To the Ballet and Back to Kuskova

Sam called up on Friday to see if we wanted to go to the ballet...for free! Is he kidding?!? Well almost. It cost 100 roubles as it turned out (about $4). It was at a theater called the Bolshoy Theater, but this, as we found out, was the Triple AAA league, the Big Bolshoy Theater was across the street (still under construction). But it was still fun. The Masons, Nearons, Irelands, Yorgesons and your truly were all in attendance. Chris stayed home, she was feeling abit off, sort of like I was feeling the week before.

The theater was very convenient from the Metro, about 50 yards!! Not much of a challenge for senior missionaries!!

The ballet was Sleeping Beauty, with one scene from Little Red Riding Hood, thrown in for good measure (we never did figure out what that was all about).
The Nearons making their way to the balcony.
Sleeping Beauty with her prince.
Exiting the theatre.

We started our evening at Maxims, a little Italian food restaurant at the Cokol Metro stop. I had already eaten some stew that Chris had made, so I thought I would just have dessert. Others had discovered milkshakes on the menu, so I changed my mind and order one as well. It was the worst chocolate milkshake any of us have ever had. I would compare it to about an inch of milkshake at the bottom of a glass, diluted with water to nearly the top, with whipped cream (to cover the crime!!). It was just awful. We redeemed ourselves the next day with a real milkshake at McDonalds. A large, satisfying milkshake at McDonalds is only 50 roubles. The diluted version at Maxims was 170 roubles, plus tip!! It's hard to beat McDonalds for value, in Moscow. To be fair, though, everyone loved their dinner.

Kuskova is the 18th century estate of the Sheremeteva family, a wealthy and powerful family that hosted, among other notables, Catherine the Great. So you might say he was a player. The Gardens are designed in a French style, ala Versailles, but not quite measuring up, but grand nevertheless. There are numerous buildings on the estate sprinkled throughout the gardens. The Mason's, Irelands and Shepards put on a few miles walking to and from the estate from the metro station and a few more after we arrived!!

Here are a few pictures from yesterday's excursion.
Outside the Mansion.
The Grand Ball room.
Room with a view. (From the Grand Ball room).
Oblisk close up.
Houseboat for birds.
A Place of Brides
Limo's everywhere with the familiar gold rings on the top!
The Pond, which is out the front door!
Another outbuilding!

We Have Neighbors!!

Well after two days of negotiations, we finally have new neighbors. The Nearons moved in last night. Sister Nearon is completely settled in and they even have a few groceries!! So now the work begins! They are going to be a great addition to our group of senior missionaries. Hats-off to Denise Smogluck who made their transition to Moscow as uneventful as is possible, in Moscow, and for his work in "finalizing" the several drafts of their lease agreements (English and Russian. I hope they got a good night's sleep last night.

On Wednesday, we bid farewell to Jonathan and Whitney. The successful internship is over. They will be traveling for a couple of weeks in the Ukraine and then St. Petersburg before returning to Moscow for the long flight home. During that time they will celebrate their 1 year wedding anniversary. Congrats to both of you.



We had a nice farewell lunch for them, with salads and chicken and cakes and cookies. They received an original watercolor of Red Square from the group. We sang a very emotional Russian song to begin our lunch and ended with "Happy Trails to You", accompanied by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans on the internet! Sister Shepard thought Jonathan wouldn't know this song, but she was wrong. We thought we would end on this song because it was was lighter and peppier than the heavier, more emotional Russian song, but we shed more tears with Happy Trails than with the former!!

Sam called last night to organize an outing for Saturday. He would like to go to Kuskova, that is the place that we got to at closing time, a few weeks ago. It is billed as one of the top 10 destinations in Moscow.

We got an email from Zack last night. He indicated that he got an A in his Spanish class. That is great news. Keep up the good work. He is taking a second class now and says he is actually learning some new stuff. Zack, a good education may eliminate those 25-hour weekend shifts, in the future!! Thanks for checking out the RV!

