Karen's letter to everyone.

Wednesday, August 1st, 2012

Well, we finally got our e-mail set up and ready. Wow what a process, but hooray!!! it works, now we need to get our telephone hooked up and we will be in business.
> This E-mail will be a long one because so much has happened, so I don't expect everyone on this email list to read it if you don't want to. Frank can email a months worth of information and take less space than i am going to take after being here one week. But you know how women are, we love the details.
> The NTC was awesome, we were living right with the missionaries in a hall opposite the bookstore and the mailroom. We saw them coming and going, they are so handsome, polite and excited when they get letters and packages.
> The sitting wasn't as bad as I thought it would be because they gave us lots of breaks, but this saying is sort of true "It's not about enduring to the end, it is about your end enduring." We loved singing with the missionaries, called to serve, what thrill. It was also fun running into Chase Noel, Franks great Nephew from time to time, what a guy, he is going to make a great missionary.
>
> For us the trip from JFK to Russia was amazing. I have never been on such a huge plane. We were sort of in the center of the plane with everyone around us speaking Russian. There were even little children crying in Russian, that we understood. We met a young man on the plane who is a cattle breeder from Idaho. His Russian associates ask him to wear a cowboy hat when he arrived and they would treat him well at the airport. The funny thing is that he had to buy a new hat for the trip because he doesn't wear cowboy hats, he wears baseball caps.
> We were on the flight for sometime when we got hungry, we didn't know if they would feed us but I had packed a lunch for each of us the night before, with two sandwiches in each bag. I reached in my bag to find it and it was gone. I felt so sad, it much have fallen on the floor of the first flight. Well, Frank shared his, I still had carrots and red peppers, so we were fine. No sooner had we finished our food, when we were served our dinner. I'm still glad that I had my own food. By the time we get to our mission we will have crossed 13 time zones. I don't think jet lad is the proper term for how we felt, it was more like "time warp." I fell asleep just as the horizon was getting dusk, thinking that it was night time. I slept for about 90 minutes, when I work up I pulled up the wi mannoply ndow shutter, and we were in bright sunlight. I started to laugh, I asked Frank how long I had slept, he affirmed, about 90 minutes, I said, how can it be a bright sunny day in 90 minutes, he said, "I don't know where we are, or what time it is." For those of you who travel a lot you know what I am talking about, for Frank and I it was quite the experience. That day was actually the longest day of our lives, and yet we lost a day.
> After we landed we were alone, not a soul did we know. Everything was Russian, and everyone was Russian. We muddled through the steps of getting our luggage and finding a way out, then Oh my Gosh we were met by Elder and Sister Naegles. We were so happy to see and speak English with them. First they took us to get new passports, that was interesting. Then they took us on the Metro and sightseeing, to Red Square, wow, what a lot to take in. One Russian on the Metro looked at the four of us, with our badges on, just like that Lieutenant on Hogans Heroes. I had a hard time keeping a straight face. We rode the subway which is in it's self a beautiful work of art. The tunnels are lighted like day light with beautiful tiled walls and statues on every column. We were tired, but we were so happy that we were able to see what we saw. The Naegles then took us to their apartment where we showered and napped. We woke up to a delicious stir fry dinner which we ate with them and the missionaries. After dinner we met our driver, Vasily, who the church hires to get the missionaries around. The traffic and driving habits are a lot like those in Puerto Rico or Mexico, hold on to your hat because it is a like a Lagoon Dodgem ride. Moscow has a population of 11 million, and there are tons of cars.
> We arrived in Novosibirsk at 5:30 in the morning, and were met by President Gibbons. We were put up in a motel near the mission office, it was very nice. We were given breakfast in our room, and then we slept from about 9:30 am until 3:00pm. We felt so much better. We were interviewed by President Gibbons, a great man. We met Elder Probst from Midway Utah, we are somehow related, what a start kid, he will actually be coming to our mission soon. That night we ate at the mission home, it is beautiful and the meal was simple, yet special. We stayed Novosibirsk until Friday. We met a couple from Colorado who own a cattle ranch with their children. He carries a lasso in his pant pocket and a picture of him on horse in his shirt pocket. He has got more stories to tell, and they are all jaw droppers. He will sit down on buss stop benches, (he speaks no Russian) and pull out his pictures and people will laugh and talk and point and they end up hugging him and he ends up giving them english group information so they can come and learn English for free. Sometimes he will be standing waiting for a buss and to kill time he will start to lasso a garbage can or some thing around him. People just laugh and come over and start talking to him. He smiles and shakes their hands, somehow he communicates his spirit with them. I asked sister Huffaker about shopping. I wanted to know it is was difficult, with the money and all. She said "no, I call it monopoly money, I just spend it, I don't have any connection what so ever with it."
