Thursday, March 2, 2017

Ukrainian Restaurant with Samara Russia Senior Couples - Pics!





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








Thursday, February 9, 2017

Just a note

Hello Friends!
          Just a quick note.  Occassionally my mom mentions certain pictures.  To protect their privacy and obey Russian law, we can't post any of their pictures.  In an effort to catch up I didn't do a ton of editing so sorry if some of your curiosity can't be satisfied!
Sunday, February 05, 2017

Dear Family,

Well, the Elder’s moved our dinner back an hour so I’m starting my letter early. Usually I sit down to write after they all leave for home after Sunday Dinner. Today our AP’s are out traveling with President and Sister O. They really hate missing Sunday dinner, so I kindly sent them a text with a picture of the apple crisp I made. Elder Buchanan, in particular, loves apple crisp. But I did make a crock pot chicken pot pie that you spoon over biscuits. He has a phobia about things made with a white looking sauce. (not the taste, just the color) So since he was going to be gone I decided to go for it. We also have some roasted vegetables and salad.

Monday we got to see a lot of the Elders and Sisters. This is their P-day so they write one. Several of them use the computers in the office. President O came in with some changes to his power point presentation for me to do. He is always apologizing to me and I keep telling him it isn’t a problem. Changes are easy. Then he came in on Tuesday with a couple more. Wednesday was our zone conference where he was going to show the PowerPoint so by Tuesday the changes were finally done. Dad has some editing software on his computer so he is in charge of getting the pieces of video or audio that President wants and then puts them on a thumb drive for me, then I put them in the PowerPoint.

Wednesday the Volunteers got to the New Bezi building early so they could have breakfast together. Dad and I went with President and Sister O. Ramon drove us. We had three Russians at zone conference. Pasha from our branch in NovoK, Dema from Orenburg and Jonathan from Avrora. Jonathan will be leaving soon for a mini mission to Penza. I think he will be gone for 2 to 4 weeks.  President is trying to encourage Dema and Pasha to go on a mini mission. You’ll have to see if you can pick them out in the picture I send to you.

The zone conference was awesome. President focused on Repentance. There are so many of our Russian brothers and sisters fall away soon after baptism. President thinks that some of that may be because they did something wrong and then think they are a failure. Dad and I were talking to him about this and he wonders how many of the Volunteers truly understand this gift. He hopes that through learning more and teaching it they will understand it better.

One of the assignments we had to prepare for the conference was to read an Article from the November Liahona (Ensign) from 2011 titled “The Diving Gift of Repentance” by Elder Christofferson. One of the things he said that hit me was “Pretending there is no sin does not lessen its burden and pain. Suffering for sin does not by itself change anything for the better. Only repentance leads to the sunlit uplands of a better life. And, of course, only through repentance do we gain access to the atoning grace of Jesus Christ and salvation. Repentance is a divine gift, and there should be a smile on our faces when we speak of it. It points us to freedom, confidence, and peace. Rather than interrupting the celebration, the gift of repentance is the cause for true celebration.”

Another thing that really struck me was when President Ottesen told us that taking the Sacrament after repenting makes us just as clean as coming up out of the waters of baptism. I hadn’t thought of it that way. Who of us doesn’t need to repent each week, each day? Who hasn’t got mad at a sibling or loved one. Who hasn’t had uncharitable thoughts toward another during the week? To be able to repent of those things each week as we partake of the Sacrament is one of the greatest gifts our Father in Heaven has given us.

We combined Zone Conference and Zone Training so the AP’s each spoke. Elder Quarnberg talked about being diligent. He had everyone stand and line up and come by and look in a box. He said, in there we would see what effects our diligent the most. In the box was a mirror.
Elder Buchanan spoke about Desire. His definition of desire was “An emotion strong enough to make us do something we wouldn’t normally do.” They both did a terrific job. The elder and sisters who were leaving for home this Tuesday bore their testimony at the end of conference. Sister Howe said one of her favorite quotes was “When you hit rock bottom out find out who your rock is.” All of gave wonderful testimonies but that just struck a cord with me.

