Karen's Third Letter: Sept. 12, 2012

        Well, here we are half way through September and things are really picking up.  There are so many changes in the mission since our conference in Novosibirsk.  The Elders and sisters are working so hard to try to get a stake here in Krasnoyarsk.  We don't know how long it will take because it depends on the members and how hard they work. One thing that we do know is that no effort is wasted.  Every effort that we give the Lord will be used  in his way and in his time. President Gibbons said that the dark clouds that once covered Russia will be become a bright rainbow of light.  

        Elder Guchin (Gooshin) who lives in Novosibirsk was made a seventy less than a year ago.  One extremely cold day he and his wife needed food for their family.  They knew that the weather was dangerously cold, but had to go out anyway.  While they were walking to the store they noticed that the only two people outside, besides themselves were two young men.  They struck up a conversation with them, and now he is a "70" in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. 

         We also heard the District President bear his testimony and say that one day his mother was in the stairwell of their apartment building trying to get some boxes into her apartment.  Two young men stopped and ask if they could help.  She let them, and their family became members.  He is the District President and what a great testimony he has. We are so inspired as we watch the missionaries in our area, as they do all over the world, work their magic. It is spectacular to witness, as these young men visit with people on the street, in the bus, in stores, in alleys, in the grocery store, or just walking down the street. We are so blessed to be here to see it all happen.

        We have our own little program going on  with a man who is always standing between the bakery and the dairy store that we frequent.  He always has a nice haircut, and really doesn't look too bad.  Frank began giving him some rubles each time we would go by. We felt so sad for him because he is always alone, and always staring out into space.  He obviously doesn't have a job, or friends, he just stands there day after day.   For some time he would act like he really didn't need money, and yet he would smile and take it. He tried to carry on a conversation with us, pointing at our badges and wanting to know who we are.  Two days ago we decided to give him a pamphlet with a picture of Jesus on the front and an address to our building on it.  We gave it to him and he seemed interested, but then when he turned it over there was no address.  We told him in sign language that we would get him the address, so we walked away and called the Elders and got the address for him.  We went back but he was gone.  Later that evening we went for a walk with a new pamphlet for him.  As we turned the corner there he was, but there was also a man with a dog yelling at him, and a policeman between the two.  On the ground was a coat, and a dinner roll.  I walked passed to the other side of him and could see that he had been handcuffed to the down spout.  Dad could not see that, so he walked up to the man and tried to give him the pamphlet.  He just looked at the pamphlet and stared at it, dad put it back into his pocket, and we walked away.  | told dad that he was handcuffed to the down spout, dad's eyes got so  big as he  said "Holly Cow, I just about got in the middle of something!"  We were laughing because dad had no idea that the man was even apart of the whole mess.  I saw the policeman scowl at dad as he tried to give him the pamphlet, he didn't look too happy.  I guess that is why we have to carry our license with us at all times, we could have been stopped, and if the police ask you for your passport you only give them the copy you have in your bag, not the real one.  This is because they can take it from you and then you might have a real problem getting it back. Anyway we felt so sorry for him and hoped and prayed that he wouldn't end up in jail.  Then today, we saw him again and he was happy to see us.  We called the missionaries and they came and talked to him.  He had alcohol on his breath, so he probably has a drinking problem like a lot of men in Russia. 

SHOES, SHOES, SHOES,and BOOTS

        As soon as we got out and about in Russia, we could see that Russian's like their shoes. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of shoe stores.  I love looking at women's feet as they walk down the street.  You always hear the clipity, clipily, as the spikes resonate on the stone sidewalks.  I am amazed that they don't slip and slide.  The women ages 16 to probably 55 wear 6 to 7inch heels.  They have beautiful legs with all kinds of nylons.  From very sheer, to mesh and designer styles.  They even have the nylons with the black lines down the back.  The shoes are so feminine, flowers, stones, bows, curves, chains, rivets,  the list goes on and on. The designers here really think outside of the box.  I think if you can think it, you can find it here.  Now they are putting out the boots.  They are every bit as beautiful and there are just as many varieties.  My boots of course are very warm and very plain, and very safe, I am not here to up the fashion in shoes or boots.  I go for comfort.

