Well, it's time to share our experiences of the week...

Sorry that the printing on the blog goes from black background to white...don't know what is causing this, so if you have any suggestions we're open.  We have tried everything we can thing of...it has a mind of its own!

We had the AP's visiting with us so I got a picture of the whole gang.  When we have Zone Class each Friday, I feel like we are home having the family over for dinner.  I have to say that our girls didn't eat nearly as much as these guys do!!!

We love our English Conversation Group.  Here in Perm, we have a great group of people that love to learn English from the missionaries.  We are only allowed to continue to teach these classes if we get investigators from them...there is a concern that the time could be better spent "finding".  We are fortunate that some of the people we have coming to class also are showing an interest in hearing the gospel message.  Elder Christopher of the Quorum of the Twelve was recently in Russia and commented in a broadcast that "the Lord wants the work to move forward in Russia." We keep trying! Below is a picture of one of our English Group students...Lubov.  She loves the missionaries.  Elder Bybee is our senior missionary with only a little over a week left on his mission.  He and Elder Flitton (far right) taught Lubov a great lesson on the Restoration and they left her the movie in English so she could practice her skills while she watched the movie.  Then she in turn fixed us a yummy meal.  It was pork wrapped in dough and fried.  Seriously, it was delicious!  Sometimes the love of learning English and enjoying the company of the missionaries supersedes the need for the gospel.  Always a challenge!

We continue to get into the homes of our members.  Dasha (left) and Tatianna are a faithful daughter and mother in the branch.  Dasha has just completed her university studies in English!  Yea, another translator!!!  She is delightful and we keep trying to get her out to FHE.  They were introduced to the gospel by young adults who came from America to teach English. The teachers would live in the homes of the Russian people and Dasha and Tatianna were blessed to get a couple young women who were LDS.  They showed us a scrapbook of what these young women are doing now ... they are both married with families of their own.  The people that introduce them to the gospel are never forgotten!  It was so fun to get to know Dasha and Tatianna better.

Another English Group investigator.  This is Alex and boy, can he speak English.  The amazing thing about Alex is that he hungers and thirsts after learning more words, phrases, and meanings.  During the week, he called Elder Pocock and I to see if we would meet with him to discuss some more phrases that he could use at work.  After a delightful time together at our apartment, I got up the nerve to ask him if he would be interested in learning about why we came to Russia.  He was kind and willing. We met with him and a set of Elders.  He is divorced and has a son that he loves very much.  We spoke of our Heavenly Father's love for each of his children and what He did to show His love for us.  We are meeting again. Now if we can just get him to want the gospel as much as he wants to master English.

This week FHE was on July 24th...so we focused on "Pioneer Spirit".  We talked of how they are pioneers of the gospel right here in their own land.  We showed them the short film, "Only A Stonecutter".  They were really touched.  We challenged them to have the commitment and dedication of John Rowe Moyle in their work here in Russia.  After the lesson, we taught the youth how to square dance.  I don't know what we would do on this mission without the help of the internet!!! You can learn to teach or make anything you can think up!  This was in preparation for our branch Pioneer activity on Saturday.  Thank goodness the YSA are up for anything.

Another member visit...  On the left is Margarita, a 75 year old member that was the first convert in the Perm area.  She was invited to come to the home of Nadeshda and Alexander and meet with us also.  Margarita lives in an area where there are a lot of people that are against missionaries...so she doesn't want to have the missionaries come for fear of problems.  She said that her neighbors ask her every Sunday, "where are you going?" Apparently, they would be very unkind if they knew that she was going to what they call a "foreigner's church".  She gets along with her neighbors and she wants to keep it that way.  She faithfully teaches the Gospel Doctrine class.
Alexander and Nadeshda have been members for a long time as well.  They have one son who is married to an American missionary that served here.  He now lives with his family in West Jordan, Utah.  Alexander is a very happy guy that is facing some severe challenges.  Just recently he contracted a disease that left him blind and deaf in one ear.  Sister Nadeshda went to America for the birth of her second grandchild and Margarita came over everyday to fix meals and take Alexander for a walk.  He jokingly calls her his second wife!  What wonderful saints.

Guess who is back from England???  Nadia works during the year at a school for children.  She applied and got a summer job where she takes children that are learning English to England for a two week period.  There they have classes then they get to sightsee and get out and speak with the people of Britain.  She was "mother" to 15 teenagers!!!  She said that they were so polite and well behaved!  She was able to take both of her children along with her but the day after this dinner at her home, she was off again for round two.  Her children are with grandma and grandpa.  We have missed her so much.  She had Eulea, Elder Pocock and I over for a chicken and veggies meal with mushroom gravy.  Here we are chewing on Nadia's mom's infamous dill pickles.  This blog definitely makes me think that all I do is eat!!!