> On Friday JUly 27 we boarded the plane for Krasnoyarsk. It was a small airport and we were on a small plane. Somehow we got through all of the check out points without anyone catching us with two pieces of carry on luggage, the same two that we had had from the beginning. But as we boarded the buss, yes buss, to be taken to the plane, we realized that we were the only ones with carry one luggage. We were the last ones to board the plane and as we were about to climb up the stairs, yes climb up the stairs, a big man with a big voice yelled, net, net, net !!! We knew that that meant no no no The little gal standing by us began to yet back at him, but he shook his hands indicating that we were not getting on that plane. We finally realized that it was our luggage that he didn't like. The little gal got on her walkie talkie and was yelling in it. Then there was some women yelling back through the walkie talkie. Pretty soon there was a women coming from the main building toward us. We thought OK we are not getting on this plane. She came up to our luggage with some sticky papers and began to tag our luggage. The big man began to yell again, net, net, net. Then she looked up at him and yelled back at him. She was so angry that I thought she would explode. Pretty soon we saw the bus coming back to pick us up. We thought of sure that we were done for. We loaded onto the bus with our luggage and were taken back to the original girl who had checked us in. The angry lady began yelling at this cute little girl, telling her check our luggage she even pointed at her shoes and yelled some more, maybe because they had really high heels on them. The young girl looked so sad, she did what she was told, we paid more money, and then followed her through the check points. We got back on the bus and were taken to the plane again. Everyone on the plane looked at us with disgust except one man, and he smiled at us and shrugged his shoulders like welcome to Russia.
> We were picked up from the airport by missionaries men and women. They acted excited to see us, and we were excited to see them. We were driven to our apartment building, I have to say I have never seen a building look this bad and yet I was not scared or sad, just sort of "whatever." The missionaries had the key to open the main compound lock. When the door opened it was dark cement, dark stairs, and a smell that I have never smelled before. Not really bad, just old and creepy. We all walked up the four flights of stairs, and there was another door with a cute sign on it, and hand made flowers that said welcome Elder and Sister Noel, in Russian. This door was made of metal and had several bolts that shoot out into the casing when you lock it, sort of like what you would see in a prison I suppose. They unlocked that door but there was another door to unlock just inches from the metal door. As we entered the apartment it was clean and old. Everything is old, but ok. The young adults had decorated it with balloons and signs. The sister missionaries had cleaned the entire apartment for us. We actually sat down with all of the missionaries in this district and had our district meeting. We didn't have to do anything but sit there. All of a sudden I hear a bell ringing, a missionary gets up and goes to a little gadget hanging by the door. He says something in Russian and then he unlocks our door. Magically a young man is there with pizza from Pa Pa Jons. Who would have thought? We were all hungry and so after the meeting we all ate pizza After they left, we began to put our stuff
> away. As I was touching door casing and cupboards, It just didn't feel right, so I got my Lysol going and began to wipe everything down that was within my reaching range. I felt better after that. We slept well that night.
> The Next day was Saturday and I had planned to cook beans all day, but I needed to boil for the beans because our water filter system is broken. We tried for two hours to get water to boil, but no luck. Only two of our three hot plates work, and the third one doesn't work that well. So no beans today. The sisters had stocked our fridge with eggs, yogurt, bread, cheese and orange juice. Had had granola that I brought with me, so we were fine for breakfast.
> After breakfast the Elders came to take us on a tour, find stores, and get acquainted with our neighborhood. Frank bought me an exercise ball, and then we took the elders to Lunch at KFC. The funny things about KFC is that right after it opened people were getting food poisoning so the company changed the name and now everyone goes there. You still see the Logo on the sign, but it has a different name. Frank couldn't eat his Kabob because the chicken wasn't done, so no more KFC for us.
> AMAZING EXPERIENCE….After lunch the elders came back to our apartment to get ready for a visit with Larisa and her daughter Yalana. Larisa is a member, but less active. We boarded the bus and rode for some distance away from the city. As we approached the house I couldn't believe my eyes. The home was a single little cottage, looked like it was right out of a movie. We were led into a small little living room with a single light bulb. We sat down on the bed and
 the elders sat on stools and we took up every bit of space left in that room. Our knees almost touched. But we seemed to bond instantly.  I felt love for them. I felt their love for me. I couldn't believe how happy they were. Very jovial and clean. I really can't explain how it works but it does. After the Elders finished I was really getting claustrophobic and couldn't wait to get outside.  As we exited the house we were shown two horses. They were so cute, one had bangs, I had to take pictures of him. Yalana brought a bag about the size of a gunny sack out and began pull out the greenest grass I have ever seen. It was filled with purple flowers. It was like magical grass because everything there at her house was dark, dirty, and grey, and then there was this life, this green beautiful grass that made us all happy to see. As the horses were munching on the grass, Larisa said, oh, do you want to see our new goat? Of course we did, we looked through a crack i the wooden wall, and there was a goat, but now just any goat. This goat was hugh, he also looked like a faith tale creature. Maybe out of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. He looked at me with his big eyes, he quit chewing as if to say, it is very nice to meet you. He had big horns, a long long beard and a very distinguished look on his face. I cab't wait to see him again.
