CRAZIEST NEW YEAR'S EVER....ONLY IN MOSCOW

With being put under a 6 p.m. curfew, the mission office telling us to stay out of the metro and the malls, our senior couple's metro tour canceling due to terrorist bombings in southern Russia, drinking our new year wishes (a Russian tradition), and a gentleman of the Muslim faith praying on his prayer rug in our kitchen, we can definitely say it was a crazy 24 hours. Let us explain. 

At the top of Arbat street

It all began after our district lunch and meeting on December 31st  . Because this is the biggest holiday of the year in Russia, our elders and sisters had to get home before our 6 p.m. curfew.  We were advised to be in our apartments by then because of the drinking and partying that goes on in Moscow on New Year's eve. By early evening we were advised, until further notice, not to gather in large groups and to avoid the use of the metro because of recent terrorist activity in southern Russia. Our senior couple's group was planning a metro tour on New Year's day so it had to be canceled.  We listened to fireworks going off for most of the night and in the morning were awakened by another message on our phone. This one told us to also avoid the malls and large shopping centers.
Our restriction to the metro, though, was reduced to between 8 and 10 a.m. (rush hour) on week days only. Having nothing to do now on New Year's day, we decided to meet up with the Hayes, walk Arbat street and have a late lunch there. This street is a walking street along which are many shops and restaurants. We were looking for a new restaurant that had just gone in called Shake Shack, an American chain from the East. We were so glad we found it as the hamburgers and shakes were wonderful....move over "In and Out". We now have a new favorite place for lunch. Coincidentally, while there, we ran into two other senior couples having lunch. We weren't the only ones bored at home on New Year's day.

The Shake Shack on Arbat Street......great hamburgers and shakes

The Hayes in the fore front.  The Jensens (left)

and the Coltons (right)  were there when we arrived

That evening we entertained, with our sister missionaries, an investigator and her 4 male friends.  The investigator had called the sisters and wanted to hang out with them New Year's night.  They called us to see if they could come to our home.  Of course, we said yes. During the day, the investigator called the sisters to ask if some of her friends could come too. Of course that was agreed upon. When they showed up it was she and 4 men. All but one were visiting from another country and one spoke only Persian.  It was interesting as the sisters presented a spiritual thought. It had to be translated into Persian for the one boy and into English for us.  We served two different kinds of sweet breads and two kinds of herbal tea.  A Russian New Year's tradition was then introduced to all of us by Sister Tolbert.  She poured a glass of sparkling cider for each of us.  We then had to take a small piece of paper and write upon it a wish for the new year. Taking turns, we each burned our wish with a match, dropped the ashes in our drink and drank it all down.  There were lots of laughs watching each of us try to swallow a burnt piece of paper in our cider. When we had all drunk our wishes, the older gentleman announced it was time for his prayers.  He proceeded to take a cloth out of his bag, go into the kitchen, kneel down on his knees facing East, and pray.  He prayed for at least 15 minutes.  He finished just as everyone was getting their coats on and saying their good byes.  The sisters commented that this had been the strangest night they had ever spent.  Surely it was the strangest New Year's we had ever had.  Could this only happen in Moscow?

Lighting the New Year's wish

Drinking the New Year's wish

Now for our week.  Sunday at church a talk was given on the Christmas story. We were told that as the wise men followed the star to find the baby Jesus, we should follow our star, Jesus Christ. We love this extended Christmas season which means singing more Christmas songs and listening to more talks on Christmas.  Also at church we met Raymond's wife and children. Raymond has been here in Moscow for about 6 weeks without his family. He came here for an engineering job and will be here for 2 years. He has been coming to game night almost every week since he arrived and has become our friend.  His family finally came just before the new year. He was one happy man on Sunday with his family by his side.  We committed to have them to dinner as soon as our schedule calmed down and they got settled in a little.  It will be fun to have children in our home.


Monday we had to go shopping. It was the day before the big New Year's eve celebrations here and the store was a zoo.  We have never been in such a crowd..... not even shopping on the day before Christmas nor even at Walmart.  It was unreal. We just had to park our cart at the end of an aisle as it was impossible to get a cart down any of the aisles. We only got that which we knew we couldn't get anywhere else, checked out, and left. That night was family home evening.  It was on, then off, and then finally on again when two inactives showed up as well as a ward member. Luckily the elders were at our home skyping Andrey so they could conduct the evening. They played Uno and had a good time. The fruit, vegetable, and cookie pizzas were a big hit. Earlier, during the lesson with Andrey, Paul was asked to bear his testimony.  When he had finished, Andrey said he had never felt the spirit stronger than he had while Paul was bearing his testimony. His baptism is set for next Sunday. 

Tuesday was district meeting and the opportunity of serving the elders and sisters lunch. We love these days.  We served Chicken Enchiladas.  It was when they had gone that our crazy 24 hours began as reported in the beginning of this blog.

