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.

Les Miserables

What a joy I discovered in my email today. I found a number of pictures sent to me from Autumn Jones. These are picutres of Victor Hugo's home when he lived in Guernsey where he spent 19 years in exile. Here is how Autumn introduced the pictures:

These are some photos of the Victor Hugo House in Guernsey, Channel Islands - St. Peter Port, where Hugo and His family was exiled to from France. This is the only house he ever owned and lived here for all 19 years of his exile. It was so fascinating. Every wall and every decoration was layered with significance - his entire home littered with etchings and engravings in the wall - latin and french - referencing political views, religion, etc. He decorated his own home and used a multitude of cultures, symbols and languages to do so.







Pretty interesting place. Thanks Autumn for being so thoughtful and sharing.

I did some quick research in wikipedia and this is what I found out:

"When Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) seized complete power in 1851, establishing an anti-parliamentary constitution, Hugo openly declared him a traitor of France. He fled to Brussels, then Jersey, and finally settled with his family on the channel island of Guernsey at Hauteville House, where he would live in exile until 1870."

As Autumn stated, he was exiled for 19 years. His masterpiece Les Miserables, was published in 1862 while he was in Guernsey. He must of written much of it there!

"Hugo began planning a major novel about social misery and injustice as early as the 1830s, but it would take a full 17 years for his most enduringly popular work, Les Misérables, to be realized and finally published in 1862.

The shortest correspondence in history is between Hugo and his publisher Hurst & Blackett in 1862. It is said Hugo was on vacation when Les Misérables (which is over 1200 pages) was published. He telegraphed the single-character message '?' to his publisher, who replied with a single '!'."

Thanks for indulging me this little moment to think about my favorite work of fiction!

The Fire Goes Out

In our church, we commonly speak of members in the church as being active or less active. In theory, there are those who actively participate in the programs of the church, others who particpate in some of them and others who do not particpate at all. In reality, we are all less active to one extent or another. As we study and develop our faith, line upon line, precept upon precept, we gain testimony in certain doctrines and principles and become "more active." This process becomes life's journey.

At one point, the term inactive, was commonly used. But this term has gradually fallen out of favor, because it connotates despair rather than hope. In fact, the term denies the tenets of our faith. It supposes that no spark of testimony remains in the individual that can be nutured and brought back to life.

What each of these groups of individuals (the active and the less active) have in common is that at one time both declared that they had gone through a process of rebirth, meaning that they had discovered, as a result of fasting, prayer and study, that they would joyfully submit their will to their Heavenly Father's will, in the hope of partaking in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This is the pattern demonstrated by Jesus Christ while in the Garden of Gethsemane, prior to going to the cross, when He said (Luke 22:42), "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done."

Those who become "less active" are sought out by the "active." In this way the "active" attempt to follow the admonition of our Savior and we leave the 99 and go after the lost sheep. This is often referred to as ministering. It is an ongoing process. We all have our moments when we need to be encouraged and nutured by these "ministering angels." Even the brightest fire needs to be fed, otherwise it is sure to go out.

When compared to other churches, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is often distinguished by the activity level of its members. Even still, our really active members constitute only about 60 percent of the membership. What I would consider the "highly active" is probably closer to 40 percent. However, when compared to other religions, these numbers are quite impressive. Nevertheless, that gives us a great work to do "gathering" in the less active.

So what happened? How do both groups start down on the same path, but end up on a different road? Well, to begin with, I believe the premise is false. People join the church for many reasons. Some build their house upon sand and others upon a rock. One of the great motivators of new memberships is social. We have great appeal to nearly every demographic. Unfortunately, people who join for social reasons, join for what they think the church can do for them. JFK reminded us in his great innagural address, it is not about what your [church] can do for you, but what you can do for your [church]. And I would add, "with all your heart, mind and strength."

Some, who are born into the church, rely too heavily on the testimonies of their parents and the traditions of their families. They fail to develop their own testimonies sufficient to sustain themselves against the fiery darts of the adversary. The temptations of the world become too beguiling and they succumb.

We learn that testimonies are sustained through service. If service does not become a part of the life of a member, the fire will go out. It does not happen in a day, a week or a month. People don't just wake up one morning and say, I'm through with the Church. It is because they have developed a pattern of not responding to a call to serve. They learn how to say no. And it gets easier over time.