Sister Warnick said during hers that one of her life changing experiences was when she was serving in Avrora with Sister Thomas. Shortly after coming there the Avrora Branch President apostatized. He and his wife were visiting all the members and trying to take as many with them as they could. President Schwab told those two sisters that they needed to get out and talk to the entire ward member they could.

One of the wonderful Sisters in the Avrora branch is named Kreshenia. She has dreads and colors them blue. She is the one who plans a lot of activities, like the snail races. Anyway the former branch president went to talk to her. He talked and talked, showing her all the anti-Mormon literature that he had. She just listened and didn’t say anything; they were friends of hers. Then he asked her how she could just sit there and say nothing after listening to everything they had to say, all the proof they gave her. This was her response: The only way I would EVER not believe in the church and its teachings is if God himself would come down in the flesh and tell me it wasn’t true. Nothing else would make me leave the church. Sister Warnick said she felt, right then and there, that she wanted a testimony as strong as Kreshenias. It was a wonderful conference. Who thought that Dad and I could sit in a meeting for 6 some hours and love it?

I give my NovoK Elders a treat every Sunday and today I have them a chocolate bar filled with mint. Elder Miller told me I was the best Grandmother ever!! It has snowed all day today. As we were leaving Lilya put on her fur coat and hat and reminded me of a teddy bear. She is short, round and her smile lights up the room.

For the last while I’ve been helping out in Primary on Sunday. I came in on the 3rd hour to just sort of watch the kids play. They were having a combined meeting of the Priesthood and Relief Society that Maria went to. There was a disagreement between Veronica and Deanna. Veronica was speaking to me in Russian. I kept telling her I didn’t understand. She kept trying, using hand motions but I still didn’t get it. They got mad at each other a little. Then Deanna accidently made her sister fall into the Lego thing she made and ruined it. She cried very loudly. Her Mom finally came in and made her feel better. I felt bad but she didn’t want me to help her. I finally got them all to play a matching game.

Saturday, our branch president invited Dad and I to their home for lunch. He was in Samara so picked us up. We told him to go by McDonalds and bought lunch for everyone including happy meals for the kids. They never do that or hardly ever go to McDonalds but they love it. We take so much for granted and they have so little. The kids all got Batman masks and were super excited. They put up a jungle gym sort of thing in the kids room. It is super cool. I’ll send pictures.

Tuesday is going to be fun (not). We are going on a visa trip and they plan on leaving at 4:30 AM. The earlier we get to the boarder the faster we make it through.

I love you all,

Mom




Sunday, January 29, 2017

Dear Family,

I love Sunday’s!!! I love going to our little NovoK branch and feeling all the love they have for Dad and I and each other. They are truly some remarkable people. Sister Vera’s daughter is in the hospital because of a problem with her eyes. She told me Doch (daughter), hospital and pointed to her eyes. I said, Ya, which is I only it looks like a backwards R, then I made the sign of praying with my hands and she said Spaseeba, which is thank you. Vera’s husband, Lavon came today. He is a less active that has become good friends with our mission president.

President and Sister O came to NovoK today and took part of the second and third hour and did their family home evening about putting on the armor of God. They have actual full size fake armor. I went into the primary so Maria, President Krievov’s wife could go into the meeting. Dad came in a little later and helped. This is tough because of not speaking the language. I heard Deanna complaining that I didn’t understand Russian. They all had a snack and then we got out a memory game that Sister Krievov brought. Her daughter, Deanna, was laying out the game. Three other kids decided they didn’t want to play so started playing a different game. Deanna got mad and she and Veronica were arguing and Deanna hit Veronica. Veronica went out to tell her mother. I was surprised I wasn’t fired.

Meanwhile, Camilla, Deanna and I started on the memory game. We had a great time and eventually Veronica and Madison started to play with us. All was quiet for a while. I had brought a treat, marshmallows. The kids loved them. They continued to play pretty well together, so it was quiet when Maria came in to help clean up.

Elder Buchanan, one of our AP’s, is a diehard Patriots fan. He is trying to get Dad and me to support his team. I finally told him that I was rooting for the Patriots just because I didn’t want to hear him cry and complain for a solid month if they didn’t win. He was okay with that.

