Thursday, March 2, 2017
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Dear Family,
How is Grace’s back? Did Britti get her license?
Has Dani heard about scholarships? Has Lauryn busted anymore toes? Has Joshua
built his own lego village yet? What about Nica has she turned her Jr. High
school on it’s ear yet?
This week certainly went by fast. The closer we
get to coming home the faster time seems to fly. We had the Bowlers and the
Bryson’s fly in on Tuesday and we met them on Wednesday. The Bowlers have lived
in Alvord Texas for the past three years before that they were in Southern
California. Elder Bowler is a retired train conductor. They are both super
people and know even less Russian than we do. They both are outgoing but Sister
Bowler is about double what Elder Bowler is.
The Bryson’s have lived all over the place but now
are from Central Arizona. He is a retired CEO of a hospital. This is their
third mission, 2nd one to Russia. Elder Bryson is the more outgoing
of the two. He talked to everyone in the Orenburg branch (where they are
serving). He reminded me of Dad. They volunteered to help out in Guatemala in
2002, I’m not sure what they did there but it wasn’t a mission. Then they
served a mission in Hong Kong. Then they went to Vladivostok. Their Russian is
better than ours but I don’t think it’s as good as Sister Ottesen’s.
They had two days of orientation. We were involved
the 2nd day because the Hancocks were giving us all Self Reliance
training. I had to leave several times to do stuff for President Ottesen. The
Hancocks are traveling all over and training Branch Presidents in
Self-Reliance. The program has to be run by the Russians but they need training
in how to do it. In the meeting, they told us that they wanted Dad and I to be
in charge of overseeing the Samara and Tolyatti areas. We kind of just listened
and didn’t say anything. The other three couples have assignments different
from ours so are more free to travel around for things. We need to be at the
office. Besides, that kind of assignment needs to come from the Ottesen’s, not
the Hancocks. That would be a change in what we were called to do. Anyway,
Sister Ottesen was in all the meetings and she doesn’t seem to be leaning
toward that. I guess we will wait and see, if it’s what they want us to do then
we’ll do it. Hancocks speak pretty good Russian. They served at the Kyiv temple
and took Russian for two years.
We all went to a Ukrainian restaurant on Thursday
with all the senior couples. It was really good. I sent you pictures of mine
and Dad’s meal and pictures of the restaurant.
Friday was the night of The Ball. I was expecting
something more formal and more than what we had. Keshenya was encouraging
everyone to come is church dress and ball gowns. I found out that Ball
translates to Dance in Russian. It was pretty packed with people and Volunteers.
We taxied over with the Bryson’s. It went from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm. They had
cartoons for the kids upstairs and the volunteers and the members had shifts
watching the kids. The kids could come and go how they wanted. They were all
dressed in ball gowns, the girls anyway. I’ll send you a link to my google
drive so you can see all the pictures.
Saturday morning at 10:00 am Dad and I left with
the Ottesen’s and Bryson’s to take the Bryson’s to Orenburg which is about 6
hours away. This is where the Bryson’s are staying for a while. They live in a
brand-new apartment, located above the Elders who are there, Elders Smith and
LeBaron. The apartment was supposed to be furnished and complete. Well, it
wasn’t. President stayed over another day to help them shop. They went on
Saturday but the furniture store wasn’t open.
While they shopped Elder LeBaron took us
sight-seeing. We went to a bridge where half was in Asia and the other half in
Russia. You’ll see a picture of it with Asia and Europe spelled in Russian. We
taxied there and after we were done there we walked up the Orenburg walking
street. We went several blocks and found a Burger King to eat dinner at. After
that we started walking back to our hotel. We ran into a park that was filled
with ice sculptures. It was pretty neat. There was an ice maze that led to a
wishing well.
We were almost to our hotel and the sidewalks were
getting icier and icier as the temperature was dropping. Elder LeBaron was
leading the way and I was walking beside Dad. I was up and then I was down. I
couldn’t catch myself. Dad said my head made a cracking sound when it hit the
cement. They both helped me up and I was grateful that no one was around other
than Dad and Elder LeBaron to see my gracefulness. I felt fine, just a little
head ache. We made it to the hotel room. The Elder had to hang with us until
the rest were done shopping.
My neck was a little sore and it felt like my head
ache was getting worse. I took some ibuprofen and got ready for bed after the
Elder left. I told Dad if I threw up on him in the middle of the night then I
probably needed to go to the hospital. It was strange because before going to bed
I was trying to find the sore spot where I hit my head and I couldn’t find it.
