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