The Last Days 5 more sleeps.

President Hansen announcing his relief
that we are finally leaving.

The world has been waiting for generations for the last days.  We are now aware of when the last day comes.  It is Monday April 7, 2014.  We have never been so excited for a day to come.  We only wish we could sneak off without having to say good-bye to so many good friends.

Tonight is our last dinner with the young Elders and they are arguing over who gets to come.  The mission rule is one companionship for dinner and they do not break the rules.  They also have investigators that fight over who comes to eat on Wednesdays.  Nori’s food is well known and everyone wants to eat here.

Thursday we will eat with the Ankara Iranians and on Saturday we travel to Kirkkale to eat with the Iranians that have been relocated there.  Persian meals in the land of the Turks.

Last Sunday Nori and I both spoke in Sacrament meeting and there was an open house after meetings for our farewell.  Vahideh got very emotional and could not stop crying.  President Hansen said to me, “I do not understand how you have become such great friends when you do not speak any Farsi (Persian), why do these people seem to know you so well?”

Two young volunteers and the first
Turkish baptism after we arrived in
Ankara.  There were two Turkish baptisms.
While we were there.  Mutlu.  He is
a very good man.

 

With Vahideh before the tears.  My first
baptism.

I cannot understand why the relationship with the Iranians has been so good, but we love these people and have come to really enjoy their courage and commitment.  Their faith is beyond belief.  My heartbreaks every time I think of what they face and how hard their life really is.

Nori is spit polishing the apartment and worries that dust will accumulate before someone moves in to see how clean she is leaving everything.  She is so amazing.  Most of our bags are packed and ready to go.

 

Farshad, Elhim, Nastaran and Amir.
The real Iranian missionary is Amir.
It was really his testimony and work
than brought the Iranians to the Gospel.  He is
a very good man.

I must come home.  I have gained so much weight that it is just flat embarrassing.  I did pretty well until my broken foot.  Then it has been too hard to exercise between the weather, the miserable streets and the pain in my foot since we came to Ankara.  I know it is just a weak excuse, but I have been terrible.  I think I eat more stuff looking for something I can enjoy and in the end eat more than I need.  Unfortunately all I can think about is some decent American food and what I really need is a good diet and exercise program.

With the Tazehabadi's.
I spent at least 10 hours each week teaching English, math,
science, history and social studies to Tina and Tara.

The strangest end of the mission occurred this week.  We began our mission struggling with the financial problems of the Association or legal entity of the Church in Turkey.  We worked for months to get this organization functioning only to be told it was not our responsibility and we should never have been involved.  We were even called names for our involvement by our legal counsel in Moscow.  Then on Friday I get a call and a request to help finalize the required reports for last year’s activity.  It is rather ironic that we end our mission being asked to do what we were told not to do when we arrived.  I do appreciate that it seems that at least the financial entity in Moscow recognized the real need for resolution to a problem.

Last January and February I spent so many sleepless nights trying to resolve the problems and praying about the whole mess.  What a quandary!

Typical copper work at the Ankara Kalesi.
This is the blue mosque hammered in copper.
On the day we were here, we found
the coppersmith hammering a set of Mormon
temples.  Work requested by one of our expat.
families.  So strange to see.

Oh well, I have learned a bunch on this assignment.  I will never be the same because of my time in Turkey.  I just hope that the new me is actually just a little better.

Thanks to the few people that followed this blog.  In reality the writing was for me and if you enjoyed it then it was a double blessing.

My mind keeps singing the Simon and Garfunkel song “Homeward Bound”.

Görüşürüz

look closely this is the Logan Temple.