This week was a busy one. President is getting ready for zone conference next week and I’ve put together two PowerPoint presentations for him. The last one was 62 pages long and there are pictures and also 3 different videos embedded in it. It’s on Repentance.  We had some stuff to read to prepare for our zone conference on Wednesday. One of the things was a talk given by D. Todd Christofferson titled “The Divine Gift of Repentance” from the November 2011 Liahona. One spot that really hit me was this:

When prophets come crying repentance, it “throws cold water on the party.” But in reality the prophetic call should be received with joy. Without repentance, there is no real progress or improvement in life. Pretending there is no sin does not lessen its burden and pain. Suffering for sin does not by itself change anything for the better. Only repentance leads to the sunlit uplands of a better life. And, of course, only through repentance do we gain access to the atoning grace of Jesus Christ and salvation. Repentance is a divine gift, and there should be a smile on our faces when we speak of it. It points us to freedom, confidence, and peace. Rather than interrupting the celebration, the gift of repentance is the cause for true celebration.

With our Mission goal of becoming a Stake in Samara, repentance is a big message. So many new converts will fall back into an old habit or do something that makes them think all is lost and quit going to church. President is hoping by helping our Volunteers to really understand this principle they will be able to pass it on to members, less actives and non-members alike. We need to have 99 Tithe paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders as one of the conditions of becoming a stake. We need to bring back our less actives and support our members by encouraging them to pay tithing and set a goal to go to the Temple.
Dad and I both feel very blessed to have the knowledge and skills to be able to help and support President and Sister O and all of our Volunteers. It’s like I spent the last 20 years working to get ready for our mission. I know they don’t look forward to our leaving. Dad and I have both put together a How To Handbook to help the next Office Couple or Office Elders transition in.

Also this week I found, enhanced and printed off a lot of Kyiv temple pictures. Sister O put them in frames. They are going to give them to the Volunteers to leave with the members of their branch. I also helped her with some primary stuff she wanted done.

This week we had the AP’s, Elders Quarnberg and Buchanan to dinner today along with the Avrora Elders, Elders Nedelev (Russian) and Kennedy. I made Taco soup, cornbread, I fried tortilla chips, and banana cake. Also some sliced cucumbers in vinegar, well, Dad made that.

I heard a few cute things this week. At church today I gave my NovoK Elders a treat. (I bring one for them every Sunday) I brought each of them two, frosted, banana cupcakes. Elder Miller was eating one of his and he looked at me and told me, very intently, that he would die for one of my banana cupcakes. I just laughed and told him he needed to raise his standards a little.

The other one came from President Ottesen. Last Sunday the AP’s had a meeting with President O after our dinner. President told me that his conversation went something like this:
President, “Elder Quarnberg how was your dinner with the Stewarts?”
Elder Quarnberg, “You know President, I’m kind of a Mama’s boy, and being there with the Stewarts, with Sister Stewart for Sunday dinner almost brings me to tears.”
President said he looked a little choked up. All I could saw was AWWWWWWW.

I was up in the second apartment that is by the President and Sister O apartment, helping Sister O go through stuff that had been left in it as Sisters and elders come and go. Anyway while there I found some letters that Elder Johnston left there and one was addressed to Dad and I. He was telling Dad and I how much he loved us and what a blessing we had been in his life. It was a beautifully sweet letter. I don’t know why he didn’t give it to us himself. If I hadn’t gone up to help Sister O I would have never found it.

It was time for me to head to the walking street, last Tuesday, by myself, to get my hair cut. I jokingly told Dad he needed to come with me and he said he would if I wanted him to. Part of me wanted him to and another part of me scoffed and said to get a grip and go by myself. I went and got back just fine. I showed her a picture of what I wanted my hair to look like and she gave me a shorter version of it. Oh Well.

I love you all greatly; keep those emails and Facetiming/Skyping coming!!

