4/17/2016

Mine and Dad’s Russian vocabulary is increasing thanks to the AP’s, Elders Oldham and Porter. They are giving us a word of the day. The first one was Sabawka (phonetic spelling) which is dog. Then Sakoondu, which is second, in case I have to tell a delivery person to wait a second while I go and get a Russian speaker. Then there is Deeairiva which is tree and karta which is map. Now you can all say a few Russian words.

I found out about a study that Dr. Taylor in Moscow (doctor to the missionaries) ran. Apparently he was worried about all the foot and knee problems the missionaries in Russia were having. So he put a Fitbit on all the missionaries in Moscow. He figured out that our missionaries were logging about 50 miles per week. Thank heavens that doesn’t include me, my knees wouldn’t be able to take it.

It’s raining its pouring!! We took the bus to church today and it was late coming and full. We both had to stand for the ½ hour ride into NovoK. That is after standing for about ½ hour waiting for the mini bus. Then as we walked to the Branch it started to rain. We both had our umbrellas but the big fat drops were causing the mud on the sidewalk to splash on us. We ended up being late for church by about 15 minutes. Elder Peterson called us just before church was starting to check on us. I told Dad that was good because if we disappeared we knew someone would look for us. We figure we walk for about an hour on Sundays. 10 minutes to the bus stop and 20 minutes to the Branch then back home again. And just think I couldn’t ever seem to walk the ½ block to church at home.

Here's a pic of another ornate church

It is really starting to get light here early. I’m usually awake before 6:00 am. The internet says that sunrise is at 5:34 am and sunset is at 7:44 pm. So it starts to lighten up well before 5:30 and is still a little light outside at 9:00pm. I wonder how early the sun will come up in another month or two. The internet says that right now we have 14 hours and 8 minutes of daylight.

Someone in our apartment keeps plants and flowers in the windowsill in the stairwell. They really add some beauty to a dark and dreary place. 

Here is a picture of some stairs. They all have rails on one side for people who are pushing strollers. Pretty amazing.

We took the mini bus to the City Park Mall that is across from the Avrora Branch in Samara. We ate lunch at McDonalds again. I’ve included a picture so you can see what McDonalds looks like in Russian.

  

Last Sunday Dad and I ran into our first Gypsies. I guess there are a lot of them in Moscow but not so much in Samara. They did approach us for Money but the investigator, Mike, that was walking us to our bus stop told them no.

Last Wednesday we had zone conference. It was awesome! I can say this because I spent from 9:00am to 6:30pm at the conference and enjoyed every minute. President and Sister Schwab ran it in the Morning and the AP’s ran it in the afternoon and evening.

President Schwab went over the MY PLAN – The Standards of Excellence. What all the missionaries are striving for:

1.     

Sister Schwab talked about Gospel Gladness; about turning negatives into positives. Moods can be too much at the mercy of men and circumstances. Make your mission and your life positive.

President Schwab told about the statue that stands along the Volga River. I’ve included a picture of it in this email. Wikipedia says it is taken from a painting of the Barge Haulers on the Volga. It’s an 1870–73 oil-on-canvas painting by the Russian realist painter and sculptor Ilya Repin.

The work depicts 11 laboring men who wear a harness that is attached to a barge and they are dragging it up the Volga River. The men seem to almost collapse forward in exhaustion under the burden of hauling a large boat upstream in heavy, hot weather. Although they are presented as stoical and accepting, the men are largely defeated; only one stands out: in the center of both the row and canvas, a brightly colored youth fights against his leather binds and takes on a heroic pose.

President Schwab asked the missionaries not to become defeated by their burdens but to know, beyond any doubt that they were called of God by a Prophet of God to come to Russia because Heavenly Father knew they were strong enough to handle it. Things aren’t always rosy here but we are among God’s children spreading His message.

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven. He asked the missionaries to be as the armies of Helaman.

Alma 56:44-49, 55-56 (Armies of Helaman)

44 Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to battle?

 45 And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites.

 46 For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus.

 47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

 48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.

 49 And it came to pass that I did return with my two thousand against these Lamanites who had pursued us. And now behold, the armies of Antipus had overtaken them, and a terrible battle had commenced.

55 And now it came to pass that when they had surrendered themselves up unto us, behold, I numbered those young men who had fought with me, fearing lest there were many of them slain.

 56 But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power did they fall upon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; and for this cause did the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war.

President Schwab went on to tell the missionaries to put their whole heart and soul into their work. He told us that we had the happiest message on earth. No one wants to hang out with someone who acts like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. Choose to be positive. It was a wonderful message.

Lunch time and they ordered Papa John’s pizza for everyone. I was in heaven. Then the AP’s, Elder Oldham and Porter were up for the second half of the day. They talked about Unity.  They wanted the missionaries to see the vision of our mission in front of them. 

We broke for root beer floats. There is no root beer in Russia. Sister Schwab got some root beer flavoring and mixed it with sugar and water to make syrup. Then she added carbonated water to it to make root beer. We poured that over vanilla ice cream and had a real treat. It was messy but wonderful. I couldn’t believe how fast the day went. Dad and I both managed to stay awake (a real feat). 

  Sacrament meeting and staying awake was a problem today. Every time I’d open my eyes after resting them for just a bit, Anatolli the 1^st counselor was looking at me and writing something in a book. I wonder if he put a check mark under my name every time I closed my eyes.

Well I guess I’m kind of rambling but I love you all and hope your lives are full and happy. 

We think about you all and pray for you every day!!

Love,

Mom