Armenian Adventures

Return from Armenia #23 Flight and Sight

2011-04-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

We are so grateful for the patience of President and Sister Carter. Funny thing happened as we were preparing to leave. We set the alarm for 2:15 a.m. (that’s right a.m.) for an early flight the day after diagnosis and went to bed around 11:30 p.m. The Carters were coming to pick us up at 3:00 a.m. and we knew that would be adequate time to throw a few things in a suitcase, etc… Well, that is, if you remember to turn the alarm on. At 3:00 a.m. I heard a gentle tap at the door and literally leaped out of bed to answer it. Lovely, to greet the mission president and his wife bleary eyed and in pajamas still. It’s amazing how fast we put it all together and were soon headed to the airport. We love President and Sister Carter and will forever remember their smiling faces as we departed…but they were touched with a bit of sadness as they bid farewell to another senior couple…who as of yet have not been replaced .

Our flight went fairly smoothly except for a delay in Chicago, but we arrived in Salt Lake City just an hour later than expected. We were greeted by Elder Peterson’s brother and his wife, Dave and Connie, and they took us directly to the Emergency Room at the University Hospital per our instructions from the consulting doctors. Now, if you’ve ever been to an emergency room, you know it can be a slow process…and it was. They finally saw us, consulted with the ophthalmologist and arrangements were made to be seen at the Moran Eye Clinic the following day. They said they didn’t do eye surgery in the middle of the night generally speaking and it could wait until daylight. We finally arrived home and crawled into bed around 3 a.m. (about 36 hours after we had left Yerevan).

I received a thorough eye exam the next morning from Dr. Bernstein and his associate, Dr. Shuler (I think) and the diagnosis as given in Armenia was the same, detached retina, etc. so surgery was scheduled for the next Thursday which was the doctor’s regular surgery day.

We were able to go see our newest grandbaby and the other 4 grandchildren we haven’t seen for several months. It was lovely. The baby is so sweet and we’re anxious for her to be free of her cords (oxygen and heart) so we can really snuggle her.

Grandparents with newest granddaughter, Merit Sue

Our pregnant with twins daughter Sue and Merit

Sue and Merit Sue

The surgery, according to them went well and according to plan although I think there was a little more repair necessary than had been anticipated. It was surgery done without being totally out of it, so I could hear everything and feel some things and except for recovery being better when just done locally, I’m not sure I like being so aware. It’s supposed to be a 4-6 week recovery before I get my eyesight back. They put in a big gas bubble to help in the healing process and it’s like looking through a wall of water. Rog is kind enough to help with a couple of different eye drop medications needing to be applied 4 times a day.

So, now I’m recovering at the in-laws who were kind enough to take us in so we didn’t displace too badly the seven loved ones currently living in our home. They are anticipating a move around the 1^st of May and then we’ll be able to relocate back to Utah County and see those friends and neighbors we’ve missed while on our mission.

Pincocks and Peterson get together for a "mini" reunion

A little bonus for today, April 19th, was a visit from the Pincocks who stopped by while they were in Salt Lake area for meetings. It was fun to see them and play a few games...always one of our favorite evening activities in Armenia.

Back Home Again #22

2011-04-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last picture of Mt. Ararat from our apartment balcony April 2011

Well, you know how the saying goes that into everyone’s lives some rain must fall. The rain fell, but it was more like a big thunderstorm. I had been experiencing some problems with one of my eyes and finally went to the eye doctor and she informed me that I had a detached retina. So, with a lot of consultation with doctors at home and abroad, the decision was made that we would return to Salt Lake City as soon as possible. I was diagnosed, packed up (thanks to another Senior Couple, the Pincocks) and on the plane within about 18 hours. It was not exactly how we had planned on exiting, to say the least. We still had some sites to see, some souvenirs to purchase and a lot of hugs to give to those we’ve come to know and love. I don’t know if we’ll ever get back, but if the Armenians work hard and are able to get a temple, and we’re not too old (well, we’re already that, but you know what I mean), we will return.

We loved the experience we had of serving our Heavenly Father and his children in Armenia. There were trials and challenges, of course, but we know that as the Lord told Joseph Smith (Sec. 122: 7) “all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good.” We have made many new friends and have come to appreciate all of them and love them, too. Ours lives have so enriched and we pray that we’ll be able to do more missionary work in the future…we just need to stop the clock on our aging bodies.

I’ll try to keep you up to date on what we’re up to and how the surgery goes. We’re excited that we can see our new granddaughter, Merit Sue, and we will actually be here to help our daughter Sue, with the twins she’s expecting in June.

We send our love to you all, dear friends and family.

Elder and Sister Peterson

Back to Armenia #21, Developments at Home and Abroad

2011-04-05T05:41:00.000-07:00

We’ve been asked as church members to pray for the people around the world that “know not God”. At the same time, though, we need to pray for those who have known God, but now feel estranged from Him. I think that sometimes, when we’re experiencing trials, we may think that God has abandoned us, but He will never do that. It is we who stop doing the things that will keep God in our lives. Elder L. Tom Perry said, in the most recent CES Broadcast , that there are four ways to bring people back: (1) Daily prayer, (2) Daily scripture study, (3) Temple worthiness, (4) Daily acts of service. I like what someone has said, “If you want to talk to God, pray, and if you want God to talk to you, read the scriptures”. We’ve had an opportunity this past three months to read the Book of Mormon together as a mission and it’s been a great experience. I’ve also been trying to finish reading the Book of Mormon in Armenian, so I’m into the scriptures for an hour or more a day. Where else, but on a mission, are you able to do such a thing. What a blessing!

Life has been pretty usual as of late: classes, visits with the Institute Council, dinners with Seniors, farewells, meetings and more meetings, but we love it.

Sister P sitting on one of the "thrones" at Erevan Restaurant

Bidding farewell to VanDykes and Southwicks


Musicians entertain us at the Erevan Restaurant

Elder Peterson and I were released from our callings with the Branch on Sunday…well everyone was released. They combined a couple of smaller branches to make one bigger branch. In order for the Armenians to have a temple, they need to have a Stake and before the Stake, there must be wards. In our Yerevan branch, there were almost no active priesthood holders other than the missionaries and the imported branch presidency. To form a ward they need at least 15 active Melchizedek priesthood holders. The Shengavit Branch has more so it was combined with our branch and a new President called. It’s Gagik Avoyan. He will be good and hopefully will move the branch in the direction it needs to go to become a ward. President Avoyan was our first Branch President in Ararat when we first came to Armenia in 2009, so we are somewhat acquainted with him. He’s also the twin brother to Samvel who is the Secretary here at CES to Varuzhan Poghosyan.

On Saturday, we helped with a Branch activity to get all the members of both branches better acquainted with each other. We had them play a get acquainted game that had them talking with each other to find, i.e. someone with blue eyes, the same age, wearing red, a grandmother, seminary student, etc. They seemed to enjoy it…so much that most of them kept the pens I had brought to write with. I had taken the tops off as I heard this would be a deterrent for most people to walking off with your pen (must have been in America)…but no, not in Armenia. I now have almost 50 caps to pens…pretty useless.

Our Branch President (now former) and one of our single young adults is no longer single. He met a girl last September and they were married on Friday. She is from Gorise and not a member of our church, yet, that is. We have great hopes for her. She appears to be a wonderful person and she must be if Narek asked her to be his wife. He invited us and several others over to his home and it was fun to celebrate with him. Sister Carter shared the American tradition that when someone klinks on their glass that it is a sign that the groom needs to kiss the bride. They both blushed a little, but didn’t seem to mind the idea. We also found out that Patrick Walton from our home ward in Provo served in the same mission as Narek. It always seems to be a small world with the church.

Narek and Lillit, married April 1, 2011 at their home

Friends of Narek and his family gather to celebrate his marriage to Lillit

Narek and Lillit do an "American" hand pose

We also made another visit as an Institute Council to Ararat and Artashat. We didn’t have many attendees, but the drive was wonderful as we viewed and smelled the fragrant blossoms of the apricot trees.

Celebrating Spring in Ararat: Sister and Elder Peterson, Elder Peterson, Ani, Aida and Elder Crook

A registered nest with two stork occupants

Sister Peterson enjoying a beautiful spring day

Young adults, missionaries in our Ararat/Artashat IRSC Visit

We’re looking forward to gathering as missionaries and members next weekend as we listen to General Conference…always a boost to the spirit and a chance to hear the word of God as He speaks to His prophets today.

We love all of you and hope spring has come into your life. Elder Peterson saw some swallows today…so Spring must be on its way.

Sue and one of the other coaches, belly to belly

Just for fun, this is what's been happening at home. We're excited for new grandbabies and someone else is blossoming.

Back to Armenia #20

2011-03-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

For Family Home Evening, we invited some of the Young Singles over and had a most enjoyable time. And besides which, we learned how to make Borscht (a soup that has meat, carrots, cabbage, beets, potatoes, onions, a little tomato paste, bay leaf, salt and some water). Most delicious! Everyone who had been on missions shared experiences or things they had learned so it was a wonderful evening.

Sister Peterson (Patti) and Lusine preparing borscht

Artur, Lusine, Karmen Sironush, Erik, Sister P, Elder P, and Sister Pincock

March 8^th is a special holiday in Armenia. It’s called Woman’s Day (maybe this is in place of Mother’s Day…I don’t know). You are supposed to give flowers and chocolate to the women in your life. Well, the man in my life did give me chocolate and we received flowers at the Pandok (our local close-by restaurant).

March 9^th was another wonderful South Zone Conference with some Georgia elders added in. All the sisters and elders are such wonderful missionaries and the Conference is just what they need to get a boost of energy in their missionary work. We love the elders and sisters.

Elder Jonas, President and Sister Carter with scarves and ties for birthdays


Missionaries, old and young at South Zone Conference in March 2011

March 11^th, we went with Lia to the Embassy first thing in the morning and she finally got her visa, but she’ll have to pick it up next week and we hope in time to catch her flight for Salt Lake. At noon, we loaded up Erik’s van with some young adults and went to Gyumri to make some visits to less active YSA’s, share a spiritual thought, put in a “plug” for YSA Conference, play some games and have some refreshments. Not just punch and cookies this time around, but kebab and a fancy cake. It was a nice time.

Young Single Adults playing "Telegraph" in Gyumri

Playing Games at Gyumri

Monday, when Lia went to pick up her Visa, it wasn’t ready and they told her to come back on Wednesday evening…but her plane was leaving in the morning. After explaining her dilemma, they said they would call her on Tuesday to let her know if she could get it….and with a lot of prayers, she did get it just in time for her to be set apart as a missionary. President Carter gave her a wonderful blessing and we know she’ll be a great missionary and we’re hoping we’ll be able to see her on Temple Square when we return. Lia left on Wednesday and arrived safely in Utah. Go Lia!

Lia Harutyunyan (love that smile) and her Dad

Senior Missionaries with Lia and her Dad at Lia's setting apart as a missionary

Wednesday, the 16^th, we left early in the morning with President Poghosyan and Lusine H, headed for Tblisi, Georgia. We went to the Hingali House and tried Hingali (sp) in many varieties (meat, spicy meat,cheese, potato, and mushroom). We did not go to McDonalds (it has more than one unlike Armenia which has none).We enjoyed getting better acquainted with young single adults there and met with them to discuss the upcoming YSA Conference. We attended their Institute class taught by Senior missionary, Sister Southwick, played some games and enjoyed light refreshments.

View of Lake Sevan on our way to Georgia

Reflection of the Mountains in Lake Sevan viewed from the highway

Rog loves rocks, view on road to Georgia

Young single adults, investigators, missionaries at Tblisi Institute Class

Playing "telegraph" after Institute class

Playing a game of "wink-em" after Institute class

We spent the night and left the next morning for our return trip back to Armenia, stopping in Alaverde and Vanadzor along the way. We’re looking forward to a return trip in May with our Institute Council.


We visited Zara who was feeling under the weather at her home (pretty humble circumstances)

Zara's 4 year old nephew

Marchutkas (public transport) all ready to go in Alaverde

Typical sidewalk market, this one in Alaverde

We do manage to keep busy teaching (mostly Elder Peterson) a couple of Institute classes a week and one movie/activity night each week for our young single adults. We also keep in regular contact with the other seniors serving here and feel blessed by all our interactions.

Back to Armenia #19

2011-03-02T06:18:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Feb 19^th, we had a great experience of being able to attend a new missionary orientation. It was so fun to see the brand new elders and sisters as they found out who their first companions (they call them their mom or dad) would be and where they would be serving. We also were able to hear their first testimonies on Armenian soil. One of the new ones, Elder Peterson, is from Layton and in our nephew, Brian Nelson’s, ward. Brian had been Elder P’s young men’s president and he couldn’t say enough good things about Brian. Way to be a good example and influence, Brian! We’re proud of you! We’re also excited that Elder Peterson will be serving in Ararat, the area we first served in when we came to country.

