A WEEK OF SIMPLE JOYS

Little things come to mean so much when you are in Russia on a mission.  This week it was those little things that have touched our lives.  

Monday, a young boy helped Paul lift our heavy bob cart up a flight of stairs in the metro station. Paul had just started slowly rolling the cart up, stair by stair, when this boy picked up the bottom of the cart and helped lift it to the top of the stairs. So thoughtful....and it sure made it easier for Paul.  He dreads pulling the bob cart up those stairs every week after our Monday shopping trips.

On Wednesday, we got word that a package had come into the mission office for us from home.  Packages are always a joy even when we know exactly what is in them. This one contained some much needed body wash.  I had been out for a couple of weeks and my skin had been driving me crazy. Happiness is not having itchy skin. We found great joy, also, in receiving more chocolate chips, onion powder, and ranch dressing mix.....and a movie. Those simple things mean a lot when you can't get them here.

An interesting thing happened on Friday.  We were sitting on the metro train talking and laughing with each other when a young girl, who had been sitting across from us, stood up and started saying something to me in Russia. I asked her if she spoke English and, much to my surprise, she started speaking in English. She told me that my necklace was pretty and that my eyes twinkled.  She commented on my smile and told me I was beautiful. She didn't have to so that, but she did, and it sure made my day.

You can see how closely the word hymn in

Russian resembles the English word.

On Sunday, just before church started, a young boy brought us a hymn book. We said 'spaseeba' (thank you) and took the book.  It wasn't until we went to open it to sing the opening song that we recognized how really thoughtful this little boy had been. He had brought us an English hymn book, not a Russian one, so we could sing the songs in our own language. This little boy's simple gesture brought joy to our hearts.

The three piece band we often see outside our metro station.

Each day this week, our steps have been made a little lighter as we have walked home from the metro because of this group of men playing their drums, key board, and guitar. Another little thing that adds joy to our lives. We need to bring some money to give to them one of these days.

And lastly.....marshmallows. We found marshmallows once again at Stockman's. They have not had them on their shelves for several months. Oh, the joy of little things.  






Other happenings of the week included another missionary discussion with the International Ward elders and Piero.  Of course, Raymond's wife came to translate so her little two boys came with her again.  Seth, the older boy, wouldn't sit still so I found some markers in our office and sat him down in the kitchen to color on some paper.  That kept him happy for several minutes as he colored and munched on some potato chips we had in our cupboard. When he was done he had to put his pictures up on our refrigerator with our magnets.  He was pretty proud of his creations. We are glad the elders bring someone to translate for them, but these little boys don't add much to the spirit of the discussion. We sent Piero home with a sack lunch as he is still homeless and often goes without food.  Since this meeting we have learned that Peiro's baptismal date has been slipped back a couple of weeks to give him time to find a job and get his life somewhat settled.  Hopefully that will happen soon.

Some of Seth's pictures

Tuesday was another discussion with Evonne.  Paul sat in on that one as I was in the kitchen preparing for our district lunch.  The discussion was on the proper authority and baptism.  Paul added to the discussion by helping Evonne understand why it is so important to be baptized by one who has the authority from God to baptize.  

Lunch was sweet and sour pork....pretty labor intensive but very yummy. (I had fixed this for Paul last Sunday. He had loved it and wanted our district to try it.)  Everyone had seconds leaving just enough for us to have another meal during the week. After lunch, we got a kick out of Elder Jewkes. He was so stoked about him and his companion being able to go to an outlying city this weekend. They were going to help a family work their cattle ranch and to teach them how to hold sacrament meeting in their home. This family is the only members in that area. Elder Jewkes is a cowboy at heart and couldn't wait to get out and do some ranch chores. Elder Knight, also a cowboy, gave him a Russian ranch/farm dictionary and Elder Jewkes was so excited to study it so he would know the 'cowboy' terms so he could converse with this family about their ranch. 

It was Elder Knight's birthday so we

put a candle in his piece of cake.

