It never ceases to amaze us all that we experience on our mission.  We love the opportunities that our Heavenly Father is providing for us to serve his children here in Russia.  Here is a picture of a Family Home Evening game: Ooga Booga.  It has been a family fun game that we had to share.  The youth love to get together and feel of each others love and strength.  In this game you bring one person in at a time...we have about 12 others in our kitchen.  This week we had 18 to FHE!  

Tuesday, May 1st was a holiday here...they call it "Peace, Labor and May Day".  We went out of our apartment to catch a bus to attend the celebration at the church and found that our street was closed off due to a marching parade.  We walked to a distant bus stop and snapped pictures of the parade along the way.

Even this bus got into the festivities.

The color of the balloon depicted a particular group that was marching for some cause.  Young and old were marching together.

We finally made it to the church and just in time for a wonderful BBQ.  Here you see Artium, the branch cook.  He takes this calling very seriously and does an amazing job.  He is roasting large sausage links on a charcoal fire.  It was a very cold and rainy day, but that didn't stop the party. He had to put a table to protect the fire from the strong wind.  The sausage was sooooo good!  They made grilled sausage wraps.

Inside the missionaries and members were going strong with a competitive hockey game!  Before hockey, we all watched a wonderful movie on the life of President Thomas S. Monson.

Here are some of the girls, cheering the teams on.  The event served as a great activity to bring less actives and non-members.

Outside of our kitchen window we see into the playground of a neighboring apartment complex.  They have hired the most attentive maintenance man.  This spring he has worked so hard painting the curbing and cleaning up the children's playground area.  I watch him sweep over and over the walkway with his
handmade broom of straw and sticks.  In America, we would have gotten out our blower and been done in a tenth of the time!

We have found a grocery store that is much less expensive.  It is a bit of a walk to the downtown area, but on this day we enjoyed some sun and we were thrilled to see that some of the areas are planting flowers. Along the edge of the grass, they have planted rows and rows of pansies.  AHHHH, Spring at last!!!

Each week we have a Zone class where all the missionaries meet at our apartment.  This week we had the two AP's from Ekat with us.  They are the two missionaries on the right. The young man closest to the camera played football for USU in Logan.   It was fun to have them all gather around our kitchen table for lunch.  Elder O'Neill cooked up a dish that he was so proud of.  Here you can see him serving it.  These missionaries are getting to be such great cooks.  I made them peach cobbler with a lemon sauce for dessert.  They love desserts!!!  We are blessed with incredibly dedicated missionaries.

In this area, some of the youth are called to serve mini-missions.  This is to help fill in when we are short on missionaries and then it gives the youth here the opportunity to experience a mission.  This is Anna and her son, Eli.  She has a daughter, Vera, that is 6 and was at school.  Anna, was one of the young people that experienced a mini-mission.  You can just feel of her great spirit when you enter her humble home.  She married out of the church and now her husband wouldn't allow her to attend church. (The really sad and scary thing is that there aren't a lot of members for our youth to marry!) She loves having us come and we have developed a very close relationship with she and her children.  Behind Elder Pocock are fold away bunk beds that the children sleep on.  She and her husband sleep in the couch that is kind of like a hide-a-bed.  They have a small kitchen and a tiny bath.  She lives about an hour from us.  Elder Pocock played tickle monster with Eli...it was fun for Eli and filled Elder Pocock's need to play with his grandkids.  We always go with missionaries and they translate for us.  We leave a message every time and pray that Anna and the children can feel added strength.  We love her so much.  She is good through and through!

On the way to Anna's home, we pass this arsenal of new and old war equipment.  It is like an outdoor museum.

Our Primary is very small but the older children need to be able to have meaningful lessons and be prepared for the program and YM/YW.  We have these two little ones that need to be in a nursery but they put them in with the 6-8 other children.  At times, it is chaos!  I volunteered to be the nursery leader and help with the reverence in Primary.  I figured if I had enough activities and toys...I could love these two little ones into wanting to be with me.  Well, here you can see that I failed miserably!  They went and got their moms to come to their/my rescue.  It will take some time for them to get used to me...but we are making some progress in allowing the Primary children to have a more "traditional" Primary meeting. Baby steps before we can run...right?!

