Father Frost Finds a Home

Well, I put her off for just over a year and today was her day. We adopted a Father Frost, who will be one of Chris's treasures that she will return with from Moscow. It is quite a piece and very Russian.








I found a painted box, for a really good price. This craft is quite unique and caught my eye ever since we started window shopping in Moscow. There are many different schools of artists. This is one of the highest quality. It really is quite stunning. The picture does not do it justice. It is painted on gold leaf. The box itself is paper mache. That is how the light is made to shine through the windows. It's only 4 by 3 inches and about 1" deep. Sister Ireland saw me negotiating and we did a two-fer and saved an additional 400 roubles. The lady who sells the large Father Frosts, gives an angel ornament to the husbands, for free.

My box. There are three main words that you can see in the painting. Magazine is a general store. Apteka is a pharmacy. Trackteer is restaurant (normally spelled pectopan and pronounced restoran). But the tracteer is a place where you can get food when you are on the go. You just pull up your troika and fill up and take off. Just like a drive-in!!

After Ismalofski, we headed for our concert with the Irelands and the Yorgesens. We met up with Anna, the Ireland's translator (to help them communicate with individuals when they are working on humanitarian projects. Finally, we met a Russian lady (a recipient of a humanitarian project) who had the tickets for all of us. This was a sort of benefit concert with winning acts from a talent competition that took in over 40 Russian cities. There were singers, dancers, jugglers, magicians, a girl with hula hoops, and other assorted varieties. Two dancers, who were twins, were our favorites. (See video below) The young girl with the hula hoops wasn't bad either!! We ate a stardog on the way to the concert and a hamburger at McDonalds on the way home. We got in at just after 8:00 p.m. I tried to Skype some of the kids but they weren't online.

Chris and I at St. Basils.

Christ the Redeemer Church taken from the south side of the river.

The Theatre on the right hand or south side of the river. That's the Kremlin in the background.


The girls happy as clams in Ismalofski.

Mambo Dancers


Hula Hoops

Ready for the Weekend

Today I worked on a few approaches to holding Branch/Ward Council meetings. I developed two models and a simple form to track our progress with with new investigators. I will be interested to see how the presidency responds. In addition, I was able to complete a lot of miscellaneous items and my desk is pretty clear at the moment.

Tonight we watched National Treasure 2 at the Nearons. They have a large screen tv with a great picture, nice sound. We ate popcorn and felt right at home.

Tomorrow, we are off to Ismaylofski and then to the concert that the Irelands invited us to. And then I have to put the final touches on my lesson for Sunday.

The weather is still good. No word on the computer. They have been diagnosing it now for three days!? I am not holding my breath.

Chuck Johnson is headed for Russia again. He gets in Saturday. I was thinking about him bringing over a new laptop, but using President Gibbons is going to be ok. I just need quickbooks to be able to keep up with our checking accounts. I hope to hear on that in a day or two.

Conspiracy Theorists

Update: The market gained another 100 points before the close yesterday, for a 900 point swing, not 800 points as previously reported.

Now for the theory. The theorists have noted that all three of these large swings in the market have occurred close to the 15th or the 30th of each month. Somehow, those who are big enough (hedgefunds), begin buying at the lows, throw huge sums of money into the market, get the market rolling, thinking that maybe a bottom has occurred. They make a killing on the way up. Then huge deposits are put into 401k's on the 15th and 30th. Millions of unsuspecting investors place there bets at the highest prices. Mutual funds are forced to invest the cash that they recieve. Then, those who are responsible for manipulating the market, short the market all the way down, making a killing for a second time. The average Joe, gets whipped sawed in between. Yesterday, there was absolutely no good news in the market. The journalists on CNBC kept asking, what is causing this rally? The blogs and comments in various articles were asking the same question.

My conclusion is that whether there is market manipulation or not, the range of trading is far too wide for the average investor. I remain on the sideline.

The Weather Can't Be Beat

It is November 13. Today was the second or third day of pure sunshine. The temperature got up over 45 degrees. Still no snow. Last year at this time, with what the Russians called a mild winter, we had already had two big snow storms and it was snowing every day and winter white for as far as the eyes could see. Yuri, one of our drivers said that he remembers a year when there was no real snow (accumulation) until Jan 1. That would make all of the seniors very happy.

The new Medical Advisor and his wife (the Rees') arrived in Moscow this week. They are just getting settled and will probably begin joining in Senior Couple activities next week. They seem ready for their big adventure.

Today, I worked on some of the details for the hotel. It looks like we will need up to four contracts to do business with this very Russian establishment. One for equipment, one for cultural events, one for sleeping rooms and one for banquets. All of these end up being separate legal entities. I continue to be amazed at how difficult it is to do business in Russia.

In a couple of weeks we head back to Madrid for another visa trip. This time we are going with the Yorgesens and the Monsons. This will be the first time to travel with other couples, so that should be fun.

The markets rebounded 800 points (from approximately a 350 point loss to 450 point gain), on what news I do not know. There is nothing very rational when it comes to the market. I looked at the front page of Marketwatch.com and could not find one piece of good news. Burgeoning deficits, the last stand for GM, unemployment surprises (more not less), etc. It makes one wonder just how level the playing field is for the average investor.

This is the third nearly trillion dollar run up in the last three weeks!! Will it be followed by another trillion dollar loss? Stay tuned!!

The Process of Recovery.

No. I am not talking about the markets. I am talking about my new computer "loaner." I am reminded about how much your computer becomes customized to the way you work over time. A new computer takes a lot of time to get it to perform according to your will and pleasure! I am about 2/3's through the process. I have still have a few more pieces of software to install and a webcam that needs a driver.

