AND WE THOUGHT LAST WEEK WAS BUSY.......

When we have 3 lessons to prepare, 3 major dinners to cook, and 4 activities needing treats, you might be able to say we are busy. That is to say nothing of the Pathway registration deadlines that Paul is trying to help students meet so they can further their education through BYU Idaho on-line study program.  His phone is constantly ringing with students needing advice as to how to work their way through the registration website.  We have officially referred to this week as the 'killer week' and found ourselves counting down the days (ie; day three of killer week over, day 4 of killer week in the books, etc.). We were relieved when day 7 was successfully completed and we could relax for a minute.

Our full primary and teachers

Let's start with Sunday. We went to church and were thrilled when we found out it was the Primary program. We have about 10 children in our primary so a lot of the program was their teachers speaking but the songs were very special. Little children singing anywhere in the world is a treat to listen to, regardless of the language spoken. It was a wonderful sacrament meeting. After our meeting block, we set up for the CES broadcast. While our young singles were watching it in Russian downstairs, we watched it, in English, upstairs with two English speaking young singles. This was the first event where refreshments were needed.  We took the pumpkins cookies that were pictured last week.  


Monday, we attended a fireside put on by Sister Lawrence, our area president's wife. Once again she was amazing.  The topic was the spirit world and, with many documented sources, we came away with a much clearer understanding of what we can expect when we leave this life.  Very interesting.  We raced home for a quick dinner before our weekly fireside with our missionaries and their investigators.  It was a quieter evening than usual. Our sister missionaries had to catch a train so we only had a few people that could stay.  They played 'Skipbo' at the kitchen table and had a good time. They loved the breads we served....pumpkin, banana and lemon. (The second refreshment provided.)

The women in the kitchen

The men in the living room

Tuesday became a shopping and baking day as our district meeting was to be held on Thanksgiving, instead of Tuesday. While Paul watched a BYU basketball game( in which they won), I baked pies and rolls to take to Elder and Sister Jensen's home. They opened their home to all the senior couples in Moscow for a Thanksgiving dinner.....not turkey but chicken......a close second.  We did have mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, yams, and rolls.  Of course, we ended the evening stuffing already full stomachs with four kinds of pies - pumpkin, lemon cream, apple and chocolate. (No I didn't bake them all....only 2.)  It was a fun evening and a great opportunity to get to know the two new couples that have joined us in the last month.  

Paul pounding out the chicken  so I could

stuff it with ham and Swiss cheese.

Wednesday, we needed to make the final preparations for our English group discussion as well as our Institute lesson for Thursday. We also needed to make apple and lemon cream pies, frost pumpkin sugar cookies, set roll dough, and put together cordon bleu for 12.  We didn't finish up the cordon bleu until after English group that night.

Thursday, Thanksgiving, was the biggest day....dinner for 10. We had planned for 12 for dinner but President and Sister Borders couldn't come at the last minute. Our Thanksgiving meal was not the traditional one. Besides cordon bleu we had a peach slush, rice pilaf, brown sugar glazed carrots, string beans and orange rolls. Apple, pumpkin and lemon cream pies were for dessert. 

The table all set and ready for our first Russian Thanksgiving dinner

The elders in the kitchen......

This sisters with us in the

living room

 The sisters brought vegetables 

to eat during district meeting before

dinner.

....after dinner the elders were feeling very full and very tired.

                                           

That night, we had to teach institute class and facilitate gathering at which we had promised treats to celebrate our American Thanksgiving with our Russian students. We served them the pumpkin shaped sugar cookies frosted on Wednesday. (The third refreshments for the week.) We taught from President Uchtdorf's talk about moving into the light.  It was a fun lesson to teach. Just a note:  One of our students came up to us after Institute class and thanked us for our lessons.  He said he appreciates the way we teach and that he has never been taught that way before.  We do tell a lot of personal stories and try to find video clips or music that help teach the principles of the lessons. 


