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.

Zone and District Conference in Novosibirsk

     Along with the other senior couples in the mission, we were invited to travel to Novosibirsk to attend the missionaries zone conference and the first District conference since the District was organized last spring.  So we were able to ride the Trans-Siberian Railroad!  More about that later.  The conferences were wonderful.  The zone conference on Friday with the missionaries was about 4 to 5 hours long.  All the missionaries were asked to work harder and they all made a commitment to do so.  They are wonderful young men and women.  We heard from Pres. Bennett of the Area Presidency and Pres. Gibbons, and their wives.  The theme of the meeting was clear.  Increased effort in finding and teaching.  If we are to become a stake we need to strengthen our branches.
     After the meeting the young missionaries traveled back to their assigned areas but the President wanted the senior couples to stay for District Conference on Sunday.  We were able to meet many of the saints from Novosibirsk.  The conference was telecast to all the outlying branches over special software over the internet.  Again, it was a special meeting.  Pres. Bennett and Pres Gibbons spoke along with their wives.  We also heard from the local area Seventy, Elder Guchin, and his wife.

This is a young single adult choir singing at the conference.

Some of the saints outside the branch building.  It is a private office building the bottom floor of which is  leased by the church for the Novosibirsk branches.

     It was great to associate with some of the other senior couples.  The Holmes have been here about 5 months, but this is their third mission to Novosibirsk, Russia.  They also served a mission in Cambodia and Scotland.  So this is their 5th mission together.  In the above picture you see sister Holmes with Karen.

Sister Webb (Elder Webb was taking the picture (This was taken in the Webbs apartment), Elder and Sister Holmes (5th mission) Karen and I and Elder and Sister Holbrook  (They leave to go home to Salt Lake City tomorrow (Tuesday)

This is the view from Elder and Sister Webb's apartment.  There are high rise apartments all around these few small older homes.  These homes have no running water and are heated by wood stoves.  It is a wonder to us how they survive these Siberian winters.  During the summer they have beautiful vegetable and flower gardens.

Karen and I on a walk with the Webbs after the District Conference.

          Karen and I have wanted to ride the Siberian railroad since we arrived in Russia, and this weekend we finally got the chance.  We left on Wednesday at 10:31 p.m. and arrived in Novosibirsk 12 hours later.  Then after the District Conference on Sunday we left Novosibirsk at 9:43 p.m. and arrived back home in Krasnoyarsk 12 hours later.  We didn't know what to expect at first but we were very pleasantly surprised at how nice the trains are and what a pleasant ride it was.  Of course we slept most of the time since we took night trains both ways.  They do that on purpose so that you can sleep and night and arrived somewhat refreshed in the morning and ready to get back to work.  I included a few shots of the train.  The ride was surprisingly quiet and smooth.  We actually slept pretty good.  They have a nice dining car where Karen and I had breakfast in the morning.

Inside our sleeping compartment.

The train from Krasnoyarsk to Novosibirsk

This was on the train coming back from Novosibirsk.

The hall that goes past our sleeping compartments and leads to the dining car.

Outside the window just as the sun was coming up. These birch and pine forests go on forever.   They seem endless.  The entire time we are traveling we are going through these forests.  There are no mountains to speak of but the forests are vast.

There was a beautiful mist in the early morning.

      So I would say that our first experience on the Trans-Siberian Railroad was very positive.  In two weeks we will be doing it all over again since we have been asked to go back to Novosibirsk for a CES Conference.

A Few Pictures Regarding Karen's Second Letter

Banana splits in Russia?  This is Shura, our YSA leader. (She just moved to Moscow)

This young violinist performed at youth conference.  He was OUTSTANDING!  This is a picture of him when he came off the stage down onto the floor while the kids were dancing.

Alina and Karen.  Alina is one of the young girls from Kazakhstan who was baptized at the conference.

One of the classes at the youth conference.

Pres. Gibbons baptizing Alina

Another picture of the baptism

As Karen said, pigeons are respected and almost revered here in Russia.  So they become very unafraid of humans.

First day of school!  This was taken near our apartment.  They have a tradition over here that every year on September 1st they celebrate going back to school.  The boys dress up in their sunday finest and the girls also dress up and put these beautiful white bows in their hair.  They are always a white delicate fabric.  Then when school actually starts (this year it was 2 days later because of the weekend) they wear those same ribbons to school.

"Stolby Park" with the Young Single Adults and the missionaries.

More Stolby Park

Some of the missionaries in our district at Stolby Park.

More Stolby Park.

The doughnut stand in Stolby Park.

Karen's Second Letter

August 26, 2012

Hi everyone, we now have officially been here one month.  Wow, what a month, we have learned so much and have really found out what it is like to be a foreigner.  We really love it here .  It is amazing how much can be accomplished when you are survival mode.  We have been in soaking rainstorms, splashed by buses, and had a couple of close calls with pigeons.  Over here pigeons are really protected.  There is a story about how they saved the Russians lives during the war by bringing them food.  We don't know more than that, but just let it be known they rule here.  They fly low and if you happen to be in the way, well, lets just say, good luck.  

