Since last we posted we have been to Moscow twice and each time it was during the time I usually write the blog.  Our first trip was to renew our visa by flying from Moscow to Riga, Latvia, and returning the same day.  The second was for a "Sister's conference"  for all the missionary sisters young and old.  I was going to stay here in Lipetsk, but was asked to bring the branch expense books so they could reconcile the withdrawals with the reported expenses for the past three years.  Unfortunately we do not have all three years of those records.   

 On the third of November the branch had an open house.  Community leaders were invited and one actually came after the scheduled time.  He acted like he wanted to be helpful in the future by helping us advertise the next one on line.  We had a couple of investigators show up but that was all.  I was impressed however with the materials we had available to conduct this open house.  Above is a banner which depicts the church today.  It was placed at the entrance to the chapel.

In the foyer was the Christus banner.

 In a class room we had a banner with the Book of Mormon featured.  You can see the colored paper which  explained the coming for of the book.  At each banner was an explanatory paper.

 Another two banners in the relief society room which featured Joseph Smith and the family.

 Had an occasion to go to the mall one Saturday to get some pictures printed.  One of the things that the members really appreciate is giving them prints of themselves and their families at church functions.  While I was waiting for the pictures to be printed I enjoyed a violinist  performing in the mall entrance.  It was an electronic violin and he really knew how to make it sing.

 This is Viola.  Her mother and baby sister and dad came to our apartment for dinner with the Sisters.  Dad, Artyome, joined the church last summer and mom is investigating.  She wants to have a really strong testimony before she joins.  It is going rather slowly right now.

 While we were in the check in line at the Moscow airport, we were pleased to be joined by the Walkers who were also going on a visa trip.  We came to Moscow on the overnight train from Lipetzk.  This was an earlier train than we usually take and it originated in Uzbekistan  so  it was manned by Usbekistani personnel and had Usbekistani Muslim passengers on board.  The children from 2 to 12 were running wild in the corridor outside our compartment until 9:00 pm.  We got our tickets late so we had to share a compartment with another passenger, but fortunately she got off at 10:30, 2 1/2 hours after we departed.  I will not discuss the restroom in this rail car.

These two pictures were taken at the TGI Fridays at the Riga airport.  Good old American food.  It was funny to see how they had decorated the walls.  I particularly like the Darth Vader mask in with the so called cowboy motif.

On our second trip to Moscow we enjoyed the company of Sisters Lewis and Tolbert.  They are great missionaries and a big help in the branch.  I think they would run it if they could.

We had to buy "Metro tickets" to get to the church where the Sister's conference was held.  Sister Hoagland and I waited while the Sisters obtained the tickets.

This is where we enter the station.  People everywhere.  The station nearest the train station was closed temporarily so we had to walk to another station, and take two trains instead of one to get to the neighborhood where the church was.  We also had to find our way from a station we were not familiar with.  Always a little nerve racking to be in a country you can't speak the language and do not know your way around.

While the sisters were having their conference.  I went with a couple of brethren for lunch and then we walked around the area of the church.  It is not far from Red Square and the Kremlin.  Elder Craythorn lived in this neighborhood for over a year before they were transferred to Veronish.  He was a great guide.

A park in the foreground and a big museum with a gold dome.

One of the distinct buildings of Moscow.  There are seven with this kind of architecture and they are called the 7 sisters.

A park and church near red square.

This is a bridge over a canal where brides and grooms take pictures and put locks with their names on them on these metal trees.  There are several of these trees on the bridge.  Elder Craythorn is on the left and Elder Luekenga is on the right.

From the same bridge is this view of the Peter the Great monument.  It stands where the canal enters the Moscow river.  They really have heroic sized statues and monuments here.

The red tower is the first pressurized water system in Moscow.  It was built by he French.

Also near the central church building is this art museum.  We did not have time to see the exhibits but Elder Craythorn took us in so we could see how to get tickets if we were able in the future.

A fountain in a small square.

A Russian Orthodox church near the Metro station.

After the Sister.s conference, we went to a huge market where we hoped to shop for ties, scarves and other things.  We were disappointed that they start packing up at 4:00 pm and we got there at 6:00.  This purse store was still open and Sister Tolbert found the exact bag she was looking for.  For us it was a very long walk for nothing.  I was so tired I finally had a good nights sleep on the night train home that evening.

Sister Lewis playing cowboy on the Metro train.

ANOTHER COUPLE JOIN THE CHURCH

This was a jamb packed week.  Saturday an unusually long bus ride to Voronish for a baptism, Three confirmations on Sunday, welfare counseling on Monday, Zone conference on Tuesday with English group that evening, Halloween party Wednesday evening, and finally Thursday evening special tutoring in English for a young woman who wants to visit the US next year.  The pictures are once again rather random so bear with me.

Vika's in-laws, Nazany and Ararat, live with her and her family.  Arman, Vika's husband is working in Moscow.  They came about three months ago and were baptized on Saturday October 27th in Voronish.  We like to go to Voronish so our new members can see the magnificent building.  It helps counter the propaganda that we are a cult and maybe a little sense of pride in the church.

I was with Elder Raymond and his companion on a bus (where much of the contacting takes place) while he was talking to some passengers.  A lady close by slipped the people a note warning them that we were a cult.  While it was funny, it is a reality here that the Orthodox church is very active in spreading that message to the people. 