No goose egg, no sore spot, nothing. I think Heavenly Father was watching over
me and must have cushioned my fall. By the next morning, I just had a slightly
stiff neck.
Orenburg is small like our NovoK branch. It was
good to meet new people. They all greeted us as warmly as NovoK does. The
Bryson’s, Us and the Ottesen’s were all asked to bear our testimonies. There
was a great feeling in that room. A young man named Evon was doing the
translating for us. We found out that he is sort of their perpetual
investigator. He started coming to church because of wanting to practice his
English with the Elders.
Toward the end of their 2-hour block, (that’s how
long their church is) President O opened things up to a question and answer
period. Evon, who was translating asked the final question. He asked how a man
could stay with one woman for 37 years. That’s how long the Ottesen’s have been
married. President talked about the Temple and commitment. We started talking
to him after the meeting and told him we’d been married 46 years. Dad told him
that I tried to take care of Dad’s needs and he tried to take care of mine.
Then I told him to marry his best friend.
After everything was over they had what they call
a Tea Party. It’s more of a pot luck lunch. Salad, meat and cheese sandwiches,
fruit, cookies and juice and tea. During that whole time, Dad was in the chapel
talking to Evon about this and that. Someone took them a plate of food but they
stayed in there to eat. I walked in to tell Dad we were leaving in 10 minutes
and he was inviting Evon to be baptized. Evon told him he’d think about it. He
seems grateful for the time Dad spent with him.
So that’s our week.
Love to you all.
Mom
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Dear Family,
Well, I hope everyone enjoyed their Sunday. I’m
glad Lauryn (in AZ) Britti (NV) and Nica (NV) are having a great time playing
soccer in the President’s Cup. Dad and I miss being able to travel with you
guys.
This week has really been slow with President and
Sister O gone. They’ve been in Turkey for a Mission President’s conference.
They got back last night. I did another power point for President while he was
gone so I’m sure things will pick up around the office when he comes to me with
changes for it.
The AP’s and the Avrora Elders came to dinner
today. We had meatloaf, corn, carrots, rolls, salad, and cupcakes. I found a
Chocolate cake recipe on the end of a romance novel I read. It is really good.
There was also a recipe for peanut butter frosting. I frosted some cupcakes
with the peanut butter frosting and some with orange frosting. It was split for
which frosting they all liked best. Elder Buchanan said this was only his third
time having meatloaf. He said he took a good sized chunk because he didn’t
realize how dense it was. Dad immediately jumped on him J for calling my meatloaf
names.
It was
still light outside when they got here. The days are getting longer and we have
a heat wave going. It’s got up to 37 degrees F. today but it felt like 30.
Things are really starting to melt. It was weird, while it was the third hour
of church I was in the Primary room. It started hailing and it was like a
blizzard then ½ hour later the sun was shining.
Dad and I are betting that one of the AP’s will be
transferred next cycle. The ones we have now both leave for home in July. Elder
Buchanan has been an AP longer than Elder Quarnberg so he will probably be the
one moving. I always hate losing my AP’s but I get just as close to the next
ones.
Next week will really be busy. We will have our 2
new senior couples come in on Tuesday night. We are getting together on
Wednesday, the 4 Couples and President and Sister O. We are going to do some
self-reliance training. Because of their positions and responsibilities both of
these couples will be able to travel to do some training. Dad and I are really
bound to the office.
Then we have the Ball coming up on Friday, the 24th.
That should be fun. They are giving out invitation to lots of people, not just
members. This Thursday and Friday are Russian holidays. Its Defender of the
Fatherland Day. Then on Monday, the 27th it’s Special Operations
forces Day, another holiday. March 8th is International Women’s Day,
also a holiday.
Last Friday was a beautiful day with lots of
sunshine. Dad and I were planning on going out to the Volga to take pictures
and go for a walk. Well Saturday turned out to be overcast, windy and snowy. We
crossed the street to the Volga and then went to the market and back home.
I did laundry on Friday and then on Saturday I
washed a blanket. The thing was almost totally dry in 2 hours. In the summer,
it probably would have taken 2 days.
I found ants on the floor Friday when I got home
from work. I left early to start the laundry. I spayed them with Windex which
did the trick. Dad and I picked up bug spray on Sat. while at the market.