We had a baptism on August 12.  It was the lawyer Aleyna.  She was so excited.  We have our own baptismal font in our branch. It was well attended and everything went smoothly.  The missionaries always give out flowers to those getting baptized, it is a nice touch. Coming home on the bus with the missionaries we had an event.  Frank and I had seats facing the door, while the missionaries were all standing in a circle talking.  All of a sudden a drunk steps on the bus with a fifth of whiskey and a dagger about eighteen inches long.  Let me tell you, we were all eyes.  The conductor on the bus was yelling at him because he had no money to pay, and he was yelling back at her.  We all knew that he was really no threat to us because he was so drunk that he could hardly stand up, but it was quite the sight. Soon the bus stopped and he got off, it was about 10:00pm.  

On Monday August 13, we got up and were studying when we got a call from Elder Balashov asking us if we would like to go on a hike to Stolby Park with all of the missionaries.  We of course did, knowing that we would not be able to stay the entire day because we had to get ready for family home evening.  We rode the bus about one hour and ended up in the most beautiful tree covered forest that you would see back East in America.  We were so happy to be there to breath the clear air, as it had rained the night before.  We walked at least two hours and then had to turn around and head back home.  On the way down the trail we smelled something familiar, we couldn't put our finger on it, but then, there it was, a doughnut shop about the size of a small garden shed.  We looked inside and there was a woman making doughnuts.  They were much different from our doughnuts as they were about the size of an onion ring.  She cooked them up and then added toppings to them like jam, honey, powdered sugar, and chocolate.  We ordered a batch with a glaze, we thought, but when we got them they were covered with a red sauce.  Frank always reminds me that if a purchase turns out fifty percent right, we are good to go. They were good to go and we ate all of them.   Who would have thought to have a doughnut shop right out on a mountain trail, great idea.

That night for family night we had everyone make tortillas and fill them with chicken Fajitas.  They all had fun cooking and eating them.  Then they played uno with spoons.  It got pretty wild.  This week we also went back to Lariss'a house.  Everything there is the same.  A few days ago I began to worry about them with winter coming on.  While we were there I had the Elders ask them if they were warm in the winter  They immediately said no, thirty degrees is as warm as it gets.  I am having a hard time shaking that statement.  I don't know how to help them, They have a floor heater, but there is just no way that two people can keep warm in a place like that.  I pray for them, but then I climb into my nice warm bed and think about them.  I will need therapy if I keep this up.  

Thurs Aug 16th was the Young Single Adult youth conference.  We didn't really receive any information on this conference so we packed a little of everything.  We knew that it was in the mountains at a resort and that is about all.  We wore our missionary clothes with our name tags and brought warm clothes and pajamas because it has been getting cooler here.  We rode buses for about one hour and then arrived at a place called Buzim.  It was in a beautiful setting with trees, a small lake, lots of land with swings, game areas, and places to walk.  We were right it was cold and we were prepared. As they were assigning rooms they looked at us and sort of skipped over us.  We kept standing there as each couple left to go to their room, but we were never told where to go.  We got the feeling that they didn't know what to do with us.  Frank began to investigate, and soon they sent an English speaking person over to us to inform us that there was not a room for us.  They told us that they would take us to a room where there was an extra couch bed.  We thought, oh goody for us.  The young man knocked on the door of a room and a  nice gentleman opened the door.  They explained to him the situation, he looked rather shocked and said, there is only one bed here.  The young man said well the couch makes into a bed.  He reluctantly let us in and told us to sit down.  We had a great time talking, they were so nice to us.  They are the Jones' from Fruit Heights on a mission in Moscow.  They were not part of the conference because the conference was only Siberian Russia, but they were in charge of the games because Elder Bennet was one of the speakers, and they work in his office.  Anyway we felt like we were really imposing on them because they were using the extra couch for all of their game supplies, and they were so busy getting everything ready.  We felt so foolish we were both praying to ourselves that they would find somewhere for us to go.  After visiting for sometime, we decided to go for a walk and see what was up.  They did find a room, but it was in another building.  We were taken there and when the door opened, I felt like we had gone back in time, to about the early 1800's.  Oh my gosh, the couch and chairs and flooring, if you could call it that were so old that I was afraid to sit on them for fear they would crumble.  There was a really damp, musty smell.  The flooring was grey and looked like it was  sort of a  felt like material with  really big water stains.  The bathroom was pretty good, but we found out later there was no hot water, just tepid. We were the fastest showers there. The beds were actually twin beds about the size and looks of what the three bears would have slept in.  Luckily we had flannel jammies, and plenty of socks to wear.   Dad's pillow weighed about 20 pounds, he could hardly lift it. The first morning I got up first and put on my walk around socks when I felt a dampness.  I told dad that they really do have a water problem here, he ask, "what do you mean?"  I replied, well, right here and now the floor is wet. Oh well, what do you do, we were so grateful for a room that there was no way we were going to complain.  So for the next three days this is how we lived.  We really didn't spend much time in our room, it was all good.  The youth conference was amazing, the YSA did a wonderful job. the theme was WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE.   The food was really good, real Russian food.  For breakfast there was a buffet with eggs, bread, jam, three kinds of mush, different kinds of meats and cheeses, lots of vegetables, and of course juice.  The Russians love their juices.  The kids just ate and ate, they loved it all.  For lunch there was always a pot of soup on the table.  We all loved the soup, you could tell that the soup was made with whatever was left over from the day before, but it was always good.    Many different kinds of rolls, some with powdered sugar on them, we got the idea that they were the desert.  

