Sunday, May 22, 2016

Dear Family,

  There are a few well fed Elders in our neighborhood. Elders Porter, Oldham, Anderson and Kendall came to dinner. Yes it was roast, potatoes, salad, corn, carrots and homemade rolls. Elder Anderson made us a pear cake for dessert and it was really good. It is so much fun having them all over. The Elders all remarked how good it was. Elder Anderson said it was the best meal he’d had in nine months (which is the length of his mission so far).

  Church was good. When we got there President Krievov asked Dad to give a talk along with Elder Peterson. I guess the speakers they had lined up didn’t show. Elder Peterson talked about Joy. Serving in the Church will bring us Joy. Dad talked about being obedient and he started with analogy of President Krievov’s little son walking unsteadily, and how Dad wanted to reach out and help him but he ended up doing okay on his own. He likened that to us and learning what our Heavenly Father wants us to do. He is there to help us when we need him to but will let us fall occasionally so we can learn and grow. He also related the story of President McKay’s horse named Dandy. That because he wasn’t obedient and didn’t stay in his own pasture he ended up eating some poisoned grain meant for rats and died. Anatolli spoke for the last few minutes about his experience in joining the church. How he was happy when he was coming a lot and then quit coming and lost some of the happiness he felt. But as he started back, going to church he could feel the difference in his life.

  Being asked to say the closing prayer in Relief Society was a little nerve wracking. I thought about what to say during the whole lesson. I prayed in Russian. After I was done I kind of shrugged my shoulders indicating that I wasn’t sure I got it all right but the sisters were all smiling and told me I did great. Larisa was there. She interprets for me on Relief Society. The lesson was on forgiveness. I expressed a point and Larisa translated it into Russian for me.

  Dad and I are gearing up to be brave next Saturday. It’s time for a little hair removal. We are going to go the place Dad had his first haircut. Using Google translate I’m going to write everything down that I want them to do and then hope for the best!! It is so far grown out of its style that I can’t do much with it anymore.

  Last Wednesday we visited Svetlana. The Sister Thomas (C Thomas), who is no longer in the area, who first found Svetlana was able to come with me and the other Sister Thomas (T Thomas). She is going home at the end of the month and was happy to see her again. Svetlana started calling her Sister Thompson instead of Thomas and the Sisters decided not to correct her. She had a pretty sweater and necklace on that the Sister’s commented on. Svetlana told them that she noticed that they wore ornaments so she wanted to also.

  The Sisters weren’t wearing tights and I was worried that the cats would use her legs as a scratching post again but they were both asleep, thank heaven. She is amazing. She read 2 Nephi chapter 30 and had lots of questions for the Sisters. Faith has been such a hard concept for her to grasp. I really love being with her and the time literally flies by.

 There are so many huge apartment buildings here. Most people don’t live in single homes but in high rise apartments. We are talking anywhere from 10 to 20 stories. The bottom floor of a lot of these places is usually some kind of business. The little market we go to is on the ground floor of a high-rise. Our apartment buildings ground floor houses a school for young kids. It’s an interesting way to do things.

  Next week is a district conference. I believe someone from the area presidency will be there to speak to us. There will be a bus picking up the members from NovoK to bring them to the Renaissance hotel, where we will be holding the conference. There is a meeting at 6:00 pm on Saturday and 1:00 pm on Sunday. It should be really good. It will be so great to be with more than just a handful of saints and also to be with all those missionaries. I was talking to a Sister Zollinger on the phone. She and her husband are coming up to teach about self-reliance. They are located in Siberia.

Me, “so how did you feel when you got your call?”

Sister Zollinger, “like I was being sent to outer darkness, never to be heard from again.”

 Sister’s Warnick and Thomas have moved up to my favorite missionary spot. When I saw them last they told me they couldn’t possible relate to me as a granddaughter to a grandmother because they think of me more as an aunt. I seem so young to them. This was even after I had them over for lunch so they couldn’t possibly be sucking up or anything, right? Elder Oldham moved to the bottom of the list.

Last Thursday Elder’s Oldham and Porter walked into the office and Elder Oldham said, “It smells like a gym in here.”  I guess they had been in the president’s office and were running the air conditioning.

I said, “You can turn on the air conditioning whenever you want, if I get cold I’ll put on a sweater.” Then he just grinned at me. On Friday I found some air-freshener and put it on his desk with a note saying:

If it smells like a gym where-ever you’re at you can use this!!

