Oct 9-15 2017

Pam’s Volunteer Journal Oct. 9-15, 2017

     I am sitting at the laptop to write this Sunday afternoon, Oct. 15, 2017 from the desk of our apartment. It is a simple, wooden table in the corner of our living room overlooking the bustling city life below: The Molodyozhnaya Metro Station, several large city buses coming and going since there is a bus stop below as well as a staging area where they park until the time is right, huge high rise residential buildings, large commercial building, large electronic billboards and neon lights, plus lots of people coming and going. One of the advertisements that are always featured on those ginormous billboards is for Kentucky Fried Chicken. I often see the Colonel flash across the screen and it reminds me of home sweet home. It is a very popular restaurant here as is Burger King, Subway, and Papa John’s Pizza. These American chains, especially KFC, always have much longer lines in the mall food courts than the other restaurants. I must admit we have eaten about once at each of these places, and it just tastes good to get a bite of the USA after experimenting with the local cuisine of Russian and Georgian foods, and many other varieties.

     For the past two weeks we have taken just the bus to our church services in Sokol. It takes about 30 minutes to get to the general area of our building, then a 15 minute walk to the church. After taking the metro to church almost everywhere for the first several weeks of being here in Moscow, we are exploring the buses. It is unusual to be above ground and be able to see the sights of the city. When taking the bus, you realize how sincerely far you are from the various destinations. It is quieter, less crowded and more relaxing (at least on the weekends!). You use the same pass used on the Metro to travel via bus. The transportation passes are very reasonably priced and they have various amounts of time for which you can purchase them. We started out with a 60-ride pass and used that up pretty fast, since we use them at least twice a day to get to the office and home, and more when we go out exploring. Jason found out that they sell a year-long pass so he purchased one for each of us, knowing this would be a good investment, as long as we don’t lose them!

     Losing things and falling are interesting topics with the Senior Volunteers. Our area Medical Doctor, Dave Hansen, got his wallet stolen from his wife’s purse while on the Metro. It is challenging to figure out how to carry your many documents, passport, cash, credit cards, ID Cards, and where to keep them safely stored. We feel safe, but just need to watch ourselves and be cautious, especially with the winter weather ahead. Some of these concerns arise since we are all a bit older than we used to be! Sister Krimme fell about a week ago for the third time since being here, and not even during the snowy, icy time. I think Andy Winn (who served in Russia) told me that the young Volunteers have contests to see who has the best stories of how they fell during their travels. Sister Krimme broke her upper right arm.  She is very energetic and serves with her husband in a very busy calling as YSA/MLS volunteers. In her “spare” time, she works with a native Russian sister to arrange our cultural activities. She is right handed so has had to type with her left hand and have her husband help her a lot, like getting dressed, etc. He has some shaking problem and is not all that well-off himself. They are avoiding the Metro since they live more in the central part of Moscow and she says it is “packed like sardines” during rush hour and she can’t afford to have her arm bumped. This is just one example of the sacrifice and willingness of these couples to serve in the Kingdom, despite physical limitations they may have. We have seniors walking with canes, seniors who have had heart valve and knee replacements, tremors, and various other ailments which may not be visible to the naked eye.

     I have been feeling very grateful for my vision, which has improved somewhat due to the eye injections I have received since Feb. of 2016. Now that I’m on a computer every day and doing a lot of reading and playing the piano for every church meeting on Sunday, I really need to see. As I mentioned previously, Dr. Boschat, my doctor here in Moscow, has given me one injection and doesn’t need to see me until early December due to improvement in my right eye. I think I am already being blessed for serving! Also, the dry, hacking cough I developed about a year ago, has not been a problem here. I brought two inhalers with me and have not had to use them at all. I think this humid climate without grass seed growing everywhere has helped me overcome the cough.

      Jason has been having heel pain and stiffness in his feet and heels. He has tried limiting his walking and icing them a bit, since I diagnosed him early on as having Plantar Fasciitis. I experienced this same heel pain maybe five years ago, and it lasted for 1-2 years. I know it takes a long time to recover. My husband is not one to ask for help and/or advice but I think I have convinced him to talk to Dr. Hansen and get some medical advice, instead of being in pain every day. We did buy him some gel shoe inserts at Ashon, our favorite store similar to Walmart, near our office.

