HOME TEACHING IN MOSCOW.......... AN INTERESTING EXPEREINCE

Going home teaching is a little different in Moscow. You can't just jump in the car, pick up your partner, and drive to the family's home.  Home teaching here means riding several minutes (sometimes up to an hour) on the metro, meeting your partner at a metro station, possibly then taking a bus, and when finally in the neighborhood,walking several blocks to the apartment building. Once there, you have to punch in an entrance code, be buzzed in, and then take the elevator or stairs to the appropriate floor. Never a quick happening.

Paul with his home teaching

partner Vladimir

Paul went home teaching this week for the first time since we've been here.  Last month he was asked to partner with our friend, Vladimir, to home teach 2 families. Tuesday, late afternoon, Paul boarded the metro to meet Vladimir at the appointed metro stop.  When they both arrived, they walked up and out onto the street and started walking.  Vladimir was sure he knew where to go so they walked for a long time until he finally decided they were going in the wrong direction. They turned around, walked back to the metro, crossed under the street, and started walking in the opposite direction.  After several minutes, it was determined that Vladimir really didn't know where he was going.  Finally, they called the family and got directions. When they arrived at the apartment, an hour late, Paul realized it was located right across the street from the apartment where we had stayed the first week we were here. Luckily the family could still visit with them and they had a good visit. Paul was thrilled when he found out the family was the parents of the little boy he adores. (The little boy reminds us of our little Nathan, Ryan and Katie's youngest.) This sweet family sent them home with cookies. 

Neen, and Elders Burton and Shepherd just

finishing up the cookies we offered them.

Tuesday was a busy day for both of us. It was our district meeting, as usual. We served spaghetti, so it was easier than most lunches. Paul left as soon as the meeting was over to go home teaching and I had some quiet time by myself until the International Elders, Shepherd and Burton, brought our friend, Neen, over for a discussion. He has a baptismal date for July 27 and they wanted to help him gain a greater testimony of President Monson as a prophet. After a short discussion, we watched the hour long video on President Monson's life. It was hard to tell Neen's reaction to it but the elders challenged him to go home and prayer about the things he had seen and find out for himself if President Monson is truly a prophet.  Hopefully he will do that before his baptismal interview.  

Also on Tuesday, Paul had the opportunity to be a good Samaritan.  As he was coming home on the metro, he noticed a young family who spoke English. They got off the train at our stop and Paul asked where they were from.  They were here with their two small children on a vacation from Philadelphia.  Paul noticed that they looked a little bewildered when they got outside the metro so he asked where they were going. The dad pulled out a map and pointed to the spot where they had rented an apartment for the week. This couple asked if they needed to get a taxi to get there but Paul could tell it was pretty close by.  We have walked down that particular street many times so he offered to take them to where they were staying.  Ten minutes later they were safely at the apartment building. They were so appreciative of Paul's assistance as both the parents and the two children were very tired from all their travels and had no idea where to go. It felt good to be of help to someone.

So sad....no more Baja salads

Wednesday, we decided to travel to Metropolis Mall to go the Stockman's and have lunch at Paul's favorite place, Wendy's. We got to Stockman's and they didn't have what we were looking for (Rice Krispies) so we went up to get lunch. Paul went to order at Wendy's and found out they no longer offer the Baja salad which is our favorite...so sad. We ended up at Burger King and knew right then that we had probably made our last trip to Metropolis Mall for a long, long time.

That night we went to English group an hour early so we could sit in on a discussion with Elders Holland and McKibban.  Their investigator's name was Alexander and we got the impression he had met with the elders several times. They were trying to motivate him to read the Book of Mormon more frequently so we read a few verses together and tried to answer his questions about what we were reading.  It seemed to go pretty well even though our answers had to be translated for Alexander.

Thursday we met with our Senior Council to listen to the Burgeners, one of our senior couples, tell us about their first mission to Kenya. It seems when they arrived, after training as perpetual education missionaries, they were told the Mission President wanted to change their assignment.  They were sent to Tanzania as a counselor in the mission presidency in charge of the church and the missionaries in that area. They were the only senior couple in the whole country and could not speak the native language. They said that the electricity and water was a questionable luxury as it came on and off at unpredictable times. We had to leave early as always, but we left grateful to be serving our mission in Moscow.