FHE at the Shepards

Today, I spent quite a bit of time with Elder and Sister Nearon. They are a new senior couple to join the ranks of the Moscow senior couples. The will be working in the legal department. Elder Nearon is a retired attorney. Sister Nearon loves to paint (but not all the time!). She will also be assisting in the legal department with her husband.

We were able to show them the apartment right next door to us and they were won over. The problem is that their future landloard is in Portugal on vacation for another 10 days. But I have spoken to Galena by phone and she will get it ready for them in the next couple of days (she has relatives that will help her). So the 18th floor will have two senior couples!! It will be a long commute for us when the Nearons host FHE!!

Tonight we have FHE. Chris is in charge. She has asked the other seniors to bring a family history story with them to share. She also made cookies and we have ice cream.

More later.

More Senior Moments on the "Rail" to Yasnaya Polyana

Destination Cokol, 7:45 in the a.m. to rendevous with the other senior couples before heading out to the railway station.

Timelog:

7:10 a.m., The Shepards leave their apartment and head for the bus stop amid loud thunder, lightening and a heavy downpour. On the way we climb over a fallen tree that completely blocks our path to the bus stop. Chris makes it on her third attempt. We count our blessings that it was not our car under the tree!!

7:15 a.m., We miss the bus. I am banging on the bus (right next to the driver) with my umbrella to get his attention as he makes his preparations to leave the bus stop. I get his attention. He ignores me and leaves. Fortunately, a marshutka drives up within the next minute. For 90 roubles we are on our way. (The bus would have cost about 30 roubles!!)

7:28 a.m., We arrive at metro station. We are about 10 minutes from Cokol.

7:39 a.m., We arrive at Cokol. We greet the Yorgesens, who are always,anywhere, first!! Then it occurs to me that I don't have my passport. It is in my suit pocket. I am wearing jeans!! I look at my phone (my replacement phone; more about that later). It is 7:40 a.m. I make a quick caluclation and determine that I just might be able to get back to the apartment and then back to the train station by 9:00a.m., the departure time for the trip to Yasnaya Polyana.

7:40 a.m. Conditioned not to overthink relatively simple solutions to a problem, I am back on the train, headed for Rechnoy Vokzal.

7:50 a.m. I run from the metro to look for a bus...no bus. I keep running hoping to find a gypsy taxi...no taxi. I continue to run until I get to Smolnaya, the street that the office is on. I check my rearview mirror (I turn my head) and see a 233 bus. My lungs are ready to explode. I have been running for about 1/4 mile. I jump on the bus for two more stops. I hop off the bus, jump over the tree (again)and run to the apartment. Now, not only are my lungs bursting, but my legs are getting a little wobbly too. I get to the apartment, grab my passport and lock the door.

8:02 a.m. I enter the elevator. Down I go. It seems so slow. Then I dash through the lobby and I am back outside running down our driveway, praying against all hope that a gypsy taxi might be sighted. (I have never seen a gypsy taxi in our driveway, hence "against all hope.") But then a miracle happens...I see a real taxi...could it be that the taxi has just delivered someone to their door and is looking for a rider? No such luck. He turns back toward the apartment instead of the exit. No matter, I am still running. In a few heartpounding minutes I am climbing the tree again!! This time it catches me. I unhook my self from a branch and continue on my way. Good fortune has smiled upon me...a bus arrives within 15 seconds of my arrival. Unfortunately, by the time we get to the Smolnaya stop (one stop from Rechnoy Vokzal, he idles his bus for a minute or two, because he is ahead of schedule!!!!!!!!)

8:10 a.m. Miraculously I am back to the metro station and just 10 minutes away from Cokol, which is where this story began.

8:20 a.m. I arrive at Cokol. The only question now is how long does it take to get to the train station. Traveling from stop to stop I try to connect with the group via my cell phone. Unfortunately, it only works at each stop, not while you are in the "tunnel". I try several times, but they must still be in an area where they have no cell coverage. This is not a good sign.

