2025(26) Faith Leap - Chapter 17: 11 becomes 10

2025(26) Faith Leap - Chapter 17: 11 becomes 10

Utah leapt forward for Daylight Savings this week - which means we are now 10 hours ahead of home. This means we get to go to bed an hour earlier on Tuesdays (when Bob joins his Commonwealth class), but it makes our morning meetings all the earlier: our parent meetings are now at 5am, and this week Bob had an interview at 4am, and the next day Richard and I will conduct a meeting at 6am. 🥱

Ignore the filthy, tattered towel with the obscure picture on it that Miss is holding. In spite of that, something about her silhouette, the setting sun, and the rolling waves speaks to me. On second thought, maybe it is a metaphor of Georgia: so much is undecipherable, poor and broken - having been pounded by the waves of one conquering regime after another yet, impressively still in one piece and functioning.

Follow up from my last blog is President Eyring's talk from last General Conference. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing as I heard this talk for the first time, because it felt specifically written just to me. It is feels even more profound now in this proving moment. I am clinging to his promise, "that these moments are not evidence that the Lord has abandoned you. Rather, they are evidence that He loves you enough to refine and strengthen you. He is making you strong enough to carry the weight of eternal life." 

My study of the story of Joseph this week was the first time I have ever considered Jacob's probable wrestle with Joseph's dreams: Gen 37 says that he "observed the sayings" - so it seems Jacob believed they could have been from God. But then, as far as he knows, Joseph is dead. Rather than believing that God was wrong, perhaps he told himself that Joseph had been mistaken about the meaning of his dreams. Looking forward to being reunited with CJ, I can imagine in a small way the joy Jacob felt and learning that Joseph was still alive, and then being reunited with him. I also imagine that his joy may have been added to in that moment, realizing that God had fulfilled a promise that had seemed impossible for 22 years.

Highlights:

• Caught Cupid, the Lizard
• Enjoyed the outdoors with house guests and met new friends
• Bazaar shopping and Glutened again
• Youth Activity: learned how to make delicious Russian dishes
• Our missionaries are on fire - so many investigating friends!
• Daddy-Daughter Date
• Itching scalps - Send ideas!

Prayer Requests:

• Many Church financial processes in Georgia are not online. Especially as we are still using US phones and banking, this has been an inconvenience to us for paying tithing, and it has also been a pain point in Richard's calling (Welfare, for example, is all done with cash - so the record keeping required to ensure things honestly used/documented is tricky). We labeled it as a "first-world problem" and chose to just put up with it without complaint. However, Georgia recently passed a law that requires disclosure of cash financial transactions which suddenly places our members from certain countries in danger. This should be resolved by allowing payment digitally. We've been told that the Area Office is working on it, but it is complicated. Please pray for Heavenly Father to resolve the complications, and pray for these faithful saints who are torn between risking their lives being discovered paying tithing to a Christian church, and keeping their covenants/maintaining their Temple recommends.
• The Area Office is also working on finding us a new Church building in Batumi. We've been told that this process can take up to a year. You'll see in the details, that we can't wait a year. Please pray for Heavenly Father to help expedite this process
• Please pray for our Youth to build friendships, and for us to be inspired with ways to help facilitate that. Our youth are isolated and have expressed a desire for friends. We have several investigator friends who only speak Russian. All of our member youth speak both Russian and English. So you would think that, if anyone felt like outsiders, it would by my English-only kids. But our dual-lingual youth actually won't use their Russian. Even when we have specifically requested that they help with translation or with helping our Russian-only friends to feel included, we are told no. 🤷🏻‍♀️While I appreciate that all of the member youth gravitate toward my children, what we want most is for those who are staying here to connect with each other - and so far, they have been resistant to that for some reason. (Who knew I would wish my children were less likeable 😝)

Details:

4-legged House Guest

Do you remember Cupid, the lizard? (We discovered him in our upstairs bathroom a few weeks ago, and then lost track of him...) Apparently, he either moved to the bathroom downstairs, or he decided his roommates were too ambitious, and didn't warn his cousin. Either way, this lizard's name is Garnet (a kind of rock that symbolizes love). Our family reptile whisperer caught him without difficulty and, because it was too cold outside to release him without acclimating, we allowed the kids to keep him until the sun's warmth returned the next day. He enjoyed learning about D-Day with Bob during his Commonwealth class, and stayed in a luxury Lego resort.

2-Legged House Guests

Nearly every Saturday night, some of the Grays stay overnight with us - to save them a commute when they come for Youth Activities, and then stay for Church on Sunday. This week was their son's Spring Break, so he and Mom stayed with us for a few days mid-week. We spent time on the beach, and drove up the coast to Kobuleti to explore marshland with new friends from South Africa. These fellow homeschoolers are the most free spirits we have ever met. All of the kids had a marvelous time running barefoot, climbing trees, and tromping through the mud. The girls are impressively social - the oldest is quiet and thoughtfully inquisitive, and the youngest has a large love of life; Mom presents her uncommon worldview as obvious facts (we found plenty of things we agree on, and many that we don't 🙂). We admire their confidence.

