Area Seventy

Elder Manasyan, an Area Seventy, came to Tbilisi this weekend.  He is an Armenian and has been a member of the church for almost 20 years. He came to teach and instruct the saints here.  We enjoyed hosting him and showing him some of the sights of Tbilisi.  It is truly a privilege to meet with the brethren, to spend time with them and feel of their spirit.

EXCITING!!

It is so exciting to have a family baptized!  On Saturday Morisi and Khatuna were baptized.  They have a 5 year old son, Lasha.  We are happy to have them in our branch.

Glucometers for Diabetics

Misha is a diabetic.  He is also one of our favorite NGOs.  Our project with him this time involved buying 140 glucometers to hand out to diabetics to be able to test their blood sugar level and thus maintain a healthier life. On Aug. 9th we handed out some of them. In this picture he is showing the man the glucometer and getting his information.  Misha does a very good job.

Well, he doesn't take good pictures - he kept cutting off the tops of our heads!  This was my favorite recipient.  The girl is 21 and has been a diabetic since she was 4.  She always brings her Grandma with her when she goes places.  Very sweet!

Made it!!!

After the Art Exhibition, the evening was still early and we caught a bus and headed up the mountain to the park.  Because we were there in the cooler evening, there were a lot more people there.  First we rode the train around.  Then we got on the ferris wheel.  It took 15 minutes to ride and the view was amazing!  As we were riding the lights of the city started coming on - great timing!

If  you look close - we are at the very top and that is the city behind us!

This is a TV Station Tower that is up in the park.  E. Reese thinks it is beautiful - he loves looking at it! You can see it from all over the city - it is really quite gaudy!

Art Exhibit

I belong to IWA (International Women's Association) and they have an English Conversation group that meets every Thursday at Natia's dentist office.  We usually have 2 to 5 ladies show up.  I am the 'official' English expert.  We just talk and I answer any English questions that arise.  I correct them if they use words wrong.  We generally just have a fun time.  One of the ladies told us about a painting class she was taking and so when she had an exhibition - we were all invited. E. Reese and I went and enjoyed seeing the students art.

This is Antoaneta and I in front of her paintings.

Primary Activity

On Aug 4th we had a Primary Activity. We decided to stay at the Church and play on the new lawn in the backyard.  The favorite games were played with water balloons.

When the balloons were gone - they just played in the water!!

Of course we had food - sandwiches, soda, tomatoes, cucumbers and fruit.

Before they went home we had Armena paint on each kids face!

And Pres. Reese helped!

It was really a fun day and the kids really liked playing on the grass.

Dry Bridge

Today's adventure was a trip to Dry Bridge.   It is called that because it doesn't go over the river like all the other bridges do.  On one side of the bridge is where all the people who have apartments to rent gather.  It was kind of strange the first time we saw them.  We thought that there was something going on and when we went over there everybody was just standing there in a big crowd.  It was a mystery until we asked Mzia our translator. The other side of the bridge is where all the artists show their work for sale.  Along the sidewalk are all these street venders selling everything you can imagine.  I did need some tools and thought they might have them here but didn't find exactly what I was looking for.  But we had a good time strolling through looking at all the goods.We did find a charm for S. Reese's bracelet.

 Lots of antiques, sadly there are a lot of items that are brought to these street dealers by people selling
their family heirlooms to survive during these hard times.

 Your car can be a display!

 Soviet era war metals, coins, you name it, it's here!

 This is the start of Dry Bridge - Amazing what they are selling!

Every little item is displayed, and they set this up every day!

Mtatsmindias

There is a giant ferris wheel up on the mountain.  We have been talking about going on it since we came 18 months ago.  When the Elders Quorum outing got changed because the sky tram was not running, they went up to Mtatsmindias a rode the ferris wheel.  E. Reese reported back that there was a big park area up on the mountain, so for our P-Day we headed up there so that I could check it out.  We went about 3 in the afternoon and found the right bus that took us right there.  When we got there we went to buy the tickets and found out that the ferris wheel was not running right then and they did not know when it would be.  This is very common for Georgia.  It was a very interesting park.  There were some rides and small restaurants.  We went to ride on the small train but they said they would not go until there were more people - we hung out for about half an hour and then gave up on that.  There were not a lot of people there - too hot!  We are going to try back in the cool of the evening sometime.

It was very spacious and open.  A nice fountain - lots of room.

The rides were spaced out - but most of them were not open.  This is a castle that is under construction.

Oh no - Dinosaurs - save me! (this is for my grand sons!)

Here is the looking up view of the 25th largest ferris wheel in the world and being on the top of the mountain makes it seem so much taller!

What a view.

 It was amazing that they had several WCs.  Of course I had to get my picture next to the RED girl!

Yes, I have had to adapt.  These are often found here in Tbilisi - even in some of the nicer places.

another baptism

I love it when we have fathers baptize their sons.  This is Vasha who is translating the Book of Mormon and his son Giorgi.  He was baptized in July.  His mom Teona is our accountant and his sister Mari.

Haircut

We have another young man in our branch that has decided to start his paper work for going on a mission!  In talking with him we learned that he works cutting hair.  He works 7 days a week from 9am to 9pm.  They will sometimes let him off for a few hours in the afternoon and he meets us at the church.  Anyway - I usually cut E. Reese's hair - not my favorite job.  I thought it would be nice for E. Reese to go to this young man's shop for a Georgian haircut.  This is how he felt about the cut-

OK - so it's a little bit shorter than when I cut it.  Do you know the difference between a good haircut and a bad one?  About a week!  Well, this one may take 2 or 3 weeks!  I personally think it looks nice, just a little short. It only cost 5 lari (about $3) but he did give him a 2 lari tip - what a guy - good looking and generous.

Ladies in Pink!

Two Sundays ago I went up to Primary and here were the other two ladies dressed in pink!  We laughed and the kids insisted we take a picture - too bad I wasn't wearing my black skirt!

Book of Mormon

When we first came to Tbilisi we started reading the Book of Mormon together everyday.  We would read one chapter out loud and a second chapter to ourselves. Just a couple of weeks ago we were just finishing the fourth time through when the Mission President challenged all the missionaries to read 10 pages a day of the Book of Mormon and mark every reference to Jesus Christ. A few days into the reading, E. Reese decided to make a list of all the different names that are used for Christ.  We are really enjoying this 'quick read' of the book and appreciate finding all the references to Christ.  We are about half way through and are at almost 100 different names!  I find great comfort and insight from my reading - I am so thankful for this amazing book.