PS you can’t take it home it belongs to the office.

   

  Last Wednesday was Zone training. This training is run by our Zone leaders. Zone conference is run by our AP’s. President Schwab started us off by talking about turning our weaknesses into strengths.

Ether 12:27

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

  Basically he said we need to go to the Lord and ask to be shown our weakness’s if we don’t already know them, or be shown the ones we don’t know. Then every morning and every night we need to pray for his help to overcome them and turn them into strength.

The Lord gives us weakness’s to make us humble and teachable. We can’t make it back to him unless we are humble. He wants us back so much that he is willing to give you weakness’s to overcome. If he gives you a weakness you will not, you cannot overcome it yourself.

We don’t know how long it will take to make the change from weakness to strength, it really depends on you. Steps we need to take:

1.       Pray to forgive us our weaknesses. 

       List them 

       Know you can’t change on your own.

2.       Ask your Father in Heaven for help in overcoming them.

The nearer a man gets to God the more aware of his weaknesses he is.

  The Zone leaders had the rest of the training. They set up with Dad and I, President Schwab and his daughter Jenni to help with some role play. I was a mother of three small rowdy children. I named them Dema, Sasha, and Larisa (those are the names of two kids and a woman in my branch). The Elders apologized to Dad before telling him what his assignment was, he was to be a semi grumpy old man who was hard of hearing. I’m not sure what the other two did. The idea is to give them practice in situations they will more than likely run into. I made a baby out of some towels and a rubber band. I included in my pictures the face I printed off for my baby. It definably surprised most of the missionaries, who came to my door. They all did really well. My feedback was that a few of them didn’t ask for my name and number even though they all made appointments to come back and talk to me.

Here is the face I used for my role play at Zone training.

  Well in the last few weeks the river has dropped about 6 or 7 feet. We have a sandy beach again. Saturday we went back to the mall we went to the previous week. We needed to find a roast for cook for the Elders. We used our Yandex taxi  app to order a Taxi. I said Dobra Utra to him which is Good Morning. Then he asked us a question in Russian and Dad told him we didn’t speak much Russian. He then proceeded to speak English to us. He was or is, (I’m not sure) a military lawyer. His foot was crushed a while ago so he is driving a taxi right now. I don’t know if it is forever or until his foot heals.  His name is Pavel  (he’s 30) and his wife’s is Maria, they have a 7 year old daughter. His wife works for the tourist industry. She is located near Freedom Statue we visited a while ago. She speaks very good English, as well as German and some Italian and Spanish.

  Dad and Pavel talked and talked like they were old friends. We found out that Pavel lived in our apartment complex, just down at the other end. We called to see if he wanted to take us to church today but he didn’t answer so we used to app to order one. He texted Dad back later that he was sorry but he’d been outside we called. He texted Dad a picture of a pot over an open fire.

Quoting from the text conversation:

Pavel,    Sorry, I outside of the city!

Dad        No problem. I hope you are having a great day. I will check with you next time we need a taxi.

Pavel     Ok! I’m a cooking PLOV, rice meat and carrot.

Dad        Looks delicious!

Pavel     So I invite U on next weekend! U accept?

Dad        We would love to have dinner with you. We have no way to get out of the city

Pavel     Why? I have a car, we have zaberem and go with us to the cottage. What r u think about it?

                Zaberem like take u!

                Consider it

Dad        Ok, I will check our schedule at our office tomorrow and get back to you.

Pavel     Ok, we will waiting for u

                So in Samara region have lot of beautiful places! Is Russian jeep! We go on region on it! (picture of white jeep)

Dad        Looks like fun.

Pavel     Mud is everywhere

  You can see by the conversation that these two really hit it off. We can’t really be gone the whole weekend because we need to be at church so I don’t know if it is possible to just go for the day. The Elders said if we get a chance to go we should go. I swear your Dad can talk to anyone, anywhere, at any time.

  Well, I’m sending you a picture of Elder Peterson holding a bouquet of Dandelions that the kids at our branch picked and gave to him. Elder Wickman has a sad face because none of the kids gave him any. 

  Here are some pictures we took after the Victory Day parade was over. We went outside and stood where we could see the road by our apartment, we were told that the trucks and stuff from the parade would come by. We didn’t see much of anything. 

Love you all!!