Love,

Mom





Sunday, January 22, 2017

Dear Family,

Another week has flown buy. We just finished dinner with 5 Volunteers. We had our normal two, the AP’s, Elders Quarnberg and Buchanan plus Sister Howe, who is going home on February 7th and two Russian Sisters, Sisters Grishina and Sister Petrova (I think). Sister Grishina will be going home to St. Petersburg on April 25th. Sister Petrova is a mini missionary who is only here for one week. She is here from Saratov. She said she always wanted to go to an American Home and felt like coming to dinner at our apartment was like that. As she was leaving she did tell Dad that her brother was as big and round as he was but he is only 17 (Dad just laughed).

Sister Howe has to eat Gluten and Dairy free. She can’t have eggs but she can have mayonnaise. I made her my roast and I cooked the carrots there instead of in brown sugar and butter. I made corn but didn’t butter the pan or cook the corn in butter. I used Gluten free flour to make gravy. I have a French bread recipe that doesn’t have dairy in it so I tried to make that with the Gluten free flour and it didn’t rise. I thought maybe the yeast was bad so I tried it again and it still didn’t rise. So I made it with regular flour and it did just fine. I found a recipe for Gluten and dairy free cornbread so I made that. It turned out okay. Then I also made a pasta salad and a green salad and had some canned pears as well as some fresh ones.

For dessert I found a recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. It doesn’t have any flour or dairy in it. The biggest ingredients are Powdered sugar and peanut butter. You do bake them. She seemed to like them. I also made regular Chocolate chip cookies.

Last Tuesday I went to the hospital/clinic. Our mission doctor thought I should have my blood sugar checked so we can keep track of it. The insurance company made an appointment for me and Elder’s Buchanan and Rasmussen came with me. It was a really nice facility. You had to put booties on (like you wear at a temple open house) when you come in. I’m so glad the elders were there with me. We figured out where to go and the doctor was waiting for me. She asked me my height and weight and I told the elders to plug their ears. After filling out paper work and asking me some question she took me into an exam room. The Elders stayed out. I took my top off and she felt my arms and neck. Then I was asked to lie down on the exam table. (Mind you this is for a diabetic check) She did an ultrasound on my neck. I couldn’t figure out why they were doing that but of course I couldn’t ask her.

After getting dressed I went back in the other room and she told me that everything looked great. Then she sent us out the door and Elder Buchanan said we were supposed to come back Tuesday for the blood test. I told him my email said I was supposed to have my blood checked that day and that they asked me to come in fasting. So we went back to the deck where we showed our papers and they had us call our insurance company who gave permission for the blood test. We went back upstairs for that. I signed something giving them permission to give my information to Elder Buchanan. He will pick up my results from them. Anyway I was pleasantly surprised at the conditions of the hospital/clinic.

Dr. Taylor called me to follow up on my experience and he explained that the Russians love their ultrasounds and they probably looking at the blood flow in my neck. I was glad to have that question answered.

Elder Briggs (Wendy’s co-workers son’s best friend) came to the office for splits with the AP’s. I sat as asked him how things were going. So he told me about an experience he had (he’s been out since October). Several months ago he pulled a muscle and just kept going. It just wasn’t getting better and after several weeks. It was decided that he needed to go to a clinic and have it looked at. While there he met an English speaking worker. He said he spoke almost perfect English. They talked quite a bit. Within a week of that visit his problem started to clear up. He kept thinking about the person he met and he and his decided he needed to go back and talk to him again. That person is now his investigator. It is simply amazing the lengths the Lord will go to get to his people. Elder Briggs said he would have preferred a still small voice instead of pain.


So that was interesting. Eventually they left and we made sure we saw who ever came to the door. They are going to install a camera so we can always see anyone coming to the door. Right now if they get past our window without us seeing them we can’t tell who is at the door, so this will help.

Dad and I Skyped with Elder and Sister Bryson who are a senior couple coming on February 21st. This will be their third mission and the second one to Russia. They are doing a Leader support mission. Our other Senior couple, the Bowlers will also being arriving on the 21st. They are an Education couple. Dad and I are praying that some senior couple will be inspired to come to Samara to take mine and Dad’s place. I don’t want to leave them without help or have to call two Elders to work in the office.