Here is most of the group that came on our bus to Voronish.  We had a total of 30 on the bus.  There were fourteen missionaries, we have eight in Lipetsk now and three former Lipetsk missionaries came with their companions, to witness the baptism.  In addition to this we had eight missionaries from Voronish who joined us, along with a few Voronish branch members.  I guess they wanted to see what a baptism was like since they haven't had one in quite some time.

I don't know how I got involved with this baptism.  We have visited the family several times during the lesson period, but Ararat asked that I baptize him.  What a great honor.  I had to put him under twice because I misspronounced the proper Russian word for "Father" incorrectly. There is more than one way to say father depending on the context.

Our wonderful senior couple in Veronish, the Craythorns, provided a wonderful meal following the baptism.  It was so welcome as we had four hours on this bus when it should have been less than two.  We were also delayed one hour because the bus company had mis-scheduled for Sunday.   We waited another hour on the bus for a member to come.  We were supposed to be in Voronish at 11:00 and were there at 2:00. They had a big wedding in the building at three, but fortunately the building is so big and has enough entrances that we did not disturb each other.  The baptistry has an outside entrance and an inside entrance so we had to change and then go outside and then upstairs to the chapel.  Then the whole group came down and outside to get to the baptistry so we didn't disturb the wedding.  

After our meal we found our Sisters Lewis, Tolbert, and our Arpine on the playground outside the Craythorn's apartment.

Aida, my relief society president, dressed in her best fur coat and slippers.  She was a little embarrassed but a good sport about my taking the picture.

On Halloween we had a great little party.  We had four non members, a less active and his girl friend, and  6 of our 7 youth and other members.  Little Artiome is bobbing for an apple.  Everyone had a big laugh with this one because none of them wanted to do what was necessary to get their teeth into the apple.  Their nose and lips were as far as they would go.  They didn't have a clue how to do it.

Oleg showed up just at the right time when the sisters were telling a scary story.

Speaking of not having a clue.  I had a really hard time catching up to the doughnut on a string.

Cowgirl Rita.  She spent quite some time trying to lasso the chair behind her.  I did it in two tries but couldn't do it a second time for love nor money.

The Elders bought what they thought were pumpkins, but most were melons with the flavor of cantaloupe.  They served the same purpose plus we could eat them.

Here is the one pumpkin that Ararat is holding.

The "tuff" bunch.

Vika and her boys, Artiome and Ararat after a fun night.

Sister's Tolbert and Lewis dressed up for Halloween.  They are such a grand addition to the branch.

Arpine and Sister Tolbert.

Artiome, Amine, and Ararat.

Sunday I am here with Alexander.  He was baptized not long ago in another city.  He is only able to come once in awhile.  He would be very valuable to us as he speaks both English and Russian.  His native tongue is German.  

Here we are assembling for zone conference.  Elders Black and Raymond, front left, are our zone leaders.  Elder Janson and Elder Hammond are the Assistance to the president and are sitting next to Sister Sorenson.    Elder Janson just left us and Elder Black replaced him in the Lipetsk district.

President Sorenson is demonstrating his art work.  His presentation here is concerning taking care of our health by not eating street vendor food, keeping our water filters in working order, and proper rest, etc.

Our zone leaders led a great presentation on communication.  Here Elder & Sister Craythorn are working together through verbal clues to put chess pieces in the same configuration.  Elder Craythorn is describing how he has his pieces laid out and Sister Craythorn must put hers in the same positions.  He must describe effectively and she must ask good questions.  

Each team who tried was better than the ones who proceeded them as they learned from their experiences.

Sister Hoagland and I had to provide the main part of the meal for lunch.  As we don't have a kitchen near by and no sink to clean up with, we walked 15 minutes to a "Rus Burger" where we ordered hamburgers, chicken burgers, and 2 kinds of fries.  Then we took the 15 minute walk back.  It was very cool and misting so no real fun.  We also had ice cream with Hershey's syrup.  Everyone said they enjoyed it.

While we were waiting for the bus to come we played musical chairs and ninja.

Arcen, Vika's baby, on the bus.  The bus was very warm, but they keep babies and small children heavily dressed.  Our apartment is 76 degrees right now and when we visit members it is so uncomfortable with their houses so warm.  When I was on my first mission in England I asked a lady, "if you had central heating in your home what temperature would you keep."  Her response was "I think 60 is a nice temperature.  The response here is 78.

Some of the things people believe here concerning health is interesting.  They don't like open windows because the breeze can make you ill.  Wet hair also causes one to be sick.  Nursing mothers feed their babies supplements to make them fat.  One mother in the branch was giving her baby medication to increase its appetite. 

Members and missionaries on the bus.  We were on this thing for a total of 7 hours.  Coming the driver got lost and it took an hour to find the church.  Going home he was so slow semi trucks were passing us on the two lane hiway all the way home.

All the young missionaries sang at the baptism.  It was wonderful.  Both cites have 2 sets of Elders, sisters, and a senior couple.

This is our last photo of Elder Turner who was in Lipetsk for a month when we came.  He is released in December.  He has been an amazing missionary.  He served in Kazakhstan and had many miracles and baptisms.  When he left us he became Assistant to the president.  Under complicated circumstances he was the only one able to enter Belarus and obtain the many signatures of non members for the church to be recognized in that country. He has done more for the church than one can know.     

WOW!  When I say those doughnuts I cannot explain the warm feeling that came over me.  The Sisters made those and they were wonderful.  We provided spaghetti and grapes for the haunted room where they were supposed to represent brains and eye balls. I had the job of pealing the grapes. 

One of the English club members who came to our Halloween party.  She said she had a really good time.  Do not know at this point if she is investigating the church.