15 February 2008 - Letters from Kazakhstan

Valentines Day!! We had a wonderful February 14th!! We ate out at our first Russian Restaurant but we will show you those pictures later.

But the big event was the wheelchair presentation that we were a part of in Astana. It is the first of several we will be having in the near future. We will be going to Karaganda on Friday for another one. And we will be going to Kostanai in the next couple of weeks.

The event was held at the Youth Cultural Center. It is a very big, beautiful and cold building where a lot of events are held.

When we first got there, Roy was interviewed by a TV reporter who had the camera rolling while he asked some very pointed questions like, "How does your church differ from other churches?" Roy stood and answered the questions like a trooper being very careful not to say anything that could be taken out of context. He did a great job!

He was also interviewed by the press. This lovely lady was from one of the local newspapers and she asked about our thoughts on their country's acceptance of handicapped people.This is the head table where the dignitaries sat. The two ladies at the far left are from the Customs office and Kulnazira Kurmantayevna who is the Assistant Director of the Children's Handicapped Society of Astana City, Roy and Mira, our translator. There were other dignitaries that were not seated at the table.

We also met a very nice gentleman who is a member of the ruling Party of Kazakhstan. He has a daughter that is married to an American and they live in Kentucky. He gave us his name and phone number and told us that if we ever had any problems at all to come and see him!! He was very kind and grateful for what the Church has done. He is the one that we are listening to.

These people are from one of the adult handicapped societies. Their members did not receive any wheelchairs at this presentation. This was just for the children. They will get those another time. The lady in the red scarf also spoke representing them. The blond lady standing in the back is Elena Anatolyevna who is the director of the Society for Social Adaptation of Children. We are working with her on a project for her organization. This is Kamka Madiyevna who is the Director of the Children's Handicapped Society of Astana City. We absolutely love her!! She has dedicated her life to helping the handicapped and championing their rights. She is the one they worked through to get the wheelchairs here. She received a container of clothing from the Humanitarian Center in 2006 and we are working with her on other projects also. She was in charge of the presentation.

These are part of the recipients of the wheelchairs. Many children received them. They even had very small wheelchairs for the little kids.
They are fitting this young man to his wheelchair. He was very appreciative.

This young lady was so excited she had a hard time controlling her muscles to sit still.

This family was so grateful for the wheelchair for their daughter.

This child tried to tell me in English "Thank you". It was so sweet!!

This father stood in the background and quietly waited for the chair for his child which he was so grateful to receive.
On the back of each wheelchair are the words "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints".

Everyone thanked us so much and they were truly grateful for the gift of the Church. Even though it was -39 degrees F. outside with the wind chill factor, we couldn't have gotten a warmer feeling than we felt there.

We have also been asked to go to Kockshatau with Kamka to give out the rest of the wheelchairs. We hope that we can plan to do it.

It was a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

Love to all of you!!

Elder and Sister Welling