Sunday, after the block, we had our friend, Michael, over for dinner.  You probably remember Michael from a previous posting on our blog.  When we first met Michael, we were trying to help him with his visa to the states so he could attend UVU.  Well, things have changed.  We had our Branch Conference two weeks ago and our Mission President met with Michael.  He felt so strongly that Michael should go on a mission.  He challenged Michael to pray about this and get back to him.  Michael has decided that this is the course of action for his life right now!  He notified his father and his father was furious.  The father has ordered the whole family...six brothers and sisters to not have any communication with Michael until he changes his mind.  He loves his family, so this has been very hard on him...but he is going forward with it.  This picture shows Elder Pocock and Michael getting Michael's mothers work submitted for her temple ordinances.  We told Michael that he could take this with him when he goes to the temple and they could have a sister take care of it.  He knew that our visa trip was coming up soon and he turned to me and asked, "Sister Pocock, can you do the work for my mother?"  "Of course, if that is what you want, " I gladly replied.  So Elder Pocock and I fly out to Finland tomorrow, May 10, for our visa trip.  We have emailed the temple and made all the arrangements for us to take care of Michael's request.  It is truly an honor to help this young man who is valiantly going through this enormous challenge.  Can't wait to fill you in next week with all the experiences in Finland and at the temple!

Here is our hero... I had to take this picture of Michael putting pepper on the soup I made.  I guess in Nigeria they have the hottest pepper...so everything here tastes very bland.  Hence, the ton of salt and pepper!  He is an amazing young man.

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It's been another amazing week in Perm, Russia.  We are now having Russian spring weather...rain, rain, and more rain!  We have worked at cleaning up our branch directory and challenged each of our four sets of missionaries to have us visit a less active with them each week.  So this week, we started out with the zone leaders.  We were to catch a bus early in the morning and travel for about 55 minutes to the end of the route.  There we were to meet the Elders and visit a young mother and her children.  We were riding along and got a call from the Elders, "She's cancelled...get off the bus at the next stop and come back towards town. We've connected with Irena and we can visit with her...we'll meet you there."  We had just missed a bus stop so we rode to the next one and got off.  By now it was pouring rain (thank goodness I had an umbrella in my bag) and we had quite a hike.  We had been to Irena's before so at least we knew where we were going.  We had to walk past a prison (it is the large, white building at the botton of the hill and one of many locations where we are to remove our name tags when passing by).  As we walked several prisoners called out to us through their tiny windows.  This is the first time that I've been glad that I couldn't understand Russian!  Then we proceeded up a steep, muddy hill. Last time we hiked this trail, it was snow and ice.  I'm not sure which was the hardest.  We were sure that the missionaries were standing out in the rain waiting for us, so we really kicked into gear and made it to Irena's in record time.  We were debating which was the door that lead to her floor of apartments when we get this phone call.  It's the Elders: "Where are you guys?"  "We're at the front of Irena's apartment, where are you?"  "Wow, you guys are fast", they replied.  "We just got a call and she has company so she doesn't want us to come. Sorry."  Elder Pocock and I looked at each other and recalled a quote that the senior couples got at the MTC..."Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape."  It's all in a days work.

April 27, 2012 was the third anniversary of my Dad's death.  There is a large cemetery that we pass each time we ride the bus to the church.  We decided that this would be a great time to visit this special place.

Along the right side of the walkway, there are five huge metal wreaths that were lying on cement bases that are carved in the shape of 1941 thru 1945... representing Russia's involvement in WWII.

At the entrance to the cemetery, is a large statue of a grieving mother.  In the picture above, it stands on the white base in the center of the photo.

One section of the cemetery is dedicated totally to fallen soldiers.

You can see that all of the soldiers in this section died in 1942.

Another section of the cemetery is for the public.  There were wide variety of markers. Some were just wooden crosses, others stone, most were wire.  There is no grass but it appears that there is ground cover and a variety of perennials everywhere.  I am sure that it will be much greener later in the spring.  As you can see, some grave sites are surrounded by fences.

This shows the wire markers that often had vines growing up them.  The sad thing was that not all of the graves were marked very clearly.

At the end of the long path, this quaint Russian Orthodox church appears.  It is small and simple but well cared for.  The cemetery was so peaceful and a nice place to come with it's hundreds of trees.

On our way out, we passed this bell with wreaths displayed all around it.  Probably the most touching part of this monument was a wire "crown of thorns" at the very top.

We don't have a Young Men's President yet and we have been very concerned about several young men that are less active that need attention.  The Branch President and the missionaries put together a sports activity for the young men.  A few young women decided they had to crash the party.  A great deal of fun was had by all and the greatest part is that we had two less actives, and three investigators come!  Here they are playing basketball and believe me...the Russians are big into b-ball!  The young man on the far left is Shenya...he hasn't been out to church for some time.  He was born with his left arm developed only to the elbow.  YOU SHOULD SEE HIM PLAY BASKETBALL!  He was the Michael Jordan of our team.