Mom

                

Friday, May 13, 2016

  Hey, I hope your weeks have all gone well. Mine has really flown by.  Last Sunday I had the 4 Elders over for dinner. I made an all American meal for them, Pot roast, baked potatoes, and homemade rolls, carrots in butter and brown sugar and salad. They brought cookies for dessert. I was hoping to make something else but this is what Elder Oldham wanted. 

  Victory Day was Monday. Dad and I wore our orange and black striped ribbons that Sergay gave us. I had more people talk to me because of that ribbon than all the rest of the time we’ve been in Russia. I guess there was a parade. For a few days before the parade their big tanks and other military stuff are sitting out on display. The Elders went there and took pictures. Next year we will be a bit more prepared and go up to the square and take pictures. There were lots of activities going on across the street on the strand by the Volga but we were counseled to stay in our apartments after 6:00pm.

  Well, I had the Sisters over for lunch today (Friday) and I made them some Beef Stroganoff, homemade rolls, salad and carrots. They had offered to make Muddy Buddies for the Elders for District Meeting so I told them they could do it at our apartment and invited them to lunch too. They said it was their first lunch appointment and the best food they’d had on their mission.

  It was our district meeting so I talked to our other set of Elders about coming to dinner. Earlier in the week they came in the office for something and then asked us, longingly, how the roast was. This was Elder Kendell and Elder Anderson (the one Dani knows). I told them I didn’t know if I’d get to metro before the end of the cycle. (that’s when transfers happen) So they could come to dinner soon and have a dinner made from hamburger or wait and see if I got a chance to go to the Metro store to buy another roast. Elder Kendell said, with a smile on his face, that he was a bit of a gambling man and since there was 3 weeks until the new cycle (you never know if you will be transferred) he would take his chances and hold out for Roast. For his sake, I hope I get out there to buy one.

  I went to visit Svetlana (86 years old) with the Sisters on Wednesday. I had the idea to bring her one of our hymn books in English. I suggested the sisters write their testimony in it. We brought it and sang her a song out of it. She seemed pleased. She is still very much in her head. She was showing us a book of famous paintings. There were some from the Sistine chapel. She was pointing out Isaiah, Jerimiah and a few prophets. These men are mentioned in the book of Mormon. She has so much to say but went off on a bit of a tangent today. The sisters tell me she does better, is more focused when I’m there. The Elders pointed out to them how much progress she’s made. When they met her about 6 months ago they found her sitting outside. That was a miracle in and of itself. She rarely goes out of her apartment and the one time she does she runs into the sisters. She told them she was an atheist and would always be an atheist. Now she professes to believe in God. She believes Joseph Smith translated the book of Mormon because there was no way an unlearned boy like him would be able to write that himself. Then she went off on a tangent but the Sisters eventually we got her focused again.

 

  Thursday was windy and rainy. The AP’s were looking for umbrellas and I offered them mine. I told them since I only lived 5 minutes away I’d share Elder Stewart’s with him. Dad and I were getting ready to leave when I decided to borrow a garbage bag to put over my head like a scarf. After leaving the building we turned a corner and the wind grabbed the garbage bag and twisted it around my head. My hands were full so I couldn’t untangle myself. I calmly asked your Dad to take the bag in my hand and we both started to laugh. As I unwrapped myself he was wishing he’d had his camera out.

    Dad arranged for us to have a taxi this morning to get to church and then we took the Marshrutka home. It was a good day. Anatolli was conducting today and he asked me to bear my testimony. I did it in Russian with only a little help from one of the Elders. I asked them later if I used the words properly and one said yes and the other just smiled at me and said good job. I may not have said it all right but they understood me.

                         

Saturday, May 07, 2016

Dear Family,

  It’s 70 degrees today, along with blue skies and warmth. To me 70 degrees here feels warmer than 70 degrees in Utah. I would imagine it’s because of the humidity. Dad and I aren’t going any place new today so not as many pictures. We went to the store and bought the rest of what we need for our dinner. I am making Mother’s Day dinner for four Elders and your Dad.  I asked them what they wanted to eat and Elder Oldham pops up with Roast. So that is what we are having for the 3^rd time this week if you count last Sunday.