The good news is that I am back on line. I have kept up the blog in a word document and have posted the last several days activity.

November 10, 2008

It has been quite a while since I played Scrabble with Chris and won. I used to win quite frequently, because I would always get the double and triple word scores. Then she learned the strategy and has whipped me quite handily ever since. But tonight was my night. She was beat so soundly that she didn’t want to play another game. So I suggested Rummicube, but she was not interested in that either (she has yet to beat me at that game). Then she came out with a brand new game that hadn’t been opened yet…Boggle. This was a word game that she was sure she would win…and she did. I was competitive until about half way through the game then she pulled away, never to be threatened again.

I am staying at the apartment this morning in hopes of getting someone over to set up the internet. I need the ip addresses, DNS numbers etc. Hopefully, since the internet company is in the building right next door, this shouldn’t be a problem. Until we get the internet, I can’t start the steps of recovery, from my failed computer. Also, a person is supposed to come by this morning and pick up my laptop. He has been instructed to take out my hard drive first (and leave it with me), because I have sensitive data that I don’t want people messing with, and you never know in Russia.

We have now been in Moscow for more than 400 days. We have just less than 5 months remaining on our mission. That is really hard to believe. I am afraid these last few months will go by really fast. We have a number of activities planned to keep us occupied. In November, we have Beauty and the Beast followed by another visa trip to Madrid. In December, we have the Nutcracker, the Moscow Choir, and a service project followed by our annual January 7-day holiday. In February we have the Interim Mission Presidents’ Seminar and our last visa trip, probably back to Tallin, though we will request Prague, since we haven’t been there yet. In mid-March, our replacements will be here. I suspect we will be winging our way home by the March 30, just 141 days. But who’s counting!!.

Nov 9, 2008

As it turned out we had enough for a bowl! Our party was a lot of fun. When you get a crowd together that is made up of seniors in their 60’s and 70’s there is a lot of history to cover. We shared stories continuously for about 4 hours!! There were poignant moments when Sam told the story of how he had been buried alive in wheat! Only his hand sticking up through the wheat saved him. Then there were less reverent stories like the one Clark shared about a friend of his, when talking to a girl about fast horses told her that one horse was faster than U. P. He had to do some fast talking to explain that U.P. was the name given to a horse that had once belonged to the Union Pacific Railroad. Sam also told us about the South Dakota blizzard of 1949. It blew for 4 days resulting in drifts 20 and 30 feet high. It was of such magnitude that he got to stay home from school for a month! I told him I didn’t realize that my arrival was heralded with such cataclysmic events!!

Today is my first Preach My Gospel class. I am curious to know how many people will sign up voluntarily. Most people like to go to Gospel Doctrine, where they can meet with all of their friends. Unfortunately, most meet expecting the instructor to do the heavy lifting. That will be quite different from the approach I will be taking in Preach My Gospel. To learn how to “preach my gospel” requires study and practice…We will see how the class responds to this more active approach.

We had about 14 people in my class today. I suspect that I will lose 4 or 5 so we should end up with a good number. Eight to 10 would be ideal. It looks like everybody is up for making it more like a workshop, than a class of lectures. So next week they have their assignment to make a 2-minute talk. Then we will tackle the next lesson which is on effective study. The following week we will begin the first discussion.

November 8, 2008

By this time last year, we had already experienced two big snows of about 6 inches each, and by November it was snowing just about everyday between ½ inch and 1 inch. It was mostly well below freezing each day, and that was considered a mild winter. So far this year, we have had no snow (it has snowed, but with no accumulation) and the weather has been between 32 and 35 degrees in the morning and in the 40’s by the time we leave the office. I still am not wearing gloves or a hat. Today is a beautiful clear day. The sun is rising in east as I write this post. It will be in the forties today. I can hear the familiar “scratching” sound from outside that is made by the wooden stick brooms they use to sweep up the leaves. Soon that sound will be replaced by an even louder “scraping” sound when they begin clearing the snow.

Today, we pay rent, go to a morning baptism and will probably rendezvous with the Irelands in the afternoon, for a bowl of soup. If I get lucky, I will get the computer configured for the internet.

We are down to a cup of soup now. We have the Nearon’s, Yorgesen’s, Ireland’s, Mason’s and Gregory’s coming. The Curbishley’s are on their way to Tula. We learned that it was Sam’s birthday, and that’s all the seniors need to know to have a party.

I talked to my landlord this morning about having another couple lease his apartment. He seemed to be receptive to the idea. I talked on the phone to his mother-in-law who is pretty conversant in English. She will take the message to her daughter and get back to me next week. They did indicate that they might want to raise the rent!

November 7, 2008

In two days, we mark the day that we moved into our apartment just one year ago. Then we were just getting settled. We were wide-eyed innocents then. Now we are battle proven veterans of the streets. Only one couple in Moscow is now senior to us, the Curbishleys. Now we are thinking about things we need to accomplish and to do to get ready to leave. Our replacements have already been identified. Training will take place in March and we will go home in April. So it looks like we will have one more visa trip right before we head for home.

Lidia went with me to the ticket office near Pushkin Square to help me purchase ballet tickets to see the Nutcracker Suite on December 31. All of the tickets were in order and we were able to make our purchase quickly. But it would have been a challenge without her language skills and having set up the purchase before hand. We ended up with 25 tickets!

