Bundled for the Cold Night Air

These adorable sisters were teaching a lesson to one of our newest members. We were with him on his very first discussion, at many that followed, at his baptism, and now we are watching him grow steadily in the gospel. How do you spell G.O.L.D.E.N? Of course, the sisters are awesome!!

Scottish Elder from London

Look who came to our mission. Born in Scotland, raised in London, trained in Provo, and reporting to serve his mission in Vladivostok. This elder is a world traveler. and he looks like he belongs to me!! Red hair. Blue eyes. Big smile. GREAT accent!

Seniors Going Home

Elder and Sister Chandler are heading home after 24 months in Vladivostok, serving as the office missionaries for our mission. They know everything, all the answers, and are going to be sorely missed. Elder Chandler is taking the picture of his wife (middle) and the ladies who attended Relief Society today. Yes, Primary got out sooner than the RS did, so the children came looking for their mothers and grandmothers.

Herb Garden and Miniature Marshmallows

My sister, Trish, sent a very welcome package full of pictures of her family, spices, miniature marshmallows, and seeds to grow cilantro and basil!! Woohoo!! We plan to plant a small herb garden.

HOW? you ask?

The freshest lettuce available here comes with its little feet (roots) still in a teensy pot of gritty dirt. How do we spell EXPENSIVE? Lettuce of any variety is very pricey. I have no idea where they grow it, but I want to find out. We would love to visit whatever greenhouses may be in the area. ANYWAY! I intend to reclaim some of that gritty dirt and plant a few of our seeds. We'll watch them eagerly to see whether American seeds will grow in Russian soil. It will be a missionary science project!!

In the meantime, we're still just looking at the marshmallow bag and touching it once in awhile. Yes, certainly we will open it. But something so precious must be appreciated sufficiently before it is consumed.

And the precious pictures are already a part of our fridge wall!!

Institute Class Participation in Artyom, Russia

Artyom elders and sisters are baptizing many new converts and holding rocking Institute classes.

Straight from Swan Valley , Idaho

Look at these two beautiful young ladies!! Rachel and Livvie from our home ward in Swan Valley, Idaho, finishing Livvie's quilt!! Go Young Women!! Woohoo!

From Russia to America--Science Fair Project

Alayna, our oldest granddaughter, asked us to help her with her science fair project by counting numbers of different colors of M&Ms in bags packaged in Russia for her to compare to those packaged in the USA. It was tough not to eat the experiment!!

FHE Spirit and Culture

Family Home Evening: A room full of Russians and Mormon missionaries, members and investigators, all discussing the power and influence of the Holy Ghost and the effect of uplifting music. Our beautiful Leira taught the very inspiring lesson. We served rice pudding and raisins. Everyone loved it and told us that it is a traditional food at Russian funerals. Eek! Humorous ending to a spiritual evening.

Not Pablo Picasso...

...but close. We were having chai; cornbread, honey, and butter; and enjoying laughter amid Russian/English conversations with two lovely missionaries and one of our young single adults from Kbarovsk when this beautiful piece of artwork was created by one of the sisters on our doodle board. We submit it here as a delightful memory of a lovely morning's conversation about the gospel and serving people in our mission.

Home Away from Home

Family Home Evening is such a blessing in our lives. Our lesson was centered on the story from Luke 5:1-11 where Christ calls four of his apostles away from their nets and promises that He will make them "fishers of men."

Road to Conversion

The missionaries share stories each week, and they are so inspiring that I wanted to add them here from time to time. 

****************************

We found Аня on a marshutka. She was sitting next to me as I started talking to an extremely cheerful babushka across from me. When I started testifying about the Book of Mormon, the babushka started suddenly talking very loudly. As she went on about America, Sister Braithwaite tried to calm things down by saying something like, "Yes, Jesus loves all of us!" Amidst the chaos, Аня had moved to sit across from me so she could see me- She was listening! As we left, we gave the babushka, Аня and Аня's friend an invitation to church.

 An hour later Аня called us wanting to meet. She brought her cousin Настя to the first lesson. Sister Braithwaite committed Настя to baptism –Аня wanted to be baptized too, but she needed to talk to her parents. The next week she came to 4 hours of General Conference, and a few days later we got a text from her in broken English, "I know your Церковь is true. She helps me." A week later, Sister Dudley committed Аня to baptism.

Аня devoured everything we've given her. She's reading through the Book of Mormon faster than we are, and when she has questions, she answers them herself by reading from the Gospel Doctrine manual that one of our members gave her. She wants to go on the train with us to Vlad one day so she can help us contact people, and she was happy to know that she can pay tithing on her allowance. We were finally able to meet with her mother, Оксана. She asked us if it was allowed for, Аня to be baptized a second time. We taught about the priesthood and the Restoration. We testified how important this gospel is for families and how we would like to teach her and the rest of the family as well. She said that Аня's grandmother is against it and that her husband never talks religion, but she said she is not against Аня getting baptized if that is what Аня wants. She also said she would like to come to church when she starts her new job and will have Sundays off. She couldn't make it to the baptism bus she suggested that Аня's brother Максим come and see if he will eventually want to be baptized as well.

