PATHWAY GATHERINGS AND ENGLISH GROUP BEGIN AGAIN THIS WEEK

We are so excited that our weeks will, once again, be filled with Pathway Gatherings and English group discussions. We miss these meetings when we are on semester break for Pathway and the usual 4 week break between English groups.  Both began again this week.  We are truly back to work.


English group was on Wednesday and, for the fourth time since we've been here, the curriculum has been changed. The change this time is so exciting but so surprising. At our previous English groups, we could not mention the church or gospel principles at any time during our English discussions. Only after it was announced that the English group was concluded could we give a spiritual thought and close with prayer. 
Our discussions centered around travel, family, community, etc.....very generic subjects. It has now been approved by our legal department that we can discuss the gospel. In fact, English group will now be 16 weeks in length and the discussion topics will be based on the gospel.  We will be using The Restoration and Plan of Salvation pamphlets, reading from the scriptures, including the Book of Mormon, and asking our participants to give the prayers.  We basically will be conducting a missionary discussion each week, in English, of course. The participants will also be invited to church on Sundays and to any activities sponsored by the church. Amazing!!  The church legal department cleared this with the idea that recruiting for English group is done with full disclosure of the discussion topics involved in practicing their English skills. Our missionaries are so stoked and did a wonderful job introducing our new English curriculum to those in attendance for sign up night this week. It was very well received. In fact, in our group, the Restoration pamphlet was handed out with the assignment to read the first two pages and to come next week with a Bible.  We will have Book of Mormons, both in English and Russian, for them each week to use. We will be interested to see how our missionaries use us in this new discussion format. 

This is Constantine

A little side note: One of the gentlemen whom we met on Wednesday serenaded me after English group. We ended our group in the chapel area and he sat down to play the piano.  As I said good bye to him, he said, "Aren't you going to listen to me play?"  I said, "Of course." He proceeded, not only, to play the piano but to sing to me, too. He was so sincere and sweet. He was still playing the piano when we left for home.



We have been teaching Institute for two weeks but our Pathway Gatherings began this week, in conjunction with Institute on Thursday. We meet at 6:45 for Institute and then at 8:15 break into our gathering meetings. It was so good to be back in gatherings with our Pathway students as of this week. We have two cohorts - a third semester English class and a first semester Life Skills class. Paul and I conducted this first week's discussion in each class to set the stage for the students to lead the next 12 lessons. This is such an amazing program for the people here and we are glad we can be a part of it for one more semester.

These are two students, new to Moscow and new to Pathway.

They recently were released from their missions in Ukraine.

They are the Dolgov brothers - Dmitry and Stanislav.

They contacted us from their missions in order to make

 arrangements to join Pathway.  They were able to take

a different English test in Ukraine which their mission

 president's wife administered to them.

Institute, this week, was very well attended. Twenty were there by the end of class. We taught how the works of God will not be frustrated as illustrated by the loss of the 116 pages of translated manuscript of the Book of Mormon. It always strengthens our testimonies when we read how Nephi was told to make a second set of plates and then Mormon was instructed to include Nephi's second record in his abridgment, for a 'wise and glorious purpose,' of which neither prophet knew. The Lord knew, of course, that the 116 pages of manuscript would be lost and provided a way for the same period of history to be included in the Book of Mormon without re-translating the portion that was lost. 



Another little side note: Both our Pathway and our Institute success is because of Paul's dedicated effort of almost every day keeping in contact with our students. He has helped them get registered and pay their tuition. He is in constant communication with them via email and phone calls reminding them of deadlines in their studies and encouraging them to attend our Institute class.  I am so glad he takes care of all that. He is a blessing to me and to our students.

Other happenings of the week include the following:

Monday, we took the Ropers shopping with us to Ashans. They had been there once before but wanted us to show them where certain items were located. Sister Roper was interested in the kind of pork roast I have used successfully and what a package of ground beef looked like.  In the stores, there are several kinds of ground meats and they all look somewhat like ground beef.  We showed her the word for beef, as well as what to look for in buying ground beef. Shopping is quite a challenge until you find the right products. There are several kinds of cottage cheese type products but most are real dry. I showed Sister Roper one that is creamier so her lasagna should be more moist. Whipping cream, tomato sauce, parchment paper and baking cocoa were others items they wanted to know about buying. We also helped them learn how to manage the crowds in the store....you never take your cart down the crowded aisles. Instead, you park your cart at the top of the aisle, go get what you need, put it in your cart, and move to the next aisle.  We can make quick work of our shopping even in the busiest of times.