Here Elders Weber and Wimber at going over the branch directory with me.  Our missionaries are so great to work with us in finding and inviting back.  It truly makes a difference when we reach out.  This is our branch building...just before we arrived in February, they combined the two branches into one.  It is a mixed blessing.  This branch has definitely been strengthened but we have visited many families that lived in the area of the other branch...which is quite a distance...and they are finding it difficult to fund the transportation costs.  Yet another challenge!

This a Vadem, our branch choir director.  He is one talented man.  Here you see him by one of his many paintings.  He has an amazing story behind the creation of each painting.  Elder Pocock has always loved science fiction...so Vadem's stories were fascinating.  He also plays the piano extremely well, plus he has a gorgeous and I mean gorgeous tenor voice!  He sang for us and accompanied himself.  Again...so fun to get into their homes and feel that you really know them.

The branch had a Pioneer activity this past Saturday.  We met at a tramvy (electric bus) stop and then after passing under this highway tunnel, we began our trek.  The branch president and a couple others with cars provided transportation for those that didn't want to walk but the rest of us wanted to get a pioneer experience.

We walked for about an hour into a beautiful, forested area.

When we reached the designated "This is the Place", I was really glad and I didn't even have to push a handcart.  The missionaries hunted down some logs for us to sit on under the canopies.  Thank good we had those, it really rained hard for a while!  We served beans with bacon and corn bread to the starving pioneers.

The day was spent experiencing life as a pioneer.  We had a spiritual message at the camp, we played games, we danced,  and of course we ate again.  While we were eating the main course, we watched the movie "17 Miracles" about the ways the pioneers were blessed despite their hardships.  I cried hard and it was in Russian, so what would I have done if I had understood the whole thing!!!  Most everyone got into the stick pull competition.

One of the funniest games, was the cucumber throw.

Some of our pioneers took off their scarves and decided they wanted to be "babushkas" (Russian grandmas) instead!

The highlight was to see the delight and hear the laughter as we taught the adults to square dance.  The YSA were pros by now and they even remembered what to do when I called it in English.  The spirit of those long ago, valiant pioneers was truly with us on this day.  The one thing that the pioneers had over us is that once they reached the Salt Lake Valley they didn't have to walk back out...we did!!!
What a great activity and what great people to mingle with!

We teased Michael that he was our Brigham Young...he truly is a pioneer in his own right!
Until next week...

July 14, it was a year ago that Mom passed away!  We decided that we would stop at the cemetery on the way to English Conversation Group.  We posted this cemetery back in April when we visited for the first time...what a difference three months makes.  So much foliage and look at the huge floral arrangements on the graves.  It was a beautiful day so we decided we were up for a walk the rest of the way to the church... approximately two miles.  Just beyond the cemetery is a steep hill...yikes...we made it up the hill and to the next bus stop for a ride...just too hot and too old!

Met Big Al, a faithful attender of our advanced class in English Conversation Group.  He is such a character...how I wish you all could spend an hour with him.  He has a good command of the English language and I'm impressed with how committed he is to improving.  Al is a good friend that is constantly teasing us about enjoying some Russian Vodka!  He is a taxi cab driver by profession.  After English class, we were to meet up with some less actives for an outdoor concert and Al offered to give us a ride.  He came to FHE for a while but it got too religious for him.  Maybe someday we will break through that crusty exterior!

We've shown you some of our scenes of the "White Nights" celebrations here in Perm.  Well, they just keep on going.  This town wants to fill all of the daylight with lots of atmosphere!  We met up with our friends and enjoyed a gorgeous evening with fantastic classical music by four saxaphone players; soprano, alto, tenor and bass.  These guys were great...and it was all free.  

Some of you have an Avon lady...well I have an Avon guy!  Meet Ramon.  He is a member of our branch and yes, he sells cosmetics out of a booklet just like Avons.  I was in need of some mascara and he came to my rescue.  In fact, he was pretty amazing... I ordered, paid him, and he delivered it that very afternoon!!!  Now that is what I call service.

