Back to Armenia #15 Christmas 2010

It was so pleasant last week as I wandered over to work…to watch the street sweeper (a woman dressed in blue armed with a broom) as she tried to clear the streets of recently fallen leaves. They are now almost gone and with the rain of Sunday (December 12^th), the winter season may be on its way. The next sight I observed was a woman and her little boy walking down the street. He had clutched in his hand a small car…and if he’s anything like my grandsons, probably his favorite toy. A little bit of nostalgia was felt as I thought about our grandchildren. We love to be able to Skype with them to feel their personalities coming through and see their growth as they get older.

Sunday, the 12^th, we were able to return to Ararat for a visit. We drove down with President and Sister Carter and about 8 other people. I think we must have looked a little bit like one of the marchutka’s going down the road. Ruben asked Zaven to bring a couple of chairs and we were curious as to why, but then he put them in the luggage area of the van and two people sat there. Too funny!

It was wonderful to see and give hugs and kisses to the people in Ararat. We missed not seeing LaLa and Marietta, but there were some new faces and more men, so was a good Sunday. We were able to come home and enjoy a more American style dinner (pot roast, potatoes, carrots and gravy) and even shared some with a couple of missionaries. One of them has only been here a few weeks, so he literally “wolfed” it down…a taste of home, not long past.

Our home away from home is decorated with a small tree and a bunch of lights, so we’re hoping this gets us more into the Christmas spirit.  It was our turn for Family Home Evening with the other couples on Monday (13^th) so we invited them over for butternut squash soup and fresh bread (from the bakery, not by my hand). As part of the evening, Elder Peterson read from 3^rd Nephi  in the Book of Mormon,  and shared those scriptures relating to the Saviors birth (I really love 3 Nephi 1:13-14.”Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets….behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given.”) We all then shared our memories of Christmas as children and also with our own families. 

Elder Peterson asked me what I wanted for Christmas and inasmuch as the washer had quit working and the vacuum was useless without a bag. So, that is what I said I wanted…sort of like the clean house I always asked for in years past. Well, Christmas came early as our young branch president, Narek, took a look at the washer, made the repair in very short order and then went shopping and FOUND disposable vacuum bags.  It helps that he is Armenian and knows where to look in the city to find needed items.  So, we’re in good shape for Christmas. 

Zara, Santa and Tatev at YSA Party

3-D Snowflakes decorating YSA Party

YSA from Georgia

 

The week of Christmas was definitely a week of celebration. All of the activities we did, as well as being fun, also included some of the spiritual side of Christmas which helped us to focus on the real reason we celebrate Christ’s birth…the marvelous gift that he would later give us, his atonement and resurrection, which will enable all of us, if we endure to the end, to be with Him again.

On the 23^rd, the Young Single Adults had their Christmas celebration. The YSA’s did a great job of planning and preparing and we helped where we could. They organized the program to first have a devotional and talked of Christ and spiritual things, and then they shared their talents, played games, had a visit from Santa, ate delicious food (prepared by YSA leadership), and even found time for some dancing. We had youth from every branch, I think, including a couple who made the long trip from Georgia. As is the custom, it was a rather long party. We started around noon and finally ended around 7 p.m. The nice thing was that we didn’t have a lot of decorations to take down as the next activities we were involved with asked to use them…so just some dishes and some vacuuming. The other senior couples were so great to help…they are people who know how to organize and get things done in quick order.

Elder Jonas and Stutz, white elephants

President Carter and his "prize" to be used at MP Seminar

Good Balance, Elder

 

Seniors share their talents in Armenian

The 24^th was the South Zone Conference and another wonderful event. We first feasted spiritually and then had a lot of good food prepared by all the missionaries (both old and young). Games and a white elephant exchange added to the fun. The elders also shared their talents and we all loved the “chipmunk Christmas “ song. Sister Ferguson is one of the best chipmunks I’ve  seen. This was only a 5 hour party, but then we headed to the Institute for movie and dance night…only for a change we didn’t dance, just watched movies and shared treats.

