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.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Back to Armenia #6
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.
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.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Back to Armenia #5, Summer
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Back to Armenia #5
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?)
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?)
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Back to Armenia #3
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
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
Monday, July 5, 2010
Back to Armenia #2
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.
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.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Back to Armenia #1
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!
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!
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