Not-so-Bizarre Bazaar

Our new friends recommended a spot at the Batumi Bazaar where we could find local herbs, so Richard and I went on another grocery date. Mostly, we were just reminded that we are terrible at haggling. We would much rather be given a fair price and pay it. We found the first spinach and basil I've seen in Georgia 🎉, but we are certain we paid more for them than we should have. The most un-Utah thing we found was chicken with the feet. You know the giant blue barrels Utahns use for water storage? They use them here for pickling, then display them in the large jars pictured below. Not pictured: supposed-to-be-gluten-free-but-wasn't Churchkhela. Churchkhela is one of Georgia's best-known foods (it was even featured on The Amazing Race: Season 28, Episode 7). They string walnuts or hazelnuts (like American's used to do with popcorn for Christmas Trees), and then dip them into a fruit puree. The often thicken the puree with wheat, but we'd heard that it is sometimes made with cornmeal. That is what this was supposed to be. Richard specifically explained my gluten allergy, and the woman seemed to understand (she even expressed her condolences and sympathized with how difficult that would be - especially in Georgia). She assured Richard there was not gluten in it...Apparently it was contaminated, because I didn't even make it home before 🤢🤮😭.

Cooking with the Pro

After being glutened, I usually rest for 24 hours to allow my body to focus all energy on fighting inflammation. But I felt miraculously improved by Saturday morning, and we had a big-deal youth activity planned that I felt bad leaving Richard to run on his own, so I decided to go. Our friend, Dimitri, is a professional chef who, unfortunately, is having to figure out a new way to make a living because 3 different restaurants here have taken advantage of the new law against Russians working by hiring him and then, after he's worked for the first month, refusing to pay him. His dream is to open a restaurant of his own in Albuquerque (because of a show called "Breaking Bad"? 😄). Dimitri is such a great guy. He attends church every week, and always asks what he can do to help. He goes out of his way to say goodbye to everyone before he leaves. He is awesome. Dimitri taught us how to make Draniki (Potato Pancakes), and Ukha (Fish Soup). The whole family loved the Draniki enough that we've already made it again. Dimitri was kind enough to teach us how to make it the traditional way, without the flour short-cut - so they were gluten-free for me. He also thought the Fish Soup was gluten-free, but Richard found that the bouillon warned it may contain traces of gluten and, especially because of the night before, I opted not to risk it. But Richard and Miss loved it! 

We had record numbers at our activity! One of our Russian investigating families, and our new Kobuleti friends came. One of our new sets of missionaries also stuck around to help translate for us. Our debrief helped us to recognize the many people and processes that contribute to the food that we eat, and the importance of expressing gratitude to and for them; we also related how small ingredients (like salt) make a big difference to how great things are brought to pass through small and simple things. 

Beautiful Growth

We had record numbers attend our Branch this week: over 60 between Batumi and Kutaisi! The last time we couldn't fit in the chapel, Richard was being sustained as Branch President, so we had the Mission Presidency and their wives in attendance. This week, we were overflowing because of investigating friends! Our missionaries are doing an amazing job of finding and teaching, our members are doing an amazing job of welcoming and fellowshipping, and our investigators are just amazing people. It is exciting (and exhausting) to meet so many new people each week. Richard and I are currently brainstorming what we can do to help ensure a seat for everyone until a larger building can be secured. We don't want people to stop coming, or for our missionaries to slow down finding, simply because they do not feel like there is enough room. (And our kids are not thrilled that, when we run out of chairs, they are expected to squish two to one chair). Realizing that I need to be hoping for a new building before our time here ends, I am feeling a little melancholy about leaving this location. I snapped this picture of Kroc tracing on the window before the meeting filled in. I will miss the magic of our sunny chapel.
 

A Good Excuse for a Daddy-Daughter Date

Miss had one of the tiny screws of her glasses work its way out this week, so she and Richard took a trip to the city for repairs. Gratefully, the process was simple and they decided to turn it into a date night. They found a tiny cafe in a home, where the artwork is drawn with sharpies, and they have Jenga to play with while you wait. 

Bubbles! and Oil

You may notice how oily Miss' hair is. No one has ever experienced an itchy scalp before. Ever. But, in the last two weeks, Bob, and now Miss, are constantly scratching their heads. They aren't red, flakey or buggy. They look perfectly healthy. We are using the same products we have been using the entire time we've been in Georgia. I suspect it must be related to our climate/environment, but everything I've found online says that itchy scalp in a humid climate becomes an issue when it is warm. It is not warm here yet - which makes me even more concerned that the problem is only going to get worse. (Let me know if you have any experience/suggestions). Suspecting that it may be fungal overgrowth, we are mixing a couple of drops of Tea Tree Oil with Olive Oil every night to treat. (and then they only wash their hair if we need to be somewhere). I only brought a small bottle of oil, so I am praying that it will be sufficient. I was very prayerful about what medicine cabinet items to bring with us and, thus far, I have been amazed and grateful that I have had just what we've needed for medical needs - for our family or for others. I am choosing to trust that will continue to be true.