Merry Christmas, 2012!!! Just before Christmas, we have lost three of our missionaries to transfers...Sister Robins, Elders Cook and Riddle. We miss them and wish them the very best in their new location. We now welcome Sister Galli, Elders Christiansen and Prestwich. It is now our Christmas...the missionaries have been here since 6:45 a.m. skyping with their families. It is so fun to hear their excited voices and their laughter...it brings back great memories of when we talked with our daughter missionaries! We are so grateful that we can assist these young people to talk with their families on Christmas Day. More pictures of our Zone's Christmas to come.
We are dedicating this blog post to our sweet dog, Taylor, who had to be put down this last week. She lived a long, wonderful life (13 years worth) She was such a great companion...so loyal, so meek, so wanting to please. We worried that she would feel abandoned when we left for our mission, but our daughter, Emily, and her family have given her the greatest last year of her life! A special thank you to them for their loving care. We love you, Taylor!
This is a view from our sixth floor showing how our entryway has literally turned into an ice skating rink with a pile of snow in the middle!
We have a new morning routine...climbing the stairs. We decided that we need more consistent exercise. Now that it is so cold, we burn a lot of calories just keeping warm...but we can tell that our
muscles are missing the daily workout at the gym!
This is a view of the same ice skating rink but from the 19th floor!
The branch tries to have an activity every Saturday. Its purpose is to give the members reason to gather and strengthen one another. Because so many of them are the only members in their family...they need
this opportunity to build on their relationships, to share their talents, to feel the great bond that membership can provide. The next nine pictures are of participants in a talent night that was held this past week. The eight smaller pictures are of 5 members and 3 non-members that love to write poetry. We had a missionary translate for us and it was so amazing how many of these sweet people write about spiritual things. In the Russian language, many of the words are in a different order in their sentence structure than we are used to...but it is almost as if they speak in a poetic form. It makes me wonder if that is why so many are good at expressing themselves in poetry. From top to bottom...Al, an eternal investigator but a great young man; Nina, my dear friend that crochets me many gifts; Andre', a sincere and unbelievably committed member; Valentina, another ongoing investigator that we just love. She plays the piano, taught the class on Christmas decor with me, has more energy than anyone her age! Next is Ganadi, a humble man that always feeds us when we visit (even though we tell him not to!) He makes the best cakes!!!; another Valentina, who is involved in everything...gives her all to her callings and fellow branch members; Ludmilla, a counselor in the Relief Society, who is the only member but has been able to create a balance with her family and they support her in her beliefs; next is a non member that I am sorry to say I can't remember her name, but she came to church following this event and stayed the entire block.
The elderly couple with the accordion were invited guests. They were so much fun to watch. They sang and played Russian songs and everyone sang along. Wish you can get a feel for how cute and talented this couple is.
As we were out and about in the stores...we ran across an amazing little shop that makes everything imaginable in CHOCOLATE! This Grandfather Frost is at least 3' tall!!! How would you like that under your tree? This definitely was a store with ideas for the person who needs nothing and loves everything chocolate.
Because so much of the year is COLD weather...the Russians make the most of it! They participate in
a wide variety of winter activities. Not far from our apartment is Gorky Park. We have posted many pictures of this fun amusement park during various seasons. On the way to meetings, we always go through the park for a short cut. This day we saw a lot of activity. Behind the park is the huge outdoor skating rink. Here we see the water truck smoothing the ice.
This view gives you a feel for the enormity of this field...you can see the bleachers in the distance...the ice rink on the inside and around the edges is snow for cross country skiing exercise. In the summer, soccer games are going constantly!
Here you see one of Russia's biggest winter commodities...ICE!
As we were walking through the park...suddenly a diesel truck drives up loaded with ... more ice!
You might ask...what do they do with that? Well, here you can see them unloading the huge blocks of ice as they prepare an ice slide (on the left). The children have the greatest time on the slides.
The workers are putting the blocks together. It is easy to connect them because all you have to do is pour water in the seams and literally wait seconds and it is frozen solid...never to separate
again until Spring!
In the center of Perm, they are putting together an "Ice City". When we arrived last year in February, they were dismantling the ice sculptures...so we are excited to see the completed project. We will be sure to share on future blogs. Here you get a feel for the complicated efforts involved in putting something like this together.
The projected "Coldest Winter in Fifty Years" is blasting us. We snapped a picture of us waiting at the bus stop...it's cold!!!
Family Home Evening this past week, was a "Night of Traditions". This pano shows the kids eating around the table and sharing their family traditions. We don't want to impose our American traditions on the youth...and we are really very interested in learning what they do in their families, so it turned out to be a wonderful night of sharing. Many of them do have special memories of their childhood and continue to stay close to extended family members. One young woman goes on an extended vacation with her grandmother every summer...some told of their favorite foods they prepare during the holidays. Others aren't as fortunate. One young man spoke of how his family doesn't connect..for holidays they eat and drink. We could tell that he ached to enjoy some of the things his peers enjoyed. Another young man and his sister are orphans. They told of growing up in the orphanage and how at least the system provided them consistency and they always had one present under the tree. I fixed a big dinner...many of the youth come to FHE directly from their work...so they are grateful for a hot meal! One young man commented upon leaving..."tonight I felt a very homey atmosphere, filled with love." That is what this mission is all about!
We showed the youth the memory cards that our children made for us to open each day of December. We told of how wonderful it was to relive the memories we've had with our children and grand-
children. We encouraged them to set a goal to create lasting memories for THEIR CHILDREN...even if their families don't have special times together, they can plan now to create traditions for families of their own. At the end of the evening, we passed out a candle for everyone. We stood in a circle and lit the first candle. That person turned to the next...lit their candle and shared a New Year's wish for them and it continued on around the circle until all the candles were lit and everyone received a wish for the coming year. (Thanks to Zach's family for a shared tradition) We pray for these young people and their futures.
One of our young men works out in the harsh weather. As he was leaving, Kent and another young man helped to polish and waterproof his boots. Our little group really does care deeply for one another!
With Christmas just a couple days away, we baked another pumpkin! This is a very different looking pumpkin squash...but as you can see the center is a deep orange. We cleaned it out...baked it...and removed the cooked pulp. I did just as I did for Thanksgiving...made a huge 9x13 pie! I must admit
this was the tastiest pumpkin pie I have ever made. Hooray for winter squash. Where there is a will, there is a way!
A long bus ride took us to Elya and Sasha's apartment. Elya is a young gal who works so much that she can't come to our FHE activities. She has a wonderful mother that struggles with life. Ellia loves her younger brothers Sasha, shown (12) and Andre' (8) playing outside. The elders left a beautiful message of hope coupled with responsibility in teaching children about God. I made my grandmother's infamous sugar cookies and decorated them with jello colored/flavored icing (can't find food coloring!) and sprinkled with fun sparkles. The boys were sooooo excited to taste them! I love Elya so much...just wish I could help shoulder her load!
Elder Pocock and I made stockings of lightweight poster board, decorated them and put them out for the branch to sign. There is one for each of our three missionaries (two in St. Petersburg...the other in Leeds, England) and our two young men in the army. At first the branch didn't quite know what to think but it quickly caught on and in no time the stockings were filled with warm Christmas and New Year's wishes. Well, my early morning blogging got interrupted and it is now our day after Christmas...but it is still your Christmas night. You all should be tucked in after enjoying all the celebrations. Thank you for all of your sweet Christmas greetings...we will post our Christmas day experience right away! Remember we are still celebrating here in Russia because Grandfather Frost comes on New Year's Eve and Christmas Day is on January 7th.
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