Humanitarian Missionary Conference

Every year all the humanitarian missionaries in the Europe East Area meet for training. It’s a wonderful time to get inspired and to talk to other missionaries who face similar challenges. This year we met in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, which is on the Eastern border of Turkey, just north of Iran.

The three missionary couples serving in Turkey met first in Istanbul for a few days together. We were able to meet the Fifields, who serve in Izmir, for the first time and also touch base again with the Looslis, who are in Istanbul. We had a wonderful time seeing the many sights of Istanbul. Istanbul straddles two continents—Europe and Asia. In this picture you can see both continents at once, one on each side of the Bosphorus.

We loved Istanbul’s old mosques. The Haghia Sophia (originally a Byzantine Church, then a mosque, now a museum) is famous for its beautiful mosaics, which were thrilling. We loved the Blue Mosque as well. We were amused that the New Mosque (Yeni Camii) was built in 1597! What a great place!

We loved visiting the sultan’s palace, the Dolmabahçe, with its beautiful gardens and harem. The sultan’s bathroom was the most spectacular we have ever seen.
















After three days in Istanbul, we flew to Yerevan, Armenia, for the Humanitarian Couples’ Conference. Armenia is the oldest Christian country in the world, being established as a Christian nation in 301. They claim that the original apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew were the first to proselyte there, and their church is called the Holy Apostolic Church—separate from the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Churches. Armenia is surrounded by Muslim nations. It was wonderful to see steeples and crosses on the skyline instead of minarets. The Armenian cross is almost square and is a “flowering” cross, with blossoms on each end.

We were thrilled to see Mount Ararat looming over Yerevan. Although it is inside Turkey (only temporarily, our guide informed us; it really belongs to Armenia), it is clearly visible from the city and countryside. We visited a monastery where the first Armenian Christian martyr, Gregory the Illuminator, was imprisoned for 13 years. You may remember that the Bible identifies the district around Mt. Ararat as the place Noah’s ark came to rest. It’s truly a beautiful mountain.

We were in Yerevan on April 24th, on which they commemorate the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Everything was closed, and families strolled with flowers and lilacs in their arms to the many, many monuments to the fallen. We visited one monument high on a hill and saw flowers heaped on a small wall surrounding the eternal flame—the flowers were so high that we could barely see over them. In Turkey, they commemorate the same day but remember Armenian atrocities instead. No wonder peace is so difficult in this area of the world!

On Sunday we were able to attend Church in one of the four branches in Yerevan. A young Elder translated for us. We couldn’t even sing the hymns because it is impossible to read the Armenian alphabet. But it was wonderful to be with young missionaries and meet with so many Saints.

We were sorry to leave the conference. Twenty-one couples had attended from all over the Europe East Area. Each country has its own challenges. We heard about couples meeting with only one member, about red tape that staggers the mind (in the former Soviet bloc countries), and bone-chilling cold and winds of -40 degrees for days on end. When we returned “home” to Turkey, we felt truly blessed to be here and inspired to work harder in our lonely labors. We’re sure others felt the same.

A Very Happy Birthday

My birthday celebration started early and is still going strong. Earlier in the month, friends from Chula Vista sent a “friendship quilt”, with many blocks signed by dear friends. Trina Matheson put it together, Annette Ferons quilted it (with music symbols and hearts), and Shannon Larsen bound it. What a treasured gift! Here I am snuggled up under it. I love it!

My birthday began in Istanbul, Turkey, just ten minutes after midnight; and it ended many hours later in Yerevan, Armenia. We were in Istanbul to meet with the two other missionary in couples in Turkey, who are laboring in Istanbul and Izmir. It was great for the six of us to be together for a couple of days. What a great week to be there, with all the tulips in bloom!


On my birthday, Ron and I had been napping in the branch meeting house in Istanbul, but we set our alarm so we could get up early and drag our suitcases to the sidewalk to get a taxi and catch our 3:30 a.m. flight to Yerevan for a Humanitarian Missionary Couples’ conference. We had a wonderful time at the conference. Watch for the next blog!

In the Footsteps of Paul

We had a wonderful experience during the week before Easter—we walked in Paul’s footsteps in many cities near the Aegean. Some of the sites we visited are listed in the New Testament: Hierapolis, Leodicea, Miletos, and of course Ephesus. We also visited the massive ruins at Pergamon, Priene, and Aphrodisias. Turkey has about 3,000 ancient ruins, of which only 160 sites have been restored. Ephesus is the premiere Greco-Roman ruin of the ancient world, but there are many others nearly as large and in wonderful condition. Some ruins, like Aphrodisias, are not very frequently visited by tourists. We felt greatly blessed to wander around these amazing places.

It was a wonderful experience to walk the streets where Paul lived for two years and to stand on the stage of the theater (shown in the last picture) where the ancient Ephesians railed against him. The huge temple of Diana in Ephesus is no longer standing, except for a single pillar. We knew there were many Hitite and other ancient ruins in Turkey, but we were amazed at the number of beautiful Greek and Roman ruins here, too. We were grateful to receive permission for this inspiring trip! We're grateful Senior Missionaries have some free time and the opporunity to visit some not-too-distant places. Turkey is wonderful!

Humanitarian Projects

We submitted three projects in March, and all were approved. By today, all the equipment has been delivered. We will have small ceremonies at each project site and will follow the progress for a few months and write a report before each project is considered complete, but it feels wonderful to be at this point.

Two of our projects involved desks and equipment for schools. One school is for mentally disabled students, and the other is a regular public school. Both schools were woefully lacking in equipment, and our gift does not remedy the situation completely. It does, however, encourage local participation and support. Before the equipment was installed, the rooms were painted by parents and local service agencies. The third project involved computers for blind students.

We knew there would be challenges on our mission, but we are surprised at the challenge bookkeeping is! Our project funds are provided through an account managed in Salt Lake City, and of course it is in dollars. Turkey runs on a cash economy—in Turkish lira, of course. The exchange rate changes every day, and since our business is never concluded in one day, the exchange rate may change several times between the bid, the order, the payment, and finally the reimbursement to our account in Salt Lake City. To make it even more difficult, most suppliers want to be paid in dollars. Our account is in dollars, but getting dollars out of the account is quite tricky. All banks will withdraw money from the account, convert it to TL, then sell us dollars. With all the exchanges, it's hard to figure out exactly what anything has cost! To make it more difficult, getting dollars is difficult. We finally found an ATM that will dispense dollars, but not the amount we need. To pay our last supplier, we went to the ATM, several banks, and then the money exchange place. You don’t even want to know what life is like around our apartment when we’re trying to balance our account! We have a record of what we spent in lira, but that amount never matches what appears on our bank statement in dollars. Here is Ron counting out $5,000 cash--with a few hundred TL, too.