Hi from the entry way of our apartment building that leads to the elevators.  They have hung new sheet rock, pulled up all the old tile and are in the process of laying new tile...so we have been practicing for the balance beam portion of the olympics as we have walked these planks and then taken the stairs up six flights to get to our apartment.  Thank goodness we don't live any higher.  It truly will be lovely when it is done, but carrying groceries six floors is a work out!

The branch was thrilled to open the July, 2012 "Liahona" and find a picture of the women in our branch in the Russian speaking section.  The article documented several branches and how they celebrated the anniversary of the Relief Society.

Family Home Evening was great this week with Elders Bybee, left and Flitton teaching about the Proclamation to the Family by playing the "Jeopardy Game".  The youth had never heard of this game but they really got into it.  There's nothing like competition to get the young single adults' attention!!!  They had the gals against the guys.  It was a see-saw battle, but in the end the gals won by getting the "final" Jeopardy question correct!

We meet with Ludmilla and Vladimir on a regular basis with the sisters.  Vladimir is a non-member and such a great guy.  We had fun with our lesson and then here came their home teachers.  It is so wonderful to know that home teaching is alive and well in the Perm branch!

For our English Conversation Group this week, the elders prepared a fun memory/matching game.  They prepared words taken from a grocery shopping list...one word in English and the same word in Russian.  The object of the game was to match the Russian and English words that meant the same thing.  It is amazing how interested people are in learning English and since it is offered free of charge, we get a good turn out.

This is a great member of our branch, Nina.  We were excited to go to her apartment and get to know her better.  She is fortunate because she doesn't have to work and is able to enjoy many interests.  Her husband is a non-member but comes occasionally to Sacrament meeting.  They have two daughters, one is a member.  She is in the process of a remodel and she showed us her bedroom where she wallpapered the walls (apartment walls are cement and they have to use very heavy, textured paper on them), upholstered a chair, made her bedspread and curtains all in a matching fabric.  Pretty impressive. She gave us a CD of 1500 pictures of Perm...there is a lot of Perm that we have never even seen yet!

Our dear friend Olga, invited Elder Pocock and I to bring the sisters and come visit her.  She has purchased an apartment in Perm and will be moving into town the middle of August.  We are excited to have her closer to the branch.  She is such an asset.  We love visiting the area where she lives now with her mother.  The air is so fresh and clean and the lake is just a refreshing sight!

As we got closer to Olga's apartment, we could see that wedding preparations were taking place.  They were decorating the cars that would follow behind the bride and groom.

Later in the day, we went for a walk and came across the lovely bride and groom holding the camera in out-stretched arms...trying to get a picture of themselves.  We offered to take some photos of them and got one for ourselves.  Cute couple!

The little town of 7,000 has many little single family dwellings nestled in the hills above the lake.  It was fun to see how each family decorated and cared for their home differently!

It was amazing how many homes had piles and piles of wood...cut so evenly and stacked perfectly!  Olga said that it is so disturbing because there is a gas company just 50 kilometers away but because of the expense of running the gas lines...people here have to rely on wood burning stoves.  One thing they have going for them...Russia has a lot of trees!

In the distance, you can see the 138 stairs we climbed to get up into the hillside village.

Off we went to Olga's garden.  When we were there in March, the tomatoes hadn't been planted and everything was so tiny.  Here you can see a variety of beans that we picked...they sure don't look like beans, do they?

The plants in the hot-house are thriving!  Look at the height of those tomatoes, peppers and egg plant.  They trim all the leaves from their tomatoes up about three feet, and then they prop their plants with stakes. (along the left of the greenhouse) This way the tomatoes never touch the ground and they feel that they grow bigger and more abundant. It was as if the tomato plants had a trunk.  We came home with sacks of vegetables.  What a wonderful day in the country-side.

Saturday, we had President and Sister Rust here for our Zone class.  They drove the six hours to meet with us and attend the branch on Sunday.  They brought their two AP's,  so we had 14 of us for lunch.  It was tight quarters but a lot of fun.

There is nothing like a visit from their Mission President to help missionaries get fired up and motivated to keep going.  Zone Class is a time when we share our highs and lows, where we challenge our present goals and set others, where we love and encourage one another, and where
we make commitments to try harder!  So many young people with differing personalities, from very different places but with all one purpose.  We truly love these young men and women.

