We have been waiting for several weeks for this once in a lifetime tour of the Kremlin Palace. It finally came about on Monday. As a group of senior couples, we met at the metro station by the Red Square. We walked to the Kremlin and after going through security checks and showing our passports, we were allowed inside the Palace. Most Russians have not seen inside this magnificent edifice as it is available by invitation only...unless someone can pull some strings. Marina, in the mission office, was able to do just that. Words cannot capture the opulence and beauty of the rooms inside this residence of past Russian leaders. The living quarters of the Czars were incredible, complete with corridors off each room where the servants sat, waiting to be beckoned. We were able to see many gorgeous rooms where inaugurations and special ceremonies are held. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so here are a few of the pictures of what we saw. We were only able to take pictures of the first five rooms, but the pictures will give you a feel for the magnificence of the other rooms in the palace.
This first room almost took our breath away as we entered. It is the throne room and is where heads of states are sworn into office. The throne sits under the symbol of the state of Russia. Above it is the all seeing eye of God.
These gold doors are engraved with the symbols of Russia...the cross and the star.
Connected through huge doors, this next room is done in golds and reds. During the Soviet rule, this room was totally stripped of all its glory. It became the meeting place of the communist party leaders. It was restored to its original magnificence in 2000.
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The ceiling in this room
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The third room was the military room. Done in white marble, it is the place where military awards are presented and many family balls have been held. The orange and black accents on the benches represent the fire and smoke of war. On the walls are engraved the names of those who have received military recognition through out the history of Russian wars.
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| The orange and black benches |
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| The names on the wall |
The last two rooms in which we were allowed to take pictures were equally as beautiful. The chandelier in one weighs about 3 tons.
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The blues in this last photographed room were a sharp contrast from the golden splendor of the earlier rooms, but still very beautiful. Intricately painted scenes appeared on three of the four walls.
What a special privilege this was for all of us.
Sunday was a wonderful day as well. It was an area conference broadcast which we could download in English and watch in the comfort of our apartment. That evening, we had Elders Calderwood and Genys and our friend, Sergey, over for dinner. Sergey is the man who comes to our institute class and English group. The elders have had a few discussions with him in the past couple of weeks. We had a great dinner and then met in the living room to visit. The elders issued a challenge to him to commit to baptism. Sergey understands the responsibility that comes with baptism and is reluctant until he can change a few things in his life. We will keep him in our prayers and hope he will gain a testimony of the gospel strong enough to truly desire to change. The gospel would bring him so much joy. At the end of the evening, Sergey did agree to say the prayer. He thanked Heavenly Father for the evening and hoped we could do it again. Then as they were all leaving, he said that dinner was the best food he had ever tasted.
Our week started out as usual with family home evening in our apartment on Monday evening. We had 1 investigator, 1 less active member, 3 companionships and 2 young singles. It was another fun evening and, as always, ended in dessert. I had experimented with lime bars using the lemon bar recipe. They were a big hit.
Tuesday was zone conference. Sister Borders decided to order pizza for lunch rather that having the wards and branches provide the lunch. Papa John's was blown away with such a large order.....14 large pizzas and 7 small pizzas times 3 days. The delivery boy said it was the biggest order they had ever received. The elders and sisters were in heaven and ate every last slice.
Tuesday night Paul administered an English proficiency test to 7 people. We are hoping to start a new Pathway cohort in January and the first step is to find enough people (at least 10) who are members of the church and speak English well enough to pass the test. We are giving another test next Tuesday. We keep praying that we will be able to find enough interested students.
Wednesday was our English group and, as always, it was a delight to be with our Russian friends who come so faithfully every week. We have such a good time in our discussion with them. This week we discussed service and humanitarian aid.
Thursday we prepared all day for our Institute class. We are now teaching from the conference talks and so we selected President Monson's talk on obedience. We had a very spiritual discussion with our students as they shared times in their lives when obedience brought blessings. A great class. We love teaching from the actual words of the prophets.
