June 29, 2013
Life in Perm is bustling! So many wonderful events taking place.
Another blessing to our growing branch...Alexander gets baptized! Elders Krivov and Weber are thrilled to have found such a faithful man to enter the waters of baptism.
The branch sports activity...from volleyball to soccer, from frisbee to softball...we did it all
and had a blast while we were doing it!!!
You may have seen the church-wide broadcast regarding the New Mission President's seminar/Missionary work! In the European East Area...this broadcast was shown during the last two hours of our Sunday block. Here the missionaries and English speaking members enjoy the amazing talks...so thrilled to be a part of this great work!
Many, many of our members live alone. After the block, they gather in the kitchen to share tea, cakes and moral support.
Family Home Evening was quite the adventure this week. We decided to have an "Ice Cream Carving Contest"! We gathered around the dining table, divided into teams and carved away!
With the pretzels, M&M's, Skittles, gummy bears, gummy cars, cookies and numerous other edible accessories...we had quite the creations. This creation was named the "Perm Temple"...note the angel Moroni on top:)!
and the winner was...a clever little docha (summer cottage). The picture doesn't do it justice!!!
Meet Al, the poet (as we call him)...an amazingly creative writer. He has written us several poems about Book of Mormon heroes. He has been a dear friend our entire mission.
Our last trip to Ugocomsk! This is Olga's hometown and it is such a refreshing experience to get into the village...away from the hectic traffic and noise of the city. We invited Sisters Galli and Patchett along for the adventure.
Olga's dear mother, Nina! Love her grin! Not only is she an 82 year old workaholic...she has a green thumb with her indoor plants and
her garden!!! Look at the size of those cucumber plants! I have a grocery sack with about 30 of the tastiest cucumbers!
A view of the entire garden minus the hot houses. Nina comes to life in the summer...her garden gives her purpose and enjoyment. Russians are very serious about their garden production and many live off of the fruits of their labors all during the long winters.
This is the little Russian Orthodox church in the village. To the left of the tallest tower hangs a row of various-size bells. These ring daily and on special occasions.
Olga's sister's son is building his family a new home. If he were to purchase property and build from the ground up...it would have been very, very expensive. So in order to bypass the unreal taxes, he purchased a little old, rundown home and is building his new home around it. When the exterior of the home is complete, they will tear down the little, old home and finish the inside of their new construction. You can see the window of the log home inside the brick home...literally a home within a home.
This home has been two years in the making thus far. Father and son are working together every night of the summer months and on their days off! Truly a labor of love.
We continued on our walk and found two ladies scrubbing their large area rug in the nearby river. As we watched them cleaning away...two stray cows wandered into their favorite watering hole!
The reservoir provided "Tom Sawyer fun" for some young boys in the village.
As we were walking past the reservoir, one of the boys yelled out..."Hey, I know you." Sure enough, one of the young men attends the Police Lyceum that we visited this past winter and he used his English skills to get our attention. He is home enjoying his summer vacation.
Our great trip to Olga's village took place on the 4th of July! Here we are celebrating America's birthday around the dinner table in Russia!
Our last Perm Zone. Elder Pocock and I have spent "13 transfers" in Perm, Russia. This is our last group of missionaries...Elder Lehnardt, second from the left on the back row, is our newest missionary. He comes from Salt Lake City and he is fresh from the MTC. The amazing thing is that he is so fluent with his Russian already. His trainer is Elder Henderson...fourth from the left. Love our missionaries!
Khokhlovka here we come! Our wonderful Relief Society President and her non-member husband invited Elder Pocock and I along with our translator, Olga, to go with them to a nearby ancient Russian village. It was much like the Russian form of Nauvoo and only about 43 kilometers from Perm.
This is a beautiful Russian Orthodox church that was built in 1707!
Here you can see how a hollowed out tree provides rain cutters. Everything was made out of wood...which is plentiful in Russia!!!
Absolutely picturesque scenery! This is a small lake that empties into the large Kama River along the borders of Perm. Lubov, in red, and Vladimir are the parents of two children. Both are married. She, her husband, Vladimir, her son and daughter are all in different faiths, but there is a real cooperative spirit in their home. They understand Lubov's commitment to the gospel and the demands of her calling as Relief Society president. Vladimir was an excellent guide and so gracious to make this experience possible for us before we leave for home.
One of the many homes built in the 18th century. The guide was in traditional Russian peasant attire.
The homes were simple but so functional. The cradle is suspended from a long branch of wood that is attached to the ceiling. A slight touch of the branch and the cradle bounces, rocking the child to sleep. Many relics had been found in the Perm area and donated to the museum.
This was another Russian Orthodox church that was in a different area of the village and dated in the 1600's. If you look closely, you can see rain cutter held in place by curled roots of trees. No metal was used...all wood workmanship.
The nearby watch tower/bell tower. We saw the salt factory...and learned of its major production. Many people from Perm would work in this factory. They pulled the salt out of the lake shown above. The salt was dried, processed and bagged. Workers carried the bags on their shoulders and the salt would irritate their ears...to the point that they would swell and turn red! When the men would return to the Perm city area, they got the nickname "Salty Ears". Hence the infamous monument in the center of Perm.
The logs used to construct the churches were massive.
