September 29. 2014

 

Hello Everyone, 

It's been pouring rain for the past two days and we love it! It's really needed here and we're so grateful for it.

We are in for another interesting week of celebration by the Turks! According to Turkish tradition, the Feast of the Sacrifice commemorates Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael to show his faithfulness to Allah. You can find essentially the same story in the Old Testament where Abraham was willing to kill his son Isaac, until an angels stops him. Cattle, sheep and goats are sold by farmers to communities as people gear themselves up for this four day festival called Kurban Bayram.  

Animals are to be sacrificed according to Islamic rules and traditions. Literally these animals are sacrificed in the streets (mostly in the older sections of town), and the meat is cooked and taken to the poor and needy. I'm glad the sacrificed animal's meat serves a good purpose in the end, to feed the hungry, and I am also grateful we do not practice animal sacrifice any more. Our sacrifice is the sacrifice of our wills, as we give them over to the Savior while we partake of the sacrament each Sunday. We turn our lives and our wills over to Him who can shape our earthly/worldly ways and trade them for Christ-like ways.  

Missionary work is simply incredible! It is so great to see someone realize for the first time that there is a better way to live if we choose to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe that when an investigator really wants to know the truth, the Spirit helps guide their questions. It's as though the Spirit is leading them to understand what they've wanted to know all their lives, and they now finally have a chance to hear the answer. One of the missionaries said, "one woman's series of questions were so inspired. They helped her understand the power of God, and if He is the one that created all, then He has the power to change our nature as well. It was such a "light bulb" moment". The shaping and molding of our lives feels like major renovation at times, but with Heavenly Father as the architect we are assured the end result will be a glorious creation!

 

We are aware of the political problems going on around us and our hearts go out to all those involved. We pray that the hearts of our enemies will be softened and that they will have the courage to step away from the old traditions of their fathers and choose to live in peace. We bring a message of peace and hope to the world and wish everyone could hear it and feel it. It would be such a tragedy to destroy the beauty of this country because people can’t love one another. This is a picture from the Ferry on the Bosphorus Straights, taken on our way to our Branch President’s home for Family Home Evening a couple of weeks ago,…(not his home)J  

There is so much needless suffering on this beautiful earth and it has been since the beginning of time, and apparently will be so as long as humans live on this earth, until the Savior comes again. I'm so incredibly grateful for the peace of mind that the knowledge of the Savior and his Atonement offers. The Savior's love is real and the Atonement is real,...they are the real and true means by which we can repent and live our lives in a better, more humble and loving way each day.

 We had another Zone Conference with our fellow Senior Couples and younger Elders, with President and Sister Wilstead,...we love these people!We love hearing from you and so grateful for your love and support. You are in our prayers and we hope you know of our love for each of you.

Sister and Elder Ercanbrack

Elder E post August

Hello Everyone,

 

I thought I would take a few minutes and let you know what is happening in Istanbul.

Life here is never boring, it is interesting when you consider how much there is to learn

and how little time we really have to do it in. 

We have recently finished Ramadan, (the Muslim month of fasting during the day), at the end of

Ramadan is a festival that lasts for 4 days, called Bayram. The first Bayram is a sugar festival.

They celebrate the end of Ramadan by eating and giving sugar treats to friends, and relatives,

much like Halloween, but without the masks and commercialism. Nancy and I learned this first hand.

The final day of Ramadan we were at the spice market in Eminönü, and a big truck pulls into the vendor

area and begins to unload big gunny sacks. The truck was loaded with these gunny sacks at least six feet high. I watch as they carried these sack to flat bins and opened them revealing bright colored individually wrapped candy wrappers. As I watched to see what these sacks were full of, we just about got run over by all the women coming to purchase the delights of the sacks. That is when we realized the contents were candy. Not just any candy, it was chocolate covered candies. The wrappings are in bright colors, orange, red, purple, lime colored. I can't name them all. They are really quite pretty to look at. The Candy is only available once a year at the end of Ramadan, and there must have been a thousand women jostling for a big bags of these candies. We later found this same candy piled quite high at the Migros shopping market where we buy most of our food. We shop about every three days, so by the third day it was all gone.

Now we are going to have the second Bayram. This festival comes 40 days or so after Ramadan, and is in remembrance of the sacrifice Abraham made with Isaac. (the Muslim believe that it was not Isaac who was to be sacrificed, but Ismael). This brings everything to a halt in Istanbul, all shops, grocery stores, tourist shops and venues, and the metro slows to only one bus per hour, and this continues for four days. We will buy our groceries in advance knowing this. During the sugar festival things got a little lean in the Ercanbrack home because we did not know everything would be closed for 4 days.

This second Bayram brings live animals into the city, and into neighborhoods. Then they slaughter them in the streets. We are told that the gutters run pretty thick with the blood of all the animals killed. Then they give away the meat to the poor and needy, and to the old people who don't eat very much meat. It has been suggested to us to avoid certain neighborhoods during this period. I can just imagine every household in some of these devout Muslims will be slaughtering a sheep or cow. This could be an interesting week. It begins September 4-7th.

On the weather side of things, we are seeing a little cooler weather now. In July it was very hot and humid. The heat is ok for me, but the humidity is like having your very own sweat maker that is not only invisible but never goes away.

I walk from our apartment to the church, takes about 12 minutes, and I am wet, I mean very wet. Like I have been sprayed with the hose. I get a pile of paper towels and begin dabbing my shirt and head to absorb the water. I go througha pile of towels and then stand in front of the air conditioner until I am getting chilly, then resort to more dabbing until

my thermostat lowers. This has pretty much become a ritual for me. I see some of the Elders doing a similar thing, but they don't seem to be affected quite as much as I am.  Nancy has even helped me dab the back of my shirt, to catch the stream running down my back, bless her for that. She looks at me and says you are wet. Something's' in life just have to be endured.