Our worthless purchase

One thing Paul and I were looking for was a new bathtub mat. We found this beautiful one at Ashans. We brought it home, threw the old one away and enjoyed the look of the new one...... until we tried to take a shower with it. The suction cups didn't hold to the bottom of the tub so we slipped around worse with the mat than without. It also was hard to stand on because of its bumpy surface. That one is now in the garbage as well. We have looked at two other stores to find another mat with no luck. You would think a bathtub mat would be easy to find but not so in Moscow......at least not where we shop. Where is Walmart when you need it?


One more side note: The next Monday we checked out the bathtub mats at Ashan's again and found a better one.  It's clear, smoother, and it even sticks to the floor of the tub.  Happy Day!!!

Monday afternoon, we participated in a new member discussion with Justin from the International ward.  The elders brought him by to teach him about family history and temple work. Justin 's grandmother recently passed away so he was excited to know about the gospel being taught in the spirit world and that he can someday arrange for her to be baptized.  After this discussion we were supposed to meet with a new investigator from Bangledesh but he was a no show.....again. That is two weeks in a row now.  That started out our week of many canceled discussion appointments. We always feel so sorry for the elders and sisters when this happens.

Left to right - Elder Ortega, Sisters Taylor and Shepherd,

Elders Hoffman, Stebbins, Jones, and St. Clair.

We held our last meeting Tuesday with our current district. It is Zone Conference next week and the following week is transfer week.  We won't hold another district meeting until the Friday after transfers.  A couple of our district members are thinking they will be getting new assignments so we decided to take a picture of this group....minus our two assistants, who are always traveling now. This has been a great district, especially with our district leader, Elder Hoffman. His training lessons have been so well planned and delivered in simple humility. This week's lesson was on consecration of which he is a wonderful example.

Our young singles enjoying the rice krispie treats we brought

For one of the first times all summer, our regular game night on Friday was well attended. We had two investigators there along with about 10 young singles and two sets of missionaries. It was good to see them having fun being together, playing ping pong, pool, and board games.  The evening went by very fast and soon it was ten o'clock and time to close up the Institute room. 

German with Elder Anderson

This young man's name is German.  He is investigating the church.  He spent his entire evening talking with us as we worked the puzzle. We had a delightful conversation with him. We had him promise to have the elders bring him to our home to hear a special message about the gospel.  We hope that will come to pass.

That brings us to Saturday......

We had a pretty free day....at least until late afternoon when we had an appointment scheduled for an investigator discussion. It was a beautiful Indian summer day so, after some studying, we decided to visit Sokolniki Park. We had read about it but hadn't seen it yet.  We saw some fun things.


There was a playground for young people which blew our minds. It was a challenge course, in mid air. Our grandsons would have loved it. Thankfully, the kids were hooked up to a guide wire so if they missed a step it wouldn't be disastrous.

Amusement park rides for the little one, too

For the littler children - much safer.

This park had a beautiful rose garden which we enjoyed walking through. We took pictures so we can implement some ideas into our yard back home.

Every park has to have a fountain and this one is no different,

though not at impressive as some that we've seen here.

The other thing we got a kick out of was the dance floor located just as we entered the park. There was 'oldie' type music playing and lots of 'oldie' type people dancing...some by themselves, some with partners.  They were having such a good time and attracting a large crowd of observers who enjoyed watching them....Paul and I included, watching not dancing.

The man in the orange and his partner in the black were having a great time.

This man was dancing all over the dance floor,

by himself.

We loved watching this woman really

get with the music

Our discussion appointment was a no show so we settled into a movie to pass the time while Paul waited for the BYU football game to begin, live at 11:30.  He listened to the first half and was happy, when he got up to check the score at 3 a.m., to see that the Cougars had won yet another game.

Sunday brought with it church and an investigator, Michael, presenting Paul with a gift...a book entitled 'Energy of the Future.'  It was written by his uncle and Michael was so excited that it was printed in English so we could read it. It must weigh 10 pounds and is extremely technical. Probably won't be on our reading list but it was such a sweet and thoughtful gesture. As for the rest of the day, we knew we would have no missionaries calling us to bring someone by for a discussion because they had all been advised to avoid the center of the city, except for going to church. It seems there were several anti-government demonstrations scheduled to take place around here. We obviously stayed in our apartment the rest of the day as we live in the center of the city.

LIVING IN RUSSIA SPOTLIGHT

We noticed this on a walk to the bank the other day.  It's Moscow's answer to  7-11 convenient stores, minus the gas. That sign says mini market. (A little lesson in Russian.) That's the first time we have seen a small store called a mini market.

While we were at the park on Saturday this man in the yellow suit caught our attention. It was the brightest, canary yellow we have ever seen.  We are wondering if he was just out for a stroll with his friend or if he was in some kind of performance. We will never know.

THE WEEKS ARE PASSING BY SO QUICKLY....

HAS TIME SPED UP LATELY?