Another experience we had fairly recently was to reaffirm our faith in the basic goodness of most people. We had gone to the bakery to pick up our “sandwichyhats” for our Valentine’s party. We had preordered 50 and paid 500 dram (about $1.40) in advance with a total to be paid of 1500 dram. I paid the additional 1000 dram, but she said I owed 1500 (in my forgetful age I had not remembered 500 had already been paid) so I gave her the full amount and left with the bread. I guess they figured it out and someone came looking for us and found Elder Peterson to return the over payment. We were surprised that they could find us…but apparently everyone knows where the “Americans” live. There are still honest people in this world!

February 25^th found us headed up to Alaverde and Vanadzor with some of the Institute Council Young Adults (Erik, Lia, Vahe and Levon) to do some activities and have fun with some of our “away from Yerevan” branches. We had had to cancel an earlier planned trip because of snow and we weren’t sure this one would happen, but in spite of traveling on packed ice and snowy roads for about 45 minutes, we finally arrived at Alaverde. It’s an interesting town, sort of reminds me of Switzerland…rugged mountains and a little village in the valleys below.

View of Alaverde

There is apparently a sort of tram (the missionaries described it as a box) that gets people from the top to the bottom. We only had three young adults there, but I seem to recall scriptures about finding the one or helping the one and here we were helping three to know we care…so progress. We did a little dancing to warm up (there was no heat in the building…which was fairly new and very nice) first and then watched, “The Touch of the Master’s Hand” (a great video that teaches we are all of value and with Christ’s influence, the weak can become strong). Lia gave a great spiritual presentation to tie it all together and then we enjoyed some refreshments. We also took time to visit with a young adult member, Lillit, in her home.

?Lillit, Vahe, Elder P., Rima, Lia and Lillit's child

We then proceeded onto Vanadzor and sort of repeated the same program. Only this time there were almost 30 present (about 10 missionaries, both old and young, five or so YSA’s (young single adults)and at least five investigators as well as Institute Council and others). It was really a great experience and we added some game playing to the activity that they really seemed to enjoy.

Before heading for home, we visited another less active YSA, Lusine, and her family.

Lusine, Elders Wainwright, Frye, Peterson, Grandma, Ruzana, Lia, Heghine, Lusine's Dad and Vahe

We stopped for a little food and enjoyed bread, meat and cheese sandwiches that Lia put together. It was a fun, successful adventure although the 12 hour day leaves these folks (meaning Elder and Sister Peterson) a little on the more tired side and definitely ready to “hit the sack”.

Communication continues to be a challenge. Because of this I missed a Relief Society activity…and I’m in the Presidency. The translation that came to me said the activity was going to be on the 4^th (I assumed of March), but it was really the 24^th of February. One of the problems it seems is that the presidency hadn’t worked together in the planning of the activity, and the Relief Society President just did it all on her own. I don’t think they understand how the system and the use of counselors can work. Oh well, maybe next time. I’m just hoping they don’t feel I’m being non-supportive.

Probably the most exciting to happen in the month of February was the safe arrival of our #16 grandchild to Mike and Jana Maughan. Merit Sue arrived at 11:47 p.m. on the 27^th, weighing in at 9# 7 oz. and 21 inches long.

The biggest baby Jana has had and, according to what the nurses said at the American Fork Hospital, the biggest baby to be born all month. We were excited that we were able to Skype with Jana and see Merit within hours of her birth. Some of Heavenly Father’s gifts are oh so sweet.

Merit Sue Maughan, born February 27, 2011

Jana and Merit Sue

March 1^st was a day we spent differently from our normal office routine. There was a scheduled political protest in Yerevan (and with all the protests going on in the Middle East and elsewhere, everyone is being more cautious) so the Mission President requested that all missionaries remain indoors. Apparently in 2008 on this same date, there was a protest and 8 people ended up being killed. We value our lives, and even if risk is minimal, we’re being obedient.

Back to Armenia #18

2011-02-18T05:50:00.000-08:00

The weather was cold and snowy and there is still some ice in patches but we no longer feel a need to wear our Yak trax…at least until the next storm. We loved the way the frost covers the trees to make them look white. I love looking from the inside out and not vice versa. Brrrr!

Snowy view from our apartment

Yak Trax picture courtesy of Sister Jones

February, the month of love…love for family, love of the gospel and sharing it, caring for all our brothers and sisters throughout the earth.

We talk a lot with the youth about being and finding an eternal companion in our Saturday class and sometimes we just like to do activities where they can be together and enjoy one another. So, we headed for the ice skating rink at Hamalir, a hugh sports complex in Yerevan.

We celebrated with our Young Adults in a Valentine’s activity. It was fun, and we hope they appreciated the efforts of all involved to try and get them to get together, to meet someone new, and to form new relationships. It was all about “love”. Some of them actually danced together at the end…now that is progress!...maybe we can get them to the “like” each other stage.

View of room with its "heart" decorations

Lia and Ani frosting hearts of the party

Ani and Lia with a lot of hearts for the party

Some of the party goers, Nelly, Hasmik, Zarhui and Vahe

Helping the Elders as they teach about the Gospel, is an activity of “love” that we especially enjoy. On Valentine’s Day, we helped with an Iranian couple. They have a wonderful, kind and caring spirit about them. They are returning to Iran for a month or so, and when they come back, we’re hoping to continue to help teach them. Elder Thylin will be returning home to Sweden (we’ll miss him), but there will be another great elder in his place to carry on.

Elders Thylin and Steglich with Mahsmud and Nazanine and us

We had a lovely Valentine’s dinner with other Senior couples whom we have come to love and enjoy spending time with them. We were joined by the Budds. He is serving as a military attache at the US embassy and is a counselor in the Mission Presidency

Jones, Petersons, Carters, Pincocks, Budds, Riches

I wasn't in any of the pictures as I was the photographer for 1/2 dozen cameras, but someone else snapped this

This month at mission couple we were able to meet a brand new couple that is coming in. They will be serving in Georgia. We took the opportunity to take a picture and except for the Southwicks (who are in Georgia until April) these are all the currently serving missionaries in Armenia. They are a wonderful group.

Reeses, Pincocks, Riches, Petersons, Carters, Jones, VanDykes and Bluncks

We love you all and appreciate your support and ongoing prayers. We miss you but are happy to be serving in Armenia

Back to Armenia #17

2011-01-28T04:24:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, January 9, 2011, not only did I have to speak on the Atonement in Sacrament meeting, but we had important visitors there to meet with all the members. Our mission president and his wife, the District President and one of his counselors, and the first Area Authority 70 from Armenia, Elder Minasyan, were all present.

President Carter addressed important welfare issues and how welfare is to be handled. I am quite sure that the proper administration of church welfare is difficult to learn and implement. President Carter has been inspired to do extra training here in Armenia to help the members as well as the leaders to understand the purpose of welfare and how it is a tool to help people become self sufficient. Many churches here bolster their attendance by giving financial help to the people and experience has shown we can have lots of members if we just give them money. For a lot of years here, if a member had a need, he just asked and he was given the necessary funds. There wasn’t much emphasis on personal responsibility, self-reliance and the proper order of things. Welfare assistance needs to be done the Lord’s way: First do all you can, then seek help from family members, and lastly go to the church for assistance. Church assistance was never meant to be a long-term program, but for many here, it had become a way of life. When assistance changed and was more properly administered, some of the recipients who had become used to receiving welfare, took offense and stopped coming. I’ve even heard stories of some of the welfare recipients comparing notes and if one got more than another, they were quite vocal in their complaints. President Carter also said that welfare is a private matter between the person needing it, the branch president who administers it and the Lord. They will be going to all the branches in the mission talking about welfare principles. Hopefully, it will create greater understanding and a desire among the members to do things the right way. The Lord can’t bless us if we don’t do things His way.

Elder Minasyan talked a lot about strengthening and serving one another and also that it was important for them to stay here with their families and build the church in Armenia. That is the challenge, to want to stay when good jobs are scarce and not well-paying, and to find a eternal companion who is willing to stay because it does require sacrifice. They are sort of in the early “pioneering state”.

One of our missionary couples gave me an idea when I read their blog. We were able to go to the Kiev Temple and also participated by satellite in observing the cultural celebration that was part of the dedication activities. There was a wonderful video made about the celebration and has a lot of our Armenian youth in it. You can see it at https://lds.org/youth/video/kyiv-ukraine-temple-cultural-celebration?lang=eng.

We’ve had some wonderful opportunities to go with the missionaries as they visit families in our branch and participate with them as they teach investigators. We recently visited a family that consists of two young girls (18 and 20) and their brother who is 10. The place they live was way up on the hill and consisted of just two rooms that we could see. There may have been a bathroom that we didn’t see. At any rate, one room was their kitchen and the other was their bedroom/living room. We sat on the bed which served as substitute couch. There wasn’t much heat, so I was glad I had my winter coat with me. In spite of the circumstances, there was a wonderful spirit there and we all were able to share our testimonies about the Book of Mormon, including the 10 year old.

Elder and Sister Peterson on the shortcut

Elders Steglich and Thylin on our way home

Elder and Sister Jones

Elder and Sister Rich

Elder and Sister Pincock

Elder and Sister Peterson

We continue to enjoy the time we can spend with the other senior couples. We gathered this night at a place we call "Around the Corner Cafe".They had live music and we recorded a little so you can hear the flavor of Armenian music. The Pincocks just returned after being in the States for a few weeks to take care of some medical needs. They will have to go home in just a couple of months for additional medical treatment, and so will be back home even before we are. We admire their willingness, even if for a few months, to come back and complete what they consider to be unfinished projects. By June when we return home, four other senior couple who are serving with us now, the Southwicks, VanDykes, Bluncks, and Pincocks, will also be home. We just hope we’ll be lucky enough to have replacements for all those leaving. Senior couples are so helpful wherever they are serving.

Back to Armenia #16- New Year

2011-01-06T06:06:00.000-08:00

The light changing tree

Elder and Sister Peterson at Republic Square

Museum at Republic Square

Happy New Year everyone!

New Year’s Eve was interesting! As missionaries, we were to stay in and so we did. I was at home (trying to overcome a cold) and Elder Peterson came a little later as the office had been busy. We discovered we were without power, so what did we do: enjoyed bread and cheese and pickles and hard salami (this type of “snack” is a pretty familiar one for Petersons), not by candlelight as you might suspect, but by headlamp (you may remember a facebook posting by one of our children). Shortly after eating, the lights came back on and we could play some more Sequence (a game Elder Peterson received for Christmas). I don’t think we lasted until midnight, but the fireworks and the church bells ringing didn’t let us sleep either.

New Year’s Day, I made a big pot of potato soup and we spent the day with our missionary district, eating, watching movies, and playing games. They are great young people and we love associating with them. We had our first snow and we love it as long as we don’t have to shovel or be out in it.

Since Christmas, we also had a branch activity. It was fun, but I inadvertently deleted all the pictures I took so can only describe it. We had a few spiritual thoughts shared (by the Branch President and Elder Peterson), listened to Anush and Elder Steglich sing Holy Night (missed hearing Alisa singing that),watched Joy To The World, had refreshments (sandwiches, salads and ice cream and fruit salad (made by yours truly). It was exciting because one of the sisters who had become less active because she was offended, came to help in the kitchen, and that is a good step to coming back and being more active. The missionaries acted out the nativity, but somehow the wise men forgot to make their entrance. Oh well! Santa and his helper came and brought presents for the young children, and they gave everyone sparklers which were then lit and waved about (I don’t think our churches at home would allow such a thing; it might be considered a fire hazard).

The Budd family with Ruben and Erik

Gasparyan's Christmas Tree

Ruben, Ellen, Sister Gasparyan with Budds at their home

The day before the Armenian Christmas which is January 6^th, we celebrated with the Gasparyan family. Sister Gasparyan is a wonderful cook and she must have been cooking for days. We were served so many things that even just taking a little of each thing to try, we found ourselves very “kooshed”. There was roast pork, ham, chicken with fried potatoes, trout, dolma with Matzsoon, several salads, tomatoes and cucumbers, pickled items (garlic among them), cheese, lavash and bread, a traditional rice dish (rice with dried fruit) served on Christmas, green beans and eggs, something that is pronounced “bone cheeks”, fresh fruit, nuts, several kinds of dessert (sweet tooth here did consume more than one…shocking, I know), and lots of different kinds of juices and carbonated drinks. It’s no wonder that Erik is not anxious to get married and move out…but as tradition goes, he would just probably bring his new wife home anyway.