This week tragedy struck when my computer failed to boot up. In the first three years every major component of the computer was replaced while under warranty (the big beautiful screen was replaced twice!!). Now it is 2 more years and a couple of months older. I will have it checked out; it may be something simple like a bad power pack. As of now, there is no juice getting to the computer. Well, it may be getting to the computer, but not farther than the receptacle. I have been using Linda Nearon’s Mac and it is wonderful. She has just about convinced me to go back to a Mac, after a 13 year absence. Much of it still looks familiar. It wouldn’t take long to get used to it again. Imagine going back to days when I didn’t know what a virus was and I never had to defrag a drive. I could really enjoy that!!

The good news is that I had purchased the back up drive just a couple of weeks ago on Oct 23, 2007 and backed up all of my data. Unfortunately, I haven’t backed up anything since then, so I have a few things to re-create. I just finished catching up on my expenses. The biggest thing is to download Quickbooks so that I can continue to keep up with my check registers. I wouldn’t want to miss the 98 cents each month I earn in my money market account with Chase!!!

Fortunately, President Gibbons had a laptop he was not using, so now I am trying to get it configured so that I can get the internet again, and I will need to update some software. If I can find a courier, I will try to get a Mac purchased in the states and have it brought over.

Tonight we had one of the biggest video conferences since the installation of our video conferencing equipment in each of the Missions. It was broadcast from Kyiv. President Powell presided and Sisters from the General Primary and Relief Society Presidency provided training for Rostov, Samara, Moscow and Moscow West Missions. Tomorrow they will conference with Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk. In the morning YSA representatives from across all of Russia and the Baltics will meet by video conference to participate in a planning meeting for an Area Wide YSA Conference that will be held in St. Petersburg in 2009. I am sure that the cost of the video conferencing equipment will be paid for with travel expense savings alone, by the end of the year.

I have lots of Decisionpoint ahead of me, but no access to the internet, so unless I get lucky tomorrow, the minutes will have to wait until Monday. It is amazing how left out one can feel with no window to the world (the internet). I have grown accustomed to getting answers to all of life’s questions at the click of a mouse. I guess I am just an internet junkie!!

A New President and Proposition 8 Passes in CA

Barack Obama is the President-Elect of the United States of America. It truly is evidence, as he said in his acceptance speech, that you can be anything you want to be in America. Little African-American children can now say, "Someday, when I grow up, I want to be President, just like President Obama." I think that is pretty cool.

Now let's see what we can do to get this nation on a right footing. No more hyperbole; just good ideas and hard work. The market is down 325 points at this writing after a week of gains.

Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage referendum in California, was a hotly contested moral issue that passed by about 400,000 votes or 4 percent of the voters. Not being in California and being in Moscow for the past year, I had to spend a little time catching up over the last few weeks trying to understand the referendum and its history. I have read a number of blogs and have seen the most hateful messages and many falsehoods about the Church, which happened to have energized the members of the Church in California for the purpose of passing the Proposition, without which, the measure would have been defeated I am sure. Members of the Church purportedly contributed nearly half of the money raised to pass the initiative. There were websites that listed how much individuals contributed and if they were a Mormon. They missed a few! Funny thing, they didn't seem to track down the Catholics or the Protestants who also contributed in significant ways to pass the initiative. A video was produced that depicts two guys that were supposed to be Mormon missionaries stealing jewelery from two gay women and rummaging through their personal items until they found and then ripped up their marriage certificate. I mean, really... I was impressed with how offended people were with the ad, many of whom were against Prop 8.

An early start tomorrow. Conference all at 7:00 a.m. Good Night.

New Gadget

If you look just above the weather report, you will see a new "gadget" that I have posted. It is a news service feed which posts Russian news articles, various reports that are issued by the Embassy, and a convenient place to check out the exchange rate, which I am glad to say has crested about 27 roubles to the dollar. On our mission it has been as low as 23.2. So now you can stay as up-to-date as we are!!

Sergey Posad Revisited

We had a great time with the Gibbons. We had a roast beef dinner on Sunday night. I did my best to stay on my diet. I passed on the chocolate cake and ice cream. The next morning I ate hardboiled eggs which I brought for my breakfast. The rest ate cereal topped with fruit and toast with apricot jam. It was not fun watching all of this. After eating I began feeling a bit off. Low blood sugar and a little bit of an uneasy stomach after our ride to Sergey Posad. So I broke down and ate a couple of cookies and a snickers bar!! (I had been perfect for 5 days up to that moment). I have had this experience before brought on by the diet, as a result of the body being shocked into a state of ketosis. Had I been in a place where I could have just laid down for a while, I probably would have been OK, but I needed some sugar if we were going to be walking very far...which was exactly what we were going to do.

Larry thought it would be good idea to get an English speaking guide, so we did and it saved us lots of waiting in line and we actually learned a few things, that we missed last time. Below is a photo essay of the grand iconostasis that we didn't see last time. The last time we were there this part of the building was closed.

The Iconostasis with ancient chandelier.
The Iconostasis showing the handcarved detail. Everything you see in gold is handcarved wood.
This is a close-up of the handcarved wood.
Exit from the Iconostasis showing the elaborate wall designs.
The iconostasis from just inside the main hall.
The main hall of worship. The iconostasis is at the end of this photo.
Outside with our guide.
LaDawn sporting a Russian woman's version of a Davy Crockett mink hat!!

Our guide was very friendly and full of tidbits of information. One that I was reminded of is the slanted crossbeam on their cross, representing the criminals on both sides of Christ during his crucifixion. One headed for paradaise and the other headed for...well you know. The top cross beam is supposed to represent the sign above Christ's head.