Such a postcard picture...there was a feeling of peace and reverence in this ancient village.
After the tour, Lubov and Vladimir surprised us with a visit to their docha (summer home) that was only about 20 minutes away. We had never actually been to a Russian docha and we were thrilled to see what docha life was all about. Many dochas were once the homes of their grandparents when life in the village was the norm, rather than the city. It is like a little cabin with a large yard...and of course, the yard consists of a huge garden.
This docha was so Lubov...tidy and creative with flowers galore! Here they have even made a sandbox to the delight of their grandchildren. See the old rocker in the foreground. You can see why they love going to the village...a much slower, peaceful pace!
Lubov wanted us to met her son and his wife who were staying for a week at their docha. The woman holding Lubov's grandson is the mother of her daughter-in-law, who also was staying with them. Such nice people...we enjoyed a lovely lunch from the garden...including strawberries and cream. Heavenly!!! They drove us back into the city and we caught a bus to take us on home so Lubov and her husband could return to their docha and spend a little more time with their family. They returned home late that evening, so Lubov could be at the branch Sunday morning! Truly a dedicated woman and supportive husband.
The finished product. Elder Pocock installed a final light fixture and then we celebrated the completion of a 10 month project!
Olga has a "new" one room home that is all hers...clean, cozy and comfortable. The greatest part of the whole adventure was the fun we shared as we worked alongside one another! ...such a deserving woman. Love you, Olga!
The dreaded goodbyes have begun! Ludmilla joined the church last November. She is a faithful sister that is so very talented. Recently she taught the sisters how to do ribbon embroidery and last Sunday she presented me with this beautiful pillow covering that she created herself. I will treasure this forever.
The young adults wanted to have a Western theme get-together. They asked us to teach them some line dances...thank goodness for the internet. What fun we had. Where there is a will...there is a way!
For Monday night Family Home Evening, we were invited to President Ustyuzhaninov and Yulia's for their little Dasha's third birthday party. What a feast we enjoyed. We got to participate in some traditional Russia birthday activities. We love learning and being a part of the Russian culture. It truly is precious.
Dasha blows out her candles. Look at that cake! Double click on this picture, and see the detail. Inside were layers that seemed like crushed graham crackers alternating with a honey-type filling. It was as good as it was beautiful! Russian cakes are truly a work of art.
This week we did a Photo Scavenger Hunt. We divided the gang into teams and gave them a list of things they had to run around Perm and take pictures of in a certain amount of time. One was a crazy-faced team picture. The missionaries can attend our FHE if they have an investigator. The gal on the far right is investigating the church with our sisters. She is attending school in the Czech Republic and was being taught the discussions there. The missionaries sent us a referral and now while she is home for the summer, she is meeting with our sisters. These great missionaries have got things covered...world wide!
Another picture request...a hand stand in front of a statue in Perm. Way to go, Gregory!
Another picture on the list was "exercise equipment". This team entitled this picture: exercise equipment for "babushkas"...grandmas! You can see why they have so much fun with this activity.
More funny faces...
More funny faces...
I truly think that our love for the young adults is because we know that the strength of the church and the future of Russia lies with their youth! We truly pray that our lessons and our love have instilled in them hope, direction and purpose.
Nina, dear Nina wanted to have us over to see her newly completed remont (remodel). She is a truly creative woman that has done a great job with her apartment. She served us bilini...Russian pancakes with sour cream and huge, delicious strawberries from her docha! They are going to have to roll me onto the plane with all of the wonderful goodies we are eating.
Elders Lehnardt and Henderson teach the last new member discussion with Natalia. Our prayer is that these new converts stay strong and integrated into the branch. The world offers so many distractions!!!
One thing on my bucket list before I leave Russia was to take the train and go see our sweet "other" Nina. She takes this train every Sunday to and from the church for two hours, plus a bus ride. Just had to show her that if she can do that every week...we can take the time out of our busy last week to go see her.
We wore our service clothes in hopes of helping with the weeding of her huge garden but the weather has turned quite cold with lots of rain and her garden was so muddy. When we arrived, she was so surprised because she was sure that with all the rain, we wouldn't come! So glad we did. This picture shows some of the territory she has to get across to get to her train stop to board the train for church each week...and remember she is 76 years old with bad knees!
Yulia came along to help with the communication and just to serve as well.
If we had another 10 months...maybe we could help Nina with a remont. She wants so badly to fix up her home. The beauty of Nina is that she is soooo appreciate for everything she does have!
We picked her raspberry patch...drank her fresh goat's milk...harvested many of her scallions...visited with her daughter and grandchildren. It was a wonderful, wonderful day.
The next post will be our last! We can't wait to share with you our final days in Russia. The Smith's, the senior couple replacing us, arrived on Saturday. They are seasoned...this is their third mission. The other two were Humanitarian missions...this is a whole new ballgame, but Perm is so lucky to get them. Today will be spent helping them get acquainted with transport, the stores, the branch list, and on and on! Tomorrow, July 16th, we leave for Yekaterinburg and a night at the mission home. Bright and early, July 17th, we fly back to a grand family reunion! Bitter/sweet emotions. Our mission motto has been: "We can do hard things"...but nobody told me it would be this hard!!!
