Mission Journal October 18 - 24

October 18 – 24, 2010
St. Petersburg Mission Journal


This has been a very busy week for us and we were negligent in keeping a daily log of our activities so we hope to remember most of it.

We had a very busy beginning of the week with our Monday meetings. Jeanie and our visa clerk Natasha had forgotten they had a 10 a.m. video conference call with Moscow in reviewing new procedures for applying for another “2nd passport” for most of our missionaries (including our own) that need to be reapplied for. Visa rules have changed that in order to get a visa in your passport it has to be valid for at least 6 months before they’ll put a visa in it. Although they signed in late, they were able to get all the information necessary. She was off to take care of the other duties for the day.

Tuesday we had the wonderful opportunity to go to Helsinki Finland with the mission president, wife, and two sons to the temple. It was time for his family to renew their visas and they travel to Finland to do that. President Podvodov has been very good at rotating the senior couples so we all have a chance to attend the temple about every 6 months. It takes about 6 hours to drive one way.

When we arrived we quickly put our suitcases in the room we would be staying at. The women and men sleep in different rooms. I was able to make two sessions in the temple while Jeanie attended one then did 35 baptisms for the dead (this due to miscommunication that we would be doing two sessions and when she discovered I had went into the next session it was too late for her to attend).

We have a better understanding for those who attend the temple in our home temple that don’t know English. We use headsets to hear the session in English. There are 6 different languages that are used.

When we are getting ready to leave the temple, we noticed a group of young missionaries that were waiting to leave. We stopped to introduce ourselves and found out that they were from another mission in Russia and were there renewing their visas. We also had an opportunity to meet Elder and Sister Hassle. They had previously served in St. Petersburg as office specialists. They were now on their second mission once again serving as office specialists in Yekentinberg, Russia.

We stayed overnight and left about 5:50 a.m. the next day so the president’s two sons could get back to school and test for sports activities. Their daughter also had a doctor’s appointment. We arrived back at 12:15 p.m. We spent the rest of the afternoon working on our own individual tasks in the office.

Thursday I worked hard on getting as much as the financial inputting necessary so the mission president would approve payment for missionary MSF (missionary support fund), area adjustments, rent, and missionary reimbursement for travel and medical needs. President and his wife will be in Kiev, Ukraine all next week for training and wouldn’t be around to approve iMos. President assured me he would approve it that night.

Friday I once again reminded President Podvodov that I needed his approval. I had the office elders assist me with following up with the mission branch presidents on discrepancies that were found during the midyear audit. It is my responsibility to ensure all the discrepancies identified during the audit are corrected within 30 days. I rely very strongly on the office missionaries because not all of the branch presidents can read or speak English. I will write down in English what I wish to have conveyed and the elders translate it into Russian for me. Jeanie worked on indexing, visa paper work, mail for the president and emails to the missionaries and their parents.

President gave me a panic when I found out he was in Moscow Saturday and still hadn’t approved IMOS but I contacted one of the assistances to the president and he was able to remind him.

Saturday we went over to an artist home, Emin Zulfugarov. He has been commissioned by the Church for several of his paintings that they have purchased for some of the temples. Three were recently installed in the Kiev, Ukraine temple. Also, one of his paintings are in the Gila Valley, Arizona temple. His painting of Church official’s dedicating Russia to receive the gospel hangs in the church foyer. It is also on the front cover of the July Liahona/Ensign magazines.

He is currently working on a painting that he said will be his largest and most challenging. It’s to be approximately 40 feet long by 8 feet high. It will be put in the Provo, Utah temple. I’ve attached a photo of him and a couple of his “sketches” that might be submitted. He has one more sketch that hasn’t been finished that he will include to Church headquarters for review. Once one of his sketches has been chosen then he will be renting a studio to begin the work. It’s to be completed by the first part of summer.

We enjoyed talking to him about his upbringing and views of Americans in Russia. He is an only child (as is most children), 39 and takes care of his parents who both suffer from Parkinson’s disease. He recently has met a young woman who lives in Moscow and who is an architect. He hopes there relationship will blossom into marriage. He is tired of being alone and ready to start a family. He has been a member of the church for only 4 years now.

