YSA CULINARY COOK OFF AND CONCERT TOPS THE WEEK

Once a month the YSA council holds a major activity, usually on the third Saturday. The one for November was held on Saturday and was a fantastic success with upwards to 60 in attendance. The evening consisted of a culinary cook off, followed by a concert with our YSA band (see advertising posters). At 5:30, the participants were divided into three cooking teams - one to assemble and cook the borscht soup, one to put together the chicken Caesar salad, and one to make brownies and a layered pudding dessert. As each team was putting the final preparations on their creations, a fun, get acquainted game was played. Dinner was then served and all enjoyed what had been prepared.  
It was then time to assemble in the chapel/multi-purpose room for a musical concert. A group of very talented young singles have put together a band - three guitarists, two of whom sing, a pianist, and a female soloist. They have been practicing together for a few months and put on a wonderful concert on this night. It was advertised so well that we had several people who were not young singles come just to listen to them. It was a great conclusion to a uniquely fun evening. Sadly, it was the last Saturday night young single activity with which we will be involved.  The next one is a service project two days after we leave for home.  We will be coming face to face with many "lasts" as we experience these next four weeks.

Cutting pork and vegetables for the Borscht

Making the chicken Caesar salad

Sampling the desserts

 The YSA

 band

called

    Henry's 

      Mustache.  

   (We do not know the  significance of the name.)

As for the rest of the week........

Monday presented a little excitement.  In the evening all the Moscow missionaries got a text saying there had been an explosion and everyone was to go home, close all their windows, and stay indoors until otherwise notified.  Of course, Paul immediately got on the computer to find out what was going on.  From the U.S. Embassy, he found that there had been an explosion at a chemical plant in east Moscow and there was concern about dangerous fumes circulating in the air. We immediately closed our windows and hoped that the stay indoor order would be lifted by morning.

Just starting the process of making Plov

We were glad the next morning that the travel ban had been lifted because the sisters were scheduled to come to our home for a Russian cooking class. Our special friend, Lada, had agreed to show us how to make Plov, a special rice dish. Lada started out by cooking the rice and draining it. Then she made a patty of sour cream, butter, and flour.  After pressing that into the bottom of a pan, she put the rice on top. Into this she added more butter and the spice, tumeric.  Once she covered the pan with a lid wrapped in a towel, we waited several minutes for the dough patty to cook. When it was ready, we enjoyed her creation. The patty got a little too done on the bottom (I didn't have the right kind of pan) and the rice was a little bland for our American tastes but, with a little salt, it was tasty. We added fruits and vegetables and a dinner roll to round out our lunch.  We had such a good time with Lada being the master chef.  After a spiritual thought and a short visit it was time to say good bye. 

The towel around the lid trick...to absorb the excess moisture of the cooking rice and pastry

The finished look after stirring the butter

and spices into the rice

Pastry on the bottom.  Spices and butter

put into holes made in the cooked rice.

Sister Downing, Lada, Sister Shepherd and me

Elder Denkers 

It was transfer meeting on Wednesday and we said good bye to our Elder Jones. We were also sad that Elder Denkers was transferred.  He had been serving in the International ward for the past few months and we have come to really love him. Sister Downing and Elder Kirdyapkin were also transferred, surprisingly, after only one transfer with us.  We will miss them, too.

Elders Hayes (lt) and Elder Hoffman (rt)

Transfers bring several of the elders and sisters in from the outlying areas of our mission.  It is a time when we get to reacquaint with elders and sisters who have been transferred from our district. One of these was Elder Hoffman who paid us a surprise visit Wednesday evening. He and his companion had missed their train back to Voronezh because the transfer meeting went over time, so they needed to print out new tickets for a trip back to their area the following morning.  We were so happy to see him.  He is a great missionary and he and his companion, Elder Hayes, will be dynamite as zone leaders in Voronezh.

