1 June 2008 - NRT Shipment & Turning 63 in Kazakhstantan

After waiting 6 weeks in customs, the NRT shipment was finally delivered to the Perinatal Hospital. On Monday, we hired Kamka's husband, Ramazon, and his van to help us pick up the equipment at the hospital and bring it to our apartment.

Here are Mira and Roy packing in one of the boxes. There were 9 boxes all together. We loaded three at a time in the elevator, prayed no one would get on, and made it in three trips!!

It was a big relief to get the shipment to our apartment! We will now be busy planning the rest of the schedule for the doctors that will be here in July.

On Tuesday, Roy turned 63 so we decided to celebrate the occasion by going sightseeing and out to dinner. We had been wanting to go see the mosque and decided we would go there first. It is such a beautiful building, all white with a gold dome.

This is the largest and the most beautiful mosque in Kazakhstan. It has two halls of worship for men and women and can admit 5 thousand people simultaneously.

Inside the mosque was this huge room where the people come to pray! It was so beautiful inside and we took lots of pictures. We will show you the rest of them next week.

After going to the mosque, we walked to the government mall. We wanted to go see the Bayterek, or the Tree of Life as it is called.

This is one of the biggest attractions in Astana. The basis of the monument is the legend about Bayterek -- the huge tree growing on the mountain, Kok-Tobe. Annually, the holy bird,Samruk,lays the golden egg. Every year the dragon eats the luminary which symbolically means the changing of Day and Night, Summer and Winter, Good and Evil, Light and Darkness. Bayterek or the Tree of Life keeps the earth by its roots and supports the heavens.

It is a very interesting building and we were able to go inside and up to the very top, look outside and see all of Astana. It is an incredible view of the city!

From the top of the Bayterek you can see the President's Palace, and just behind that you can see the Pyramid, which is where cultural events are held. We hope to visit that sometime.There is a gold hand print of President Nursultan Nazarbayev which, if you place your hand in it and make a wish, it will come true. The last time we were there, Roy wished for religious freedom for this country.

After leaving the Bayterek, we walked to the other end of the government mall. We took pictures along the way of all of the beautiful flowers that are coming out since it's spring. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful walk!

This was taken just after we left the Bayterek. The building at the end is the Kaz Commerce Gas which is the largest gas company in Kazakhstan. The restaurant that we are going to is at the base of that building.

Mira took us to this wonderful Asian restaurant that was decorated with Kazakh rugs and pillows. The ambience was great as was the food!!

Mira wanted to know if we wanted to sit here for two hours while we ate. Roy said that we were too old and we probably would have napped instead of eat!! So we chose to sit on chairs which proved to be just as nice.

The meal was wonderful!! Roy had veal and Anne had chicken with garlic and paprika. Mira had mutton kabob. We all tried each others food and it was all delicious! We think we might take the doctors from the NRT here in July when they are in Astana.

After we were done with the meal, Mira surprised us with a beautiful cherry nut cake that the waiter brought out. She had spent the morning picking it up, traveling clear across town on a bus to the restaurant and clear back across town to pick us up. What a surprise! What a sweetheart she is!! She said that she wanted the day to be special and it certainly was. She also gave us a CD of Kazakh Dombra music.

This picture is taken at the Kaz Commerce Gas Building at the end of the mall in front of the fountain. We had a wonderful day and enjoyed it immensely! The best birthday Roy has had in Kazakhstan!!!

The rest of the week we went to programs and celebrations in honor of Children's Protection Day which is a major holiday here in Kazakhstan. We also went to a presentation for one of the projects that we did but we'll let you know about that next time.

We are doing great and trying to keep ourselves visible and attending as many things as we can so that people know why we are here.

Thanks for your love and support! May the Lord bless you in all of your efforts.

Love,

Elder and Sister Welling