Our Branch President had purchased mits, bats and balls and wanted the missionaries to teach the youth how to play baseball.  It was so much fun explaining the rules...and then seeing them actually play the game.  They caught on really fast.  Here is Shenya again...hitting the ball with one hand.  There wasn't anything that he didn't try, or couldn't do.  What a great sport.

Here is a blurry shot of the Sandlot crew.  The activity was a great success.  Even Elder and Sister Pocock got up to bat and played outfield.  I am sure that we will be having many Branch Baseball games this summer.  We even had people stop playing soccer to come and watch this new game!  After the game, we were walking back to the church and one of the young men said to me, "Sister Pocock, I got two goals!"  I said, "they are called runs."  Igor replied, "I think goals sounds better."

I've found me a baby to love...Darya, the President's daughter.  She is about 18 months old.  It helps when
I'm feeling homesick for those grandchildren back home!

Sister Eulia Ustyuzhaninov twisted her knee as she was running the bases.  Thank goodness we had lots of strong young men to help transport her to their nearby car.  She showed up in church on crutches. What she won't do for the youth of the branch!  Until next week....

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Our Advanced English Conversation Group students invited us to attend a meeting with a visiting US Consolate at the Gorky Library in Perm.  Kent and I decided that it would be a great learning experience, so we got directions and set out the day before in search of the library. It was a beautiful day and of course, I had my camera...so you will see some of the sights of our travels.  Here is a large carving of Lenin.

This very ornate building was used as a model for the palace in Dr. Zhivago.  If you look closely, there are multiple busts of a young woman along the top.  It was the daughter of the owner and they had replicas of her through the years on the outside of their mansion.  That is quite a tribute!

I had to snap a picture of the trees budding out.  Oh happy day!

This shows a lane of unique Russian architecture.  Note the multi-colors.

More fascinating and colorful buildings.

Another tribute to Lenin.  As you can see, people are loving the outdoors.  After such a long, hard winter, they are delighted to be out in the sunshine.

The grassy area is where the ice sculptures are created. (we had those on our blog that first week we were here) As you can see, Perm is surrounded by multi-level apartment buildings.  Their parks and grassy areas are such a treat because children don't have yards to play in.

Another huge statue!  You can get a feel for the size of this when you see Elder Pocock in front.  We heard that the center character represents Mother Russia with her soldiers represented on your left and her laborers on your right.

At last we found the Maxim Gorky library.  This is named after a famous Russian author.  We took a wrong turn and 2 hours later we found the big green apple out in front.  This is to represent the fact that a library gives opportunity for people to come and taste of knowledge.  We attended the Consolate meeting the next night...it was most interesting.  We asked about the visa situation where the Russian government requires us to leave the country every three months.  He stated that the two governments are working on extending that...possibly soon it will be every six months.  This would truly help cut the travel expenses of the Russian missions. We learned that Perm, Russia and Louisville, Kentucky have been sister cities since 1994.  They share ideas and learn from one another's strengths.

Introducing our newest missionary:  Elder Weber, center, from North Carolina.  He took the place of Elder Latimer and serves with Elder Silva.

Introducing Igor...a remarkable young man from the branch.  He is soon graduating from the University and will be putting in his mission papers.  In Russia, you can't go to school for a year, leave for a mission and then return to your studies.  If you do this, you loose all your credits. You must complete your requirements for the degree and then go.  Igor came to help with a discussion and he stayed after and talked to us for three hours about his life.  This young man has never known his father...he helped raise his baby sister.  Many times he was left to take care of his six month old sister when he was just four years old...and for days at a time!  When the neighbors realized this, the baby was hospitalized and Igor was put in an orphanage.  His mother was never able to care for them and she was killed at a young age.  Through the years, he has longed for a better life and joined the church just a little over a year ago.  He is in close contact with his sister, who is studying in a nearby town. Some members of our branch just went to the temple in the Ukraine and Igor had prepared the paperwork for them to do his mother's temple work while they were there.  He is always to FHE and such a help in the missionary discussions.  He is one of Heavenly Father's valiant!!!

The days are getting so much longer.  It is the end of April and it is light when we arise at 7:00 a.m. and it looks like this at 10:00 p.m. (taken out our apt. window) Perm is the most eastern city of Europe and they tell us that because we are so far north, it won't be long and we will have very few hours of night time...the internet tells us that at the summer solstice (around June 21), we will have only 3 1/2 hours of night.  Then around the 21st of December, we will only have around 6 1/2 hours of the sun.  It's a whole new world!

April 18, 2012

Meet Andre', our dear friend.  Andre' attended many FHE gatherings and discussions in our apartment.  He is a very sensitive and caring young man.  His kind nature pulled him toward the gospel and the needs of his family.  We took this picture the night before he returned to the Ukraine to see his parents.