Thursday was our senior council where we were introduced to a new couple, the Smiths. He is a direct descendant of Hyrum Smith and had a power point presentation of several amazing artifacts of which his family had been in possession.  Before coming on their mission, Elder Smith had turned them over to the church historical division to be used in the new church museum, scheduled to be opened soon.  

Our Institute lesson was on the signs of the second coming. We had Misha sitting in our class to observe our teaching. When we met the next day he was quite complimentary of our lesson and teaching style. He suggested we try to get the students to express their feelings a bit more.  We have given them opportunity to do so but have found they are reluctant to express themselves. Many are not real confident in their English language skills. We sometimes have a hard time even getting volunteers to read the scripture verses out loud.

Sister Peacock (rt) with Sister Shepherd

They love the peanut M&M's and the nuts we

put out for them each week.

We got to meet the new members of our district at district meeting on Friday. This will be a great district. We felt instant camaraderie with this group. They set some pretty healthy goals for this transfer but also made some commitments, individually and as a district, that should help them be successful. Our assistants will be in town all month so they will be able to work their area which will help with the attainment of the district goals, as well. 

Elder Folkman (rt) joined Elder St. Clair.

We were amazed as to how much weight Elder

Folkman has lost since coming on his mission.

He is looking really good.

Saturday, Paul watched the BYU basketball game, delayed of course, and then we went on a quest to find pillowcases. We want to leave new cases for our replacements as the ones we have been using just won't come real clean, even with bleach.  It is time to retire them. We found what we needed and returned home in time to make a quick trip to the church in response to a last minute call from our young singles president. It seems they needed baking pans, a crock pot, big bowls, a can opener, and dish soap. It is a good thing we live so close so we could help them out. Soon after this, it was time for the super successful YSA activity.

Sunday was church as usual. As soon as we got there the High Priest group leader came up to Paul and asked if he was ready to teach the priesthood class. Paul had said he would bring a short video to show but had not understood that he was to conduct the whole discussion. Something obvious was lost in translation.  He read the lesson quickly and was ready to teach the Priesthood lesson by the third hour.

Andrey and  his daughter, Olya

For Sunday School, we attend the Gospel Principles class with our missionaries and their investigators and new converts.  At the end of the lesson on the gathering of Israel, the teacher asked if anyone would share their story as to how they came into the Church. Andrey, who was baptized a year ago, stood and told the following story. It seems he served in the military with a younger man who was a member of the Church. He noticed that this man was different....didn't drink, smoke, use bad language, was always kind, etc. Upon inquiring as to what made him different, Andrey was first introduced to the gospel. They talked about it a lot and then they were reassigned. Several years later, Elder Jewkes was serving in the area where Andrey's friend lived.  He told Elder Jewkes about Andrey. Through a series of little miracles, Andrey was taught the gospel by Elder Jewkes via skype.  Andrey immediately accepted everything that was taught to him, even the word of wisdom (giving up black tea is hard for Russians).  We knew that story at the time of his baptism, but it was good to be reminded of the miracles that surround this missionary work.

And that's it for another week.

LIVING IN RUSSIA SPOTLIGHT

One of the missionaries was asked why they did not use their first names while on a mission instead of all being called Elder. We loved the elder's response.  He said that missionaries left their names at home so they wouldn't be focused on home but on being here and doing this great work. What a great explanation.

Medicines sold here

A little lesson in the Russian language.  Notice the two signs. They are pronounced apteka and apteeka. (The A and the O sound the same in this case.) 

Glasses are sold here

You want to go to the apteka when needing medicine and apteeka when needing glasses. We had to learn that one fast when my glasses broke and we needed to find a place to get them repaired.





We don't think we have mentioned that at the fast food restaurants, especially in the malls, you do not clear your own tray.  Many people are employed to do just that.  It is one of the ways Russia keeps their unemployment rate lower.  Usually these jobs go to Orientals or people from the 'Stanian' countries.

A GREAT WEEK!!!