8:30: I arrive at Teatralnaya station. I have to switch to the blue line. I find it without incident, but again my lungs are bursting and my legs are getting tired. I find the station. Only one stop to go...but it is long one. It goes all the way back out to the brown ring, the equivalent to three stops. But because we don't stop, I arrive at Kruskaya metro station at 8:40 a.m. and begin my run out of the depths of the metro station. The first escalator is a long one. There is a huge crowd so I decide to bypass the crowd and just run up the steps of an adjacent escalator that is turned off. What I don't see is how really long this escalator is. About three quarters of the way up, my energy spent, I have to resort to walking. My legs are like lead. The steps are getting smaller, but they are harder to ascend. My only consolation is that it was truly turned off. It wasn't moving against me like it did for Sam and Narene when they were in the Baltics!!) All I want to do is to sit down. But not now...not after all of this...too close to my goal. A few minutes later I am outside.

8:45 a.m., Now just a hundred yard sprint to the railway station. By now Sam has contacted me by cell phone. He says not to worry, I am going to make it. He, Narene and Chris meet me at the entrance and whisk me off to the platform.

8:50 a.m. We are on the platform. A long walk to the end of the train (the second to last car), we find our seats.

8:55 a.m. We are comfortably seated. Of course, no one wants to sit too close to me!!

9:00 a.m. The train pulls out...NO ONE CHECKS FOR PASSPORTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And no one checked for passports when we came back either.

At approximately 11:30 all the seniors disembark onto the platform. The sun has broken through. It is going to be a glorious day. Then we hear our attendant calling to us. Somehow she communicates to one of us that we have gotten off one stop too soon. We all scramble back on to the train, just before the doors close. Elder Gregory remarks, "We have been know to leave performances too early before." If you have been keeping up with this blog, you will know what he is talking about!!

Earlier that morning I began studying my lesson that I was going to teach for Gospel Doctrine. I mean really early. I went to bed at 9:30 (too early as it turned out) and I woke up at 2:30 a.m., tossed and turned for about a half hour and finally gave in and just got up and studied my lesson. We are studying Alma 30, about Korihor, the anti-christ. A lot of thoughts and ideas came to me and I wrote them down (about 4 pages worth) and decided to bring my scriptures and my notes on the train. I had a captive audience, so I shared, with Sam, Narene and Chris, what I had learned. So I got to practice my lesson, before I actually gave my lesson. They were very kind and we had a great discussion, not too mention we occupied about 2 hours of the train ride. As it turned out, it was a great rehearsal, as Sunday's lesson went well.

When we finally did get to our destination, having Jonathan there to organize and communicate our needs with the bus driver, the tour guide and subsequently, the restaurant, was of great value.

Our tour guide took us on the brief walk to the Tolstoy's summer dacha. There are several buildings on the compound. We went to two of them. The home has been kept very nearly as it was when Tolstoy lived there. It was large but I thought somewhat modest. There was a beautiful grandfather clock at the top of the stairs, on the second floor that was still keeping perfect time, according to our guide. There was a phonograph and a mimeograph machine from Thomas Edison. He had a large family, I believe 11 in all, five of whom died in their early youth. Because of his respect for his wife and the duties she fulfilled, the head of the table was reserved for her. Tolstoy sat next to her on the side.
Green seeds on the pond.
Chris and Narene by the pond waiting for our guide.
The pond.
Our group marching up to the house on birch tree lined drive.
Whitney and Jonathan's stylish shoes, required for entry into the dacha.
Our group walking on the road to the dacha.
Birch tree lined drive.
Greg catching his breath!
Another pond.
Renee, Chris, Whitney and Narene.
They thought they had discovered Russian bears in the forest, but it was only Sam and I. These are the timid ones who never venture even 50M from the path!!
Chris, Sam and Narene.
Berries along the trail. Rennee thought they would be sour, but Sam proved they were sweet, just before he spit them out!!
The Dacha.
The grave.