Our visual aids for our lesson

Our Institute lesson was on how to anchor our souls to Christ....taken from the last chapters of Ether. It was a good lesson but we were a little discouraged. We only had 5, instead of the usual 10 to 15,who were in attendance. Often their cell phones would ring which caused a distraction as they got up to leave the classroom to answer the call. Most everyone finally showed up by the time our gathering started, so both those classes went better. This was the last week for several of our students as they will be at a young single adult conference next week when we hold our last Institute and gathering for the semester.

Our last English gathering when all will be present

Friday morning, Paul got a call from Elder Genys who asked if Paul would consider going out on a lesson with him and his companion in twenty minutes. We quickly changed our plans so Paul could meet the elders at the appointed time. It was a lesson with a Felix from Ghanna.  The discussion was held on a park bench. It was a new experience for Paul as we have only been in on lessons at our apartment or at the church...never in a park. He was glad he had put forth the effort to go with the elders. When he returned we ran a few errands and then headed, on the metro, for Evonne's shop, the business of the man from Ismylova market where we bought some gifts last Saturday. His shop was very hard to find as it was back in off the street, but Evonne came out and showed us where it was.  He has a nice shop where he carries many more Russian gift items than we saw at his booth at Ismylova.  We were successful in finding what we were looking for to round out the gifts for all the grandchildren. Now we have to think about the adults and what we want to take home for ourselves.

Even the bags our purchases were put into reflect the Russian culture.

The first time we went to Ismylova we purchased a few movies, three of which were the first three seasons of Downton Abbey.  We had heard so much about this series before we left but hadn't watched any of it.  Many senior couples were watching it here so we decided to see what it was all about....and now we are hooked. That's what we did on Friday night and several nights thereafter.....Season 1 and 2 done. We will have to go back to Ismylova and get season 4 sometime.

The entrance arch at VDNKH park

We decided to do some sightseeing on Saturday as we didn't have any pressing plans. The Piersons and ourselves traveled up to the VDNKH park. (That is an acronym for a long Russian name.) It has recently been renamed the All- Russian Exhibition Center and is being restored to its once glorious state. It used to be called the Exhibition of Economic Achievements of the USSR During the Soviet Union time, it was the prime tourist destination as it was built as a representation of the economic success of that era. The entrance is a triumphal type arch which stands at the front end of a long walkway along which one sees the Pavilion of the Peoples of the USSR and a beautiful fountain featuring 15 golden statues.  

A beautiful fountain

Each stature represents a former republic of the Soviet Union and each is depicted in the native dress of the region. It was beautiful. There were many other beautiful buildings, most of which were being renovated so we had no idea what they were representing. At the end of the park, there was a rocket and airplane on display as well as another fountain.  Another interesting feature was a house built upside down.....go figure. Many people were buying tickets to walk through it. We did not.  On both sides of the walkway were an amusement park rides complete with one of the largest ferris wheels we have ever seen. We ended our walk through the park with lunch at a delightful little restaurant located inside the park...very expensive for lunch but very good food.  

The Pavilion of the People guarded by a statue of Lenin.

One of many beautiful buildings along the 

walkway. The word on this building 

spells Armenia so we are

 thinking the buildings used to

 represent each of the former 

republics of the Soviet Union.

The rocket

The upside down house.

Notice the car, the dog house, and the dog.

Beautiful gardens seen along the way

The huge ferris wheel with the amusement park in the fore ground

Just outside the park was the impressive Space Obelisk. As you stand in front of this monument representing a rocket lifting off, one can easily see the pride of the people in their country's accomplishments in space. It was built in 1964, three years after Yurly Gagarin's historic flight into space.

The monument to Russian accomplishments in space 

It stands 328 feet high

The base of the monument

Sister King helping Yvonne

 read a recipe and measure out peanut butter. 

Sunday brought with it an opportunity to teach a young African sister how to bake. The International sisters, King and Miller, are teaching a young girl named Yvonne. The last time they were all together she expressed an interest in learning how to bake. She had never baked in her life. The sisters immediately called me to see if I would be available after church to help her bake some cookies.  She loves peanut butter and one of the sisters said she loved a banana cookie I make, so those were the two type of cookies we baked. Some of the peanut butter cookies we dipped halfway in chocolate, some we left plain, and some were stuffed with a Snickers bar.....yummy.  