Everybody in the Church is called to serve. It is a lay ministery. With no paid clergy, the members run the programs of the Church. We have no salaried youth ministers. If you want your kids to go to scout camp, you had better bring your mosquito repellent, because you may be the scoutmaster!! King Benjamin, in the Book of Mormon (Mosiah 2:17) said, "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

In Matthew 25, Christ teaches:
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the dkingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

So in the Church, much of our efforts are spent seeking after the one. To rekindle a testimony, we call people to serve. In their service they come to know Christ. They learn how to give of themselves. They put off the natural man and become new creatures, no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God (Ephesians 2:19).

Recently, Chris and I have been assigned to seek out two less active returned missionaries. It is part of an effort to identify and fellowship this great source of strength for the church here in Russia (returned missionaries). This assignment has gone to all of the nearly one hundred senior couples that are serving here in Russia.

Not Out of the Woods Yet

I finally caught up on all of minutes, action items etc. from this past week. That doesn't mean I have completed all my action items, it just means that I have gathered them into one location, reviewed them, and I do not believe I am at risk of not responding to an urgent item. However, the saga continues. It looks like we will have two more unexpected full days of meetings next week. This is troublesome because there are so many last minute items to get ready for the seminar. But my eternal assistant is making a list and checking it twice, so I am relaxed.

Today we are going to lunch with John Eyer and a friend of his, Natasha. He is here working on a summer job assignment. He is working for a news service. He reviews articles that have been written in English to make sure they sound like they were written by an American!

After lunch, I need to get back to the office and see if I can't catch up on as many things as I can, before next week hits.


Last night we had Chuck Johnson for dinner. He the brother of Pete and Curt Johnson in our ward. Ealier in the week he brought us a Sam's size bottle of French's mustard from the States. What a wonder. I have spent about $30 on mustard since whe have been here so that we can enjoy a hotdog (the hotdogs are good!), but with no satisfaction. Thanks Chuck.

It was just fun sharing stories. It amazing how many friends and acquaintances we have in common. He said he would try to take some pictures of Stacy Rd. construction that he can bring back on his return trip. Stacy Rd. is the main artery to our house from the freeway. It is supposed to be expanding to 6-lanes and 4-lanes to support the new mall and other shopping centers that are being built where it intersects HWY 75. We hope that they will be able to complete the construction by the time we get back next Spring.

Perfect Storm

New Mission Presidents Seminar, 3rd Quorum of the Seventy meeting, Annual Mission Presidents Seminar, Patriarchal Blessing Analysis and records organization, boundaries and leadership changes, Rollout of Office 2007 and subsequent Outlook 2007, and the weight of about 30 projects/tasks to be completed (e.g., area presidency letters and associated translations (eight languages), development of a communication strategy with district presidents, office process documentation), and the Monthly Meeting marathon...the week before the seminar...to be continued.

Father's Day

I had a relaxing Father's Day on Sunday. I had a wonderful breakfast, fried eggs, bacon, fruit and homemade blueberry muffins (well I guess if we had a muffin pan it would have been considered a muffin!!). Chris got to talk to her dad and I had to leave a message with Grandma Faye for my dad (he was snoozing when I called!). I got a nice Russian watercolor to take back with me when we leave, to match the one Chris bought for herself earlier this year, on a women's day out with the senior sisters. Now I have two little babushkas!

We really had a downpour after church today. A flimsy umbrella in a Texas-style gully washer is just about worthless. I was soaked from my knees down and on my left side. You could have wrung me out. (I was trying to help a young man, with special needs in our ward to his car.) Our Director of Temporal Affairs offered us a ride to the metro, which we accepted gladly. I was able to get Chris to the car fairly unscathed, with the exception of her shoes (she was wearing sandals!). However, she still had curl in her hair when she got back to the apartment.

When I talked to Nick today, he told me that he and Abby had put an offer for a house in the Mobile, Alabama area. It was good to hear from all of the others as well, including a few of the grandchildren, Eden and Max and Cody, Cameron, Carter and Savannah and Lore.

It looks like Tiger Woods had a nice Father's Day too, making a birdie on the eighteenth hole to force a playoff. He certainly played some exciting golf with his two eagles in the third round. I get the replays in Russia, but no live streaming video. Too bad. But I can follow the blogs. It's like listening to a delayed radio broadcast!

Well, the next two weeks are going to be crazy. We have our block of meetings this week, our New Mission Presidents' Seminar and an Area Council next week. I can't imagine how thrilled I will be after the Area Council minutes are done. I think Chris and I will take a week off and go back to Paris for a little R&R!! Better yet, why not a Greek island!!