Introducing Nadia and her youngest daughter, Anna.  They are active members of our branch.  We went with our zone leaders on a rainy day to visit this sweet family.  They live quite a way from the bus stop.  Nadia saw us while on her way home and she gave Elder Pocock and I a ride while the elders had to jump puddles all the way to their apartment.  While we were waiting for the elders, Anna (12) showed us the many creations she had made with salt dough.  This particular one was completed with her young women's group.  She is a friendly, enthusiastic gal that loves to share her talents and her love. She gave me this delightful plaque. Nadia has two other daughters...Katia (29) lives with them and is active in the branch and she has another daughter that is married.

 Here's a closeup of the hedgehog Anna gave me.  I named him Taylor, after our sweet dog that we left behind with Emily.  She has a dozen of these little creations and many are much more intricate.

When we left their apartment, it had stopped raining and the air was so clean and fresh.  As we walked to the bus, out of nowhere this huge Russian Orthodox monastery appeared.

   

No this isn't Russia...this is springtime in our front yard at Meridian, Idaho.  The Boise temple has a tradition of letting people come and dig up the bulbs at the end of the season.  I braved the rain and mud and got a few for my beds.  I was anxious to see what they looked like...thanks Erin for the pic.  I now have a little of the temple grounds in my front yard.  

This is how we watched General Conference, April, 2012.  The English speaking missionaries were in the Relief Society room and the branch members were in the chapel with the big screen and a translation in Russian.

Between sessions, we ate our lunches...talked about our favorite speakers...and mingled with our sweet branch members.

These are my two dedicated piano students.  Nastia is in the back and Ola in front.  They are picking up the notes, and the timing really well.  As with most students, the left hand is the hardest. The keyboard is tiny but they are learning a lot and they are so excited each week to get closer to playing a hymn.

Well here it is...Masha's wedding dress.  Masha is our Primary president, returned missionary and truly a friend to everyone in the branch.  She is getting married on May 26, 2012 to Slava. They will be married by the government (which is a requirement) and then they can go to the temple.  She met Slava at a Young Single Adult Conference.  They hold these every summer so that the youth of the church can mingle with other members in selected missions.  Masha found a picture of the dress of her dreams and asked me to help her create it.  The bodice is made out of diagonal strips of fabric...then Masha sewed on the lining and layers of netting.  The extra piece wraps around her waist and drapes over the net skirt.  The exposed netting is going to be puckered with pearls and the way too big fabric flower will be replaced with a creation that we are presently working on.  We just wanted to be able to put a picture on the blog so you could see what Masha calls her "princess gown".  If she is thrilled, that's all that matters.

Met our friend, Michael.  Michael is from Nigeria. He joined the church a little over a year ago, while he was here is Russia.  He came to Russia to get an education and hasn't been able to get the classes that he needs.  He has applied and been accepted to Utah Valley University in Provo, Utah.  Right now he is having visa problems.  We had him over for dinner and laid out some plans to assist him in his quest to get to America.  He is studying economics and wants to return to his family in Nigeria when his schooling is complete.  His mother died nine years ago and he had to quit school and take care of his 6 younger brothers and sisters for two years while his father worked.  It just so happened that last week in our English Conversation Group, one of the group told us about a visit to Perm by an American Consolate.  He is speaking at a large library near by...so we are going with Michael to see if there is anything this gentleman can do for this great young man.  Michael speaks great English! Keep him in your prayers.
                                                 
The same evening that we had Michael over, the sister missionaries had this young family come to our home for a discussion.  Michael sat in on the discussion and bore his testimony to them.  This is Nadia, and her six year old daughter and 13 year old son.  Six years ago her husband was killed in a terrible car accident that took the lives of seven men.  One was the husband of her best friend.  She is doing such a fine job raising her children by herself.  She is an incredible lady...she wants to be baptized but is wanting her son to accept the gospel and be baptized with her.  Her son plays a Russian instrument called a Balalaika.  It is like a guitar but the body is in a triangular shape and it only has three strings.  He played several songs for us and is truly amazing.  He just played at a competition and placed first.  She is inviting us to go to his spring concert. When the sisters asked him about his feelings towards God, he said that he was atheist.  This concerns his mother greatly.  The sisters gave a beautiful lesson on the Plan of Salvation.  He feels that he will see his father again.  Here is another to pray for.  They have been through so much and Nadia feels so much peace from the gospel's message.

As you can see, there is much to do and many to help.  We are so thankful for this opportunity to try to ease the burdens of some of Heavenly Father's children in far away Russia.