Friday was another 'killer day.'  In the morning, I baked a triple batch of sugar cookies, pumpkin shaped again. Later, we had to shop for ingredients to make chili to feed 70 for our missionary ward activity scheduled for Saturday.  To save time I decided to make chili out of canned beans but the trick was getting 40 cans of beans and 12 boxes of tomatoes home from the store.  Thank goodness for our bob cart and Paul's strong arms to lift the cart up the stairs in the metro. We got home in time to frost the 6 dozen cookies (also for the ward activity) and teach Isaac his home study seminary lesson. It went real well as he is really sharp and takes his Book of Mormon study seriously.  We are going to enjoy this assignment. We ended the night attending game night at which time Paul administered another English test to 3 more potential Pathway students.

Pumpkin shaped sugar cookies done

Chili for 70 in the refrigerator

Saturday was a seminary/institute training in the morning with our director.  It was informative even through a translator.  We were treated to lunch and then had to race home, pack up the chili and cookies, and walk to the church to help set up for the activity that started at 5.  

Bean bag toss

Donuts on a string

The activity was a huge success. Over 50 people came including several ward members and lots of investigators from our English group. The evening started with a video presentation about being thankful and then everyone was invited to participate in five different activities set up around the room.  There was a cookie walk (hence the frosted sugar cookies), bean bag toss, pin the tail on the bear, sack races, and donuts on a string. After about an hour of fun and games everyone came into the kitchen area for chili, french bread, and cut up vegetables. Many Russians asked what the bean dish was called as they had never tasted it before...but they seemed to like it.  Our district leader and his companion worked so hard to make this a successful activity. We were very impressed with their organization and follow through.  

The sack races

Pin the tail on the bear

Paul eating a donut on a string

Dinner is served

Our friends and fellow missionary couple, came to help us serve the dinner so afterwards we invited them to our apartment for leftover Thanksgiving pie and ice cream.  It was great to just relax and visit for a while.


Sunday brought our third full meal to cook and our fourth refreshments of the week to make. It was fast Sunday and so we invited the whole young single counsel over for a "break the fast" meal before our monthly meeting. We took the easy road and did chili again but this time had them put the chili on corn chips then topping it with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream and salsa. It was a big hit but even a bigger hit were the three layered brownies we served for dessert. After the meeting was over, four of the young singles asked if we were ready for them to leave or if they could "hang out" for a while longer.  Of course we said they could stay. They visited and played a card game for a while then invited us to have a "tea party" with them. Tea is a big deal in Russia. Members of the church drink herbal or fruit teas. We just happened to have a box of fruit tea bags in the cupboard and so we made tea. It was the first tea party we had ever attended.  The tea tasted like slightly flavored water to us but it was great to "hang out" and visit with these four special young singles. We were thrilled that they felt comfortable enough with us that they would ask to stay a little longer. Needless to say, though, we were very tired by the time they left.  

Our first 'tea party' with 4 wonderful young adults.

Now for our

LIVING IN RUSSIA SPOTLIGHT

We had our first snow storm this week. In fact, it has snowed almost every day since Tuesday. In our downtown area, the snow has been pretty light and seems to melt by the end of the day.  We have heard, though, that north of town it has stayed on the ground and is a few inches deep.  Walking in the winter will be quite a challenge, especially when it all freezes over and we are walking on ice.  In some of the out lying areas it is recommended that you purchase what are called "traks." They are metal cleats that you hook onto your shoes to give you traction on the ice as you walk. Smart!




At the mall, where we go once a week to shop at Ashans, we often eat lunch at the food court there.  Just across from the food court is a giant movie screen where they continually show old Charlie Chaplin silent movies.  Paul, especially, gets a kick out of watching them while we eat.  We have never seen that in any mall in America before.  It is interesting that they show an old silent movie featuring a British/American icon.

A special note:  This week, Paul donned his winter coat for the first time!

A' KILLER WEEK' CONCLUDED SUCCESSFULLY

Did we say busy was good?  Yes it is.