We are getting into the comfort zone of our mission I would say. We have multiple callings, each of us, and we seem to have had our capacities to do these callings expanded. We both spoke in church Sunday on topics requested from the Branch President. Nancy's topic was "How to prepare and give a talk in Church", mine was "how to bear Testimony in a Testimony meeting". Very basic, but very informative for these members who have never been in a fully working Ward or Branch of the Church. It is very instructional to me to see the curious nature of new members of the Church. They have

minds like sponges, they absorb the details of talks and conversation in the Gospel with amazing accuracy. The Turkish people are bright and intelligent and engaging. They are a joy to be with. 

We do have a mailing address that is we can receive mail. At least we have received some letters and packages from

the USA. It is: Yasli Terry Ercanbrack or Kiz Kardes Nancy Ercanbrack

                          Levent Mah. 4, Gazateciler Sitesi

                          Ülgen Sokak, B8 Blok  No. 8/6

                          Beşıktaş,  Istanbul   34330

                           Turkey

Thanks for all your prayers and support, and all that you are in your lives.

We are always thinking of and thanking our Father for you.

 

 

Elder Ercanbrack

Hello From Istanbul August

Aug. 4, 2014

Hello Everyone! 

The Elders, and Elder Ercanbrack and I traveled by bus for about 1 ½ hours last week to visit a member whom we had not met.  She was born in Iran and moved to Turkey when she was about 10 years old. She said she was hesitant to tell her family she had been baptized, because if she went back to Iran and someone found out she was a Christian she could potentially be beheaded in short order. She told us not to say anything about the church until she had a chance to see how her niece and nephew-in-law reacted to us as Christians. Happy to say we all got along great,…in fact our friend told them she had been baptized and they took it very well.  They wanted to know more about us, and of course we were happy to teach them. They were very interested in the concept of a loving Heavenly Father who is always willing to forgive and accept us as His children. They were interested in our belief in life after death, so we taught them about the Plan of Salvation. They had never heard anything like it. It was great to give them truths that could potential change their lives. A Turkish friend of our friend came by during the discussion, and was interested in what we were teaching.  At one point we had two discussions going on simultaneously, one from English to Turkish to Farsi, and one from Turkish to Turkish. Exciting work! By the way, our friend is a great cook and so is her niece. We had the most incredible Iranian/Turkish meal with them. I am collecting recipes to cook for you all when we come home! 

The past couple of weeks have been busy with wonderful events. The Istanbul Branch members (many of us from Utah), and our friends traveled to the Asian side of Istanbul, to Özgürlük Park to celebrate the Utah, July 24th Pioneer Day.  In honor of the Pioneer Trek we walked around the park for a couple of miles and had great conversations with our friends. Some who attended were new to the whole concept of Mormonism, and we had an opportunity to share our knowledge and experience with them. Some new and lasting friendships were forged. We also played some games our Prophet Joseph Smith was known to play. We played a very fast moving game called “Fox and Geese” in which anyone could get tagged to be the Fox chasing geese. There was a lot of laughter, fast running and tagging one another. Honestly, you can have so much fun with those games.    

For the program, Elder Schmidt gave a wonderful tribute the first group of Mormons who entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847 with Brigham Young. He then focused his talk on one of the very first notable pioneers, the Apostle Paul, who lived in Ephesus in Turkey, and worked with the congregation organizing missionary activity and converting many. Ephesus was one of the seven cities addressed in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 2:1–7), indicating that the church at Ephesus was strong. I love this area and it’s incredibly rich history. The people of Turkey are fascinated to hear that our church is the very church Jesus established when he was alive, and has been restored to the earth with the writings in the Book of Mormon.  

Elder Ercanbrack and I are traveling to Ankara and Adana this week so Elder E. can do church audits. The new “fast train” opened a week ago, traveling from Istanbul to Ankara, so we are going to travel by train on Wednesday. Adana is very close to Tarsus so we thought we would spend a day there after the audits are complete.  

The people studying the Gospel as investigators, are learning quickly, feeling the Spirit and expressing their gratitude for having missionaries in their part of the world. One fellow is a PhD in molecular biology and said he was an atheist. He came to church and became interested in the Book of Mormon. He kept coming back and was baptized. When the Spirit touches one’s heart it’s impossible to ignore. The truth wakes people up in the most interesting ways. I have such a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Jesus is truly the Christ, the literal Son of God, and our Elder Brother and Redeemer. He loves us more than we can imagine and has literally given everything he has for us to return and live with him again. I wish everyone had the joy I feel because of this knowledge.  

Today is P-Day so we’re off to gets groceries, etc.  

Have a wonderful week, and know we love you!

 

“I could find no peace of mind unless I was playing sports or in a gym”, were the words of a recent convert from France who is an athlete working in Turkey. He bore his testimony today, and said he loves reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church, because he finds a very deep peace in doing both of those things. He said those activities quiet his mind and he loves and appreciates it so much. In this world of turmoil, it is great to have a place where we can find peace that is everlasting if we seek it earnestly.  He spoke in French, and one of the members translated from French to English, and a Turkish man who speaks English and Turkish then translated into Turkish for the Turkish members.  Everyone got to hear his wonderful testimony of Joseph Smith and the restoration. Our newest member, the attorney I told you about earlier, was baptized yesterday! She too bore her testimony in which she expressed profound gratitude for finding the missionaries and learning what she is learning. It is so wonderful to hear and feel the testimonies of these new members. There is such a profound sense of gratitude and enthusiasm with people when we come together in this work.