  We invited our Branch President and his family over for dinner on Friday. We decided on pot roast and carrots and potatoes cooked in a crockpot since I could let it cook while we were at work. It turned out great and I made rolls, salad with ranch dressing and cookies for dessert. I can’t believe what good eaters Camilla (3) and Deanne (5) are. I can’t remember their baby boy’s name. After dinner the kids were exploring the house. Climbing on the furniture, pulling the cushions off the couch; it gave me a déjà vu moment, thinking I was back home with Sadie. I got climbed on, I got to tickle some girls, pretend to be a wolf, having pillow fights, and the baby finally smiled at me. I was in heaven.

Last Saturday we called Elder Peterson and told him we had a surprise for him and his companion that we were bringing to church on Sunday. He begged long enough that I told Dad to tell him what it was. I had made crockpot roast, carrots and potatoes and we were going to bring some for him and Elder Wickman. They turned around and invited us to dinner, provided we bring the dinner. So, of course, we said yes and I decided I had to make homemade rolls too. I put the dinner in the freezer (bad idea) so it would stay cold during the three hours of church. We walked to their apartment and they made me go up 5 flights of stairs (I made it full steam ahead). Once inside we removed our shoes and could barely all fit. My word it makes me grateful for our apartment. We are certainly living in the lap of luxury compared to the NovoK Elders. I don’t know how it compares to other missionaries apartments because I haven’t seen any. I think their kitchen is slightly bigger than our green bathroom at home. They loved the dinner and especially the rolls, but it was still somewhat frozen so it took longer in the microwave to warm it up.

  We walked to the Marshrutka (mini bus) stop to get home from the Elder’s apartment. It was sort of rainisting. That’s rain and mist combined. It felt more like mist than rain. Anyway by the time we got back to our apartment anything I had previously done to my hair was undone!!

Monday is Victory day here:

Victory Day is a holiday that commemorates the capitulation of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union at the end of Second World War, known in the Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War. The Soviet government announced the victory early on 9 May after the signing ceremony in Berlin.

Many people attend a local military parade and watch the fireworks at night on Victory Day. The biggest parade is in Moscow’s Red Square, showcasing Russia’s military forces. Most veterans wear their medals as they head to the parade or an event organized by a local veteran organization.

Another tradition is to give flowers, usually red carnations, to veterans in the street and to lay wreaths at the war memorial sites. Neighborhood schools may host a program prepared by the students, featuring wartime songs and poetry.

I would imagine that the strand along the Volga River across from our apartment will be busier than ever. The Russian people are very patriotic and very proud of their military.

Last Saturday the Mission area had a service project. Dad and I didn’t know anything about it. They were discussing it at our district meeting but I thought they were talking about something else they had been planning. So when our Branch Pres. posted some pictures on Facebook I was surprised. Anyway I copied the Facebook pictures. When you see them we won’t be in them. They did a clean-up project.

Sister’s Taylor and Warnick and I went to visit Svetlana again on Wednesday. She said she had lots of visitors over the weekend for Easter (Russian Easter is first Sunday in May). She schedule was thrown off. She told us that she didn’t usually cook fish when she knew someone was coming to visit because a lot of people don’t like the smell. Her cat Whitey was being pretty naughty. He plopped himself in my lap and Sister Warnick shooed him off. She remembered that I was allergic. The cat then jumped immediately to Sister Thomas and starting clawing at her leg and foot. It got her and her tights pretty good. She swatted it so Whitey left her alone. Svetlana said the smell of the fish was making him act up. But she said she had already fed both cats.

She hadn’t got all the way through her reading. She says her eyes are so bad that she can’t read for more than 40 minutes at a time. Reading in 2^nd Nephi had spurred her on to read a book she studied before. It is about 3 inches thick and is about the History of Civilization.  

I said, “Do you get a warm feeling when you read the Book of Mormon?”

 She replied, “Not really.”

“Do you pray before reading?”

“No.”

“If you pray before reading you will feel God telling you it’s true.”

“I’ll try.”

Then she went on to tell us she could find all the answers in the book about civilization and I countered with,  “No you can’t. That book won’t answer your questions. Only God can answer them. You need to pray so that God can talk to you.”

She is a lovely lady and so well educated. I have really enjoyed the time I get to spend with her.

  Dad took me to lunch for Mother’s Day. We went to……no not KFC….Benjamin’s Diner. It is across from KFC. It’s a 50’s diner. PaPa’s kind of music was playing and they had the movie Gone with the Wind showing on a big screen (no sound). We ordered hamburgers and fries. It was really good. We were told that the desserts were good but we were too full after our food. We wandered around the walking street and before heading for home we swung into Baskin Robins. I was disappointed that they didn’t have any Chocolate Peanut butter. I settled for Gold Medal Ribbon and Cookies and cream. Most of the ice cream we’ve had here hasn’t tasted anything like the ice cream at home but this did!!!