Independence Day: June 12

Komsomolskaya Metro Station. One of the fanciest and the gateway to three railroad stations.

On Thursday, Independence Day, we went to a railway station to purchase tickets to Sergiv Posad (our destination for Friday) before heading out to Kuskovo. According to the history books, Kuskovo was the country seat of one Russia's wealthiest aristrocratic families, the Sheremetevs. (One of the main airports in Moscow is called Sheremeteva, after this family.) It is sometimes referred to as the Versailles of Russia. It has elaborate gardens, in addition to some beautiful buildings. Of course, we didn't see much of it.

We got a late start, due to more stomach problems. First, we went to the train station to buy tickets for Sergiv Posad (the main Russian Orthodox Church Monastery). We finally did manage to find out where to purchase the tickets, but for our destination and the type of train (an electrushka) they don't sell advanced tickets. So we got back on the metro and headed out to Rayanskiy prospekt for Kuskovo. We went directly to the park that is adjacent to the palacial estate, not knowing really what to expect. We walked the distance of the park both ways, before discovering the buildings, pond, and gardens, which were probably about a half mile from where we started, hidden by a forest of trees. By the time we rested and had a snack, we arrived at the gate of the estate at just about closing time. So we took what pictures we could and now we have a good reason for a return engagement.

We are just getting off the metro headed for the "Kassa" to purchase our train tickets. Of course, we have been riding for at least 10 minutes since we picked up the Irelands, so it was time for a snack!!
On the road that took us through the park, and ultimately to our destination about three miles later!!!

Well, we finally made it. We did get closer to the building, but this was the best angle for the picture!!

Leaving the estate, on a different route from the one we took to get here, we got a little lost. But with our broken Russian and some broken English we were able to find a bus that took us to a metro station, but not the one we came from. By this time we were ready for dinner and at a place called Elki Palki, the equivalent of a casual dining restaurant, but not quite a Chili's!!

Chris and Sam ordered chicken cesear salads and Norene and I ordered Shashleek (pork, chicken or lamb on a skewer and bar-b-qued. Sam and Chris got their dinner, completely finished it and Narene and I were wondering if this was going to be a repeat of her attempt to eat the night we went to the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, when she failed to get her dinner. But it did come and it was very good.

The next day, Friday, we met the Irelands at Cokol at 8:00 and bought our tickets and were on our way to Sergiv Posad by 9:00. After nearly two hours on the train, about 75 km, we arrived at our destination. It is a very hard seat and quite jerky as one pulls out of each stop. I took a video to give you some idea of ride, but while it plays OK on my computer, it failed to load on the blog.

While on the train there is an endless parade of vendors trying to sell you something. It is well orchestrated. No two ever seem to appear at the same time. They sold everything from bandaids to dishtowels and food.

When we got off the train we just looked for where most of the people were walking and sure enough they led us to the site of the Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius. Founded around 1345, by Sergius of Radonezh, it became one of Russia's most important religious centers and places of pilgrimage. During the Time of Troubles, the monks sruvived a siege by the Polish army and in the 1680's Peter the Great found refuge here during the Streltsy Rebellion. It was shut down in 1919 by the communists, but was later allowed to open again in 1946.

You can see why someone was overheard saying, "This is like a religious Disneyland!!

Vendors selling their artwork and handicrafts.

The ornate little building in the foreground is where the members of the Orthodox Church can purchase holy water.

There must be about 15 buildings in the compound. Each has its own distinct architectural look and feel.
This holy water is free.

Don't let a door get in your way of your painting!!!

More interesting architectuaral elements:



Here are a couple of buildings that show what the Russians used to live in before the advent of the Stalinesque type apartment buildings. These are commonly referred to as country dachas today. It sounds more romantic that it is. Many of these buildngs don't have electricity. They are much to cold to live in during the winter, so they come in the summer on the weekends to get out of the city and raise their vegetables.


This last picture should be somewhat familiar to regular blog readers. This is the finished park we now get to walk through, behind the grocery store, on our way to work.

Back from Paris; Now a 4-Day Weekend!!