Apparently, his handwriting was so poor that, often, he couldn't even read it after he had written it. Mrs. Tolstoy, rewrote all of his manuscripts, in addition to keep up everything else around the house and raising the children. I think it was very prudent that Tolstoy reserved the head of the table for his wife!!

The grounds were very pretty and natural. A beautiful pond and lots of forest.

Throughout the day we saw at least a dozen brides. (You can see one leaning against the dache in the picture above.) They come out to have pictures and video taken. I noticed that the video camera man was video taping a couple holding hands and leaning backwards abit, spinning in a circle, like a dance. Then he held hands with each of them and performed the same manuever. Video taping, first the wife, and then the husband. Now I think I have a pretty good idea of what the finished video will look like. Can you imagine reviewing the video years later, pondering your personal close-up, looking at, supposedly your spouse, and knowing that your were really holding hands and looking at the camera man. It kind of takes the romance out of it for me!!!

We had a great dinner at the little restaurant. I was good size portion of breaded chicken with melted cheese and mushrooms on top and the usual tomato and cucumber salad. We were supposed to be served at 4:00 and the meals were on the table just about that time (we had ordered everything earlier). We also had cold water on the tables. Very unusual, and it wouldn't have happened here, except that Jonathan had set it up that way. It was a warm day, so the water was a real treat.

The train ride back was without incident and we were back in our apartment just about 11:00. A splendid time was enjoyed by all.

They Don't Have Bones!!

We started this week with a pleasant FHE at the Mason's. We hardly gave Clark an opportunity to get to the lesson, but we did, and it was great. You just can't hardly control a group of seniors. As someone once said, it's hard to herd cats!

The next day we all headed for the train station to buy our tickets to Yasnayo Polyana, this is the summer dacha of Tolstoy. It is supposed to be a great day trip, so about 16 or more of us will be going; not all seniors, some are friends of Jonathan's and Whitney's. We will take that trip on Saturday.

After we purchased our tickets, we headed out to find the theater for the Chinese Imperial Circus. We had seen a billboard of it when we were on the Moscow River cruise.



So, we looked up the theater (The Estrada Theater) on the internet and printed out a map with the metro stations shown. We had never been to this metro station before. It was a four station metro and the absolute busiest we had ever seen. We popped up out of the metro and took a look around trying to get our bearings. Everything infront of us is fairly nondescript. Then I notice in the distance the Peter the Great Statue. I am estimating that we are on the West side of the statue near Gorky Park. (So much for my sense of direction. We were actually to the East of the statue.)

With our noses in the maps and trying to read street signs we made a decision to turn right. As we began to walk our vista began to change as the buildings began to reveal more of the city before us. We hadn't gone 20 feet and when we saw the big cathedral that we described and showed in the last post. Then I looked to my right and noiced something that I thought looked familiar. It is green garden edging on lawn filled with flowers spelling Moskva and something that looked very similar to one of St. Basil's onion domes. Then I look up and there is the Bibliotecka (the Lenin Library! (To be fair, there was a row of trees between us and the building.) In disbelief I immediately looked across the street to the see red brick walls surrounding the Kremlin Palace. We were about 1/4 mile from Red Square. We just shook our heads and smiled. Our noses were do deep into the maps. If we had just kept looking ahead...

Now we reverted back to the maps and determined that the main bridge that cross the Moscow River (which we have been on many times) is the bridge that was indicated on the map. So we began the trek. And then, the river came into view. In another moment of disbelief I looked across the river and saw the billboard, which ended up being the main signage for the theater itself. When I took the picture, the only thing I captured on film was billboard. Right above the billboard was the name of the theatre. You can see from the photo, that the roof of the boat kept me from seeing the name of the theater.

Well, so much for another senior moment. By the time we arrived at the theater, it was about 6:50 p.m. We looked at one another and with a little discussion, decided that there was no point in buying tickets and coming back. We had no other plans for the night. So we asked the cashier if they had tickets for 7:00 p.m. Ten minutes later we were in our seats. Ten minutes after that the show began.

