Another Day another Blessing

Meraba and Hoş geldiniz.  Well, I wanted to post yesterday, but unfortunately I had to "pay the rent".  I have struggled with whether paying the rent is a p-day or a working day.  Perhaps after 15 more times of "paying the rent" I will know how to categorize it.  It cannot really be a service, it is too much of a burden.  And of course as per Turkey, the rules have changed.  I could not pay the Rent Association Fee.  It seems I now need an identification number from the Police in order to give the bank money.  Go figure.  Well I ramble.

We have now finished 16.67% of our mission.  3 whole months have passed since we left home.  I am not complaining or looking forward, I am just counting.  People say no mission is what you imagine and I can guarantee that I would never have been able to predict what we have gotten ourselves into.  We have moved back into the 1830's when the Church was just beginning and people needed to understand how it worked.  Couple that with the local culture and whoa!

We had a very good day, shopping with the Little Sisters and then we held Family Home Evening in our home for single members.  This FHE was the first for some of our new family.

  Three Turks, 3 Nigerians (2 are investigators) 2 young Elders, 1 Ethiopian, 1 young lady from Washington state. Elder Bauer(the mister look with the sweater and tie) and fred.  Picture quality is not so good, sorry.  We had a lesson on Service in the Lord's way and then were treated to some of the best cookies and brownies in the world.  Nori is actually becoming a more amazing cook than she was.  She has to find substitute ingredients and make some of her own things like brown sugar.  Thank goodness for Pinterest and her ingenuity.  Unfortunately we are eating more than we are working off.  By the way none of the family members wiggled all over or got mad or had to answer the phone or would not participate.  Other than that it was a normal FHE.

Sister Sara Virginia checking out the chairs for the old folks home.  They were very involved and had traveled with us to a furniture mall so that they could determine the best chairs for the home.  Notice the sales lady.  Some times it is hard to distinguish Cultural from "habit" except the Cultural is heavily made up.  No hair showing but lots of makeup.





Sister Anna from Ireland discussing the pros and cons of the right seating with Sister Sara Virgina.  She is so humorous in her assessment of the folks in the home and how fussy they can be over simple things.  You know she cares, but she is blatantly honest in her assessment and then has the cutest little smile.

The Perfect chair.  Sister Sara Virginia sat in this and just went yes.  She lit up and I wish I could have captured the moment in a photo.  She was so certain this was the perfect chair.  They ad sat in dozens of alternatives and immediately knew this was the one.  Of course it was a ladies treat to choose the material, a creamy soft vinyl.  Perfect for cleaning up after little old people accidents.  They were so concerned that the price was was expensive and it is fascinating to see their desire to have the chairs and yet not feel entitled to the expense.  They have so little and the people they care for actually get more comforts than the Nuns.
Hopefully this project will get approval from Moscow and we can purchase the chairs and some bed trays for those folks that are confined to their beds.  A simple $6500 to serve 20 rooms.  It seems so little.

Paint color selection pigments in Karakoy.  Samples of bricks painted with the various colors.  Just pick your mix an hope that each container is the same because there is only a balance scale to check the weight of the pigment.  No problem, we can make any color you choose, unfortunately there is no color pallet to select from, just the bricks and rocks in the weeds.

Stick, arch welding on the sidewalk in Osmanbey.  No safety glasses, No welding shield, oh yea the welding shield was on the sidewalk with all the welding sticks laying on it.  He would not weld while I shot the picture.  His technique was pretty shabby.  The welds looked like globs of chewing gum and had just about the same penetration.  Hopefully this is not a structural component.  People literally stepped over the work while he was welding.  Where is OSHA when you need them?
 

The famous İştiklal Caddesi (Street) with the Street car running from Tsksim to Tünel.  Uncommonly quiet.  Too early for the Turks.

Oh yes to answer everyone's concerns.  We do not feel unsafe here in Turkey even with the bombing in Ankara and the Murder of the New York woman in Istanbul.  Minor stuff.