Perm Branch has a large group of YSA and a very small group of Primary children.  This was our entire Primary on Sunday.  They are adorable and although they are small in number, they really can sing out!  Tanya, is the President.  She prepares so well...these children are blessed to have her love and care.  We met for an hour after the block and discussed ways this small group can put on a Sacrament meeting program.  We're excited to announce that Tanya is expecting a little girl in November...yea another child for our Primary...eventually!

Our Elder Bybee goes home tomorrow...we have only had him in our area for a month and he has been easy to love.  Today was P-day, so we all went to a military museum with our friend Eulea so we could enjoy our last few hours with Bybee!  This is a picture of the original factory that was built here in Perm.  This is how Perm came to be.  The factory built these museum weapons and as far as we know, it continues to build weapons.  While we were at the museum, they had a change of shifts and there were a ton of people that came from the factory.  This city was closed to people from other countries for many years, especially during the war years.   

Quite the arsenal!   The Russians are very proud of their involvement in WWI and WWII.  They take great pride in making a difference in those wars.  The young people are very aware of their country's history and speak of it often.

The guys really got into this museum!

A great afternoon with some of God's army...

Well, it's time to share our experiences of the week...

Sorry that the printing on the blog goes from black background to white...don't know what is causing this, so if you have any suggestions we're open.  We have tried everything we can thing of...it has a mind of its own!

We had the AP's visiting with us so I got a picture of the whole gang.  When we have Zone Class each Friday, I feel like we are home having the family over for dinner.  I have to say that our girls didn't eat nearly as much as these guys do!!!

We love our English Conversation Group.  Here in Perm, we have a great group of people that love to learn English from the missionaries.  We are only allowed to continue to teach these classes if we get investigators from them...there is a concern that the time could be better spent "finding".  We are fortunate that some of the people we have coming to class also are showing an interest in hearing the gospel message.  Elder Christopher of the Quorum of the Twelve was recently in Russia and commented in a broadcast that "the Lord wants the work to move forward in Russia." We keep trying! Below is a picture of one of our English Group students...Lubov.  She loves the missionaries.  Elder Bybee is our senior missionary with only a little over a week left on his mission.  He and Elder Flitton (far right) taught Lubov a great lesson on the Restoration and they left her the movie in English so she could practice her skills while she watched the movie.  Then she in turn fixed us a yummy meal.  It was pork wrapped in dough and fried.  Seriously, it was delicious!  Sometimes the love of learning English and enjoying the company of the missionaries supersedes the need for the gospel.  Always a challenge!

We continue to get into the homes of our members.  Dasha (left) and Tatianna are a faithful daughter and mother in the branch.  Dasha has just completed her university studies in English!  Yea, another translator!!!  She is delightful and we keep trying to get her out to FHE.  They were introduced to the gospel by young adults who came from America to teach English. The teachers would live in the homes of the Russian people and Dasha and Tatianna were blessed to get a couple young women who were LDS.  They showed us a scrapbook of what these young women are doing now ... they are both married with families of their own.  The people that introduce them to the gospel are never forgotten!  It was so fun to get to know Dasha and Tatianna better.

Another English Group investigator.  This is Alex and boy, can he speak English.  The amazing thing about Alex is that he hungers and thirsts after learning more words, phrases, and meanings.  During the week, he called Elder Pocock and I to see if we would meet with him to discuss some more phrases that he could use at work.  After a delightful time together at our apartment, I got up the nerve to ask him if he would be interested in learning about why we came to Russia.  He was kind and willing. We met with him and a set of Elders.  He is divorced and has a son that he loves very much.  We spoke of our Heavenly Father's love for each of his children and what He did to show His love for us.  We are meeting again. Now if we can just get him to want the gospel as much as he wants to master English.

This week FHE was on July 24th...so we focused on "Pioneer Spirit".  We talked of how they are pioneers of the gospel right here in their own land.  We showed them the short film, "Only A Stonecutter".  They were really touched.  We challenged them to have the commitment and dedication of John Rowe Moyle in their work here in Russia.  After the lesson, we taught the youth how to square dance.  I don't know what we would do on this mission without the help of the internet!!! You can learn to teach or make anything you can think up!  This was in preparation for our branch Pioneer activity on Saturday.  Thank goodness the YSA are up for anything.