     Last Tuesday we had a farewell lunch party for Barb and Mark Taylor, our two favorite attorneys, who ended their service and returned to St. George, Utah. The Office of Legal Counsel provided Georgian Pizza, salad, juices and pop. Russia is very well known for their juices. They come in small waxy cardboard containers that are about 1 quart in size and no larger. There are not many things that come in large sizes. Their berry juices are wonderful! The Taylors are happy to be home, although expressing some separation anxiety about leaving Moscow. They had served with the OGC in Ghana too, so they are happy to be returning to their children and grandchildren, and Costco and their clothes dryer!

     On Tuesday night we had Senior Council where Elder and Sister Perry introduced themselves. They are from the great Pacific Northwest USA, Kennewick, Washington, and serving as Humanitarian Volunteers. He had a construction business--she did the interior design work, and they were very successful. They are pretty young compared to the rest of us—in their late 40’s.  Elder Perry mentioned during his talk that he grew up in Pocatello. I chatted with him afterward, and he thinks his sister was in my class of 1970 at HHS, whom I don’t remember. They were in a different Stake, off Chubbuck Road, and did know the Satterfields. Any of my siblings know have any Perry friends from Poky?

     On Thursday I had the opportunity to leave work for half of the day and go on a tour of The Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts with the International Women’s Club. A few of our members are involved with this group, and invited me. There was a native Russian historian telling us about all the amazing artifacts of Russian Culture from the 1800’s-1900’s, and another beautiful Russian female translating her words into English. I checked out this club online and they are a large, worldwide group that provides cultural activities and interest groups for women who are in various cities where their husbands might be employed or serving. I met ladies from Paris, UK, Prague, Italy, Asia, who all spoke English. It was a fun trip and I especially enjoyed the cultural exchange. I am dedicated to my missionary service, but occasionally may be able to join a tour group as time allows.

     We had a staff meeting Thursday since Arlen (our boss) finally got back from his trip to the States for Conference. He was gone about 2-1/2 weeks. I got some new assignments and my work load is growing. They (the attorneys) are finally figuring out some things I can do, and where my strengths lie. Jason gave the spiritual thought for our staff meeting and he discussed 3 Nephi 13:25-33. We took turns reading each verse and discussed how it applied to us and our service. You know Elder Carlile has a superb way of getting us all involved and participating in the discussion. The lawyers are often interrupted with pressing phone calls, as was Arlen during Jason’s presentation, so we had a great discussion. According to verse 33,  Jesus taught that if we focus on building up his kingdom, the worldly things we often worry about will be resolved. Most of us live our lives backwards since we make our plans and sometimes leave a little room for building up the Kingdom of God when we should do just the opposite! We need to put the Savior first in our lives.

     Yesterday we had a lazy morning and had bacon and pancakes for breakfast. At 11 am, the Cooks and Griffins invited us to go on a hike with them to Sparrow Hill, one of the few hilly areas of Moscow. The hill overlooks the city from a bluff and there were beautiful trees covered with leaves of gold, orange, and green. From here one can get a great view of the City of Moscow. It is near one of the large soccer stadiums where some of the World Cup Soccer Games will be played next year.

     Today we attended our church meetings as usual, took a nap, and are preparing to have the missionaries and a friend, Elder Limb, the Area Exec. Sec. , whose wife is Utah helping with a new grandbaby, for dinner tomorrow night.

     We were fortunate to view Elder Robert D. Hales memorial funeral service from our apartment via  WIFI and the internet. It was broadcast at 8 pm our time on October 6 from the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. We are so fortunate to have the internet to view such events.  President Uchtdorf was conducting, with the Tabernacle Choir providing the music and with Clay Christiansen at the organ.  Elder Ballard, the first speaker, mentioned how he and Elder Hales served together for over 40 years as general authorities. “Bob” had a quick wit and wise counsel and will be missed. They knew each other at the University of Utah and their lives were intertwined. One of Elder Hales sons said his Dad possessed the ability to delegate a task and follow up until it was complete. President Nelson said, “We will miss his New York bred candor.” He had unrelenting challenges to his health for two decades. He had constant love and support from his wife, just as Jesus did from his mother, Mary. President Eyring, the concluding speaker, said that he and Elder Hales had associations over 70 years. One spiritual gift he has was to be a perfectly loyal friend and disciple of Jesus Christ. He was a legend in the business world as a 42-year old, and then called to leave his career and serve in the Church to do what God wanted.  The hymns the choir sang were “Each Life That Touches Ours For Good” (one of my personal favorites), “I Need Thee Every Hour”, “God Be With You ‘Til We Meet Again”. Elder Hales’ interment was at the Bountiful, Utah City Cemetery.