According to wikipedia, this has not always been the case.
The Eastern Orthodox cross (also known as Crux Orthodoxa, the Byzantine cross, the Eastern cross, and the "Russian" cross) can be considered a modified version of the Patriarchal cross, having two smaller crossbeams, one at the top and one near the bottom, in addition to the longer crossbeam. The lower crossbeam represents the footrest (suppendaneum) to which the feet of Jesus were nailed. In most earlier representations (and still currently in the Greek Church) the crossbar near the bottom is straight. In later Russian and other traditions, it came to be depicted as slanted, with the side to the viewer's left usually being higher. One tradition says that this comes from the idea that as Jesus took his last breath, the bar his feet were nailed to broke, thus slanting to the side. It is also said that the slanted bar represents the repentant thief and the unrepentant thief that were crucified with Christ, the one to Jesus' right hand repenting and rising to be with God, and one on his left falling to Hell and separation from God.

I finally finished the post on the Gorky and Puskin house museums, if you are interested. About 4 or 5 posts back.

Off to Gibbons and on to Sergey Posad

Yesterday, we worked on the Russian Saturday before a holiday routine. But now we have Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off. They have several mandated Saturday work days related to giving holidays. We have missed every other one because we have been on visa trips. I did manage to book 29 tickets at the Stanislavsky Theater for the Nutcracker Suite on December 31, New Year's Eve. All of the seniors and the Piepers and Gibbons (with visiting family), and Marina and her family will take part. We are going to a matinee performance, then McDonalds, then back to someone's apartment for more fun and games. Last year we watched the festivities at Red Square on tv. Not the place where a group of senior missionaries should hang out. I will pick up the tickets on Thursday. The price for the Stanislavsky is 3600 roubles for each couple; the price for the a similar production at the Bolshoy is would be about 12,000.

We are settled on Thanksgiving. We are splitting up our seniors and inviting districts of missionaries for dinner. We are actually going to get together with the Yorgesens to host the missionaries on the north end of town. The Nearons will go to their branch, which is in a nice, large house near woods, with a full kitchen, to host their group.

Today, we will go to church, (this is my first week for teaching from Preach My Gospel) and then we will go back home with the Gibbons for a sleepover and head out to Sergey Posad in the morning. We have been there once before. You can check out our previous posts for an update with pictures.

Employment Night

For the better part of seven years, I spent most of my Tuesday nights at the Stake Center working on resumes, teachings the skills of networking and interviewing, etc. with individuals in our stake that were looking to change their employment status. For the past two days, I have worked with my daughter and her husband on a cover letter and his resume. It was just like old times.

I had a good chat last night going over the "final" copy of both documents with Julie Poole, the manager of the Church's Employment Center in Dallas. As always, Julie had lots of good ideas to make the documents even better. Armando is trying to get a position with Medical City, a hospital in our area, in an effort to get enrolled in a Dallas Community College's RN degree program. Britt Berrett, the CEO of Medical City, and a member of our ward, has been counseling with Armando behind the scenes. It looks like everyone is pulling together, in a great effort, to help Armando achieve his career objective. This is exactly the way the process should work. After reading the "final" cover letter and the resume, I was ready to extend Armando an offer! Of course, I am more than a little biased.

Day four of the diet, a day of fasting. It takes about 4 days for ketosis to set in. Fasting on day four just jump starts the process. Ketosis is the body's fat burning process, which typically is not very efficient. Since we are always dumping large amounts of carbohydrates into our system, it doesn't engage very often (it gets lazy). When fully engaged, it will burn about a pound of fat a day, even while you are sleeping. What a process!!

Last night we went to the Irelands for dinner with the Masons and the Yorgesons and Linda Nearon. Sister Ireland had made a large pot of chili beans. She made up a wonderful dessert. Of course I drank water and brought my own meal (hotdogs which I heated in the microwave) and no dessert. Then I poured some chili bean sauce over the top, but no beans!! (too many carbs!)

Weather and Other Unpredictable Events

Well, the weather in Moscow is certainly more predictable than the market. It zoomed ahead 900 points yesterday (just another trillion up; now we will wait for the 'down'). We have no snow in the forecast until November 7. It is still in the forties and fifties. This time last year it was very cold and it had already snowed before we arrived in early October. We have been told that during unusually warm winters there has been little evidence of snow until the first of January. We can only hope!

We have been accepted at the hotel where we will be having the Interim Mission Presidents' Seminar in February. I cannot disclose it at this moment, because I am not ready to reveal it to some who frequent this blog. Let me just say that this is a very Russian hotel. We had to prepare a letter of introduction and it had to be signed and stamped (we have told you before, Russians are big on stamps!!) by our officials so that it could formally accepted and signed by the hotel's general manager. We must have met their standard! When we do make our announcement, sometime in the not too distant future, I will post some pictures. I am sure you will be impressed.

Did I mention that I had to buy a hard drive to backup my computer? Thankfully, I was able to buy a standard American brand that I should be able to use on any computer (320 gigs). My computer has been acting up lately. Two times it failed to boot. But with a prayer and gentle kick, I got it start both times. Now I just leave it on all the time. Maybe that's where they got the term "boot-up a computer!" Oh well, we have been praying over this computer for months now. The screen started to flicker while we were in the MTC. Thankfully, I was able to get a monitor, so I have avoided that problem for the time being.

We had FHE with the Masons and the Irelands last night. It was a small group, but we had a yummy chocolate cake with mounds of cherry filling and ice cream. It made me a believer, once again, that it is time to go on a diet. Today is day one and I have been perfect!!

