From Moscow

We arrived here Monday afternoon. The area meeting is being held at the historic Metropol hotel which is right next to Red Square and is a beautiful old hotel built in the early 1900s. Our group had dinner last night in this room which was where Elder Nelson met with the Vice President of Russia in 1991 to confirm the government's Agreement with the church that missionaries would be allowed to begin teaching in Russia.

Today we had a full day of meetings with teaching from Elder David F Evans, the executive director of the missionary department. Also all three members of our area presidency. Every talk was full of great information, motivating ideas and spiritual direction. The main focus is on the Work of Salvation broadcast that was done while we were at the MTC. The effort to get the members and missionaries working together unitedly is very exciting. It will move the work forward in a powerful way. We love knowing that all of you have caught that great missionary spirit.

With a few of the group. Out for an after-dinner walk.

It is really nice to meet the mission presidents who are in their second and third years of service and learn from them. There is a wonderful spirit of teamwork and love that exists among everyone in the group. Every Mission is different, yet we share most of the main challenges. We are excited to have two more days of training before we return.

This evening we took a walk in Red Square with some of the couples. It was a beautiful night and nice to get out of the hotel and get some exercise.