THREE DAYS SPENT WITH OUR YOUNG SINGLES AND LOVING IT

Starting Saturday night at the Institute Opening and the dinner we served, we had the opportunity to spend three wonderful evenings with our young single adults.  What a marvelous beginning to a new week.

We were on a real high after Saturday's program and dinner, then came Sunday, another special day because of the YSA's.  After our block of meetings, the Young Single Council met at our apartment to 'break the fast,' and have a planning meeting.  There were about 20 of us crammed into our little apartment but no one seemed to mind.  A few of the young singles came early to cook the dinner.  We were grateful we didn't have to think about fixing another meal so soon after feeding 70 the night before.

Our meeting lasted until after 9:30 but a lot was accomplished in making plans for the next two months.  These young adults are such good friends that  it is sometimes hard for the council president to keep them on task. They sure have a good time together, though.






Before we started the meeting, the council Skyped another young single who was opening his mission call.  This group was so excited to see where he would be called.  He will be serving here in the Russian Moscow Mission.





Monday evening we had another opportunity to be with this great group of young people.  It was a Family Home Evening.  There were about 40 in attendance and after a video clip of Elder Holland's conference address about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, a challenge was offered for all the come to institute.  

The large group then broke into 3 smaller groups to attend 3 different classes.   It was a "share your talent" night so 3 young adults put on classes for the rest of the YSA's to teach them their particular skill.  Each group rotated to each class.

This girl is not a member of the

church but consented to come to

teach the group about her skill

of cartooning.

Masha taught about potato stamping

to make wrapping paper as well as

how to make paper gift boxes.

A box in progress by Valentina

This beautiful girl taught a cooking class on how to put together quick missionary type meals using whatever is in your cupboards.  She took pita pockets and had the class stuff them with sausage, onions, tomatoes and cheese.  She then baked them to melt the cheese.  They were quite good.  Her other trick was using any kind of macaroni.  She cooked it, drained it, then added the same ingredients as above.  She then tossed it all with mayonnaise. Again, a good quick meal.  What was made in this class was served for refreshments. Young singles love to eat. The crunch topped brownies we brought were gone in a minute.

 This young man (the one in the green) is from Pleasant Grove, Utah.  He is here on an internship and is leaving for home in a few days.  Paul and he had a great talk about their beloved Pleasant Grove Vikings.

We feel so privileged to be a part of the lives of these Young Single Adults.  They are an inspiration to us.  They are often the only members in their families yet come to everything offered them.  They invite their non-member friends to the activities, wanting to share the joy they have found in the gospel.  And boy, do they ever take care of each other, always making sure everyone feels welcomed and accepted. They take care of us, too.  During the spiritual thought at family home evening, Inessa left her seat, came all the way across the room to sit by us so she could translate what was being said.  Such caring.  

We must record an event that took place as we were cleaning up after the event. Masha came up to the institute room and stood in the doorway for a moment.  We acknowledged her and she said to us, "You two are amazing."  As she left she said; "Things just build up inside of me and I just have to say them."  We thanked her and told her that it meant a lot to us that she would share her feelings and that we loved her, too. Oh, the little things that make this adventure so worthwhile.



Earlier on Monday we had that third experience one must have while in Russia.  We visited a reenok.  It was an indoor one and was amazingly large.  There were rows and rows of jeans, sweaters, handbags, hats, coats and any other clothing item one might need.  We were looking for gloves for the winter,an umbrella, and some ties. Two of our missionaries, Elder Marks and Elder Bass, were with us to buy their winter coats. They appreciated our parental advice as to which coats to purchase and what sizes they needed.  They will be looking very sharp and feeling very warm when the winter snows come.

This is just the aisle of ties.  It seemed to stretch on forever.  Notice the man

coming toward us.  He didn't like the fact that I took a picture.  I thought I

might have to give up my camera but he just insisted I put it in my purse. 

I would have taken pictures of the elders buying their coats but I was a

little afraid to pull out my camera again.

I took this picture before I knew I shouldn't.  We got a kick out of

all the men on the bench here, probably waiting for their wives

to shop.  I know that's where Paul would have liked to have been.

This is the result of our adventure to the reenok.  Three ties

for the equivalent of 3 dollars each, two pairs of gloves and an

umbrella.  Our costs for all  this was less that $85.00. 

The elders helped us bargain for better prices.

Tuesday was our weekly district meeting and we made it easy on ourselves by serving the same menu we had served the YSA's on Saturday, even down to the brownie sundaes.  The elders and sisters loved it. The meeting itself was a safety meeting given by a staff member from the mission office.  It would have been interesting to hear but it was all in Russian so Paul and I spent the time doing the dishes.  We felt sorry for our Elder Bass who has only been out in the field less than a month.  He didn't understand too much more than we did. At the end of the meeting, one of the elders asked if he could have another brownie.  Of course we had to add ice cream and chocolate sauce to it.  Pretty soon we were serving a second round of sundaes to all the missionaries.  We love spoiling our elders and sisters.




Wednesday we did not have our weekly meeting with Misha, so the day was spent at home planning our lessons for our institute classes which will begin in a couple of weeks.  I washed sheets which is an all day project when I can only wash one sheet at a time.  Drying them in this wet weather (it rained all day) took a long time, too. The two sheets were barely dry by bedtime.

This was my baking project for the day....hamburger buns.

I can't find them in the store.  I want to serve the missionaries

pulled pork sandwiches sometime and have to have buns for that.