Friday we decided to shop at Ashan's instead of our regular Monday shop day. We saw the first sign of Christmas there. We have been wondering if the retailers get into Christmas as much as they do at home. We are thinking this is the biggest celebration of the year as we have seen no other signs of any other holiday yet. One of the reasons I wanted to shop on Friday is that I needed to find some disposable pie pans and a pumpkin or a squash. In a couple of weeks we will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for our district. There are no turkeys available which means no traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I, at least, wanted to make pumpkin pie. Ashan's had the pie tins but no pumpkins. We went to the little local renak across the street from our apartment and found a half of a pumpkin. I was so excited, even though we had to pay over eight dollars for it. It's now pumpkin puree waiting to be baked into pies and other delicious pumpkin goodies. I just have to find the time to bake them.
Friday night was our game night and we had 7 non members show up. A couple of sisters brought an investigator and the 6 others showed up as a result of an invitation offered to them at English group. Luckily there was a member there who could speak with them and get them started in a fun game. They stayed for a couple of hours playing and visiting. Hopefully they will come next week.
Saturday was a day to let down a little after a very busy week. This week, we had something going every night. If we had time at home during the days we were studying and preparing for our lessons. We needed Saturday to regroup.
We have been asked to teach a seminary lesson once a week to a young man who is here in Moscow studying dance with the Bolshoi ballet company. He is doing home study seminary which requires a weekly lesson given by a seminary teacher. We're excited to do it for him but wonder where the time will come to prepare yet another lesson. We will rely on the Lord and, with Him, we will be able to get it all done.
Saturday evening was a Young Single Adult activity at the church. It was a cooking activity which they called SMAK. We think that is the name of a popular cooking show here. Many were in attendance, including at least 7 investigators. As a group, they made Vreniky (spelling is way off). They are a rolled out noodle type dough filled with cherries and cream cheese, then folded over and sealed. They are then boiled to cook them. Russians love these, especially when served with sour cream. As we were watching these young people interact with one another, we were thrilled with how everyone seemed to feel accepted and loved. It is also nice to have been around the YSAs enough now, to recognize them and to have developed a relationship with many of them. We have such a fun calling.....busy, but so fun.
Not a taste or texture we enjoyed, but the young people sure did. Now if they would have been deep fried......that would have been a different story.
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The dinner served to Sergey and the missionaries -
Chicken Parmesan, Garlic potatoes, Green beans,
Green salad with marinated tomatoes and mushrooms and Bread sticks.
Applesauce cake and whipped cream was served for dessert
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Our week started out as usual with family home evening in our apartment on Monday evening. We had 1 investigator, 1 less active member, 3 companionships and 2 young singles. It was another fun evening and, as always, ended in dessert. I had experimented with lime bars using the lemon bar recipe. They were a big hit.
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One of two games played.
This was a lively one and we
wondered if the neighbors
would complain.
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Lime bars and Congo bars
for refreshments
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Tuesday was zone conference. Sister Borders decided to order pizza for lunch rather that having the wards and branches provide the lunch. Papa John's was blown away with such a large order.....14 large pizzas and 7 small pizzas times 3 days. The delivery boy said it was the biggest order they had ever received. The elders and sisters were in heaven and ate every last slice.
Tuesday night Paul administered an English proficiency test to 7 people. We are hoping to start a new Pathway cohort in January and the first step is to find enough people (at least 10) who are members of the church and speak English well enough to pass the test. We are giving another test next Tuesday. We keep praying that we will be able to find enough interested students. Wednesday was our English group and, as always, it was a delight to be with our Russian friends who come so faithfully every week. We have such a good time in our discussion with them. This week we discussed service and humanitarian aid.
Thursday we prepared all day for our Institute class. We are now teaching from the conference talks and so we selected President Monson's talk on obedience. We had a very spiritual discussion with our students as they shared times in their lives when obedience brought blessings. A great class. We love teaching from the actual words of the prophets.