He also stated that he studied at a university for six years and academy of art school for seven years and his expertise in his art are faces. He was 19 when the “iron curtain” came down and said that most Russians aren’t too trusting or like Americans here, but those are mostly the older generation. Because the Russian people couldn’t’ go outside their country or people could come in during the communist time, there was very little need to learn English. While most of the rest of the European nations speak English, Russia has a ways to catch up.

Elder Webb, financial secretary here at St. Petersburg who served about 4 years ago, noticed Brother Zulfugarov’s art pieces and asked if he could submit them to the Church to look at. Brother Zulfugarov agreed and now the rest is becoming history. Until that time he was a struggling artist and is very thankful for Elder Webb’s help.

We know that there is a high demand for English teachers. Most are coming from England and teach English with quite a different accent then we speak it in America. But there are not too many Americans willing to come and teach. We have several young women and one young man from BYU that are part of an international organization that comes here to teach. They pay their own expenses and live with host families. They are here for 3 months.

Sunday morning when I checked it had been approved so now Salt Lake headquarters will receive the monetary requests and process them before months end.

Joe’s Thoughts for the Week:

I continue to be in awe of the missionaries that are serving here. The leadership, dedication, and service that I see, has me wondering what the Lord is preparing them for. I have helped to give blessings of comfort and healing to some, but to one missionary that will be leaving soon it was that they serve the rest of their mission to the very best of their ability with an eye single to the Lord’s work. My thoughts often reflect on what the future holds for them. In 20 years how many will have raised missionaries that are faithfully serving their own missions. How many will be Relief Society presidents, Elder’s Quorum presidents, bishops or branch presidents. We were watching a Russian missionary speaking in sacrament meeting and we both had the same impression. He will one day be a Stake President here in Russia. Are we serving and associating with future mission presidents and perhaps even an apostle of the Lord? I believe that the answer to that question is a resounding YES.

Jeanie’s Thoughts for the Week:

While in church today I had to wonder how difficult it is for the Russian members to have American’s come here to kind of be “in charge” that the organization of everything is done according to the Church structure. While we as missionaries are not to take charge of a person in a calling, we are to be the eyes and ears to make sure teachings and other covenant type activities are being done properly. We are to make suggestions and help when asked. I can imagine it may be difficult to have so many mixed cultures and personalities that come with those cultures in dealing with relationships and worship.

Fortunately in the branches we’ve attended as well as the district presidency, the leadership is doing all that they should in accordance with the way the meetings the rest of the organization is to be ran.

I have seen in the missionary structure a bit of strife though with the missionaries. Several of the American missionaries have commented that it’s difficult to serve with Russian missionaries because of their culture differences and being treated pretty disrespectfully. They also have shared that they are trying to be patient when the Russian missionaries usually want to be charge of the companionship even though they may not be the senior companion. I know one Russian sister missionary was complaining to me that Americans “just don’t know how to roll the Rs right when speaking the language.” This is apparently a touchy subject with her. It made me begin to understand that trying to teach the gospel can be challenging with a companion that may have different ways in their presentations when trying to teach their native people.

Mission Journal October 11-17, 2010

October 11-17, 2010
JOE AND JEANIE JOURNAL


MONDAY- We had a lot of fun in the office today. Following our morning meeting and later our district meeting we had a lunch provided by Joe and I. Joe cooked a chicken lasagna that was delictable and I provided banana nut bread. The missionaries just love our cooking and baking. Everytime they have the opportunity to be among the group to eat our food they feel very priviledged and blessed.

Later in the day I had several elders and sisters hovered around my desk and we were watching the old TV commercial Joe and I had been asked to do for the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions following our class-action lawsuit win over Household Finance. (I found it by typing in Washington State Department of Financial Institutions on Google). They all loved it! It had been some time since I had seen it and at the time Sam and Madison were so small they both fit in that little red wagon they had. Now they're 7 & 9! How quickly time goes.

We were going to go on a walk after we left the office today, but I wasn't feeling real well. We finished our game of Dominos, and had a spiritual thought for our Family Home Evening, then I took some Nyquil and went to bed about 8 p.m. Joe stayed up on the computer and I have no idea when he came to bed - I was out!