March 3-7 there is going to be a Mission tour by
Elder Martino. He is the Europe East Area President. He will be in Samara for our
District conference and then he will be heading up our Zone conference. He gave
us all some things to do to get ready for our conference. Dad and I have
already done them. (I know, I know, over achievers)
Well, Hopefully I will have more to write about
next week. Love you all!!
Love,
Mom
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Dear Family,
I told you all about going to get my blood tested.
I sent the results to Dr. David Hansen who is our new mission doctor plus I
told him about the testing I do for blood sugar. This is the message I got back
from him.
From: David
Victor Hansen
Subject: Re:
Blood Tests
With your
blood sugars running as you describe, that is excellent. 6.8 is mildly high but
if you continue to just adhere to your diet awareness and exercise and so forth
you should do just fine until you get home in seven months. Please don't
hesitate to contact me with any further questions.
I read this response to you Dad while rolling my
eyes and he burst out laughing. Right now we are more or less hibernating and
not doing much exercise at all. If by continuing to adhere to my diet he means
a couple or a few mini candy bars a day that is exactly what I’m doing.
For dinner today I’m making Hawaiian Chicken,
potatoes, rolls, corn, salad and orange rolls for desert. The AP’s and Zone
leaders are coming over.
We were never so happy as when the Patriots won
the Super bowl. If they would have lost I’m not sure Elder Buchanan would have
been able to survive. So for his sake Dad and I turned into Patriots fans.
Last Monday I got ready with Dad and went to the
office. Monday is the Volunteers P-day so there are several that come to the
office to write home. My stomach started hurting so I decided I’d rather be
home. I drank some real coke which we’ve been told will kill the germs. It
started working and by the afternoon I was fine. Sometime after lunch I got a
text from the AP’s that said to look outside my door. Elders Quarnberg and
Buchanan had left a bag of candy along with a sweet note on my doorstep. Their
Awwww factor just went up.
Although in the office Elder Buchanan is telling
Elder Quarnberg that I said that Elder Buchanan was my favorite, and that I
like him more than my grandkids. Elder Quarnberg loudly proclaimed that Elder
Buchanan was lying. It gets a little wild in the office.
Tuesday was our Visa trip. We got to the office
just after 4:00am. We planned on getting on the bus at around 4:30am. The
sisters were being picked up by the bus before coming to the office. They couldn’t
see it anywhere. We waited and waited then called the driver. He said he’d been
out there for a while. So the sisters went looking again and found it.
Apparently they didn’t know to look for a mini bus. There were 12 of us going.
The trip went really smooth this time, except it was freezing. It was around
-14 at the border. The Russian boarder you stand outside, in line, as they go
through your papers, slowly, one by one. Then the Kazakhstan boarder had a
building you go in. The trip down takes about 2 to 3 hours and we were going in
and out of the border for another 2 to 3 hours and then 2 to 3 hours to get
back home. By the time we were done standing in line my toes and finger tips
were going numb. Thank heavens they only interviewed one of us. I made some
blueberry muffins and some orange muffins for everyone.
I’ve produced another PowerPoint for President O.
It’s for a Branch President training. Sasha translated it into Russian. Then he
gave me another one to do on tithing. I’ll start that this week but there is no
hurry on it. President and Sister O are going to be gone next week for a
Mission President’s training.
Friday I went to the store, Metro and went to the
pharmacy to get some glucosamine. I asked for two and when I got home I
discovered it was in powder form in individual packets. I wish I knew enough Russian
to take them back. Oh well, I just mix them with Juice in the morning.
Our district meeting was on Friday and I was about
½ hour late because I had been at Metro. Dad had to give my spiritual thought
for me. It was about looking to the good or being positive.
On February 24 the Samara district is having a
Ball. You can wear clothing from all eras. They will have to be okay with what
I have because I’m not buying a Ball gown.
Dad and were sitting in the living room today and he
says to me, “Have you prepared your talk?”
I said, “What talk.”
Dad, “The one we might get asked to give today.”
I looked though some things but couldn’t settle on
anything so just went back to my study. Dad thought about it and came up with a
few ideas. We walked into our Church and the Branch President asked Dad to
speak. Wow, talk about listening to the Spirit!! You certainly don’t have a lot
of time for your talk when you use a translator. He got to bless the bread
during the sacrament today also.
Sorry for the lack of pictures, we just didn’t get
out and do anything. Dad did take some great sunset shots.
Happy
Birthday to Kelly and Britti.
First date
and a driver’s license coming up for one of them.
Love you all,
Mom
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