The highlight of the conference was the baptism of two girls from Kazakhstan.  One of the girls is Muslim.  We got to know  Alina, what a sweetheart.  She had had all of the missionary lessons before arriving at the conference.  Her baptism was planned ahead and President Gibbons was going to baptize her, she was so excited,  The other little gal decided the day before, and so President Gibbons spent the evening and night until about 11:00pm giving her all of the lessons.  The reason that these baptisms were so incredible was the fact that they were going to take place in the lake just beyond the main building.  The water was of course very cold because of where is is located and also because it had been raining there for days on end.  Also to top it off, Kazakhstan has tightened their rules about the meeting of organizations, religious and non religious.  They had put some new laws into effect because of terror threats, making it very hard for anyone to meet together for any reason.  The missionaries there will not be teaching anymore or baptizing, or preaching.  They will only be able to have a presence there and do only service.  There is a chance that they will be sent out of the country all together.  So these little girls knew that if they wanted to be baptized, it was now or never.  The hour was set and we were all there to witness this historic sight. First Alina was baptized.  After she came out of the water and walked ashore a bit, sister Gibbons was there with towels to cover her so that she wouldn't chill.  I was close to her and said, are you freezing, she looked at me and said, "no, I feel so warm."  I then, of course, began to cry.  What a statement, what testimony, what an example of a true pioneer.  I will always cherish this experience and know that this is history in the making.  The Lord provides a way for his children who are poor in spirit, seeking to follow him.  What a blessing to be there, I would have slept in the hallway to have witnessed this event.  If any of you want to email her to congratulate her, her email is a.um.212@mail.ru just let her know that you are friends and family of Elder and Sister Noel. When we arrived home, we were so excited because our hot water had been turned on.  Wow how blessed are we.  The missionaries stopped by and we ate bread and jam until it was gone. We had family night again and served banana splits, they loved them.  Tuesday we had a fun adventure to a place called the Planetta.  It is a huge mall with very nice stores.  The grocery store is similar to a Walmart.  We found things there that we have not been able to find anywhere else.  Dad took me to TGI Fridays, what a treat.  The menu is in English and Russian, and is the same menu as America.  We thought we had died and gone to heaven.  The prices are not good, about twice what you would pay in America, but it was worth every penny.  

We had a visit from our land lady, she was very nice and tried to get something done on the oven.  I really isn't a problem, we just duct tape it closed and it works fine, but she wants to get it fixed so someday I suppose that will happen. We also found a store that is exactly like HOME DEPOT, DAD was so excited, he really spent time "runckeling" (that's his word)  around there.  He immediately started buying cabinet handles for the cabinets in our apartment.  They are really dirty, and we can't seem to get them clean, so that is what we did.  Then he started talking about buying some kind of a counter top to cover over the one we have because of the tile and dirty grout.  We have scrubbed it and scrubbed it, but you just can't seem to get it clean.  I just started laughing thinking about us on the bus with a counter top. He is always trying to made life better wherever we are.  Just get him in a hardware store, and the wheels begin to turn.

        Oh, by the way,  Kathy Postma, I found out that our elder Probst is the younger brother of your Elder Probst.  Wow what a sharp kid, he just got here from Novosibirsk.

Well, am signing off, hoping that all is well with all of you.  We love you all and pray for you.  Please be safe and careful and know of our love for you.  Hugs  Elder and Sister Noel ( Grandma and Grandpa) 

Some Pictures Regarding Karen's Letter

The Krasnoyarsk Chapel.  There are only two chapels in our entire mission.  We have one and the other is on Omsk about 800 miles away.

There are ice cream (Marozhania-I love that word) stands everywhere.  Here we are buying a little treat for Elder Howard and Jensen.

This is Larissa and her daughter Alyona

Karen and Larissa (they had instant bonding)

Tiessia and Karen.  Ninety four years old (Tiessia not Karen).  She has been a member of the church for 16 years,  has always had a current temple recommend and has never been to a temple.

Tiessia and Elder Howard and Rubow. (Both elders from North Carolina).  Tiessia  has poor eyesight so these elders read to her from the bible every week.  Her favorite book is Isaiah so that is where they always read.  (And of course it is in Russian. ) It is amazing how these elders and sister missionaries learn this language.  Truly it is a miracle.

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