Elder Mower

Sister Eramokova and Stepanova







Elder Berven - Office Elder





Sister Schaefer, Lane, and Brystal

Our district: (Elder Hunt, Berven, Onyshuk, Shrader, Sisters Balashova and Kelnyk


TUESDAY: I slept in a bit and came into the office a little over an hour late. I'm still very sleepy today but know getting one more really good night sleep will help overcome my fatigue. I think I've been overdoing it these last couple weeks and not allow myself more rest time.

Today I indexed census records again for most of the afternoon. I listened to the Mormon Radio Channel as I typed. I really enjoy this channel. They tell true life stories, play beautiful music, and other interesting topics.

WEDNESDAY: Another transfer day. Surprisingly it was the most quiet and smoothly ran day. The missionaries pretty much stayed out in the church foyer or in the office sitting area (where they're suppose to) instead of all gathering around the center of the office where mine and the assistants desks are). I took pictures of everyone so they can be included in the newsletter.

There were a couple of opportunities to have a nice converstions with some of the missionaries that I hadn't seen for a while. Elder Mower came to sit and talk while he was waiting for his new companion to come to the city. We talked of family and he spoke of a couple of cousins that have really been struggling with their lives. One cousin tried to commit suicide by overdosing on pills. Fortunately he was found and taken to the hospital. Elder Mower mentioned that he and his cousin, John, had been very close and for some reason John chose another path in his life away from the gospel of Jesus and has been struggling ever since. Elder Mower loves him and his other cousin, Emily, so much and is anxious to get home and be there for them.

Elder Mower's story is like so many others here. We all love our family members and find it hard not to be there with them when they are struggling through challenges. But, we are comforted by the promise the Lord gives that our families are being more blessed when we serve Him then had we stayed home.

Joe and I went for a walk to a couple little stores close by. It has turned pretty cold now. We bought another pair of gloves for him and a few fruits and onions. Between Joe and I losing one glove of 3 sets we once had, we hope to not lose another. I lost one mitten last winter in a van that took us to Estonia. The other two were lost when we put them in our coat pockets and they had fallen out somewhere during our walks.

Sister Hazlewood brought over a huge zuchini from a family they visited in Novgorod a few weeks back. They said they didn't even want to attempt to try and cut into it and asked if Joe would and we could divy it up with others. She had asked if I would make her some zuchini bread. Well, Joe cut it open, but it wasn't a zuchini - it was a pumpkin. Not having a puree machine, or blender to cook down the pumpkin we ended up throwing it out. :(

THURSDAY: We started our morning with scripture study as well as futher writings about the Doctrine and Covenants. I found a whole section about the Second Coming of Jesus which I found fasinating. It gave a pretty good detail of the events before, during, and after Jesus' coming. Makes me all the more convicted to let others know about Jesus and the Love he has for all of us and how He wants us and our children to be prepared for our safety and salvation.

I spent 1/2 hour exercising during the day. I plugged in my iPOD to the sound track of Happy Feet and I jog up and down the 3 flights of stairs in the church building, jog around the gym and without fail end up dancing around the gym to the music! Fortunately, no one can see me :)

FRIDAY: Our first snowfall came today. It was very light, but we had snow!

SATURDAY: We spent the first 4 hours walking to and from the store and buying groceries. After getting home and putting away our groceries we started to prepare a dinner for a couple from another branch. He is a chiropractor and has come to our apartment in the past to give me an adjustment on our living room floor. I was hesitant to ask him again because the last time he gave me an adjustment it was quite painful, but effective. However, despite all my massages I could not get a painful kink out of my mid upper back. The adjustment went well enough, but painful, but shortly after I had no more pain. I’m going to try and make it the rest of my mission without another adjustment though. I know getting an adjustment shouldn’t be so painful.

Joe made fajitas for Victor (the chiropractor) and his wife Larissa. I had made some banana nut bread and we had fruit and veggies. They left for a district meeting and I was very tired and went to bed early. It’s amazing how much energy your body uses when trying to compensate for pain. Once the pain is gone my body is so relieved that I couldn’t stay awake.

Front row: 1st counselor President Blagdaseron, President Klimosh, 2nd counselor President Leostrin.

Sister Podvodova and President Podvodov.