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Hi Everyone,

Well, a week ago today, Dad and I branched out and decided to go see this really big statue. Fortunately Dad checked it out on google and new how to get there. Disaster would take place if I ever decided to take the lead. With my underdeveloped sense of direction, who knows where we’d end up?

The forecast was for rain to we took off around 8:00 am to go sightseeing.  It took us around 20 to 30 minutes to walk there. People were still out in force cleaning up the landscape. I love walking the streets of Russia; each block is a discovery. You can go by crumbling building on a portion of it and the rest are some beautiful structures. There is always something new to discover.

On the way to the Freedom Statue we passed the Iversky Women's Monastery. Across from the Monastery was Zhigulevsky Brewery.

The monastery was Founded in 1850, the Iversky Women's Monastery, or nunnery, was once home to more than 500 nuns. The group of buildings which faces the Volga includes chapels and a 70 meter belfry as well as accommodation for the sisters, is largely a late 19th and early 20th Century creation. The monastery was closed in 1925 and used as a residence for the workers at the Zhigulevsky Brewery across the street. Parts of the monastery were destroyed in the following years. Reopened in 1991, the monastery has been the subject of a huge refurbishment effort that has it looking pristine once again.

Continuing on the walk to the statue we ran across a bronzed (or some metal) statue of a cat sitting on a window sill over a heating unit. There are some real shiny spots on the cat and monument where people touch it as they go by. 

The Russians say the device (radiator) was invented in St Petersburg 150 years ago. The sculpture was crafted by local artist Nikolay Kuklev, who used the cat to create an impression of coziness and comfort. It is commonly claimed that the Romans invented central heating, but the Samara Company did some research which it said showed the radiator itself first appeared in 1855 in the then Russian capital, St Petersburg. Its inventor, an ethnic German of Italian origin named Franz San-Galli, named it the "hot box" and patented it in Germany and the US.

There is a statue of a sailor by the Volga that is the same. It is of a sailor and his knife hilt and compass and a few other things are shiny. We saw some joggers touch it as they went by. It’s supposed to bring you luck.

The Freedom statue was amazing. This is how the internet describes it.

Taking pride of place on top of a grassed slope above the banks of Volga, which proudly proclaims the city's name painted in large, red letters, the dominant feature in the square is the Monument of Glory. Considered the 'symbol of Samara', the statue was built in honor of Samara's aviation workers during the Second World War. Hence the sexless figure at the top of the column is sporting a set of wings. The pedestal is some 40 meters (131 feet) high while the worker himself is an additional 13 meters (42 ½ feet) tall.

A few feet away sat another beautiful church. It was the St George Cathedral.

At the north-eastern corner of the square stands the small but attractive Cathedral of St George. A recent creation, the church was built in 2001 under the guidance of architect Yury Kharitinov in honor of the older and larger incarnation that was destroyed during the Communist era. Fitting with the general purpose of Ploshchad Slavy, the Cathedral of St George is devoted to Samara's war dead.

  We didn’t go inside this building but it was certainly impressive. There are quite a few stairs leading up to the Freedom Statue. We went up to the top where there was an eternal flame as part of a war monument. It was very impressive and the view was incredible.

  Last Wednesday was amazing. The sister came to the office and we left about 2:00pm. We took Marshrutka (mini bus) 297 which took us up by Svetlana’s home. On the bus I sat by Sister Warnick and Sister Thomas sat across from us. All the missionaries set goals to contact people on the bus. Sister Thomas did that with real finesse. She was speaking English with a woman. First they chatted and then she told her about the book she was holding, the Book of Mormon. She bore testimony that she loved this book and the message it contained. She was smiling and happy and her testimony shone out of her eyes. The lady said her daughter went to their church but she didn’t take the Book. She did get off with us at our stop and the Sisters invited her to English club.

  I finally got to meet her (Svetlana). She is an 86 year old woman. She is incredible. She has a hard time getting around but is still able to live on her own. She was a professor of English for 30 years. She still studies English as well as lots of other stuff. Her home is filled with books. She showed us 60 books she had on art. She said her family and friends tell her she doesn’t need to study anymore now that she isn’t teaching. Svetlana said if she quit studying it would leave a big hole in her chest.

