OH HOW WE'VE COME TO LOVE THE PEOPLE OF RUSSIA

This week we have had the privilege of being with many Russian friends.  We have come to know what wonderful people they are, especially when they have found the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It seemed like each day this week we've rubbed shoulders with someone very special.

Our week began by attending church on Sunday.  We were both met at the door of the church by members of our ward who were so concerned that we had walked the distance to the church without a hat on our head.  It had turned really cold Sunday morning and with the cold the Russian people really bundle up, head to toe, always wearing a hat and usually a hood, too.  Paul and I had neither, only our coats and gloves. These people were so concerned that we would get sick because we were not wearing a hat. We were touched by their love and concern. Interesting that on Wednesday a similar thing happened. We were walking to the church and were stopped by a sister who works in the mission office. After saying hello, she immediately reached up to button the top button of my coat.  She did it out of concern that I would get too cold around the neck and get sick.  She was bundled up in a long fur coat and matching hat. 

Back to Sunday. Later that evening, we had the privilege of having Nastia (our special friend and recent convert) and the sister missionaries over for dinner. Nastia had become very close to Sister Tolbert who would be going home on Thursday.  We wanted to give them a chance to spend some time together. We served Chicken Parmesan and angel hair along with an Olive Garden type salad. After dinner the 5 of us just sat around and visited for a while. The sisters gave us all a wonderful spiritual thought before they all left. We love these three sisters in the gospel and are very sad to say good bye to Sister Tolbert.


Monday was another family home evening at which time we were able to feel the sweet spirit of 7 young singles, 5 investigators, our friend Natalia, and 8 missionaries, including ourselves.  We squeezed 21 into our little apartment and had a wonderful time.  They played "four on a couch" and then enjoyed refreshments. The more we visit with the Russian people in a casual setting like our home the more we come to love and admire them. 
Note: I had made a special cookies and cream cake, especially for Elder Bass.  He loves Oreo cookies and this cake was filled with a cream cheese, whipped cream and Oreo filling.  Just a little yummy. 

Tuesday was district meeting.  We served Teriyaki chicken again as it was a request of Elder Crawford who would be leaving our district as of transfer day. Raspberry butter was requested by Sister Tolbert and mud pie by Elder Bass. These two also would be leaving our district. After the meeting, we had the privilege of meeting with Karina and the sisters. Karina is the karate/kick boxing champion we have talked about before. We have come to love this special sister. We have watched her countenance change as she has come to accept the gospel and adjust her life style to be in keeping with gospel principles.  We had a wonderful visit in preparation for her baptism on Saturday.

This picture was taken from afar so not the

best picture of Sergey

Wednesday was English group. During our discussion, we came to know one of our regulars, Sergey, a little better. We admire his love for his country, Russia. Our discussion was on travel and so we asked those in attendance to tell us to what places they had traveled.  Sergey had spent a couple of months in the United States and said he was so glad when he finally got back to Russia. His reasons: bread that wasn't squishy, solemn and unsmiling faces, and people who are genuine. It gave us a real insight into these people who almost take offense if you smile at them. He felt like people in America asked how you were but didn't really care about your answer. It is true that Russian's are very cautious with their feelings but once you become their friends, they are very loyal and dedicated to that relationship.  As for the bread, he commented on how, in America, it was so full of preservatives that it was squishy and lasted forever.  Russian bread has no preservatives, had a rough texture, and spoils after only a few days.  We appreciated Sergey's honesty about his feelings and his pride in his Russian culture.


Thursday was institute and gathering and once again, we so enjoyed being with our special young single students this week. They are so dedicated.  Many of them go to two institute classes a week, some to all of the three that are offered. They are so appreciative of our efforts in preparing lessons for them.  That night one of the students got up, in front of the class, to thank us for all the visuals we put up on the board. We don't think that ever happens in Russian classes and these students seem to love seeing as well as hearing the messages being taught.

Friday, after studying a bit, we met Sasha at the Shake Shack to treat him to lunch. He is our Institute class president and a very good friend. On Thursday, he got off work early so he could go with Paul to pay our rent at a local bank. We needed to deposit the money in our landlady's bank account but that can only be done by a Russian citizen. We were so grateful Sasha was willing to do that for us so we offered to buy him lunch on Friday....hence the Shake Shack. He had never been there before and loved the burgers and fries.  We had a delightful visit with him about his family and his mission. He is a dear friend, willing to do whatever we might need of him.

