Friends in Russia

Our amazing experience in Russia has come to an end. We have been home for two weeks now.  Our thoughts fondly and frequently return to Moscow Russia where we were blessed to associate with so many wonderful people, from Russia, America, Germany, and Sweden. Here are a few of our favorite pictures of some of our Russian friends and dear missionaries who have enriched our lives so greatly.

Naleeda and I were getting ready to have our picture taken together (notice the lovely backdrop of vodka and liquor (1/3 of the store), when Fameen jumped into the picture.

Fameen, our fruit and veggie man had his vegetable stand on the side of the productee (below). He is a very nice man.

the sign says vegetables and fruits (fruktee)

This building with the bear was across from our apartment exit. The little convenience store (prodookee) is to the right a minutes' walk away.

view from our living room window. Other apartment buildings on the left and right and the two smaller buildings are schools. If you look hard enough you will see the little playground.

Two of my prodooktee friends, Lola (l) and Zarina on the right. They are not Russian names. I think they are Armenian.

Our landlady Jane (Jenya) is a lovely young mother with two little boys and a husband. We had a few experiences together as things in the apartment needed to be fixed, we spent time together and enjoyed each other's company. She paid me quite a complement when she told me that I made her laugh with my sense of humor.

Elder Simmons is one of our office elders that we had a chance to work with and get to know. A nice young man.

In our Zelonograd Ward, this man was a friend of Dave's. He speaks English and is very friendly. He works as an accountant and at one time was the branch president in Zelonograd (which is now a ward)

Jenya, me, Roman's mother (don't remember last name) and Luba. Luba became my friend slowly. It was through her Mom Maria, that she finally warmed up to me. It was a process!

A wonderful couple in our ward. He LOVES the missionaries and, uncharacteristically, loves to give bear hugs! He has referred to each of us his hero!

Svetlana, our mission office cleaning lady is a wonderful woman and she LOVES to clean! Her sweet spirit adds a ray of light in the office. She presented us with a little glass chicken to remember her by. It is sitting on our kitchen shelf where we can see it every day. It's kind of funny that I collect chickens and have several in the kitchen. This one, though, will always be special.

Elder Daniel Bradford (aka Elder Buff Man) was one of our office elders for a few months. How we have both grown to love this young man with the big smile and cheerful attitude and willingness to help.

Bishop Machalov and his little family. The little guy's name is Nikita.

Dave with our two wonderful office elders, Elder Ben Ricks and Elder Daniel Bradford. They certainly helped keep the office running well!

Here I am with Tatiana, one of our recent converts to the Church in the Zelonograd Ward. No verbal communication, only hugs and smiles, and luckily, that worked! (sometimes some translation from our missionaries helped!)

Here I am with Anya a Russian girl from Siberia who is the CES secretary in the next office over. Anya became my friend as did the wonderful women in the picture below. Luba, on the left, is the registration clerk. She has been instrumental in keeping the missionaries are properly registered in Russia. Diana, on the right, is the visa clerk. She speaks English and has become very dear to me. She and her little guy, 6 year old Slava, are members of the Z-grad Ward. I could usually count on a hug from him. He was very fond of Dave as well.

I miss these two! Sometimes their discussions on the phone (in Russian of course) would be distracting. Luba liked to cook for us and made belini, a Russian crepe and made us borscht. Lovely ladies.

Jeanie Pierson, far right, set up a little farewell luncheon for us the week we left. it was nice being with our office family. The other couple are our replacements, Elder and Sister Meilstrup. 

Here is our wonderful President, Garry Borders. We only had a chance to serve with him for about 8 weeks. They arrived on July 1, 2013. He and his lovely wife, Sue, are full of energy. Our mission will continue to thrive under their leadership, just as it did with President Stephen Sorenson and our dear Corrine Sorenson.

Elder Bradford giving Dave a little massage.

Our wonderful replacements, Sister Leslie and Elder Alan Meilstrup. They arrived mid-August. We had 10 days with them and helped them get on board with their vast responsibilities in the office. What a blessing they are!

Our Zelonograd missionaries. Aren't they a handsome group? We have been blessed to have missionaries in our home a couple of times a month for dinner and then district meeting. L to r: Elder Kaden Calderwood, Elder Jewkes, Elder Carson Hawkes, Elder Christopher Hauter, Sister Elizabeth Nielsen and Sister Laura Schmidt

We became very close to Sister Snyder. She left us to go home for medical reasons and returned to us! She is a stalwart missionary.

Sister Heidi Prows holds a special place in both of our hearts.

Elder Christian Enger is our wonderful German missionary. He is also a wonderful cook!

 

Here we are with Sister Wright. She and Dave had a very special relationship.

It is true when we say that the people are what made our mission as spectacular as it was.

How we love the Russian people!

How we love each of our missionaries, the younger ones and the senior couples. They will always be a part of us.