Central Eurasian Mission - Week 9 - May 14-21, 2017

This last week has been memorable - actually I should say MEMORABLE!

Every year in this part of the world there is the Europe East Area Welfare Conference.  This year's conference was in Tbilisi, Georgia, and (who knew) it is an unbelievably beautiful city in a beautiful country.  I don't know where last year's conference was held, but there is some speculation that next year's might be in Kiev, Ukraine.  Here is the Who's Who

From the Central Eurasian Mission there were five couples:
The Huntingtons from Utah - Ankara, Turkey
The Carters from Alaska - Bishkek, Kyrgyrstan
The Taylors from Mesa, AZ - Almaty, Kazakhstan
The Lemmons from California - Istanbul, Turkey
The Grays from the End of the Oregon Trail - Astana, Kazakhstan

Here are our "mission buddies".  Top to bottom, left to right.



From other missions - Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belarus
The Crittendens from Arizona - Moscow, Russia
The Dotsons from St George, UT - Minsk Belarus
The Haldemans from Las Vegas - Kiev, Ukraine
The Hancocks from Rexburg ID - Saratov, Russia
The Hansens from Utah - Plovdiv, Bulgaria
The Harkers from  Shelley, Idaho - Yerevan, Armenia
The Larsens from Utah - Moscow, Russia
The McFarlans from Spokane Valley, WA - Tbilisi, Georgia

Also attending were our Humanitarian leaders from Moscow - the Europe East Area Legal Counsel, Finance Manager, Welfare Manager, Public Affairs Assistant.  They are the ones who help us out with support and knowledge and also are the ones who say 'yea' or 'nay' to our projects.

Two General Authorities.

Area Authority - President James Martino (his brother happens to be the MTC President).  I have been in Stake Conferences, previously, that were presided over by Area Seventies, but none compare to Elder Martino.  Of course, I think my opinion might be swayed by the fact that he was talking to us - 26 of his humanitarian volunteers - about his vision for us as volunteers in the East Europe Area.



And last, but possibly best of all, was Sharon Eubank, the first counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency and also the Director of LDS Charities.  So, for us women, she is not only our "Humanitarian" boss, she is also a leader of women's concerns in the church.  One evening at dinner, she was at our table, and someone asked her if there were going to be any new directions for Relief Society.  She said that they are trying to aid in the discussion of the Priesthood and of women and how the two are the same/go together/can't work without the other, etc.  She kinda looked at me and said, "what do you think?"  In my normal blunt way I said something like, "I've never thought much about it because it doesn't really matter what I think.  Who is there to tell anyway?'  Looking at me, she said, "Well, I care about what you think.  Tell me."  So around the dinner table, we had a lively discussion.




If you have time, click on the link below and listen to a talk she gave at a forum with FairMormon. This talk has also been edited and used as an article in the August 2016 Ensign. She is a very dynamic and knowledge person.  Since this presentation, she received laser eye surgery and so doesn't have to deal with her glasses.    https://www.mormonwiki.com/Sharon_Eubank

We arrived in Tbilisi Monday afternoon.  Not knowing what to expect, we were very pleasantly surprised at this city and the rest of the country.  Quite a few of the humanitarian couples jokingly said, "we want to be transferred to Tbilisi!"  I would even like to go back for at least a week or two, rent a car, and go exploring.  Along with the Taylors, who are our Kazakhstan compatriots, we spent the afternoon exploring.  The Taylors have been in Kaz for eleven days.  We met them at the airport for the first time in Almaty on our way to Tbilisi.  We explored the old downtown and made arrangements to rent a taxi for the following day to take a daytrip up into the Caucasus Mountains.

Here are downtown and river pictures.  Pres George W Bush visited once and became q good friend to Georgia which then  named one of their main streets after him.
First photo is an concert hall under construction.



Pedestrian bridge













See the gondola on the right side.  More on that later.  We rode the gondola.







 We took a cable car up to the top of a bluff upon which was---yes--an old castle or church or something.  Here it is.  See gondola on the right.
























We walked back down rather than taking the tram again.  It was quite steep.  Dad collected some poppy seed pods and will be mailing them to Warren for propagation.



Right at about dinner time we found a 'back door' cafe called Carpe Diem Cafe at which we stopped. It was a perfect place - cute, a view, outdoor on a steep cobblestone street, good food, pretty cheap, and our new friends the Taylors.



Tuesday we went on our excursion.  Going to the Caucasus has been on my bucket list forever - actually I have wanted to hike in them, but probably won't happen - maybe we'll come back.  We met the Taylors in the lobby and were talking when suddenly Sharon Eubank came up and introduced herself.  We told her about our plans and invited her along.  "No, no she couldn't, needed to be around to help with the conference, and so on".  With a little encouragement - like "you're just going to be hanging out at the hotel while we're in the mountains.  Come with us!"  She agreed.  She went up to her room and emerged ten minutes later dressed in Carhartts and a sweatshirt.

First stop along the road was at Ananuri where there is this very old church.

















Our goal was the little town/village of Stepantsminda from which you can see Mt Kazbegi.  On a high hill above the town there is, of course, a monastery which can be reached in a 4WD vehicle. Ours was not one of those, but we were told that for 15 Lari each we could take a jeep ride up to the monastery.  That was the plan.  So we continued on up the mountain.  The link below is for that monastery.  It is an iconic photo symbolizing a lot about Georgia.

https://www.google.kz/search?q=stepantsminda+kazbegi&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS728US728&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiehZihwv7TAhVmD5oKHa-vCZ0QsAQIOA&biw=694&bih=565&dpr=1.5










There is a ski area  with a few lodges.  It is not very developed.