     From the LDS Church General Conference the first weekend in October, I enjoyed the emphasis from several talks on the Book of Mormon, so for our Family Home Evening last Monday, Jason and I further studied President Nelson’s talk entitled “The Book of Mormon: What Would Your Life Be Like without It?” This week I want to ponder these questions: What would your life be like without the Book of Mormon? Second, what would you not know? And third, what you not have.

 At our FHE, we talked about these questions he posed:

1.       What is the Book of Mormon? The Word of God, it contains answers to life’s most compelling questions, teaches the Doctrine of Christ, Expands and clarifies many of the “plain and precious” truths that were lost through centuries of time and numerous translations of the Bible, Atonement, Be Born Again, Another Testament of Christ. Gathering of Israel. We know why we are here on earth. Its major writers were all eyewitnesses of the Lord. It is a record of His ministry. It is true.

2.       What does the Book of Mormon affirm? The Identity of Heavenly Father and Jesus, and the necessity of the Fall.

3.       What does the Book of Mormon refute? The Fall and Original Sin, Individual goodness is in adequate for exaltation, and ordinances and covenants are needed. Revelation ended with the Bible. Infant Baptism, Happiness can be found in wickedness.

4.       What the Book of Mormon fulfills: Biblical prophecies, Other sheep, Marvelous Work and a Wonder, Stick of Judah and Joseph, Scattering of Israel, The land of inheritance for the lineage of Joseph.

5.        What the Book of Mormon clarifies: The Plan of Salvation, Resurrection, Judgement, How Ordinances are performed, Atonement.  The Important role of Angels, Priesthood, Human behavior is influenced more by the word that the sword.

6.       What the Book of Mormon reveals: Baptisms performed before Jesus Christ was born, Temple were built and used by people in Ancient America, Joseph, Nephi, Plain and Precious parts of the Bible, The Light of Christ, Importance of individual agency and the need for opposition in all things. Warnings about Secret Combinations.

     There are many more conference talks we need to study in further depth. Much uplift and inspiration was shared! I have been reading them on the Metro on our commute to serve/work for the Lord here in Moscow!

Love & happy week ahead to all!    Mom/Pam Carlile

Sept 25- Oct 8 2017

Now that we’ve been here over a month, we are settling into a routine and foreign things are becoming more comfortable and familiar. Instead of trying to figure out every detail of how to get somewhere, or how to feed ourselves, we are actually enjoying our new surroundings and feeling more confident in the process of exploration.

     We carry all kinds of new cards with us—two for the metro and bus and two to get us into our workplace. There are several places where you have to swipe and push buttons just to get into and out of buildings. I also have my Kangaroo pouch with my passport, Visa, Migration Card, and other very important papers that one must carry with them at all times here in Russia.

     I have secured a bit more confidence and independence and have gone by myself on the Metro and been shopping myself a few times. (You know me—the independent woman!) However, Jason and I are together most of the time with working together during the daytime and doing as volunteers do in being togetherJ

     Our apartment is in a 32 story high rise and we are on the sixth floor, right near a Metro stop. It’s similar to when Larry and Lynda were in Hong Kong, in that you can go downstairs and there are several markets, malls and stores all over the place. We have learned to point, smile and use our own sign language to get our desires expressed. Not many here speak English.          

     Last week at church Jason went to get his Nike windbreaker and cap from the coatrack when we were getting ready to go home and it was gone! It was the jacket Evan had given him with the Precoa insignia on it. One of our senior volunteer friends said to consider it “donated” not stolen! Yesterday we went shopping for a new lightweight jacket for him, and found one. I also found a pair of black dress shoes. We have been looking around quite a bit in the malls and various shops, but hadn’t found much, but hit the jackpot yesterday! It takes quite a bit of time to figure out shopping here, especially when you don’t speak the lingo!