As you can see the Russian people are wonderful.  We have come to love and appreciate them very much.

Elder Crawford and Elder Bass

at our district lunch

Other happenings during the week included transfer day on Wednesday.  We love going to these meetings as we get to see all the new companionships that have been assigned, as well as the new elders and sisters. We had 8 new sisters and 4 new elders join us in the Moscow Mission.  It is also a time when those who are going home bear their testimonies.  All these returning missionaries feel so blessed to have had the experience of serving here. Of course, Sister Tolbert's testimony touched us the most as she has been one of our special sisters whom we have come to love.  Elder Bass who has been with us almost since we got here is going to serve in Podolsk.  Elder Crawford, one of the assistants to the President, is going to Smolensk to serve as a district leader.  He still has six months to serve and wanted to be out in field again before going home. He will be serving with a missionary who used to be in our district, Elder Melchor. It is amazing how we come to love those elders and sisters who serve in our district. It is always so hard to say good bye.

Elder Bass has become one of our favorite missionaries.

We will miss him terribly.

Sister Tolbert is such a special sister.  We hate to see her leave.

A highlight of our week had to be Karina's baptism.  It happened Saturday afternoon and was a wonderful event.  Paul took his laptop and set up Skype so three of our former sisters, Sisters Tolbert, Carver and Hawkins, could be there. They had each been involved in teaching Karina the gospel.  They were able to talk with Karina before the baptism, see her in her whites, listen to the talks before and after the baptism, and then visit with her after the meeting.  It was really special to have them there all the way from Utah. 

Karina talking with Sisters Hawkins, Tolbert, and Carver on Skype

before her baptism.

On Skype again after her baptism

AN ABSOLUTELY BUSY BUT WONDERFUL WEEK

WE KNOW WE'VE ADJUSTED TO LIFE IN RUSSIA SPOTLIGHT

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

......you automatically plan extra time to get something done or to be somewhere.  It seems like everything, travel included, takes twice as long as at home.

......you wouldn't think of walking into your apartment without removing your shoes. The amount of dirt that is brought in on our shoes is amazing, especially in the winter.  We are continually sweeping and wiping up the entryway because it gets so dirty.

......you can't remember what it is like to have a garbage disposal.  Our little garbage can gets full so fast.  We are always taking trips out to the garbage bin outside.

PIZZA, PRESENTS, AND PLANES

With cold weather setting in and more snow on the ground than we've had the whole winter, this week was spent a little closer to home....no big sight seeing adventures or major activities.  It was, though, a week of pizzas, presents and planes......  

Pizza crusts cooked and ready

to be topped

For district meeting lunch, we decided to try something we hadn't done here yet - making homemade pizzas. I have a really good pizza crust recipe and knew we could get all the toppings we would need.  The trick was how to cook pizza for 10 in our one little oven.  Early Tuesday morning I got up and started making the pizza crusts, cooking them one at a time. Of course these pizza crusts were much smaller that we would make at home as the largest pan we can get in our oven is less than 15 inches wide.  I figured if I cooked all the crusts ahead of time then, when everyone arrived for lunch and the meeting, we could layer them with cheeses and toppings and then only have to cook them long enough to melt the cheese. We felt like it was Millar's pizzeria as we assembled, cooked, and ate eight very tasty pizzas.  The elders and sisters loved every pizza concoction we put out - Hawaiian, all meat, pepperoni and green peppers (for Paul, of course), sausage and olives, and vegetable.  It was a fun lunch especially accompanied with green salad and pop.

What was left of 8 pizzas

This is how you have to buy

pepperoni in Moscow

Our district.  This will probably be the last meeting where

we will all be together as transfers are next week.  The

office elders and APs may be involved with the

new missionaries coming in next Tuesday.

Now for the presents.  Russians love to give presents.  If they come to your home for dinner they always bring something. Twice now we have been given boxes of Russian candy as we have entertained Russian friends in our home.  The present this week caught us totally by surprise. We attended the first of a new eight week English group. One of our regulars, Kate, was in attendance. She is a beautiful young women who speaks incredibly good English. She came up to us, opened her purse, and pulled out a box of wafer cakes.  When she presented them to us as a gift we were so surprised.  After the meeting, we again thanked her for the most thoughtful gift and she said, "you two are such a perfect couple." We are not perfect by a long way but it was a sweet thing for her to say.  In her eyes, though, we might seem perfect because she sees us always together, happy, and often laughing and holding hands. In Russia, you do not see older couples showing much affection toward each other.  Very seldom do they hold hands and we've never seen them smiling at each other or laughing together. In fact, we get a lot of looks on the metro when we laugh together or even smile at each other. 