We have been told that it is not uncommon for Missionaries to have questions about the very gospel we are teaching when we hear so much opposition to the message we are giving. It has been so interesting to learn from a book written by Bruce R. McConkie called “The New Articles of Faith”. Teachings from this book were a main focus of our mission conference with President Lawrence, our Area Authority, last week.  It explains so many things regarding our pre-existence, our lineage, and our ability to become converted into the House of Israel…interesting concept. I was able to download it from Amazon, and I highly recommend it. I feel as though I’m learning doctrine in a new light, and I so appreciate the insights and confirmation of the truth. This is such exciting work and every aspect of it has depths one could never grasp in this life time. Thank heaven for eternal progression! My batteries are recharged and I am grateful for technology that allows almost instant access to the volumes of information that teach me so much! If you read this book I would love to hear your thoughts! 

Elder Ercanbrack and I are team teaching Gospel Doctrine, and it’s my turn to teach this Sunday. This mission is requiring calling on many skills that keep us on our toes. Elder Ercanbrack taught last Sunday and did a great job and had many compliments on his lesson. I’m so proud of him! 

Well, I did play the piano in Sacrament Meeting and it was O.K.  I know I was being helped because I only made a few mistakes and I made it through without passing out with anxiety! I was asked to play next week so maybe that’s a good thing. If you’ve taken piano lessons, keep practicing! You never know when you’ll need to recall those skillsJ. 

We went shopping for steaks last week, and the price of a T-bone at the market is 45TL (Turkish Lira) which is about  $23.00 for one steak!! So, we will not be having steak until we get back to our great home land. My mouth waters to think of barbecuing steak on the deck and enjoying it so much. Next time you eat a steak, enjoy it for us! We heard the price of meat in the US has gone up 30%. Is that right? 

Well, have a wonderful week and know we love and miss you. You are in our prayers daily!!

Sister and Elder Ercanbrack

This has been a fantastic two weeks! A woman who introduced herself to the Elders (unheard of) on the subway is being baptized this Saturday. She is an attorney who is looking for a better life, and has been on line researching the church. She stopped smoking completely within 4 days of learning of the Word of Wisdom. She asked me to speak at her baptism so that will be a great opportunity to feel the Spirit.

 

Also, we just got home from teaching our tutor whom I have told you about. Tonight he agreed to be baptized!! He said he feels so peaceful when he reads the Book of Mormon. He said he is so surprised he is feeling this way about a religion. He said he wasn’t really looking for something new when he agreed to take the lessons. He became familiar with the Elders from teaching us at the Branch and liked them. He had a little curiosity about us agreed to listen. The feelings he felt were so peaceful he decided to continue to let us teach him. The first night we met with him he agreed to say his first prayer ever and he gave two prayers during the lesson!! As a result of his two prayers he has found a job and he also told us that for the first time in seven years his family did not struggle with paying the mortgage this month.

Prayer is so powerful and the Lord has poured out sweet blessings on this young man. He said a prayer this evening and it was just thanking Heavenly Father for all he has,…just a prayer of gratitude in which he told the Lord “thank you and I don’t need anything, I just want to say thank you”. He is so sweet and sincere!

 

We have the unique opportunity here to talk to Muslims and try to understand their culture and religion. Many questions come up when they find we are representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. All of the missionaries have been asked to get a “clean copy” (not previously marked) of the Book of Mormon, and begin reading with the intention to be able to respond to concerns from these wonderful people. If you have the inclination to read the Book of Mormon with new eyes, you may want to get a new, inexpensive copy of the Book of Mormon and begin reading. It is a powerful experience. I’ve learned things I had not known before, and I feel the truthfulness of that book in a feeling of confidence and peace as I read!

 

Two of our Elders from Ankara and two from Istanbul went home last week and we received 4 new ones. One is an Elder Clark from Woodland Hills who will be in Ankara! I have not met him but I look forward to it. We don’t recognize his name. Another of the Elders came in from Bulgaria and is scrambling to pick up Turkish in a hurry. For about a day or two there will be someone who doesn’t know as much Turkish as Elder Ercanbrack and me!!  Oh yes, Terry and I have been asked to teach Gospel Doctrine, and I’m playing the piano this Saturday for the baptism and for Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. I’m so serious when I ask you to say prayers for me!

 

We hope all the Fathers had a great Father’s day.  Skyping on Sunday was so much fun!

Take care of your wonderful selves and keep us posted on what you are up to.

 

Love,

Sister and Elder Ercanbrack

It’s getting really hot and humid here! We’re learning to sweat with dignity and pretend we’re not dripping wet when we arrive somewhere! Luckily everyone is in the same condition!

I forgot to tell about security at the airport coming home from Ankara the other day. Elder Ercanbrack was stopped by security going into the airport because there was something suspicious in our computer bag. I had put six Swiss army knives in our bag for the Elder’s emergency packs to bring home to Istanbul and forgot they were there. There were six of us traveling and when security saw six knives and six people they dispatched a couple of other officers to stand near us until they could figure out what we were doing. Luckily they understood that it was a mistake to have put them there, and let us put them in our large luggage to be checked and let us through. What a relief! We had 4 youth with us and would have regretted having to tell their parents they were in holding cell in Ankara!

Elder Rasband and President Bennette  from Moscow and their wives visited Istanbul last Thursday. We were in 3 different meetings with them and got the solid message that the Lord is hastening his work, and we need to keep up with the Savior. Family History is a strong focus and the youth need to teach the older members how to do it! Keeping ourselves clean and worthy to receive inspiration and do our best in whatever calling we have is another focus. I’m so grateful to have felt their support and know this is the Lord’s work on the earth and the power of the Priesthood is alive and well and working in changing people’s lives for the better.