We received a great “after Christmas” present today. Sue and Zach, who are having twins in June just found out they are having two BOYS. We’re excited and when all are safely here, we’ll have 18 grandchildren (7 girls and 11 boys).

Back to Armenia #15 Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-01T03:54:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-23T07:38:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-08T03:00:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-02T03:47:00.000-07:00

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.

Back to Armenia #10

2010-10-12T02:22:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention when talking about the “Mother of Armenia” statue that it is on this site (at least nearby) where the country of Armenia was dedicated by Dallin H Oaks and Russell M. Nelson for the preaching of the gospel in 1991.

Some weeks just seem pretty ordinary…you know go to the office, read and study, teach some lessons, participate in teaching with the missionaries, dinner dates with husband and the other seniors, district meetings, laundry, but the big thing is we’re doing it in Armenia, ARMENIA.

We’re so grateful to be missionaries, to have this opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ whether by example or speaking. We love our Savior and want to be like Him.

The week of October 4th, was sort of “feast and famine”. My children know that there are a couple of things for which I don’t have a great deal of tolerance. One is flooding water in basements and the other is rodents, dead or alive. So, this week was especially rainy and I didn’t think too much about it until some boys came into the Institute wanting to play ping pong. I gave them the equipment, unlocked the door and returned to the office. Within seconds they were back indicating I should come with them. What I saw was very disconcerting…four rooms were mostly covered in an inch or so of water on the floor. The storage room had all kinds of equipment, decorations, papers, props scattered about the floor and now most of them were in a state of wet…boxes disintegrating with accompanying mildew and other smells emanating forth. The boys helped to stack and move things to higher ground…and then decided to play table tennis anyway in spite of the water. I guess the ball wouldn’t travel very far if hit off the table. Several more hours were occupied with emptying out stuff from soggy boxes and either salvaging or throwing. We put a fan we found to work and the cleaning lady spent several hours mopping up water and cleaning the floors. It’s still damp in places but we’re making progress. One of the bags I emptied was one containing ropes and gunny sacks and balls, we use for our activities. I grabbed what I thought was a grayish wad of stuff and discovered it was, you guessed it, a deceased mouse. I screamed and Elder Peterson who was down the hall, told the other missionary couple…”she must have found a mouse…that is a scream she only uses when she finds a mouse”. Aargh!

Elder and Sister Blunck came for a "stay over" for Conference

Thanks heavens for the feast. We were able to watch General Conference with the other Senior couples for a spiritual feast. I really enjoyed President Monson’s talk on gratitude and especially as we’re not long to Thanksgiving and Christmas (as an aside, I heard that there are only 75 shopping days to Christmas). I appreciated President Uchdorf’s advice that when we are experiencing adverse conditions, we need to “slow down and stay the course” and to focus on things which matter most. He said something else that I thought interesting, “any virtue when taken to extreme can become a vice”. It was a wonderful opportunity to get our batteries recharged and to keep going.

Izik Poghoysan playing the Saz

We had another cultural experience when we were invited to attend President Poghoysan’s 40th birthday party. We enjoyed wonderful food typical of Armenia and enjoyed hearing the President play his guitar as well as hearing great entertainment from Igit, Varuzhan’s father, as he played the Saz and sang for us.

This weekend, Yerevan was also celebrating its anniversary…its 2792nd. I was thinking WOW, but then I heard on the news that Jericho was celebrating its 10,000th anniversary of founding.

Back to Armenia #9

2010-09-23T05:24:00.000-07:00

The weeks seem to go by fairly fast and now it’s getting closer to October. We had planned on Saturday to do something with some of the other senior couples…and that is what we did. There were four couples and we all crowded into Eric Gasparyan’s van and he did the chauffeuring. Nice! He also could tell us something of the sights that we were visiting.

Our first stop was to visit the “Mother of Armenia” monument at the top of the hill. She overlooks the city and has (as you can see from the pictures that Elder Peterson just had to take) lots of weaponry, tanks, missles, etc. surrounding her. It was also a military museum of sorts with lots of old uniforms and pictures on display. It was all very dark and the ceilings were covered with what I suppose was a netting with camaflouge. Okay, but once will do. The Pincocks had brought along some Yum Yum donuts (like Bismarks and apple fritters…just like at home) and we all enjoyed the midmorning reminder of things given up…okay it just isn’t because we came to Armenia, but I think we gave them up some time ago due to our “figures”.

We then traveled on some rather distraught roads for quite a period of time, but eventually arrived at Geghard. It is an ancient monastery, partly carved out of a mountain, that is still in business. The main chapel was built in 1215 and the monastery was established in the 4th century so it is very old. As we were walking up the cobblestone road from the parking lot, we noticed some caged pigeons. I think they still do live animal sacrifices here. It was a busy place. There were lot of tourists, a baptism (of an infant) and someone taking wedding pictures…so lots of observe. It was a curious place…very old. Elder P took a picture of the floor that has a hole in it. The chanter would sing and they would open up the hole to the downstairs, so that the singing could be heard throughout the monastery. As we were coming into the room, some tourist from Holland was in the middle of singing/chanting, and he had a very nice voice. It sort of reminded me of when we sang in the old theater in Salem where we performed Sound of Music years ago. They have a chapel where you can go and light candles and put them in raised sandboxes…waxy smelling place. There were vendors selling jewelry, breads, fruit leather, date/walnut concoctions on a string, and we did get some bread and some date/walnut goodies. I’m always a little concerned with the flies that have landed on them, but we seemed to suffer no ill effect. As we were traveling to our next site, we did purchase some apples on the side of the road (400 dram/kilo or about 50 cents a pound) and they were very tasty.

We visited a place called Garni. Elder Peterson enjoyed seeing the van cats and fox pelts that were displayed by the vendors on our way in. Garni is the only surviving Hellenistic architecture type temple in Armenia. It was originally built as a pagan temple, called the Sun Temple, they say in the 3rd Century BC. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1679 and rebuilt in 1949. We also saw the bathhouse and the foundation for another church. It was a peaceful place with nice vistas. If you saw the movie “Hercules” you’ve seen this temple as it was apparently used for that movie.

From Garni, we traveled to the “book” museum. The museum is located appropriately at the top of Mashtots Street. Mashtots is the one who invented the Armenian alphabet. There were lots of beautiful bibles on display with wonderful illuminations and illustrations. They were made from all sorts of materials and were all sizes from small (a couple of inches) to big. I read on one display that one of the books called the Homilies of Mush was made from 630 calfskins. When opened the book is about one meter wide and weighs 32 kiIograms. I didn’t see anything really old, but I guess if they were 11th Century…that would be considered pretty old.
At the end of our trip, some of the seniors enjoyed some Italian food and some others opted for sharmas (barbecued meat on a stick, put in lavash with lot of veggies added). It was sort of like getting a Subway in the States. We followed it with some soft ice cream for dessert. Great day!

Sunday, Elder Peterson added another assignment…that of Ward Mission Leader. He was released as Elders Quorum President as President Carter said being the Institute Director plus 1st Counselor in the Branch Presidency, Mission Leader and Elders Quorum President was too much…and I think we’d agree.

All the Senior couples were invited to eat with the Budds on Sunday. The Budds are a younger couple with 4 cute children (including two girls with red hair…and you know we love our red heads). Justin Budd is army military attached to the Armenian Embassy. We had a great barbecue with hamburgers and all the fixings…sort of American-like.

You’d think we’d done enough eating to take a break for awhile…but not so. For Family Night we had some of the Armenians (Lusine, Samvel, Suzie Q, and Zara H) and the Pincocks come over and this time Lusine cooked a soup that had bamja (okra) in it and it was very good. We added a summer salad, bread and ice cream for dessert…so we have been well fed lately. Elder Peterson led a great discussion on marriage that involved how the Pincocks met and we were all educated and entertained. They are a great group of young people, and the old ones are great, too.

Back to Armenia #8

2010-09-16T01:30:00.000-07:00

It’s always a small world out here. I was in our local market the other day and one of the workers in the produce (who was Armenian, but spoke some English) asked me where I was from. I said the United States…and she said, “I know that, but where?” I replied, “Utah, Provo, Utah”. She then proceeded to tell me that she had lived in Provo for five years and she and her children really wanted to move back there, but her husband did not, so here they stay, at least for the time being. She commented how she really liked Provo and how friendly and helpful the people there were. Way to go Provo!!! I think she has a favorable impression of the church and maybe even has some family that is LDS.

We had an opportunity to go to the airport to welcome home our returning dancers. They were so tired, but excited about the experiences they had had. One of the dancers was left in the Ukraine because she was late boarding and they had oversold the plane, so she stayed and I think had the opportunity in her delay to actually go to the temple to do some baptisms…an added bonus for her. She has sent off her papers to serve a mission and is waiting for her call. Another one of our cute sisters, Lia, is also waiting for her call. Lia has been serving as a “mini” missionary and so excited to serve full-time. Life really is about learning to serve one another, willingly and with a happy heart.

We had another opportunity to serve as we prepared a lunch for 30+ missionaries. We ordered rolls (kind of like hoagies) from our local bakery (not like the ones at home, I must say), purchased the other fixings (meat, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, mayo) sliced the bread, assembled the sandwiches, added, chips, grapes and juice and voila!, a lunch they all seemed to enjoy. The missionaries are participating in some training that is being done world-wide to help them become better teachers of the Gospel. This training is 4 days long and at the behest of the First Presidency. It is considered important enough that they are willing to pull the missionaries from their missionary work to receive the training.

September brought an additional assignment for Elder Peterson. He’s now the 1st counselor in the Yerevan Branch Presidency. The new president is Narek Tsatsuryan, and a returned missionary from the Ukraine of about 9 months ago. He’s been a member of the church for about 4 years, and has a lot to learn, but he’ll have an experienced leader to help him along. It was interesting to me that as we talked with Narek about his counselors, I was thinking in the back of my mind that Elder Peterson would be a good one…and then, I guess the Lord must have inspired Narek, too, because that is who he called.
We had a fun dinner appointment this last weekend…and we didn’t have to fix it. I did do a dessert and that is another story. We have an electric oven and I didn’t realize that is was set to only cook on the top…so the top looked cooked. but when I tried a little taste the bottom was still like cookie dough. So, I cooked it again (still not changing the settings, however). Then I commented to Rog about it and he noticed that the settings were wrong, set it right and I cooked the brownies for the third time. Less than satisfactory, but the missionaries who had invited us to dinner didn’t complain and enjoyed the brownie/ice cream dessert. We enjoyed the chicken enchilada they had made from scratch, using lavash, instead of tortillas. If they cooked like that every day, I’m sure they wouldn’t stay as thin as they are.

One of the things we miss as missionaries is personal face to face interaction with our families and friends back home. Skype is okay, better than e-mail, but not quite the same as in person stuff. We just received an e-mail from Alisa and she will have some great musical opportunities coming up in the next six months, and if any of you are in the area where she’ll be performing, maybe you can represent us with some hugs and kisses. She’ll be performing at the Lincoln Center in New York on December 19th as part of their Christmas program and makes her Carnegie Hall debut on March 14th singing John Rutter’s Requiem. There was also a fun article (http://issuu.com/philatknpr/docs/desert_companion_2010sept/58) about her that appeared in a local NPR magazine. We’re excited for her and I guess you could say, “busting our buttons”. While on the subject of family, we have one other request. Our oldest granddaughter has Retts Syndrome. There is an opportunity to register and vote every day at http://www.refresheverything.com/rettresearchtoreality . Pepsi is giving away dollars for research and we’re voting for a cure!!!

Hope you are enjoying life wherever you are!

Back to Armenia #7

2010-08-30T05:26:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me. I was really not very excited about my birthday this year. It was the same day as the Seminary opening social up at Lake Sevan. Not only would I have to speak for 30 minutes, but had to come up with games to keep them entertained for an hour. The time when you go to the Lake is usually long (at least a 12 hour day) and we were tired at the end, but it wasn’t as bad as I anticipated. Where else could we have gone that I would get sung to about three times and given tons of hugs and kisses and birthday wishes by about 60 young people?

One of the games we chose to do was a balloon toss with water balloons. I couldn’t believe how long it took to try and get them to understand how to do the game…about 30 minutes. Words of explanation just didn’t seem to work…the next time, we’ll demonstrate…that is if we can get them quiet enough to watch and listen. I guess it isn't a world-wide game. We also did a sponge relay (it was nice to have the water resource of Lake Sevan). They would run to the lake fill up the sponge with water and then run back and squeeze the water into a bucket and the first team to fill the bucket was the winner. We seemed to have picked good games and they enjoyed playing them.

