On the last post, I wished you all a Happy Thanksgiving!  The very next day we headed out to the Central Renock...a huge outdoor market with some buildings that house produce and meats of all kinds.  

We were in search of many things to make our Thanksgiving a little more "like home"...

We found a wonderful pumpkin for our pie...there's no such thing as a can of pumpkin!  Alas... NO yams,  NO pecans for our yam souffle, if we could find yams, NO turkey, and NO sage for dressing if we could find a turkey!!!  It's okay, we'll go to plan B...to be continued!

Nadya and Mela are going to make sure that Elder and Sister Pocock get into the holiday spirit.  After our discouraging trip to the outdoor market, it was just what we needed.  We made Christmas decorations for our apartment.  We glued various lengths of green garland to gold spray-painted pinecones and then attached those to gold garland.  Mela cut off tiny green balls from the garland and glued them to the pinecones.  Nadya is the the holiday decorating queen and Mela loves to help!  We made homemade pizza and had so much fun together!  We are grateful to have Nadya and her family in our life!

Here we have Elder Pocock doing a balancing act as he hangs the garland.  Mela and I are holding the back of our sofa in place against the wall, so Elder Pocock stays in one piece!

Overland Ward nursery leaders...this will make you green with envy!  This is our little nursery in the branch.  We have one little girl that comes all the time...sometimes we are lucky enough to have two children!  I was asked to spend the two hours with the nursery leader to show her a suggested way to break up the block for the nursery children.  It was fun and brought back so many memories.  Dasha loved "Once There Was A Snowman" and "Ring Around The Rosies".  They haven't been teaching the little lessons to her and it was so sweet how she responded even when she had to have what I was teaching translated.  I kept thinking...no wonder Christ loved the little children so much!

Our Yulia is back!  This amazing young single adult is back from her mini mission  She served in Chely and Yekaterinburg for a total of 6 weeks while the mission was short a sister missionary.  While she was serving, we received word at General Conference of the change in age for elder and sister missionaries.  Needless to say, she is delighted and has begun to fill out her papers for a full time mission.  This will make the fourth full time missionary serving from this little branch...cheers for our youth!!!  We had to have her over for dinner after church so we could hear all about her experiences.

Monday morning, November 19, we left early for Metro...Russia's version of Costco!  This is the Plan B, I was referring to earlier.  I just knew that I would find everything I needed at Metro.  I had to take a picture of the front window... just like in America, they have skipped over Thanksgiving to Christmas merchandising...WAIT THEY DON'T HAVE THANKSGIVING!!!  We came home with two small turkeys...I was thrilled, but NO yams and NO sage for dressing.  NO, they don't have Stove Top!  Some things you just have to do without!  You would never know that we were doing without, we carried in four huge IKEA bags of groceries from Nadya's car.  Never could have done it on the bus. Thanks a million, Nadya!

Well, shopping is over...time to get busy.  Here Elder Pocock is scrapping the pulp from our cooked pumpkin.  I wanted pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread or else!

NO pie pans, so I made two pies in one 9x13!  NO shortening so I made the crust with butter...I might consider doing this all the time!  I don't have a blender but one of the elder companionships let me borrow their hand mixer to try and whip up the pulp from the pumpkin a little bit more.  I have to admit,
it was a labor of love that I loved doing.  It was enjoyed by all, especially me!  Ahhhh, a taste of home.

For our Young Single Adult FHE we decided that instead of imposing our holiday on them, we would call it a Gratitude Night and enjoy a lovely dinner and then talk about how we need to be Thankful and show Gratitude.  Just had to show you one of the items on our menu...this is a radish...yes a Russian winter radish.  It is huge, with a black skin and white center.  We shredded it and mixed it with mayo (by the way, they have the most delicious mayonnaise here...they have more varieties of mayo than we have of ice cream and it is almost as good!)  The radish is very crisp and very hot but oh so good!

This is the group of Young Adults that we shared our Gratitude Night with.  Each has their own very unique story to tell.  It was a treat for us to spend the night with them and tell them in word and deed that we are GRATEFUL for them!

Wednesday, we had a fun day of visits.  This picture shows our new Russian Sister Tikhonova who has taken Sister Denning's place to serve with Sister Robins.  They invited us to visit Nastia, a less active sister in their area.  She has two children, was very active at one time and then when the branches were combined, she hasn't been to church because of the distance she would have to travel with two young children.  We challenged her to pray with her children, have Family Home Evening and bring the gospel into her home on a daily basis.  She is such a good mother...such a good woman.  Just wish that we could build up the membership here and again have more than one branch to help support the various areas of this large city!

Saw this on the way home from our visit...it is called a "Babushka cart".  It is to help grandmas carry their groceries home from the market.  You really don't think about the need for one of these because in America, we just empty our shopping carts into our cars and drive home.  Here you either walk, or take a bus to your home...hence the need for a "Babushka cart".  If we didn't have our little grocery store just below our building, we would definitely have to get one of these!

