Central Eurasian Mission - Week 23 - August 21-27, 2017

A whirlwind of activity this week.  Twice the YVs brought over friends from English Club for a bit of socialization.  One night they brought over three young people for dessert and some weird card game. Another evening we had a movie night and watched Ephraim's Rescue which was interesting, but we needed to explain a lot.  The YVs are going to try involving us (and our apartment) more when they are trying to teach,

 

After three days of relative peace and quiet.....the Mission Tour by the Area President and the Mission President and his wife began!!!  It was (and still is) a five day event.  Dad and I were in charge of facilitating the Astana part of the tour (the first day) ) and the Taylors in Almaty were responsible for four days.  We were given the assignment to have an 'executive van' for all of activities while in Astana.   I know, you're asking, "what is an executive van?"  We eventually figured that it was a van that can seat 12-15 people, with their luggage and can take you wherever you want to go and wait for you.  So, basically, a nice comfy van, at your and beck and call.  Miraculously, one guy from English Club had (with his brother - or possibly a cousin - or even a good friend-had just started a new business where their business plan is to shuttle people around town.  We were their customers!!!  And, I think we are featured on their web site.

Thursday - So,  we left our appartment at 2 am to pick them up at the airport and were back to our apartment at 4 am.  It was still dark so I was hopeful I could sleep until ten or so before we had to go and get our people for our "tour of Astana".  We went to the same Ethn-o-village which we described just last week.

We were greeted by the warrior again.




There was a guy with an eagle this time who was saying to people - "hold my eagle for 500 tenge (about $1.50) .  Here is President Martino with Fluffy



and President Davis got to hold Fluffy too,



The Cultural Event being held at the racetrack was a Kazakh game on horses - we called it Horse Rugby.  Two teams of five men each -on fast nimble horses- are on a field with a circle at each end (like a goal), a circle in the middle,  and a circle on each side.  In the original game the rugby ball was a recently killed goat whose head had been removed.  In this game, a big rubberish goat shaped rubber carcass sort of a ball was dropped into the center circle.  The two teams were lined up on one side line, and when the whistle blew, they all raced to the center of the field.  Some sprinted ahead and some held back and tried to block their counterparts.  When the reached the fake goat, one man reached waaayy down and grabbed the goat, and tucked it under one leg.  Then, while opponents tried to grab the goat, he raced down to his end of the field and dropped the goat into the goal.  There were penalties and out of bounds, and one guy even had to go to the penalty box.  It was great fun to watch even though we didn't really know what was happening (which happens a lot to us these days).  The Kazakh team soundly defeated the Chinese team.  We heard that there was an American team (complete with cowboy hats) that was going to compete.  Unfortunately, we'll probably never know of their success or defeat.





Then we got into the 'executive van' and all went to the downtown mall to see some of the modern architecture and visit the 'fat people' again.








The Davis' in front of the Turkey statue.



All of us in front of the Kazakhstan statue



We planned to go to the Social Cafe that we told you about previously.  We thought it'd be great to ask them to prepare for us a traditional Kazakh meal.  The setting would be this simple cafe, and the beauty of it was that they are one of our NGO partners.  It turned out great - the Branch Pres and his family, four Astana volunteers, the Mission Pres and wife, and President Martino (his wife did not come because she had eaten something really bad in Turkey and was in her hotel room......well....trying to recover.  Later on, all of the visitors got the bug, to some extent, and had to concentrate on being great visitors).  There was tons of food, enough you might say, to feed a horse.



This was the main dish - boiled potatoes, onions, big noodles, and horse meat.  All very yummy.



Friday - we were up at 3:30, just in time to go get everyone in our wonderful van and be at the airport at 5:30.  Arrived in Almaty with some medical problems.  Both Sister Martino and Sister Davis were really in bad shape.  The decision was to take them to a Turkish clinic (I don't know how it was a Turkish clinic or why it was the best one to go to), where they got some IV fluids, began to feel better, and then went to their hotel rooms for the afternoon. Our Zone Conference. went well and we were all edified.  Here we are, all of the Kazakhstan Volunteers in our Sunday finest-we look like thousands of groups at the end of a zone conference.



That evening we went to a food court at a big mall for dinner with the other two senior volunteers

Saturday - This was our day to tour the city of Almaty.  First we went to the Park of the President of Kazakhstan - that would be President Nazarbayev who has been president since 1991.  It is really a massive beautiful open area where people like to stroll and enjoy the outdoors.





The Martinos feel a lot better



we look great too



all of us Seniors with the Pres and his wife.



Then we took the gondola up to Kok Tobe where we'd been about a month ago - where President Nelson had dedicated the country of Kazakhstan for the preaching of the gospel.

Here is a view of Altmaty from the top of the Green Hill.  The building on the left with the blue roof - that is our hotel.  The blue building near the bottom,,,,right behind it is a beige building...that is where the church is....on the ground floor.



The classic picture from the top-everybody is here now as those who were feeling crummy had mostly recovered.



The purpose of going here was to find a place as close as possible to the actual spot, where 14 years ago, President Nelson gave the Dedicatory Prayer.  That spot is now covered by a building...how dare they!  This was about the spot, and we all sat on benches; the prayer was read; we contemplated and talked.



Here are the men who seem to be just having a good time, but in reality they are discussing how to build the church in Kazakhstan - they really were, right there in the park.



We took this picture just for Jude because he wants to be a heavy equipment operator when he is ten.



Back down to city level - we were taken to another big park where there is an Eternal Flame burning in memory of the (oh.... I forget for sure) the 601,000 soldiers who were killed during the Afghanistan War.  Here is the flame.



and again, taken at a 'creative angle' with an arch and a soviet like star in the background.



The park is also a memorial for the first and second world wars.  This one is for WWI



This one is for WWII.  It specifically refers to the Panfilov Division's Twenty-Eight Guardsmen.  If you have nothing much to do, google -  Panfilov's Twenty-Eight Guardsmen.  the engraving reads,
Russia is a vast land, yet there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind us!"

  

We're in Almaty now and having trouble with the internet and my blog program.  I am going to end now and hope I can publish this