Enjoying the finished product

Yvonne was so cute as she and the sisters mixed up the dough together, put the cookie dough on the baking sheets and, when cooled, dipped or frosted the cookies. The banana cookies were frosted with a cream cheese icing. A fun afternoon.  While the cookies were cooling, we had a discussion with Yvonne to review the plan of salvation.  She is very knowledgeable and believes the Book of Mormon is true.  We were so grateful to have met this dynamite young girl. A great way to spend the Sabbath.

Our lesson in Gospel Principles class was on sacrifice.  When asked to comment about sacrifices we had made or observed being made, Paul talked about the  sacrifice of serving on a mission in Moscow. He commented that when we first received this call, we definitely felt we were sacrificing much.....but since we have been here and come to love these wonderful people, it is no longer a sacrifice but a great blessing in our lives. It will now be a sacrifice to leave here, knowing we probably will never see these people again.

LIFE IN RUSSIA SPOTLIGHT

This woman hung her purse 

on the back of a chair

Here the purse in sitting on the chair

but not on the floor.

While we were at Evonne's shop in town, he made an interesting comment. When I took my purse off from around by neck and set it on the floor next to the couch, he said that Russians never put their purses on the floor.  When we asked why, he said it is thought that they will lose their fortune if they do.  Every time I go to a fast food restaurant I put my purse on the floor under the table.....a sure give away that we are Americans.

Another Russian superstition is about smiling.  We have commented many times about how sober the Russians are, especially while riding the metro.  The reason....if you smile you are a fool. It seems that to smile randomly at people you make eye contact with is not the thing to do.  Smiles are supposed to be genuine and should only be shared with friends. Again, it is obvious we are not Russian.

As we were leaving the park on Saturday, we saw a new kind of taxi.  We have never seen a bicycle taxi before in Moscow.  Maybe it is unique to this park although this was seen on a street leading to the park.

WHAT A GREAT WEEK!!!

A CHALLENGING WEEK - SAYING GOODBYE TO 3 MISSIONARIES, HAVING 2 DISTRICT MEETINGS AND NURSING 1 SORE FOOT

Looking good!

This week was transfer week and so, at our district meeting on Tuesday, we had to say good bye to our sweet Sister Hunter, and to Elder Knight and Elder Beauchemin. We get so attached to the elders and sisters in our district that it is challenging to see them leave - Elder Knight and Sister Hunter to outlying cities and Elder Beauchemin home to America. Because Elder Beauchemin was going home, he got to chose what he wanted for our district lunch. He chose tacos so we went with both hard and soft tacos.  He also wanted a coconut cream pie for dessert. I did both a coconut cream and a chocolate cream pie. 

Elder Braun

It's a good thing we had lots of food as we ended up feeding two extra elders, Elder Braun and his companion, Elder Howe. Elder Howe was going home, too, so he and Elder Braun came up to Moscow on Tuesday. They came by our home to drop off Elder Howe's suitcases. (We were keeping them at our home overnight for him.)  They arrived just before our district meeting so we invited them to stay for lunch. They were thrilled and ended up staying for the whole district meeting. It was fun having Elder Braun back in our home.

The singing of our 'district song' for the last time all together

Our  wonderful district

Sisters Taylor and Hunter, Elders Hoffman, Beauchemin, Johnson, Jones,

Back row: Elders Welsh and Knight

The second district meeting was held on Friday. The mission decided to change district meetings to Fridays during the week of transfers. The new policy started with this transfer....hence a second district meeting in less than  a week....three days to be exact.  We decided the elders and sisters would  bring meats and cheeses and I would bake homemade bread and supply the condiments for sandwiches. Of course, we also made a fruit salad and a dessert to round out the lunch. It was a good lunch but the meeting was even better. During the meeting three weeks of specific goals were set in place including a study goal, a key indicator goal, and an obedience goal for each week. They set out ways to report progress and to reward success. The best part of the meeting came when our district leader, Elder Hoffman, gave some thoughts on faith. The spirit was so strong as he testified and promised blessings for our district if we would all work with faith, nothing doubting. We had a district prayer to petition the Lord's help in accomplishing the things they have set out to do.  It was a powerful meeting....unlike any district meeting we've attended.  We look for great things to happen in our district and in the mission.

Elder Eliason, the new AP, with Elder Johnson

Brand new to Russia.