We had a birthday party on Friday which I was supposed to make a cake for. I was saying my morning prayers Friday and it popped into my head that I forgot to make the cake. So I made a cake and got it frosted. Dad and I bought pizza for the office. Friday was President Blinkov’s birthday but early in the month it was Sister Anna’s (housing), Sister Lena’s (accountant) and Monday will be Riesa’s (cleaning lady). President Blinkov’s wife made cake too and the Elder’s brought drinks. They all seemed to really appreciate it. We sang Happy Birthday to all of them.

The AP’s finally remembered to bring their Christmas socks with them to work and we took pictures. They bought us socks for Christmas. They are so sweet. Dad and I went to KFC just off the walking street for lunch on Saturday and then Dad got his hair cut. I made an appointment to get mine cut on Tuesday.

President Krivov, our branch president came to the mission office on Friday. He was telling me that the Ottesen’s were babysitting for them while he and Maria went on a date for the first time in two years. He told me that his oldest, Deanna said she didn’t want to stay with the Ottesen’s she wanted to stay with Sister Stewart. She hardly talks to me at church but I guess, at least I’m someone she knows.

We had Zone training on Wednesday. The training was put on totally by our zone leaders and Sister Training Leader and it was one of the best I’ve been to. They gave us three goals which we later voted to adopt. 1.) Help build the Samara Russia Stake. 2.) 10 baptisms in the first 100 days of the new year. This one was voted to move higher because we’ve already had 2 with another 2 scheduled. 3.) Commit to talking to people on transports. The interpretation of the law has changed somewhat so now our Volunteers can talk to people on the street and in their homes if they are invited to.

Elder Miller, our NovoK Elder was asked to do a little training. He talked about asking questions so you can learn about people and situations. He had us move our chairs in a circle and did an exercise where two people stood up and you could only talk in questions. If you paused or made a statement you were out. It started with Me and Elder Lytle. He started by saying “We should start, which was totally a statement so I told him he was out. Then I made it through a few more Elders. We didn’t understand that the questions needed to build on each other so a lot of our question were random. When Dad was up no one could get him out. His comeback question was always “Why do you want to know.” Anyway it was pretty fun.

Sister Howe, our Sister Training Leader did part of the training also. She asked us why we need stakes and told us it was for refuge, defense, and to strengthen each other.

I’m sending you Christmas sock pictures and pictures of us heading to the walking street.

Love you all,

Mom




Sunday, January 15, 2017

Dear Family,

This week started out great. Monday Morning Sister Taylor Thomas, who went home Dec 16th skyped Dad and I. It was so fun talking to her and seeing her face. She told us that she and Elder Drake Oldham are dating!!!! Elder Oldham was one of our AP’s that ended up getting deported. We were all in the same district for a while. He would say something really nice and appropriate about Sister Thomas and she would say something to me about him. I got the inside scoop when I was talking to Sister Warnick (former companion to Sister Thomas) about Sister Thomas and she told me that Taylor was going to Utah. So I pulled a mom trick and pretended to know more than I did:

Sister Warnick – “Sister Thomas is going to Utah this week (she lives in California).”
Me – “Ya, she’s coming up to see Elder Oldham.”
SW – “Oh you know about that do you.”
Me – I just grin at her. Meanwhile my mind is running amuck. I can’t believe two of my favorite people like each other.

Then I emailed Taylor and told her what I did with sister Warnick and to spill the beans or I’d be emailing Elder Oldham (empty threat). She didn’t answer me for two weeks, then she skyped us and told us everything!!!!!!

Then I found out that Sister Graham, who went home in December, is emailing Elder Pletig, a German Elder who went home in November. They even mentioned the M word. Wow! Then today at church I was in the Primary with Sister Howe, who goes home Feb 7th, and we were talking because she has a boyfriend who just returned from a mission and is sort of waiting for her. She is kind of hoping he dates others before she comes home. She is kind of interested in Elder Hemrick who went home in December. It’s like Wendy’s South Carolina mission group when they came home. Most of the time these Elders and Sister don’t form attachments until their Mission is over or at least they don’t act on them. We did have an emergency transfer because of that situation a couple of weeks ago.

