TWO BAPTISMS - A GREAT START TO OUR WEEK

Emmanuel and Elders Merrill and Bishop

What a terrific way to start off the New Year with two baptisms of two very special people, Emmanuel and Andre.  Emmanuel, the young man from Africa who has been to our home a couple of time for lessons, was baptized Sunday afternoon.  Andre's baptism followed on that same day. Paul had been included in two Skype lessons with Andre as well as one lesson at our home where both of us were present.  What a thrill it has been to become acquainted with Emmanuel and Andre and to have participated in a small way to help them gain a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. After Andre's baptism, he got up and spoke to the congregation.  It was in Russian so we couldn't understand exactly what he was saying, but we could feel of his special spirit. He has such a strong testimony already. It was fast Sunday so the Assistants to the President, who taught Andre, suggested we have a 'break the fast' meal following the baptism.  We provided the refried beans, taco meat, flour tortillas, and salsa for soft tacos. The elders and sisters brought drinks, fruits, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.  It was a wonderful way to break the fast. We fed about 30 people. Many of the Russians present had never tasted refried beans and wondered what they were.  We assured them they would taste super on their tacos and, after they ate them, they agreed. There wasn't one speck of food left. What a great way to conclude a special day.

Elders Crawford and Jewkes on either side of

 Andre (on the left) and the brother who

introduced him to the gospel.  He

did the baptizing.

The 'Break the Fast' dinner

Sisters Simmons and Tolbert, Nastia and Lena

Monday was the day to take down the Christmas tree, clean house, and grocery shop. That evening was our weekly family home evening with our district. Our special friend, Nastia, came. We hadn't seen her in a long time as she moved to a different ward after her baptism. It was good to visit with her about her recent trip to the temple to do some baptisms. An investigator named Lena came also. It was a small group, but we had a good time playing UNO and eating refreshments.

Hawaiian Haystacks with all the toppings

Tuesday was district meeting once again. This time everyone met at our home for lunch at noon, an hour earlier than usual. We needed to have time for lunch and our district meeting so as not to be late for our district's quarterly cultural activity - a Russian ice hockey game.  What a fun time we had together at the hockey game. The Moscow team is number one in the league and the fans avidly cheered them on to another victory. They had huge flags waving, drums playing, and a constant cheering coming from the crowd. Pretty wild on the fan's part but there were no fights between the players in the rink.  The Refs kept them in control. Of course, there were cheer leaders of which Paul took notice. He jokingly commented that they danced as good as the Bolshoi dancers....NOT!  We were told that ice hockey is a sport for families in Moscow so no drinking is allowed.  There was no beer sold in the concession stands which was a welcomed relief from games in America. We were pleasantly surprised, also, at how friendly the fans were to all of us.  Of course, with suits and ties on we stood out from the average ice hockey fan. Several people came up to talk to us after the game. They wanted to know where we were from and especially if we enjoyed the game.  A very fun evening. It's amazing that we lived in Spokane, Washington for 30 years where ice hockey is pretty big but I had to travel to Russia to see my first ice hockey game. (Paul had been once in Spokane with his Priest quorum many years ago.)

Elder Jewkes

covering up his

suit jacket.

Elder Bass trying to look

more like a fan than

a missionary

A little missionary work being done. 

The elders had met this boy on the metro earlier in the day and discovered he was going to the game and sitting in the same section as we were.

The loyal and loud fans

The game - Moscow is in the blue

The Mascot.  The team is called the Denamas.

We don't know what their name means nor

could we figure out what the mascot represented

....and of course, the cheer leaders.  This was the first of three other

costume changes they made.  A new outfit for each period.

Wednesday, after studying all morning, we were craving a hamburger from the Shake Shack.  We invited the Ropers, another senior couple here, to go with us. They had not been on Arbat street yet. It was on their list of things to do so they were glad for the invitation to lunch.  We met Micky Mouse as we walked along the street....for a minute we thought we were in Disneyland.

This picture was actually taken the next day as we were there

again for lunch but this time to go to Wendy's

Thursday evening, we taught our first lessons for the new semester of Institute and Pathway Gatherings.  We started the Book of Mormon Institute course as well as a new semester of Pathway.  At Institute, we had 19 in attendance and the lesson was fun to teach. We have missed not teaching these students for the past three weeks of semester break.  It was good to be back with them.  We are excited about teaching the doctrines and principles found in the Book of Mormon.  

Our classroom all ready for the students.  We obviously taught

about the Book of Mormon being the keystone of our religion

as part of our Institute lesson.

Between Institute and our Pathway gathering we served some refreshments - brownies and milk.  We have two Pathway cohorts again this semester, Life Skills and Math.  Of course, Paul is facilitating the Math class.  We both had to teach the introductory lessons this week to each of our cohorts but the students will do the teaching for the rest of the semester. Both lessons went well. We are excited to have 23 students enrolled in Pathway this semester. It is such an opportunity for them to receive a top notch education from a church affiliated university. We are so glad to be a a part of this program.

Friday was a day of study.  As soon as we teach one lesson for Institute we begin reading for the next week's lesson.  We have to teach two units each week in order to get through half of the Book of Mormon by the semester's end.  That's a lot of reading of the scriptures and studying of the manuals. We do enjoy the time studying and planning together. 

In the afternoon, we met with the elders and sisters who work with us in our English group. There is a new program out and we needed to go over the changes and make plans for carrying them out.  This is our third 8 week English course and the third change we have experienced.  It's a good thing we are flexible because this 8 weeks will really be different from the others.  It all begins again next Wednesday.

Saturday we had to be out of our apartment early to travel down to the South building for another baptism. This was to be a young adult and we wanted to be there to welcome him and invite him to the YSA activities.  When we got there we were told the person to be baptized was not there yet. The elders even went to his home but couldn't find him.  We were sad that the baptism did not take place.  It will be interesting to find out what happened to him.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at home with a constant stream of elders and sisters coming and going from our apartment.  The sisters came by to send an email, then the International Ward elders called to see if they could bring Emmanuel over for a short lesson.  Of course, we said yes but we had to let them know that Elders Bass and Davis were coming over for a lesson a half hour later.  It actually was a little miracle that they were inspired to call as the investigator coming with Bass and Davis needed to be passed off to these International Ward elders.  That happened successfully. Almost on cue, as the lesson with Bobakar, the investigator, was ending, two other elders buzzed to come up. They needed to create and print off a schedule for our English group. Just a little crazy. We are in such a convenient location that we get lots of visits from elders and sisters in our mission. It's great to get to know so many of them.

WE KNOW WE'VE ADJUSTED TO LIFE IN RUSSIA SPOTLIGHT

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


.....the smoke filled hallways of our apartment building don't bother us anymore.  We hardly notice it now unless someone has been smoking out in the stairwell. That is against the law but happens regularly in our apartment building.  Someone has even left this lovely ashtray on the stairs for convenience.

.....we automatically grab an umbrella before leaving the house.  We think it precipitates (either rain or snow) as much as it does in Western Oregon and Washington.  Lots of grey skies.

.....we ask ourselves how many carry bags we will need when we go shopping.  Not only do we have to carry everything home that we buy but the stores charge for each bag you use to put groceries in.

.....we automatically buy twice the amount of potatoes we need. When we get them home and wash all the dirt off we find many spoiled spots. Then when we peel them we sometimes have to cut half of the potato away.  

WE HOPE YOU HAVE HAD A WONDERFUL WEEK TOO.