Another mission blessing... David Nearon has a bad knee that has been ailing him for sometime. The cold weather and soon the snow and ice would have been a real challenge. So he has booked a driver to go to and from the office. There is just enough room for four!! Guess who the other two are? Thanks David and Linda.

Senior Adventures: The Gorky House Museum and the Pushkin House Museum

This is a catch up post from our trip to the Gorky House Museum, the Pushkin House Museum and a little walk by the Kremlin and Red Square. The next sequence was the taken outside in the courtyard where we found the photography display of Michael Kenna (the following week).
Our little group with Chuck Johnson accompanying us during his visit to Moscow.
Fall colors in the courtyard of the Gorky's Home.
The famous stone staircase in the Gorky House, with a most unusual lamp!!
Chris taking a picture of Sam and Narene.
Two kids that happened to have become seniors, sitting illegally on the stone staircase. (We didn't know until after the picture was taken!)
Beautiful wooden door carvings and appliques.
Close up of applique.
Chuck, also having an unauthorized rest on the staircase!

On our way to the Pushkin House Museum, we spotted a number of interesting sights. This first one was an unexpected monument (of whom we never did find out); stuck on the corner of an apartment building.

The other night at FHE, we identified a number of memories that we would take back with us from Moscow. One was crumbling cement...everywhere!! We were also warned early on to be careful of falling objects when you walk next to buildings. You can see why! And this is one of their newer buildings.

Typical Russian glitz applied to a strip mall!
Babushka dancing for a coin with her husband playing the accordion. She was still dancing a couple of hours later when we came back down the same road! (very slowly!)
Pushkin lived on Old Arbat street in a very nice home. He wrote many things, but he is beloved for his children's fairytales. Here are a few pictures from inside the home.
Pushkin statue.
Large room for social events.
One of many interesting lamps.
This man is using the same type broom as the babushkas are using today...600 years later (a painting hanging in the home).
Our little touring group, less the Masons. Where are the Masons!!?

Later that day we headed for Red Square, which is just about a mile from Arbat.

Along the way we spotted this guy with a Russian size hat.
Then when we got to the fountains we saw these two flirting with one another.
They suddenly realized they had been caught, so donned their shades so that they wouldn't be recognized!! Our last pictures of the fountains between Red Square and the Kremlin. They will be turned off shortly due to freezing weather. They won't be turned back until until after our departure.

For Seniors Only: SERENITY OR SENILITY

Wisdom my father-in-law found on the internet:

Just before the funeral services, the undertaker came up to the very elderly widow and asked, 'How old was your husband?' '98,' she replied. 'Two years older than me.' 'So you're 96,' the undertaker commented. She responded, 'Hardly worth going home, is it?'

Reporters interviewing a 104-year-old woman: 'And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?' the reporter asked. She simply replied, 'No peer pressure.'

Three old guys are out walking. First one says, 'Windy, isn't it?' Second one says, 'No, it's Thursday!' Third one says, 'So am I. Let's go get a soda.'

I've sure gotten old! I've had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees, fought prostate cancer and diabetes. I'm half blind, can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts. Have bouts with dementia. Have poor circulation; hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. Can't remember if I'm 85 or 92. Have lost all my friends. But, thank goodness, I still have my driver's license.

I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape, so I got my doctor's permission to join a fitness club and start exercising. I decided to take an aerobics class for seniors. I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour. But, by the time I got my leotards on, the class was over.

An elderly woman decided to prepare her will and told her preacher she had two final requests. First, she wanted to be cremated, and second, she wanted her ashes scattered over Wal-Mart. 'Wal-Mart?' the preacher exclaimed. 'Why Wal-Mart?' 'Then I'll be sure my daughters visit me twice a week.'

My memory's not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.

A man was telling his neighbor, 'I just bought a new hearing aid... It cost> me four thousand dollars, but its state of the art. It's perfect.'> 'Really,' answered the neighbor. 'What kind is it?' 'Twelve thirty', he replied.

It's scary when you start making the same noises as a coffee maker.

An elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed him to hear 100%... He went back in a month and the doctor said, 'Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.'>The gentleman replied, 'Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times!'

It can't get any better than that. I can hardly wait...social security...medicare...great-grandchildren (will we remember their names?!)

FHE at the Ireland's: Don't Quit, Keep Playing

I have a number of posts to catch up on. This first entry is from Narene Ireland, which she shared at Family Home Evening on Tuesday. She sent a copy to all of the seniors and I have posted this for you to enjoy.

Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her.

Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked "No Admittance." When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing.

Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing."

Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was mesmerized.

That's the way it is with our Heavenly Father. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren't exactly graceful flowing music. But with the hand of the Master, our life's work truly can be beautiful.

Next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You can hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing." Feel His loving arms around you. Know that His strong hands are there helping you turn your feeble attempts into true masterpieces.

Remember, God doesn't call the equipped. He equips the called. And He'll always be there to love and guide you on to great things. [Title and Author Unknown]

Careful Who You Listen To...

Elder and Sister Shepard donning Sister Yorgesen's handmade caps for the Russian orphanage! (or trying to stay optimistic in turbulent economic times!!)

The following statements lead me to believe that the economic malaise that we are in will end on its own timetable...not the timetable espoused by the media, pundits, or political hacks.

September 1929
“There is no cause to worry. The high tide of prosperity will continue.” –- Andrew W. Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury.

October 14, 1929
“Secretary Lamont and officials of the Commerce Department today denied rumors that a severe depression in business and industrial activity was impending, which had been based on a mistaken interpretation of a review of industrial and credit conditions issued earlier in the day by the Federal Reserve Board.” –- New York Times

December 5, 1929
“The Government’s business is in sound condition.” –- Andrew W. Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury

December 28, 1929
“Maintenance of a general high level of business in the United States during December was reviewed today by Robert P. Lamont, Secretary of Commerce, as an indication that American industry had reached a point where a break in New York stock prices does not necessarily mean a national depression.” –- Associated Press dispatch.