Thursday morning, around 6 AM or so the power went out in our apartment. It probably lasted around 2 hours. I was just starting to think I’d have to gather my things and get ready at the office, assuming they had power. The lights next door to us were out but the street lights on the Volga were on. The power came back on and Dad and I got to work on time.

It’s amazing how much static is in the air. The humidity stays high but everything dries out fast. My hair is always flying away if I don’t coat it with hair spray. It’s a good thing we have wood floors because if it was carpeted you’d be constantly giving each other static shock and it would probably be enough to stop your heart. In the summer it takes all night and all day for the clothes to dry after washing them. Now they are almost totally dry in a few hours. The air just sucks out all the moisture.

The static also causes other problems. Imagine me trying to sneak a candy bar while everyone is working away in the office:

·         I open my candy drawer and take a snickers.
·         I quietly open the wrapper. Not really trying to hide yet not being too obvious about it. (Okay, embarrassingly enough it’s my third one (fun sized)
·         I reach quietly underneath my desk and put the wrapper in the trash. Well try to.
·         The wrapper seems to be attached to my skin.
·         I flick the offending wrapper into the can, it refuses to cooperate.
·         Another Flick, not successful.
·         Now I’m practically dancing with all the arm flapping I’m doing, it will not come off.
·         After a wrist cracking flick it finally leaves my fingers.
·         Wow, that was difficult
·         10 minutes later I look down and notice the wrapper didn’t make it in the can but is resting on the floor.
·         I pick it up and start the whole process all over again and I have to ask myself, “Is it worth it?”
Dad and I left work an hour early to go to the market; I’m out of so many things. Sister Ottesen is traveling so we haven’t been to Metro. The market that is closest to us is undergoing a remodel and they haven’t stocked their shelves. Anyway the other small market is like three blocks away and when you are carrying your own grocery bags it’s two blocks too many. Anyway we went there and just finished checking out when our clerk yelled at someone trying to go out the door. She pushed this man and was yelling. She and made him open his coat and pulled a large bottle of alcohol out of his inside pocket. She then locked the front door so he couldn’t leave. We figured we would be there until the police came. About 10 minutes later a woman wanted out so they unlocked the door. Dad and I grabbed our stuff and went out at the same time. I was worried we get caught up in everything and since we don’t speak the language we wouldn’t know what was going on.

Since we didn’t go to Metro this week I didn’t have anything planned for dinner. I ended up cooking some beef and potatoes in a BBQ sauce in the crock pot. I made corn, homemade French bread, some canned fruit. For dessert I made some cake cookies. I took a cake mix and put less liquid than it called for. I wanted to make a sandwich cookie. I flattened a piece of dough and then put a piece of chocolate fudge on it, then flattened another piece of dough. I cooked it but the chocolate melted out all over. The next batch I sealed the top and bottom together. The Elders really liked them.

Elder Buchanan bought himself a cheap Taser. He said he was going to try it on himself. I asked him how that went when they got to our house for dinner, but he said he totally forgot to do it. That’s our Elder Buchanan. I did ask him what he’d do if being tasered made him lose control of his bodily functions. I also told him it could stop his heart. I’m having Dad call him and read the dangers I found on the internet to him. His companion wasn’t too sure about it so maybe he’ll talk him out of it.

Church was great today. We had our RS president bring her son. I’ve never seen him there before so I don’t know if he is a non-member or a less-active. Then Levon was there. He is Sister Vera’s husband who is less active. Dad counted about 25 of us including 6 Volunteers.

Well, I love you all.


Mom




Sunday, January 08, 2017

Dear Family,

I just wanted to take a minute to tell you thanks for all you did for Grandma’s funeral. Kelly, reading my message, Wendy and Stacy, working on the video and Brian, making sure we were a part of everything. We love you all so much and I knew that you all would take up the slack for me. Stacy asked how I was doing since Grandma died, in an email the other day and I told her that mostly Dad and I are okay. I spent the day after Grandma died being mad. I tried not to let it show but later that night Dad asked me if I was okay and I told him I had been mad all day. He just said, yea, I know. Anyway by the next day the anger was gone and the gratefulness was there. Heavenly Father gave Dad and I some peace and what a blessing it’s been.

