We had our first ever introduction to a Russian post office!  It is a lovely building with a center entry and then you go either left or right.  After standing in line for a while...we discovered that we were in the letter mailing section and had to go across the hall and stand in line in the parcel section.  The missionaries had already prepared us that we would be required to buy postal boxes.  What we weren't prepared for was that we had to weigh each item we were mailing separately, declare the price of each item, and then...

the gal packed (and I might add, not very carefully) and taped the box for us.  Then we were given the boxes to write the mailing address and the return address and then they weighed the boxes again and then we paid for shipping!  Needless to say, it was an ordeal.  We wanted to send our grandchildren a small gift for Christmas and we have already informed them...this will be the one and only package from Russia!  I must admit, the lady that helped us was very patient with our broken Russian.

On the way to the post office, it was still quite dark.  It doesn't get light here until around 9:00 a.m. in the morning.  Postal hours are from 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m!  On our way back to the apartment, we had to smile at all the cars parked in the bike lane!  This must be why you see very few bikes in this city.

My eye immediately caught the English words..."Bakehouse" and we decided we needed to treat ourselves for accomplishing such a feat!  I bet you never thought that going to the post office would be cause for a celebration.

Elder Pocock and I enjoyed a yummy pastry much like a twinkie...but a little more gourmet.

Farther along the route home, we passed this amazing store.  Anyone ever heard of Emporio Armani?
Well, they have one here and believe me, it is extravagant.  Wish I would have had time to go inside...
probably better that I didn't.

About a month ago, my watch died.  It is difficult to get along without a watch when your whole world revolves around an agenda.  We went to a store beneath a family grocery market and there I was able to pick up a nice watch for 260 rubles...which is equivalent to $8.26!  I showed it to one of our Elders and he immediately said, "YOU BOUGHT AN ARMANI WATCH?!  WHAT DID YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT?"  I proudly told him $8.26 and then looked at my watch more closely.  Sure enough, it says "Emporio Armani".  We laughed because he thought I had the real thing instead of a great imitation...just hope it lasts!

For FHE this week, Elders Wimber and Holbrook taught a lesson on the Sermon on the Mount.  We wanted them to bring out the differences in how the world influences our behavior and how the Savior wants us to act.  They divided us into teams and we discussed examples of both, then they did a great demonstration.  Igor stood with one foot on each of the two chairs at the front of the group.

One chair represented the world, the other represented the Savior.  As scenarios were given, we could clearly see how far apart the teachings of the Savior were from the actions the world embraces.  When Igor got spread to the max, Elder Holbrook took his hand and helped him to the chair representing the Savior.  He likened that to the Savior being there to help us in our quest to live Christ-like lives!  The YSA really enjoyed the lesson.

Wednesday afternoon, October 24, Sister Denning, Sister Robins, Elder Pocock and I boarded a train for Yekaterinburg.  President and Sister Rust held a Sister's Conference for all the sister missionaries in the mission.  It was a time of incredible spiritual training and bonding for our sisters.  We have had several new sisters come into the mission so it was great timing for everyone to get to know one another.

Of course, what is a Sister's Conference without good food and we had plenty!

We felt so blessed to be able to be a part of this conference and to get better acquainted with the incredible sisters in this mission.  Here they are in the order that they arrived, with our Sister Denning on the far left...she goes home in two weeks!!!

You've seen our Yulia, (L) before on the blog.  She is now Sister Batalova...serving as a mini missionary for one transfer (6 weeks)  due to sisters going and coming into the mission.  She has been so anxious to serve a full time mission so you can imagine how thrilled she was to hear the news at conference that sisters can now serve at 19.  She has already started to fill out her paperwork.  We truly miss her in our YSA group but she is truly a wonderful missionary and is getting a lot of great experience.  It was a treat to be with her again.

And here we have the "oldies but goodies" senior couples with President and Sister Rust.  The couple on the far left goes home to Pleasant Grove, Utah with Sister Denning in two weeks!  I have to admit, they are a bit trunky!  The couple on the far right are the Mengs from Logan, Utah.  They are now coming in from the field to take the Schows place and be the mission office couple.  Elder Pocock and I are the only senior MLS couple.  We desperately need senior couples to serve in this mission's three additional outlying areas...I'm putting in a plug.  We truly enjoyed a wonderful two days!

You've seen our Ninna before on our blog.  She is our devoted sister that rides the train for 1 1/2 hours one way to get to church.  Here she is demonstrating how she takes cotton and makes it into yarn/thread by dropping and spinning her heavy spindle.  She is at the church for her presentation of short stories that was held Saturday, October 27th.

This sweet sister told a collection of stories that she memorized when she was a young girl.  The stories were those of a famous Russian fableist that she has remembered for years.  She is known for her amazing memory.  She entertained those in attendance for over an hour...never looking at a note except to announce the title of the next story!  Way to go, Ninna.  Thanks for peeking into our week in Russia.