Wednesday, after our return from the mission office to get our package, we attended the sign up night for English group.  We went upstairs to see what the elders needed us to do and were immediately put in charge of entertaining those who came into our room.  We had to fill about 45 minutes. Thank goodness for Paul's love of idioms. He kept them involved trying to guess their meanings. We, then, played a get to know you game using squares of toilet paper. Each person took an amount of toilet paper and then had to tell one thing about themselves for each square they had taken.  It was a fun way to learn about our Russian friends. I had given Paul 7 squares so he had to come up with seven things about himself. As always, he had the group laughing and enjoying his comments.

On the first Thursday of each month we have a skype session with other CES couples from the East European area.  A CES coordinator from Ukraine gives us some training and we share thoughts and ideas with each other.  It will be a good thing if we can ever get the technology to work.  This month the sound kept going in and out so our discussions were interrupted many times.  

Dressed for our skype session?????

Missionary attire on the top half anyway.  

Later that evening, we taught our Institute lesson which was on the Plan of Salvation. We had spent most of the week preparing, as we usually do, and felt the lesson went pretty well. We concluded it with a video of the family whose mother, brother and sister were killed in an automobile accident on Christmas eve a few years ago in Utah. The father and his son talked about the accident and bore testimony about eternal families and God's plan for us to return to Him. It was a touching way to help the students apply the lesson of the Plan of Salvation.

An object lesson during the spiritual thought

Our monthly YSA night was held on Friday.  It started out rather slow and we were worried, at first, about how it would turn out.  In the end, over 30 people showed up and all had a good time. There was a spiritual thought, a game, and refreshments. Everyone then stayed around visiting and doing various activities for the rest of the evening. It was a great success after all.

A group playing a game

Another game: The object was to try and snatch

the papers off the person who was blindfolded

without him touching you.

Saturday brought a wonderful missionary discussion with two sisters, Sisters King and Nielson.  Their investigator's name was Mila.  She is here with her husband and two of her children from the Philippine Islands. They have been here 7 years.  They left their two oldest boys at home with their grandmother and see them, maybe, once a year when they return home for a vacation.  Mila loves God and Jesus Christ and is committed to follow them. The discussion went wonderfully well as the Book of Mormon was introduced to Mila. We all testified about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and how it is another testament of Jesus Christ. Mila said she would read the book and pray about it. We were glad we had been apart of that discussion. 

Inside the Mega Mall

As soon as the discussion ended, we quickly changed our clothes, jumped on the metro, and rode to the end of the green line.  We met the Hayes there so we could all go up to IKEA. The Hayes had never been to IKEA and we needed a new bath mat for our bathroom. We found it and towels to match, a small griddle, a lint remover, and two small juice pitchers.  Afterwards we walked over to the Mega Mall to find somewhere to have dinner. We ended up at TGI Friday's and had a good meal. The interesting thing about meals in Russia is that you never know if you will all get your food at the same time. We got our meals piecemeal.....my soup and Clarine's chicken cassadias came first, then my barbecue chicken salad. Paul's meal came along later with Dennis' appetizer. Finally, after we had all eaten, Dennis's main course was brought to the table. It was a good thing we weren't in a hurry.  Afterward we felt very lucky to get on a bus to take us back to the metro as there were lots of people trying to board buses to get home.  A rewarding day.

Our purchases...a new look for our bathroom 

LIVING IN RUSSIA SPOTLIGHT

While riding the metro, there are many times that people walk down the aisle asking for money. Some are crippled and some show a picture of a child who is in the hospital.  We have heard someone singing for money while on the train.  Three times last week we had someone playing an accordion. By the third one of the week, I had to snap a picture.

While at the Mega Mall, we noticed a big crowd of people on the main floor watching a giant screen. We think we finally figured out that they were watching a giant video game being played by two teams of players.  The people were really into what was happening and were cheering their favorite teams, having a wonderful time.  We don't know if this happens all the time or if this was a special kind of gathering, but it was interesting to watch.

Notice the broken chair on the roof.

We took this picture on Sunday just outside our apartment on our way to church. We can only imagine what it would be like if the garbage men went on strike around here.  It will be interesting to see when this is all picked up.

WE PASSED OUR HALFWAY MARK THIS WEEK!

HOW COULD THAT BE POSSIBLE?

MUST BE HAVING TOO MUCH FUN.