Elder and Sister VanDyke

Aram and Elder Zebley

The 25^th was a time for the senior missionaries to gather at the mission home where President and Sister Carter prepared a delicious turkey for us. The other seniors shared things from home (across the water), so we even had pumpkin pie, cranberries, and  delicious fudge (by you know who). Some talents were shared, Christmas carols sung; we even decorated gingerbread houses. We then departed for an even greater experience. Three recent converts chose this day to be baptized (one from our branch)…so yet another opportunity to feel the spirit. Right after that, we had been invited to attend a branch activity. The missionaries had worked really hard with the branch members to have an activity focused on Christ. The chapel was filled with pictures of Christ illustrating all of the many ways he served and loved the people. Video presentations interspersed with music and talks from members dressed as people from earlier Bible times, helped us to love and appreciate our Savior more and understand the real meaning of Christmas. At the end of that evening, we were able to Skype with most of our children (JaneAnne and family were enroute from Las Vegas to Portland) and share part of their Christmas mornings. We surely do love our family…and we miss them and we miss all of you, but are grateful to have this wonderful opportunity to share our love of the Savior with the people of Armenia. He lives!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Back to Armenia #14

We are grateful for the Thanksgiving holiday we enjoyed and the opportunity to reflect and share with others the things we are grateful for. We are grateful to our Heavenly Father every day for our many blessings. Here in Armenia, they don’t have this holiday. We do miss our country and those familiar things that surround Thanksgiving, but wherever we are, we can thank our Heavenly Father for his goodness to us.

Elders Thylin and Zebley, Sister Siranush,

Our missionaries, lunch at Center

Sister Peterson playing cookie game

We actually had a double celebration of Thanksgiving. The young missionaries organized a lunch and while we didn’t have turkey, it was delicious anyway. We celebrated with our District and one other district and another senior couple, so there were 14 of us. Our Swedish missionary prepared meatballs and our Armenian mini missionary prepared Dolma. One missionary prepared 4 liters of gravy and another cooked and mashed a huge amount of potatoes. We had roasted chicken, jello salads and corn and rolls as well. I made a couple of pumpkin pies and a deep dish apple pie, and another sister made a buttermilk pie…so we weren’t lacking for food. We were supposed to eat around 12:30, but finally sat down closer to 2 p.m. We took time to go around the table and share with one another things we are grateful for…sort of like a tradition we had at home with our own family. We played some fun games and enjoyed the time together.

Thanksgiving lunch at Center

The second part of our Thanksgiving began at 6 p.m. when we gathered with the other senior couples for a dinner at the Marriott Hotel…and this time we did have turkey…two whole turkeys. So, we had some leftovers (that is always the best part, but no homemade cranberry sauce so not quite as tasty as it would be at home). We also had dressing and gravy and carrots and brussel sprouts (made me think of some of my children who were also enjoying brussel sprouts on this day). It was good, but two big meals in a 4-5 hr time period is a lot so we were stuffed. 

Our young adults had wanted to have a Thanksgiving party, so we sort of did it a few days later, along with our regular class. After the lesson, we went around the room giving thanks for a gospel principle that relates to family and eternal marriage. Everyone brought something to share (pot luck), so we ate and played the same games as with the young missionaries and then had some music and dancing. It was Geghetsik’s birthday so we celebrated that as well.

We want to express gratitude to all our friends and family who are such a support to us. It’s wonderful to be able to serve God’s children and God has been good to us, so now it’s our turn to do something for someone else. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Here's a couple of extra shots of our Turkey trip and all CES couples that we received after our posting.

Back to Armenia #13

Pumpkin Carving

Geghitsik getting her apple

We participated in our first branch activity since last June. It was a Halloween-themed party with apples on a string, pumpkin carving, cake walk of sorts, art table, dancing, and refreshments. Our young adult party planners, Tamara and Lia, helped with refreshments and dancing and CLEAN-UP. We’re glad for their efforts to help make the branch activity successful and fun. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t on Oct. 31^st as the Armenians don’t have that celebration in their list of holidays.

Sister Dibb and Lia, her translator

The weekend brought some visitors from Salt Lake (Sister Dibb, counselor for the General YW and Sister Larsen, counselor in the General Primary). They did a 2-1/2 hr training on Saturday on leadership principles and Elder Lawrence of our Area Presidency also spoke.  Sunday, they did a fireside for the mission and the chapel at the Mission Office was packed with listeners. There were several who came up from Ararat and it was so fun to see them. I got so many hugs and kisses that I think I can keep going for a few more weeks with all those expressions of love and caring.