Thursday we were off to find some heavy duty plastic forks, spoons, and knives. We had volunteered to find the utensils, tablecloths, and napkins for the Mission Christmas party on Saturday. The plastic utensils at Ashan's are pretty flimsy, so we took our chances on the grocery store at Metropolis Mall.  We found what we were looking for but only after getting down on our hands and knees and scavenging through bins of assorted forks, knives, and spoons in order to get enough of the same kind for 100 place settings. Interesting experience.

At Chip's Restaurant - 

note the animal head on the wall

Thursday night was a night out at the Bolshoi theater to see the Nutcracker. We have had the tickets for at least 2 months so this was a long awaited event. As a group of senior couples, we all met at Chips restaurant for dinner before the ballet. It was a nice place and the food was very good. Our once in a life time experience to be at the Bolshoi Theater was worth the wait (and the money it cost for the tickets - the equivalent of $300 a piece). The newly redone theater interior is extravagantly beautiful and the ballet was wonderful.  We are so glad to have had this opportunity. This is the second ballet we've attended while in Moscow. That's one more than we've attended in our whole married life. Paul is looking forward to the ice hockey game we are scheduled to attend next week.

Inside the Bolshoi Theater

The balcony area where heads of state would sit

The curtain call

After the performance

On Friday, after returning to Ashan's to buy tablecloths and napkins for the Mission Christmas party, the rest of the day was spent baking rolls for the party while Paul worked with our pathway students helping them through some last minute registrations issues. That afternoon we had a discussion with Tatianna, an investigator of Elders Bass and Davis. She is a really nice lady but has a hard time with the idea that we have an actual Father in Heaven and that we are His spirit children.  She said she can understand the holy spirit but not a Heavenly Father who is an actual personage. We hope she was touched by our testimonies of Him.

Singing the 12 days of Christmas

The Mission Christmas Party was on Saturday. Sister Borders had asked Paul to narrate the program and me to organize the kitchen for serving dinner to the elders and sisters. We left our apartment before it was light (at 9 am) and didn't get home until after dark that night (at 8 pm). It was a long but very rewarding day. Ham and cheese potatoes was the menu for the dinner complimented with green salad and rolls. It all tasted wonderful and the elders and sisters got their fill. The program that followed was very well done.  Sister Borders had put it together using the talent of the elders and sisters. Some of our zone elders did the funniest rendition of Rudolf the Red nosed Reindeer, complete with choreography.  Of course, the program ended with the Christmas story accompanied by many beautiful songs being sung. Paul did a great job narrating. Before we all left, there was a gift exchange. Everyone had brought a gift (300 rubles or less - about $10) and passed it right and left according to a Twas the Night Before Christmas story written with lots of rights and lefts in the script. It was really fun.  

Our zone elders singing
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer

Paul narrating the program

Opening gifts - that's a can of pop, a much prized possession

The best gift of the day - behind the mask is our Elder Davis, our district leader

Elder Bass and Davis

 ready to ring some doorbells

We had to leave right after the party, without helping to clean up, as we had to be at the central building by 4 o'clock for an interview with one of our new Pathway students.  That was followed by an activation activity with our missionaries and young singles.  Companionships from the different wards were paired up with young singles from those wards.  They were given a list of inactive young singles and gift packets to deliver to whoever they could find home. We would have wanted more young singles to be in attendance but it is still their holiday and many are out of town or involved in family celebrations.  We were so grateful the missionaries were eager to help. Since that night, we have had a report back from one set of elders. They said they went to one home on their list where there were two young adult living with their mother.  When the mother opened the door and saw the missionaries there, she started to cry.  She said she had been waiting for missionaries to come to their home for over a year.  They had a great visit.  Hopefully this family will come back to church.

Sisters Simmons and Tolbert with Luba, a very special young adult

Before the evening was over, the elders from the International Ward asked if they could come to our home with Emmanuel to give him one last lesson before his baptism also on Sunday.  Of course we said yes so at 8:00 we left the church and came home to open our apartment up for another discussion. It was a good discussion.  Emmanuel is so well prepared for his baptism and is anxious to someday go home to Africa and teach his family about the gospel.  He has found the great joy that the gospel can bring into one's life and wants his family to feel the same joy. When they left, we crashed in front of a movie in our living room. It had been a long week.

WE KNOW WE'VE ADJUSTED TO LIFE IN MOSCOW SPOTLIGHT

We have now been on our mission for 6 months and living in Moscow for 5 1/2 months. They say that it takes about that long to begin to feel totally at home.  With that in mind, we have decided to change our 'Life in Russia' spotlight to a 'We Know We've Adjusted to Life in Russia' spotlight.  Here goes.....

We know we've adjusted to life in Russia when......

1.  .....you hardly notice the grit in the frosting made with the local powdered sugar
2.  .....and putting your powdered sugar and brown sugar into the blender and blending it up in order to lessen the grit is the automatic thing to do before using it in a recipe.

3.  ....we hardly remember what it is like to jump into a car and drive somewhere.  Walking everywhere just seems normal.

The filter system mounted

above our kitchen sink

4.  ....brushing your teeth in the kitchen sink becomes automatic.  That is the only place we have filtered water.  The water that comes out of the tap here is not drinkable for us foreigners.

5. .....receiving a package from home is as exciting as Christmas even when we know exactly what is in it.