Another Presentation and Keeping in Touch With the Jones - 30 March 2009

It is starting to warm up with temperatures above freezing for the first time!! We are looking forward to the snow being gone and seeing a little bit of green here and there. Because of all the snow, there are rivers running everywhere but the city workers are trying to haul off the snow as fast as they can! When we go out, we literally "ford every stream"!! We have even shed our big winter coats and are down to our spring coats and our spring boots!! We're sure that we haven't seen the last of the snow storms but things do look promising!

This is right out in front of our apartment building where they are working!! The ice was so thick on the road that they had to bring in a big front end loader to break up the ice!!

Now, back to what we have been doing this week!! We have been pretty busy and it it feels good! Monday, was pretty much a holiday because of Nauryz (Kazakh New Year) on Sunday, they had Monday off. We worked on the computer and did paper work most of the day and then went out to see if there were any displays left over from Nauryz, but they were all gone!! Because of the economy, things were pretty low-key this year.

Monday night after the English Club, we went out and took some pictures of the new Spring decorations. This is in the Byterick Park.

This is the "Byterick" covered with fabric flowers. We actually met Frank Tetreault out taking pictures in the park also!!

These two trees are located on the Central Plaza and were put up for Nauryz, which is also the beginning of Spring here in Kazakhstan.

This large fountain on the Central Plaza has been turned into a giant tulip!

This lighted tree is located at Congress Hall near the Central Plaza. It's fun to see all the lights up for Spring!

Tuesday we went to the Minister of Justice and Religious Affairs to take him the papers that show some of the projects that we have been doing. He had been replaced with someone new so we explained who we were and why we are here. He told us that he was aware of us and wanted to come to see the closing presentations of our projects so he could let the city officials know what we were doing. We assured him that we would be glad to invite him!!

And it just so happened that we had a closing presentation on Thursday for a project we did for the League of Women. The director, Clara Yerzhanova, had asked for 3 computers to help train abused or deserted women.These are two of the three computers that the Church donated to this organization. The young man seated at the computer will be training the women.

Kulnazira, Roy, Anne, Clara and two gentlemen that were sent from the Deparment of Justice and Religious Affairs. At the presentation, Clara thanked us for the computers and told us that no one had ever helped her before. She was very kind and gracious. Kulnazira told the gentlemen what a wonderful organization that the Church was and that we truly cared about helping people. She is a wonderful PR person for us!! We just love her!!

Afterwards, Clara and Kulnazira fed us all lunch and we were able to visit with one another. The gentlemen from the ministry thanked us for inviting them! We all felt that it went well.Roy, Anne and Clara Yerzhanova after eating a delicious lunch! Clara is a wonderful compassionate person who cares about others. We are so glad that we were able to become acquainted with her. We meet the nicest people in our calling!!

Saturday morning the Jones stopped in for a couple of nights with us on their way back to Sharbakti. They had been in Almaty for a few days while Nathan Jones presented a paper at a university there. We enjoy having them with us. Heather and the children will be leaving from Astana on June 1st to go back to New York to visit and then on to Utah to visit family. Nathan will be staying in Kazakhstan to finish up his Fulbright Scholarship work.

Anne, Heather and Nathan and Jones, and their children Desi and Zoe. It has been wonderful having them attend Church with us each time they come!! We will miss them!

The attendence at our Church meetings: Elder Welling and Nathan Jones - Zhanna Beckenbi, Sister Welling, Heather Jones and Desi and Zoe. (Even though it's 7:00 in the morning, we look pretty good!) We love it when we have more than 3 people at Church! It's wonderful how the gospel can bring us all together!!

We just want to congratulate Bridget Kingsford on her baptism on Saturday! We are so proud of you, Bridget! We hope you had a wonderful day and will remember how special it was for you! We love you very much!!

We are doing well and hoping to make a difference here in Kazakhstan! We appreciate all of your prayers in our behalf! We love and appreciate you all!

Love,

Elder and Sister Welling