January 13, 1930
“Reports to the Department of Commerce indicate that business is in a satisfactory condition, Secretary Lamont said today.” – News item.

January 21, 1930
“Definite signs that business and industry have turned the corner from the temporary period of emergency that followed deflation of the speculative market were seen today by President Hoover. The President said the reports to the Cabinet showed the tide of employment had changed in the right direction.” – News dispatch from Washington.

January 24, 1930
“Trade recovery now complete President told. Business survey conference reports industry has progressed by own power. No Stimulants Needed! Progress in all lines by the early spring forecast.” – New York Herald Tribune.

March 8, 1930
“President Hoover predicted today that the worst effect of the crash upon unemployment will have been passed during the next sixty days.” – Washington Dispatch.

May 1, 1930
“While the crash only took place six months ago, I am convinced we have now passed the worst and with continued unity of effort we shall rapidly recover. There is one certainty of the future of a people of the resources, intelligence and character of the people of the United States – that is, prosperity.” – President Hoover

June 29, 1930
“The worst is over without a doubt.” – James J. Davis, Secretary of Labor.

August 29, 1930
“American labor may now look to the future with confidence.” – James J. Davis, Secretary of Labor.

September 12, 1930
“We have hit bottom and are on the upswing.” – James J. Davis, Secretary of Labor.

October 16, 1930
“Looking to the future I see in the further acceleration of science continuous jobs for our workers. Science will cure unemployment.” – Charles M. Schwab.

October 20, 1930
“President Hoover today designated Robert W. Lamont, Secretary of Commerce, as chairman of the President’s special committee on unemployment.” – Washington dispatch.

October 21, 1930
“President Hoover has summoned Colonel Arthur Woods to help place 2,500,000 persons back to work this winter.” – Washington Dispatch

November 1930
“I see no reason why 1931 should not be an extremely good year.” – Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., General Motors Co.

June 9, 1931
“The depression has ended.” – Dr. Julius Klein, Assistant Secretary of Commerce.

August 12, 1931
“Henry Ford has shut down his Detroit automobile factories almost completely. At least 75,000 men have been thrown out of work.” – The Nation.

The market didn't hit bottom until 1932.

The Shepard's Are Coming to Texas!

No. We are not coming home early!!

Over the past two weeks, I have been discussing, with my parents, the possibility of their moving to Texas. They had put up their home for sale in California to move Sacramento to be closer to their doctors. They have about a 60-mile journey over HWY 49 to get to the hospital. That's when we began exploring the ultimate alternative...moving to Texas. They were immediately receptive to the idea; the only real hurdle was transferring their healthcare plan, but that was easier than we thought. They can transfer at any time, as long as the change is precipitated by a move; otherwise changes can occur only once a year, during a specific enrollment period.

They are leaning toward living in Heritage Ranch, an all adult community that is about 2 miles, as the crow flies, from our house. We have found a number of nice properties that will meet their needs for about 60 to 70 percent of what they should sell for in California. That will give them enough extra cash to take care of the increase in property taxes.

Homes are not selling too fast right now in California, however. In the right market I don't think their house would last a week, but so far, they have only shown the property a few times. If it doesn't sell in the next few weeks, they will pull it off the market and put it back on in the spring. We would love to be home to help them out when they actually make the move.

In Moscow, I was given an assignment to teach Preach My Gospel, during Sunday School. Preach My Gospel is an awesome manual that missionaries use to learn how to be effective missionaries. I didn't know too much about this publication before we were called to be missionaries, but it turns out to be a great member resource as well.

There is no lesson manual. I will need to figure out how I am going to teach the material myself. There are 13 Chapters in the book. There are two great sections on how to improve teaching methods. Other subjects include basic doctrines to teach and how to use the Book of Mormon. There is even one lesson dedicated to how to manage your time.

I have two weeks to figure out my lesson plans, and with over 200 pages of information to cover, hopefully, I won't have too much time to watch this crazy market!

A Wild Week on Wall Street or If You Have a Sweet Tooth, You Might Be a Moscovite!

The ups and downs of Wall Street continued this week...up 970 points and then down 800 points over the next two days...then up and down and up and down. Most daily swings were more than 500 points. It was interesting to watch. The "bailout" has shown little evidence of priming the credit markets so far.

I read an interesting article comparing the Buffett/GS (Goldman-Sachs) deal with government/9 bank deal. You may have already thought of this, but don't you think it is interesting that Buffett was able to get a better deal with a 5 Billion dollar infusion to GS than the government could get with a $250 billion infusion to the 9 strongest banks in the country?

I am concerned that the government is only exacerbating the problem by increasing the money supply and lowering interest rates. The last thing we need is for the government to stimulate consumer spending when consumers should be curbing their spending and paying off their debts.

If I was addressing members of the church that are drowning in debt, I would tell them to forgo present consumption. (Live on less than you earn.) Stop using credit cards as a revolving credit account, stay home and read to your children, cancel the cable, stop going to movies, stay away from restaurants (except Brinker International, of course!) buy clothes you need, not the ones you want, get one more year out of your tired automobile, if possible. Skip the family vacation and get creative with the family in town. Do day trips and save...perhaps thousands of dollars. Hunker down and see what you could live on if you had to.