The Chinese circus is all about acrobatics; strength, flexibility and balance, and boy do they have it. Our jaws dropped with every act. They are like human pretzels that can defy gravity. Here are a few pics I took off the iternet.






When the show was over, we were greeted by a thunderstorm with lots of lightening. We found or should I say a couple from Ireland found us. We talked for about an hour, until the rain let up. We had left our umbrellas at home and at the office!!

On a temporal note, the markets have been in turmoil every since we went to Paris...a 2,000 point drop in the DJIA...straight down in less than three weeks. Fortunately, some leadership was shown by Wells Fargo bank yesterday and their stock went up an amazing 32 percent in one day. Thank goodness. It seems to put a bottom in the market and wrung out some of the fear that led some people to believe that the sky was indeed falling (well at least I did!!). Oil also has lost 15 a barrel in the last three days. Things are looking up!! Only $129 a barrel!! I hope you kids see that reflected in the pumps soon.

Sunday and Hellman's Mayonnaise...It must be Chuck Johnson

Chuck went to church with us today. We met at the Belaruskaya station and he greeted us with a large bottle of Hellman's mayonnaise. Now we have it all...French's mustard and Log Cabin Syrup and now Hellmans!!! (Funny how comfortable I am saying Hellman's after all these years. As a kid it was always Best Foods.)

I was supposed to teach the teenagers in Sunday school today, but since there were no teenagers, I got recruited to teach Gospel Doctrine instead (also next week). We are studying in Alma where the Lamanites, who become the Anti-Nephi Lehies (and subsequently called the Ammonites), are converted to the gospel and return home with the four sons of Mosiah to Zarahemla to live with the Nephites, due to severe persecutions (war) from those who were not believers. Their conversion was so complete that no one from this group ever fell away from the church. Alma is truly one of the great books in the Book of Mormon.

We invited Chuck to come back with us and have a hotdog, but he could not be persuaded. He discovered that a less active member of his ward is on assignment in Moscow, so they were going to get together this afternoon. What a bishop!! He will literally go to the ends of the earth to find his lost sheep!

I missed a call from Nick. I called back but missed him. I stayed up until 11:30 my time (now), so I guess we will have to connect on another day.

It was beautiful in Moscow today. A little hotter than is comfortable with a suit and tie and couple of miles by foot. It is expected to get a little warmer next week. Our water still runs oold. It makes for a brisk beginning to the day. The one of the best things about spending two winters in Moscow instead of two summers is that you only get your hot water turned off once!!

The office painting was supposed to be completed by the end of day Friday (my office was the last one). My schedule over the next couple of weeks should not be as intense as it has been, so I am looking forward to working and hopefully completing a few projects that we began this last April. Chris and I also hope to complete most of the preparations for the August Annual Mission Presidents' Seminar during that time as well. We are in pretty good shape but there are lots of details to complete. We will be working on this assignment until the day before we leave!!

Hope everyone is doing well wherever you might be.

PS: Stan I will email you our office address tomorrow evening, if I remember to get it when we are at the office.

Keeping Up with Ireland's

They set a torrid pace.

On Thursday, Sam called and asked if we wanted to go on the Moscow River Cruise. We thought that would be fun, so we got off a little early and met them at the metro across the street from the boat dock. We took the cruise (which is one-way!)and walked quite awhile to get to a metro afterwards, which was about two or three stops to Red Square. We couldn't figure out our connection to get on the line to Old Arbat from Lubyanka (where the former KGB headquarters is located), so we just walked the rest of the way. We ate dinner at Sbarros and got home about 11:00 p.m. that night.

The next day, we got off early again (our painters were painting my office, so I had to go!) and went to the apartment to change our clothes for our cultural event for the evening. The Irelands had been out all day and got caught in a good rainstorm and were soaked, so they dried out and passed on going out to dinner. We ate peanut butter on toast and met them later at Cokol to head for the theater. (A good excuse for a little nap!) The Russian Folkdance presentation was at the Cosmos Hotel, across the street from the All Russian Exhibition. We saw a fabulous show and then headed for home, again about 11:00 p.m.