SUNDAY: The St. Petersburg District called a whole new presidency. The District Presidency is like a Stake Presidency. The Church is waiting until there is enough growth to make the 6 branches in the St. Petersburg area a stake. The 5 other branches are under the direction of the mission office. All 11 branches are still under Mission President Podvodov and will be until they are split into a stake.

Following our district meeting we had 5 members over for dinner. Joe had made chicken lasagna and I baked a French apple pie. We over see 9 return missionaries so we have a dinner for them once a month and give a spiritual thought/discussion. Two have now been married and two more to be married next month making our little group larger to where we are splitting up our dinner/discussion to two Sundays a month.


JOE’S THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:
Mosiah2: …open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view.

Saturday and Sunday we had an opportunity to listen to the general conference addresses. I would like to share some of my observations, thoughts, and feelings I noticed that some of our older vanguard are beginning to lose the spring in their step. This was not true, however, of Elder L. Tom Perry. He quickly approached the podium delivered his dynamic address and quickly resumed his seat. President Packard in particular is showing his age.

As usual Elder Jeffrey:Holland delivered a wonderful address. All of the speakers gave inspired messages that if followed will benefit us all. The most thought-provoking speaker for me was President Henry B. Eyring. In his Sunday address when he spoke of the first vision he stated something that I had never heard before. He stated and I quote, “The boy, Joseph Smith Jr., walked among the trees to a secluded spot. He knelt to pray with complete trust that God would answer his pleading to know what he should do to be cleansed and saved through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.” I believe that I like millions of others listening expected to hear what we have heard for years. “to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. I made a quick note to myself and after the meeting was over and back in the confines of our apartment. I looked up his talk on the internet. There in black and white were the words he had spoken with a footnote that took me to ”Teachings Of Prophets Of The Church Joseph Smith” page 28. There I read “I felt to mourn for my own sins and for the sins of the world.” At the age of 14 he was already concerned about his spiritual soul and the souls of all mankind. This question has played out in my mind as I have read and reread his talk. Is this new revelation or have I simply failed to hear this message before? For me perhaps a part of that question is answered in the closing remarks of President Thomas S. Monson, “I hope that we will take the time to read the conference talks, which will be reprinted in the November issue of the Ensign and Liahona magazines, for they are deserving of our careful study.” Is he hinting that there is indeed new revelation to be found?

JEANIE'S RANDOM THOUGHTS THROUGHOUT THIS WEEK:
I can see why people travel to different countries throughout Europe. It's easy and inexpensive for the most part and it's nothing for someone to spend 10+ hours in travel time. I remember thinking it a big ordeal to travel to eastern Washington which is about 5 hours by car. Here is normal to take a train, bus, boat, or plane to visit relatives or other sites. Just to go across Russia has 11 times zones! Yet, people travel to see family. When watching the news I marvel at the events and realize that I live so close by. When in America, world or international news seemed so distant. By being here I seem so much closer to the events and people as described in the Bible and Book of Mormon and see the similarities of their teachings to what is happening here now.
My focus on life isn't about "things" anymore. It's about family and although I can't go back and teach of the Love of Jesus and help my children gain a testimony of that, my life has forever changed to see the importance of living more virtuous. Living my life proud of who I've become and stay confident in that.

Mission Journal October 4 - 10, 2010

Weekly Journal

October 4 – 10, 2010

MONDAY- It was an extremely busy day for us. We didn't know until we came into the office that there would be no morning or district meeting today. It was the first of four days of Worldwide Missionary training in which our missionary zone and district leaders came to the church building to attend.

The good news is that we were able to finish up on things that needed to be completed and we didn't have to wait until tomorrow.
I finished the mission newsletter, a bunch of emails that needed attention, turned in our visiting report of the return missionaries that we home teach, emailed and faxed the baptism reports for September, completed the mission history report for September, and made sure President Podvodov had received his emailed reports.

Joe looked over audits, processed utilities and remodel payments, filed rent receipts, made phone call to missionaries about financial stuff, reconciled bank transactions for his mission card, compiled payment batch report for president Podvodov to approve, updated and posted daily exchange rate, and helped a few missionaries in regards to their finances.

