Some habits never die...it's October and I'm thinking about Christmas.  We won't have a tree this year so I wanted to make a little decorative tree from pinecones for our apartment.  We were told of where we could find miniature decorations to put on the tree...so on P-day we set out to find this certain store.  Little did we know how long it would take and where it would lead us.  Elder Pocock's trusty IPhone has been awesome to help us get around this huge city.  We checked out the address and plugged it in to determine the transport to take.  Alas, we were dropped off at the train station with no store in sight!  With our motto, "we can do hard things" in mind...we headed across the train tracks and proceeded to follow the blinking light on the IPhone map that was to lead to our destination...on foot!!!

 Our wanderings took us past this lovely home with a statue of Lenin in the front yard!

Suddenly the sidewalks disappeared and we found ourselves walking a busy road with the hope that THE STORE was just around the corner!

Guess what...we walked and walked and walked struggling to find sidewalks and then when we found some, we couldn't use them for the puddles left from the rain the night before.

We came across a car wash...first one we have ever seen... by this time we wanted to put ourselves through it...we were a muddy sight!

We passed a factory located near the train tracks that makes various tools...and as you can see it had been there a hundred years back in 1978!

As we continued to follow the blinking dot on the map, it lead us off in a very different direction.  Here we passed much humbler living accommodations. 

This shows the addition of a bathroom right by the front entrance.  At least they don't have to walk to an out house anymore.

By this point, I was beginning to doubt the almighty Iphone!  No stores in sight...

The neighborhood well...we found it very unique that in areas of this huge city, people are still using a well to retrieve their water supply.

The phone came through for us and we finally found the Christmas decor and toy store and didn't even get a picture of it!  We were just so excited to actually find it. All that for the little garland and tiny decorations you see here.  What I would give for a Walmart, Target, or Fred Meyer!!!  Gathering the pinecones was a whole other adventure.  We used up all of our pinecones for the little tree shown here and some young women wanted to make one...so we went in search of more pinecones.

On our way to do service, we got off at an earlier bus stop and wandered into a forested area searching for the right fir trees and cones.

We found a ton of pinecones but they were all closed up tight!

We came home, got on the internet and found out that slow heat will open them up.  So we washed them off in the bathtub and roasted them in the oven...

Until we had dozens of beautifully opened cones.

These gals had so much fun creating their own pinecone tree.  Now they want to make a much bigger one!  YIKES...we've got a lot more cones to gather.

The girl's finished project.  As I talked with these gals, they told me that here they do very little decorating for the holidays.  Usually a decorated live tree and maybe some garland strung around the walls or windows.  They were excited to make something themselves to decorate their apartments and to do it so inexpensively and quickly.  Christmas is celebrated on January 7, but the bigger holiday in Russia is New Year's.  This is when gifts are exchanged.  It was really fun to see these young women get excited about being creative.

Elder Pocock and I decided to get some exercise one morning and check out another area of the city before the cold temps are here to stay.  We decided to take a short cut through the amusement park near by.  Many of the rides, concession stands and outdoor restaurants are being disassembled for the winter months.  Children just love this petting zoo, so it will be available until the snow flies!

The ground crew was busy mowing and raking the leaves at the park.  This it LITERALLY the first lawnmower we have seen since we have been in Russia...nearly nine months now!  The majority of the mowing is done with weed-eaters...that's right...weed-eaters.  It doesn't seem very cost effective/energy effective but that is how they mow their parks and the lawns near businesses.  Because most people live in apartment buildings, there aren't yards to care for.

Until there is snow, this little train will keep on running around the park.

Farther into the downtown area, there is an "eternal flame" from WWII in remembrance of their fallen heros.  It burns all year around.

We have been told that there are Memorial holidays here.  One in the spring, like our May Memorial Day where they go to the cemeteries and clean up the grave sites and decorate them...then again in the fall...in October, where they return to the cemeteries...remove the old flowers and get the site ready for winter.  This monument was decorated on the October holiday to commemorate the fallen war heros.

This beautiful Russian Orthodox building is located in the financial district of Perm.  It is very small and we are assuming that it is for those who want to visit during their lunch hour but we doubt, due to the size, that services are held.