Earlier in the day, the Irelands decided that they were going to try to make the Suzdal trip in a day (Saturday), so that they could take their kids to church on Sunday. Chris and I stayed home this time. We'll go another time when we can go up one day and come back the next. Sam and Narene are determined to pack in as much Russian experience as they can for their kids. They walked the legs off the last group [of their kids] and are determined to do the same with this group. They still have Monday and Tuesday to go. I am sure their kids will sleep like babies all the way back to the U.S. I am pretty sure we are glad we have to work on Monday and Tuesday, so we can get some rest!!

Here are a few pics from the river cruise and dance performance.

Sam with Chris at the fountain near the metro station and the boat dock.
Fancy glass enclosed bridge spanning the Moscow River.
A boat, across the river from us, just like the one we were on.
On the top deck of the boat. Sam, Narene and Chris and the right and Curtis and Marla and Todd and Beth on the left.
One of several barge-like restaurants along the river.
University of Moscow up on Sparrow Hill.
Olympic stadium built for the 1980 Olympics that the U.S. boycotted.
Christ the Redeemer Cathedral.
St. Basil with a man flying through the air with the greatest of ease!! We hope. We didn't discover him until I started putting this post together!
One of the Sister Buildings to the East of Red Square.
Theater that we went to earlier in the year where we saw and listened to performers from Turkey.
Coming out of the Lubyanka metro station: The old KGB headquaters building.
The group coming up to the Cosmos Hotel.
At the Cosmos Hotel we were greated by this giant statue of General Charles De Gaulle.
A look back from the hotel to the TV antenna and Space Museum sculpture.
The inside of the theatre. Our group is on the 5th row of the first section.
The final bow.

For me, the most memorable moments of the show were (1)the equisite way the women dancers traveled across the stage as if they were gliding and (2) the acrobatic talent and energy associated with several dance routines that just made you want to gasp for air and sit down and rest. We were disappointed, initially, because the music was taped, then we figured out no band could play the kind of music that was required to support the dance numbers for an entire show!!

Life's Little Pleasures

On Tuesday we passed through the halfway point on our mission. We now have 9 months to go. As a reward, the Russians turned off our hot water!! So we will be without hot water for the next three weeks. This is standard operating procedure for Moscow. It happens to nearly everybody, once a year, for three weeks. We were one of the last of our friends to lose our hot water, so we were thinking that we might get lucky. No such luck!! It makes for a very refreshing start to each day. Chris got a quick hot water maker from one of the seniors so that she can wash her face with warm water. It works like a charm and heats up in no time at all.

Friday we go to the annual (it runs through the summer) Russian folk dance performance. It is at the Cosmos hotel, which is next to the All Russian Exhibition on the orange line at Prospect Mira station. We will be going with the Irelands and their kids. We will meet at the Cokol station at 5:00 p.m. then we'll grab a bite for dinner then its off to the theater.

We met Curtis and Marla and Todd and Beth (the Irelands daughters and their husbands) at FHE, last night. To our great surprise and with abundant thanksgiving we accepted a 36 oz. bottle of Log Cabin syrup!!. I once paid over two dollars an ounce for maple syrup. What a treasure. We ate pancakes for dinner tonight. It was a real treat. Thanks again Marla for taking the time to bring us such happiness!! Think of it, Log Cabin syrup from the Irelands, French's mustard from the Johnson's, Crystal Lite from our own family, an egg timer from the Gibbons and hot water in three weeks. Who could ask for more? Oh, and the theater...another of life's little pleasures.

Happy Fourth of July

When I got to the office today, this picture from Marina and Acia was in my email. They so much wanted us to have a special 4th of July. We were disappointed that we weren't there to see their decorations, due to our illness. They made up a card for us and had people in the office sign it to wish us a happy fourth. This just gives you some idea of how special the people are that we work with.