> After we left, I asked the missionaries where in the world would she get grass like that. They told us that early each morning she takes her bags and her scythe on the bus to the island. The island is down in the river bed where the grass grows. She cuts enough for the day and then hauls it all back by herself. She is a little bit of a thing, probably weighs about 90 pounds. To store food for the winter she goes more often and then dries it. I don't know how it all happens but it is pretty amazing. Frank was saying how dependent those animals are on her, and how much she loves them, like President Hinckley says, we need something to love, and someone to serve.
> The missionaries ask them if they needed some help that day and they did need water, so we all grabbed some water jugs. They held about four gallons of water each. We walked about one block and magically again there was a pressurized well. We filled our jugs and walked back. I don't know if it was for them and the animals, but we think it was.
> We said our goodbyes, I hugged Larisa (the mom)and she grabbed on to me and buried her head in my chest. We took pictures of them. I just wanted to take them with me and then I remembered Alma 26:37 the scripture that Frank and I chose as our mission scripture, it was coming true before my very eyes. I will always treasure this experience.
> Sunday July 29th we got up and got ready for our first set of meetings. I fried my curling iron, I had it on the wrong voltage, but luckily Sister Aleman had left another one. We were welcomed so warmly, it felt good to be there. We were ask to bear our testimonies, so we did. Me with my kindergarten testimony and Frank with his high school testimony. They were smiling in the audience, and very impressed that we could already do it. They came up and hugged us and shook our hands as we tried to communicate. Then one large man came up and spoke english, it was so nice. Come to find out he had met his Russian wife while on his mission, he and his family were there for two weeks visiting her mother. He happened to be Kathy Alders nephew, his name is Brother Willardson, so Kathy it is a small world when you are a mormon right? He is such a cool guy, with such a darling family.
> ANOTHER AMAZING EXPERIENCE: Elder Jensen ask us if we wanted to go with them to give the sacrament to an elderly lady. We of course did, so after church we got on the bus and went back near where we live. We entered this building, not as scary on the outside as ours, but scarier than ours on the inside. We had to get in a elevator that only four people could possibly fit into. It was, I'm sure as old as any elevator could ever be. We creaked our way up to her floor and thankfully it opened. The Elders rang the door bell and door popped open. We took off our shoes, as everyone does everywhere, and walked inside. It had a pleasant smell, and was very well taken care of.
> As we turned the corner we saw a 94 year old woman sitting on an old daybed. IT was covered with a tapestry, as was the wall behind it, and the wall behind me. There were pictures of temples placed in an arch over her desk, and a large LDS picture of Christ over the bed. She had white hair pulled back in a bob. Her face had a lot of moles and character wrinkles. She has her own teeth, amazing. She had on a black dress with some slippers. She shook our hands and then we began to visit. The missionaries introduced us to her. Frank said a couple of things and then she began to jabber thinking that he spoke Russian ( By the way we were told that if we were ever stopped by a Russian policeman to always play dumb because they end up letting you go on your way) she soon found out that he was a beginner. We found out that her mom and dad were sent from Poland to Siberia and in those days she said that there was nothing here, not a store, or place to stay. They made it . Her husband was a doctor and she worked with medicines. She said that there was no way that they could live on one income.
> The Elders got ready to bless the sacrament. She had already prepared the bread and water. It was a small piece of white bread on a cute little saucer. The water was in a tiny glass. She had the bread and water covered with a white linen cloth. She put down a special rug with a special pillow for them to kneel on and then they blessed the emblems. The spirit was so powerful that I began to cry, and now that I am typing this I am clouding up just thinking about it. Again Alma 26:37 came to my mind and I knew that Heavenly Father knows this lady, and loves her. She has been a member for 17 years, with a current recommend, and has never been to a temple. Elder Jensen sat on a small stool and looked right at her when he spoke to her. He spoke slowly and distinctly to her, and she just kept her eyes on him. What a fine young man to know, at such a young age, how to work with such an old person who is hard of hearing
> and visually impaired. What a blessing to be a young missionary and get these kinds of experiences. How amazing it is to think that they go all over the world and they all have life changing experiences.
> Before we left she went into her kitchen and brought back four china mugs. She then brought some cookies, and a bottle of dark juice, You could tell that she had made it. Frank said afterwards, that he was thinking, oh no, I'm dead, this is probably not filtered water. The scary thing about the juice is that it had chunks of something in the bottom of it. It looked to me like mushrooms. The Elders poured the juice and told us that we would like it. It is made with apples and sugar and other fruit. She makes it and then keeps it in her fridge until it cures. They were right, we really liked it, but Monday Frank had the GOMBOO!!
> Well, Today is Tuesday, and i don't have anymore time to tell you about Monday night Family night that we had at our apartment with the young single adults. But, I can do that another day. Sister Noel