 Elder St. Clair (right) with Elder Hoffman 

Beautiful Sister Shepherd  (left) with Sister Taylor

At Friday's district meeting, we met the three missionaries who joined our district. Elder St. Clair is new to the Russian Moscow Mission. He is one of eleven children and the only member of the church in his family. He was baptized just a year ago and was so excited to be coming to Russia on his mission. It was his first choice. The harder the mission, the more growth was the reason for wanting to come here. This is a hard mission so he should experience tremendous growth. Sister Shepherd is a singer and a musician. In fact, she was a member of a Mariachi band before she left on her mission. She will be a wonderful sister trainer. Our third new missionary isn't exactly new to us. He was in our district until just last transfer when he was sent to an outer city to be a zone leader. We were thrilled when we found out Elder Eliason was returning to our district to be an assistant to the president. He will be an incredible assistant along with Elder Johnson.

Ouch!!!

Now for the hurt foot....it is mine. It has been a bit challenging to prepare two lunches and do the other things necessary this week with a sore foot.  It's my old Plantar's Fasciitis acting up. I must have irritated my heel somehow with all the walking we do and now I am paying the price. Lots of taping, icing, and staying off my feet as much as possible (HA, HA!) and hopefully it will heal quickly.


Other happenings of the week include an amazing discussion with John on Monday. He is from Nigeria and has been in Moscow for 10 years.  He left his pregnant wife and a one year old son when he came here to earn money to support his family. He has not been back to Nigeria since, so he has never seen his, now, 10 year old son in person. They skype every night and he hopes to be back in Nigeria by the end of the year. He is one incredible man. He kept saying he was blessed to be in our home listening to the gospel message but we were the ones blessed by his powerful spirit. Never before have we seen a truer Christian. His whole life reflects his love for Jesus Christ. We could even see it in his eyes.  When he left we looked at each other and said, "Do you feel we have just been taught by this man?" Many times, in the almost 2 hours we were together, we found ourselves thinking we needed to be more like him as far as living as Christ would have us live. We will never forget this Christ-like man. Hopefully, we will see him again....he just needs the added fullness of the gospel to complete his life.

Tuesday night we went to the church to give three English Proficiency tests to prospective Pathway students. Just by chance, Paul found out Monday night that BYU Idaho had changed the test from the one we gave a couple of weeks ago. It was a good thing he had time to react as he had to print off the right test booklet and download the audio for the test. We had received no notification that the test had been changed. It is now 100 questions and takes 90 minutes to complete. We feel it is a hard test and will make it much more difficult to get students into the program. We are hoping at least 2 of the 3 passed but we won't know for a couple of weeks as BYU Idaho hasn't even come up with the grading rubric yet. We only have until the end of August to get enough students (10) to start a new cohort. (Update: as of this writing, 2 of the 3 did pass so we now have 4 students waiting to register...only 6 more to go.)

The transfer meeting on Wednesday was a wonderful meeting. The outgoing missionaries bore powerful testimonies of the gospel and their missions. We hate to see these missionaries leave as they truly have been the leaders of the mission. Of the 6 leaving, three of them had been Assistants to the President and one worked in the office with the President. We will miss them as 4 of the 6 have been members of our district at some time since we've been here.  At the meeting, we were handed a note from Elder Knight, the young elder leaving our district. He wrote us a letter thanking us for all we had done (food fixed and dishes washed) for him. He said he now has a goal to serve a mission as a senior couple with his wife someday....so thoughtful.

Not a good picture but it was the best the camera would do.

Left to right: Elders Ricks, Howe, Crawford, Friar, and Beauchemin, and Sister Johnson.

On a sad note, as we were leaving the building on Wednesday, we ran into the International Elders, Shepherd and Burton. They told us that one of their investigators died on Monday night. His name was Henry and he had been to our home a couple of times. He had a baptismal date set for the 27th of July. It seems he left his apartment around 10 at night and at 1 in the morning his roommate got a call saying he was dead. No one can say exactly what happened but it is thought that he drowned. A little strange. His father is the ambassador to Moscow from his country, Seirra Leone in Africa.  We were told later that the Bishop and the elders went to the embassy and talked with the father. They got permission to do the temple work for Henry. That brought tears to our eyes when we heard that.

This is how our coffee table looks

before the missionaries drop by...

full candy and nut bowls

Thursday, we had 2 set of elders come to our home to skype another mission meeting with district leaders. We always have candy and nuts out on our coffee table and between the 4 of them they ate almost all of them.....besides the plate of cookies I set out for them after their meeting. Elders love to eat.




