A full 2 weeks

I missed writing last weekend because we were in Almaty (a city 950 kilometers south) for our missionary Zone conference. We flew down on Saturday afternoon and spent Sunday with the members of the Almaty Branch. That evening Pres. Woolley, our mission president, came to our hotel room to interview us and see how we were doing. He is always concerned that we, as a couple, are so isolated from the rest of the Church. We assured him that we were doing well and that, although we have some frustrations, we are learning to be patient while not being passive.


Zone Conference was all day Monday. We were blessed to have the Europe East Area President, Elder Schwitzer, and his wife with our Mission President and his wife there to teach us. The day was a spiritual feast for us as we were taught the doctrine of Christ from the scriptures. We were also fed a great lunch of pizza from the local Pizza Hut with Stewart's Cream Soda to drink. After the meeting we were able to meet with Elder Schwitzer and he asked us how our work was going, how our health was (I told him about my knee and he, a doctor, diagnosed it as a cyst behind the knee and prescribed some ice and rest.), and if there was anything he could do for us. We asked about the country of Kyrgyzstan, which is also our assignment but we are not allowed to do projects there at this time. He said that they, the Area Presidency, are concerned about our safety in that country because of continued political unrest and that they are monitoring it month to month. I did not mention to him that I had received the impression that we will need to focus on that country in the future because of the great need there. I know that the Lord will let them know when the time is right.

Since we were in Almaty we took advantage of some shopping for items we can't find in or are more expensive in Astana. One of the items we bought was peanut butter - 16 oz. jar for $5.50 ... here I treat it almost a special as I do dark chocolate!

We flew home early afternoon with our 4 Elders. One of our Elders was transferred to Almaty and the one who replaced him has only been on his mission (out side the MTC) for 6 weeks so he is working diligently to learn Russian. One of the impressions I had during Zone Conference was that I need to spend more time learning Russian. It has been very slow going for me with the Russian language. It is hard to learn a language without classes but I will keep trying.

On Wednesday evenings we sponsor an English Club for folks to come and practice conversational English. We have been doing it for 3 weeks now and have 7 non-native English speakers coming to the 'class'. We have a lot of fun and then afterwards we have an Activity Night where we begin with a spiritual thought by the Elders and then play games. This last week we played a pantomime game that everyone enjoyed. In the picture I am supposed to be clown walking on the moon although by the time the message got to me I had no idea that that is what it was supposed to be!

Yesterday, May 21st, the world did not come to an end, as was predicted by a false prophet, but our good friend had her life begin again by being baptized. Veniera chose to follow Christ's example and be baptized by one who holds the priesthood of God. She wore Viviane's temple dress and was baptized in a hotel cooling pool (a pool used to cool off after you have been in a sauna). Today she was confirmed a member of the Church and given the Gift of the Holy Ghost. She is the first convert baptism in the city of Astana and we are blessed to know her.

We got our first humanitarian project approved!! It is to buy a milling machine to be used to teach handicapped young men how to do wood working so they can be employed. We have submitted 4 other projects but have not received approval yet. We also continue to meet with other organizations to assess their services to those in need and determine if there is something we can do to help them deliver needed services.

We were blessed today to have Neil, my brother, Skype with us for 30 minutes. He informed me that he had helped our parents move from North Carolina to Florida ( I think this will be the 4th time they have moved to Florida) and that they are happy. I am grateful that he takes the time to call us. We have been able to use Skype to help the missionaries call home for Mother's Day and to connect with our leaders in Moscow and another senior couple in the country of Georgia. We also get frequent email pictures and videos from Mahana. Technology is great when used properly!!

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions."
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.