Saturday (28th) afternoon, we took a little bit of a P-day and went to the Genocide Museum with some other Senior missionaries. The museum was a place where one could see “man’s inhumanity to man”. The pictures displayed there reminded me of similar pictures I’ve seen of the Holocaust. It’s amazing with such physical evidence, that the event (beginning in 1915) can be denied by some as ever taking place.

The dancers are finished with their rehearsals and are now in Kiev getting ready for their performance at the Cultural night as part of activities for the Temple Dedication. We can hardly wait to watch it.

Well, we did watch them perform and they did great! The rest of the Cultural Celebration was interesting and there was a lot of talent displayed (from nine different countries)…but I think our dancers were the best…no prejudice here. President Monson did a little piano playing before it officially got started and this amused us all. The dancers even made a brief appearance (very) on KSL News.
Sunday, the 29th August, was the actual dedication day and as temple dedications go, it was wonderful. We were able to watch the cornerstone ceremony. That was interesting as President Monson wanted to make sure all who wanted to participate could. The younger boys, he called “tiger” and he was very complimentary to the young girls. He didn’t want to let the choir do their singing until all who wanted to put some mud in the cornerstone had had the opportunity to do so. It was pretty entertaining.

The inside of the temple is beautiful, a place of refuge and so peaceful. At our session (there were 3) for the dedication, President Uchtdorf conducted. Sister Galbraith (temple matron), Russell M. Nelson, President Galbraith (temple president) and President Monson spoke. This is the 134th temple (the Kiev Temple was announced in 1998, but ground was not broken until 2007), the first one in Eastern Europe and it serves over 31,000 members. The spirit we felt while participating in the dedication is wonderful and we’re excited for the Saints and their possibilities now for eternal families.

Back to Armenia #6

2010-08-22T03:55:00.000-07:00

Gratitude is such an important principle of life and the gospel. I wonder sometimes if we get experiences to make us more grateful for what we are blessed with. Case in point has been a problem I’ve been experiencing the last couple of weeks with my eyes. I’ve become really grateful for good eyesight especially since the floaters and flashers have decided to take up residence in my right eye. I’m also learning another principle…that of patience as I wait for things to improve.
We were able to attend our first baptism in Yerevan. We all gathered, that is, everyone except the one being baptized. I think he must have been on Armenian time, because he was about 30 minutes late. He’s an 18 year old who dances with the group preparing to go to the temple cultural celebration and a lot of his friends from the group were there to support him. He was so happy and the spirit there was strong, almost tangible.

We also enjoyed a great Zone conference with the South Zone. It was so wonderful to be able to see Elder Clark and Elder Pulsipher again. They were the elders we had worked with when we first came on our mission and lived down in Ararat. There were some changes in reporting: no more keeping track of convo’s (the goal had been 10 gospel conversations/day and because it is against the law to proselyte, a missionary might be more focused on the finding the conversation than teaching), but a greater emphasis is now on meetings with the most important key indicators of success being the number of investigators who attend sacrament meeting and the number of lessons taught to investigators with a member present. The biggest reason for this emphasis is that they have found that the higher these indicator numbers are, the greater the number of baptisms.

We observed something rather different the other day. We came down the elevator and noticed when we got off that someone had started a fire in one corner with what appeared to be plastic of some sort. The cobwebs that hang there and the walls were now all blackened…sort of like walking into a spook alley. We were glad when we came back several hours later, it had all been cleaned up, and no more cob webs…that is, I guess, until the spiders rebuild.

We were able to enjoy a dinner with some of the senior couples for Family Home Evening and checked out the one restaurant (called Corner Café…but not on the corner) where you can get steak. It was quite delicious, but a little on the expensive side (the two of us ate for about $30.00). When I think that we paid about the same price for a couple of hamburgers, fries and milk shakes, it doesn’t seem too bad. I think the statement that says, “you get what you pay for” is probably true.

We were participants recently in what was termed “Education Days”, sort of a take-off on BYU Education Week, except instead of 1,000 workshops, we had nine classes per session. We did workshops in Yerevan, Vanadzor and Gyumri. We probably averaged about 40 people the first couple of days, either listening or presenting. In Gyumri, the attendance wasn’t great and we think it really helped to have the PR the senior couple did in Vanadzor to boost attendance. The question was posed if the people were coming more for the refreshments at the end than anything else, but we’re hoping they came for the learning as well.

As we were traveling to Vanadzor, we passed through a town called Spitak. This town was 90% destroyed in the earthquake of 1988, and so all the buildings we saw were new since then. There is still of lot of evidence of the destruction that occurred. One brother, who was riding with us, said he had lost over 50 relatives in that quake. We know how hard it is to lose one loved one, let alone 50 times that.
I realize this posting is getting a little long and I apologize. I just didn’t seem to have time to post before we were off to another event.

We ended the week with the Institute opening social up at Lake Sevan on the 21st. It was another day-long activity and we were certainly glad to get to bed around midnight. I don’t think I’ve noticed as many achy places for a long time…but then 15 hour days mostly on the feet aren’t occurring all that often…thank heavens. We learned some things from this experience and we’ve survived and it’s amazing. The young adults decided that they would prepare the chicken barbecue in the Institute kitchen (and hopefully that will never happen again). They had chicken pieces all over, in different states of thaw and they decided they needed to use hot water to thaw them more quickly. In the middle of this preparation, they left for a couple of hours for dance rehearsal (not refrigerating the chicken).

The chicken in the meantime was thawing and we had chicken juices everywhere, in the cracks of the table, on the floor, etc.) They came back and cut up onions and greens and put the chicken pieces to marinate in every container they could find, as well as filling the fruit hydrator of the refrigerator. At least it was refrigerated, some 4 hours after they started.

The YSA’s cleaned the kitchen pretty well (at least it appeared that way until it had dried) When the chicken was taken out the next day to take to Sevan around 8:30 a.m., the inside of the refrigerator was now a little on the greasy, oniony smelling-side. We couldn’t do anything about it at the time, so it just had to wait until we got back. We did enjoy delicious barbecue around 5:30 p.m. and the chicken wasn’t refrigerated during the whole time…that’s why I say we survived or maybe our stomachs are getting used to the Armenian ways.

Besides eating a couple of meals, the YSA’s did a lot of dancing. Artur and Samvel provided the music (taking speakers and mixer from the Institute) and it was going the whole time. The mission president, President Carter and his wife, came and gave a short spiritual message about marriage (a topic of great interest and need here) and then taught some dances. We did the Hokie Pokie, the Chicken Dance and a little bit of the Virginia Reel. The group caught on pretty quickly. The dancers going to the Temple Dedication cultural event also performed their dance. Monday, we’re hoping to see their dress rehearsal. The costumes look great.

The YSA’s also managed to get registered for Institute, swim some and get a lot of sun. There were some a little on the “crispy” side including Elder Peterson who is very rosy today, maybe even red would be a better description. I also discovered that they have stinging nettle in Armenia, but effects are mostly gone.

Back to Armenia #5, Summer

2010-07-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

On July 29th, we attended our first branch party and it was fun and different. We were headed to Lake Sevan and they were excited for some swimming, sun, and good food. We’re used to ward activities that may last 2-3 hours, but the activities here seem to last all day. We were to be at the church at 7:30 a.m. with the bus to leave at 8:00 a.m. We didn’t quite make it by 8, but close. When it’s a party, I think they tend to be more punctual, unlike church, when they can come at any time and know they won’t be left behind.

We didn’t go very far, when they realized that they had left the juice behind, so the bus pulled over to the side of the road and the branch presidency hailed a taxi to go back and pick up the forgotten item while the rest of us waited. After about 30 minutes, juice now on board, we started out again. We didn’t get terribly far when the bus, while going up the steep hills toward the lake, apparently overheated and we had to stop for engine cooling and adding of water. Another wait, and then we were on our way again. Well, not for too long, and we had to stop again to wait for the bus engine to cool and replace a broken belt one more time. I asked if it’s possible to get some money back for your troubles with the bus and they said that if anything the bus company might ask you for more money to make the necessary repairs as you are journeying.
I don’t know if it’s always this way, but if it is, I can understand why they start so early. We arrived at the lake around noon and normally it’s just an hour drive from Yerevan.

The lake is all privately owned (how I appreciate the public spaces we have back home) and you have to pay for your space at the beach. They do have tables that you rent and they are covered by a tarp canopy that keeps some of the sun off. I noticed there were quite a few rosier people when we left than when we first arrived, including me.

Everyone just laid out their blankets (carpets the Armenians say) and either just relaxed or went swimming or played games in the sand, and one of the principle activities was eating. When we arrived everyone brought out snacks they had brought and shared them around. A couple of hours later, we made summer salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and greens sprinkled with salt) and they grilled up a bunch of hotdogs that they served in huge buns (two dogs/bun). They use catsup to accompany the dogs. We also had slices of watermelon. A few hours later, preparations were started for “khoravatz”. They made piles of wood and started them burning so they’d have coals for grilling. Then they loaded up skewers with chicken and with pork. They had a grill box that was about 6’ x 20” and they loaded it up with skewers five times or so, so there was a lot of meat. They also sliced potatoes and grilled them. They then brought out piles of lavash to eat along with the meat, and I think no one went home hungry. There were enough leftovers that some members had enough for another meal or two. Watermelon was also served again.

After dinner, there was dancing (mostly by the women, however). Mananan, the Branch President’s 18 month old daughter even is beginning to learn some of the moves the Armenians make as they are dancing. Too cute! I tried my hand at it, but “grace” is not my name. It probably is good exercise, however.
We finally “hit the road”. We did do one other stop for the bus, but that was only to do a “green stick” test of the fuel tank and we had to pull over for a fill up. We finally arrived back at the church around 10:30 p.m. and home around 11 p.m., having survived a 15+ hour branch activity.

Back to Armenia #5

2010-07-21T05:51:00.000-07:00

Just some observations I’ve made recently. As we walk down the alleyway by our place on our way to work, I noticed that in a couple of places there are several pipes overhead. They run from the building to a fence on the other side. On the fence side are planted grapes and now the vines are growing and spreading across the alleyway. The greenery is nice to look at, and is providing some shade and in the fall will produce grapes.

July 11th was a holiday in Armenia. It’s called “water day”. There are all sorts of people out and about, filling their buckets, containers and soakers and trying to douse whoever or whatever is in their path. We managed to avoid getting wet, but one boy fired a warning salvo that just crossed in front of Elder P. I think I gave a “mean stare down” to some who may have been tempted but then were warned off. The young elders reported being thoroughly soaked and even though the day was hot, by the end of it, they were still damp around their middles (I guess under their belts).
Another holiday, or I should say 4 other holidays in the year, are similar to our one Memorial Day. They really make a pretty big deal out of leaving this life and it’s insulting to the family if you don’t visit and participate in whatever is going on.

We had an opportunity to go to a “closing” of a humanitarian project. The project was located in the mountains beyond Lake Sevan, so is about a two hour drive from Yerevan. It was the first we’ve seen Lake Sevan so was nice and the scenery is beautiful. It was interesting that there were no trees on one side of the mountain, but as soon as we went through a long tunnel and come out the other side, the mountains were then filled with lots of trees.

In this project, the goal was to bring water to a school that had no running water. The villagers worked along with contractors to dig ditches, lay pipe, and the end result was a drinking fountain with spring-fed running water. At the closing, the ribbon around the project was cut by Sister Merkley and me and the water turned on. A loaf of freshly baked bread was brought out. The very middle of the loaf had a small depression where they put a bunch of salt. Sister Merkley and I broke off a bit of bread, dipped it in the salt and then ate it. I don’t know what the significance of this is, but you have to be careful to not dip the bread too far into the salt or it becomes pretty salty and not so good to eat. They (those attending the ceremonies) also presented us with two big bouquets of roses.

After all the speeches (of thanks for the help and you’re welcome from LDS Charities with a “plug” for the sponsor) we followed the mayor and others to a restaurant for a lovely meal. They served homemade “massun” (sort of like sour cream) in a huge casserole dish. We ate it as an accompaniment to the vegetables and other foods that followed. There was lots of bread and then came kabobs along with onions and greens. Several toasts were given throughout the meal, so we drank a lot of juices. All of the men from the village did their toasting with little shot glasses filled with vodka. They were a pretty “happy” bunch. At this point, we were feeling pretty satisfied and ready to move on, but then the waitress came out with heaping platters of pork barbecue. I took a small rib to be polite, but then one of the men in the party thought that I should eat a big chop so he leaned over across the table and forked the meat onto my plate. I ate a very little and felt bad about wasting such delicious food, but there is a point… We had a dinner appointment with the other senior couples in the evening and needless to say, we couldn’t eat another thing…but did manage a little ice cream (always room for dessert, right?)