Her father was a communist and an atheist. He refused to let her mother baptize her into to any church. She says she grew up without any choice in what to believe. But through her love of learning she has looked into many things. She said she has always believed in the sciences and natural laws. She believes in God but when she hears about something of a more spiritual happening she automatically starts questioning about how that could happen. I could see that quite often during our visit she would go into her head and not listen with her heart.

  Svetlana really loved conversation but she is usually the one dominating it. It is hard for the Sisters to even start the lesson. She is so kind and I can see that she really loves the Sisters. It was Sister Thomas and Sister Johnson teaching her at first but now it’s Sister Thomas and Sister Warnick.

The Sisters met her on a park bench when she heard them speaking English. She immediately started speaking with them in English. In fact all of the lessons she has with them are in English. She has two cats. A 16 year old black cat named Blacky and an 8 month old white cat named-----you guessed it----Whitey. As you know I’m allergic to cats. I’m usually okay for a while if I don’t touch them and then touch my face. Well Blacky was an angel and just lay by Svetlana the whole time. Whitey, however, was a whole other story.

  After she had us come in, we took our shoes off and went in the living room. I was sitting by a small table that Whitey was on top of. He was batting at my watch so I slipped it off and put it in my purse. Sister Warnick was saying a prayer when Whitey decided that my lap looked comfortable. As he snuggled there I had to raise my feet up on tip toe to keep him from sliding off. When the prayer was over I had no place to put my hands except on Whitey. He got tired of lying there and took a swipe at my hand and scratched me. It didn’t really hurt but I was worried about an allergic reaction. Svetlana made her get down and she jumped up on Sister Thomas and proceeded to claw down her knee through her tights. Later Sister Thomas told us that she hadn’t pulled her skirt down over her knees because she had blood dripping down it. After that the cat left the room.

  Svetlana tells the Sisters that it is easier for them to believe because they were born in the church. She asked them if it would be easy for them to become atheist.

  

  As we discussed this topic I bore testimony to her that it was all about choice. We choose to believe or to not believe.

She told me that she never had a choice.

I responded with, “Not as a child but isn’t it great that you do now!”

The Sisters finally got to give her a lesson on the Plan of Salvation. She is so quick and smart and remembers the things they teach her. In fact when they give her somethings to read she asks them to ask her questions about it to help her remember.

  The Sisters had another appointment so we had to leave. The Sisters want me to go with them every Wednesday when they teach Svetlana. I said I’d love to but I needed to check with President Schwab to makes sure that was okay. The Sisters told the Elders at our district meeting that I really did great. I just know I was praying like crazy that I would be able to connect with her and say something meaningful. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!

  The story doesn’t end here with a successful missionary discussion. Oh no! I have to expand on my good fortune, NOT! The Sisters were running late for their next meeting so they flagged down Marshrutka 297 and it was crowded so I got in the front seat with the driver. I was pulling out my 23 rubles when the sisters poked their heads in the window.

“Do you remember the bus stop?” they said.

“Yes,” I reply.

“Just say (some Russian word for my stop),”

Looking at them straight in the eye I smiled and said, “Do I look worried to you?”

“No”. They said. Later they told me that I did look worried. They were feeling bad about abandoning me in Russia without being able to speak the language.

  I didn’t feel worried at all. I knew I’d get back home. I remembered my bus stop. Anyway the bus took off and we were on our way. After a while I could see the Volga River and what I thought was the market by our apartment so I got off. I started toward the market but it didn’t take long before I realized that I wasn’t where I thought I was.

  I remembered Dad’s sage advice, “If you are ever lost just head for the Volga and you’ll be able to find your way home from there. It was really strange because here I was, somewhere I’d never been, can’t talk to anyone, don’t know where it’s safe to walk but I wasn’t scared. I just said a small prayer to help me get home and not be afraid and Heavenly Father immediately blessed me.

  It really was a miracle. Anyone who knows me knows I have no sense of direction. I took off going down-hill toward the river when I decided it looked like I might not be able to get through at the bottom. So I turned left and headed a few blocks down one of the busy side streets. Striding out with confidence and trying to look like I belong there. No one gave me a second look. After a few blocks I turned left again and started walking.

  I got a text from the Sisters worried about me and they told me to call if I needed help. I texted back that I was good. When I got to the end of the street there was, what was named, Super Market. It’s nothing like the super markets in the US. I recognized it because Dad and I had walked close to it on one of our early morning walks.

