2 of 30 in an LDS branch

Here are our first weeks pictures. The apartment pics didn't turn out so well on the slide show so I will post them separately. So today we set out for church a 40 minute walk and on the seventh floor of an old building which you get to on an elevator that would make anyone feel claustraphobic and we found a multicultural group of saints. Some Turks, some Ethiopians, Some Fillipinos, some Americans and some Norweigan people all gathering for an LDS church service. However due to the language barriers and few translators most of us just tried to feel the spirit and it only lasted 2 hours instead of the regular 3 hour block. The branch president who is Turkish spoke in sacrement meeting and it was very moving. What would that be like to love the people of your country but not be able to share the gospel or have your church legally recognised. The pain was on his face and also the hope of when the day will come that he can share his joy in the gospel with his people freely. It was very moving. There was even a senior missionary couple that just got here from Bountiful, UT doing a humanitarian mission. The sister missionary agreed with me about the change in environment from back home- especially all of the walking we do here. I made friends with a Turkish girl who is investigating the church. She does not speak English very well but she did understand my invitation of going shopping together and then Brad translated the details for both of us. We might have to bring Brad along on our shopping excursion as a translator- I'm sure he would love that:) Tonight in the spirit of keeping the sabbath day holy we made dinner from scratch! Well at least the sauce- onions, tomatoes, olive oil, and tyme with a bit of sugar, salt, and pepper made a delicious spaghetti sauce. And I have to write about Brad's victory tonight with Frog Juice. After dozens of times of me taking the win and Brad getting frustrated (we are a very competitive couple when it comes to trivial games) he finally won tonight and went to bed proud- and I really didn't LET him win (or did I...).

Here are some pictures of our apartment