I'm posting at last!  Sorry I'm slow but these past few days have been crazy busy and that is always good in the mission field.  Our pictures this week will show a variety of activities, places we've never been and a few things that are unique to Russian life!  First, we introduce Elder Holbrook from West Jordan, Utah.  When we first came to Perm...Elder Holbrook was the companion to the zone leader, Elder Larsen.  Then he got shipped off to the Siberia Zone and now he is back with Elder Wimber.  Elder Weber was transferred to Yekaterinburg...we hate having these special missionaries leave but love having new ones come!

It's the sisters week to cook for zone class...if you look closely there is a huge plate of fresh scones.  We treasure this time to be together...to share, to motivate, to inspire...and of course, to eat!  The elders all hang out in the kitchen ready to sit up when they hear..."Come and get it!"

We are so excited because on October 21, 2012...Perm branch will have its first ever Primary program. The sweet sister in blue to your right is Tanya, the Primary President.  She works so hard to make Primary the best it can be with so few children.  We are excited to announce that Tanya is expecting a little girl in November!  Yea, more Primary children.  Lenna, in black, is one of our incredible teachers and such a support to Tanya.  I peeked into their practice on Sunday, and it was so sweet to hear those children sing.  Two of the older girls will soon be going into Young Women.

We love visiting the members of the branch and this week we went to visit our first counselor, Brother Valeri, his non-member wife, Auxana and their little girl Ona.  We rode a bus for approximately an hour then got off and walked and walked some more.  These are some of the unique things we spotted along our way.  This is a homemade television antennae that is suspended from a stick out the window of an apartment.  Pretty creative!

At first we thought this was a gigantic sink hole, but upon inspection we found that this crater at the intersection of this little village was dug on purpose.

Obviously, there are problems with the pipes!

Close-by we saw an uncovered manhole...you really have to watch where you are going in this neighborhood...especially after dark!  One the way home from institute tonight...I barely missed stepping into an uncovered hole.  Believe me, I now walk looking down!

We totally enjoyed the peace and quiet of this area out of the city.  Individual homes, narrow streets,
and unique architecture everywhere we looked.

This little home shows how they brighten up the wooden dwellings by painting the facia around the windows.  We loved how this home had its own tiny balcony.

Farther down the lane we came across this impressive neighborhood.  They use a lot of brick in the newer homes.  We have seen some homes updated with aluminum siding but this is rare.

This was a lovely home made of cement...it even has a garage, which is almost non-existent.  We have noticed that expensive homes and apartment buildings will use brick and then cover over the top of the brick with a cement or stucco-like finish!

Here is a perfect example of how they use contrasting brick to enhance an expensive home.

We couldn't help but notice this very nice home with BLUE accents!!!

We finally reached Valeri's apartment building.  Here is Brother Valeri with his 88 year old grandmother that he and his wife care for.  She served in the communication department of the military for 2 1/2 years during WWII. Valeri is displaying the medals she received from her country for her service.  She was given this apartment as part of her payment for war service.  She is very hard of hearing but so pleasant.  We had a wonderful visit.  We love this family!

On the way back out to the bus stop, we got a close up and personal look at the pipelines that carry the hot water for taps and the heating radiators.  It seems strange to us that the pipes are above ground wrapped with insulation rather than buried.

Every street has to have these raised pipes.  The government provides all of the hot water from a central location.  You may remember that during the summer, our hot water was turned off for six weeks.  Thank goodness we have a small water heater that hangs on the wall in our bathroom, providing a hot shower.  Our missionaries aren't so lucky.  This happens every summer so that the lines are flushed out before winter and the need for a consistent flow of hot water.

Here we see pipes carried above and across the driveway to a private home.

And here you can see the pipeline spanning a nearby river.

The hot water not only flows through the taps of the apartments for the sinks, but through radiators of various sizes and shapes for heating.

Behind the cover to the right of our curtains, you can see the outline of the radiator to our kitchen.  We also have a radiator in the living area and bedroom.  The hot water that flows through the radiators and heats up the apartments for a million people is controlled by the government.  They turn the water into the system when it is determined that it is cold enough outside.  There isn't such a thing as a thermostat! The heat in a room depends on the size and function of the radiator.

This is a unique radiator in an entryway of an apartment building.  As you can see, this has tiny pipes and metal slats that radiate the heat from the water that passes through it.

This picture is of Olga's radiator...remember her apartment is a studio room of about 14'x18'.  It is massive for a room of that size and when we go there to wallpaper...Olga tells us that she always has to have her window open.  This is one of the problems we face in the winter, because we dress warm...thermals, sweaters, coats, etc. to go outside but then when we get to the apartment of the family we are visiting...we nearly die from the heat plus all the clothing!  At least when we are back to our apartment...we warm up fast!  We found this all very fascinating and unique to Russia.

This is Katia, a young woman that is seventeen.  She and her sister, Alona, age fifteen, were baptized about two years ago.  Then the little rented facility was discontinued, the branch didn't have the needed man power to run it properly and the branches were combined.  We travelled with Elders Duggar and Smith on a bus for over an hour to visit with Katia and extend an invitation to come back.  Such a friendly, darling girl.  She said that she is in her eleventh year...the last year required here in Russia...and she will be the first in her family to complete this much schooling.  We're proud of her and hope to get back to see her soon!

This is what a typical bus stop looks like from the inside.  Because so many people depend on the public transit, the bus stop is the perfect place for people and businesses to advertise their merchandise and services.

Here you can see the thousands of notices that are glued onto the bus stop enclosure.

How are all of you enduring the campaigning in America?  We understand that you only have FOUR MORE WEEKS!  Hang in there. We went to the Ada County election commission before we left for Russia and they recently emailed us our ballots.  We printed them off...marked the ballot and then mailed them back to Boise.  We had to sign a waiver allowing our non-confidential ballot.  We are just glad to be able to participate and say..."may the best man win"!!!

Elder Pocock sporting his new Russia hat...ready for winter!

Talk about a small world...here we have a picture of our Nadya from Perm, Russia with our three Meridian, Idaho gals Erin, Cara and Kendra outside of the Boise temple...dated 10/10/2012!  Nadya is in America to attend conference and was able to get to the Boise area and spend the day with some of our girls and grandkids.  How exciting for us to see our two worlds embrace!  It was just three days before the official open house but as it turned out, the temple graciously allowed Nadya to have her own personal tour!  How many Russian converts of four months can say they have been to General Conference and inside of a temple??? !!!  Enjoy America, Nadya and we'll see you soon!  Thanks gals for taking such good care of her.