We were about to leave the office at 5 and go to the store, however, all the missionaries just finished up their training for the day and starting coming into the office for various things needed. Several needed to give Elder Luna money and others needed supplies. So we had a fun time visiting with them and left the office at 6 p.m. We decided not to take the hour round trip walk to the Okeи, but walked a round trip 40 minute walk to a store close by and bought less items. We'll probably go Wednesday for the big shopping day. Joe just took the backpack instead of our carts to carry the food home.

TUESDAY
Quiet day all in all. Joe and I had a great study time this morning on D&C Section 25 regarding Emma Smith being an "elect lady." The institute manual for the Doctrine and Covenants had some great additional insights regarding women. I especially love the messages that were given from the Relief Society broadcast the end of September, particularly from President Thomas S. Monson. For those of you who may not know, you can go to www.lds.org and read, watch, or listen to this and the General Conference broadcast that was given last weekend.

We FINALLY received the English July issue of the Liahona and the English copies of the April General Conference today! They have been in Salt Lake because of some new rulings of English matter being received here in Russia, therefore, causing SL to hold shipping them. From what we were told the government wanted to make sure nothing "dangerous" would come into the country.

WEDNESDAY: Our daughter Mindy Skyped us this morning from Mitch and Tamy's house. She is so happy that Mitch and Tamy has invited her and the girls to come to the house to use their computer to connect with us. Mindy expressed such a deep love and respect to both of us and read a poem she wrote in regards to how she feels about us. It was very very nice. Mindy has gone through a lot of trials in her life and it was absolutely wonderful to see how much she is growing towards her personal happiness. We are grateful that the kids are staying close and seemingly helping each other. And, also, making choices to help themselves. We are also grateful to see their personal growth. We love them all so much and respect their decisions in their individual lives.

When we arrived at the office I checked email and noticed an email from Sister Rodriquez who will be arriving here at the mission in November. She was responding to one I had emailed regarding items to get while in the MTC before coming here. She emailed back and in the post script said she met our nephew Ty in the MTC! He is going to Chile, Santiago.

Peggy Armijo (one of our friends from our home ward) had emailed us as well to let us know that in one of our journals she read that we are serving with John and Karen Hazlewood (our Humanitarian couple) and that she was friends with them when she lived in New Mexico. Karen was really excited to know we were friends with Peggy as well because they used to serve together in their ward.

We also found out this week that a dear sister (Gulnaz) who we have become close to is engaged to a man in Oregon who's sister is married to a son of a very close friend of Joe's (who introduced him into the Church and Joe worked with at Exxon in California). Gulnaz and Jonathan are waiting for approval papers for her to travel to the U.S. for them to be married.

I also remember that Barbara Brainard had written to us last summer that her son, who lives in Arizona, said a couple just returned to his ward that served in St. Petersburg. It so happened they were the office couple that we had replaced (Wendall and Mary Herr). Such a small world in the Church.

We left the office a little after 5 and went home to get our shopping carts to walk the hour round trip to the Okeи. We save more money shopping there than the little stores around our apartment building.

Two elders (Haggard and Anthony) came over to our apartment around 8 p.m. and gave such a powerful message. They are among the other zone and district leaders receiving special training this week. They expounded on the Savior's visit to the people living on the American continent after his death (during the 3 days he laid in the tomb - 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon, chapter 11 versus 10-17). They had asked us put ourselves there with the people and try to feel how they must have felt after the earthquakes and mass destruction that had been prophesied would happen at Christ's death and how we think we would have felt seeing Jesus Christ, and feel the nail prints in the palm of his hands and feet. And praising Him with the others as it reads in verse 17: "Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus and did worship Him."

We all felt such a powerful feeling of God's spirit with us while discussing how we would have felt then and especially how we feel now of our relationship with Him and the incomprehensible joy in seeing Him at His second coming. The Elders closed their spiritual thought with telling us that when we pray tonight to ask God a specific question and wait for the answer (which we know will come in the Lord's timing), thereby, gaining further testimony of the divinity of God and knowing how He knows us individually and answers prayers.


THURSDAY: It wasn't too busy in the office today, so I indexed more census records and Joe continued on with his financial responsibilities. He continues to say that he is amazed he can stay on top of it all and not feel overwhelmed or stressed, but knows it's because he continues to receive guidance from the Lord.