Back to Armenia #3

2010-07-14T00:57:00.000-07:00

Back to Armenia #3
One thing we’ve learned in the course of living, is that change is inevitable. This week has been a week of changes. We were able to participate in the first South Zone Conference with the new mission president and his wife, President and Sister Carter. As he talked with all the missionaries, he shared that today was a new page for everyone. The President has not received any information from President Dunn, other than medical, about any missionaries. He said that the Lord keeps things in balance by changing leadership, so we don’t get into “ruts”. Trust is important; and there must be obedience with exactness and honor.
There were changes from Church headquarters: Zone Conferences will be held quarterly and interviews with missionaries will also be quarterly and brief (for about 10 minutes). The Mission President is to be the Master Teacher, so there will be additional training. There will be eight lessons on how to teach that will be explained to the leadership of the mission in two day conferences. The leadership will then return to their districts and share what they’ve learned. Training will continue until all involved understand (get it). There were also some changes in sister’s clothing: skirts don’t need to be long, but long enough to cover the knees when sitting; clothing should be modest and not too tight. Sisters were encouraged to wear color and patterns; nylons are no longer required and we can even wear sandals. (I was wishing I had known this before leaving home as in our 100+ temperatures, I might have enjoyed more air to the feet).
We have started to help plan Education Days (a take-off on Education Week at BYU) and we’re getting to know more about our responsibilities as Institute Directors. We’ll be meeting with the Institute Council to plan activities and we’re really grateful for all the young people we have to work with. Now if we could just get them to date (not just hang out) and be more serious about finding an eternal partner, it would be good. It seems to be such a cultural thing…not to date unless you are prepared to marry the one you’re dating. How can we get over that? Ideas?
Another change this week was receipt of additional assignments. I’m back in the Relief Society as 2nd Counselor and Elder Peterson is the new Elder’s Quorum President. I think between meetings, teaching and new responsibilities, we will be busy enough.
I discovered this week, too, that I have an aversion to rats. It was dead and in the middle of the street that we cross every day, but still…it was nasty. I could go the rest of the mission without seeing another one and I think that would be great.
We were finally able to see the show in the Republic Square. It happens every night and as one sister commented, where there are lights, water and music, it’s bound to be entertaining. I just forgot to take my camera to capture any of it, so we’ll have to go again. It sort of reminds me of the show that occurs at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, only on a smaller scale. We actually had our first rain experience in Yerevan, too. I couldn’t tell at first if it was spray from the fountain or the air, but it wasn’t much of a deterrent to our watching. I do know that a little rain made the air cooler and more enjoyable to be outside

Back to Armenia #2

2010-07-05T03:42:00.000-07:00

Back to Armenia #2
This week has been interesting as we’ve been in the moving mode. We didn’t know we’d be leaving Ararat so quickly, but had to work with schedules of others, so on Wednesday, we departed Ararat for Yerevan. We took our last look at Mt. Ararat from our balcony and we were afraid that would be the last possibility for seeing that great mountain every day it’s visible…but would you believe, from the balcony of our 7th floor apartment in the center of Yerevan, we can still see Mt. Ararat.
We are living in a large apartment complex, but this time we do have an elevator (when it’s working) and it’s much appreciated. I do have to say this about the elevator…it holds whatever smells come along so it can be pretty rank, but we hold our noses for the convenience. We also have some air conditioning in our apartment which is great for the hot days we seem to be experiencing. We’ve taken some pictures which we hope show you what the apartment looks like. The location is great as we are about a five minute walk from the Institute, a 30 second walk to a yummy bakery and about 30 seconds to a little stand that sells fresh fruits and vegetables. The closest market is also about a 5 minute walk, so we’re going to have to get our exercise by morning walks.

During the past week, we were able to attend a Young Men/Young Women conference up in the mountains, similar to the Young Adult conference of the previous week. We traveled there with the new mission president and his wife, President and Sister Carter. They both spoke and Sister Carter even bore her testimony in Armenian which brought a standing ovation and the youth leaders trying to tell them it wasn’t appropriate. It was nice to be with the youth and watch them perform skits that only 14-18 year olds can do. The highlight was having a group perform the dance that they will be doing at the Kiev Temple dedication activities in August. It was electrifying. They were full of such energy and pride to be doing the dance.
As I mentioned, this was also the week for the changing of the guard so to speak. President Dunn returned home and President Carter arrived to begin his 3 year stint as Mission President. We will be getting more new couples in the office, humanitarian and elsewhere. The senior of the senior couples is now one that came out in October with us. Hopefully, we’ll soon be doing regular get togethers for family home evenings and other activities.

We had our first class with the young adults of the institute and decided it would be good to get acquainted and learn a little more about them and them, about us. We also taught them “Aunt Virginia’s game” and enjoyed a freshly baked apricot (got to take advantage of the world famous Armenian apricots) cobbler ala mode. We will be doing a class weekly on marriage for this group or an activity…but I don’t think I’ll be baking cobblers every time.

Back to Armenia #1

2010-06-27T23:40:00.000-07:00

Return to Armenia #1
Well, we’re back. It’s been interesting and hard to believe that we finally made it back. Getting over jet lag continues to be a challenge, but we’re working on that. We left Provo at 5:00 a.m. on June 21st. We took a shuttle with a bunch of very enthusiastic missionaries headed around the world. I think we need some of their energy infused into us.
Our flight went from Salt Lake to New York to Vienna and on to Armenia. We had a 14 hour layover in Vienna which was a new experience. We had a “day room” which is a hotel room you can use between 9 and 5. We slept for a few hours then walked a mile to the train stop and took a “schnell bahnen” into downtown Vienna. We strolled around a bit, visited the Stephens church, and then enjoyed some wonderfully marvelous wienerschnitzel at a restaurant called Figlmuller. We decided we’d share the meal and were glad we did. The schnitzel filled the whole plate and then some. I think it was about 12” across. The potato salad that we ordered was delicious, too and we were stuffed by the time we finished. I was so impressed with how clean the city seemed…I didn’t notice trash anywhere. We flew next to Yerevan and arrived a little after 5 a.m. on the 23rd, about 36 hours from the time we left Provo.
We were met by the Mission President, President Dunn (who completes his mission assignment on July 1st) and Ruben Gasparyan, the mission driver. We stopped by the mission office to drop off a couple of suitcases and our heavy winter coats and then dropped President Dunn off at his hotel where he is staying while the mission home is undergoing some remodeling. Ruben then drove us another hour up into the mountains to the town of Tsakhador where we attended a Young Single Adult Conference for the next couple of days. I think we were more “zombie like” than we would have liked, but we did enjoy being with the wonderful young people in this mission. We did a workshop on finding your celestial partner. We ate a lot of interesting food (most of which wasn’t very good) and were offered very few fruits and vegetables. If our new goal was to eat more healthfully, I don’t think we did.
The end of the conference found us driving again…and finally… returning once again to Ararat, about six months after we left. Other than some dust, things looked much as we had left them. Not quite…We discovered after Ruben left that the toilet wasn’t working and the pump wasn’t working so we didn’t have access to water to wash our pile of dirty clothes, shower or fill our water jugs….welcome to Armenia! But, there is also a lot of green that we missed when we were last here…grape vines, apricots and all sorts of greenery from blooming things. There were also a lot of swallows flying about our place in Ararat. Sort of reminds me of the swallows returning to Capistrano, California every year. I wonder how long they’ll be here?
June 26th, we have some water, but the pump isn’t working. We were able to very slowly fill a couple of jugs, but no showers or laundry this morning. Ruben and Ara arrived mid morning, fixed the pump and toilet, so we ought to be cleaner for church tomorrow. We’re off for some orientation with the Shulz’s, the CES couple we’re replacing next week.
June 27th, there is nothing like a warm shower to make you feel like a new (albeit cleaner) person. The water is still working and we were able to go back to the Ararat Branch for a hello and goodbye. It was great to give hugs and kisses to the members we’d grown attached to while we were serving here. We missed seeing some and wished we had the opportunity to visit and encourage them to keep coming. Some things never change. Our first week back has been good!

California #5 Last

2010-05-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

California Musings #5
The missionaries here provide us with numerous opportunities…sometimes teaching, sometimes just experiences. We had our last District meeting today, May 20th and we invited the elders to go to lunch afterwards. We have been going to a little Mexican place, Baja Fresh, but today we tried something different. Alisa had recommended that we go to a Japanese restaurant in the Americana Mall, Katsuya. Elder White, particularly, really likes Japanese food, so it was a go. It was a first for me because I generally don’t eat raw fish, unless I didn’t happen to know what I was eating, which is unlikely. Well, I survived and it was very good. This mall has a wonderful fountain which was apparently designed by the same person who did the Bellagio fountain in Las Vegas. It was fun to hear the music and see the water “dance” in rhythm. My sisters may recall the fun trip we had to Las Vegas. The elders called the place the “temple of mammon”. There is another mall across the street called Galleria, but it’s not quite as upscale as the Americana.
Sunday, May 23rd, we were finally able to catch up to a man we’ve been trying to see for weeks. He has a crazy work schedule, and doesn’t return phone calls. We went with the missionaries and had to wait at the gate until someone was leaving and then were able to drive in right after the other car had come out, then up to the top of the parking area, climb 4 flights of stairs up to his apartment…sort of reminded me of Armenia, but it was an outside stairwell; the building did have a bit of a tilt to it (shades of Pisa) and the missionaries were discussing what they would do if the building came down, how they would escape…funny. We had a great visit. All the men talked together and I talked with his wife, Susie, who is a member of another faith and appears to be a very religious person. She married Krikor about 7 or so years ago. She had been a widow for over 17 years. She was in the process of making dolma (I’m going to have to get her recipe). She was cooking cabbage and was stuffing peppers and Roma tomatoes, as well, to make the dolma. She was really glad that we had come but apologetic for the messy state of things. She thinks Krikor needs his religion in his life…and so do we. We talked a bit about the Savior and how He left the 90 and 9 and went after the one lost sheep, which she said was what we were doing for Krikor. The missionaries said they try to visit him every Sunday and this is what he needs…to know someone cares about him and misses his association. Sometimes, when things are not right in your life (you may not be living as you should or are doing things your church teaches you not to do) you may feel you would be a hypocrite if you came. But the church isn’t made up of perfect people, rather imperfect people who come because they want to learn how they can improve and do better, how they can become more like the Savior.
May 24th, as I was walking I remembered one observation I had made but hadn’t noted. There are trees that line several of the streets that are covered with blossoms of purple…so you have streets that are very colorful. Then, the purple fades and everything becomes just green…lovely, though.
This was P-day for the missionaries and we took them to the Huntington Library. It is a beautiful place to visit and there are wonderful things to see and enjoy. Chris Cutri from our home ward in Provo said that if we could only do one thing in California we should go to the Huntington…we did it Chris! I especially liked the huge Desert garden…the cacti were amazing. Before we went on our sightseeing trip, we had a visit with Kris Aristakissian at his home. He’s another one we’ve been trying to catch up to and finally did. He has been a member for almost 40 years. He was baptized in the sea in Lebanon and has been in the United States for about 34 years. He has one son who is a member, but his three other children are not and his wife isn’t really very supportive either. We’re hopeful that he’ll come back to church and get involved with the Armenian group.
We made another visit to the Nagaryan family to drop off a letter and we took the young missionaries with us. The Nagaryan’s were very accepting and friendly towards them and when the elders asked if they could visit them after we leave, they said, “yes”. So, we’re excited that the friendship will continue to grow. The Nagaryan’s were very impressed with the elder’s Armenian and said it was excellent. The Nagaryan’s also expressed some interest in coming to church and we hope they do that, too. Grandma Nagaryan gave me a kiss on each cheek as we were leaving and asked me to pass it along to Ando…so here’s hoping we get to go back to Armenia to deliver it.
The last event we were able to do was sort of like reaching the peak of climbing a tall mountain. This had been our goal and we did it. We went with a bunch of Armenians and their friends to the Los Angeles Temple. I was even able to take a few of my family names and had such calm, peaceful feeling while in the temple. We had one car and a big 15 passenger van that took us there. It was a great time for strengthening our relationships and these types of experiences will do much to build the Armenian group. For some of these friends, it may be the last time we have this association, but as Debra Manoogian said, we never say goodbye because we know that we’ll see each other again.
This has been a wonderful chapter in our lives and we will miss you all. Until we meet again. Now off to Arizona and a grandson’s baptism, then on to Provo for our next journey. Until then….

