Dear Family,
I'm sure everyone is enjoying the Christmas atmosphere that is all around during the month of December. I LOVE the Christmas "Light the World Campaign" that has definitely been inspired for all of us to open our hearts and hands in doing more service for others just as the Savior did when he was here upon the earth.
This past week was certainly a busy one for Gpa George and me. The highlight of the week was definitely having Kyle come on Tuesday! We only had one afternoon and evening with him because he only had such a short time here in Moscow and then was on to a big meeting in Ukraine. It was definitely hard to let him go--we really miss seeing our family! But while he was here, he told us the exciting news that all of you had pitched in to get us a television! We were soooo excited about that! As most of you know, we have been watching on the computer at night with the computer propped on my legs, which was definitely getting old! Hah! Anyway, Kyle brought a couple of his Russian employees with him and we all went television shopping. They negotiated for a great price, drove us home with it, and then Kyle had it all set up and put the stand together in no time, and we were in business!!! We now have English speaking television! We found out we were about the only Senior couple without a television, so we were thrilled. Thanks ever so much to all of you for this great gift!
Wednesday and Thursday - We worked so hard at the office to finalize our training presentation because we were leaving for Rostov-on-don on Friday. We felt so good about it--and then we got there and felt like we ran into a brick wall! There were very few English speakers at all in that whole mission! In fact, the Office Senior Couple was so excited to see us because they don't have any Senior couples to talk English to at all when the Mission President and his wife (who are from Utah) are out traveling. We really admired them--we have at least 13 couples right here in Moscow and get together every Tuesday night. But, they are definitely very devoted and working very hard there! The building that was the Mission Home, as well as where the people attend the church in the area is very new and very nice. It looks like an office building, as do all the churches here, and I don't think the church owns it. Mostly, the buildings are just rented. Anyway, in order to do the training, we had to use Skype, but the Counselor in the District Presidency who was in another city, wanted to use Zoom. Everyone else who called in from all the areas either used one or the other.
(The Mission Secretary and a Russian volunteer trying to get everyone connected up.)
The trouble was that the Zoom was the free one they were using and every 45 minutes it would shut off and we would have to start all over getting everyone connected again--that took at least 15 minutes. Also, we had slides that some were in English and some were in Russian. We couldn't tell where we were on the Russian slides, so we had the English slides on our computer and put the Russian on the feed to everyone, but getting that all to come off was so difficult, too. The final problem--everything Gpa said had to be translated, so that took so much time, too. Translating all the financial and accounting terms--well, we're not sure what the translator even said, so we hope they all got the right idea! About half way through one of the 45-minute periods, the interpreter said, "Oh, no!" I asked him what was wrong, and he said, "I need to go to the toilet!" Well, that stopped everything with no interpreter, and in the meantime the clock was ticking for us to have to start all over again. I don't know when I've ever been so tense! When he finally came back, we got started again only to have to start the connection process again in about 10 minutes! Whew! Anything I'm telling you was actually even more stressful than I'm telling you! Three hours to get through about an hour and a half presentation! The afternoon session with Elders all over the mission went much smoother because many of them have to take care of the finances in their area since there is no one able to do it there. It still had to all be translated because of the Russian Elders, but we all were on Skype and didn't have to be starting over so many times. By the time we got back to our hotel late that afternoon, we were whipped! But Gpa did a great job under all the circumstances, and we still feel like we made quite a few inroads!
There are many things that make the Europe East a difficult area, which definitely include the language, the rules from the government we are abiding, and definitely the immensity of this area. Gpa George told the Rostov-on-don Mission President that we would go to a couple of the areas that haven't been audited for a very long time because of having no Melchizedek Priesthood person there to do it. The President told us that when he goes to one area in his mission, he has to fly to Moscow (a little under two hours), then take a night train for 8 to 10 hours to get there, so I guess that's what we're going to have to do. Since we're already here in Moscow, that will cut the first two hours off, obviously. But, the immensity of this country and the difficulty in getting to the small branches in remote areas is really a problem.
We attended church in Rostov-on-don and really LOVED it! The people were so welcoming and kind. One darling girl read her Mission call to all the adults, and everyone clapped and cheered. She is going to Georgia (the country) and Armenia. And, she was so excited that she would get to go to the MTC in Provo. The people are such kind, humble people and go through a lot to attend church and remain active.
In the time we had left, we walked the city and saw many of the points of interest. I put some pictures on Instagram and will put more on my blog. We were thrilled to see green grass and no snow and ice there. It is about 9 to 11 degrees warmer there, which was so nice.
Flying into Rostov-on-don. It is a very agricultural area.
We landed in the brand new airport there, which had only opened the day before.
Inside the airport, they are ready for all the visitors who will be coming for the FIFA World Cup this summer.
This was like a breath of fresh air! Green grass--no snow or ice!
Driving along the Don River, you could see the Cathedral of the Nativity, which we visited later.
This is a brand new stadium that will be finished for hosting the games this summer. Rostov-on-don is one of eleven cities in Russia hosting the World Cup.
This city is full of monuments!
We were thrilled with our room, which was on the end, so it had lots of light and overlooked the street. Only drawback, it was a little noisy!
We even had our own little Christmas tree!
When we had time, we loved walking around the city.
Gorky Park.
Everywhere you looked were reminders of their favorite sport! Football! (Soccer to us Americans!)
We loved walking down Pushkin Street! It goes on forever, and there is always something to see and do! It was named after Russia's most famous poet, Alexander Pushkin!
I'm sure it is beautiful when it is all green and the flowers are in bloom, because it is actually very beautiful now!
We loved hearing the little man playing his accordion. The Russians love accordion music--especially the older generation!
Meeting up with Father Frost--The Russian Santa.
George enjoying the beautiful day.
We got on their huge Ferris wheel, which reminded us of the one in London. However, it was quite a bit smaller, but still took about 20 minutes to go around. We loved looking out over the whole city!
You could look clear over to the River Don from here.
And we were able to see the Monument-Obelisk to the Liberators of Rostov above it.
More reminders of the FIFA World Cup--these people love their football!
The Old-Intercession Church
The Rostov State Music Theater (shaped like a grand piano)
George looking over to the Stadium across the River Don
Walking down the street to get to the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. This was just an accident waiting to happen. That is about a one-foot drop off and when the doors open of the shops, you can barely tiptoe around.
Smoking is not allowed inside businesses or offices, so you find cigarettes all over the ground on the outside.
The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. It is really something to see on the outside, but they are doing some extensive work on the inside and the bell tower, so we weren't able to go in.
We were able to go to the make-shift building right beside the cathedral where they were allowing the people to come in to pray while prayers were being sung by three of their clergy inside. Women have to cover their hair in order to go in.
Surrounding the Cathedral are many small shops and an outdoor market and items for sale. There are so many pigeons, too, eating all kinds of breadcrumbs that had bee thrown out for them. People just can't resist even when the sign says to not feed them. Hah!
Again, we want to thank you for all your prayers, love, and support. It brings us to tears when we think of how much we appreciate knowing that you area rooting for us. We are trying so hard to make this a very positive experience for those we are serving and hope the Lord is proud of our efforts. We definitely don't want to disappoint him!
We love you all,
Gpa George and Gma Laura
PS Sorry this letter is a day late, but we didn't get home until late Monday night, so I'm writing it today--Tuesday.
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