A side note about working in the mission office - EVERYONE is always so positive and happy. It's just the greatest environment to be at everyday. When we don't have too much to do we enjoy just opening our scriptures and reading at our desk or watching great spiritual broadcasts on one of the many church websites. And we especially enjoy stopping whatever we're doing to talk to any of the missionaries that come into the office and give our undivided attention to.

FRIDAY: We left the apartment a little before 9 to catch the metro to the clinic where I get a massage. The massage therapist put me in PAIN today! She found sore muscles I didn't know I had! Feel much better though. I was ready to go straight home afterwards and take a nap, but Joe and I walked about 20 minutes to meet up with Elder White and Elder Hill. Elder Hill arrived at the mission a few months ago and his father is the mission president in Slovenia. Because Elder Hill's parents were busy in their own mission they didn't have time to buy winter clothes for him. So we purchased a couple coats for him (one for in between seasons and one for just winter), a hat and he will find a scarf and wool socks on his own. His parents are very grateful for our help and are finding a way to reimburse us from Slovenia.

We shopped just off Nevsky Prospekt at a place everyone calls the Rinik. It is a huge outdoor market in which we always get lost in and it takes a while to find our way out. But there are so many tiny shops winding every which way that has about everything you would need. Many shops are run by people that are not Russian - I'm not sure what nationality, but I would guess Armenian. Elder White needed a coat as well, so when we went to pay for Elder Hill's coat Elder White had dickered down both coats by 3,000 rubles. So we saved a little over 1,000 rubles on the one coat.

Three other missionary companionships met up with us and because we were finished helping Elder Hill, we shook hands and said our hellos and goodbyes and headed for home. We still needed to stop at a store and pick up fruit we're contributing for Sunday's general conference, eat lunch, and check in at the office. (All three senior couples are bringing some food Sunday so the missionaries have something to eat between conferences.)

We made our purchases and, of course, purchased more than our back pack could hold but fortunately we had a shoulder bag and a plastic handled bag stuffed inside the backpack so Joe loaded up the two bags and I carried the plastic one. Joe must have been carrying around at least 20 pounds of groceries! It's certainly a sacrifice and a necessary one to avoid having to take a couple bus transfers and walk an hour to and from the store to buy major groceries. On the way home on the bus there was an elderly woman dressed poorly and wearing two right shoes. They looked too big for her feet as well. It always saddens us when we see such poor elderly people - many living on the streets.

We arrived at the office at 3:30 and took care of a few things before going home and getting some rest. I woke up at 3 a.m. because I couldn't stop coughing and decided to just stay up. Unfortunately, Joe couldn't really get back to sleep either so we're both very sleepy.

We fortunately, had no plans for the weekend other than walking the 30 feet or so between our apartment building and the church building to watch General Conference.

SATURDAY:
We enjoyed the special messages given by the general authorities of the Church and being in a room full of other missionaries. Those who watch General Conference in English watch a taped version of it in the Relief Society room and the Russian members watch the taped version in the Chapel. After the Saturday session was over Joe and I came home and had dinner. We walked 15 minutes to the corner florist and bought flowers for the Podvodov’s daughter who was released from her mission in Kiev to come home to have surgery. We’re not sure all the details yet. She will return to her mission after her recovery.

The rest of the evening we caught up on writing and talking with Joe’s sister and mom on Skype. Joe also spent time preparing food for Sunday’s lunch.. We’re providing a meal for the other 2 senior couples during the conference. He is making a pot of beans and fajitas. He has become the master of beans; especially when he adds a ham hock. Yum, yum!

SUNDAY:
The missionaries that were able to come into the city to watch conference were so appreciative of the food that was provided. A couple of them (Elder Punderson and Elder McCleary) had quite the time creating food art.
After the morning session of General Conference we had the Hazlewoods and McArthur’s over for lunch. They said the food was scrumptious. We then returned for the afternoon session and Sister Hazlewood and I came back to the apartment and cleaned up the dishes while the husbands attended Priesthood session. (Sister McArthur stayed at church to assist the sisters with some missionary work.)

Today’s talks were so great! All the talks have been so inspirational. We’ve learned so much from all the conference talks such as parenting, forgiveness, trust, joy, avoiding temptations, and so much more. All the talks are available at www.lds.org.