California Musings #4

2010-05-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

We had our first Zone Conference, and the approach of President Pike, while different from President’s Dunn, was good and we learned more about teaching by the spirit and doing less “rote” teaching. Because of the number of missionaries, they do five zone conferences. That’s a lot of work! It was a day-long meeting from 9:00 a.m. to almost 4 p.m. with about a 30 minute break for lunch. One of the best parts was the testimony meeting at the end when all the departing and all new missionaries shared their feelings. Elder White (one of the Armenian elders) bore a heartfelt testimony and as I followed him, so did “the sign of the waterfall”. Oh well, maybe one of these days, I’ll eliminate the tears, but after 60 years, I’m not banking on it.

Missionary work continues to be interesting and rewarding. Friday (the 7th), we decided just to drop in on Ando Najaryan’s (from Ararat) family, as they hadn’t returned our call. Elder Chaney had sent the contact information to us to check out. We were expecting to find Ando’s brother, but instead found his niece, Tamara, her husband Andy and their little boy, Shant, who is almost 4. They were so friendly and we were able to share some pictures of Ando and Hasmik (had on our computer) with them and visited for over an hour. Apparently, we had Voskan’s (Ando’s brother) telephone number, but Tamara and Andy’s address. We exchanged more information and they volunteered to go with us to Voskan’s place as they said their English wasn’t that good and they could help translate. It was interesting as Tamara talked about the brothers, her father and Ando. She commented that Ando was so positive and always upbeat in spite of his trials and challenges, while her father was a bit of a pessimist and negative. I was thinking to myself, but didn’t say, that I think having a gospel-centered life and always helping and serving others is a key to a happier existence. We also had been given the name of Tamara’s brother, Vegan, but he is in Arizona, currently facing some immigration issues. The judge on his case is apparently a member of our church…Hope the results are fair and good.
May 8, 2010 was a Stake Helping Hands day at the Muir Elementary School. We all donned the yellow shirts and helped paint and landscape the school in preparation for Teacher Appreciation Day on Monday. All of the teachers will have their own garden spots planted with flowers and shrubs that their students and their families paid for (for the most part). Considering that about 45% of the students are below the poverty level, it’s pretty amazing. The principal of the school, Linda Junge, is a member of the church and her husband, Jason, is a returned missionary from Norway (just a little aside). We enjoyed dinner with the mission president and his wife and once again discovered a small world in the church. Stephanie Pike is a cousin to Vickie Taylor, and I could see some family resemblance. They also were well acquainted with Jennifer Hyde Young, daughter of Hope and Os, as the Pike’s children attended Provo High where Jennifer worked. The Pikes were also acquainted with Chipmans and Robisons (founder and partner of Caldera Engineering where Rog worked).
Mother’s Day was a wonderful day to connect with family (enjoyed Skyping and seeing most of the grandchildren and children). We also had another baptism within the Armenian group, so the numbers are growing…but not without challenges unfortunately. With the newness of the church to most Armenians, there is quite a lot of “hand holding, listening, encouraging”…not always bad, however.
I had another first. In conversation with a member who had been baptized about six years ago, she said she had been disappointed (haven’t heard since Armenia). She said she had been promised some help several years ago and nothing had come of it. I’m not sure exactly the problem (sometimes something is lost in the translation) but she considers herself no longer a member.
We were able to get together with more of the Najaryan family. We met Voskan (Ando’s brother) and his wife, Noura, daughter Anna, granddaughter Catherine, and mother. Tamara and Shant also were there. It was fun to get acquainted and share the photos of Ararat inasmuch as they had all lived there for a long time. In typical Armenian style, the coffee table was loaded with all kinds of fruit, cookies, etc. They would like us to help with a reference letter for the son to help with the judge’s decision regarding Vigen and also wondered if we could find out about the possibility of Ando being able to come over here to visit family, especially his mother who is 90.

We're continuing to work with the Armenians and are excited that next week we're going with a group of Armenians to the Los Angeles Temple and shortly after that we will be returning to Provo and then hopefully, Armenia. We'll keep you posted.

California Musings #3

2010-05-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

We continue to enjoy the beautiful weather here. We manage to get out most mornings, walking the streets in our neighborhood. Sunday, May 2nd, we experienced our first baptism with the Armenian group. His name is Ashot and he was so excited and happy. He’s hoping his wife and children will soon be baptized, too.

We had another small world experience today, as well. After the baptism, we were talking with one of the speakers…sort of where are you from, what are you doing, etc. and we discovered we both had ties to Provo. He asked us where and we told him, Apache Lane. He said, are you in 5th Ward, and we said, “Yes.” Then he said, that’s the ward where I lived and my parents still live. Do you know Norm and Kay White? What fun it was to meet Paul White. He’s on the La Cresenta Stake High Council with the assignment for missionary work/training and he couldn’t have had a better example than Norm and Kay.

Sunday, was also the first time the Armenian group have had all three meetings (Sacrament, Sunday School, and Relief Society/Priesthood) mostly done in Armenian, since they had been a branch 8-9 years ago. Elder Peterson taught in Priesthood and I was the teacher and leader in Relief Society. It was interesting that our subjects for discussion were similar, but we had not consulted with one another. He talked about priesthood responsibilities in the home and I talked about the three lifelong responsibilities of every Relief Society Sister (Increasing in faith and personal righteousness, strengthening families and homes, and seeking out and helping those in need). It would be a modern-day miracle if just like poof!!, we could speak Armenian, but didn’t happen today. So, he had Artur Yeritsyan and I had Alina Harutyuni, Artur’s wife, doing the translating. (As an aside Artur and Alina met at Institute in Yerevan and Artur also served in a branch presidency in Armenia) Relief Society was a very small group, four sisters including me and one investigator. Elder Peterson had a much larger group, both from the Armenian group and several Stake visitors. But that is fairly typical here…there are many more active men in the group than women…just the opposite from what we experienced in Armenia where the women attending church far outnumber the men.

This weekend was fun, too, as we were able to experience some Armenian food when we were invited to the Yeritsyan’s for dinner. Alina had spent a lot of time in Germany so she also included one German dish (sort of like stroganoff), only the rice she served had been baked inside some lavash. They are a wonderful, young, couple and just what the branch needs, but he’s interested in making a career change and moving, so we’ll have to see what happens.

We always try to do salmon for one of the weekend meals, and this time Rog used some cedar planks on the barbecue and it was delicious. We’re trying to get our fill of fish because when we go back to Armenia, we won’t have that luxury. We also invited some long-time friends, Rich and Linda Allen to join us along with our wonderful hosts, Kent and Kathy Lee. Rich and I grew up together in Parleys 1st Ward in Salt Lake City, and his mother, Rhea, was the organizer and accompanist for a trio I sang with for many years. His mother’s sister, Afton, and my mother’s brother, Howard Bradshaw were married to one another, so we are sort of like, cousins by marriage.

This past week, we also had another Family Home Evening with the Armenians. We’re always excited when people we’ve invited to come actually do come. Varter Danalian and her non-member husband, Vartan Rostami came, as well as Iskhanik (Susan) Vartanian and her daughter, Anahid (Annie). I think we had about 25-30 in attendance and the numbers seem to increase each time which is good. Susan called me the next day to share her vision/experience which led to her baptism. She wants me to share her story with those back in Armenia. Hopefully, she’ll write it up in English and Armenian. I wasn’t sure I understood all of what she told me, so it would be good to see it in “black and white”.

We just received an e-mail from Elder Chaney in Armenia with the names and address of some Armenians here who have relatives in Ararat. We’re anxious to see if we can meet them this week. This will be a new, but hopefully fun and interesting challenge. I wonder if they speak English?

Another week in California #2

2010-04-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

CALIFORNIA MUSINGS #2
The surroundings in which we find ourselves are truly beautiful, colorful and interesting. It’s no wonder so many people find themselves living here, including a lot of Armenians. I can do without all the cars (in Ararat there were hardly any), but if you time your comings and goings and don’t take the freeways, it isn’t too bad.

I like the streets that are lined with huge palms, sort of like 50-80 ft tall or more with a pineapple on top. Other streets have different trees lining them and they’ve grown so big that the trees from the opposite side of the street form a canopy that shades the entire block. We’ve walked in all directions from where we are living and managed to find a French bakery (darn, but really not) along the way. Sort of defeats the purpose of healthy walking, but a nice way to reward oneself for having done it.

We enjoyed Family Home Evening on Monday with some of the Armenians. There were a few investigators along with some member families…about 30 in all. Pizza and other foods were served after a lesson was given about what should happen in a family home evening as a spiritual start to the evening. The children were entertained by Lacey Ammar (who I’ve heard is an excellent violinist) and Wendy Santiano (mother of three of the children in attendance) before starting the evening, and Artur Yeritsyan led everyone in a game to finish up. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Henry Ammar is the group leader for the Armenians, but neither he nor Rod Santiano are Armenians, but have a desire to help and want to learn Armenian and be part of the group. Henry is Lebanese and Rod is Filipino/Hispanic (I think) and speaks Portuguese as he was a missionary to Brazil. He also knows a lot of Armenian.
We were able to get better acquainted with Hratch Baghdoyan, 80, and his son Armen. Hratch is an Armenians from Syria. Helga Gharibians is from Iran and her daughter Christine Andreasian, was born and raised in California and says she’s an anomaly because she is LDS and never been to Utah. Armen Gevorgyan, whose wife was part of the translation team for the Book of Mormon translation into Armenian was also there. His family is in Armenia currently while he is here working.
We also had our first missionary meetings this week with the full-time elders and Henry to do some planning and reporting. In the evening, we were able to go with the full-time elders to visit Susannah, one of their investigators. This woman is the one that Elder Craft met while street contacting in Gyumri (she was visiting in Armenia a while ago) and then as she was walking down the street in Glendale, she noticed the church and someone who happened to be outside at the time, invited and insisted that she come into the Armenian FHE which was in progress. She and Elder Craft didn’t at first put it all together, just thought that there was something familiar about each other. It’s exciting that she is taking the lessons and preparing for baptism on May 9th. It’s sort of funny, too, that when Elder Craft asked her if she knew what May 9th was, she said, “the day the Russians took over?”, and he said how about “Mother’s Day”. That’s a better day to remember your baptism, I’d think.

We also started to make contact with some of the less actives or those in other wards with Armenian names. We met with a couple, Gloria and Henry Vartanian, in their lovely home. He is an architect by trade. Gloria is the member, but not Armenian and Henry is the Armenian (through Iran), not interested in joining the church, but I think supportive of his wife going. They have a couple of older daughters, and an older son (he appears to be handicapped in some way) living with them as well a granddaughter. When Gloria attends church she goes to the LaCanada Ward and because she’s not Armenian she prefers to keep attending her current ward. She and her husband did say that they might want to attend an FHE.

It’s interesting that the one other family we’ve contacted is also named Vartanian. No one answered the phone, so we just decided to drive over and see if they were still there. A daughter, Annie, answered the door, but her mother was working. We later talked with the mother, Iskhanik (Susan) who came to the States when she was 16, but has moved all around. I asked her about family history and genealogy but she is really uncertain about it at all. We are looking at having families do genealogy as a way to get them back active and wanting to go to the temple to do work for their ancestors. There is a dad, Karnik, a non-member and a son Ara who moved to Pomona, and is going to school. There is also a daughter Mary who is 21 and then Anahid (Annie), 17. The children are all members and Annie sometimes goes with her mother who attends the Sunland Ward. She prefers to go to her own ward as it is only a few minutes away and not the 25 minute drive to be with the Armenian group. She might be interested in FHE.

We did splits with the missionaries, except we added Christine to Elder Peterson and I. We visited 4 places and didn’t find anyone home, or if they were home, not willing to visit with us. I guess rejection is pretty standard with missionary work. It appears one of our contacts may have moved and another had moved or the name on our list was spelled wrong. It’s nice to be able to clear up records as we go.

April 23rd:

We are continuing to make attempts to find people on the ward lists, and last night as we were going out with Elder White and Christine, we finally found someone at home who actually invited us in. It was nice to visit (mostly in Armenian) and be able to invite them to Family Home Evening coming up next Monday. They said they would come, but then, Armenians generally tell you what they think you want to hear and you can be disappointed if you count on it too much. So, we’ll see.

It’s really interesting here how every morning, other than birds, the first sounds we hear are of weed eaters, hedge trimmers and lawn mowers. Someone is always having their yards manicured; it makes for a very nice living area, however. Today, we went for a very long walk that included some trail hiking. If you know Elder Peterson, he loves to go exploring and when he noticed, the trail behind the Brand Library, up the hill we trudged. It was pleasant and, with good scouting skills, he maneuvered us past the French bakery and we just had to go in.

Tomorrow is the commemoration of the Genocide of the Armenians in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). We have noticed lots of signs on businesses that they will be closed and there are lots of protests (gatherings) all around the area…and considering this is referred to as Little Armenia, it isn’t surprising. We continue to do well and appreciate all your love, prayers, and support.