Later that evening we had a discussion with Denis.  We are excited about this young man that is investigating the church.  He came to church on Sunday, and is very willing to met with the missionaries.  We truly hope that he will read and pray to get the answers that will enable him to progress.

Thursday, November 22, 2012...THANKSGIVING DAY!  The companionships showed up early...excited about Thanksgiving dinner and just being together when thoughts of home are so strong.  Sister Robins is patrolling the snitching going on before dinner begins...some things never change!

Cinnamon rolls in the works....

Elder Pocock creating creamy, garlic, mashed potatoes.  Most of the potatoes in our little store are about the size of a plum, thank goodness Metro had closer to "Idaho" sized potatoes!

Our new zone...L to R...Sister Tikhonova from Irkutsk, Russia, Sister Robins, Orem, Utah, me, Elder Wimber, Roseberg, Oregon, Elder Dugger from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Elder Cook from Highland Utah, Elder Kaiser from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Elder Riddle from SLC, Utah and Elder Holbrook from SLC, Utah.  Another great group to serve with.  Each companionship helped with the food...we have great cooks in this zone and as you can imagine they like to eat!

After the food and the clean-up, we played some fun games.  After 2 1/2 hours, it was back to work!  NO football for these guys!  This church is blessed with great young people!

These next two pictures are to show you what it looks like at 10:00 am in the morning.  It was so dark that my flash went off and made it look much brighter than it really was.

As you can see, automobiles and stores still have their lights on!

Well, Thanksgiving is over.  All of you should be home from your travels and into high gear for the Christmas holidays.  Nadya's son, Feda, took second place in an International Competition in Perm performing on his Balalaika.  We were not able to attend his performance so we wanted to congratulate him with some pumpkin bread with pieces of a chocolate bar cut up for chocolate chips...NO chocolate chips here!  When we got to his apartment...we found that Mom and Mela have been at it again.  The neighbors had gotten new children's furniture and the cardboard boxes the furniture was in were decorated red with white polka dots.  Nadya rescued them from the trash and she and Mela created a snowman

and Christmas tree to help decorate their home for New Years.  In Russia, the big holiday is New Years.  This a when families gather, presents are exchanged, and Grandfather Frost brings the children their presents.  Excitement is in the air...

We have had quite a week...I have lots more pictures to post, so they will be coming soon.  

Hi from Perm...this week the Sisters invited us to go with them to visit one of the first members of the church in Perm...Sister Tamara. She joined shortly after the first missionaries were allowed in Perm in 1995. She is delightful...she's very proud of her claim to fame.  Unfortunately her health is poor and she isn't able to attend church but she looks so forward to her visits from her home teachers and visiting teachers and of course, the missionaries!

Just a peek at what the intersection near our apartment is like between 5-7 p.m.  If you look closely...the traffic is literally at a standstill.  The buses and cars continue on into the intersection and then the light changes and the cross traffic can't proceed...you wouldn't believe the honking and yelling.  I just stood there in disbelief. As the Russians say, "normalna!"

Just to give you a quick look at our stomping grounds...this abandoned house is located right below us in the middle of businesses and tall apartment complexes. Our apartment building can be seen right behind it.  We look out our kitchen window and we can see people behind this house all day long taking their smoking break.

This is another view of our building taken just after high winds blew down a section of the metal fence.

This shows the balconies on the back side of our apartment building...our balcony is the third from the botton.  This is where we stored the many vegetables the branch members gave to us, especially the eight large zucchinis.  Now we have had to bring the remainder inside...so they won't freeze!  The first three floors of our apartment building are businesses.  We have mostly clothing stores on the three commercial floors...wedding gowns are even sold here.  Right below our apartment is a dry cleaners. The majority of apartment buildings here are this way...the lower floors are businesses and the upper floors are apartments.

Another view of home...Pushkina 80...

Here is a view of the grocery store that is also part of our complex.  Talk about convenient!!!

To the left of the Cemya..."family" grocery store is this alley.  We walk through here multiple times a day...through the puddles and past the garbage cans!

Hence, this is what Elder Pocock's pants look like every night!  That's right, every night he hangs them on the door to dry and then in the morning he brushes the mud off...sometimes it has to be washed off.
It will almost be a blessing when the freezing temperatures are consistent and we go from walking through puddles to sliding on ice!  I think today his pants will look better, the high is to be 21 degrees F

We were on our way to pick up a set of Elders for a member visit when we were so shocked to see a "STOP" sign in English.  Just had to take a picture of this because the next photo shows what all of our stop signs look like:

cton=stop!  The Schows, another senior couple, told us that during their first few days in Russia,  they were in a bus and they kept seeing this horizontal sign that read cton.  They couldn't figure out how so many streets could be given the same name...later they learned that what they were seeing was not street signs, but STOP signs.

