Five years ago, Deborah and I visited Istanbul.  I was fascinated by this beautiful and strategically located city.  It has a very rich history.  It was settled by the Persians in 600 B.C. (Anatolya), conquered by the Greeks and Alexander the Great in 300 B.C. (Byzantium), conquered by the Romans and Emperor Constantine in 400 A.D. after the fall of the western Roman empire (Constantinople), and conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1400 A.D. (Istanbul).  Istanbul is literally where East meets West. The Bosphorus river divides the city in two. The west side is Europe and the east side is Asia. It is on the silk road trade route. It has been influenced by many cultures. The Church of Jesus Christ was established in what is present day Türkiye by the apostle Paul. Paul traveled through Türkiye on all four of his journeys.

In 2011, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Istanbul Association (İsa Mesih’in Son Zaman Azizler Kilisesi İstanbul Dernegi) was formed in Türkiye.  In the past we had young proselyting missionaries and senior humanitarian couples in Türkiye.  In 2018, the Church was wrongly associated with a coup attempt.  As a result, the young and senior missionaries were relocated outside of Türkiye. Although by constitution, Türkiye is a secular nation, in practice it is 95% Muslim and currently has a president who is turning the nation more towards practicing Islam.  Most people are not practicing.  The government has a strong bias against Christian churches.

The Church has six congregational units of the Church in Türkiye:  two in Istanbul, two in Ankara, one in Izmir, and one in Antalya.  The members of these units meet for worship on Sundays in rented meetinghouses.

The Church calls young missionaries to learn Turkish and Persian to teach people in Türkiye.  There are many Iranian refugees in Türkiye. Prior to last July, these missionaries were sent to Sofia, Bulgaria.  They contacted and taught people in Türkiye over the internet.  About once a month, the mission president for the Bulgaria Sofia mission would take a few of these Elders to Türkiye to conduct baptismal interviews and perform baptisms.  These Elders have the highest number of baptisms per missionary of any mission in Europe.  Last July, the Turkish and Persian speaking Elders and Sisters were relocated to Frankfurt.  Many of them live in our apartment tower.  They work in the former Area office next door contacting and teaching remotely.  We are inspired by them.

In order to import and distribute the Book of Mormon in Türkiye, it is required to obtain a “banderole” sticker from the government and attach one to each copy.  This is one of the projects I have been working on.

After the catastrophic earthquake in southern Türkiye early this year, the Church sent approximately $30,000,000 in humanitarian aid in the form of hundreds of thousands of food and personal hygiene boxes, four field hospitals, 5,000 housing units, and various other forms of aid. A senior missionary couple from Germany made many trips to Türkiye and worked with the head of AFAD in connection with these relief efforts.

The current and long-term goals of the Church in Türkiye are as follows:

1.        Obtain official legal recognition by the Turkish government.

2.        Continue providing humanitarian aid.

3.        Resume sending senior humanitarian missionaries and young proselyting missionaries to Türkiye.

4.        Import religious books, sacred religious garments, and other religious items into Türkiye. 

5.        Acquire land and build meetinghouses in Türkiye. 

6.        Build a temple in Türkiye. 

At the beginning of my mission, I volunteered to work on some special legal projects to accomplish these goals.  Two weeks ago, Deborah and I traveled to Istanbul to meet with our attorneys.  We attended both the Turkish and English branches of the Church in Istanbul on Sunday.  After church, we held certain annually required legal meetings to bring the Church in compliance with Turkish legal regulations.  It was wonderful to meet with the members there and see their appreciation for our visit.

Türkiye is a Muslim country of 85,000,000 people.  The Church is very small there, but the work of the Lord is progressing. We feel blessed to have a small part in that work.

Our son, Ryan, his wife and five children came for a week over Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time in Heidelberg, Paris, and Strasbourg.  The Christmas market in Strasbourg opened the weekend we were there.  It was quite the trip with a two-year old.  We had a fabulous time. 

We have been to Christmas markets in Strasbourg, Frankfurt (3 times), Seligenstadt, Cologne, and Heidelberg.  Tomorrow we leave for Italy and spend Christmas there.  We will visit the Amalfi Coast for a few days and then go to Sicily for four days.

We love our Savior, Jesus Christ and are grateful for the opportunity to serve Him. May the warmth and light of this season fill your hearts with light and peace. All our love, Deborah and Geoff Merry Christmas!