Great week!

Dear family,

We have had a busy week and are headed into an even busier one. This coming week we are sending missionaries home, training new trainers and welcoming and training new missionaries. On friday, as soon as they leave for their areas, we will head to Tyumen to work with the branch there. This group of missionaries wiill be our first group coming from the MTC in Madrid. They spent a month in Provo and then the rest of their time in Madrid. So the time adjustment for them will only be four hours. We are hoping that will help them stay awake during orientation better than previous groups 0;) It has been a struggle that we could completely identify with!

This week we had two highlights. Thursday night we met with the group in Revda. It was a wonderful evening. It is about a fifty minute drive. We had Elders Ashjian and Stephens with us because they had been in the city for their zone meeting that afternoon. These two Elders have opened the city and are working so hard and experiencing miracles every week. There were four investigators at the fireside which was held in the small apartment of a wonderful sweet member lady. She is probably about fifty. She is always so positive, bubbly and upbeat and is really very pretty, but she tries hard not to smile because she is missing most of her teeth. My heart breaks for her. You can tell that her natural disposition is to smile, and yet she is so self-conscious. I feel like telling her, " just smile! You are so beautiful!" Anyway, Timofey was there, along with Alexander, who is getting baptized in a couple of weeks, also two women. Dad gave a presentation on happiness and told the story of the Itos, and how supremely happy they are, in-spite of bodies that are totally handicapped. He showed pictures which we projected on the wall. Their smiles the day we helped them go through the temple for the first time are priceless. It touched people's hearts and made a deep impression. I shared my feelings about what the Book of Mormon teaches us about happiness including the wonderful scripture in Mosiah 2:41.

Afterwards we had the Texas sheet cake I had made, which was a total hit. We divided up the leftovers for everyone. At one point I had to hold back the giggles because Timofey and Alexander were both talking to me and simultaneously trying to outdo each other demonstrating their knowledge of the scriptures by recounting, in great detail, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. I have no idea how they got started on that story or why it was relevant. Elder Stephens was trying his best to translate for me. At one point I had to just marvel to myself as I thought, here I am in the middle of Russia on a cold winter night with two men trying to impress me by outdoing each other with this story! Dad and the missionaries and the women were staying clear. As they were becoming a bit more competitive and the spirit was slipping away, I felt impressed to take control of the situation. I told them that it is a wonderful story of how willing The Lord is to deliver his children even if there is only one in a city, if they will just have faith and look only to him. And then I directed them, you guessed it, to one of my most favorite scriptures, I Nephi 1:20 and talked about how the Book of Mormon is a manual for deliverance, that it has dozens of examples, that it teaches us why we need deliverance, what true deliverance is, how to find it, and who alone can offer it, I challenged them, since they love the scriptures so much, to join me in studying all that the Book of Mormon teaches us about deliverance. I spoke fervently, pouring out my heart about how much I love this book, how plain and clear it is, and feeling perhaps a little desperate to restore the sweet feeling we had had in the meeting. I told them that even when I just open the Book, I can feel the spirits of these great prophets who saw our day and wrote the things they knew we would need. They bore powerful testimonies to us that are plain and simple and easy to understand. The two men responded well and agreed to study. Later, as we were leaving, Alexander said he was going to open the Book of Mormon on his nightstand while he slept so he could feel the comforting spirit of it all through the night.

Saturday night we flew north to Surgut. This is our farthest city, twenty four hours by train, so flying is great, and it is truly Siberia. It is a large prosperous city mostly built around the oil and gas industries. There was a branch here years ago, but the priesthood holders all moved or went inactive. Now there is just a group of women and children. They meet each sunday to study the scriptures, but cannot take the sacrament. One of the women's husband is Vladimir, who came to yekaterinburg last month to meet with dad and get his life back in order. We shared that story then.

We had a wonderful meeting on Sunday in the tiny apartment of Vladimir and Nadejhda. Their faces were full of love for each other and joy at having us come. They had pushed back all their furniture and filled in with stacking metal chairs they had saved from when there was a branch. The walls were covered with beautiful paintings, some that she had done, and gospel pictures. They had a little table with white cloths and sacrament trays all set up. Two bookcases were filled with books and a piano stood against one wall. I asked who would play and no one knew how, so I offered, which they accepted enthusiastically, with a warning that it was out of tune but they seemed so happy to have it played. When I started the opening song I about died. I have NEVER heard a piano so badly out of tune! It was so bad it was just amazing! Each key sounded about three notes. The reverberation produced such a cacophony of sound that all we could do was sing loud. The opening song was Master, the Tempest is Raging. Fitting choice! Russians love to sing and never consider not singing every single verse. I wish I could duplicate for all of you the sweet experience of playing and singing that song. I sang in English because it is too hard to read Russian and play the piano at the same time. As we began the first chorus, "whether the wrath of the storm tossed sea or demons or men or whatever it be. . ." they sang, so I played, in increasing crescendo, and it suddenly sounded like additional voices were adding their sound to ours, because even the terrible dissonance of the piano faded against the strong and sweet testimony of peace conveyed by those beautiful verses. It was hard to play through my tears.