The part of the highway is carved into the side of the mountain and a concrete frame built around it to prevent snow drifts from closing the road.



Then we came to:  A monument for Georgia - Russia friendship.  I suspect that Russia built this because they want to pretend to be friends.  I don't think the Georgians consider themselves to be friends.  The weather had turned very cold and very windy.  And a lot of rain and clouds in the mountains where we wanted to go.  The taxi driver did not want to continue because of the inclement weather.







If I worried about a profile picture for Facebook, this would be it







Oh joy!  There was a WC!





We turned around and headed back down.  I have a good reason to come back to visit that village.













We stopped at the Jvari  Monastery.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jvari_(monastery)

This is the very first Christian church in Georgia.  It was established by a female saint who had great healing powers.  She healed the king's wife, and he converted to Christianity and brought his whole kingdom along with him.







This little cross is a replica of the cross that Saint Nino made in the 4th century from two branches which she tied together with  strands of her hair.  She then stuck it into the ground and that is this location.



I liked these bells.



Here we are with Sister Eubank outside.




Tuesday evening the large group of all of us took a funicular up to the top of a different cliff for dinner in a fancy restaurant.  The four nights we were there at the conference, we went out to eat at nice restaurants.  The food was fabulous.  Ethnic.  I ate some of everything.  There was always too much, so the Georgian HVolunteers always collected the leftovers and took it to the YVs.  No doggie bags but YV bags.





Wednesday and Thursday we meet from 8 AM to 5 PM in a conference room at the hotel.  I only have one picture of Sister Eubank during her presentation.  It's kinda boring to take photos of people sitting at a table looking at a presenter.


So what did we learn.  Some Humanitarian Volunteers who have been here for a while reported on some of their projects.  They told what was good about them, what went wrong, what they should have done - all so we can learn and avoid their mistakes.  Some of their projects are worthy of a video to be shown between Gen Conf sessions.

Sister Eubank used the colors of UNO cards to emphasise the steps to a good project.
Black - symbolizes the color of the mayor's suit coat.  He/She is the head of the community.  Let the mayor tell you what the community needs - what is their priority
Red- symbolizes blood, sweat and tears - the recipients of the project need to invest themselves in the project - they need skin in the game.
Blue - symbolizes all the BYU sweatshirts at a football game - they in turn are representing the need to involve many people in making the project successful
Green - stands for green power, or sustainability - is your project sustainable, will it be functional even after you have gone home and are playing with your grandchildren
Yellow - represents the sun shining on everyone -  which helps you realize that the solution needs to be a local solution that everyone wants and will work on.

President Martino emphasized that we all were first called to serve as a missionaries and then given the assignment to be a humanitarian volunteer.  He made five points.  1. It is hard to feel the spirit when one is hungry or afraid or who has been abused or in pain.  2.  What if their story were my story.  3.  How do we help people feel the love of the Savior.  4.  Hearts are healed in service, one by one,  5.  How can we involve more people in serving others.

Sister Eubank ended her remarks saying that we follow Jesus Christ by caring for the poor and needy, of any nationality or religion, and by relieving suffering, develop self reliance, and  by offering opportunities for volunteer services.  "Help me spark someone to feel the love of God".

All in all it was a great two days.  I was inspired,  spiritually fed, and left with renewed determination to do my best.  What could be better than that?

Wednesday evening we went to a restaurant where there was dancing.





Another dinner was at a restaurant specializing in MEAT.  Steaks, shish kabobs, etc.  We had to order weeks ahead of time   Very good.






This is Vlad, on the right, the Area Welfare Manager (the boss).  He is really a nice guy, very funny but also very businesslike. It helps all of of to have a Russian as head of the team because he sees things from his (a Russian's) point of view not from an American's.  And Sister Eubank.  The Georgian interpreter, and Vlad's assistant, Dmitry



Friday was our Cultural Day.  We went to the little town/village of Mtskheta where there is another ancient church.  It is the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral of Twelve Apostles.



Fortress like walls around the church.  Up on the hill in the distance is the 'original' church we visited on Tuesday.





Notice some of the women are on their hands and knees in front of altars praying.





Our very last activity was visiting where  developmentally disabled children receive music therapy. This project was started sometime back by other groups.  They asked our HV for some help by buying some more musical instruments for the children - rhythm instruments.  LDS Charities also donated new kitchen equipment.  The children performed for us, and it was really quite good.  Their most advanced group did something like Georgia's Got Talent, and they advanced several times.  The notoriety they gained caused a large bank (I think a bank) to get involved by totally remodeling one wing of the school building - that was really nice.  Here is their outdoor courtyard



And the group



Some were very animated like the cymbal and tambourine players.  Others were very serious, just waiting for their moments.





We left Tbilisi Friday night at 10:40 pm and arrived back in Astana at 10:00 AM  Pretty much did not sleep all night.  It was kinda weird - it felt good to get home, even though we loved Georgia.

Tomorrow after Branch Conference (Mission Pres will be there) we leave again - going to Almaty for a Maxi Zone Conference.  The Zone Leaders from Turkey are also coming.  Big Doings!