The most amazing days on a mission are those when you see someone embrace the gospel and commit to baptismal covenants.  Leo is truly a special young man.  We had a picture of him on a previous blog where he was skyping with elders in England.  You see, Leo is from China...he speaks a little Russian...a little English... and whole lot of Chinese!  Great Elders from America that were called to serve in an area of Chinese immigrants in England, taught Leo the discussions over Skype!  He has the kindest heart and a very sensitive spirit.  His acceptance of the gospel was almost immediate.  He is excited to get the priesthood.  He is returning to China for the summer and will be able to attend an English speaking branch there in his city.  He will return to Russia in the Fall to continue his studies in dentistry.    

Leo had great support from the branch. At his baptism,  Elder Pocock welcomed him into his new branch family.

We opened our building for a poetry society gathering that some of our branch members belong to. Elder Pocock and I attended the program and although we didn't understand much at all...I have to admit that there was a very strong, spiritual feeling there.  These people love to write about their connection with nature and with God.  These two sisters are not members but regularly attend our Sunday meetings.  They love our hymns.  The sister on the left fell in love with the hymn..."As I Have Loved You, Love One Another".   Here she is performing the hymn which has one verse and then she sang two additional verses that she composed.  Several members commented on how beautiful the words were.

This lady is a published author who shared some of her works and gave away books of her poetry.  She had the most interesting dress on...the fabric was much like a shag rug!

Twelve of us gathered around our kitchen table for lunch this past week prior to Zone Meeting.  Our Assistants to the President made a visit and went on splits with our elders.  A great group of young men and women.

May is filled with Russian holidays.  May lst is equivalent to our Labor Day...May 9th is the biggest holiday of the year here in Russia, Victory Day.  This celebrates the Victory of World War II.  During holiday months, the nearby ice skating rink always puts on exhibitions to help celebrate.  Between meetings, Elder Pocock and I walked to the nearby rink and enjoyed their hour talent show on ice.

This is a short clip showing only a small portion of the talent at this event.  Ice skating is huge here and many young children participate in intense lessons and performances.  I loved this young girl's choreography... skating with a scarf.  She had to have been only about 10 years old.  The older students shown were of high school or early university age.

It's official...we're experiencing Spring!  It is amazing how quickly this town jumps into clean up mode once the weather cooperates.  Our favorite nearby Gorky Park has ground crews madly working at trimming, raking and sprucing up the grounds.

Despite the sunshine...temperatures are still VERY chilly, but not to the Russians.  You can see a couple here enjoying the rides in the amusement park.  Sunshine is in short supply so they enjoy it while they can!

The park is a prominent place for wedding pictures and gatherings.  This young couple is placing their "love lock" on an iron bar tree-shaped structure.  This is to symbolize their locked hearts and everlasting love.  After the lock is in place, they throw away the key! This tree is located in the center of  Gorky Park...we've also seen another much larger iron tree down by the Kama River.

This closer view shows that many enjoy this tradition!

May lst is a big holiday in Russia.  Since 1992 it has been designated as "The Day of Spring and Labour ".   They always start the celebration with a huge parade.  Groups of businesses, schools, bands, and labor departments march from different streets until they all converge and proceed to the city center.  Each group has a designated color of huge, helium balloons that single them out.  Adults and children alike march side by side.  This year the weather didn't cooperate and it rained through most of the parade, but that didn't dampen their spirits.  We walked to the 19th floor of our apartment building and video taped some of the parade.

Later that day, we went to celebrate this holiday with Nadya and her children.  Homemade pizza and green salad are a favorite of Mila and Fedya...and us too!

After lunch we learned a new craft...decorative soap making.  Mila and her friend demonstrated for us.  Here they are cutting the opaque and/or transparent soap blocks into small pieces.  They are melted, then the coloring and fragrance are added and the mixture is poured into molds.

It takes about 25 minutes for the soap to set up and then you can remove the finished product.

This really makes a beautiful gift, and so easy.  Loved doing this!

It had been way too long since we had been with this sweet family.  Fedya is really getting to be a young man! Thanks Nadya and kids for a wonderful time.