Another member visit...  On the left is Margarita, a 75 year old member that was the first convert in the Perm area.  She was invited to come to the home of Nadeshda and Alexander and meet with us also.  Margarita lives in an area where there are a lot of people that are against missionaries...so she doesn't want to have the missionaries come for fear of problems.  She said that her neighbors ask her every Sunday, "where are you going?" Apparently, they would be very unkind if they knew that she was going to what they call a "foreigner's church".  She gets along with her neighbors and she wants to keep it that way.  She faithfully teaches the Gospel Doctrine class.
Alexander and Nadeshda have been members for a long time as well.  They have one son who is married to an American missionary that served here.  He now lives with his family in West Jordan, Utah.  Alexander is a very happy guy that is facing some severe challenges.  Just recently he contracted a disease that left him blind and deaf in one ear.  Sister Nadeshda went to America for the birth of her second grandchild and Margarita came over everyday to fix meals and take Alexander for a walk.  He jokingly calls her his second wife!  What wonderful saints.

Guess who is back from England???  Nadia works during the year at a school for children.  She applied and got a summer job where she takes children that are learning English to England for a two week period.  There they have classes then they get to sightsee and get out and speak with the people of Britain.  She was "mother" to 15 teenagers!!!  She said that they were so polite and well behaved!  She was able to take both of her children along with her but the day after this dinner at her home, she was off again for round two.  Her children are with grandma and grandpa.  We have missed her so much.  She had Eulea, Elder Pocock and I over for a chicken and veggies meal with mushroom gravy.  Here we are chewing on Nadia's mom's infamous dill pickles.  This blog definitely makes me think that all I do is eat!!!

Here Elders Weber and Wimber at going over the branch directory with me.  Our missionaries are so great to work with us in finding and inviting back.  It truly makes a difference when we reach out.  This is our branch building...just before we arrived in February, they combined the two branches into one.  It is a mixed blessing.  This branch has definitely been strengthened but we have visited many families that lived in the area of the other branch...which is quite a distance...and they are finding it difficult to fund the transportation costs.  Yet another challenge!

This a Vadem, our branch choir director.  He is one talented man.  Here you see him by one of his many paintings.  He has an amazing story behind the creation of each painting.  Elder Pocock has always loved science fiction...so Vadem's stories were fascinating.  He also plays the piano extremely well, plus he has a gorgeous and I mean gorgeous tenor voice!  He sang for us and accompanied himself.  Again...so fun to get into their homes and feel that you really know them.

The branch had a Pioneer activity this past Saturday.  We met at a tramvy (electric bus) stop and then after passing under this highway tunnel, we began our trek.  The branch president and a couple others with cars provided transportation for those that didn't want to walk but the rest of us wanted to get a pioneer experience.

We walked for about an hour into a beautiful, forested area.

When we reached the designated "This is the Place", I was really glad and I didn't even have to push a handcart.  The missionaries hunted down some logs for us to sit on under the canopies.  Thank good we had those, it really rained hard for a while!  We served beans with bacon and corn bread to the starving pioneers.

The day was spent experiencing life as a pioneer.  We had a spiritual message at the camp, we played games, we danced,  and of course we ate again.  While we were eating the main course, we watched the movie "17 Miracles" about the ways the pioneers were blessed despite their hardships.  I cried hard and it was in Russian, so what would I have done if I had understood the whole thing!!!  Most everyone got into the stick pull competition.

One of the funniest games, was the cucumber throw.

Some of our pioneers took off their scarves and decided they wanted to be "babushkas" (Russian grandmas) instead!

The highlight was to see the delight and hear the laughter as we taught the adults to square dance.  The YSA were pros by now and they even remembered what to do when I called it in English.  The spirit of those long ago, valiant pioneers was truly with us on this day.  The one thing that the pioneers had over us is that once they reached the Salt Lake Valley they didn't have to walk back out...we did!!!
What a great activity and what great people to mingle with!

We teased Michael that he was our Brigham Young...he truly is a pioneer in his own right!
Until next week...

July 14, it was a year ago that Mom passed away!  We decided that we would stop at the cemetery on the way to English Conversation Group.  We posted this cemetery back in April when we visited for the first time...what a difference three months makes.  So much foliage and look at the huge floral arrangements on the graves.  It was a beautiful day so we decided we were up for a walk the rest of the way to the church... approximately two miles.  Just beyond the cemetery is a steep hill...yikes...we made it up the hill and to the next bus stop for a ride...just too hot and too old!

Met Big Al, a faithful attender of our advanced class in English Conversation Group.  He is such a character...how I wish you all could spend an hour with him.  He has a good command of the English language and I'm impressed with how committed he is to improving.  Al is a good friend that is constantly teasing us about enjoying some Russian Vodka!  He is a taxi cab driver by profession.  After English class, we were to meet up with some less actives for an outdoor concert and Al offered to give us a ride.  He came to FHE for a while but it got too religious for him.  Maybe someday we will break through that crusty exterior!

