Sunday, September 21, 2008

The On Going Visa Saga in Astana, Kazakhstan - 21 September 2008

The first thing Monday morning we took our paperwork to the city offices for our three month visa prolongation. Three months ago we were told that we would not have to bring notarized documents of the church's registration in the United States for another year. When we got there, he wanted a copy of the registration anyway! So we called Sveta, the visa clerk for Kazakhstan in Almaty, and she quickly faxed the documents to us.

When we took the documents to him on Tuesday, he said they needed to be notarized. We politely reminded him that he said we wouldn't need them notarized because he already had a notarized copy for the year! Mira turned on the charm and pleaded our case and asked if he couldn't find the notarized copy and he said that it had already been put in the archives. She asked him if it would be too difficult for him to find. After much pleading, he told her that if he had the time he would look for it!

We called the next day, and he had found the notarized copy and was approving the visa work and told us to call next Monday to see if the papers were ready to take to the Immigration Police. What an ordeal!! Hopefully we have passed the first hurdle and we are on our way to the next step!

In the midst of all of this, we received word from Moscow that the Russian missionaries would not be coming to Astana for their visa renewals!! We had already bought their train tickets to return to Novosibirsk. The train station would not return our money because we didn't have their original passports, just copies. So Mira called a travel agent and she told us that we could get some of our money back but that we couldn't do it that day because they were out of money; but that we could come tomorrow.

Later that evening, we got a call from Moscow saying that President Peiper had changed his mind and was once again going to allow missionaries to come here to Kazakhstan to renew their visas on a trial basis!! We were blessed that we hadn't sold their tickets! That is one of the "tender mercies " of the Lord! He certainly watches over us all!! We had such a hard time getting the tickets in the first place. The missionaries will be here Wednesday morning and will leave on Friday evening.
This is Khazima Yerzhanovna who is the Director of the Blind Society that we are considering doing a project for. On Friday, she invited us to a computer competition held at the library for blind and partially blind and handicapped adults.
The young lady against the wall and the man standing are the instructors of these blind students. They have taught them how to use the computer using a program that speaks each letter they type.
This man is physically handicapped and partially blind and did very well on the computer.This man is completely blind and was still able to complete the task given by the instructor. We were impressed with the skill and ability that these individuals demonstrated. We were glad we went to learn more about what the handicapped can do with the technology we now have.

While it is still good weather, we thought we would show you some more of the sights in Astana.

During the summer, people enjoy playing chess in the park and others just enjoy watching.
When we went to the First President's Museum with Nancy and Kathy, this group of men were playing the Dombra and the Kobyz which are both national instruments of Kazakhstan. We weren't allowed to take pictures of anything in the museum but they did allow us to take a picture of this group. We were delighted!
This is the statue of Seifullin who was a great poet and writer of the Kazakh people
This fountain is at the other end of the government mall and is quite beautiful. We had not been here and were able to see this and the next two monuments when we were with Nancy and Kathy.
Another monument representing a Kazakh ornament.

This monument is at the end of everything that is completed on the mall. Another large building is being built across the road which will complete the entire mall that runs about 3 or 4 miles but it seems like a lot longer than that!! This new building is in the shape of a large hat and will have palm trees, sandy beaches, a river with boats, gardens, a golf course, shops , and a concert hall. The temperature will be the same all year round. So when it is 30 degrees below zero, you can go there and sit on the beach and drink Coca-Cola!!

We have a busy week planned and we hope everything goes as planned. We love you all and are thankful for the blessing we are receiving each and every day. The gospel is true and we are so grateful to be members of the Church.

Love,

Elder and Sister Welling

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