My stomach is better but not great; Chris stayed home to nurse hers!! We hope to be back to normal tomorrow!

A Quiet Sunday

Not feeling well is the pits!! I think I felt as badly today as yesterday. I was hoping that by Sunday I would be back to normal. We went to church today, because I was supposed to teach a Sunday school class, but as it turned out, the only two youth in our little branch attended gospel doctrine with their parents. So I could have and would have stayed home if I had known. I took about a three hour nap this afternoon. I feel like I have sleeping sickness!! Chris got in a nap too.

Chris is on the phone with her dad and later we will try to reach out to the Prices. Our last report on Al was good. We are hoping that he is off the respirator by now.

It has rained most of the day. It is just a quiet Sunday.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

It has been a relatively quite 4th of July weekend. I got sick on Thursday night, so we didn't go in on Friday. We were going to have the seniors over for a 4th of July hotdog celebration, but we had to cancel. The next day I was still feeling pretty weak, Chris's stomach was helping either, so we decided to stay pretty close to home. Then we got a call from John Eyer and he invited us to attend a 4th of July celebration sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce at the Kuskovo Estate (that's where the Irelands and the Shepards were last time we got together), so we called a few people, we got to the Irelands and the Snows, but then we realized we were not being wise, so we called everyone back and begged off. Ultimately, the Irelands came up to our place and we had a hotdog and some baked beans, and a piece of the cake Chris had made for the party that didn't happen. We had fun playing Rummikube, and hearing about the Ireland's adventures in the Baltic states, the previous week. Narene and Sam were both humbled by an escalator that is way too funny of a story to attempt to retell (I am sure I would have way too much fun telling it). If they get the courage to post it on their blog, I will give you the link. It is their story to tell. I must say, though, it is right up there with our famous story about being an hour behind for a week in New Mexico.

I am just finishing up my preparations for teaching a Sunday School lesson today to all of the young men and young women in our branch. There may not be too many, because this is the month everybody goes on vacation. I am still feeling pretty puny, but I hope to get stronger as the day goes along.

We did get to talk to the Nick and Lore, Sarah and Eden and Max. We got a call from Jason, from Fredricksburg, and talked briefly with Courtney. Everybody seems to be doing well.

The picture of the rainbow was taken around 9:30 p.m. just after a downpour (that happened to get the Irelands (without an umbrella) as they were walking back to the metro. The rainbow was very intense. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't do it justice. I wish I could have gotten the entire bow in the picture, but I didn't have enough wide angle to pull that off. The rainbow is coming down just about where the Ireland's apartment is, so I called them to be on the lookout for a pot of gold. I don't think they found it. That's when I found out they caught in the thunderstorm. I think dry clothes may have had more meaning than a pot of gold.

Say it Ain't So Joel

This has been a productive week. I am just about to the bottom of my immediate inbasket! One misfortune though. I was one of the beta testers for the Outlook conversion. I got the program two weeks before anyone else, to practice and to teach the others as they came online. There were a few in every office throughout the church who were offered this opportunity. The only problem was, all of the beta tester's emails got messed up and I had to reenter all my email addresses, because for some reason (a glitch) the name was the only thing that came over in the email. The @ldschurch.org and other domain names were left off. Fortunately, other than a few people who were not successful converting to Outlook altogether, we were the only ones with lasting problems. Those who weren't successfull converting the first time were generally successful on the second or third attempt!!

Today, I finished the first complete draft of the 2009 Area Calendar. The AP will review it and then we will publish it. I still have a lot to learn about the calendaring functions in Outlook. I can't get any visibility on items when I enter more than five on a given day, which is often, without having to go to a second screen! The chief of technology for the church got an email from me today entitled "Say it ain't so Joe(l)." A phrase attributed to a desperate little kid who asked Shoeless Joe Jackson, if the White Sox had thrown the 1919 World Series. Our technology chief's name is Joel.