We've shown you some of our scenes of the "White Nights" celebrations here in Perm.  Well, they just keep on going.  This town wants to fill all of the daylight with lots of atmosphere!  We met up with our friends and enjoyed a gorgeous evening with fantastic classical music by four saxaphone players; soprano, alto, tenor and bass.  These guys were great...and it was all free.  

Some of you have an Avon lady...well I have an Avon guy!  Meet Ramon.  He is a member of our branch and yes, he sells cosmetics out of a booklet just like Avons.  I was in need of some mascara and he came to my rescue.  In fact, he was pretty amazing... I ordered, paid him, and he delivered it that very afternoon!!!  Now that is what I call service.

Several of the younger sisters in the branch often ask if I will stay after the block or FHE to discuss some concerns they may have with family/personal matters.  I thought about it and decided to try a quarterly get-together with anyone that wants to come; where we learn how to cook something new and then talk about girl stuff while we eat lunch together.  Six of us met at our apartment on Saturday and we made Hawaiian haystacks and peach cobbler.  Two of the young women were married, three were single.  Anna, at the very front center of the picture came and brought her two little ones...I didn't want her to stay away because of the children.  (I still have the kids finger prints on my full length mirror because it reminds me so much of my back patio door when the grandkids come over!  A little nostalgia.) We had a terrific time...sharing our concerns, our hopes, helping each other learn patience, we talked about disciplining children, getting along with strong-willed fathers and in-laws, marrying outside of the church, you name it...we discussed it.  They even asked Elder Pocock some questions to get a guy perspective.  Just knowing that we all have our problems and that we all need the Savior as our guide...will help us to make it through another day.  We started at 11:00 a.m. and the last one left at 5:00 p.m.  I can't wait for the next luncheon in October! 

We have another missionary leaving from our little Perm Branch.  This is Anton and he has just received his mission call to Leeds, England.  He is thrilled.  He leaves in November.  He met with the missionaries and Elder Pocock at our apartment for some more mission preparation lessons.  He has very good English skills and he said that most of it has come from speaking to the many Elders that have come here from America to serve.

Run for cover!  We have had the most intense rain storms lately.  Look at the down spout from the roof of the apartment across from us.

Not only did we get heavy rain but we had a lightning and thunder display that was unreal!

These next few pictures are of our adventure this last Monday to Komarehenskaya.  There is a lady in our branch named Nina.  You have seen pictures of Nina before...she is a very colorful and passionate member of our branch.  She is strong willed and determined...but those traits are what get her to church every Sunday despite the distance and the poor health that she endures.  We have become such good friends and Elder Pocock and I decided that we wanted to go visit Nina on a P-day and assist her in anyway she would let us.  Of course, we needed a translator and our dear young adult, Eulea volunteered to go along with us.  We took a bus to the Perm I train station...this is much smaller than the station we use to go to Ekat.  There we boarded the train (below) at 7:30 a.m.  We rode the train for 2 hours...a total of 27 stops...before we arrived in Nina's town...Komarehenskaya.  The train ride alone would cost Nina 200 rubles each Sunday plus the bus ride.  This adds up to about 25% of her monthly pension.

The scenery was refreshing.  The Kama river runs right by Perm, but farther northeast we came to another much larger and cleaner river...the Silva.  What a beautiful area.

Doesn't this look like a fun place to live?

After a little longer ride, and a little searching, we finally arrived at Nina's around 10:30 a.m.  She was so excited to see us.  I am sure that she doesn't get visitors very often!  She insisted on fixing us some breakfast, despite the fact that she was in so much pain in her knees.  But believe me, you don't tell Nina "no"... so she proceeded to fix us spaghetti cooked in milk!  It is really quite good.  Monday probably wasn't the best day to go see her, since she had just had a BIG day of travel and church the day before.

Nina owns her home, and her daughter and two grandchildren live with her.  Nina has her own little room that she enjoys as her haven.  Here is the fireplace inside of her room...it helps keep things warm during the winter months and she can also heat food and water on it as well.