The meeting was one I will always treasure. Dad bore a beautiful testimony and told about the branch in Marburg Germany where they only had three members. He testified that the spirit will be with us and teach us no matter where on earth we live, if we are faithful and obedient. At one point Dad told them that he felt impressed to again send two missionaries to work in Surgut. When he said that everyone began to weep for joy. One woman put her face in her handkerchief and just sobbed. She has a fifteen year old son who was there and also a twenty
year old daughter who is a member but wouldn't come, and she desperately wants them to stay strong in the gospel. Dad explained that last month he had turned in his request for the numbers of missionaries we need. When the approval came this week it was for two more Elders than he had asked for. As he had stood there talking, he suddenly understood why. Of course it will probably take six months to get them here, because they have not even been called yet. But there was such a feeling of joy at the thought of soon being able to have a regular Sunday service and partake of the sacrament each week. They all pledged to help find those who used to come and also to help find new investigators so their group could grow into a branch.

Dad asked me to bear my testimony. I felt impressed to ask a young mother, who was there with her two beautiful little children, to translate for me. I started by saying it was probably impossible on this earth for me to be any farther away from my own home. Yet, I felt truly at home. Like my Utah home, I was in a home filled with beautiful art, gospel pictures, books, and music and with people filled with love for each other and for the Savior.

Other testimonies were then shared along with tearful expressions of gratitude for the gospel and the opportunity to have missionaries again. The spirit was so strong. The closing song, Called to Serve, was requested for Igor, the 15 year old boy, by his mother. You know, I have loved that song for a long time and have many sweet memories associated with it, including singing it at the MTC a week after Aaron had left for Argentina and I was hosting the mother of one of his district elders. she was not a member of the church and was so worried that he had joined a cult. We sat on the front row as the whole MTC sang so powerfully, and that song thrilled both of us. This past June we sang it with 176 new mission presidents and all fifteen members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. But I don't think I have ever felt the spirit more strongly than as I played a badly out-of-tune piano and sang with all my heart with nine other members in a tiny apartment in the middle of Siberia on a cold October Sunday. " Called to know the richness of His blessing --- sons and daughters, children of a King. Glad of heart! His holy name confessing, Praises unto Him we bring!". What a privilege it is to be here serving! My heart was full and overflowing with feelings of praise and gratitude to The Lord.

Igor, a great future missionary

After sacrament meeting we put all the chairs in a circle and held a Sunday school class that Dad led. Sweet feelings were shared as we discussed how to grow in the gospel.

Afterwards a little table was brought in and chairs pulled around and we spent several hours having a wonderful meal and visiting.

Vladimir had prepared amazing grilled beef and they served wonderful bottled salads they had preserved from their garden.

Afterward there was chocolate cake and pastries and oranges and chocolates. It was as if they didn't want it to stop.

Then several people asked for blessings, which were carefully recorded. Several wanted interviews with Dad. While he did that, I showed our family testimony book and the family at Lauren's wedding picture. (the crying grandchildren is always a favorite!) and the pictures of each family that you all gave me to put on my wall when I was in the hospital. They loved seeing them and asked about many details. Rebecca's testimony was one they especially enjoyed. ; 0)

We flew home early this morning with hearts full of gratitude for the experience, and feeling humbled at their strong desire to be faithful when they have so little support. Our big Utah wards with all their auxiliary activities would just blow them away. And yet, their faith is strong and we so clearly feel the Lord's love for them. It is humbling to know such dear people.

It is now Monday evening. We are excited to get new missionaries this week. As soon as we got home I headed to Metro (like Costco) with Ivan, our driver, to get all the groceries for eight meals for groups ranging from six to twenty-two. I have made the sloppy joes, and prepped all the ingredients for everything. Dad has been busy all day upstairs in his office getting ready for training. I think we are going to go take a walk. It is, after all, P-day!

Love you all tons! Thanks for all you do to support and help each other!
Mom/Grandma

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