  I called Dad to tell him what happened so he wouldn’t worry about me but it ended up that he was still at work talking to President Schwab. He didn’t even know I was missing. I got home safe and sound.

  The water is really rising here with the spring melt. There are some mini basketball/soccer courts down by the sand that are completely covered with water. The spring flowers are up and ready to pop. Plus things for kids and little food and souvenir stands are popping up all over by the river.

Another interesting tidbit is that most of the Russians here prefer Trump over Clinton. Mike our investigator at NovoK says that Trump is strong and decisive. He said Hillary is living in a fantasy world. Interesting, we kind of just keep our opinions to ourselves about politics.

  Thursday morning we went for our walk and went right because we went left yesterday. It was a beautiful morning. As we were walking we passed a couple of black young men. We haven’t seen many of them in Samara. Anyway Dad was trying to figure out what language they were speaking as we went by them. We got to our turning point and headed back. As we got to the young men Dad heard them speaking English. We got a little ways past them when super brave and fearless Dad said should we go over and talk to them. Hesitant and not so fearless me said reluctantly, OK.

  We walked toward them and they looked curious about us, maybe a little nervous. Dad walked right up with his hand out and said I heard you speaking English. As we were shaking hands he told him we were from America. That really surprised them. They were Frank from Angola and Phillip from Kenya. They are here attending school in Aeronautical Engineering. They too prefer Trump to Hillary.

  We walked and talked for a while. Dad told them we were Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were living in Russia for 18 months. Phillip said he went to one of our communions once, he meant Sacrament Meeting. They were cool and walked a ways with us then left. Yea Dad!!

 Dad and I went to the walking street today and went Christmas shopping. We went into a shop and none of the workers spoke English. We informed them we didn’t speak much Russian. That didn’t stop the shop keeper from trying to sell us everything in the store. It was kind of funny. We were able to communicate. She was very happy we came in; lots of beautiful treasures. We went to a Rinock the Elders told us about. It’s kind of like a flea market. Lots of food stands as well as a ton of other stuff. 

  I love you all. Please find strength in the Lord for everything you face in life. If you fight for Him, He will fight for you. Even if you don’t fight for Him, He is on your side. You are his child. You know what you would do for your child can you just imagine what He will do for His.

2 Nephi 6:17

17 But thus saith the Lord: Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for the Mighty God shall deliver his covenant people. For thus saith the Lord: I will contend with them that contendeth with thee—

Love,

Mom

Saturday, April 23, 2016

  One of the things I do is go out and look and see if we have any new missionaries coming. We did have a new one so I had to get is file ready. I was showing the picture of the new missionary to our AP’s and Elder Porter was shocked. He yelled “No Way”. Apparently he home taught this new missionary. The Elder was from his ward. Elder Porter is going home in June so he will be able to talk to this Missionary before he leaves for the MTC.

 We have about 7 new missionaries called now who will be in Russia on October 4^th. One of them is coming from Germany and another one of the new ones is from Brigham City, Utah. With the new missionaries, once I get an email from the church that they title “Recommend” which tells me about the missionary coming in I send these Sisters and Elders a welcome letter from President and Sister Schwab as well as a newsletter explaining things about our mission. 

  Our two new missionaries left for their assignments on Thursday after going through orientation for 2 days. They got into Samara on Tuesday night and came into the office at about 10:00 am. Wednesday morning. Boy did they look tired. They definitely were drooping by the end of that day. Dad and I were invited to have lunch with everyone. We had Box Masters from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yum!! We asked Elder Anderson and Elder Ruesch what they thought when they opened their mission call and saw Russia. Elder Ruesch said he was shocked and that his mom was nervous for him. Elder Anderson said he knew before he got his call that he was going to go to Russia. He said he started praying that he would know where he was going. He felt a strong need to know. About two weeks before receiving his call he said he was prompted that he needed to learn Russian and then he was shown where, (an App), he could do that. Pretty amazing! 

  This week was transfer week. Every 6 weeks (missionaries term this a cycle) missionaries can be transferred from the area they are in to a new area. So we end up with an office full of missionaries coming and going. Along with that we had our new missionaries and then we had the Elders who were their trainers coming in. Dad and I are on our second cycle.

