Happy Halloween in Astana, Kazakhstan - 2 November 2008

It has been wonderful weather this last week and we have enjoyed being out. We hope it stays this way for a while and that the cold doesn't come too soon.

The good news this week was that our latest project was approved for the Blind Society. We will be getting them 5 computers with special programs for the blind and also 80 eyeglasses. This is Khamza Khazima Yerzhanovna, who is the director of the Blind Society. She is a wonderful lady who cares so much about the people in her organization and tries to find ways to help them. We enjoy working with her.

On Wednesday we went to the university to help in one of the English classes and the students asked if we would like to come to their Halloween program that all the English classes were to participate in on Thursday evening. We told them we would love to!

On Thursday evening we were at the university again where Aizhan, the teacher, took us to this wonderful auditorium. As we walked in, this lady stopped us and said since we were Americans, we should judge their program since Halloween was celebrated in Europe and America!! We declined, but she insisted!! Reluctantly we agreed to the task at hand and she seated us directly in front of the stage. We were to judge the best skit, costume, carved pumpkin, and poster!

The President of the University was at the program and welcomed us there and thanked us for coming to participate in their program.

The skits were all stories the students had read about or they made up their own scary story.

This skit is about the Adams Family. We were impressed with their interpretation of Halloween because they don't celebrate this holiday in Kazakhstan.

We thought that they all did a wonderful job with their skits! We told them that they made us feel at home because we love to celebrate Halloween in the United States.

This group of young ladies are in one of the classes that we visit each week and their skit was pretty good too!

Some of the students that participated in the Halloween program.

This group won for the best pumpkin carving. We don't really know who won for the best skit and costumes because we don't really understand Russian even though all of the skits were in English!!

The lady standing next to us is the Head of the Department of English at the University and her name is Marazhana. She is the one that asked us to be the judges! She is going to get in touch with us later about coming to visit her class.

This is another group that wanted their picture taken with us.

After the program some of the students that Aizahan teaches wanted a group picture on the steps of the university. Aizhan is the one in the red coat. They are such wonderful young ladies, we can't help but love them all!

The University as night is really quite a beautiful sight! (How poetic!) We had a great time and were glad that we went.

President Pieper, our Area President, will be here tomorrow for some meetings with some government officials and to spend some time with us. We are looking forward to his visit.

Thanks for the wonderful support and prayers in our behalf and for all the missionaries throughout the world! We are so grateful to be members of this wonderful world-wide church. The gospel is true and the greatest blessing in our lives.

Love,

Elder and Sister Welling