November 15^th found us on the road to Antalya, Turkey via Kiev and Moscow to attend a conference for all the CES missionary couples. At first we were a little miffed about the travel distance…we live the closest, but have to travel the longest distance to get to Turkey…but with our layover in Kiev, we will be able to attend the temple and do a few sessions of temple work…so worth it, we think.

Lobby of Hotel

Peterson trying to skip rocks on Mediterranean

Elder Peterson at Fantasia Resort

The Petersons beside the pool

We stayed in Kemer at a wonderful, all inclusive resort called Fantasia on the Mediterranean Sea. The temperatures were in the 80’s, and the surroundings were beautiful…lots of palm trees, beautiful flowers and citrus groves. Fresh-squeezed orange juice was on the menu every morning as well as so many items to eat from several buffet sites. I finally had to skip a meal just to not feel so “stuffed”.

It’s been so exciting to be with so many other couples who are doing the same thing…working with young adults and seeking better ways to administer the programs and be successful with the charge that we have been given as CES workers. It was a wonderful, faith-building experience to feel of their spirits and hear their testimonies. We have learned so much and are grateful we had this opportunity to come and be together. I thought it was interesting to learn that with the 18 couples and 4 staff members, we had 133 children and 355 grandchildren. Of the couples, two were from Russia and one from Denmark, the rest from the United States.

The Petersons visiting ruins at Perge in, Turkey

While in Turkey, we were able to make a visit to Perge…the place that Paul visited and a site of ancient ruins from 3^rd and 4^th century B.C. The camera ran out of battery in the middle of our tour so we’re hoping some of the other seniors will share their pictures with us. We were able to get a new battery from off the tour bus, so all was not lost…just missed a few pictures.

The end to a great week was another wonderful experience. We were able to visit the Kiev Temple. The temple is such a peaceful place and to be able to serve and help someone with East European ancestry made it more wonderful. We had another “small world” experience. On the last session of the day, Elder Peterson looked over and observed, “that girl looks really familiar, but where do I know her from?”. It finally came to him and it was Annabelle and David Hyde. It was so fun to reconnect with them and talk and talk. They were kind enough to drive us to our red-eye flight so we were able to visit some more on the way. It was great to see someone from our Salem roots.

We were glad to be back in Yerevan even if it was 3:45 in the morning. We had pre-arranged with Erik to pick us up but he wasn’t there. We had lost the cell phone somewhere along the way between Kiev and Yerevan and couldn’t call to see what had happened. (It ended up that his van had broken down and was in the shop and had tried to call, but without our phone, who knew? It was just another adventure.)We finally arranged for another cab and were in our beds a little after 5:00 a.m.  A few hours later, we were on our way to District Conference. We watched a CES fireside with our young adults in the afternoon, and now we’re getting pretty tired as this day is winding down. … It is just another day in the lives of these Armenian missionaries.

Back to Armenia #12

Elder Thylin translating call letter

Pres Carter with Zara, opening mission call

Sometimes time seems to be moving so fast that I get to the next weekend and hardly can remember what I’ve done to make the time go zipping by.

One of our young single adults, Zara, received her mission call this week, and we’re so excited for her. She had really wanted to go to Temple Square in Salt Lake City…and someone must have heard her prayers because that is where she is going. She doesn’t know much English, so she’ll have to work hard to learn the language so she can be effective in her call.

This past Friday was a wonderful Zone Conference. It’s a way to be infused with new enthusiasm for the work we are doing here. There were some changes that will affect how we do things. Because the church is trying to do things correctly and not get into trouble with the government, we can no longer have housekeepers. President Carter indicated that about 40% of work wages are handled under the table and the church doesn’t want to get “sued” for being an employer and not paying taxes or having the necessary stamps to conduct business…so now we get to do our own house cleaning. I’m afraid I was getting a little spoiled from not having to clean bathrooms the past five months….back to reality. We also will no longer be able to have English classes, as that is not part of our Charter with the Government. We can still have interested people come to our Doctrine and Covenants classes and marriage class that are taught in English, but they have to understand they are religious courses for the main purpose of learning gospel principles and doctrines with the side benefit of learning some English.