California Arcadia Mission Musings #1

2010-04-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to California. We have been set apart as missionaries in the Arcadia California Mission and we’re excited to get back to business. We’re meeting on Sunday with the Stake President and Mission President and should have a better idea of responsibilities and what they’d like us to focus on.

I want to tell you a little about where we are staying. The Lee’s (Kathy and Kent) have been gracious enough to take us in for the couple of months we have still to be in the US before returning to Armenia. We did learn from the missionary department that our time home for medical did not count towards time served, so the 3 months we were home for medical treatment will be added on to time we will be in Armenia. This means that we will be home around July of 2011 and not April.

At any rate, the Lee’s are a wonderful couple. We learned one interesting thing. They were in attendance at Mike and Doris’ Andelin’s wedding so knew Zach’s parents. Kathy works as a third grade teacher and her husband has his own business doing drive shafts. We also met the office couple (Snow’s) at the mission office and they also knew Andelins as they are also from St. George. Sister Snow said she had been involved in music some with Doris and also Brother Snow had taught some of the Andelins at Dixie as that was his profession before missions. It seems a small world when you get out in it.

The weather here is beautiful and I must say it was quite a study in color as we drove down the freeway. The desert had flowers of myriad colors. First was a beautiful apricot color (in Nevada) and then the yellows, both bright and lemon colored, and then we got to California: bright pink and fuchsia, then purple and then all sorts of different plants. I love the way the freeways are now being artistically designed with various ground covers, rocks, flowers, etc. When we arrived at the Lees, there were the azaleas all in bloom (reminded me of Oregon). Their home was built in 1929 and on about ½ acre (large for a property in the LA area…I guess unless you are of the Hollywood set). They have a pool and large lawn area and even a garden area. We may be able to help with gardening and maybe even take a dip, if time allows. Kathy and Kent both work full-time and he is the bishop of their ward and she is in the Relief Society Presidency, so they are busy people. She loves to cook and we enjoyed a lovely meal this evening.

The Lee’s will take us on a drive tomorrow morning to get better acquainted with the area and help us locate the churches and institute we will be working with. We are so grateful to have our GPS as we would really get lost without it. Traffic here is busy, busy, and depending on the time of day, it can often be more like a parking lot.

Obviously, I didn’t get this posted and now it is Sunday, April 11th. We had a great day here. We were able to attend a Sacrament and Sunday School meeting with the Armenian Saints here in Glendale and some interlopers. They scheduled it as a testimony meeting and it was wonderful to hear prayers and testimonies in Armenian. It was also great to get acquainted with the elders who had served in Armenia prior to coming here; Elder Craft, Judd (who goes home on Tuesday) and Elder White. All seem to be doing well and the missionary work is progressing. We also had an opportunity to visit with the Stake President, President Morgan and with the mission president, President Pike, to map out some plans and ideas for what we can do while we serve here. We now have a list of all members in the Stake with Armenian names and we will get to work to meet them, bring them back to church if they are inactive, participate with them however we can. We are going to try and help them do some family history so they can have their own names to take to the temple the end of May. We’re also hoping to make connections with those who have family members still in Armenia…to sort of synergize our efforts. Maybe it will work that those in Armenia who have family names and can’t readily get to the temple, will be able to work with California Armenians to get the work done for their families. They would also like us to help find and activate members who could serve in leadership positions in Relief Society and Priesthood. They may be able to meet again as a branch if there is enough leadership and attendance. They are also going to be starting ESL classes the first week of May and we can help identify Armenians that would benefit by participation in these classes. At any rate, it’s exciting to think about what we can do. We will work with the full-time elders, too, to coordinate our efforts.

As the mission president said today, quoting from one of the prophets, “it’s great to be back in the harness.”

We send our love to all of you and hope you are having a wonderful week of Spring.

California, Here We Come

2010-04-03T16:05:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. We're headed to California (Glendale) this coming week. We will be staying with Kent and Kathy Lee of the Glendale 2nd Ward.

We will be doing a temporary assignment with the Armenians there, working with young adults and less active. We're excited about the possibilities. Hopefully, it won't be too long and we'll be able to return to Ararat and resume our responsibilities there. We appreciate all your prayers in our behalf!

A Little Update

2010-03-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well, would you believe that today we have some news about what’s next and we’re excited. Monday evening (March 22nd), we received a call from our Stake President, Richard Jackson. He related some of the recent happenings. Apparently, the reaction of Brother Doty, who heads up the committee to look at missionaries with medical issues didn’t think we would be able to return to Armenia, but then he called and talked with Doug Smith, our friend and cardiologist who answered his questions. After some consideration and discussion, the missionary committee came to a decision, that we could return to the mission field and Armenia…BUT they want us to stay stateside (either here or California, working with the Armenians) for a couple of months…and if everything is a-okay then we’ll return to Armenia. Brother Johnson of the missionary committee asked us how our Armenian was…and Elder Peterson had to admit that we recognize when someone is speaking Armenian, but just not sure what they are saying the majority of the time.

March 25, 2010: We’re still awaiting a call from the missionary department about where and when. We hopefully will know a little more by the weekend. In the meantime, we're taking a little hiatus to Las Vegas to watch our daughter, Alisa Thomason appearing in an opera, L'Eliser d'Amore. Check it out at http://www.operalv.info/ if you're in the area and want to go. We may also make a run over to Phoenix to see a couple of other children and their families...depending. We'll keep you posted! We love and appreciate all of you!!!

Remember you can check out our photos on photobucket.

A Small Escape, Not the Great Escape

2010-02-17T13:08:00.000-08:00

We did escape for the weekend and had a great time with Kevin and Alisa down in Pahrump, Nevada, and also spent some time with Rog's brother, Dave and his wife, Connie. It was nice to go to warmer climes (in the 60's) with blue skies and the only snow was on top of distant mountains.

We came back on Tuesday, the 16th of February, and early in the morning (5:00 a.m.)Rog reported to the Timpanogas Hospital for what we think is the last test or procedure they will do this go round (other than monitoring medications). They did the electrical mapping of the heart, but couldn’t locate any arrhythmia, so no ablation procedures. The doctor said it was good to find his heart is all okay, but he probably would recommend that he stay on the medicines indefinitely. The doctors will make their recommendations in a report to the missionary committee so it’s a wait and see what the results there will be. We’re anxious to get going, so the wait is a challenge.

Doctors, doctors, doctors

2010-02-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

I thought it was about time to post to let you know what is going on with us. We’re still in Provo and have finished almost all the testing. Rog had a brain MRI (he reported that he did have one, a brain that is) and a heart MRI which were both normal. They did discover some arrhythmia in one of the tests (wore a Holter monitor for 24 hours which records heart activity) which they are currently treating with a Beta blocker and that has fairly effectively controlled the arrhythmia. He also was prescribed some cholesterol lowering medication as since we’ve left the states and returned, the recommendations for LDL are a lot lower than was considered okay previously. He is scheduled for a catheter ablation procedure on the 17th. This procedure first maps the electrical system of the heart looking for trouble spots. When spots are discovered, they are then treated (ablated). If successful, this would mean no more medication and return to normal activities. Of course, you need to realize that Rog never did feel anything out of the ordinary concerning his heart.
The next step after the procedure will be to have all the doctor’s reports and recommendations submitted to the missionary committee. The decision will then be made to either return us to Armenia or assign us elsewhere.
After being so involved with the missionary work in Armenia, this period of “limbo” as I call it, has been one to try our patience or rather to teach us greater patience. It seems to take so long between appointments and tests, and we really aren’t in control. Hopefully, we’ll soon be on our way again and doing what the Lord has called us to do.
Inasmuch as it’s almost Valentine’s Day and a time to think about those you love and care about, we want to wish you a happy day. More later!

An Unexpected Adventure

2010-01-23T19:42:00.000-08:00

Armenia #12 to Salt Lake and We Hope Back Again
Monday night, January 4, 2010, we received a telephone call shortly before we retired that we needed to go to Salt Lake as Rog needed to have some tests runs by the doctors there. We had visited the hospital in Yerevan earlier and their tests were sent to Dr Goth in Moscow and on to Salt Lake. As it happens, this little detour in our missionary work will enable me to visit with all our family as we participate in my mother’s funeral service. I think this must be one of the Lord’s tender mercies. Although, I must say, having to speak at such a time will be a challenge. I’m known as somewhat of an emotional “boob” in my family and it’s hard not to be emotional and teary at such times. Just hope I can maintain my composure.

As airline travel goes, it was not uneventful. We flew from Yerevan to London where we experienced a 5 hour delay. London was having the worst weather in 30 years and part of the wait was due to a big long queue for de-icing. When we arrived in Los Angeles we had to wait for a long time as there wasn’t a space for the plane. Apparently there was a plane that the security wouldn’t release to travel, but finally, after what seemed forever, we were allowed to taxi up to the terminal. We missed our flight to Salt Lake so had to spend the night at the airport. I was still pretending to be on Armenia time, so stayed up trying to e-mail to let our children know just when we might be arriving. We talked to JaneAnne via Skype at around 1:30 a.m. She had been asleep until our call. She called Jana to make arrangements to be picked up in the morning. Rog had also talked to John in the same early morning hours so half our children will have a shorter night. We love you all and are glad you’ll take our calls in the middle of the night.

Suffering from a little jet lag after a couple of days on the road or in the air/airport, we have started our first round of tests and doctor’s visits. The first day was good with nothing unusual reported, but we’ll have more tests next week and we’ll let you know how things are going as we go along.

We had a terrifically fun reunion on Friday night (8th of January, 2010) with most of the family being there. This was the beginning of our time together to celebrate the life of Dorothy Watkins, our mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She had 4 children, 22 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren. We carried on the Watkins family tradition of playing Bingo. My sister Kathi had brought lots of “goodies” from home, that were offered as prizes for winning…and everyone was a winner. I think my mother used to use this game as a way of cleaning and de-cluttering her house. We also took some time to do some rehearsing of musical numbers for the funeral and putting together a picture display for the viewing. I was a bit of a zombie, but it was just wonderful to see everyone…and it was all in English.

The funeral on Saturday was a great tribute to a great lady. The family was mostly involved with talking (my sister, Kathi, brother, Bob and I)and singing. A neighbor who lives across the street also spoke. My cousin, Carolyn remarked to me that it was the “perfect funeral”. It was just as my mother would have liked, especially Alisa’s singing of “Stardust”. All the grandchildren and great-grandchildren sang, “I Am a Child of God”, which was touching. I was glad I had already spoken or I might have gotten a little more emotional. I Am a Child of God is a favorite of the family, and every reunion we sing it (members and non-members alike). The Peterson children also sang, “The Lord is my Shepherd” with Sue and Rob accompanying on their guitars, as the closing song. The bishop gave a great address and the whole thing was about an hour and a quarter, so was just the right length.

It was such a wonderful family time and now the cousins are talking about doing another reunion. It’s been far too long since they all have been together. I’m excited because it’s not my generation planning it, but has moved to the next generation.

Well, back to business of why we are back in Salt Lake. Rog has experienced a myriad of testing trying to discover what caused the TIA’s in Armenia. He had several tests and they indicated that he didn’t have anything negative going on. The most recent one he did was a Holter Monitor test and that finally produced something that might be a key to treatment. The test results indicated that he had some arrhythmia and a beta blocker was prescribed. The neurologist had also requested that Rog get his most recent Cholesterol results for him and the doctor thought they might be a little high and Rog should talk with his primary doctor about it. That resulted in Dr. Olsen prescribing something, but Rog is wondering if the beta blocker might take care of things without taking another medication. He has several more tests scheduled including an MRI (the one from Yerevan didn’t have good enough resolution to satisfy Dr. Groves (his neurologist)).

At this point in time (January 23, 2010) he’s had so many tests that he’s lost track. He did start on the cholesterol pill and doubled his beta blocker. They are going to do some electrical mapping of his heart this next week (this may show what is causing the arrhythmia) as well as the MRI.

We don’t mind being with our family, but are certainly feeling like we’re in limbo. It’s challenging to be a missionary and not be a missionary. We’re just praying this will soon be resolved and we’ll be able to return to Armenia to get back to what we’ve been called to do.