Several of the younger sisters in the branch often ask if I will stay after the block or FHE to discuss some concerns they may have with family/personal matters.  I thought about it and decided to try a quarterly get-together with anyone that wants to come; where we learn how to cook something new and then talk about girl stuff while we eat lunch together.  Six of us met at our apartment on Saturday and we made Hawaiian haystacks and peach cobbler.  Two of the young women were married, three were single.  Anna, at the very front center of the picture came and brought her two little ones...I didn't want her to stay away because of the children.  (I still have the kids finger prints on my full length mirror because it reminds me so much of my back patio door when the grandkids come over!  A little nostalgia.) We had a terrific time...sharing our concerns, our hopes, helping each other learn patience, we talked about disciplining children, getting along with strong-willed fathers and in-laws, marrying outside of the church, you name it...we discussed it.  They even asked Elder Pocock some questions to get a guy perspective.  Just knowing that we all have our problems and that we all need the Savior as our guide...will help us to make it through another day.  We started at 11:00 a.m. and the last one left at 5:00 p.m.  I can't wait for the next luncheon in October! 

We have another missionary leaving from our little Perm Branch.  This is Anton and he has just received his mission call to Leeds, England.  He is thrilled.  He leaves in November.  He met with the missionaries and Elder Pocock at our apartment for some more mission preparation lessons.  He has very good English skills and he said that most of it has come from speaking to the many Elders that have come here from America to serve.

Run for cover!  We have had the most intense rain storms lately.  Look at the down spout from the roof of the apartment across from us.

Not only did we get heavy rain but we had a lightning and thunder display that was unreal!

These next few pictures are of our adventure this last Monday to Komarehenskaya.  There is a lady in our branch named Nina.  You have seen pictures of Nina before...she is a very colorful and passionate member of our branch.  She is strong willed and determined...but those traits are what get her to church every Sunday despite the distance and the poor health that she endures.  We have become such good friends and Elder Pocock and I decided that we wanted to go visit Nina on a P-day and assist her in anyway she would let us.  Of course, we needed a translator and our dear young adult, Eulea volunteered to go along with us.  We took a bus to the Perm I train station...this is much smaller than the station we use to go to Ekat.  There we boarded the train (below) at 7:30 a.m.  We rode the train for 2 hours...a total of 27 stops...before we arrived in Nina's town...Komarehenskaya.  The train ride alone would cost Nina 200 rubles each Sunday plus the bus ride.  This adds up to about 25% of her monthly pension.

The scenery was refreshing.  The Kama river runs right by Perm, but farther northeast we came to another much larger and cleaner river...the Silva.  What a beautiful area.

Doesn't this look like a fun place to live?

After a little longer ride, and a little searching, we finally arrived at Nina's around 10:30 a.m.  She was so excited to see us.  I am sure that she doesn't get visitors very often!  She insisted on fixing us some breakfast, despite the fact that she was in so much pain in her knees.  But believe me, you don't tell Nina "no"... so she proceeded to fix us spaghetti cooked in milk!  It is really quite good.  Monday probably wasn't the best day to go see her, since she had just had a BIG day of travel and church the day before.

Nina owns her home, and her daughter and two grandchildren live with her.  Nina has her own little room that she enjoys as her haven.  Here is the fireplace inside of her room...it helps keep things warm during the winter months and she can also heat food and water on it as well.

Nina proudly displays the Kiev temple picture on her desk.  She has been to this temple.  She told us of her daily routine: she reads from the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, an article in the Liahona, and the Relief Society lesson manual about President Joseph F. Smith all before her prayers and then her morning chores begin.  She has been a member for about ten years.  She is the only member in her family.  She had three children...two daughters and a son.  Her son died when he was 22 from radiation poisoning in an area similar to Chernobyl. She told us that she was so devastated when her son died that she had symptoms similar to a stroke.  She couldn't talk...her memory was failing...she told us that she prayed to God and promised him that if he would heal her...she would be faithful until her dying day.  He healed her and she is keeping her promise, no matter how hard it is!

After breakfast, we went out into her massive garden.  I don't know how she planted all of it...but we should have gone to her much sooner to get a grip on the weeds.  She said she doesn't care about the weeds, but she did want us to help her pick her raspberries.  Oh my, does she have raspberries.  They are very tiny but very sweet.  The four of us picked for well over an hour and didn't come close to getting all of the ripe berries.  Here you see our Nina preparing a salad for us.  I pulled those yummy onions out of her garden and she is slicing them with layers of cucumbers and tomatoes...a sprinkling of salt and some oil.  Seriously, it tasted so good.  Notice the wrap on her swollen knees.  She has a plant growing in her yard that she picks the large leaf off and ties it to her knee.  She feels that it is a natural way for her knee to heal.  Kent and I sat on a little bench made of logs and we tipped backwards right into some stinging nettle!  We all laughed so hard!  It was fun to see Nina laugh.  It is always a concern for us to know what is appropriate to take when visiting someone here in Russia.  The older people can get offended if you do too much for them, or if you don't eat enough, etc.  We brought some sausage, cheese, bread and homemade cookies to help with the meal.  She seemed grateful.  We retired to her little room again and talked of her health, her hopes, her family concerns, her faith.  We praised her for her example and her commitment.  We hope that she truly realizes how wonderful she is!  We had to leave on the 3:20 p.m. train to get back home to an appointment.  It was a wonderful day spent with a true pioneer here in Russia.  We love our Nina and she'll be at church on Sunday!