We cleaned the church for a baptism this weekend,…first one since we arrived. We are so happy to share this wonderful moment with this humble French man who is working in Istanbul. He said he has been searching for truth for many years, in many different belief systems and churches, and finally found the true restored gospel of Jesus Christ on earth today. It’s wonderful to think the Lord has put the Priesthood back on earth to prepare for His Second Coming and let us have the opportunity to work out our salvation. I’m so grateful.

Our Daughter-in-law Anna, and our two grandchildren visited us this week from Finland! It was so fun to be with them and to be introduced to our 8 month old grandson. They are all precious and beautiful and we miss seeing them. We’re planning to go to Finland at the end of our mission to see them which is far too long away! I’ve attached a photo and hope you can see it.

The BYU Chamber Orchestra performed at one of the Universities here in Istanbul last week. They were absolutely wonderful. 47 young students they played with such a big sound you could have closed your eyes and thought you were at Symphony Hall with a full orchestra. We took our tutor Ilkar and his girlfriend Chanel who have been asking questions about why we don’t smoke, drink alcohol, coffee or tea, and other questions about the church. The word Elder in Turksih is “yaşlı” and literally means “Old Man”. When the young Elders introduced themselves to Ilkar as Elder So and So, he laughed out loud thinking they were kidding him. He is impressed that these young “shinny” men would spend two years of their lives here in Turkey teaching about Jesus.  Ilkar and his girlfriend have been coming to activities and seem to really like the members.  Ilkar also brought a friend of his to a gathering after church last Sunday. His friend said I reminded him of Princess Diana! I said, “Gözlerinizi arkadaş kontrol olması gerekir” which means “You need to have your eyes checked my friend”!!! Funny things happen here.

We love you and think of you often! Take care of yourselves and let us know how things are going for you.

We love pictures!

Love,

Sister and Elder Ercanbrack

It is almost shocking to realize it’s May! The time is seriously flying by. The weather has been very rainy and everything is getting so green and beautiful.

We have good news! A businessman from Iraq was walking past the church last month and felt a strong prompting to come in. He was greeted warmly and came back the next week. The missionaries have been teaching him and he is going to be baptized in two weeks! He is such a good man and feels the spirit so strongly. We have one more Nigerian man who is scheduled to be baptized the end of May, so this will be a great month for baptisms! We have two missionaries going home in June and two more coming in July. We also have a Senior couple coming in July. We are so excited to not be the newbies in Istanbul, and to help those coming in get settled.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! We had a lovely Mother’s day yesterday. Elder Ercanbrack gave a great talk on Mothers, and how this is the day to apologize to your mothers for all the worry and frustration you caused them as teenagers. There were people from all over the world in the congregation and everyone laughed at that. I guess we really are not so different no matter our upbringing! The missionaries were so excited to call their mothers and I could just picture my nephews on the phone with my sisters. How fun!!

We are sponsoring Youth Conference this weekend in Ankara and have been planning a great weekend for the Youth. We have some great speakers and activities planned. I love being with the teenagers. Their energy and enthusiasm is great. These are some of the brightest youth I have met, and their accomplishments so far in life are impressive! They all speak Turkish and are leaders in their schools. They report how their association with the gospel has helped them with their relationships and other activities in life.

I have two sisters having birthdays this month. Happy Birthday to my dear sisters, how I love you good women! Happy Birthday to my other relatives and friends with birthdays in May!

If you have the opportunity to take a vacation soon, you should consider Istanbul. Tourists love it here, and we have visitors every weekend from all over the world stopping in. This is an amazing place filled with fascinating history and sites you would love to see AND you will have us to show you around (for a few hours at least) and a place to stay!

We love you and miss you!

Sister Ercanbrack and (Elder Ercanbrack)

Occasıonally Senior couples have the opportunity to take a few days to site see around the mission area. We visited Cappadocia which is in the Anatolian Region of Turkey last week and saw some amazing things. The town formerly known as Ikonium became one of the greatest Christian communities of its time under the Apostle Paul and Barnabas.

People lived in these dwellings until Turkey and Greece made a trade of 1,500,000 Greeks for about 500,000 Turks in 1923. People lived in these dwellings carved into the mountains as recently as 1985 when they were condemned. What a site! We also visited the underground city in Derinkuyu near Cappadoccia where Hittite people lived to escape persecution of Roman and Bysantine invaders. Frescos are painted on the walls and some have been quite well preserved. This underground city extends 14 stories beneath the earth! We stayed in a Cave Hotel and literally slept in a cave that had electricity (barely), but the temperature was quite pleasant.  We also saw the Whirling Dervishes perform their type of meditation in which they twirl effortlessly for quite a long period of time. It was a beautiful site!  We hiked all over the area and had a great time! If you get a chance to visit this area, you will be amazed.

We’ve had some great experiences teaching the Gospel with the Missionaries. Their enthusiasm is so contagious! They are so well versed in the scriptures and they speak the language so well. These young men impress me so much. We traveled to Anakara for Zone Conference last week and stayed in the apartment where my sister Jean and her husband Wayne lived. It is so much fun to meet people who know my family and think so much of them. We learned some wonderful things that helped put things in perspective regarding where our priorities in life should be. I left with such a great feeling of peace and purpose for which I am extremely grateful.

Our language tutor’s name is Ilkar. He is a good teacher and is “holding our feet to the fire”! We are learning so much so quickly which is good.  Now if we could just remember what we are learning that would be great!

