May 29, 2011

 

Here we are reporting once again from our beautiful GREEN city of Tomsk.  It has been a rainy May and there is so much green right now, we are loving it and savoring it.  We've had a busy week and hopefully it was productive one as well, and not just busy.  We sometimes wonder what we would be doing back home if we had stayed and even though we were busy there as well, we are glad to be here for now and having a totally different focus. We WERE very excited to find a store that had CRACKERS in it, actually saltine crackers and other varieties.  It is hard to describe their crackers, but THIS WAS a TREAT to CeLeBrATe!

#3 THE FLOATING STORE:  We had an investigator invite us to see her before she sets sail on a ship that sails up to the north sea and back in a period of 5 months.  It is a cargo ship and a floating store, taking food and commodities to isolated settlements all along the huge Tom River.  It was quite a unique operation and very interesting.  She is a cook for the crew of 18.  And she gave us a tour of the ship and fed us compote and a variety of breads in the under the deck kitchen.  Our plan was to somehow slip her in the water while there and baptize her before she left, but I guess we will now have to wait til she gets back.  She wasn't quite ready to commit.

#2  VISITING KEMNEROVA: We received a new assignment from President Trejo, our mission president.  He visited with us for some time explaining that we have a city that needs to be visited and kept alive until more missionaries can be sent there in the fall sometime.  There is currently about 5 members attending and the branch president is a missionary sent from the mission office twice a month.  So, a new family from St Petersburg is moving to the city and they are active and have 4 children.  That is SUPER news and quite a miracle.   We are going to visit and support it and hopefully help it to grow.  It is a 3 hour bus trip for us and they are going to rent an apartment for us to stay in when we visit and in which to have the branch meetings.  When there are 15 members, the church will then rent a building for the branch. It should be interesting, but if the Lord wants us to, we will be instruments in helping it to happen.  We meet the missionaries there and start in June.

#1  SUMMER CAMP FOR YOUTH:  We did a service project for a youth camp which they operate every summer for troubled youth from the ages of 9 - 17.  It is right outside Tomsk in a beautiful forest setting.  There are many OLD buildings which were used for who knows what, that they have converted them into dorms, a kitchen area and a medical building and instruction areas.  We helped a group clean it and get it operational.  It is in need of everything!  The setting was good, but everything else is so ancient that it would be hard to tell where to start to help.  We are going to write up an application to get some humanitarian aid for it and try to figure out that process. It is hard to describe, but we took a lot of pictures and hope to be able to help.  They appreciated our service immensely and we will go there and help all we can.  Our missionary and young adult force  is always looking for good service projects.  It's occupants are either orphaned, or homeless or from troubled homes.  They will run 3 sessions there this summer with 750 - 900 participants.  Should be interesting.

So that is it for now.  Hopefully we have given you a taste of what we feel and see here.  Some of it is interesting, some of it difficult,  all of it is part of the Lord's work and hand, here in Siberia, as it is across the world. 

Our love and blessings to you all!
Elder & Sister, Pa & Ma, John & Marsha Aland