Week 29 - April 9, 2018

Dear Family,

Sounds like everyone had a wonderful Spring Break and Easter.  I am just hoping we can all do those things together when we come home!  Also, I can't believe how energizing Conference was this time.  I LOVED every single one of the talks--they all were so timely and definitely inspired.  Elder Bednar's talk about meekness and acting, not reacting was one of Gpa's and my favorites.  Those are such Christ-like attributes that we all need to attain, but as natural men and women, it is very difficult.  To always say and do the right thing without just reacting the minute something happens is so important.  Anyway, it was a wonderful conference weekend.  Yesterday (Sunday), at church, since we are in an All-Russian Ward, while everyone was in watching conference in the chapel, Gpa George and I watched it in English in the Bishop's office.  Fortunately, we had been able to watch all the sessions but the Saturday afternoon session, so that's what we watched.  

On Saturday, we went down to Red Square because although the Catholics, Protestants, and Mormons use one calendar to figure important events, (so Easter was on April 1st), the Russian Orthodox use another calendar and their Easter was yesterday--April 8th.   We knew with it being Easter weekend for the Orthodox that Red Square would really be decorated up like none other.  Although it was really FREEZING, WINDY, and COLD, we went down there anyway and had the best time!  I am sending a few pictures to let you see how much it was decorated.  We then went over to the Gum (pronounced Goom), and had lunch and met up with another Senior couple, quite by chance.  It was fun eating lunch with them.  Afterwards, we walked through the mall and they had cars on display there.  Gpa George was really drooling over a Land Rover, while he ate his ice cream cone.  Someday we will have a car again! 

 Crossing the bridge, we saw so many people trying to get into this tiny little make-shift church until their huge Orthodox Church is finished right behind it.

 The Easter crowds were starting early.

 With the weather warming up, the Moscow River is finally starting to thaw.

 Catching the metro--whenever you go by the dog, you must touch his nose for good luck.  See how shiny it is because of so many hands touching it?!

 With the Masters' Golf Tournament going on in the U.S., they have set up their own little golf course just off of Red Square.

 There are always huge lines to get in to see Lenin's Tomb.

I wanted to point out a couple of things that we have learned while we have been here in Russia that you might find interesting, too.  I found a great explanation on the web that talks about the Orthodox cross on top of their churches--entirely different than the simple "T" cross on the Catholic churches that we are most familiar with seeing.  

Here is the explanation:  

The Russian Orthodox cross differs from the Western cross.The cross usually has three crossbeams, two horizontal and the third one is a bit slanted.

The top bar symbolizes the sign that was hung above the head of Christ, it was written: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews"

The middle bar was where Christ's hands were nailed.

The lower bar is the foot-rest. According to the Russian Orthodox tradition the feet are depicted as being nailed not at one point (like the Catholics depict on their crosses) but individually at the two sides of the footrest.

The slanted line reminds us of the two thieves on both sides of the cross. One of them to the right of Christ ascended to Heaven, while the other one sank to Hell. Thus bottom bar of the cross is like the scale of justice and its points show the way to the Hell and Heaven.

Another interesting fact is that the upper point of the slanted beam always shows the way to the North. Thus a church cross can serve as a compass.

Also, interesting is the fact that you will find no grand pulpit or chairs inside a Russian Church--just lots of paintings of Christ and different Saints around the room where candles are lit, they pray, and make the sign of the cross in front of. There are times when a Priest comes out and the singing of prayers does take place, but no one sits, because as I say, there are no chairs. 

The Orthodox, also, cross themselves differently than the Catholics.  Here is the explanation from a member of the Orthodox Church:  

1.  We place our thumb and first two fingers together in a point, and our last two fingers flat against our palm. The three fingers together represent the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and the two fingers in the palm represent the two natures of Christ.  (Note:  I'm not sure what the two natures are, but anyway . . .)

2.  We touch our forehead, then our belly, tracing the vertical part of the cross.

3.   From our belly, we bring our hand up to our right shoulder, touching it.

4.  We finish placing the cross on our self by touching our left shoulder.

    The act of "Placing the cross on oneself" is a request for a blessing from God. Because the Lord separated the sheep from the goats, putting the faithful sheep on His right side, and the goats on the left, the Church always treats the right side as the preferred side.

 

    So, the Orthodox cross from right to left--whereas, the Catholics state the reason they go from left to right is:  

Something about being brought from God's left side (among the unrighteous) to His right (with the righteous) by the holy cross. 

So there you have it.  Hope you found that a little interesting.  We see them crossing themselves every time before they go into the church, many times within the church, and even if they see a church in the distance when they are walking or riding on the bus they will do it.  

The main thing I am so happy and feel so blessed to know is that the Savior is risen and we, as a Church, emphasize that fact--the Risen Living Christ!  What comfort that is for all of us!  

On to another subject!  Gpa and I are so excited to start our Russian classes this Wednesday night.  As we were hurriedly trying to prepare for our mission--packing, moving out, selling a car, getting everything in order, we didn't have time to really worry about the language.  We had been told by the Area Auditors before us not to worry about it because they got along fine without knowing Russian.  We have found quite the opposite.  We have been assigned to two Russian Wards (well, one is a branch) and both speak nothing but Russian.  Very little English is said.  Plus, all the buildings and anything written is just impossible to read because the Alphabet is entirely different.  I can't tell whether I'm buying milk or juice--except for the pictures!  i can't tell whether I'm going into a dog groomers or a grocery store, not knowing even the Alphabet when I see it.  I seriously feel like I'm going back to first grade or wherever they start learning to read.  But thanks to Cameron--yes, Cameron, you spurred this on when you asked me how many Russian words we knew and I had to admit--ten!!!  Cameron chuckled--not in a mean way, but it is true!  I get upset when people come to America and don't learn English, now I am doing the same here.  All five of our boys and two sons-in-law learned a foreign language when they went on their mission, I think we can at least learn the alphabet and a few more words than ten through this six-month course from the MTC in Provo.  We will call them at night once a week, which will be their daytime, and then they will give us homework.  The couples who have done this--only just a few--have really been helped by it.  

We are all very excited to have Elder Uchtdorf coming to Russia the last part of this month.  That is his new assignment and we couldn't be happier.  I will definitely keep you up on that.

And lastly, they have turned off all familysearch for anyone trying to get into it in Russia.  I was devastated!  I have been working so hard to get so many of George's family and ancestors who have been left out, by re-typing and entering them on familysearch from a book that George's dad and his brothers and sisters put together back in 1971-74.  They were genius in doing that--without the aid of computers or ways of looking up things--just did the footwork and went to tax accessors' offices, other places that had public records, called, wrote letters, etc., to find out all the information they could.  It truly was amazing their foresight in giving us so much information that is truly a treasure.  I will just have to have others work on this until I get home!  In the meantime, I have decided to finish writing the children's book for my kids and grandkids (and great-grandkids) that I know I was inspired to do.  I have wanted to do it for years and now is my time to do it.  

Well, this letter is way too long again, but we send our love to you all.  Hope you're continuing to read your Book of Mormon!  

Love,

Gma Laura