We love hearing from home and how things are going. We receive new letters from our old ward in Bountiful and from our Woodland Hills Ward, so we feel kept somewhat up to date on our friends. Keep them coming and any other emails with updates. We love to hear from all of you!

April in Istanbul

Hello Hello!
We had an International evening of food last Friday evening where everyone brought a dish from their country of origin. We ate well! We had a program after dinner where a man (whose name is Knowledge), from Nigeria, danced a native dance and told a story through his actions and motions. He also told a couple of jokes that were more funny in the way he told them than were the contents of the jokes. It wouldn't be funny to you if I told them to you, but it was pretty hilarious coming from him in his broken English! He laughed at himself and it was so fun and entertaining. We had 10 non-members with us and it was such fun!

This is an exciting place to be, doing what we're doing! Every day is filled with Gospel messages and the sublime love of Jesus Christ. We are either talking, reading, listening or studying about that concept all day long. As you all know, that message if lived and understood, is the change that is needed in the world. I was overwhelmed with peace and quiet joy as I listened to conference. The gratitude I felt for these wonderful, humble men and women as they delivered their messages was heart felt. It made me happy to know you were listening and learning also.

My love for family and friends is deepening. Relationships are the very fabric of our learning process aren't they? They teach us more about living a Christ like way of life (except our own physical illnesses), than anything I am aware of. I know I have much to do to understand these principles and to live them rightly. Being with my companion/husband, 24/7 is a classroom of it's own and I'm grateful he is a good man!

The weather is getting warmer and the plants outside are window are growing so tall! The Lord knew I loved plants and put us in an area with trees and shrubs, as opposed to the buildings and graffiti that is not far away from where we live. I'm attaching a picture of the trees outside our window. I love the view!

Please, please take Elder Ballard's suggestion and obtain a copy of Preach My Gospel. If I had to be stranded on a desert island I would want the scriptures and that book with me. It's full of truths and how to apply them. We have heard some powerful blessings that have strengthened my faith and we've seen the good and blessed results of living close to the Spirit. How can I tell you more how much I love the Savior and his atonement? The Gospel contains abundant truths on so many levels, and I feel it a privilege to have the focus of my life be towards gaining a greater understanding of it.

Take care of yourselves and know how much we love you,
Sister Ercanbrack and (Elder Ercanbrack who read this and agrees:))

Hi Everyone!

Terry is getting to be quite the judge of quality of the Islamic call to prayer called the Adhan, here in Istanbul. Along with the prayer sounds, we hear dogs throughout the area howling as the prayer begins! We thought perhaps the prayers were recordings but as we have listened to these calls 5 times per day, we realize they are sung by different people.  Terry has his favorites and has decided that the early morning 5:30 prayer is a newer man that is coming up in the ranks, and the evening prayer is the most accomplished prayer. We are becoming accustomed to the prayers and they remind us to pray as well!

We hope you all got a chance to see and listen to Conference this weekend. Our Branch President is one of the Turkish interpreters and is SLC this week. We will have a showing of conference at the Branch next Sunday.

The Muslim families are so much lıke the Mormon families it’s quite amazing! They are very conservative, family oriented, humble and kind. Of course Mormons are not the only ones who behave in this way but we are so happy to see how important families are over here. Islam and Mormonism are very very similar in so many ways. The good people who live their religion are not the ones we hear about on the news. Don’t believe everything you hear about Islamic people, you would seriously love and care for them as you do your neighbors at home. As you probably know alcoholic drinks are not allowed in the Islamic faith, and I have never seen a person drinking alcohol over here.

Its election time over here and the assembly of people on the streets has been impressive. Police have been our breaking up the groups of political demonstrators as they walk in the streets and stop traffic. The prime minister has blocked Youtube and Twitter access because some negative political messages were posted about him, and people are very upset.  I was brushing up on my piano on Youtube and have been “cut off”! It feels very strange to not have the freedom of access to communication as we did in the USA.

We met a young man who works at one of the local restaurants where we like to have lunch and he has agreed to teach us Turkish. Hopefully he can make more sense of the language for us!

Thanks for you emails and words on Facebook. It is so wonderful to know you are alive and well!

The Gospel is so vital and so important to study and I am eternally grateful for the Book of Mormon! Get your hands on a copy and read it with a prayer in your heart to know of the truthfulness of it.

You are in our prayers and we love you all!

Elder and Sister Ercanbrack

Hello Everyone!

We were studying Turkish today and decided if we could think upside down and backwards we could better understand the way sentences are constructed here! Slowly but surely it is coming! The sun is shining and the pollen is flying, but the Magnolia trees smell wonderful along the street we walk every day. People have wonderful little gardens, and the area is kept very clean by people whose job it is to sweep the sidewalks and cobble stones. The taste of décor here reminds us of the styles that were popular in the 60’s in the USA. We live near two huge malls located about a 20 min. walk from our place. The area we live in is called Levent, and our Turkish dictionary says it means “Good looking, strapping young men” from the marines in the Ottoman military called Leventler. Anyway,…that’s a little insight into our surroundings.

Saturday evening we took the Metrobus to an area about 30 min. from home, with the Elders to a home of a couple and their two children. After getting off the bus and walking for about 15 min., we came to a very busy area with shops selling everything you can imagine. Suddenly we stopped between a couple of shops, knocked on an old battered steel door, and one of the Elders called on the phone to let the family know we were there. After the buzzer rang, we climbed two flights of steep stone stairs and we went into their apartment.  The apt. was so small that we all sat on two small couches, knee to knee. It was kind of uncomfortable for a few minutes! The Elders and the wife (husband could not be home in time) spoke Turkish and interpreted for us. These are humble people who are so honest and genuine in their love for the Savior. We are working on getting a fridge for these people because they have a 3 year old and a 4 month old baby, and had to leave their fridge at their old apartment. The Land Lord at their old apt. kept their fridge as they couldn’t pay their rent. We don’t always realize the blessings we have with our homes and surroundings. We’re praying that the husband can find a job and will be able to move his family to a nicer place.

