Every missionary lives for packages and senior couples are no different.  THANKS to our family for the special box of necessities, surprises, and treats.  Our family had a great get-together this summer and they prepared this box of love.  The grandchildren all made us the greatest pictures and letters.  We have them posted all over our fridge and kitchen window...how we LOVE our family! The gifts arrived the day before Elder Pocock's birthday...great timing!!!

Yes, they are masters at growing zucchini here too!  Our dear Nadya has friends that grow amazing gardens and she has given us so many vegetables and especially zucchini.  These monster veggies have prompted me to research every possible recipe that can be made with zucchini.  We have had brownies, muffins, zucchini bars, cookies and a variety of casseroles and soups and I still have six more waiting for me on the balcony!  Thanks Julie West for your great recipes.  I am converting the entire branch to
become lovers of zucchini.

Our dear Olga from Ugocomsk has purchased an apartment in Perm!  We are thrilled to have her closer  to us and the branch.  She bought this one room studio apartment.  There is a large window about three feet behind me and this picture shows approximately two-thirds the width of the room.  The room is in
dire need of repair so Elder Pocock, Olga, the sisters and I are taking on the project.   Olga has had the entire room rewired so now we are scraping old wallpaper, plastering in large holes and evening out the walls in preparation for hanging wallpaper.  Elder Pocock has removed all of the rotting baseboards.  One morning a week, we are working to help Olga get her home in good repair.  Service is an integral part of missionary work.

Here Olga and Elder Pocock are mixing the plaster in preparation for patching the walls.

Olga insisted that she feed us lunch, so we went to the common kitchen where all of the tenants on this floor of the apartment building share cooking space.  Here we prepared a delicious lunch of grilled open-face sandwiches and fresh veggies.  There is also a common washing area with washing tubs and washing machines and a common restroom with toilets and showers.  Many people live in studio apartments like this because they are so much more reasonable.

Here Sister Robins is helping Olga prepare our herb tea that is a must with lunch. (I've never been a tea drinker, but I must say that the cold weather truly makes you want to have a warm cup of tea.  Russians drink hot drinks all year around.) We are so excited because next week, we will start hanging the wallpaper and you will really see this studio apartment take shape. Because many apartments are built with cement, the wallpaper that they use is very heavy.  This works to our advantage because it will cover up many of the flaws in the construction!

Our sisters, Robins and Denning, are teaching two lovely ladies that are dear friends, Marina and Tatiana.  This was taken just after a discussion.  We have invited Olga (next to me) to the discussions because it is wonderful to have a Russian convert bear testimony to other Russians.  Tatiana was at church this last week, and it was great for her to have Olga there to greet her and sit by her.  You'll never guess what I served them after the discussion...zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting!!!

Yes, the weather is turning cold.  One day this past week, the low was 43 degree F. and the high was 46 degrees F. !!!  YIKES, I'm not ready for this.  As you can see, there are others that put on a coat, but just can't give up their summer skirts!  The Russian women dress up a lot.  Rarely, do you see jeans...especially during the week.  Most women wear dress pants, pant suits, or skirt and tops. They take a lot of pride in their appearance.  One of the most amazing things is the shoes they wear...

Look at that spiked-heel!  You see these everywhere...on dress shoes, boots, and sandals!  I honestly don't know how they can walk in them let alone run to the buses!  The amazing thing is that they wear these on the icy sidewalks in the dead of winter.

Despite the cooling temperatures. Perm still holds many functions outdoors. The Russians have to be hardy people.  If they only had activities in the summer...it would be limited to seriously less than THREE MONTHS!  Here you can see the beginning of Perm Sports Day.  They had a wide variety of events...including a marathon, soccer tournaments, bike races and even...

three on three basketball tournaments!

One thing missionaries don't get to do here in Russia is drive!  And I would dare say that there's isn't one missionary that would want to.  I thought you might like to see how the missionaries get around this city of a million people.  Here we have the traditional bus.  There are bus stops everywhere.  This is the transport that most people use.  It only costs 12 rubles...I have heard that Perm has the cheapest transport in all of Russia.  Elder Pocock has an app that helps all the missionaries figure out what bus to take to get to a particular area.  Love that IPhone.

During the summer months, many people would walk, but when the cooler temps hit and the rain starting to fall...the buses got crowded.  Can you imagine being the lady that has to weave in and out from person to person collecting the bus fare?  Think of keeping track of who paid and who hasn't?

This is called a marchutka.  It is like a large van.  It carries up to fifteen people in cramped quarters.  This also has set routes and stops at the regular bus stops.  This costs 15 rubles because you are guaranteed a seat...no standing room here.

This is a trolley bus.  It has large, rigid cables that are attached to overhead electrical wires.

The tram-vie bus is also powered by overhead electrical wires, but the difference is it runs on tracks.

Perm recently purchased some new tram-vie buses.  There are a lot of cars but the majority of the people in Perm rely on one of these forms of public transportation.  Parking is a real problem and the other concern is the way people drive.  I can't tell you how many times I have looked out the window on a bus and dropped my jaw at multiple near miss accidents!

We continue to visit the less actives in the branch.  There are many wonderful people on our rolls that we will keep searching out.  Elders Flitton and Riddle introduced us to Lubov and her non member husband.  She lit up when she spoke of the sister missionaries that introduced her to the gospel.  Some time later, the two branches were combined and the building we use is a long way from her apartment.  So many challenges, ... so many great visits.

More signs of Fall....

We can't quite figure out why these trees are striped in multiple colors.

For those who follow the evolution of our steps...here is our latest picture.  We pray they will last through a long, harsh winter!  Another great week in Perm.