This was Thanksgiving week! We had three celebrations here in Kaz. First was a Thanksgiving feast at the Holmgren's.....which we didn't attend because Dad was feeling puny, so I sent him to bed. The second was being able to view Thanksgiving Day festivities in Oregon City - thanks to Face time. The third was in Almaty where we went for our Zone Conference. There were 22 of us missionaries at this feast - - the food was so delicious!!! I don't think anything compares with the flavors of "turkey dinner" foods. There were enough leftovers to have for lunch the next day at Zone Conference.
Here is our contribution. I miraculously found these carriers at a local store. They worked perfectly. I carried them to the airport in a big shopping bag and at security, I took them out one at a time, placed them in the tray, and off they went through the x-ray machine. No problems!. Then I was able to place the pies under airplane seats, and everything arrived in great shape.
A happy Young Volunteer
Elder Paul and Elder Crawford
Dad, Sister Nelson, E. Bullock, and E. Paul
Classic Zone Conference picture
S Cantrell, one of our two sisters, has finished her 18 month missionary service. To celebrate, we decided to "trick" her into going to a big mall on the pretense of meeting with someone. It was a big mall with a food court, and there just happens to be an ice rink. We were in the Food Court when she and her companion showed up. She was surprised and pleased. Here she is with Dad and then the whole group eating KFC Chicken products. I tried the Smokey Chicken....the Chef Burger is better.
And then ......down to the main floor and the rink. Dad and I did not skate - - as we are now focused on avoiding everything that might even remotely involve slipping and falling. But the YVs were gung ho to get on the ice.
The four daughters of our Branch President also came
Everyone on the ice
We had three humanitarian meetings this week. Yeah - we were busy.
First we met with the directors of a charitable group that is government sponsored. This was an interesting event because we got involved in a rather convoluted manner. Our leaders in Moscow had received a letter from the director of this charity saying that they would like to get more information about the 250 wheelchairs that the church agreed to donate to their charity. Huh???? The Humanitarian Director in Moscow, who also was the translator and the meeting when President Russell M. Nelson was visiting the Kazakhstan Minister of Religion, said he did not hear anything about wheel chairs at that meeting. Obviously there was a disconnect somewhere!. So we were asked to arrange a meeting with the director of this charity and ask questions and try to figure out what all of this was about. Turns out they were really nice guys. Their office was plush (a strong contrast to the usual offices of our project partners) and on the second floor of a bank building (the bank is one of their sponsors). From what we could ascertain....the Kazakh ambassador in the United States sent a letter to the Kaz Minister of Religion suggesting the donation of wheelchairs should be brought up in the conversation with President Nelson.....but it never did. But the request appeared anyway in the letter sent to the Humanitarian Office. So we visited, we reported to our supervisors, and now we wait to see what the outcome will be.
We also visited with Murat with whom we have previously met. Murat is blind, and his goal is to help blind people and to aid young disabled people have a happier more fulfilling life. The previous humanitarian volunteers here in Astana had helped them by providing funds to buy exercise equipment. Murat is a difficult man to meet with because his train of thought wanders e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e, and it is difficult to figure out what he wants for his NGO. Finally ...after discussing mushrooms, and the value of exercise, and the way that a Mercedes salesman can come and fix your car and then repair your refrigerator (I am serious), we got down to the nitty-gritty. He wants several pieces of massage equipment that people with disabilities can come in and use and then feel better. Whew!!! We were able to discuss equipment. So we left Murat with a bunch of paperwork with attached instructions and will now wait to see what will happen.
Our third humanitarian meeting was with Zhandos. Our very first project - the mushroom growing facility) was with Zhandos. He is a clever, enthusiastic, hardworking man who has lots and lots of ideas. The one he wants to promote this time around is a "social cafe". He says that the disabled community in Astana wants and needs a place where they can go and socialize with one another. He wants to have disabled individuals trained to work in the kitchen and in the front, serving the tables. He says that young disabled people in Astana will flock to this cafe because they will have fun there and not be so different from from the general population. He will be asking for a stove, refrigerator, food preparation counter tops, and storage shelving. Now we wait for him to send us his documents.
Several months ago we ate lunch with Zhandos at the cafe he wants to use and know it will be a good choice for his project. He also gave us 4 bags of mushrooms which we will use to make to batches of soup.
After our meeting with the wheelchair guys we went to a huge mall across the street, specifically to visit the Galmart supermarket which has all sorts of western/European food and products. As we entered, we realized that, even though it was two days before Thanksgiving, it is now the Christmas shopping season at Galmart.
One big activity of this week was helping the sisters find a new apartment. The sisters had been having problems with both their land lord and their neighbor. This time around the sisters' shower system broke, and there was no functioning tub or shower. A workman came four different times and could not successfully repair the shower - he said the whole shower system needs to be replaced. Then the landlord came and accused the sisters of breaking the shower (how do you break the drain pipe that allows water to spill out onto the floor?), and while the landlord and the repairman were in their apartment arguing, the next door neighbor showed up and complained that the sisters had not opened the outer door for them the previous night at midnight. Suddenly, the sisters were fed up (and so were we) said they were going to move would not be tenants in December.
Well, that put some urgency into finding a new apartment for them. One of the sisters called our friend Grace, from English Club, who'd helped us find an apartment for two of the elders. Grace knew what to do immediately. She called an agent (there is no Craig's List) and set up appointments. The first night we were shown a perfectly good apartment which only had one bedroom. We'd wanted two bedrooms, for when an extra companionship of sisters happen to be to town. We also learned that apartment terminology is different here in Kaz. If you say you want a two bedroom apartment, Kazakhs hear that you want a two room apartment which means a living room and a bedroom and kitchen and bathroom. So, we told the agent that we really wanted three (bed)rooms and plans were made to meet the next night.
