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.