It has been an exciting week with Zone Conference and being able to meet the Elders from Ankara and the Assistants to the President from Bulgaria. We had lunch with President and Sister Wilstead (our Mission President and his wife), who are genuinely some of the nicest hardest working people we know. Their love for the Missionaries and this work is so contagious and humbling. Pres. And Sister Wilstead taught the youth yesterday. They can reach people of any age with their knowledge of the Gospel and their life experience. The youth here are outstanding people who have such great knowledge of the Gospel who are bright, hardworking, fun loving, and who are teaching us about their love for the Savior and the Atonement.

It’s so fun to hear how everyone is doing at home. We truly love to see pictures of the new babies (thanks Anna, and congratulations Mallory and Jason!) and hearing about what everyone is up to.  

Love you all,

Sister Ercanbrack (and Elder Ercanbrack)

Remember the Elder with the old violin that needed a new E string? Well, we held a Music Fireside last evening where Elder Dougherty played his violin with the new E string, and it was wonderful! He is such a sweet and humble young man. He played “Oh How Lovely Was the Morning” as we watched the video “The First Vision” on a TV screen (no sound).   It was so touching to see him play the old violin that the other Elders had purchased for him for $50.00. A member from Nigeria sang “I Need Thee Every Hour” in his broken English. It was so beautiful. I had to cry a little and just appreciate the simplicity with which the Spirit can touch our lives. I sat next to an investigator who is blind. He seemed to enjoy the music and seemed very interested in the Elder’s talks. These Elders are incredible! The Spirit is so strong in our meetings. My testimony is being strengthened greatly!

Life in our apartment has taken a little getting accustomed to. The bed we’re sleeping on has no springs or foundation. We found some boards and placed them under the mattress, but it does not support our heads. We find our shoulders and heads on a downward angle every morning. We’re thinking about buying another bed! Please remember to be grateful for what you have and the simple comforts of home! Our oven sits on top of the counter top (kind of adult “Easy Bake Oven” style), in the kitchen and can bake one sheet of cookies at a time. We are grateful we can bake and the Elders have enjoyed the cinnamon rolls I have made for them. As Jean knows, we have to substitute ingredients for those we can by in the States. I made brown sugar the other day by pouring molasses over white sugar and letting it soak in. It worked!

We have a neighbor who lives two floors below us, and we have exchanged “good mornings’” with her a couple of times. She is an architect and very friendly. The Elders came to dinner last Wednesday and ran into her as they were leaving the building. Of course they stopped and introduced themselves, and told her they had had dinner with us.  She told them she was interested in learning English and they relayed the message to me. I went down stairs to talk to her this afternoon, and now she has my phone number and said she would call me. Perhaps she can teach me Turkish while I help her with English. We’ll see where this goes.

I just found out I will be playing the piano for Sacrament Meeting this summer!!! Those are exclamation points of fear!!! Our piano player, Sister Bauer, is going home in June, and the other piano players will be on vacation in Utah. Are you laughing yet?? I am practicing every day at the branch and studying music theory on line to try to remember what I learned as a child.  Please pray for me!

We hope everyone is doing well at home. Of course we miss you, but know we are in the right place doing the right thing. It’s a great feeling!

Thanks for the emails and pictures, they keep us going!

Love lots,

Elder and Sister Ercanbrack

It's incredibly rainy today for P day!  We got splashed on few times but luckily we had on P day clothes so nothing nice got wet and they're now hanging up to dry. One of our Elders, Elder Dougherty, plays the violin. Two of the Elders in another area found a violin for $20 and bought it for him. It needed an E string and some rosin so we went out today to find those things. We met the nicest woman at the music store from Lybia, who speaks a little English. We told her we were volunteers (can't say missionary), for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and she said "that is so nice, my  friend's father does the same thing in Syria"! We thought, "hey someone friendly to Christians"!! So, we thought we would think of something else to buy for the little violin, and take the Elders to the store and introduce them. You never know who your next contact will be!
We've been studying the language every day and slowly being able to say things that people can understand. I've never had so many goofy facial expressions returned for my attempts at a word/phrase in Turkish. People have the funniest ways of telling you by their facial expressions that they don't have a clue what you are asking!!
We are being able to contribute a little more to our Branch by being called to be the Sunday School Pres. and Secretary. We are also the new building coordinators! So that, plus YM and YW Pres., we're learning how the Branch operates! Our Branch President, Pres. Cakir has been extremely helpful to us in so many ways. We heard we would be frustrated by him, but I can say we have not seen that at all. Maybe he turned over a new leaf!
I've included some pictures and the first picture is in the Relief Society room where we have cookie night each second Sunday of the month. The Elders behind us are so wonderful! Seriously, they are amazing as I'm sure all Elders are who are that committed. Cari, the Elder behind me is Elder Johnson (the taller one, third from the left). Jean, you'll recognize the Bauers!
We love this mission! We're learning so much about Muslims and their need for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is absolutely the greatest work on earth and wherever teaching is being done, people are finally being taught the truth. Thanks for your faith and prayers.
We think of you all often and love you so much!
Elder and Sister Ercanbrack

Hello Everyone!