Friday we decided to shop at Ashan's instead of our regular Monday shop day. We saw the first sign of Christmas there. We have been wondering if the retailers get into Christmas as much as they do at home. We are thinking this is the biggest celebration of the year as we have seen no other signs of any other holiday yet. One of the reasons I wanted to shop on Friday is that I needed to find some disposable pie pans and a pumpkin or a squash. In a couple of weeks we will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for our district. There are no turkeys available which means no traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I, at least, wanted to make pumpkin pie. Ashan's had the pie tins but no pumpkins. We went to the little local renak across the street from our apartment and found a half of a pumpkin. I was so excited, even though we had to pay over eight dollars for it. It's now pumpkin puree waiting to be baked into pies and other delicious pumpkin goodies. I just have to find the time to bake them.
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First sign of Christmas - November 15th. Russians celebrate
their Christmas around the 7th of January, not on the 25th of December.
It is in connections with their new year celebration.
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| Our $8.00 pumpkin...I mean half pumpkin |
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| All ready to go in the oven to bake. |
Friday night was our game night and we had 7 non members show up. A couple of sisters brought an investigator and the 6 others showed up as a result of an invitation offered to them at English group. Luckily there was a member there who could speak with them and get them started in a fun game. They stayed for a couple of hours playing and visiting. Hopefully they will come next week.
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Elder Genys and Elder Calderwood stopped by to
use our computer on Saturday. I was baking cookies for the
YSA activity so we invited them to stay a minute and try them.
They didn't hesitate to say yes to the invitation.
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We have been asked to teach a seminary lesson once a week to a young man who is here in Moscow studying dance with the Bolshoi ballet company. He is doing home study seminary which requires a weekly lesson given by a seminary teacher. We're excited to do it for him but wonder where the time will come to prepare yet another lesson. We will rely on the Lord and, with Him, we will be able to get it all done.
Saturday evening was a Young Single Adult activity at the church. It was a cooking activity which they called SMAK. We think that is the name of a popular cooking show here. Many were in attendance, including at least 7 investigators. As a group, they made Vreniky (spelling is way off). They are a rolled out noodle type dough filled with cherries and cream cheese, then folded over and sealed. They are then boiled to cook them. Russians love these, especially when served with sour cream. As we were watching these young people interact with one another, we were thrilled with how everyone seemed to feel accepted and loved. It is also nice to have been around the YSAs enough now, to recognize them and to have developed a relationship with many of them. We have such a fun calling.....busy, but so fun. |
| Done and waiting to be cooked |
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| Cooked and ready to be eaten |
Not a taste or texture we enjoyed, but the young people sure did. Now if they would have been deep fried......that would have been a different story.
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Russians love sour cream on everything
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LIFE IN RUSSIA SPOTLIGHT
In Russia, it is expected that you take off your shoes as you enter a home or apartment. This is how our entryway looks whenever we have a group into our apartment. Is is especially crowded in the winter time when everyone has coats and scarves and sometime even hats.
SIDE NOTE: Because everyone is in their socks, after people leave we have to hand pick the carpet of all the sock lint that sticks to our rug. Our vacuum cleaner will not pick them up.
We have mentioned Russian's developing love for American fast foods. We have noticed, though, that they are developing their own chains of fast Russian food. The Tepemok (pronounced Teremak) cooks large crepe like pastries and then rolls them up with all kinds of meats and vegetables inside. They also make dessert ones. The Kaptwka (pronounced Kartshka) is a potato place where you can add lots of different toppings to a baked potato. Potatoes are a main stay in Russia. We think Russians will have an obesity problem in a few years, just like America does, if this fast food trend continues.
ANOTHER WEEK IS OVER BUT MANY GREAT MEMORIES
HAVE BEEN CREATED AND WILL BE WITH US FOREVER
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