We taught our Institute lesson that night.  It was on faith and prayer as exhibited by the Brother of Jared in the Book of Ether. We gave the students a self assessment about how they prayed and it got us all to think a little more about how we can improve our prayers to our Father in Heaven. We got a message from Lada, one of our students, that she was using what we had taught her on Thursday in a family home evening lesson with her mom this week.  She is one who always takes notes on what we teach.  

Misha dressed in his new

sleeping bag.

Friday, our young singles went on an overnight camp out. We met them at the church just as they were getting ready to leave. There were about 30 of them going and, of course, they asked if we were going. We had come to the church to open the Institute room up for game night, and not at all prepared to go camping. We were very glad it was not required of us to go with them as these old bodies would not do well sleeping on the ground. Misha, our coordinator, and his wife, Sveta, went though. He was not real thrilled about the prospect but his wife is a big outdoorsy type person so he reluctantly went along. The day before the camp he bought two sleeping bags. He wanted his wife to see them so he had me take a picture of him zipped up in one of them. He is so tall we guessed he must have had to buy an extra long one.

It was back to Ismylava market on Saturday.....hurt heel and all. We wanted to start buying gifts for family to send back home with Todd and Kailee when they come in three weeks. We were so lucky to find exactly what we wanted for Jon's boys and three of Andrea's girls. We have to go to Evonne's shop this week to get what we want to buy for the other grandchildren. It was a quick but productive trip. When we got home, I immediately iced my foot and stayed off of it the rest of the weekend.  It is feeling much better now. Thank goodness.

Two more things about this week....

1. We got our hot water back finally on Wednesday afternoon. It was so good to take a hot shower again. Oh, how we take things for granted until we are without them. It was a bit challenging but we made it through.

2. We passed our 1 year mark....July 8.  It seems impossible that we could have been on our mission that long but we already have a coming home date. We found out this week that we will be flying home on the 18th of December....at least that is the proposed date of our return flight. Our replacements, the Jensens, will enter the MTC the first week of December as that is the only time there is a CES training for senior couples until late in January. They will be here around the 12th of December giving us 4 or 5 days to train them in what we do. This brings us home three weeks short of 18 months. It is really good timing, though, as we will teach our last institute and conduct our last Pathway gathering the night before we leave.....and we will be home for Christmas!  The Jensens are the people who come to Moscow on a vacation and we talked to them about coming back on a mission to take our place.....if all goes as planned they should be the ones replacing us.

LIVING IN RUSSIA SPOTLIGHT

Doesn't it look like a small pumpkin?

Thursday night, on the way to Institute, we passed a man who was selling melons out of the trunk of his car. We looked at them in passing and saw that one fruit looked like a small pumpkin.  We wondered out loud what kind of fruit it might be. The man selling them must have heard us talking about it because a couple of minute later (and about a half a block away from his car) we heard, "Excuse me."  We turned around at the sound of English being directed at us and saw this man rushing up with one of the melons in his hand. He insisted we take it, free of charge, and had even brought a bag with him to put it in so we could carry it easily. It turned out to be a wonderful white melon inside the orange exterior. I used it in the fruit salad at district meeting and it added a wonderful sweetness to the salad. If we ever see that man there again we will, for sure, buy a melon or two from him.

After going to Ismylava, on Saturday, we went into a nearby mall to grab a bit of lunch. As we entered we noticed this clever way to advertise. The face of each step had the name and location of the different stores in the mall.  It was impossible not to notice and read what was written on the stairs as you climbed them.....great advertising technique.

Every where we go we see trucks cleaning the streets here in Moscow. They drive right down the middle of the street, even in peak traffic times, spraying water everywhere.  We often wonder what the drivers of the cars think as the water does spray the cars that are in its way. (That would be maddening if you had just had your car washed.) Sometimes the spray even hits the pedestrians on the sidewalks. At least it keeps the dust down which is a good thing as Moscow is a very dusty place judging by the number of times in a week we have to dust our apartment.

ONE YEAR DOWN.....BUT WHO'S COUNTING?

NOT US!

