Bits and Pieces of Last Week

Ok, so much for bragging about the nice weather we're having. It's now officially winter, at least in Novokuznetsk. A storm came through the night after we bragged about the weather, and temperatures dropped. Thursday morning we woke up to a little bit of snow, even though the thermometer said it was 41. There were still big puddles of water in the parking lot below us, and the snow melted quickly anyway. We're waffling between being excited about experiencing a Siberian winter and dreading it. Dreading comes more naturally, but being excited is more fun. Oh, and in case you can't tell from the picture, Siberian snow looks an awfully lot like Utah snow This picture is out our study window. The white at the bottom of the picture is the awning over the front of a small grocery store on the first floor of our building.

After it had rained for a while we noticed water dripping off the roof of our building. We were a little surprised that there isn't a drainage system because right next to the front door of our entrance is the delivery entrance to a grocery store and there are trucks in and out all day. Then we noticed that there is a drain pipe. But no gutter. Dave says it drains everything it can catch, which isn't much because it's mostly under the eaves!

The mission president and his wife were in Novokuznetsk last week. Sister Gibbons and Arline shared pictures of the grandkids. The Gibbons have two grandchildren. Their newest was born a week after Hadley, so the two absentee grandmas commiserated with each other about missing out on the new grandkids. Arline commented that she wouldn't see Hadley and Ryan until they were a year old and walking. Sister Gibbons said she wouldn't see her new granddaughter until she was 3. We've decided we have nothing to complain about.

We had our first overnight train ride--twice, two nights in a row--and found that other than being short it wasn't so bad. We left one night and returned home the next. President Gibbons called a special meeting for all the branch presidents. (President Holbrook got to take his companion, but the others left their spouses at home.) There are plans for forming a stake in Siberia. That's a BIG step! Unfortunately it won't happen until after we've gone home, but things are moving along. There are seven cities in our mission where missionaries are serving. They are as far apart as Lake Tahoe, California, on the west and Rapid City, South Dakota, on the northeast, without freeways in between.

When we got on the train the porter came to our compartment and jabbered something in Russian. Dave said "I don't understand" in Russian, so with a mild look of frustration the porter turned to Arline and asked her the same thing. It was really hard to keep a straight face. Fortunately with his hand motions it was easy to figure out what he was asking, so she told him there would only be two of us in the compartment and the two top bunks wouldn't be used.

A "new" change: One of the rules for missionaries is that the elders are to stay with their companion or be in a group of missionaries, but in our mission that's been waived during transfers and visa trips because of the great distances traveled. However, there's a new directive from Church headquarters and effective immediately missionaries are not to travel alone. This week we have two missionaries from Novokuznetsk going on visa trips, but on different days. Instead of one leaving on Monday and the other on Thursday as scheduled, and the lone elder teaming up with the other missionaries here while the companion is gone, they both leave Sunday night and go to Novosibirsk. One stays in Novosibirsk and meets up with another missionary whose companion is going on visa trip and they street contact for a couple of days. Then the first set of missionaries returns from Finland and they street contact while the other elders go on their visa trip. The problem with having them all go at once is the groups are big--16 total and they don't like to have that many missionaries traveling in a group. For some people it is a little overwhelming to see so many of them together. Also, flight options are limited as well as space in the hostel where they stay in Finland. In the future they'll figure out a better way to deal with this, but for the next couple of groups to go, this is how they have to do it because of the dates on the already processed visas. While we've found visa trips to be very refreshing, they are a BIG drain on the mission, both in terms of work being interrupted and cost. An elder who served as the travel secretary for a time said that our mission is the most expensive in the Church in terms of travel costs because of the visa trips.

Last week was our Institute teacher's birthday. He brought two beautiful store bought cakes and we had also made a cake for refreshments that night. The Elders started serving the other people but not eating any of the cake themselves until Dave served up the homemade cake. Then they went to town and came back for seconds. They LOVE any homemade food, even our attempts at learning how to cook the Russian way. They eat all our mistakes without complaint. When we first arrived in Novokuznetsk, several people, missionaries and members alike, said something along the lines of, "oh, you're the one who makes such good bread." Dave's reputation preceded him. And yes, he does make good bread. His hamburger buns are especially tasty (especially considering the alternative).

Recently we got some new Bibles to have on hand at the church to use in classes. In Relief Society on Sunday a couple of them were on the table in Relief Society. The reaction of one sister was priceless. She broke into a big smile as she excitedly and reverently leafed through it. Such a sweet thing to witness.