As we continued on to the Elders, we came across a street that was not open to traffic but just pedestrians.  Along this walkway was this adorable florist business.  Can you believe how ornate and in mint condition?!  So cute.  I must get back and go inside.

This lane must be so fun in the summertime...this is a restaurant with pianos in the foreground and a deck for dancing.  I don't suspect this weather is too great for those pianos.

Then we just happened to stubble across this little courtyard that had several small, unique businesses that created items out of wood and metal.

Look at these creations out of wood...

and more...

and more.  This had to be our favorite..a giant birdhouse.  Look at the claw-like base.  Those are roots of trees that are shaped and then wrapped in burlap.  I felt like I was in Harry Potter land!

We finally hooked up with our Elders and travelled to the home of two faithful sisters in our branch.  We have visited a number of members and and non-members in our nine months here and this is one of only two homes that we have visited.  All the others have lived in apartments.

This is the living room/dining area of Maria and Natalia's home.  This home is rich in antiques and collections of every kind.  If you look closely you can see the amazing molding around the ceiling.  Everywhere you look, you find a piece of the puzzle from their past.

A close up of Maria, the mom, and Natalia, the daughter.  Natalia has a daughter of her own, Elena, that is now serving a mission in St. Petersburg.  Elena was the first to join the church in their family, then her grandmother joined,  then her mother.   We tell all the members not to prepare food for us because we have a time limit as to how long we can stay and we don't want to burden them...but this mother/daughter wouldn't listen and cooked up the best luncheon ever. We are developing a real taste for some of the Russian traditions.  Grandma Maria is so upbeat and pleasant...and Natalia is always worried about my health.  She's afraid Russian winters are too hard on me.  They are two of the most caring women in our branch.  It was a delight to get to know them better and to visit their lovely home.

On the bus ride home, Elder Pocock snapped a picture of this typical Russian Babushka...grandmother.  You just want to take them home, love them and get them to smile.

Well it happened...our zone has been split up again!  One thing you learn quickly...change is a part of life in the mission.   Elder Flitton (L) is leaving us for Ufa, way south of us.  Sister Denning is going home to Orem, Utah after serving a very committed and successful mission and Elder Smith is headed to Yekaterinburg to serve as a  Zone Leader there.  We will truly miss these fine, dedicated missionaries.  The blessing is that we will get three more to love!  Good luck to all three of them.

November 11, 2012 was our mission's "Invitation Sunday".  Each branch in the mission was to encourage the members to "invite" friends and relatives to attend the block.  A special sacrament meeting was planned and the young single adult choir sang, Sunday School was taught by the missionaries with help from the members, and after the third hour a light luncheon was served.  We were thrilled with the response from our branch.  We had 120 total in attendance with 33 of those being non-members!  The meetings were filled with the spirit, the response was very positive and our missionaries enlarged their teaching pool.  This is Andre'.  He is married with three little daughters.  He has been to discussions in our apartment and was invited to attend church.  He speaks some English so he spent the block with Elder Pocock.  He belongs to the Unification church...his marriage was arranged and performed in mass.  His family is very important to him and because the church focuses on family life and eternal families, he is wanting to know more.  You can tell he is such a great father!

This shows some of those that attended, enjoying the luncheon and one another's company.

Remember our sweet Alexandra?  She knows the church is true...she loves meeting with the missionaries in our home...she loves the Book of Mormon...but she has a son and daughter that keep
discouraging her.  She comes to church regularly.  We love her like a mother.  She is so good through and through!  After church, we always ride the bus with her to her stop and then...

make sure that she gets safely to her apartment.   She and Elder Pocock...best buds!

You have met Tanya and Lena before.  Tanya is a less active, Lena a non-member.  They are great young women that are so kind to invite us to do things with them.  This week we went on a walk with them in a forested area in Perm.  It had snowed and the forest was beautiful.  Elder Pocock and I went prepared in our winter boots, coats, gloves and hats. The biggest obstacle was staying upright on the icy path!

This forest was enchanting with pines trees as well as the beautiful birch trees.

We took seeds and crumbs to feed the birds and squirrels.  Here the squirrels look so different.  Their ears look much larger because there is a tall, tuft of fur that comes up behind the ear.  It is almost comical.  In this forest, the squirrels are pretty tame because everyone loves to feed them.  Here we are filling the bird feeders.  It wasn't all that cold and so enjoyable.

On a trip to the outdoor market in search of warm tights...I had to snap this picture of an adorable toddler.  This little sleigh was for him to ride on but he preferred to walk behind pushing his package of diapers.  So cute!  When I posted this picture, I noticed something else to point out...see the gal behind the little guy...short skirt, long tights and tall boots.  The Russian women like to be fashionable in all seasons.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We are having two this year...one with our Young Single Adults and one with our missionaries.  We have much to be thankful for...Count Your Many Blessings!