Armenia Happenings #11

2010-01-15T13:16:00.000-08:00

ARMENIA HAPPENINGS#11
New Years Day was a P-day for the missionaries and they decided to do it at our apartment. I don’t think it was Rog’s choice for what to do on that day, but I enjoyed it because I like movies. All the elders from our district came over, bringing their surround sound, and we watched five movies. I made a batch of chili (Armenian style as it wasn’t the same as what I do at home, but close), which they seemed to enjoy and we had some left-over fudge from Christmas, as well as ice cream, so they didn’t starve.
It’s interesting here that they start their Christmas celebration on the 31st of December and continue on until about the 10th. The banks close and not a lot of other stores are open. I’m hoping that next week we’ll be able to buy bread again. We were invited out to Marietta’s for a feast to help her celebrate the New Year. She loaded us up with food and then we went over to Lala’s for, would you believe, another bunch of food. Whether they can afford it or not, they seem to like to share what they have with whoever comes by. We stopped by to see if Tamara was home and were invited in for more food. I think they put out food on the 1st and it stays out until the end of the celebration. They had a turkey, some fish, some chicken and lots of other things. I don’t think Jana would handle this very well.
I also managed to trip and fall on the way back to the apartment. What a klutz! Other than a skinned knee and skinned knuckles and some loss of pride, I’m fine. My walking friends will appreciate that I didn’t do another wrist fracture. The worst thing was my coat. If you fall in Ararat, the sidewalk isn’t exactly clean, so my black wool coat now is a mottled black and gray (dust). Hopefully, by tomorrow it will shake off. My reason for telling you about this wasn’t because I was looking for sympathy, but to relate it to a gospel principle. I had all the elders (Kyle, Reece and Peterson), who quickly came to my rescue, picking me up and helping me brush off my coat. In the gospel, we have the Savior. When we make mistakes or fall off the path, the Savior (if we let him) will help us, pick us up and set us a right again. How grateful I am for the atonement and the blessing of having a Savior who will lift my burdens, sorrows, mistakes and anything else that is troubling to me, so that I may have peace. But, I do have to turn to him and ask.
Monday (December 4th) we managed to just stay inside and study, read, and study some more. It rained and rained and rained and the great big puddles or small ponds are back. What were lots of holes in the road are now water filled and getting around is more of a challenge. It’s nice to be able to stay inside where it’s warm on days such as this.

Armenia #10

2009-12-29T23:11:00.000-08:00

Armenia Experiences #10
Every day seems to bring something “new to us”. On the 21st of December, we were making a visit to the village of Vedi. We took our first marchutni ride (it’s a van with windows that they’ve retrofitted with lots of seats, so about 15 people could sit and more could stand, if necessary). It’s a pretty inexpensive way to travel (cost about 100 dram (a little more than a quarter) for the one way trip…not as nice as taxi, however.
We visited with the Avetisyan family. They haven’t been to church for awhile, so we were checking it out. The parents are Valodya and Lida and their children (what I know about) are Albert and his wife Armenuhi, Susanna, and Gohar (the branch’s YW President). The parents were busy with some farming things, so wasn’t a good time to visit, but Susanna invited us over to her house. She is the only one of that family who is not a member…and she knows how to cook and how to treat company. They just kept bring out more and more things to eat…so many that the table couldn’t hold it all. There were some different things, too. They first brought out a bowl of bottled fruit which we really couldn’t identify but was close to a crab apple, we think, and a drink. Another plate of apples and mandarins was served and then came some pickled peppers, pickled cabbage, and carrots, along with some desserty-type foods. A hot dish with tomatoes that they called an omelet along with bread and lavash was served next, along with cheese. This was followed by a plate of fried potatoes and another drink, a cultured milk of sorts. Then came a plate of greens (cilantro). I’m sure there is something I missed, but needless to say, we didn’t need to cook dinner. Yeah!
Last Sunday, a couple of people that we had previously met with, did come to church. Tamara and one of the twin boys, along with Movses, as well as someone we didn’t recognize came for our meetings. After Sacrament Meeting, the Elders told us that someone was waiting to see us. We went to see what it was all about and were introduced to Serozha Petrosyan. He came to see who had been looking for him. The government office that we have been using to get information must have called him. They all knew who he was because he goes running every day and for an 81 year old man, that is impressive…and he was impressive. Totally bald, and totally tanned/weathered, but very, very fit. He said he wants to have us to dinner, but is living with his daughter in the village, so will come to church another Sunday and we’ll find a time to go to visit with him.
On Christmas Eve, we had to go out for a bit to buy a few more things for our dinner with the Elders and we ventured over to the store we call Wal-Mart. We were so surprised to find the street almost completely lined with vendors selling all sorts of fruits and vegetables. I think this is in preparation for their New Year celebration. Christmas isn’t a big deal, but the New Year; now, that is another story. According to Marine (our landlord’s daughter), people prepare all sorts of foods and load up the table and open the doors. Whoever comes, stranger or not, is welcome to partake of the feast. I don’t think we plan on preparing a feast, but will find out how it is done and tell you more later.
We had gone out looking for a meat thermometer, but no luck. When we put the turkey in the oven we discovered it had a pop-up timer in it. Although, it never popped up, we decided after five plus hours it had to be cooked. The elders who came to dinner really seemed to enjoy themselves. We did miss the homemade cranberry jelly and wished Jana had a very long, and I mean very long, tube, to shoot some over to us. Maybe we can arrange to have some cranberry jelly shipped to us in a can (I know it isn’t nearly as good, but would be better than nothing). I also tried to make stuffing and it turned out okay. It was just bread, onions, a little chicken bouillon, and fresh parsley (the only fresh herb I could find) and some poultry seasoning I obtained from one of the senior couples. We also had mashed potatoes and with a newly acquired electric hand mixer/blender, it was not a problem to do. I also tried to whip some cream, but it never did whip…don’t know if it was too old or not the right stuff, but our fruit salad was served with just a little regular cream sauce, unwhipped.
Christmas Day, we enjoyed another turkey dinner with all the senior couples. Everyone helped with the meal and I got to do potatoes again (glad for that mixer). We also brought a deep dish apple pie (which was nearly all consumed) along with some of Rog’s fudge. The fudge wasn’t quite the same as at home, but none of them had tasted it before, so they thought it was wonderful…and we also indulged ourselves by eating some. We played a game, did a white elephant exchange, and watched “The Forgotten Carol”. Nice evening, but the best part was being able to Skype and talk with all our children and grandchildren (at least those that wanted or could talk). We miss them and it was wonderful to see them and hear them in person. Next year, we want to talk with each one individually, so remind me.
On December 26th, we had another new experience. We were invited by the missionaries to join them as they visited one of their investigators. Hamlet and Ninel are the names of the couple. They were in the process of making lavash. It’s a new business they started a few months ago. They make some for themselves, but also make some to sell. It was fun and I was tempted to throw the dough, but it probably would have ended up on the floor and as I was wearing a black skirt, it probably would also have been flour covered, so I resisted. They are a wonderful family and working so hard on their new business. It’s so hard in Armenia to be able to have a business and maintain your family. We pray for them and their success. In between cooking, the missionaries were able to have a discussion and you could feel a sweet spirit there. We were glad to be included in their visit. Both of the missionaries are anticipating transfers this next week, so more change in the forecast.
I just learned today that my mother passed away and while I’m saddened not to be able to see her again in this life, I’m grateful for the knowledge I have that we can be together again. I know she’s in a better place and having a glorious reunion with friends and family. I’m grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the knowledge of this gives me hope for the future.

Armenia Adventures #9

2009-12-19T00:27:00.000-08:00

Armenian Experiences #9
The other day (December 15th) was interesting as we went to get our visa’s renewed. Everything that has to do with anything governmental here seems so antiquated. There doesn’t seem to be much that is automated, although I have noticed some computers in the office. The buildings are not very attractive…not too much marble or wood here, mostly cement. We did get our visas and will be okay to stay here for another year. I noticed the other day when we went to the Post Office to pay our utility bills that the clerk operates the request for stamps out of a shoe box. There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of check and balances or controls. One dishonest employee could be disastrous.
In the evening, we were also able to go to the Opera House to view some Armenian Dancers. The costumes of the women were beautiful and very modest…not much showing of legs or arms. The men’s costumes were less ornamented but they all were moving about fairly fast with flying feet. The Opera House was beautiful (now we see some marble and beautiful chandeliers) and it was fun to see the performance to experience some of the culture of Armenia and to be with the other Senior Couples.
Another first on the 16th: We came back from Noyakert where we bundled twigs for Marietta and visited with Lala and her family (we’re hoping that we can get her young adult children, who aren’t currently coming to church, to come to a planned Christmas activity in Yerevan this Saturday), and we couldn’t get into our apartment. We called the missionaries who called Maro, our housekeeper, who had a key and she also tried, but no luck. Our neighbor across the hall then called her son who came over. He tried, and did get it to open, but discovered the lock was shot, so spent some time getting a new lock and installing it. It’s apparently the Armenian way (or maybe the Ararat way as they don’t have a lot and help each other out where they can) to help where needed and not expect payment for doing the work. Different! Our dependable elders came over to help, too. We’re going to miss Elder Pulsipher who is transferring to another area tomorrow. We sent him off with a jar of Skippy peanut butter and he was pleased to say the least. We’re just hoping that we can find some more the next time we go to the market.
We also were invited to a farewell dinner for Elder Pulsipher put on by Hasmik and Ando. We were able to try another “new to us” food. The elders referred to it as “cutlet” and it was a sort of ground up meat with spices, shaped like the potato part of a McDonald’s breakfast meal. It was tasty. They also served a cheese (I think it was Armenian) that I tried a very little of and I’m glad I only tried a little. It was way salty and very strong. A dish, comprised of cabbage, onions etc., sort of like coleslaw, was also part of the meal, as well as hunks of bread that were placed on the table.
We have been able to visit several more members and hope that our visits will help them have a desire to return to church. We visited several trying to encourage them to come to the young adult party. Two we met were a couple of sisters living together (18 and 16) in the dorms. Their mother has gone to Russia and they fend for themselves. The 18 year old had such dark circles under her eyes, I hope they are doing okay.
We also visited with the two sisters of the girl I mentioned previously who had been kidnapped. Their story was somewhat different than their mother’s. Jemma, who is almost 17, eloped with her 21 year old boyfriend and they will be officially married on February 13th of next year. But, that probably or definitely means the loss of an active member in our branch.
Many of them live on such a low subsistence level. We are really blessed to be Americans. Our translator, Artur, has a really strong desire to come to America as he feels his chances for success here are so limited. He’s struggled to find a job and is currently in training to be a Gold’s Gym employee, but they are slow to call him to finish his training and begin working…and then the pay isn’t good enough to “make your fortune”. So, he wants to immigrate…but that doesn’t help the church to grow here.
Almost every day offers something new…but then when you’re in a different place doing different things that is bound to happen. On the 18th, we met our big CES boss, Peter Cosak, who came down from Moscow. He came to Ararat and visited briefly with Seminary students and then did some training with us and the Shulzes, the current CES couple. He’s dynamic and German and had some good ideas and suggestions to help improve the Seminary and Institute programs here in Armenia.

Armenia Adventures #8

2009-12-19T00:22:00.000-08:00

Armenian Adventures #8
Today was our first attempt to go out and meet and/or try to find the less active members of our branch. It was really helpful that we had our translator, Artur Minasyan, with us. He could ask all the right questions and we had a wonderful time. As we were looking for the first person on our list, Artur asked a man hanging out his window while smoking a cigarette, for some information. The man almost immediately came down to help and the next thing we knew, we were in his apartment, being served apricot nectar and a lot of fruit. He was interesting to talk to and somehow was able to get a hold of another woman who came over and indicated that if we came to her office, she would be able to help us find out about anyone in this area. He and his wife were very friendly. He is crane operator who makes only about $250 a month but is one of 10 siblings and he indicated they help him out some. He indicated he would like to have us over for barbecue, so will have to see if that pans out. He said he felt a connection with us (patting his heart) so that was good. I didn’t even get his name, but in this small town, maybe our paths will cross again.
We next visited with Sonia. Apparently, she had a son die and no one from the church came to pay respects, so she was very offended, and hasn’t been back to church since then. Artur was shocked that such a thing would occur and so were we. There must be more to this story. At any rate, Sonia said she was willing to have us visit her again and would let the branch president and visiting teachers come as well, so there’s hope she’ll come back and join us.
We met with one other family and found out that Tamara (the mother) is a sister to Lala (I’ve talked about her previously) and she and her husband, who is not a member, have three children living at home, an 18 year old, Heghine, and twin 13 year old boys, Hrach and Rubik. The father and boys had been a bit sick, but were now recovering. Tamara said she had been reading in the bible last evening, prayed for understanding about what she had read and asking what she should do. She said that our coming was the answer to her prayers…that she should go to church. We hope to see them there this Sunday. We learned, too, that Lala’s married daughter, Hermine, lives across the street. We tried to visit with her but she wouldn’t come to the door. A couple of girls who were sisters we met in the stairwell by Hermine’s apartment, tried to call her to let us in. They said that probably her husband wouldn’t allow her to talk with us. Maybe we’ll try another day.