Tuesday, for FHE, Elder Pocock taught a lesson on "Building Bridges in our Relationships".  It was a great lesson on how to work together to overcome relationship challenges.  After the lesson, our activity consisted of the young adults pairing up and literally building a bridge.  The pair that built the strongest bridge would win a prize.  The bridge had to go over a yogurt cup and yet be strong enough to sustain first a bottle of handsoap, a water filter and then my quad of scriptures!  We had some pretty creative bridges...most of them were tunnels!  It was fun and challenging.

This is the Ustyuzhaninov family.  You have met Sasha (their youngest son) before, he is going on a mission to St. Petersburg.  Tamara and Anatole are the parents of our branch president as well.  She is the Young Women's president.  They are delightful people...rock solid...helping this little branch to stay strong.  It was so fun to go to their apartment.  Back in the Soviet Union days, if a person was a war veteran, the government gave their family an apartment.  Tamara's father was given this apartment and Anatole said they bought it from him for a very small price.  They have taken one room at a time and fixed it up.  Anatole is suffering with cataracts and had surgery not too long ago.  It helped a lot and he is hoping to be able to get back to painting.  He truly is an artist.  Tamara told me that in Russia it means he is professional if we say: "He certainly can write" rather than paint!  See how much there is to learn!

This is a close up of the oil painting Anatole did of his granddaughter Sophie....President U's daughter.  He certainly can write!!!!

Ludmilla is the sister on your far right.  She is one of the first people we met here when we arrived in Perm.  It was her 50th birthday the day we arrived, and the missionaries invited us to go with them to the party.  She is such a faithful sister.  She and her daughter, Kristen, (far left) just got back from going to the Kiev temple with the branch.  Kristen was able to do baptisms for the dead.  She is a talented piano player and has a beautiful voice. Vladimir is Ludmilla's husband and he is a fireman.  He is not a member but comes often with the family.  We have been to their home twice with the sisters and had great discussions with them.  Daniel is their grandson that lives with them.  His father is Ludmilla and Vladimir's son.  Another great family in the branch.

Another sign appeared on the main entrance door.  Our Branch President told Elder Pocock about this great app for his IPhone that enables you to take a picture of something and it will translate it for you!  Isn't that amazing?  Well, we took a picture of the sign and we are so glad we checked it out!!!


 NO WATER FOR 36 HOURS STARTING FRIDAY NIGHT AT 8:00 P.M. UNTIL SUNDAY MORNING AT 8:00 A.M.  Normalna!!!  Just pray that we get to shower before church on Sunday...

Hi from Perm...

Last week we talked of our goal to visit all the branch members, active and less active, in hopes of getting to know them better and making a picture directory.    Well, it has been quite a week.   I can't believe the way our members have responded to our visits.  All too often, as missionaries we focus on the one lost sheep and not the ninety and nine...these faithful saints are so great!  This is Galena.  She is the branch librarian and a delightful sister.  Her husband died in 1985.  She has one son that is also active and has served a mission...he lives in Moscow.  She has had her family sealed to her.  She is there every week...alone, but always there!  She does a lot of handwork and keeps great photo albums. She made us the most delicious apple cake to taste while we were there.  She grows quite a little garden in pots in her little sunroom.  Most every apartment here has a little bonus area with large windows. It can be used for extra storage, drying your clothes on the rack, or growing a garden. She doesn't have a docha with a garden spot, so she has to make good use of what she has.  She is a very ambitious gal!

This is Val,  (for Valeri) and Laem, the wife (for Laemote).  They are one of the six couples in the branch that are both members and both active!  He has been a branch president and they have served a mission as a couple here in Perm.  Their calling was to go to the outlying areas and reactivate the members.  They are really great...they have three children...none who live close by nor are members.  In fact, Laem told me that she hadn't seen her children for twelve years!  They have a small individual home where they care for and love 15 dogs!!!  