We enjoyed a nice dinner with the senior missionary couples and some visitors from Russia and Ukraine. We again went to the Corner Café that has the best steaks in Yerevan and a place we have enjoyed a few other times.  We then went to the beautiful opera house and watched some wonderful Armenian folk dancers. One of the dances they did was just like the dance our youth had performed at the Kiev Temple Dedication.

Sunday, we had a wonderful Mission Council at the Mission Home and received more good news from visitors from Salt lake who are here doing a welfare audit. They are in the process of going through the government hoops to allow us to do the church’s ARP (addiction recovery program) here as well as additional programs sponsored by LDS Family Services. It’s pretty exciting what is in the works. There are also lots of Humanitarian projects that are ongoing. Our employment people also reported 72 job placements for the month which is more than they’ve had for the whole year thus far, so that is good news. We know that having jobs and especially good jobs is key to improving the economy and key in helping the church to grow.

Before I forget again, I wanted to let everyone know how excited we are to be having more grandchildren. Jana and Mike are expecting a girl in March and Sue and Zach are having twins in June. What wonderful welcome home gifts they will be.

Back to Armenia #11

Artur, Carman, and Tatev

In spite of being in a country that doesn’t celebrate Halloween, we managed to do a little on our own. We enjoyed a family home evening with the Pincocks, Artur, Lusine, Tatev and Carman. We introduced the concept of family home evening to Tatev and Carman who are not members of the church. Sister Pincock talked about Halloween and some of the things that are done in America to celebrate. We did a fun activity in trying to create our own “haunted houses”.

Artur, Carmen, Tatev and Lusine

This was also the week for the Young Single Adults to have their Halloween party, complete with decorations, costumes (at least those brave enough to do it), pumpkin carving, games (they love to play, but sometimes getting them ready and understanding what you want them to do continues to be a challenge), food (sandwiches and salad and cakes) and dancing. Disaster was averted early on when we went to pick up the bread and were told, “No, that was supposed to be tomorrow.” So much for communication.  Our taxi driver stopped at a shuka (small market/store) on the way to the party and we picked up 20 breads for sandwiches (in Armenia it’s called sandwichie hots, sort of Arm/English). Elder Peterson was able to order another 30 from the Georgian bakery right across the street from the church and we were able to put the sandwiches together and feed the masses on time. We still need to get more of them on the dance floor and hopefully when dancing classes start that will help.

Included in the activities was a visit by Brother Henry Kosak from Russia and Brother Hall from Salt Lake, our “bosses” with CES. We enjoyed the fireside and it was a calming conclusion to our activity. It was fun, but cleanup took a looong time as they had scattered confetti all about the room and the poor vacuum kept getting plugged up and one vacuum quit altogether. I think confetti needs to be banned. We are learning as we go. We really appreciate the efforts of the Institute Council and their friends who do so much of the planning and putting on of these activities.

We had a great experience hosting Family Home Evening for the missionaries and a couple of their investigators, Hasmik and her daughter. It is great to be involved with the young missionaries, too. They are so knowledgeable and have such a great spirit; it infuses us with new energy and commitment.

We had a fun class with our Young Adults on Saturday. It’s always nice to be with them…now if we could just convince them to date and marry…then we would count ourselves as effective leaders. They enjoyed the treats. Erik called them American cookies (they were chocolate chip, so maybe so).

I had to speak on Sunday about judging others. For me, it’s always a challenge to speak but I do get a lot of ideas about the subjects when I’m preparing, so now I have a couple of talks I could give (just don’t pass that along…because it’s not my favorite thing).

We discovered early Monday, that the Institute had been broken into and they were in the process of hauling sound equipment, computers, etc. when they were caught by the police. It’s interesting that one of the things they took from one of the offices was Artur’s haunted house. Those Armenians do have a penchant for sweets. Samvel said it was really funny to go into the police station and see the haunted house sitting on the desk as evidence of the burglary.

It’s been fun this week to reconnect with Elder and Sister Blotter. They have come to finish up or help with some water projects and will be here a week. They even brought us some “goodies” so we can still make fudge for Christmas.

We continue to learn and be amazed at all that goes on in Armenia. We love the opportunity to serve and hope the people are growing in the gospel and learning better how to serve one another. We’re looking forward to a night out with the Seniors as we attend the opera house and a production by Armenian dancers.