Waiting outside the Metro station for it to open.

It was mighty cold so we both stood

 by the cracks between the doors

where warm air was flowing out.

The big experience, though, was about the planes. It was our time to take our visa immigration trip. All foreigners living here in Russia have to leave the country every 6 months to renew their immigration papers. Friday we took our trip, via an airplane, out of the country to Riga, Latvia. We have never been to the airport or left the country on our own, so we were a little nervous. Usually senior couples do this trip with other seasoned elders or sisters, but we had no one scheduled to accompany us. Luckily the office elders sensed our concern and arranged for Elders Calderwood and Folkman to meet us at the train station, board the train to the airport with us, and get us through the airport to passport control. We were go grateful to have them with us, at least that far into our adventure. We had to be at the train station to catch the 6:30 am express train, so that meant being up and dressed and at the metro station by 5:30. Our flight left Moscow at 8:45 and took a little less than 2 hours. When we landed in Riga, we easily found a TGI Friday's and ordered a much needed breakfast. We had about a 2 hour layover before flying back to Moscow.  During the return flight we began our studies for our weekly institute lesson. We were grateful when our return flight landed in Moscow and we could board the express train back to the metro station. At that time we decided to take the metro up to the mission office, a little less than an hour's ride, and then make the 15 minute walk. The office personnel needed copies of our new immigration cards so they could complete a new registration form for us. When all was said and done, we did not return to our apartment until after 6:30 that night. Paul, then, left for game night at the institute room while I stayed home to bake goodies for a Saturday YSA activity.  A long, nerve racking, and tiring day.  One we were glad was over. 

Paul buying our train tickets.

The monitor screen

was in Russian so the

elders stepped in and helped.

So glad these two elders were

with us until we got to

passport control

On the train heading to the airport - a half hour ride

At TGI Fridays for breakfast

The train....finally back in Moscow after a long day.

Note: Paul came home from game night and found that the BYU basketball game with San Francisco was being replayed. He decided to relax in front of the television and watch it, making it a good way for him to end a very hard day (He knew BYU had won the game).  I went to bed.

So much for our PIZZA, PRESENT, AND PLANES.......and then there was the rest of our week.

Sam with Emmanuel and Festus.  Festus, on the left

did the baptizing.  He often attends our Institute class.

Sunday, we had the privilege of attending three more baptisms. One was a friend of Emmanuel who was baptized last week. His name is Sam and he is a very intelligent and sharp young man.  We wanted to be there in order to invite him to our Young Single Adult activities and our Institute class.  We also wanted to support one of Emmanuel's friends. The other baptisms were a man and wife here from Pakistan. We didn't know them but we could sense that they are a wonderful young family who love the gospel of Jesus Christ. The International Ward elders and sisters are teaching and baptizing like crazy.  We think they have another couple of baptisms again this coming Sunday. It's a wonderful thing to see the gospel spreading here in Moscow.

By the time we got home from the baptisms and decided to prepare dinner, we were tired and hungry. Ham slices and mac and cheese (from a box) was the dinner of choice. I don't think I have ever served mac and cheese for a Sunday dinner - ever. It was easy and quick and even tasted good.  Such is life in Russia.

Getting ready for a new game of UNO

Monday brought family home evening once again. This week Natalia, from America, brought her niece, Tamara. We wanted to get her involved with some young singles as well as the sister missionaries. Sasha, from our ward, also came. It was a small group but the perfect size for another few games of UNO. Natalia and Tamara had never played the game and loved it. We served banana bread and frosted apple cookies for refreshments. Tamara had never tasted banana bread before. I had to give her the recipe before she left so she could make it for her family this week. Often, what is a common place food for us in America is such a surprise to people over here. Of course, some of their food is a complete surprise to us, too.  At family home evening, we found out that Monday was another holiday - Happy Old New Year. We never did understand Sasha's explanation of what the holiday meant.  Russians love to celebrate, especially with fireworks, so we heard lots of fireworks this night too.  Luckily, not into the early morning hours as we did on New Year's eve.