We loved the look of this unique building!

We have found that there are a lot of artists in this city and they utilize the outside of buildings to display their work.

This is an apartment building that has never been finished, but another artist has used it for his gigantic canvas!  We will probably never see all of Perm in the eighteen months that we are here.  No matter what direction we go...if we walk far enough...we find another area that we have never seen before.

Excitement for the Perm Branch.  This is Stepan Obegan and his new bride, Olga.  His brother is his best man and Susha, is Olga's attendant.  They are required by law to be married by the government first and here they have returned to the branch to have a religious ceremony with family and friends. Stepan has been a former branch president and is loved by all the members of this branch.  He worked as a police officer and then for Interpol (international police department).  He is retired and now works for the church in overseeing all the physical facilities and processing the missionary registrations with their apartments and visas.

He has been waiting a long time for this day and he was thrilled.  Olga made a beautiful bride...she is half his age.  The wedding party pulled up to our little branch in this Hummer limo...our missionaries were more interested in the hummer than the wedding!

Elder Flitton just had to sit behind the wheel of this massive "machine"!  (That is the Russian word for  car.)

We've papered all we can at Olga's apartment.  The fourth wall needs some additional insulation so we will have to wait until Olga saves up for that.  Our next project will be to paint the closet and get a rod and curtain to enclose the area...then Olga can get her clothes on hangers and out of the boxes!  It's getting there and she is thrilled!

Wasn't conference wonderful?!  The branch was able to view conference on October 13 and 14th.  They watched it on the big screen in Russian in the chapel and the missionaries viewed it in the Relief Society room in English.  We loved everything about it...it felt like we were home watching it on television.

Between sessions, the branch puts on a simple luncheon and everyone can bring items to add to the meal.  Saturday, I brought zucchini brownies...and Sunday I served zucchini bread.  Yes, I'm still trying to use up all those zucchinis.

Saturday, October 13th, after the second session of conference, we had a very special baptism for Stanislav. He has been meeting with the missionaries for about four months now.  He was not eighteen, and his parents would not give him permission to be baptized...so he waited until his birthday and is now our newest member.  He is a great young man, we all love him dearly.  Between conference and the baptism...we were on an all-time high!!!

Monday, on P-day, we had Stanislav and the missionaries over for his first new member discussion.  The missionaries talked of the strait and narrow path that he now must walk.  They asked him to draw a picture of his path of life.  Maybe you can see how he has passed through the gate of baptism, next he will get the Holy Ghost, the Priesthood, he has to do his army duty, then he plans on a mission, schooling, marriage and family.  Oh, how we pray that he will be able to reach his goals and stay on the path.  He definitely has great goals in mind!

After the discussion, his friend came over and we introduced them to American pancakes with maple (thanks to mapleine), homemade peach and homemade apple syrups.  Yummy!  Here you have to be resourceful to have things taste like home!

Today, Saturday, October 20 we had another baptism...for TWO SISTERS, Ludmilla and Natalia.  We feel so incredibly blessed to have had three baptisms within seven days!  Ludmilla was taught by Sisters Knoll and Parkinson when they were here.  She had some health problems and had to have open heart surgery.  This put her progress on hold.  Sisters Denning and Robins kept track of her and when her health improved, they continued to teach her and now today she was baptized by Stepan Obegan.  On your left, you see Elders Flitton and Riddle who found Sister Natalia'a name in their area book.  She met with missionaries back in 2007 and wasn't ready for baptism at that point.  They called on her, met with her and have been teaching her for the past two months.  She is now ready for this commitment and we are so thrilled for the goodness of these two women!  It was such a thrill to be a part of this experience.  Due to conference last week,  all three of our newly baptized members will be confirmed this Sunday in Sacrament meeting.  What joy!  Elder Flitton is confirming Natalia.

The Branch gives each new convert a copy of the newly translated Russian triple combination plus a ton of other booklets and manuals to help them further their understanding.  They both decided to take some home tonight and the rest of the books home after church tomorrow since it will be hard to take that pile on a bus!  Life in Perm is absolutely amazing!

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.