We were dodging traffic last night as we left a discussion at a member’s home in an area about 1 hour from our apartment. We had taken buses to get to the member’s home and it was about 8:30 p.m. and dark. We needed to grab a cab to get the Elders home by 9:30, and Elder Johnson took off up the street running after a cab he thought was empty. The rest of us were dodging cars similar to what you see in a movie, and I was thinking, “I don’t want to die in Turkey!” There happened to be two people in the cab and the driver told the people to get out (because he had a better fare as it would an hour to get us home), so the people got out and let us have the cab. We apologized like crazy, and they said “no problem”, they were only a block away from home.

The cab driver drove all the back roads and took us on an unnecessary tour of Istanbul that lengthened our cab ride. This kind of frustrated the Elders as they said cab drivers will do this if they can get away with it. The ride was interesting for what you can see at night, and we learned that Istanbul is one extremely large city!

Our last Sacrament meeting was very interesting as it was Fast Sunday. Those who bore their testimonies all spoke Turkish and we had President Cakir interpret. These people have such an abiding love for the Savior and Gospel. They are so appreciative of the lessons they have learned and how to apply them in their lives. It was a moving meeting. We have French, Philippino/Tagalog and Turkish languages all being interpreted during these meetings, so it makes it very interesting. The Gospel is true in all these languagesJ!

We have District meeting every Wednesday where we get together with the Elders and another mission couple. We are growing to love these people while we witness their love for the Savior and the work being done. I gave them my appreciation last week, and said I realized that they are doing work similar to what the early missionaries did in Switzerland. As you know our Grandfather Christian Kunz had a dream that two missionaries would come to his home in Bern, Switzerland and tell him of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ on earth. Of course we know that the Elders did find Grandfather Kunz and he came to America and settled Bern, Idaho, raising a family true to the Gospel. So, we call these missionaries our pioneers. Sitting in Sacrament meeting with 30 people is so different that attending church with 250-300 in our ward at home.

We are praying the Lord will bless this area and that the people here can hear the truth, and have their hearts softened to the missionaries and all of us sharing our testimonies.

We pray for you every day and hope you are finding joy in your lives.

Love to all of you,

Elder and Sister Ercanbrack

Monday Feb. 24, 2014

We met with an investigator with the Elders today. This is a 40ish y/o man who is a Karate and health instructor who is looking for something in life.
He is divorced without children and would like to start a family. We told him it's never too late! During our conversation in which the Elders translated, our investigator said; "you know Turkey IS the center of world and all religions come back to Turkey". We told him the Gospel of Jesus Christ is more than a location, that the Gospel is experienced in a person's heart. He kept talking about Turkey and what an important region of the world it is. We told him how much we enjoy living here and hope to see more sites of this fascinating place. The Turkish people are prideful just like every other race on earth. It will take time to have the Lord soften them to be able to hear what the message is really about. Our lesson was on prayer and our investigator read from the Turkish version of the B of M. It was amazing to listen to him read, see the young elders teach, and realize that the work is really going on here!
Yesterday we went to the Grand Bazaar in the old old section of Istanbul. We saw the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia and will go back to tour both of them very soon. We covered alot of territory to in order to find our way there and back to our apartment while the Bauers are still here to help us find our way around. We so appreciate the other missionaries! We were on the train coming home and I had my wallet stolen! The train was very crowded and a couple of men stopped dead in their tracks as everyone was getting off, and we all piled up behind them. I took my hand out of my pocket to keep from crashing into one man and that's when it happened. My Temple recommend and drivers license and some missionary pass along cards were in it, no credit cards, thank Heaven!!
Maybe they will benefit from the pass along cards. One can only hope and pray!!
I'm so excited about learning more and more about the Gospel and how it applies in our lives. What a great plan Heavenly Father has for us. What an enormous amount of love He has for each of us. I wish people could accept the Gospel and get on with repenting and growing closer to the Lord, letting the refinement take place and experience the joy of knowing what we know.
I hope all is well at home!
We love you all,
Sister Ercanbrack

Günıdyın dan Istanbul. Hello from Istanbul! 

Written by Elder Ercanbrack

Time is going by quickly, we are rather settled in an apartment in the Levent District
of Istanbul. It is about three quarters of a mile to the church building. Needless to say
we do a lot of walking. My pants are getting loose on me. I think it is the walking and not the diet.
The food is good but different. There is a bread sold by cart vendors on almost every street, that is
called Simit, it is round and forms a 8 inch circle, and is covered with sesame seeds, and is sort of soft
to the touch, and very tasty. We have one almost every day.

We walk most places we need to go, that is with in a mile or two of our apartment. We do take the bus
often to go to pay the water bill (Ishi, Water bill in Turkish) or the electrik (Turkish spelling, close to English), there is no system set
up in Turkey to pay the utilities by check or by internet. So one must go in person. We would go nuts if
we had to do this in the states. The banking system is cash only, no checks. So we depend on the ATM for cash
and everything is paid in Turkish Lira. Dollars are not accepted. If you try to pay with anything but TL, they will point
in the direction of the Doviz, (currency exchange), and ignore you after that. They do have a underground metro train,
that we have taken when we need to go 5 or 10 miles away from our apartment. It is very efficient, always loaded to the hilt,
and smoking is not allowed on the metro system. The other day we went to the Blue Mosque, and the Hagia Sofia, on a very crowded
train, and Sister Ercanbrack got her purse stolen. A pic pocket thief reached into her pocket and took it.
Luckily there was nothing to valuable for the thief in it. They did get some pass along cards, her drivers license, and temple recommend.

All of which can be replaced.

