Day to Day

Our Office days are similar--busy with the ordinary: Sister Mac replacing toner by her desk.
Elder Mac listening to a financial/travel question with Sasha and Elder Vierig.
Elder Stewart, member records secretary waiting to leave for the store with Elder Shreeve, who just got in from a 16 hour train ride. Elder Vierig listening to stories. And then it's home to our apartment. (It seems like everyone is always carrying something: plastic bags, satchels, water jugs.)

Flowers

Lots of flower beds right now. The red one is near our favorite grocery store. The casual one is behind our office.

(Sister McEvoy was worried because the pictures of Yekat on the web didn't show many flowers. But here they are!

There's a fairly new Home Depot-like store with a vast garden section in the spring.

Meeting

When Sergey came to a meeting at our house with Elders Shreeve and Bassett, he brought a large container of mixed berries from their summer garden.

We love being able to participate in these discussions. Sergey asks profound questions: "What should I teach my 2-year-old son? The things I teach will go forward for generations, impacting hundreds or thousands."

The fruit is excellent. Black currants are new to us, but delicious. (We've seen them at home.) Try them with other berries or fruit. Different flavor, but SO yummy!

"For the Strength of Youth"

Leeza, Leena and Anya comprise the YW Society in our Botanika Branch. They came for dinner last night, along with their mother and Elders Brown and Ellsworth, who gave a spiritual thought from "For the Strength of Youth."























The Elders help translate, but when they had to leave we still managed to communicate, thanks to a few words they know, a Russian dictionary, and Google translate.

When Elder McEvoy started to wash dishes, Leeza saw that he had a sore on his hand and she shook her head and looked up the word "impossisble." Then she and Anya pitched in.

Their mother, Natasha, joined the Church ten years ago. At that time, they walked about 5 km to church. The round trip was over six miles. She said the little girls hurried to church on the run--in rain or snow or whatever--but on the return they were tired and slower--glad to get home and nap.

(Elders Brown and Ellsworth at choir practice on Sunday)

Farewell to the POUCH

EDIT: CORRECTION!
We wrote this post after our office received an official letter revising Pouch policies. After clarification, we are reporting that the POUCH IS ALIVE AND WELL for personal mail. The changes applied to our use of US postage only. We're so sorry if we mislead anyone! -- 13 Sep. 09
______________________________

Looks like the missionary mail POUCH as we know it is no longer available for personal mail. The Church is discontinuing its use because of legal technicalities, difficulties with compliance, etc.

The Pouch filled a need for a lot of years, but now that we have email the loss shouldn't be too great. And there is always the local pochta. If you're lucky, maybe you'll get a letter from your missionary with a stamp like this one.

FYI, there is still a business pouch but it's strictly for submitting mission reports, etc.

Summer

The summer here is lush. It may be a short season, but it's certainly green.

Besides all the growth, the clouds are always in motion and the sky seems extra blue. We've had rain showers, too.We love the breezes and leave our windows open all night. The summer has seemed more like constant spring.

Meanwhile, plumbing issues continue. When our water was off for 24 hours, apartment residents like us walked to the corner pump with buckets and jars to fill. The water is back on, but we haven't had hot water for over two weeks. : ) We can't complain. Most residents in the small cottages don't have indoor plumbing; they not only lack hot water, but they have to come to the pump almost daily.

Novikovs

Friday night we joined the Nuzmans (CO) at the Novikov's apartment for a pleasant evening of dinner and conversation.

Vaselina is a great cook and made a vegetable pea soup garnished with fresh dill, followed by a Russian favorite, potatoes and mushrooms, sauteed with onion. The salad was a tasty cole slaw with red peppers added.

"Compotes" or drinks made from fresh (or dried fruits) are popular. Often the whole fruit is left in the drink. In this case, she used black currents and added a very little sugar. It was excellent. It's thicker than we're accustomed to, and Russians don't like cold drinks--no ice--but it was really delicious. She set the table "Americanski" style and it was really lovely.

We're grateful they both speak English, because we could converse. She told us how she missed Russian foods while serving her mission in England, and again while traveling in America.

Oleg is a professional carpenter and maker of fine furniture. He carved the teak wood blocks that were given as gifts from the Mission to President Uchtdorf and Elder Andersen when they came to Yekaterinburg in March.

Walking to the Office today

This cheery lady passes us some mornings. Today we asked for a picture.


People in the small cottages sometimes grow gardens in their yards--flowers and vegetables--besides the geraniums in the windows. We walk past this house every day.

Lock and Key

A fun wedding custom requires that the bride and groom fasten a lock on the river bridge and throw away the key, into the water below.

Names are engraved, too: "Olyesa and Artyom."

Family History

Like most of the faithful members, Sister Prihodka does family history.  She has made an enormous chart and showed us family pictures. 

Members try to get to the Temple in Helsinki once a year.  It means 1000 miles by train to Moscow, then a van or bus ride to the Temple.  

Can you see the balalaika and the accordion in the pictures?

"Always Remember Him"

At our final weekly Office Meeting with departing President Allen, he tenderly left this thought:

When the Savior left Saints in Jerusalem and in the New World, he left them with the sacrament. He instituted it “that they may always remember Him.” When departing, we think,“ We love these people and we want them to do well.” We want someday to be like Alma and the sons of Mosiah. When they were reunited, they were overjoyed that each had remained true. If we always partake worthily of the sacrament, we will always remember Him and always remain true.

Going to Sacrament Meeting can be inconvenient and even difficult, especially for some of our Saints here, but this was a sweet reminder to "always" remember him.