Some time ago we posted the site of a terrible night club fire where approximate 156 people lost their lives. This happened in 2009.  Right behind Nadya's apartment is the courthouse where the trial for this disaster was recently held.  It was so interesting that Nadya pointed this out to us because our daughter, Emily, had just sent us the posted article about the outcome.  See below...

Owner, 6 others get prison terms over Russian nightclub fire that killed 156
Published April 30, 2013
Associated Press
MOSCOW –  A court in the Siberian city of Perm has convicted seven people in connection with a nightclub fire that killed 156, sentencing them to prison terms of four to nearly 10 years.
The December 2009 fire broke out when a pyrotechnic show in the crowded club ignited plastic decorations on the ceiling.
Panicked customers tried to flee, but there was only a single exit, and many couldn't get out in time.
Club owner Anatoly Zak was convicted of creating conditions that violate safety regulations and sentenced to nine years and 10 months in prison.
The club's director and artistic director, the two fireworks technicians and two current or former safety inspectors were sentenced to lesser terms.

Olga had a birthday this past week.  It happened that Elder Pocock had a branch presidency meeting that morning so I went off alone to Olga's.  We had a lovely lunch at her apartment with her niece Tanya and then Olga and I took a walk in a nearby forest.  It truly was beautiful and only 5 minutes from Olga's apartment.  It is amazing how in the middle of a city of a million people, you can quickly connect with nature, fresh air and peace and quiet!  It was wonderful.

Not only are the grounds and streets getting cleaned up but also the buildings as well.  I could never hang from the side of a huge building with just large ropes and a pulley.  Many of the buildings have a tile exterior rather than wood or brick.  This is what these young men are cleaning.

Just when we thought Spring was here to stay...it started to snow...quarter sized snowflakes!  Thank goodness it didn't last long.

In our last post, we lost our sweet Sister Galli...so we had to get a new Zone picture with our new sister...Sister Patchett from Las Vegas, Nevada.  Sister Patchett brings with her a kind nature and a great deal of musical talent.  When Elder Pocock and I went to Ufa to do the branch audit there, Sister Patchett was serving there so we were acquainted with her before her transfer.  So excited to get to know her better.

LtoR Elder Prestwich, Sister Patterson, and Elder Christiansen...our three missionaries that have less than a week left on their mission.  Probably the hardest part of this mission is to have to say goodbye to our great, young missionaries, whether it is due to a transfer or to send them home.  These three have been such faithful missionaries...thank you for serving the Perm area so well!!!

May 5th is when Russia celebrates Easter.  Every year on the Saturday before Easter, the branch does a major cleaning of the building.  To them, this ties in with the RENEWAL...of the earth with Spring and the Resurrection.  The members love that they have their own meetinghouse and they take this process very seriously. The missionaries jumped in and helped wash walls!  On Easter Sunday, the building sparkled!

Everything was polished...

Galena is our branch librarian and she went through every cupboard of the library.  When she was finished, there were several boxes outside her doorway to be stored in the attic.  It's her home away from home...all organized, dusted and mopped!

I often play the piano for Primary and loved that I got to do it on Easter Sunday.  Our tiny Primary can really sing their hearts out.  I wish there had been another adult there to video tape these little ones singing..."If the Savior Stood Beside Me."  I love the hugs I get from these cute kids.

Just want to show you these unique trees...they are called Larch.  They are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere.  The thing that makes them unique is that it is a deciduous tree that bears leaves that are needle-like (2-5 centimeters long)...so it is a deciduous conifer tree!!!  I'll take another picture when they are totally mature.  I think they are fascinating.

This close up shows the sprouts coming off of the longer shoots.  Wikipedia tells me that the needles grow in dense clusters of 20-50 needles on the short shoots.  The little pink blossom-looking thing is really a cone. Truly an amazing tree...truly a sign of spring!

Just want to wish all the Mothers out there a "Happy Mother's Day".  No such thing here...but we will be celebrating as our Eight very excited missionaries will be using our two lap tops to make that long awaited CALL HOME!!!  We remember those calls with our missionaries and they are precious memories.  Enjoy your day, MOTHERS.  A special holiday greeting to our seven daughters who are wonderful mothers!!!