Happy New Year in Almaty, Kazakhstan - 6 January 2009

Happy New Year to you all!!
Tuesday morning, before leaving for Almaty, we got the wonderful news that Ryan and Tiffanie had a baby boy, Easton Miles, born on the 29th of December. Both mother and baby are doing great!! We are very richly blessed to have 20 beautiful grandchildren!!

After our flight to Almaty, Sveta, our visa clerk, translator, and all-around go to lady, took us to meet with Dr. Tamara Chubakova and her assistants, Dr. Aliyah and Dr. Zarina about the Neonatal Resuscitation Training for next year.

We met at a lovely restaurant and were so happy to see each of them again! Dr. Tamara is over all prenatal training in Kazakhstan and Dr. Aliyah and Dr. Zarina were with us in July for the last NRT in Astana, Kostani and Kokshetau.

We discussed when the next NRT would be and where and all the details about it. The sad part is that we won't be able to be here for the next one but we will be in charge of getting everything printed, shipped and ready for the next training. The next Humanitarian couple will be able to be a part of this wonderful experience.Dr. Zarina, Roy, Anne, Dr. Tamara Chubakova, Sveta and Dr. Aliyah. These ladies are wonderful, dedicated doctors and our lives have been enriched by just knowing and working with them.

Wednesday was New Year's Eve and we were invited to the Vincents for a party with them and the missionaries. The pary began at 1:00 in the afternoon.Sister Pat Vincent is at the sink. Sister Davis, from St. George; Sister Samsonovich, from Vladivostok, Russia; Elder Craig Vincent and Elder London, from Orange County, California, all having a good time at the party.

We started out the party with a Scripture Chase for all of the missionaries. Then we had a Murder Mystery Dinner. Between the courses we had to solve the murder. That was lots of fun!

Elder London, Sister Davis, Elder King, from Idaho; Sister Samsonovich, Pat Vincent, Elder Volegov, from Latvia; and Craig Vincent and Anne (in front) watching a movie which was next on the list of things to do.

The missionaries changed their clothes before the next movie began. In front, Elder London, and Elder King. In the back, Elder Jonovich, from Arizona; Sister Davis and Sister Samsonovich. It was so fun to be with the missionaries! Elder King and Sister Davis will be leaving to go back to Moscow in the next week.

The party was so much fun and we enjoyed being there with all of them. We watched the fireworks at around 11:00 and left for our apartment at 12:30 p.m. which was nine blocks away but only took us about 25 minutes to get there! There were so many fireworks going on and everyone was out on the street having a fun time.

Saturday night the Branch had a baptism! Morat is the newest member of the Almaty Branch. What a fine young man he is! These are the missionaries serving in Almaty with the newest member. Elder Volegov, Elder Jonovich, Elder London, Morat, Elder King, Sister and Elder Vincent, Sister Davis, and Sister Samsonovich. Many members came to the baptism and gave their love and support for Morat. It was very special for us to be their for a baptism.

We had a wonderful Fast and Testimony meeting. It was nice not to have to be in charge of Sacrament Meeting for a change! It was also wonderful to have a variety of people bear their testimonies. The people in this Branch have very strong testimonies and they will be the ones that will move the work forward. It's not easy being a member of the Church in a Muslim country.

The Vincents invited us for dinner after church, along with Gary Despain, an Air Astana pilot from Mendon, Utah. We enjoyed the visit so much with all of them and it was hard to leave. The Vincents will be leaving the 1st of April and they still don't know who their replacements are!

While we were there in Almaty, it snowed for two days. It was beautiful and it wasn't even cold. When we flew back to Astana on Monday, we realized just how cold it is where we live. We don't know if we will ever get used to this cold!! But it sure was nice to have a break from it.

We hope you all have a wonderful new year and that the Lord will bless you in all that you do. We love you all!

Love,

Elder and Sister Welling