Wednesday night was English group and again we had a fun discussion.  The subject was on role models.  We had to explain the difference between a roll you eat, to roll a ball, and a role you play on the stage.  We gave examples of role models in our lives and they shared what characteristics they felt were needed in a positive role model.  We love this group and we think they love us.  As we were leaving, an elder came up to Paul and said, "I don't know what you are doing up there in your group, but the people are sure loving it."  We laugh a lot with them.  Our sisters were up in our discussion that night and afterwards came up to us and told us we were their role models.  So sweet.



Thursday was another rainy day with not a lot for us to do.  We spent the afternoon watching the Church Education training session that had been held in Salt Lake City in August. We decided to download one complete talk and use it in our introduction lesson for institute.  It was about using the talks of the General Authorities to supplement the teachings of the scriptures.  We are so grateful for this Ipad as we use it all the time.  Thanks Todd and Kailee.

It was also a good day to experiment with an Outback bread recipe.  I can't find wholewheat flour here, so I wanted to try a rye flour instead.  It turned out fine and tasted about the same.  Of course anything tastes good with honey and/or raspberry butter.

Thursday night was the night of a long planned outing with our senior council.  Six couples had all purchased tickets to an International Military Band Review held on the Red Square.  We met at the Mexican restaurant by our home for a yummy dinner and then walked to the Red Square......in the rain and wind.

The whole group, cold and wet, but happy to be there.

Taken from our seats.  The bands entered down by St.

Basil Cathedral and marched to the center of the square

to perform.

We'll never forget the lovely ponchos given to us.  We laughed 

so hard as everyone tried to get them on over their coats. 

 Mostly they just tore.  At least they were free.

At least 15 different military bands from all over the world performed. 

After each band had performed,  all the bands came together

 onto the square for the grand finale.

It was beautiful.

Throughout the night, the lighting on St. Basil and the tower of the

Kremlin continually changed.

From yellow and blue to blue and orange

then to pink

During the finale, St. Basil' became a kaleidoscope of  

changing colors.  It was an amazing effect.

The colors and designs changed often and seemed like they were 

dancing around the turrets

The performance ended with a magnificent

fireworks display.  

Despite the cold, the performance was great.  Lots of lively songs, including Rock around the Clock.  There were singers and dancers that joined a lot of the military bands to add to a most enjoyable evening.  When it was over Paul and I decided to walk home and, of course, that's when it really started pouring down rain.  We were drenched by the time we got home and it took all the next day to dry our coats and levis.


Friday brought more rain but we decided to brave it again to go shopping at Ashan's. I needed to see if I could get an Oreo type cookie to make mud pie for district meeting.  We have a lot of ice cream in our freezer that needs to be used and the missionaries would love a mud pie.  They did have a cookie that would work so it will be mud pie on Tuesday.

Friday night at our game night, we had scheduled interviews with our new Pathway students.  We wanted a chance to get to know them before our first day of class and make sure they were all registered.  It was also a time to answer any questions they might have.  We had delightful visits with each of them. We were amazed at their stories - most of them are converts within the past 5 years and often the only member of their family.  Their conversions stories were amazing.  They are also very talented.  Several play the piano. In fact, one is a concert pianist.  We look forward to getting to know these students as they attend our institute class and the pathway gatherings.  


I must note:  Before the game night, I fed Paul what our family calls 'beans in a bowl.'  He had been asking for them.  I hate them, but decided to make them for him anyway.  I found some white navy beans that had been left here in the apartment and cooked them, literally, all day with bacon, onion and brown sugar. Paul loved them. I had a salad.

OUR WEEKLY LIFE IN RUSSIA SPOTLIGHT

Russians know how to package mayonnaise.  It comes in a bag.  It is so convenient to use as all you have to do is open it up and squeeze out the mayonnaise.  It also takes up less space in the refrigerator.  The ketchup comes the same way.  So clever.   It is a good thing Sister Pierson showed me mayonnaise in the store or I would have never known what to look for.

   

  We love the way juice comes packaged, too....in boxes.  Again, they are much easier to use and store nicely in the refrigerator, taking up less room than a can.  There are no frozen juices here, but there are many kinds of boxed juices.  If it is a fruit, it has been put into a juice.  The cherry juice is especially yummy.

Every night this week we have been privileged to watch a fireworks show out our living room window.  We live so close to the Red Square that we could see the fireworks being shot off at the end of each of the military band concerts.  It ran all week, Saturday through the next Sunday.  This is not the first time we have seen fireworks out our window.  Russians love fireworks and shoot them off on many occasions.

This is the best picture I could get with my little camera.

      Tonight, we are under a curfew.  The Mission President sent out a message to all missionaries in the Moscow area this morning.  He wanted all of us in our apartments by 5:00 tonight.  I guess there are protests scheduled tonight as a result of recent elections.  The police will be out in force to keep it under control. Being right downtown like we are, we think we would be especially vulnerable.  We have already heard a helicopter overhead, which is very unusual, and lots of loud sounds coming from outside.  This is not the first time for a curfew.  Whenever there is a Russian holiday we are instructed to be in our apartments by 6:00 as the people tend to celebrate quite heavily, especially with lots of drinking.  The President doesn't want to take any chances of missionaries getting into trouble of any kind.  Wise thinking.

ANOTHER WEEK, NOT AS ADVENTUROUS AS THE LAST (THANK GOODNESS), BUT A WONDERFUL WEEK ALL THE SAME.