November 5, Happy Birthday Stan, Dallin, Sierra

We had a nice time talking to the grandchildren on or near their birthday's.  They are growing up so fast.  We miss you all. 
Everyting is going well here.  We have been doing about the same things, supporting the missionaries, cooking, and giving out Books of Mormon.  We enjoy seeing the city and learning the bus routes.  We no longer have a driver so we are on foot or on the various public transports which includes the autobus, or just plain bus for us.  The Tram vi which is an electric train on the tracks in the town streets.  The trolleybus which is an electric bus that uses the overhead wires on parrallel  with the tram vi wires.  Then we also have marshutts which are small buses and then taxi travel.  We use all that will take us to our destinations.
We had a halloween party for the branches and I think it was successful.  Jerry and I made donuts for the donut eating game.  No raised donuts are available here at a good price so we made our own.  Didn't take a single one home.  We had 60 donuts and about 40 holes.  I made the dough and Jerry cut them out and then deep fried them.  We had other games and Jerry made a big pinata with a ton of candy in it.  Everything was a big success.  Everyone had enough to eat and played and visited. 
Our trip to Moscow was cancelled last week so we go this week for meetings and training.  It is not my favorite trip, sleeping on the train, but it has to be done.  There is no other way to get to the meetings on time. 
The weather is cooperating, yea.  So far we have had just 3 skiffs of snow and then it melted.  This week we are supposed to have temps in the high 30's and 40's.  Okay with me.  By this time last year our permenant snow pack was started.
The leaves are off the trees but we are seeing green grass, where there is grass.  The other day we were walking to the church with a member here, and I asked if she was cold, it was about +2 deg.  She said no she wasn't cold this was normal.  Actually we were a little cold, the wind was blowing and it was wet.  She is tough.
Well, that is it for now. 

September 29, 2012

Daughter, Carmen, and sister, Carol have gone home from their visit to Russia.  We had a great time, all of us were about worn out.  We visited the Cosmos Park and Russian dance show, saw the metro from various vantages, the kremlin along with the crown jewels and the aromory which hold the old carriages, clothing and various implements and art work from the Tzar and Tzarinas.  We saw red square and St. Basil, which is the large multi colored church on red square with the 10 towers. We had excellent weather the entire time we were in Moscow.  The view from our 24th floor room was beautiful.  The Russian craft show just outside of our hotel was a sight to behold.  Every kind of craft from scarves, hats, and gloves, to Matrushka dolls, carvings, and Russian costumes.   Good food was plentiful and it was nice to be there and take in all the sights.
Here, in Nizhny we visited an old cathedral, the old soviet mall, the nizhny kremlin, we visited in the home of a member, and the car factory. We attended our English club, church, and our weekly district meeting.  They had a taste of missionary work and our 50 stairs up to our apartment was another challenge about twice a day.   
This last Monday we had another visa trip to Riga, Latvia.  It is a beautiful city on the Baltic sea, with some buildings dating in the 1200s.  It has a lot of history and we met some other missionaaries from Riga who had researched the history and they gave us a nice tour. 
So far there are 3 baptismal committments for October and early November.  We are excited to part of the work here.