WEEK OF COLD WATER BUT WARM HEARTS

Yes, our hot water, as promised, was turned off Monday morning.  It has been quite an adventure trying to find things to eat that take little clean up....or at least not greasy clean up.  Showering hasn't been as bad as we had imagined as long as we run the water through the small water heater in our bathroom. The problem is that we can only turn the water on to a trickle for it to heat the water to barely lukewarm. Thus it takes us a long time to rinse off.  That's better then having to rinse off in totally cold water which is what most of the elders and sisters have to do when it's their turn to be without hot water. A couple of the senior couples we've talked to have an alternative water system, so they never have to experience the cold water weeks of Moscow. Lucky them.

In spite of the cold water, we have seen many expressions of warm hearts from missionaries, investigators and our Russian friends.  Let us explain.......

Our week began with a member discussion in our home, with Tuscan, on Monday evening. He is here from the Congo studying economics. He learned both Russian and English the first year he was here.  He was baptized about 18 months ago. We felt his 'warm' heart for the gospel when he accepted a challenge to give away a Book of Mormon to a friend.  He is really a sharp young man.

Sister King reading the poem and Sister Taylor with the

Santa bag and Christmas tree.

On Tuesday, the sisters held "Christmas in July" for the elders.  After lunch they sat everyone down for a 'warm-hearted' experience. The sister began by reciting a poem in the Night before Christmas format. After the poem, they produced a Santa bag full of wrapped gifts for each of the elders.  It seems the sisters had an apartment clean out P-day on Monday and found some priceless treasures in the bottom of their closets......hats, a turtle neck, a hood, a pair of gloves and some long, long, long socks.  We had a good laugh as each gift was unwrapped and modeled by the recipient.  We all laughed especially hard about the long socks which Elder Johnson wore during the rest of the meeting.  We have the best district....but it's transfers next week and we know we will lose a few.

Elder Welsh

Elder Beauchemin

Elder Johnson

Elder Jones

Elder Hoffman

Elder Knight

The fashion show

Later that day, we reunited with an investigator we hadn't seen for a few months. Neen is from Vietnam.  We were thrilled when the elders said he has a baptismal date for the end of July.  We first met Neen at English group and then he came to our home for a discussion. Tuesday we discussed the word of wisdom with him which he seemed to accept easily.

Wednesday, we were privileged to have a new member discussion with Justin. Michael came along and we had a discussion about the sacrament to answer a question Justin had raised in gospel princples class on Sunday. Both Justin and Michael expressed a 'warm' thank you for the talks we gave at the baptism. Justin referred to that day and our talks as something he would remember the rest of his life. 

Putting on the friendship bracelets

At the last minute, we got a call from the International sisters, King and Miller, to see if by chance we could squeeze in a discussion before we had to leave for English group. Of course, we said yes and were so glad we did. Their investigator, Chaddice, brought a friend, Sherman, along with her. They are from the same home town in Malaysia, and just happened to meet on the metro. Chaddice invited Sherman to come along with her to meet the sisters. He said he didn't know why he agreed to come but was so glad he did.  It seems he has been seeking a change in his life and wanting to find a church here in Moscow. He took home a Book of Mormon, accepted the challenge to read it, and committed to meet with the elders. He kept saying, over and over again, that this chance meeting must have been from a higher source.  He truly needs the gospel in his life. Chaddice has been meeting with the sisters long enough to develop a very 'warm' relationship with them. She was leaving the next evening for a month long trip. The sisters made friendship bracelets for all of them so, even apart, they would think about each other.  A few hugs and tears followed. There were many warm hearts felt on that day.

Thursday, was Institute and Gathering, as always....at least for the next three weeks. Our lesson compared the Zion people of Nephi (34 AD to 200 AD) to the Fallen people of Nephi (200 AD to 400 AD). We discussed what brought about the fall of so great a people and challenged them to become a Zion person by being true believers in Christ.  The warm heart was expressed after our gathering meeting. Victoria was the lead student in the English cohort.  She did an incredible job, complete with a demonstration to illustrate her gospel connection part of the lesson. When I complimented her on her obvious preparation and her great object lesson, she said it was all our fault.  She said that now, when she prepares any kind of a lesson, she thinks about our lessons and the preparation we go through and the visual aids we display. It causes her to feel compelled to prepare more and make her lessons more visual, hence the object lesson.  We were touched by her compliment.