Refreshments for the past few weeks have had to have something the

elders and sisters could eat and still live their sacrifice......

hence the fruits and banana bread.

We had to laugh when we saw Elder Davis's worn out suit jacket lining.

It's a good thing he is going home next transfer.

Tuesday evening, after district meeting and lunch, we sat in on two missionary discussions with Elders Davis and Bass.  These were most interesting.  The first was a man from northern Siberia. He had long, graying hair and a kind of oriental look about him. He is an actor, artist, and writer living here in Moscow and a most interesting man.  We couldn't figure out if he was definitely interested in the gospel or just wanted to practice his English. The second discussion was with a man who listened very intently to the Plan of Salvation lesson and our testimonies and then said, "now can I tell you what I believe?"  He then preceded to tell us his theory of man and the spirit world and lots of other things the elders couldn't even understand, let alone explain to us. It was like he wanted to convert us to his way of thinking. Definitely not a golden contact.

After a day of study and preparation for Institute, we attended the first English group of the eight week series. We followed the new program outline with Paul and I discussing the vocabulary words then conducting an activity with the group in which they had to use the words. We then broke into small groups of 5 or 6 and each set of missionaries got their group speaking English using some conversational questions. A story followed, then a video, spiritual thought and prayer. It was a good evening and we think everyone enjoyed the changes. Our responsibilities vary now, each week and preparation will not take the time as it has in the past. That's a good thing.

It was haircut day on Thursday.  Gohar, our hair dresser, came to our house and, as always, did a great job. We have bragged about her so much that another sister senior missionary wanted her to cut her hair.  Brother and Sister Roper came to our apartment just as Gohar was finishing us.  She then got her hair cut.  All this was done before senior council night and our Institute lesson and Pathway gathering. I fixed dinner for all of us before we left for senior council. 

As always, we look forward to Thursday nights and teaching our institute class. It is fun to team teach and we love it when we feel the spirit directing what we say and do. The lesson focused on Lehi's and Nephi's visions of the tree of life.  We stressed the importance of coming unto Christ and partaking of the blessings of His atonement as the dream so vividly depicts.

Friday was our trip to Riga and Saturday was a day to recover from our day of little sleep and much stress.  A little studying, a little shopping, and lunch at MacDonald's was the doings of the day. That evening, though, we stepped back into the missionary role to attend a young singles activity. They called it a Guitar Night.  We listened to three young men play the guitars and sing for a while. Then, Masha, one of our young single leaders, joined in playing her guitar as everyone sang along, using words put up on a screen. It was a fun evening with about 50 in attendance, including 3 investigators and three sets of elders and sisters. We love it when the missionaries bring their investigators to our activities. It is a wonderful way for them to get to know other young people and see them having good, clean fun. Refreshments and a dance followed the singing to close out the evening. That's when the elders and sisters had to leave, of course.

Elders Browning and Beauchemin with Sasha and Artur.

Elder Browning (blue tie) goes home next Thursday.

WE KNOW WE'VE ADJUSTED TO LIFE IN RUSSIA SPOTLIGHT

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

.......the blender becomes a best friend. Not only have I had to use it to blend brown and powdered sugars but Parmesan cheese as well.  Then, this Saturday, I had to use it to make tomato sauce. There was no tomato sauce in our little local store, only boxes of chopped tomatoes. After blending them up and straining them through a sieve, we had tomato sauce.

.......when we just pay the price of things we buy in rubles and don't think about how much we are really paying in US dollars.  This is still hard for Paul as everything is much more expensive than at home.  Apples and tomatoes are up to almost 3 dollars a kilogram.  A box of tomatoes (about the same size as a small can at home) is over 2 dollars a box and if it has been seasoned with basil it's 5 dollars. 

.....when cutting off the burnt edges of a pan of brownies or bar cookies becomes the norm. Our gas oven has a mind of its own. If I don't check it every few minutes while baking, it automatically heats up to 400 degrees.  Oh, the joys of cooking.

A map of Moscow's intricate metro system

.....when we don't worry about getting lost in the metro system anymore.  Paul has become quite an expert in getting us around where we need to go. Of course, he always brings a map with him if we are going somewhere we haven't been.

ANOTHER WEEK GONE.

IT'S AMAZING HOW FAST FRIDAYS COME AROUND.

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.