HAYPbl3: Part 3

The Saturday after Nauryz our branch had a celebration for the holiday combined with a farewell party for our senior missionary couple, the Vincents.

This party was, hands down, the best one I've been to yet! It was so much fun!!!

There are a number of different ethnic groups in our congregation, and our party-planners had a great idea: have each "community" make a presentation and bring a food that represents them. I will list the group and their presentation, you can see pictures below. (I was able to take some video but I'm not even going to try and upload it to our blog because the videos are rather large.)

Kazakhs
Ira (in the white dress with red vest) sang a song, and
Zoya (in red with jeans) read a self-written poem about Nauryz in Kazakh (because Russian was the main spoken language during the Soviet-era, Kazakh isn't the main spoken language... yet)

Russians
The trio of Russian women sang chastushki, which is a type of Russian folk song wherein you sing couplets... it was a lot of fun and the women were really cute performers!!

Americans
I was in charge of this one (eik!!) and decided that we should perform some of our old folk songs which are now children songs... So we sang "Yankee Doodle," "Dem Bones," and "I've Been Working on the Railroad."

Canadians
One of our missionaries is Canadian, so after the Americans performed (he was in our group) he sang their national anthem "Oh, Canada!" It was really moving and gave me the same feeling I get when I hear our own anthem being performed.

Not to be outdone... After the Canadian anthem, one member insisted that the Kazakhstanis perform the Kazakh national anthem, so all the children and some of the adults gathered at the front and also sang their anthem for us.

Armenians
Our Armenian husband and wife spoke about their country (that's when I took the picture that appears below) and then he and their two daughters performed a folk song from their country, it was really neat!

Germans
Our dear sister Inna is married to a man of German heritage, their business often takes them to Germany, so she has become a little acquainted with the country. She and her daughter spoke a little about the country, but because Inna isn't German, her contribution to the night was to bear her testimony in her husband's native language. =)

Ta-tars & Uyghurs
Our branch president is Uyghur and his wife is Ta-tar, so she performed a traditional dance that represented both those communities. It was soooo cool!

After the performances the guests of honor were given traditional robes. I like the first picture because it shows how far Elder Vincent had to bend in order for Nurzia to put the hat on him. Lest you think she's just really small (which is partly the case), Elder Vincent is 6'7" tall.

Doesn't he look sharp in his Kazakh robe??

The Vincents with Ira, our traditionally-dressed trio.

The Vincents have been amazing here in Kazakhstan. They served a leadership mission here for 18 months and have touched a lot of lives (including ours). In fact, we began our association with them before we left the States (they helped us find an apartment) and enjoyed getting to know them these past months. Sometimes in life you have the opportunity to see how the Lord sends someone to an area because He has prepared them for those specific circumstances... such is the case with the Vincents. I have always had a deep appreciation and love for senior missionary couples, our association with the Vincents has only increased that testimony of the importance of senior missionaries. It makes me excited for retirement and we're only in the early stages of our life and marriage! =)

It was a sad farewell, but a fun party. There was a great spirit of love, friendship, and excitement. It was so much fun to be a part of it all.