March 30, 2011

Elder Peterson and Elder Larkin

Elder Gornastaev and Sister Aland playing a piano duet

Saying goodbye to Elder Peterson

The Lee Family that we are teaching

Our Zone... We had to say goodbye to three of the Elders this week

Prep day and I have time to update. Okay, where do I start? Just a small tidbit about our life here and why things take awhile to do. For instance, you do NOT pop a blanket into the washer and then into the dryer and presto it is clean and dry. I tried to wash a blanket the other day because I could finally dry it outside on our 2 x 6 foot patio. So I stuffed half of it in the washer. And that was ALL that would fit. So I ran some bathwater in the bathtub and washed it by hand. The water was brown. . . it made me sick. I used clorox and Mr Muscle (Mr Clean) and then got John to help me ring it out, emptied the water and ran the rinse water. Then we repeated the process and dripped it across the floor so we could partially dry it outside until it stopped dripping and then it started to freeze so I brought it into the front room and laid it across the chairs and put a fan on it. It took a half a day to wash one blanket. That is probably why people don't wash their stuff that much. ( I won't go into that, but some of them should)

So we are here to do 5 things: 1) study and learn the gospel 2) work on our relationship 3) help the elders teach 4) assist the branch 5) teach institute & strengthen the young adult program. And it is in that order. Our mornings are study time - uninterrupted hours of study - WOW - like that never happened at home. We have one date night per week, mandatory time out from elders' scheduling us. And then we fill in our time on appointments with elders and teaching classes at the branch, such as institute, music, English club, missionary prep.. On Fridays we have district meeting here and we feed the 6 elders and have a 2 hour meeting with them. It is really a great schedule compared to our working schedule last year. Just very different and dressed up all the time and a clean house. Sometimes the elders have 3 different discussions going on in our apartment. So it takes getting used to this different way of life. It is a great chapter in our book!!

HIGHLIGHT!! I didn't want to write about this before it actually came off. So one of our elders is one of Russia's top concert pianists. For FHE he scheduled a concert and had 3 guests perform with him. Well, actually 2 serious guests and me. He is so amazing that I tried not to think about it and get overwhelmed. He asked me to play a two piano duet together at the end. It was really an honor for me. Something I hadn't even put on my dream list here in Russia. But it will be a great memory of mine. He is also one an awesome elder and extraordinarily dedicated to everything he does.

AND DIFFICULT FAREWELLS: WE said goodbye to 3 of our elders who are like our sons. We work so closely together and they become our family here in this part of the world. It was very hard and we will miss Elder Larkin, Elder Taylor and my cousin, Elder Peterson. Thanks for the great examples you are and the hard work you have done, and all the laughs and MEMORIES.