Nobody here misses television or the movies. We do allot a little entertainment budget to buy theater tickets (once a quarter) and museum tickets (twice monthly, at least).

Today, we went to the Space Museum only to find that it is closed for remodeling. There was plenty of statuary and history inscribed on the outside of the building though to make it an interesting visit. We know enough history and Russian to know that the inscription under the date 1957 was about the coup the Russians pulled off, when the Soviet's sent Sputnik into space, taking the lead in the space race.

After that we went to an exhibition of Michael Kenna's black and white photograpy. We found a little courtyard with shop areas that was charging 100 roubles a piece to get in. They said the the gallery we were looking for was closed. So we just walked around the courtyard, not having to pay. Then Sam stumbled into a building with a number of interesting art sculptures and another studio with a number of interesting black and white photographs. Then, a little while later we discovered another studio...which happened to be the exhibit we were looking for. It was very interesting and it didn't cost us a rouble!
The girls haming it up!!

Later, we went to McDonalds for lunch and then we headed for the Mayakovskaya metro stop, where we hoped to find the Mayakovskaya Museum. At this point I was leading the group, only to find that I remembered it wrong. The Mayakovskaya Museum is at the Lubyanka metro stop. We decided at that point we would pick the museum up on another day.

We ended the day at the Mason's home for cake and celebration of Rene's birthday, which was yesterday.

This has been a week of desserts. Here is the list of culinary delights that have passed from our lips to our hips; Homemade pies from Sister Curbishley, Apple-Cranberry, Lemon Meringue, Banana Cream that were for FHE. The next day we had Apple-Cranberry tarts and an eight-layer honey cake that Sister Nechiporova made (it was her birthday). Later that day we ate pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips that Chris had made the night before. The next day, Acia showed up with homemade Carrot Cake. Somewhere along the way, Marina showed up with the best watermelon of the year, so far. At Russian Club, Narene treated us to ice cream on top of fudge brownies, and lastly the cake at the Mason's. I need a 40-day fast!!

More later...Chris is calling.

Wall Street's Worst Week EVER!

When I get home in the evenings, the markets open in the U.S. I watched most of the market action this past week, except when I was at FHE or studying Russian with the other seniors. The only word to describe it was 'brutal'. The G7 meeting revealed more than what was written on their summary document...nobody knows how bad the economic crisis is and nobody really has a plan to fix things. On a brighter note, they are willing to try just about anything. On a dimmer note, it just shows how desperate the situation really is.

So, we will hold our breath and see what happens this week. Here is a summary of what I remember:
1. Goldman Sachs traded at $75 a share on Friday. They are supposed to be the brainiacs of Wall Street. In fact it was touted at the beginning of this crisis that they had made big money betting against what they were selling to their clients! They were just a few months ago trading at $250 a share. That's a loss of 70 percent of their stock value from peak to trough.
2. At one point on Friday, the Dow was off over 6,000 points or 42 percent of its 52 week high, which, by the way, was one year ago to the day!
3. I own municipal bond funds that are now paying over 9 percent tax free dividends. You guess how much they had to fall for this to be the case!
4. Some stomachs will turn when September statements are read, but that won't seem so bad when compared to the first week of October!

To get my mind off the markets we had meetings all weekend long. Saturday started off with a YSA Conference Planning Committee Meeting. Young Single Adult representatives from all over the Area convened in our conference room for their first planning meeting. Three joined by video conference and one by telephone conference. I was their technical support person. I just worked in my office while they had their meeting. Their only need was an extra set of dry markers for the white board.

We watched General Conference last weekend, but saw the re-broadcast of the Priesthood Session on Saturday night. Chris went over to Sister Yorgesen's to learn a new crochet stitch, while Brother Yorgesen and I were at church. Unfortunately, Chris's glasses weren't up to the task and she had to abandon the plan. The stitches were just too small to see. But it was not all a loss, the Yorgesen's invited us for dinner! Pork chops, scallopped potatoes and homemade pudding. A nice way to end the day.

On Sunday, I catered lunch for the Area Council Meeting and served as scribe during the meeting. I served a Russian salad that I have learned from the sisters in our office and it was a big hit. We also had sandwiches (different cured meats and cheese), potato chips, cookies, sliced apples and fruit juice. They will remember the lunch a lot longer than they will remember the meeting minutes! This was the first meeting with the Area Presidency since they returned from General Conference.

Tonight we spoke with Nick and Lore, Sarah, Eden and Zack. We left messages for our friends Gil and Debbie, Chris's Dad, and Jason. We spoke with Jessica yesterday. My mom and dad are next. Chris's mom and Jack are in Maine.

I hope we all have something to celebrate by the end of next week. It would be enough to know that the sky is not really falling!

Baba Yaga

The other day when I was looking on the internet for the story that I shared about Heaven and Hell, I came across a character in Russian literature, called Baba Yaga. She is a frightful woman who likes to eat little children!!!! Yes, the ladies in our office confirm that when they were little girls and when they were being bad, their mother's would threaten them, that if they weren't good, Baba Yaga would come and eat them up!!

Here is a little background I found on the internet:

In Russian folklore there are many stories of Baba Yaga, the fearsome witch with iron teeth.

She is also known as Baba Yaga Boney Legs, because, in spite of a ferocious appetite, she is as thin as a skeleton. In Russian that's: 'Baba Yaga Kostianaya Noga'

In some stories she has two older sisters, who are also called Baba Yaga, just to confuse you!

Her nose is so long that it rattles against the ceiling of her hut when she snores, stretched out in all directions upon her ancient brick oven.