 

The Branch in Turkey consists of about 50 active members, and maybe 20 to 30 visitors. The visitors may or may not be members of the church. We have a lot of curious investigators, they come to church to see what we are all about, and to have cookies

on cookies Sunday, or a little food on linger longer Sunday. It is interesting to see the complexity of their traditions upon a belief

in Jesus Christ. But usually once they are converted, they are very dedicated and faithful. This Branch needs members, the

people of Turkey are very good people generally speaking, but they need to change. We pray daily that something will change them. The Elders are very active in searching out any who will listen, and they go in all directions seeking in this sprawling

city of approx. 20 million. We are their support, we occasionally feed them, help them with their lessons, and go with them to some of their appointments. All in all the work of salvation is a slow process here. We are planting seeds. We hope it falls on fertile soil.

 

Sister Ercanbrack and I have received callings in the Branch. She is the YW Pres. I am the YM Pres. and She teaches seminary,

I teach Gospel Doctrine, and also clean the church every Saturday. We have both been put in charge of the Youth Conference

for Turkey, assigned to us by the Mission President Wilstead, to take place in Ankara, the 16-19 of May. Not speaking much

Turkish, this is quite a task. Also we are busy planning a youth trip to the Freiberg Temple in April, they youth get to go annually.

 

We are very thankful for the scriptures, where would we be without them? As a missionary I have quickly come to appreciate

the written word. The scriptures have come alive for me. in the course of teaching these lessons, I am amazed at how the Lord

has prepared what is written in the scriptures for us.  The lessons for our edification and exaltation are there.

 

Time to go do a little grocery shopping, this is our preparation day, and it is raining. So I need to convince my companion that

she may need to get a little wet (where the umbrella doesn't reach).

 

Daha Sonra Görüşmek Üzere, Tanri Çok yaşa! 

 

Elder Ercanbrack

Hi Everyone!
Istanbul Turkey is an amazing place! As you can imagine, the sites and sounds are so different than we are used to. The Istanbul Branch is alive and well, and the missionaries here are so enthusiastic! These young missionaries have learned the Turkish language so well, I'm jealous but we'll keep studying!!
Terry and I talked in church last Sunday and a young man came up to us afterward and said he was searching for the right church. I was kind of excited, then he said he thought old people like us should investigate other religions. Between his broken English and our seriously limited Turkish, our conversation did not go very far, but the young missionaries took him to the next class, so hopefully his searching will come to an end soon. The missionaries brought 11 investigators to a Valentines party last Friday night, so we'll see what happens with these people. Please add the Istanbul investigators to you list of people you pray for!!
We study every day from Preach My Gospel and the scriptures. I love the Gospel so much, and my love for it absolutely increases each new day. It's so hard to believe that all day, every day is devoted to studying the Gospel and being involved in it in some way. I'm almost giddy to think that that is what my life is all about! New insights are frequent, and I feel the Lord is blessing us for wanting to share what we know. I have the feeling, when we are out walking, that I want to stop people and say; "Want to hear about something that will completely change you attitude towards life for the better?" Why didn't I want to do that at home?
Please keep working hard to study the Gospel as I know you all do. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is life itself, and to feel His love is such a sweet gift. How fortunate we are for every person who has gone before us and have left a such a vitally important legacy we can cherish!
We met a couple at the grocery store last Saturday who are from Spokane, Washington. The woman said she had worked for a podiatrist named Dr. Romney, who was a Mormon, while they lived there. Her husband works for the American Consulate here in Istanbul. We told them we were full time missionaries for the church and they were so surprised there was a branch in Istanbul! We invited them to church Sunday, but they did not come. Maybe the thought that the church is here will work on them and they will visit us one day.
My life style is seriously and completely different from home! We have to plan our shopping trips to not buy too many things, only those that will fit in a little shopping (soft suitcase type) bag on wheels. We buy a few things and pack them home and the next trip we buy a few more things and trek them home. I'm getting stronger and in better shape each day! I call on my marathon training saying,"you can do this, you're getting stronger and stronger..." and most of the time it works. We did take a Taxi home from shopping today because even Terry was pooped!
I hope everything is going well at home. I haven't started working on  my quilt yet. We're getting more settled every day, so I may pull it out soon.

I love you all and love hearing from you! Tom you made me cry with your sweet sweet pictures! BTW the internet goats need to be fed twice a day (little pigs) and we give them treats when we have alot to do on line!

Keep me posted and send pictures! 

Love you,

Nancy

Hello Everyone,
It is hard to believe Terry and I have been in the MTC for almost a week. We have learned so much from our incredible MTC Instructors who are all returned missionaries in their early 20s. These Brothers and Sisters are remarkable people with so much to share! The Lord has blessed them with powerful testimonies, and they are teaching us how to deepen our own testimonies and knowledge of the Gospel. We can't wait to begin to share what we have learned with the people in Istanbul, Turkey.

We hear an "MTC" joke every day. Today's joke is; "What is the phone number for the Garden of Eden?" Answer: "1-800-ADAM812" :)

We attended the MTC devotional Tuesday night where we sang Called To Serve with the young missionaries. The score was written by Sister Naley from the MTC Mission Presidency (wife of the first counselor who is an amazing musician). I hope I can find a copy of that rendition as it was incredibly moving and beautiful! The Spirit there was so powerful, everyone was looking around as if to say, "I can't believe how beautiful this is"!!!

We taught our first investigators yesterday and another investigator today. It was an eye opener and we learned so much about effective teaching. I have felt the spirit so intensely here and I'm so grateful for this amazing experience. 

I am missing my family and want you to know how much I love and appreciate you! You are in our prayers daily!

Love lots,
Sister Ercanbrack