a special line and got us on a later plane so we could get out right before midnight and not have to pay a penalty.  We finally arrived in Gazientep about 3:00 a.m.  So exhausted!  

Continued on Next Post.