Not being a boringly-conventional witch, she does not wear a hat, and has never been seen on a broomstick. She travels perched in a large mortar with her knees almost touching her chin, and pushes herself across the forest floor with a pestle.

Whenever she appears on the scene, a wild wind begins to blow, the trees around creak and groan and leaves whirl through the air. Shrieking and wailing, a host of spirits often accompany her on her way.

Being a somewhat secretive lady, (in spite of all the din she makes,) she sweeps away all traces of herself with a broom made of silver birch (what are brooms for anyway?).

She can also fly through the air in the same manner.

Baba Yaga lives in a hut deep in the forest. Her hut seems to have a personality of its own and can move about on its extra-large chicken legs. Usually the hut is either spinning around as it moves through the forest or stands at rest with its back to the visitor. The windows of the hut seem to serve as eyes.



All the while it is spinning round, it emits blood-curdling screeches and will only come to a halt, amid much creaking and groaning, when a secret incantation is said. When it stops, it turns to face the visitor and lowers itself down on its chicken legs, throwing open the door with a loud crash.

The hut is sometimes surrounded by a fence made of bones, which helps to keep out intruders! The fence is topped with skulls whose blazing eye sockets illuminate the darkness.

When a visitor enters her hut, (not too often) Baba Yaga asks them whether they came of their own free will, or whether they were sent. (One answer is the right one!)

Thankfully, she appears to have no power over the pure of heart, such as Vasilisa and those of us who are 'blessed' (protected by the power of love, virtue, or a mother's blessing.)

Baba Yaga rules over the elements. Her faithful servants are the White Horseman, the Red Horseman and the Black Horseman.

When Vasilissa asks her who these mysterious horsemen are, she replies: 'My Bright Dawn, my Red Sun and my Dark Midnight.'

Amongst her other servants, are three bodiless and somewhat menacing pairs of hands, which appear out of thin air to do her bidding. She calls them "my soul friends" or "friends of my bosom" and she is more than a little reticent about discussing them with Vasilisa.

Another strange character who served as a herdsman for Baba Yaga is the sorcerer Koshchey the Deathless. Read all about him here.

And here's a mystery for you: While she is giving instructions to Vasilisa, Baba Yaga mentions that 'someone spiteful' had mixed earth in with her poppy-seeds.

What could she have meant? Could Baba Yaga possibly have an enemy? Would anyone dare to risk incurring her wrath?


Of course, this is a children's fairy tale and she never does actually eat a child, but the threat is always there. As you watch the video clip, Baba Yaga is the old hag who lives in a house that is set upon chicken legs and twirls around in the forest. You won't need to understand Russian to get the gist of the tale.

I think the funniest part about this video clip is when one of old babuskas smacks another one in the face with a rope. It makes the three stooges look tame. You may want to preview this clip, before showing it to the kids. But I think the older ones will get a kick out of seeing an old Russian fairytale.

This clip is from one of the truly beloved movies that all of our office personnel watched when they were kids. Baba Yaga was not unlike the witches in Disney's Sleeping Beauty, Snow White or the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz, except Baba Yaga is more humorous.



This second clip shows a man with the head of a bear. He has been cursed because he so vain, due to his previous good looks.

Heaven or Hell?

A person was talking with God about Heaven and Hell.

"Come," said God. "Walk with me, and I will show you Hell."

And together they walked into a room of cold, rough stone. In the center of the room, atop a low fire, sat a huge pot of quietly simmering stew. The stew smelled delicious, and made the person's mouth water. A group of people sat in a circle around the pot, and each of them held a curiously long-handled spoon. The spoons were long enough to reach the pot; but the handles were so ungainly that every time someone dipped the bowl of their spoon into the pot and tried to maneuver the bowl to their mouth, the stew would spill. The person could hear the grumblings of their bellies. They were cold, hungry, and miserable.

"And now," God said, "I will show you Heaven."

Together they walked into another room, almost identical to the first. A second pot of stew simmered in the center; another ring of people sat around it; each person was outfitted with one of the frustratingly long spoons. But this time, the people sat with the spoons across their laps or laid on the stone beside them. They talked, quietly and cheerfully with one another. They were warm, well-fed, and happy.

"Lord, I don't understand," said the individual. "How was the first room Hell; and this, Heaven?"

God smiled. "It's simple," he said. "You see, they have learned to feed each other."

Given at our devotional today by Lidia Samaykina.

Well the past two days have been dominated by the economic turmoil in the U.S. Down 777, up 435!! What a week. Last night the Senate passed their version of the Rescue Package. Now it is back to the house.

In the office, we have been quitely working on our processes.

Two days ago we discovered a big issue associated with our upcoming EEA Broadcast. I learned more about satellite infrastructure than I ever cared to. It seems that we have three different satellites that transmit to the Europe East Area, across 11 time zones. There are probably more than 50 satellite dishes. We have to determine which satellite will transmit to which building (not all buildings have satellite capability), across all 11 time zones to produce a schedule so that the saints will show up at the right time. Add to that Daylight Savings Time goes off at 2:00 a.m the night before, in some, but not all locations, because some locations were never on it. Give me a break!!!!!!

We are still struggling to get our calendar published so that Mission Presidents can read it online. I won't go into the details, but we have been working on this since the last week in August!! We think we have a solution. We prepared an email yesterday, that needs to be approved, then we can send it out and hopefully, within a week we can accomplish our objective.

Yesterday, we had a watermelon feed in the office. This was our fourth one this season. The Russian's love watermelon. This morning we had it again!!!

Never a dull moment in Moscow. Stay tuned. Tomorrow I will introduce you to Baba Yaga (accent on the last ga).