Back to Work in Astana, Kazakhstan - 14 January 2009

On January 7th was the Russian Orthodox Christmas so it was a holiday throughout Kazakhstan. We worked on the computer and tried to get caught up on the paperwork for the projects we have been doing.

On Thursday was a big New Year's Celebration at the Mega Mall in the Babylon Pirate Center. All handicapped children's organizations, along with the children of handicapped parents and the League of Large Family Organization were invited to attend.

Roy, Mira and Anne in front of the large New Year's Tree in the Babylon Game Center.

Here we are with Kulnazira, one of the NGO's we work with here in Kazakhstan. She is a real friend and we just love her!!While we were there, we also met Raigul, who is the director over the League of Large Families and Kamka and Ramazan, her husband, who were on their way to the Customs office to see about getting the two 40 ft. containers through customs. We wished them luck and told them we would keep our fingers crossed! The containers have been in customs since the 29th of December! (We'll fill you in on the rest of the story later!)

We took pictures of some of the children enjoying themselves on the rides!

We just had to take a picture of these cute little kids dressed up. It is customary for people to dress in costumes for New Year's parties so many of the children did. Aren't they adorable!!Over 500 children and teenagers were invited to this event. All of the children could ride these rides free of charge. They do this every year for the handicapped children's organizations.

Later in the afternoon we found out that the documents on the containers from the train company did not have the same wording as those that were sent from Salt Lake; they left off "Humanitarian Aid". Now the customs officials want the US Embassy to verify what is in the containers, which they can't do because they didn't send them!! We are now working with a gentleman from the US Embassy who deals with customs officials and he is trying to help us out. Hopefully, by the first of next week, we will be able to get these containers through!! This is really an exercise in patience!!

Before anything leaves Salt Lake, the organization that we are working with has to guarantee that the containers will be able to get through customs or they will not send them. The Church is spending so much money sending these containers and if customs rejects them, then they are sent back at the Church's expense. In Turkey, they ended up sending some containers back because they couldn't get them through customs after months of haggling with customs officials.

Saturday morning Nathan and Heather Jones, and their children, arrived from Pavlodar. They are on their way to Almaty to get new diplomatic visas so that they can go anywhere they want without having to register in every town. We enjoyed having them with us for the weekend!!

Walking home from the Ramstore on Saturday, we decided to get some pictures of the ice sculptors on the river.

Roy in front of the Kazakh poet, Abai. The weather was actually pretty nice that day!! No wind!!

The Jones Family: Heather, Desi, Zoe and Nathan all eating ice cream and cake before leaving on the train to Almaty.

It was also enjoyable having them here for Church. Zhanna called and asked if we could have church at 7:00 a.m. because she has a new job and has to work on Sunday! We told her we would do whatever time that would allow her to come. We were through with our meetings by 9:00 and had the rest of the day for reading and relaxation! The Jones boarded the train for Almaty later in the evening. They will be back in a couple of weeks on their way to Pavlodar. It's wonderful having company!

"Happy Birthday, Dad!" We can't believe your 95 years old!!!! Congratulations! We just want you to know that you are the best Dad ever and we love you so much! You are an inspiration to us all!

Thanks again for all of your love and support! We are so grateful for being here in Kazakhstan and for all of the things that we have learned. We truly love the people here!! Thanks again for your prayers in our behalf.

Love,

Elder and Sister Welling