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...