You've met Igor before...he is the kindest young man.  He lived with an older brother but felt that the environment wasn't what he wanted so Brother Vacilly,  left, invited him to live with him.  Brother Vacilly has a severe case of scoliosis...you can see how short he is.  His wife is very against the church.
Just days before this picture was taken, Brother Vacilly's son, who lives about 50 miles away, was hit by a train and killed.  Bless Igor, he was there to go with him to the funeral and provide support and comfort. It truly is inspiring to see this little branch of saints look out for each other.  We didn't even know about Vacilly's son until after church the next Sunday.  I was in Relief Society and a young gal had just given the closing prayer and one of our older sisters, who is a friend of Vacilly, stood up and asked if we could say another prayer to bless Brother Vacilly.  She cried through the whole thing...I think this was the first time many of the sisters learned of the tragedy.  Thank goodness for friends in the gospel. 

On Thursday of this week, we headed to Yekatrinburg for couples training in the Addiciton Recovery Program of the church.  There is such a tremendous need for this here...actually everywhere!!!  Brother and Sister Bice serve as the coordinators and they gave a day long presentation on Friday to help us understand how to implement this program in our branches.  After the training, we experienced a mock meeting where the couples were those in need of the help. It was such a spiritual time, where we shared heartfelt concerns about our own addictive behavior.  We don't have to have trouble with alcohol, drugs, or pornography to have a need for this program.  There are problems such as road rage, over-spending, over-eating, control issues and on and on.  It is the kind of program that every person, member or not, could use to improve their lives.  It is all based on the help of the Savior's Atonement! After a busy day, Elder Pocock crashed, but I had to take a picture of our bunk beds at the mission home.  President and Sister Rust are great hosts!

We boarded the train at 10:30 p.m. Friday night in Ekat and arrived in Perm at 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning.  As we were waiting for a tramvy to take us to our apartment, I snapped this picture of a sweet babushka who seemed to sleep more peacefully at the bus stop than I did on the train!

Across from the train station, I spotted Bruce Willis!  I thought it was interesting how he is on billboards in Russia advertising credit to take a summer vacation.

Sunday is always such a special day.  We always get to the church early so we can greet the saints.  It is so fun to be able to call them by name and have something to comment on because of our visits in their homes.  Many of them go to their dochas during the week and then return for church on the weekend.  This week we received so much from the saints from their docha gardens...onions, two kinds of lettuce, cucumbers that are soooo sweet, and delicious strawberries.  They are so giving and very proud of their harvest...and they should be!  

This week many of our missionaries were gone due to transfers and visa trips.  In fact, Elder O'Neill...the last of the original zone... left for Ufa.  We will miss him so much!  For part of the week, we were down to one set of missionaries: Elder Hronek and Elder Flitton.  They had Andre' come to our home for a visit.  His wife is also very against the church and doesn't want the missionaries in her home.  He serves as a branch clerk...blesses the sacrament every Sunday...goes out with the missionaries on splits and is really a great guy.  We told him that we are so proud of him for his dedication to his baptismal covenants and the service he renders to the branch.  He loves the gospel and he also loved my cookies!  Every week, I spend my P-day making a ton of peanut butter, chocolate chip (they don't have chips...so I cut up chocolate candy bars), and oatmeal raisin cookies, banana bread, and lemon bars.  Then I have my stash to go to when we go out on visits or have people to our home.  They don't have anything like these things here...so they are getting a taste of American goodies! Their desserts aren't nearly as sweet and probably not as fattening!

One of the funniest monuments in Perm is this one called "Salty Ears".  They used to do a lot of salt mining up the Kama river from here.  Many of the miners would get an irritation on their ears from the salt and it would cause their ears to get red and swell.  Whenever they would see someone with the irritated ears...they would say, "he must be from Perm."  Elder Pocock must be from Perm...look at those ears!

Another Big Mac...it really feels like home at this MacDonalds.

Look who's back from England.  President and Sister Ustyuzhaninov were gone with their English school students for a month on a tour of England.  The girls stayed with their grandmothers.  They stopped by to say hi and work on some events that are coming up...namely a Pioneer Celebration. The YSA are going to be in charge of the decorations and a family dance...doesn't that sound fun?!

The FHE lesson is over and now it's refreshment time.  I always make something sweet but we also have vegetables and fruits.  The young woman on the left is our darling Ellia, short for Elvira.  She is
planning on going on a mission.  Below her is our soft-spoken Peoter.  He works so hard for so little...
we always give him a goodie bag to take with him when he leaves.

I love having the young people in our home.

On the left is Stanislav.  He is our golden investigator.  He is seventeen...can't join until he turns eighteen but comes to church every Sunday, wants to serve a mission, comes to FHE every week...where can we find about 100 more like him?!  He looks like a missionary already.  Here he is getting some advice from Elder Hronek after FHE.  He has already read the Book of Mormon and is one of those that hungers and thirsts after more knowledge.

Thanks for letting me share pictures of the amazing pioneers here in Russia.  We're so grateful for this opportunity!