Back to Armenia #13

Pumpkin Carving

Geghitsik getting her apple

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

Sister Dibb and Lia, her translator

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

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

Lobby of Hotel

Peterson trying to skip rocks on Mediterranean

Elder Peterson at Fantasia Resort

The Petersons beside the pool

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

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

The Petersons visiting ruins at Perge in, Turkey

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

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

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