We also learned that we truly have authority and people recognize it. People trust us because we have the name of Christ on our chest. When Аня's mom asked if Аня could be baptized, she wasn't trying to argue, it was truly a question of trust. People feel the Spirit, they know who we are, and we just need to remember that too. We are representatives of Christ and we are sent here to do His work and He will be at our side.

Sister Lynda M. Nelson

Russia Vladivostok Mission

Sent from my iPhone

Lovely Sister Missionaries

If only her family could see her now, they would all be in the same pose.

I am so "PRETTY!..."

No more laughing....

I am told that there is a word that defines this kind of behavior?

This is a serious moment.

Another moment that words just fail to capture.

Christmas Cards

We're sure that every missionary in the world got one of these, but we're still honored to have received our very own Christmas card from the First Presidency of the Church.

Shrink-Wrapped Boats and Ice Fishermen

All along the coast, the boats have been lifted out of the water. Only the most expensive ones have been shrink-wrapped. But ice fishermen are everywhere. Now that the water is frozen farther into the bay, the fishermen travel much further to set up their fishing holes. Sometimes, there are what look like dirt roads disappearing into the distance out on the ice. At the end of the day, they will come back to the city with large rectangular metal packs on their backs and ice augers in their hands. All over the city are open-air stands where frozen fish are sold. We assume that these ice fishermen are the ones stocking those fish stands. Ah, the smell of fish. Many times, we will see men apparently stretched out and bundled up on a pad of cardboard near their hole, looking as though they are napping between catching fish.

Russian or American?

Elder Nelson looks so much like a Russian that people are constantly stopping him to ask directions or questions--especially in grocery stores. We're not sure since we don't understand one word in 1,000.

American-Made

And then there is that gorgeous Hyatt Hotel way out there on the point. We'll wander over there one day to see it up close.

Catacombs

Vladivostok was heavily fortified as the major defense point against invading foreign armies coming from the sea. It's origin date is 1860. It is reputed to have many catacombs that provided access for the troops to move from one defense point to another. We think this might be one of the doors that allowed access into those catacombs. The rock cliff above it is very high and solid rock.

Polar Bear Club 3

Hurray for redheads!! This lady is probably 70 years old, wore a red bikini, and has dyed red hair. She gets our bravery award for the day. She went right into the water with no hesitation and swam very, very slowly the whole time she was in there. Yes, I thought about it, but used my Russian flu as an excuse to stay out of the water.

Polar Bear Club 2

The ice looked to be at least a foot thick, perhaps thicker. These determined people keep chipping away at the edges to keep their swimming pool open.

Polar Bear Club 1

Polar Bear Club: We have been a bit under the weather this past week. We have been fighting our very own versions of the Russian flu. Not fun. But we're starting to perk back up. So, we took a slow stroll down to the bay and found the stretch of water kept open by some very hardy Russians who swim in the sea every day. All of the people we watched actually go into the water and swim were much older folks. Our age and older. Then a young man came down to swim, stepped into the water to his waist, and rushed right back up the steps. Hurray for older folks!

Rent money.

 

Going Home 2

Elder Nelson happily helped with the luggage.

Going Home

These two wonderful young people are flying home today. We escorted them to the airport and hugged them goodbye.

Inspiring Moments

Naturally, we had to host a white elephant party just before Christmas. And a New Year's Eve party. Lots of work equals lots of fun. The true fruits of our efforts were exemplified in these two short stories. 

Story 1:  A young woman who had been coming to FHE and taking the discussions was considering baptism in January. She came to the youth Christmas party and was so moved and inspired that she asked the sister missionaries if she could be baptized that very next week. And she was. She was one of the 20 baptisms in 29 days that set a record for this mission.

Story 2: A new young investigator came to our New Year's Eve party, but left early to attend another party with other friends. We were very surprised when he came back at 11:30 p.m. and said that he preferred the atmosphere of our party, humble as it was, to the drinking, smoking, and binging going on at parties thrown by his friends. He will be traveling to America this week for a short vacation, and said he intends to read the Book of Mormon all the way across the Pacific Ocean.

The gospel is true. It changes lives for the better. We love our mission and are grateful to be serving in Vladivostok, Russia.

Say it in Russian

Before the new year comes, say "Happy New Year" to your returning missionary or to your Russian friends: "snasta-pie-shim snow-vim godum." (English sounds)
Say it smoothly: snastapieshim snowvim godum.

That's how it looks in English and, hopefully, will sound in Russian. It actually means "happy new year is coming to you"---at least that is as close as I can figure the translation.

And when your missionary steps off the plane, you could say: "I am happy to see you."

For an elder: Yaw rod voss beedet. (English sounds)
(Я рад вас бидеть!)

For a sister: Yaw rawda voss beedet.
(Я рада вас бидеть!)

Happy New Year

New Year's Eve Party

Blindfolds, strings, rings, animal names, fast reflexes (and slow ones), gifts, lots of Russian words, and food made our New Year's Eve party very memorable.

Sunrise on an Ice Patch with the Churkin Elders