We had a wonderful time in Paris. Weather was great. Paris in the Springtime!!! What more can we say? And what more can you eat!! We ate our way through ice cream, pastries and chocolates!! We walked until our feet wouldn't take us another step!! We got out to Versailles for the first time and it was grand, particularly the gardens. But what caught my imagine this time was the Paris Opera House. It is truly one of the great pieces of art/architecture in all the world. The pictures from our little camera will not do it justice, so we bought a coffee table book that we will bring back for all to see. Here are just a few of glimpses from our daily excursions.
Pastries Magnifique!!
Fancy Chocolad!!

The Opera House from the Street



From the Inside




Versailles
The Chapel
The Hall of Mirrors
Grand Paintings of France's Glorious Battles
The Gardens
Hedge Trees!!

Back in Paris
Ghris gleefully starting down the Champs Elysee!!
The Arc de Triomphe
Eiffel Tower
Gargoyles at Notre Dame
A window box from an apartment across from our hotel.

Our landlord will be here in a few minutes, then we will be off to create another big adventure. Today is being organized by the Irelands. We hope to see a few new things and buy a train ticket that will take us outside of Moscow, tomorrow, onto the Golden Ring!! More about that later.

It is Thursday in Moscow. It is sunny and about 50 degrees outside at 7:15 a.m. We have had a good week so far. We had FHE at the Mason's on Tuesday and dinner. Rene made some soup!! It was a small but valiant gathering. We had a great lesson by Clark (D&C 138), which sent us into a great discussion and sharing of personal histories and testimonies.

On Wednesday, we reconvened with the Snows for a little Russian study. We studied a few new phrases and practiced our numbers some and topped the evening off with some smoothies prepared by Sam.

We leave for Paris on Friday night. We have a map and directions on how to proceed with our visa processing. The Yorgesons went last week and their feedback was very helpful. We will be on our own. They went with two other couples.

We hope to get out to Versailles. That's our plans for Saturday. After that who knows.

We will take plenty of pictures, but we won't be back to make any posts until next Wednesday. The weather in Paris should be sunny and about 70 degrees.

We are glad to see that Obama has out distanced Hillary. I think it should make for a very interesting campaign. We need to get to the American Embassy to arrange for our absentee ballots. We may be out of sight, but we are not out of mind!!

Next week, we will work on Wednesday and then we have a four-day weekend. We hope to get outside of Moscow to see some sights with the other seniors. We still need to make those plans.

That's it for now. It's time to go to work!!

Sunday Morning

It's 7:00 a.m. Some chance of sun, but mostly high clouds, and it should be in the sixties. Chris is still sleeping. We will head out in about 2 hours for the Central building. Chris' stomach gave her a bad time yesterday, so she came home with the Ireland's after dinner. I went with the Mason's to conference. The Irelands are in the Moscow West mission. They had their conference two weeks ago.

Gorky Park was fun. It is located on the Moscow River, just a little bit to the West of the Peter the Great statue. It is an old time amusement park, with roller coasters and a ferris wheel. Lots of rides for little people, even a living tiger (on a chain, no cage), to have your picture take with. A nice lake with paddle boats, fountains and lots of trees. The large monumental gate entrance shows that it was constructed in 1954.

Peter the Great looking over the girls' shoulders. Ferris wheel and central fountain. The entrance, grand as ever!! Paddle boats on the pond.

There is a marked diffence between our parks and the Russian parks. Theirs seem much older. Rust is their constant companion and the buildings and cement steps are crumbling. There is so much that needs to be repaired, or just torn down and rebuilt. Yet, throughout this entropic environment, are lovely planted flower beds and many of the same sounds that you would hear in our parks. The Russians seem to have no problem looking beyond the aging and really seem to enjoy the otherwise simple surroundings. If you can remember some of the scenes in the movie, "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?," you will get a pretty good feeling of the "old" that one experiences in Moscow. Building under stress. Our faithful group, the Masons, Irelands and the Shepards.

Chris and Greg tiptoeing through the tulips.

Some Russian entertainment for park visitors. Chris was invited, but she passed.

Speaking about sounds, we noticed that the music intended for little children had the same tempo and melody that you would expect in one of our parks. Music designed to get the attention of children and to make them feel gay and happy. Of course, the words were quite different!!

At the entrance to the park, actually outside of the main gate, is a double-decker merry-go-round. That was a first for me!

The conference focused on building and strengthening families. I find it a bit of challenge listening to the translator, when I am also trying to listen to the Russian in an attempt to increase my vocabularly. But it all seems to work. Well, Chris is up, so I guess I better get into the kitchen and make some breakfast.