This week was extremely quiet. The Ottesen’s have been gone; they were daring and took a train to Saratov. They had a compartment to themselves. The AP’s were traveling until Thursday. It is a holiday week for Russia so none of our Russian speakers were in the office. We didn’t have any deliveries either because of the holiday. In fact one day this week, I hadn’t slept well, so I didn’t go into the office until noon. Friday we had district meeting and so the office filled with voices again.

The Avrora Sisters had their assignment change a little so they are going to come to NovoK twice per month on Sunday and every Thursday. It will be nice to have some sisters. Tell Dani to keep practicing her hymns on the piano. If she goes out of the states they will be in desperate need of piano players, possibly in the states as well, depending on where she is located. I know our branch is always very grateful to have a Volunteer who plays. If we don’t have one, we sing acapella and sometimes that goes way wrong. We have a little CD player but that takes so long to set up they don’t usually use it for the songs just the prelude music.

Dad and I went for a walk on Saturday along the Volga. It was a relatively nice day. It wasn’t windy and it was about 25 degrees when we went out. It was snowing, small little tiny crystals. It’s been snowing for about three days straight but finally seems to have stopped. Looks like you guys had it worse than we did. Joel Facebooked a temperature in Brigham City that showed -18 plus tons of snow.

Today Dad got to bless the sacrament in Russian. He’s been working on blessing the bread. He got a thumbs up from President Krivov on his first try. This was a pretty wonderful experience for both of us. The Avrora sisters came today.
Sister Shumway is training one of our new sisters but she doesn’t need help with the language because she is a native Russian. They came to help Maria in Primary. Dad suggested that I go in with them instead so Sister Krivov could actually attend Sunday School and Relief Society. She was pretty excited about it. She has been in the nursery/Primary forever. There were just her three kids today. I definitely had a headache when it was time to go home. I played with the little boy for a bit. Then we all played Foo. One of the girls has a soft ball. She throws it to someone and says something and the person who got the ball either pretends to eat it (if it was something edible) or says Foo and throws it back to them. Mine was a chocolate book so I ate it.

After I write this letter I will start dinner. We are just having the AP’s over today. I’m making a chicken casserole. I can’t do anything in any sort of white sauce because Elder Buchanan has a phobia about that. He said one day he went in the kitchen where his Mom was cooking dinner. She was making an Alfredo sauce. He looked at and thought it looked disgusting and has not been able to make himself eat it again. So I always make something in a brown or red sauce for him.

I decided to make a pear cake using a cake mix I already had. It was a fruity cake. I mixed it up but I was finding these things that looked like balls of paper in the batter. I started pulling them out. I couldn’t figure where they all came from. Then it dawned on me that they were blueberries. I was happy it wasn’t balls of paper. Anyway after mixing the batter I sliced some canned pears and laid them on top. Then I put on a topping that is flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter. It sort of makes an apple crisp topping. You bake the whole thing. It tastes pretty good. This way I don’t have to frost it. I also made some homemade French bread.

I’m really ticked at the little market we always go to. They have been remodeling for months now. Slowly thing are disappearing from the store as the remodel expands. Saturday we went in and there wasn’t any butter, eggs or sour cream. Most of the produce was gone. Workers were inside and making what looked like new cases for the stuff. Mean while we can’t get the stuff we were used to getting. I hope they finish up soon.

Love,
Oma






Sunday, January 01, 2017



I wish you all a Happy New Year.  I hope yours was great. Just think, by next New Years Dani will be celebrating somewhere new and exciting.

Hi, we only had Sacrament meeting today for church. Instead of doing that on Christmas Day our branch decided to do it on New Years Day. For Russia that is the main holiday. All of the volunteers last night and tonight have to be in by 6:00pm because of all the alcoholic celebrating that occurs.