  

        The first day of school here was fun.  We learned that September 1st in Russia is a celebration about school. There are carnivals, picnics, shopping, food, and music. In some areas the children take flowers to their teachers, here we saw one dad carrying a plant while walking with his daughter.  The little girls get dressed up in their best clothes and wear huge white bows in their hair. (check our blog for pictues) As we were out walking on Sept. 1st we saw several girls with these bows.  We ask the missionaries and they told us about the holiday.  I told dad that we had to get out early on the first Monday in Sept. so that we could see the kids going to school.  Sure enough we saw them coming and followed a mother, grandmother, and the little girl so that we could see where the school was and get a picture of a girl with a bow in her hair.  The young boys looked pretty handsome also, suits,white shirts ties, vests, and hats.  We noticed in the department store, tons of white shirts, suits, slacks, and shinny shoes.  School is special here.  I can't wait to see them in the late spring when school is about to end and see how they look then.  We are so happy that Mason, Daniel, and Nathan all started Kindergarten this week.  Wow you three are so big now, what fun you will have.  

        The Landlady dropped by with a bag of stuff to fix the oven door . She told us that she had been away picking mushrooms, which is really big here.  While picking she got bit by a snake and was down for about five days.   As she dumped out her bag on the  counter  I thought, how in the world is she going to fix it with, glue, chains, a strap, clamps, and screws with hooks on the ends of them.  She got down on her hands and knees and proceeded to show dad her plan.  The best we could tell, she wanted to glue the strap to the front on the oven door, then attach the chain to the strap and pull it around the corner so that the chain could fit into the hook that was screwed into the side of the cabinet.  One big problem, dad brought to her attention was when she screws  the hooks into the side of the cabinet, they will be stopped by the metal oven.  You could tell that she was frustrated so Frank told her that he would do the job for her and not to worry about it. The next day we went to the store and bought a bungee cord.  Dad came home and hooked it to the handle brought it around the side and the attached it to a hook that he screwed into and underneath the counter.  It took about 5 minutes and it works great.  We have laughed about it, but it made us feel good that we are friends now and she really did want to fix the oven for us.  

        Dad was sustained as Young Men's President.(his favorite calling is working with the youth) He is actually training his counselor to become the president, but his counselor doesn't know it.  There are three young men and one of them is turning 18 in a week, so that leaves two.  Dad asked me for ideas for activities, couldn't really come up with much.  He looked at me and said, "Well one thing I know, the activities are really going to have to be something to get a 13, and a 16 year old to want to come out and hang around with a 69 year old man."  So far we've been out of town, so we'll see how it goes. One interesting side note to this, is that the 13 year old began to sit next to dad about three weeks before Dad was even called.  After he passes the sacrament, he comes and sits by him.  He is a really good looking nice young man, I know that he must have felt dad's spirit, he is so kind. 

        There is a young single adult named Galia who is so sweet.  She came up to me after sacrament meeting about three weeks ago and began to ask me questions about the nursery.  She speaks pretty good English so that is nice.  I could tell that she was sad and needed some help so I ask, " would you like me to come and help you?"  Then she just lit up and said, "When I first saw you, I knew you would help me."  I felt so warm inside because in my heart that is where I wanted to be, but of course I had to be asked, and God knew that he could teach me Russian if he put me in with the three year old's.  Isn't it amazing that we are just  put here to do whatever we can and the Lord makes it all happen.  So I am having a great time with the children and I think they really like the fact that I don't talk, it makes one less boss for them. One night I decided to make some play dough for the kids.  I had all of the ingredients but the food coloring.  I thought why not use beet juice, so I did and WOW hot pink play dough.  I don't know who liked it the most, the kids or the parents.

       Elders Howard and Rubow are both from North Carolina, they are teamed up together and have a great time.  They ask us to go with them to visit some member ladies.  We really don't know the ladies, but one of them is the "Chi" or tea lady.  She likes to have people over for tea.  But we didn't know that until we actually reached her apartment.  We had a really difficult time finding the address because Elder Howard got the bus stop name mixed up with  the street name.  When we entered her cute LITTLE apartment we could smell food.  It was late afternoon and we were all hungry, but we had no idea that she was cooking dinner for us.  Elder Howard is the Eater of all Eaters, so I was a bit worried about there being enough for him.  We soon found out that there were two other sisters from our branch there.  It is Galina's apartment, with her two friends Lubof and Staphonia. Lubof means love. 