Joe got home about 6:45 p.m. and we begun cooking for our district. Tomorrow is the last district meeting with this group of missionaries because transfers are this Wednesday. We always

cook a lunch and dessert for the last meeting. We made lasagna

and I had baked some banana nut bread earlier in the week which we’ll take for the dessert.
We finished up about 10 p.m. Very long weekend, but very rewarding. This coming week will be busy with missionaries coming and going. We just cannot believe how quickly 6 weeks go by before the next transfer day.

JEANIE'S THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:
Although it's a bit frustrating at times to miss a large portion of sacrament meeting because of the translation from Russia to English, being here has been the best spiritual experience in my life, thus far. I also appreciate the opportunity the Lord has given us to live in Europe and experience the different culture and lifestyles of people here. I never had any idea how different lifestyles can be. And I do appreciate America all the more. But regardless where we are in the world, you can walk into any of the wards or branches of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the structure and messages will be the same (even if in different languages).


JOE’S THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:
We are truly grateful for our association with a royal generation of young men and women that are serving the Lord faithfully and willingly in the Russia St. Petersburg Mission. The native missionaries are particularly marvelous. Most missionaries from the States have spent all their life in the church many being born under the temple covenant. Their parents should be congratulated for the fine young men and women they have raised. The same can not be said of the native missionaries. So few have been raised in the church by parents that accepted the gospel in the late 1980s. These parents should also be congratulated, However many of the native missionaries have less then five years membership and some of them are the only members in their families. They are encouraged and supported by their personal testimonies of the gospel and their companions. There are no letters or packages from home. A couple of the fortunate ones still get letters from the missionaries that taught them the gospel, companions from the MTC, or in one case a senior couple that served in the mission she is from. All of these wonderful missionaries are all sustained and guided by each of the members of the God Head. I would be remiss if I did not give credit to an American stake president that writes regularly to one of the missionaries serving here. She jokingly says she gets more letters from him then from her own family.

Puskin Tour with the McArthur's - October 2, 2010

Below are more pictures of the surrounding area of Catherine's Palace in Puskin. We went with the McArthur's. We have been to Catherine's Palace twice but we had been driven their with other visiting church dignitaries. Today we went on our first train ride. We took the underground metro to the end of one of the lines that takes you to one of the trains that travel outside the city.
When Joe and I got off the metro it was very confusing trying to find the exit. We walked through doors saying they were exits only to find ourselves in another corridor. After about 1/2 hour walking up and down stairs, walking up and down several corridors, Elder McArthur called my cellphone and asked where we were. We told him were lost underground. They were on top of the metro at the train ticket window. Well, we knew then there was a way out. Using my Russian dictionary I asked for directions and through a few words we knew and sign language we followed the direction given. It wasn't where we were trying to go. Needless to say, after getting very frustrated we finally say a sign that I figured was to the train and it was! We got to the top and into the ticket station and saw the McArthur's at the front doors looking outside waiting for us. We came up behind them and said "We've come from the depths of hell and we prevailed!" We all laughed.
After paying rubles to the equivilant of $3 U.S. we walked to the train platform to wait for the train. The benches and whole area reminded me of WWII movies where passengers are waiting to be loaded on the trains. The train interior was a bit old and the seats comprised of vinyl covered benches with backs in two rows. As I look at young children riding the trains and subways I think that this is their way of life, while for us, it's all new.
Below are pictures and history of Pushkin and the palace. They were in a museum we toured. It was a great day seeing inside the palace again but not as spectacular as last fall when we toured it the first time. The museum and history were very facinating though. We really enjoyed that.
I tried to take pictures of the description cards and history posters throughout the tour so just click on them to enlarge them.
Enjoy your tour ...
This first picture is capturing the beautiful fall color of the trees

This was a cute little wooden trike a couple of kids were pushing around on through the gardens with their parents.

Another tourist looking down one of the canals

Drawing of what the palace looked like in the early years

These next four posters give the description of the history of this area and palace.

The clothing you'll see are what the various guards wore depending on their rank and status.

One of Queen Catherine's gowns

Weapons

Never saw a split sword before

Winter coat

Alexander the Great's Palace. Still under renovation construction

Last fall we couldn't even come in through the gates because the palace was in such disrepair. This palace is about a 10 minute walk from Catherine's palace.