Friday, Elder and Sister Hays invited us to go in a mission car to the Metro.  It is a Costco type store and is located far away from where either of us live. They wanted to stock up on cheeses and meats as they have a full size freezer in their apartment. (Their apartment used to be a mission home so it's very roomy....enough to house a dryer and a freezer...both of which most other senior couples don't have.)  We were glad we tagged along to the Metro as we found cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soups. That will save me some time not having to make it from scratch.  We found a pizza pan too...something we haven't been able to find anywhere else. Afterward, we went to lunch at a nice Italian restaurant in the Hays' neighborhood.

Loading all the groceries....mostly the Hays' purchases

Can't wait to use this soup....a rare find in Russia

The beautiful park

That evening we changed into something casual, jumped on the metro, and met the young singles at Ismylava park for a 'Cheese' party.  Everyone brought different kinds of cheeses and crackers and that's what they munched on all evening. Juices and fruits were there also and we brought some crunch topped brownies.  It was a great party.  After a spiritual thought and eating cheeses, they all played games and had a wonderful time.  Everyone stayed around until almost 10:00.....of course it is still very light at that time so no one was in a hurry to leave.  Whenever we are with our young singles we feel much 'warmth' coming from them to us.  We love being around them as they make us think we are young.

Listening to the spiritual thought which always happens before our activities begins

'Cutting the Cheese'

Playing a Ninja game

One of Evonne's booths....notice the Michigan shirt

and the BYU hat.  He obviously caters to Americans

and missionaries.

Saturday, the 5th, the Piersons and Hays met at our apartment to travel to the Ismylava market.  We were all looking for gifts to take home to families when we leave here. That is the best place to buy souveniers because they are much less expensive than in the shops in town. We found Evonne's shops. He speaks wonderful English and helped us know what to look for to make sure what we buy is authentic Russian. We will go to his shop in town or back to Ismylava to order what we want from him. 

Such a fun night!

That night we all met as a group of senior couples to celebrate the 4th on July, even though it was the 5th. We met in the Institute room, ate a pot luck dinner and then watched 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.' It is a black and white film with Jimmy Cagney and is over 2 hours long, but it left us with a great pride and a feeling of 'warmth' for our country and our soldiers. It was a special way to celebrate the 4th and also feel the 'warmth' of the friendships that we have developed as senior couples here in Moscow.

Sunday was fast and testimony meeting. Again it was a spiritual feast with many 'warm' testimonies being born. We were especially touched with Ollya's testimony. She is only 16 and was introduced to the gospel by her Dad, Andrey, who joined the church a few months before she did. She talked about how she has to travel 3 hours each way to get to church on Sunday. She said she wouldn't want to miss the 'warm feeling' she has when she is in church, so she makes the trip every week. Later in Relief Society, she and the Young Women's presidency gave a presentation on families. Ollya talked about the difference in her family since she and her dad have joined the church. She said they are holding family home evening every week and that her mom, who is not a member, even joins them. Their family has become so much more loving because of the gospel in their lives. Quite a testimony of the 'warmth' and love she feels in her heart for the gospel.

LIVING IN RUSSIA SPOTLIGHT

I read an article posted on Facebook by a former missionary, entitled '15 things Russians do that other people would find strange'.  The first one that we could relate to was that Russians never throw away bags of any kind. They say that you never know when you might need them.  We started saving plastic bags as soon as we came.....the reason, you never know when you might need them to line the garbage cans, or to carry groceries, or take out the trash.  We have our own stash, although we do throw away some.

This week I baked 5 dozen rolls for an open house for a Russian sister who was getting married. The senior sisters who planned this went to a lot of work making desserts, salads, casseroles and baking ham.  On the day of the open house, the bride and her mother dropped off a ton more food. The sisters couldn't understand why they had brought any food at all as the sisters thought they had planned carefully with the bride.  Needless to say, there was much food left over. It seems that Russians always prepare more food than necessary when friends come to dinner..... or so that's what this article said.  Maybe that was why the bride and her mother felt the extra food was necessary.

This week we noticed a welcome addition to the new little park on our walk to the metro.  When they built the park they put in a large circle with a light post in the center.  During the winter they had put colored bark in the circle which looked quite good.  This summer we thought, for sure, they would fill it with flowers several weeks ago when they planted all the planter boxes in the area.  But they didn't. Well, this week, it finally happened and  it looks beautiful....much better than the faded old bark.

AND THAT'S THE END OF OUR COLD,

BUT VERY WARM WEEK