We were told by our secretaries today that we should not come to work tomorrow. They thought that we should stay home and celebrate the 4th of July. We are going to have a hotdog party with the seniors at our apartment, tomorrow night, but we have too much to do to stay home and play. That will have to wait until Saturday. Chris says she may sneak out a little early to get ready for the crowd.

It probably wouldn't be such a bad idea, since the building maintenance people are painting the interior of our offices this week and next. The first few days they have only been prepping. They hope to get paint by tomorrow, so they can get started in earnest. I sat down at the beginning of the week with the maintenance people to prepare a plan, office by office. Time will tell whether they can execute it as we planned it.

We ate pizza the other night at a restaurant on the street next to the Cokol (pronounced Sokal) metro station, called Maxim's. It was very good. I would describe it as fresh and tasty! Elder Yorgeson and I split a pizza and Jonathan and Whitney split another one. We were on our way to meet at the Mason's for Russian study.

FHE this week was a lot of fun, a great lesson and wonderful homemade fruit pie with apples and berries. We missed the Irelands. They were in the Baltics conducting training for humanitarian missionaries. The McCunes were in Spain on a visa trip and the Gregory's were doing their thing with the YSAs.

The best news of the week was the improvement in Al Price's condition. They hope to take him off the ventilator this week and get him on his way to a full recovery. It looked pretty bleak for a while, but it looks like all of those prayers paid off!! We are still praying Al.

I talked to my dad this week and he wasn't feeling well at all. The smoke from the California fires is really sapping him of his strength. It is an allergic type condition with soreness of throat, infected sinuses, and red and itchy eyes. I told my mom if things don't improve soon she needs to get him out of there and go to the beach. Her neighbor, Bonnie, went to Half Moon Day for a couple of days, to get relief. She suffers from asthma. Dad ssid he couldn't see the houses out their back deck, because of the smoke. Apparently there are approximately 1,000 fires going on at one time, all over the state, started by lightening strikes.

The markets are still in turmoil over the financial crisis associated with subprime loans and credit tightening. The Dow is up slightly at the moment, around 11,200, down from 14,400, less than two years ago. It looks like the beginning of the end for some companies. They are talking about possible bankruptcy for both GM and AMR today. Both stocks are way down. The price of GM's stock hasn't been this low since 1954! In 1954, the most famous slogan on Wall Street was "As GM goes, so goes the nation." I sure hope not!! Other headlines: Oil was up to $143 a barrel. Unemployment is up (but only to 5.5%). The dollar is down. The sky is falling!!!!!!!

It's Over!!

The last two weeks have been the hardest two weeks of the mission. Today, we said goodbye to the new mission presidents. They are now on their way to their missions. More about that in a moment. AFter the seminar, we went directly to the office for an Area Council meeting with our four Area Seventy. Two joined us by video conference from Kyiv, the other two joined us in our office in Moscow. When we completed our meeting, I spent a little time with President Paul and President Gibbons giving them just a couple of tips for how to use Outlook (we converted to Outlook this weekend). Tomorrow morning, I will do the same for our office staff.

So, now we can take a big deep breath, before we start working on the August Mission Presidents' seminar. That one is on a much larger scale and will be under the direction of Elder Perry and Elder Rasband. The good news is that we are in pretty good shape there, but we still have a few important things we need to complete this week, before we can get comfortable with those preparations.

I have a number of projects that I started on back in April when the Area Presidency was at General Conference that have not yet been completed. So, I hope to catch up on a couple of those while they are out for their summer break.

The Conference went well. We struggled a little gathering lost baggage, but it all surface by Sunday morning, just in time for everyone to pack it up again for their final destination. Oleg, our travel and visa manager, did an excellent job tracking the luggage for two days, until it finally arrived.

Mom played all the music. Her command of the DVD was awesome. A perfect score in my books!! She was the one making a list and checking it twice, while I was occupied with a number of other things the week leading into the seminar.