 This week has been really busy. We had 8 new sisters come in, Volunteer transfers and a visa trip. There were tons of Elders and Sisters in and out. The AP’s are amazing to be able to coordinate all of the comings and goings. On top of all that they have to make sure everyone has a companion at all times.

With so many new Sisters and 6 sister’s that left in Dec, even our younger sisters have to train. Sister Holley and Shumway, who came in last July, will be the oldest sisters in the mission by April 1. Even Sister Clark, who came in October, is training.

This week should be quiet. The Russians have a long holiday that began today and goes to the 9th, for both New Years and the Russian Christmas. I’m not sure who all will be in the office.

Elder Nedelev (native Russian) was asking me about whether or not it was possible to move a button on his hat. I just told him sure but that he’d have to sew through the fur. I didn’t think any more about it until I saw Sister Howe with the hat. She was going to Sister O’s to get a needle and thread. He was probably hoping I’d fix it for him but he didn’t ask me and I didn’t think about it.

Our Landlord was in and out this week rebuilding our shower. There is a shower and tub combo but they also have a stand-alone shower. Dad noticed a crack in the floor of that one. He took it all apart a couple of weeks ago and ordered a new base. Fortunately we had the shower in the tub so we could still get clean. The people plumbing the shower reversed the hot and cold water. We told his wife (she speaks English) but we will probably just leave it because it would be too big a project to change.

Okay, a couple of interesting things happened to a few of our volunteers. Elder Buchanan was super gluing something and managed to glue two of his fingers together. I looked like he was flashing everyone the OK sign. He asked for my help and I told him he needed some sort of solvent. I googled it and found out he needed finger nail polish remover. I called Sister O and she had some. It was a successful separation.

Over on the other side of the mission are Elders Wickman and Reusch. Elder Wickman is one of my former NovoK Elders. Well they were cooking something on their stove top and when it was done they went to turn off the knob. It turned past the stop point so instead of going out the flame went higher. They turned the knob and it came out along with the stem. In trying to get the knob back where it was supposed to go they were taking the front part of the oven off. The gas flared higher and started the stove on fire. Some of the counter top was burning. They were a little panicked and didn’t know what to do. They went and got their neighbor and he turned off the gas shut off valve. So the fire went out but they are now minus a stove. Plus I’m sure everything probably smells like smoke. Dad and I are so grateful that no one got hurt and they didn’t burn down the apartment complex.

We are having the AP’s and the Zone leaders over for dinner. One of the zone leaders is new, Elder Vandermark. He was once one of my NovoK Elders. The Zone leaders have moved into their apartment in Bezimansky which is a lot farther away. They used to live with the AP’s in the second apartment. This apartment is right next to President and Sister Ottesen. This used to be empty but they moved a couple of Elders in when they couldn’t find an apartment.

The Zone leaders used to come to dinner every Sunday but will probably only come on Fast Sunday. It’s about an hour’s bus ride away so it really takes too much time to come every week. The AP’s are moving to a new apartment when they can locate their apartment keys. But it is only a few blocks away. It’s hard find apartments for the Volunteers because of when we get new Visa’s or transferred to a new apartment they have to get re-registered and the landlord had to be at the registrar’s office to do this. So when they find that out many of them won’t rent to us.

Yesterday Dad and I stayed home most of the day. We did walk out on the frozen Volga River. The wind was really blowing out there so we didn’t go far. Dad went on to the market but I was too cold so went home to our apartment. We heard fire-works going on until late at night. I even heard some at 4:00 AM. We did see our first Russian ice bather. Well we didn’t really see but hear them. They had a shield of cardboard around them. I guess they have a tradition of cutting a hole in the ice and taking an icy plunge. I think it would get worse or colder when you got out. The wind was blowing so I hope they made it back home without getting frost bite.

Fast and Testimony was great at Church today. Our investigator, Mike came just as sacrament meeting was over. He didn’t know we only had that today and was disappointed. Elder Miller told him that they had talked about a shortened day.

There will be pictures of us on the frozen Volga and other various pictures.

We love you all,

Mom