          They had this little square table set with saucers, tea cups, utensils, small napkins (their napkins here are about 4x4) and glasses for juice, (they have delicious juice here).  We sat down and after the prayer Galina began to bring out food.  She has a really bad limp and uses a cane.  She had cooked 7 chicken legs, and a bowl of potatoes and homemade stuffed pizza.   There was a small saucer with sliced tomatoes, and cucumbers on it.  Another small saucer had sliced meats, (they have so many different shapes and kinds of ready to eat meats here) and cheese on it.  Each person was given two small slices of white bread, very dry and course.  We began to share the food, it was all delicious.  I could tell that she had had a whole day of cooking.  We saved our bread for Elder Howard, and dad and I didn't eat any of the meat.  Elder Howard just kept eating pieces of bread with cheese, meat, and cucumbers and tomatoes on top. After the main course she brought in a bowl with 7 small peaches in it, herbal tea, small decorated cakes, and a large bowl of  candy which she sat right in the middle of the table.   As he ate, we asked questions and he would interpret for us.  We found out that Galina had a son that lived with her who she called an invalid, we don't know what is wrong with him. We later found out that over here the word for handicap is invalid.  She had two children and two grandchildren, she must be close to 80 years old but over here 80 looks like 90.  Lubof is very pretty, probably around 55.  She takes care of her two grandchildren because her daughter left them and never came back.  She has such a good attitude, saying, I always wanted four children and now I have four.  Staphonia is also older, probably 75 or so, I sat next to her and when she spoke she would use her hands in all kinds of gestures.  She is so expressive, I loved watching her.  She was brought over to Siberia with her family.  They came in a wagon with police escorts as some kind of punishment.  She said there was nothing here, their family had to work to stay alive.  When they found out how many children and grandchildren we have they were so amazed.  Lubof told us that having two children is a large family here.  Years ago, trying to feed and take care of two children was very difficult.  You could tell that they would have had more if things were different here.  Even today you seldom see a family with more that two children unless they are Mormons. 

        After dinner we were getting ready to leave and so I helped clear off the table.  When I entered the kitchen I was amazed to see that it was about a 6x6 room.  The counter top was wooden and was warped and deteriorating. The floor was warped also with worn linoleum.  But, the thing about all of these apartments that just makes it a home to me, are the curtains.  Everyone has the most beautiful lace curtains.  I just can't tell you how wonderful it is, it just warms my soul. After we left and began to walk down several flights of stairs I thought to myself, how in the world does Galina get to church on Sunday?  I hope she gets a ride, but still going down 5 fights of stairs and then up again, proves she has a strong testimony.  She's there every week. 

        THE SIBERIAN RAILROAD.  On September 5th we began our first trip on the Siberian Train.  We were able to walk with our suitcases to the train station as it is only a few blocks from our apartment.  It was 8:30 at night so there wan't much traffic.  As soon as we got there and found our car we boarded and were taken to our kupe.  Two twin benches  with  a table in between.  On the table was a tea set with two twix candy bars, and four other candies (Russians love their candy). 

        

        A waitress came by and ask us what we wanted for breakfast.  We know what eggs and bread are in Russian so that is what we ordered.  The departure time was 9:31, and at exactly 9:31 the music began to play and the train began to roll.  It was so fun, just like in the movies, but we were actually there experiencing it.  We watched a movie on dad's Ipad, Singing In The Rain, and then fell asleep lulled by the rhythm of the clickity clack. During the night the train would stop from time to time, and I would wake up, but the stopping and starting was so gentle it never did jerk or bump.  I awoke about 7:00am looked out the window and saw forest after forest of beautiful birch trees with little towns peppered though out  the vast landscape.  Many villages of "datchas" where city people go to grow their gardens.  Years ago the government gave them land to farm on.  The datchas have no running water, but there are wells nearby.  Some of them are very colorful and cute, bright blues and yellows, with the cutest little painted fences around them.  Others look like a strong wind would blow them away.  As I looked closely I could see huge cabbages still in the ground, I'm sure that their size will present a problem when they are harvested and hauled to the city for sale.  

       We learned that eggs are not the thing to order in Russia, they don't REALLY cook them, we ate the outside edges and some of the different meats on top and called it good.  