Nina proudly displays the Kiev temple picture on her desk.  She has been to this temple.  She told us of her daily routine: she reads from the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, an article in the Liahona, and the Relief Society lesson manual about President Joseph F. Smith all before her prayers and then her morning chores begin.  She has been a member for about ten years.  She is the only member in her family.  She had three children...two daughters and a son.  Her son died when he was 22 from radiation poisoning in an area similar to Chernobyl. She told us that she was so devastated when her son died that she had symptoms similar to a stroke.  She couldn't talk...her memory was failing...she told us that she prayed to God and promised him that if he would heal her...she would be faithful until her dying day.  He healed her and she is keeping her promise, no matter how hard it is!

After breakfast, we went out into her massive garden.  I don't know how she planted all of it...but we should have gone to her much sooner to get a grip on the weeds.  She said she doesn't care about the weeds, but she did want us to help her pick her raspberries.  Oh my, does she have raspberries.  They are very tiny but very sweet.  The four of us picked for well over an hour and didn't come close to getting all of the ripe berries.  Here you see our Nina preparing a salad for us.  I pulled those yummy onions out of her garden and she is slicing them with layers of cucumbers and tomatoes...a sprinkling of salt and some oil.  Seriously, it tasted so good.  Notice the wrap on her swollen knees.  She has a plant growing in her yard that she picks the large leaf off and ties it to her knee.  She feels that it is a natural way for her knee to heal.  Kent and I sat on a little bench made of logs and we tipped backwards right into some stinging nettle!  We all laughed so hard!  It was fun to see Nina laugh.  It is always a concern for us to know what is appropriate to take when visiting someone here in Russia.  The older people can get offended if you do too much for them, or if you don't eat enough, etc.  We brought some sausage, cheese, bread and homemade cookies to help with the meal.  She seemed grateful.  We retired to her little room again and talked of her health, her hopes, her family concerns, her faith.  We praised her for her example and her commitment.  We hope that she truly realizes how wonderful she is!  We had to leave on the 3:20 p.m. train to get back home to an appointment.  It was a wonderful day spent with a true pioneer here in Russia.  We love our Nina and she'll be at church on Sunday!

Tuesday, for FHE, Elder Pocock taught a lesson on "Building Bridges in our Relationships".  It was a great lesson on how to work together to overcome relationship challenges.  After the lesson, our activity consisted of the young adults pairing up and literally building a bridge.  The pair that built the strongest bridge would win a prize.  The bridge had to go over a yogurt cup and yet be strong enough to sustain first a bottle of handsoap, a water filter and then my quad of scriptures!  We had some pretty creative bridges...most of them were tunnels!  It was fun and challenging.

This is the Ustyuzhaninov family.  You have met Sasha (their youngest son) before, he is going on a mission to St. Petersburg.  Tamara and Anatole are the parents of our branch president as well.  She is the Young Women's president.  They are delightful people...rock solid...helping this little branch to stay strong.  It was so fun to go to their apartment.  Back in the Soviet Union days, if a person was a war veteran, the government gave their family an apartment.  Tamara's father was given this apartment and Anatole said they bought it from him for a very small price.  They have taken one room at a time and fixed it up.  Anatole is suffering with cataracts and had surgery not too long ago.  It helped a lot and he is hoping to be able to get back to painting.  He truly is an artist.  Tamara told me that in Russia it means he is professional if we say: "He certainly can write" rather than paint!  See how much there is to learn!

This is a close up of the oil painting Anatole did of his granddaughter Sophie....President U's daughter.  He certainly can write!!!!

Ludmilla is the sister on your far right.  She is one of the first people we met here when we arrived in Perm.  It was her 50th birthday the day we arrived, and the missionaries invited us to go with them to the party.  She is such a faithful sister.  She and her daughter, Kristen, (far left) just got back from going to the Kiev temple with the branch.  Kristen was able to do baptisms for the dead.  She is a talented piano player and has a beautiful voice. Vladimir is Ludmilla's husband and he is a fireman.  He is not a member but comes often with the family.  We have been to their home twice with the sisters and had great discussions with them.  Daniel is their grandson that lives with them.  His father is Ludmilla and Vladimir's son.  Another great family in the branch.

Another sign appeared on the main entrance door.  Our Branch President told Elder Pocock about this great app for his IPhone that enables you to take a picture of something and it will translate it for you!  Isn't that amazing?  Well, we took a picture of the sign and we are so glad we checked it out!!!


 NO WATER FOR 36 HOURS STARTING FRIDAY NIGHT AT 8:00 P.M. UNTIL SUNDAY MORNING AT 8:00 A.M.  Normalna!!!  Just pray that we get to shower before church on Sunday...