The second night we went to an older apartment building which is quite close to the church. We've walked by it before and wondered what such an old building would look like inside. We waited outside for about fifteen minutes and determined that it was a nice neighborhood, well lit, and with lots of parents walking along holding a child's hand. Good - Safe place! Then we went inside. Hmmm,..... stairway with peeling paint, non functioning elevator---not even a hum when the button was pushed. Then.... inside the apartment -- the hallway was good with new laminate flooring, and the living room and bedrooms were okay. But the toilet room and the tub room were purely soviet. And the kitchen---oh, shivers -- the gas stove surely was older than the one my mother used when she was first married. The pilot light did not work and the land lady showed us how to light it with a match, but she couldn't get the oven to turn on. She explained that the last tenants were Chinese ---- so is that the reason why a defunct stove is in this kitchen? And the washing machine.....smelled like a very old one - perhaps Mr Maytag had installed it himself. And the landlord was asking 180,000 tenge (540 USD) which is 20,000 more than our apartment!
Fortunately the agent had another place for us to look at - also 180,000 (because landlords want females rather than men). This place was about the same distance from our apartment, just in a different direction. We got there. Wow - a 17 story building, on the 13th floor, right on the edge of a humongous park, and at the end of a major bridge. We walked in. We were stunned!! It was gorgeous! I sent an email to the sisters (they could not come this evening) saying that they would quiver with excitement when they saw the place, and that we'd made a deposit because we knew they'd like it. Spacious, four years old, great condition, nice big bathroom - it is glorious!
The next day at noon we, with the sisters, met the landlord to sign the contract, make the first payment, and pay the agents (agents get a fee which is 20% of a month's rent). The elders in the meantime had rented a gazelle (a truck with a canvas cargo top), gone to the sister's old apartment and loaded everything into the truck, and drove to the new apt and moved everything in. By 2:00 pm it was all history. All this just barely happened in a timely manner because one of the sisters is returning home to Tacoma (and BYUI), and the other will be coming back to Astana with a new companion in less than a week. So these guys should be settled for as long as we remain in Astana.
Just at the end of the move in-sign contract-pay money-bring beds up the elevator from the gazelle moment, the Mission President called Sister Cantrell and told her there were problems with her visa...specifically using her visa to travel through Turkey on her way home to Tacoma.
Apparently the American and Turkish governments have upped the ante on how to be contentious with one another. The President told Cantrell to go to the Turkish Embassy and get another visa (actually, he said, "go to the Turkish Embassy and find out exactly the visa situation is at the present moment). Tor history - when we came in April we used an electronic visa to transit through Turkey.....no problem. Then the Turkish president got mad at the US for giving refuge to someone who allegedly was the mastermind for the attempted coup. Then..Then..When we went to Turkey last week we were able to buy a tourist visa in the airport. But now, no visas, anywhere, any reason, for anyone will not be issued to an American citizen. Well, the poor sisters kinda turned into mush goo, and I cheerfully said I'd go with them and help figure things out. Turned out, that, indeed, no visa are being issued to any Americans. So we called the President who called to\he right person in Salt Lake City who changed the ticket to go to Frankfort rather than Istanbul. That took two hours and then an hour ride home. I was exhausted. Dad was in bed sleeping off his sore throat. I went to the store for groceries. Neither of us celebrated an Astana Thanksgiving Day.
Here we are with the two sisters
Here is a random picture in Almaty of a clever way of doing gutters. Instead of installing two downspouts, this gutter makes a connection between the two gutters at roof level. It works.
Today was the Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation!!! I must say that this was the finest SMP and the finest Primary children I have ever witnessed! Of course, I am not biased at all. It just seemed that nine of my own grandchildren were involved. Here we are at our last rehearsal last Sunday.
The children were doing great - they gave their talks perfectly in both English and Russian, and their singing was sublime (honestly, I am not biased). Then suddenly, right in the middle of Nephi's Courage, the power went out - and so did their microphones and the electric piano. Not a flinch - they kept right on singing. The Branch President zipped out and into the hallway and got the lights back on. The children are still using mics that don't amplify their voices. During the next song (it is now a cappella) Dad leaves the room to try to flip the breaker so the piano will have power. There is a big CRASH as the covers for the three circuit boxes fell to the floor! The kids still did not flinch....they kept right on singing, "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus". Still no piano. The last song was "I See My Mother Kneeling ........ - the girls sang the first verse in Russian, the boys sang the second verse in English, and the final line when they sing together in harmony ---- - well, it wasn't spot on, but they still sounded sublime to me.
Afterwards in our Primary class, we celebrated by watching a video called "Joseph Smith, The Prophet of the Restoration. It's a good film and none of us had the "think" we could just watch.
We had Sunday dinner at our apartment. It's pretty much a permanent activity unless someone else extends an invitation (Sister Holmgren often does!) I made homemade cream of mushroom soup, from the mushrooms given to us by our partner, rice, and homemade bread. And since there wasn't anything else interesting to eat, I served bananas and oranges. It was Sister Cantrell's last dinner with us. Kinda sad to see her go, but in reality, it is the manner of missionary life - an old missionary goes home to be replaced by a young one who eventually becomes the old one. This pictures shows that our couch is an "Eight Missionary Couch".
At our Thanksgiving Dinner at Zone Conference, the President asked us go around the table and explain the main thing for which we are thankful. Everyone was so sincere and spiritual. When it was my turn..... I said I was thankful that the Beavers would defeat the Ducks in the civil war football game (didn't happen) and then got serious and said I was glad I had been born in America. That comment turned into a short conversation about how we are all thankful that America was the geographical place which had been prepared for the Restoration.
Here is a link to the video we watched. If you don't know anything about our church, it would be a good introduction for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xVw6PsSinI