  Our District leader, Elder Kendell got a new companion, Elder Jarrett Anderson.  We had district meeting on Friday and got to meet the new missionaries in our area. Elder Anderson is from Layton and went to Layton high school where Dani attends. It’s a small world isn’t it; I come all the way to Russia and find someone that knows one of my granddaughters.

  Well the past two Wednesday’s I was supposed to go with the sister to meet an investigator. This is the 85 year old woman. It keeps falling through. I guess it’s on for this Wednesday. They will come and get me at 2:00 pm. I’m excited to go with them. I hope I can make a difference.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

We entered another world yesterday when we got to tour two Russian Orthodox churches. It was awesome. Elder and Sister Waite were leaving for home on Thursday and wanted to see a few Russian Orthodox churches.  Sister Schwab (President’s wife) took us all in her car. The first church we went into was incredible. We went in and had to borrow some scarves to put on our heads. The colorful domes are so beautiful. Everything is very ornate on the inside with scenes from the Bible portrayed on the walls and ceilings. The woodwork is incredible. We asked for permission to take pictures and they said we could. This church is located in Bezimanski which isn’t far from our office but it took a while due to traffic.  

Elder and Sister Waite with Elder and Sister Stewart

Sisters Waite, Schwab and Stewart

Sisters Schwab, Waite, and Stewart

We drove past a huge White church on our way to the blue one. When we started back we decided to stop at the white one for a look. There wasn’t a scarf for me to borrow so I bought one for 200 Rubles or $2.99. Once inside this magnificent structure I wanted to take pictures of everything but was told we weren’t allowed. I was so disappointed because I wanted to share this beauty with my family and friends.

One man spoke a little English and talked to us a bit. We were looking around this amazing place when the guy who spoke to us earlier brought the Priest over to us. He was dressed in his robes and spoke to us in pretty good English. He struggled a bit but we understood each other.

An astounding offer came our way after visiting with him; he offered to show us the school that was attached to the Church. It is designed to look very similar and a wing of it is still under construction. We walked across the court yard and into the school. Going up the stairs we passed some children who were smiling and happy.

Old pottery and armor met our eyes in the first room the Priest took us to. Some stuff was old and some were replicas of the real thing. He showed us a very very old Bible. Some of the paper was crumbling away. I was surprised he was touching it and they didn’t have it locked away.

We went upstairs and he showed us a few class rooms. I think school was just getting over for the day because there weren’t tons of kids around. In one room there was a dance class and in another we saw some boys doing Karate. An individual piano lesson was being given in another room. We saw framed art work created by the children on the hall walls. When the kids saw the Priest they would come up to him and touch his hands and bow to him as a sign of respect. He found one of the students mothers who spoke English and she came with us to translate for us and for him. We continued with our tour to the top floor where we met one of the artists who creates and restores a lot of the paintings in the church. He showed us a really old New Testament.

 Just as I thought our tour was ending, he had so generously given us so much of his time; he offered to take us up to the bell tower back at the church.  Of course we were all for it. The day was beautiful, a little overcast but not too hot which was perfect since we climbed about three flights of stairs at the school. Once back at the church, we went up more stairs and through the balcony where the choir sits. It was incredible to look out over the ornate structure from higher up.

A new set of stairs kept presenting themselves to us and we kept conquering them. Now the stairs are looking more like ladders. Remember we three ladies were in skirts as well as the Priest in his long robes and the men were in suits. Lifting my knee up high enough to go up the steps without exposing myself was tricky. I had on my A-line skirt with not much give at the bottom, which is fine for office wear but not meant for climbing. After two flights of steep stairs we were at the bell tower. There were huge bells over-head and the view was unbelievable. We stayed up top for a while and enjoyed the view. The Priest told us that for the Easter Ceremony everyone in the congregation who wanted to could ring the bells. I bet that gets pretty wild.

It was time to go back down and I looked at the stairs with a little (lot) of fear and trepidation. But it didn’t turn out to be much of a problem. I really worried about how my knees would react to all the stairs but they were fine. After making it down we thanked the Priest and the lady who interpreted for us. They both were amazing to spend so much time with us. We did make a donation on our way out.

Dad talked to a young man (probably about 10 or 11) in English and the kid responded in English. Dad told him what a good job he had done with the language. A few minutes later the boy came up to Dad and handed him his small wooden cross. Dad was really touched and asked the boy’s mother if we could take his picture and she said we could.

All the way back to the office we all were saying “I can’t believe we just did that.” What an incredible opportunity for us to learn more about our Russian brothers and sisters.