        After we arrived we were picked up by Elder Guchin and the office missionaries. We were  taken to our hotel, which is right by the mission office.  It is a wonderful hotel, the same one we stayed in when we first arrived in Russia.  We had a great time visiting with Elder and Sister Webb from Washington state.  They are super people, so much fun to be with. Dad took four elders to lunch at KFC, they were loving that.   The next day was Zone Conference so we got to see all of these handsome missionaries and darling Sister missionaries. One of the quotes from the conference that I love is from Elder Scott, "We become what we want to be, by consistently being what we want to become". Isn't  that so profound? So simple yet profound. I always love to here testimonies from the mission field because they are so simple and yet heartfelt.  I write down every testimony that I hear that comes from a YSA  because it helps me strengthen my own testimony.  

        Coming back on the train, the benches felt harder, but we still slept ok after watching a good spy thriller "Double". We actually got back to our apartment by 11:30am, unpacked our suitcases and began a load of wash.  After about ten minutes the power went out.  We decided that we had better go grocery shopping.  After we returned and began to put our food away I discovered water under the the sink in the cabinet.  WE WERE SO blessed, the line from the water purifier was leaking, and when dad tried to tighten the connection, it broke. If it had of broken while we were away for four days, who knows what would have happened.  We had to turn the water off underneath the cabinet.  Eventually the electricity came back on and the next day we got the water problem fixed. 

       

        A bit of trivia, in 1906 people were encouraged to come to Siberia because the central cities were getting crowded.  The people were given loans to settle here. Three million people officially came, seven hundred fifty thousand came as foot messengers.  From 1897-1914 the population in Siberia grew 73%.

        Each day that we ride the bus we have people look at us and try to read our badges. Dad has decided that if they look at him at all his is giving them a flyer, or invitation they call it here.  Today he gave out five.  One lady on the bus was so friendly, she spoke a little English, she said that she would come because the church is near her house.  She is going on a holiday for two weeks, she said she would come in October.  She asked if we would be there, we of course said yes.  When she exited the bus we looked out the window and she waved to us.  Who knows, she just might show up

         Dad made the comment that this is a country of contrasts.  We feel like we have seen the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich, (anyway by the way they dress). We have seen the the beggar and the giver.  We have seen the small little markets, and the big huge supermarkets.  We have seen shelves with very little on them and shelves packed to capacity.  We have seen the  little Dachas in the country, and the ten story high apartment buildings in the cities.  We have seen the cars that look like they can barely run, right next to cars that cost fifty thousand dollars.   Let me just say that this is to put it mildly, an everyday adventure, and we are grateful for it. We have found out that people are people where ever you go.  They have the same needs, wants, and desires.  They are children of our Heavenly Father, and they need to know him.  The gospel will help them so much if we can inch by inch help them feel the love of the Savior. 

        We pray for all of you and your families.  We are so sorry to have had to say goodbye for the last time to Tom Day, our dear friend in Ogden.  We are so glad that we were able to visit him the day before we left.  May God bless all of you with the desires of your hearts. Love to you all, Elder and Sister Noel

This is the "Kupe" (Sleeping compartment) on the train to Novosibirsk.

Karen's "Hot Pink" play dough colored with beet juice.

"Dachas" that pepper the countryside on the outskirts of town.

More Dachas

This was Sept. 11, 2012.  The temperature was at least 74 or 75 degrees F.  Notice the hats, coats and ear muffs on the little children.  It seems that the warm clothes go on at a certain date regardless of the weather.  There were a couple of cool days the end of August and the coats and hats went on and they haven't come off.  All the little school children are bundled up rain or shine, hot or cold.

Also about 70 degrees F.

We kind of overdid it on the shoe pictures but thats exactly how it is here.  Shoe stores everywhere you go.  This pictures are a fraction of the shoes on just one floor of the mall.  There are aisles after aisles just like these on the same floor.  The russians always seem to have nice shoes.

There are permanent lights on the street where we live.  Mira St.  Every once in a while they turn them on.  They are on now (The patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church is visiting Krasnoyarsk from Moscow.) but we don't know how long they will be on.  These pictures were taken from our front window 4 floors up.

We will often see these Milk (Moloko) tanks on the streets.  Bring your own bottle or use one of there's.  The milk products here are abundant and the yogurt and ice cream is fantastic.