    I cut my left hand tall man finger last Sunday morning while cutting up some carrots to put with chicken in our crockpot for dinner. It bled pretty well. I kept cutting and putting more and more paper towel and pressure on it to try and stop the bleeding. I was supposed to play the piano for all three hours of church, so was praying it would stop bleeding!  Jason bandaged it up good and it was still sort of bleeding after we took our 40 minute commute to Church. The Lord blessed me and somehow it finally dried up enough so that I was able to play the music for the church services last Sunday. A little miracle.

     Another miracle was that last Thursday I had my follow-up eye doctor appointment with Dr. Boschat, my Retina Specialist here in Moscow, to treat the Macular Degeneration in my right eye. She gave me one injection of Eyelea two weeks ago and last Thursday was my follow up appointment. She gave me the best news I have had in over 18 months.!There is not as much fluid and swelling in the blood vessels below my right eye and she doesn’t want to see me for another two months!  Yeah Great News! I have been having injections in my eye every 4-6 weeks since Feb. of last year, so a total of 14 injections and trying to stretch these injections apart since that is a sign of improvement. The purpose of them is to preserve my vision and I so appreciate the efforts of Dr. Baynham in Oregon and Dr. Boschat here in Moscow. I am so lucky that Deseret Mutual, our Senior Insurance Carrier, allowed for these several thousand dollars of injections to be covered here as well as at home!

     Tonight we Facetimed for 1-1/2 hours  with Dan and Susan Harris who are coming from Wilsonville, OR on December 7 to work with the legal team. He is a retired Judge from Southern Oregon and they just moved to Wilsonville a few years ago. To show you some of the sacrifices senior couples make to come here, they just moved his 84-year-old mother to an assisted living place in Utah near his brother. Several of the couples still have elderly parents living when they come here. The Cranes have gone home for two funerals since they have arrived for two of their parents.

     I heard Sister Limb talking about some “Moscow Rules” that were shared with her when they moved here. Her husband, Clark, is the Area Executive Secretary, and he was Stan and Roz’s Bishop for a time when they lived in Wilsonville.  Some of the rules are:

·        Always stay to the right on escalators so faster walkers or runners can pass you.

·        You must remove your shoes when entering a residency. There is almost always a nice big bench to sit on to do so, and I assume it comes in handy when you have to put boots on and off in the winter. Everyone also has a shoe horn with an extremely long handle to help you put on your shoes/boots.

·        After using the bathroom, there is a toilet bowl brush permanently mounted to the wall. You must use it to clean out the bowl, since the expectation here is that you do not leave any evidence behind!

·        Do not cross over the body when shaking hands. They have some superstitions I understand too.

We will be learning more I’m sure! I got a haircut last week by a beautiful blonde lady about my age named Larisa. She does not speak English, so I used Google Translate to tell her how to cut and style my hair. She did OK and I will continue to use her. While she was doing my hair she had music playing on a station that played some English and some Russian tunes. Then all of the sudden she tells me she likes Elvis, Ella Fitzgerald, and jazz. I told her how I love music and we seemed to draw a bit closer in our attempt to communicate with each other. I told her how I was going to a concert that night. Her daughter lives in Dallas, Texas, so I think Larisa really likes Americans! A few times, she called her daughter to translate for me when I was making the appointment. I think it was probably 2 am Dallas time!

    We had testimony meeting last Sunday and one of the full time volunteers translated for a fellow who was a convert. The new member said how he tries to share the gospel at work and tell them that he isn’t just a member of an American Church—it is the Church of Jesus Christ! He was so radiant, enthusiastic, and really showed the light of Christ in his countenance! It is inspiring to see the faith, dedication and testimony of the members here, even though it is challenging for them.

     We had our Russian, English speaking secretary, Irina, order Papa John’s pizza for us last Friday for the legal team lunch, along with Fanta Orange pop for Jason and I (it is all over here so we are trying to restrain ourselves), and Coke 0 for the others. One of the two native Russians in our office Alexzander, brought tomato and apple juice. The juices here are excellent and there are many varieties.

     Last night we were supposed to go to a Rachmaninoff Concert, but didn’t get tickets in time, so we went out to dinner with Burtons, Cranes and Taylors for a going away dinner since the Taylors are leaving this week. You can see the pics I posted on Facebook and Instagram from that. They have mentored and tutored us since we got our call to come to Moscow, and we will miss them.

     One of my favorite parts of our service so far has been getting to know the LDS employees on two floors of our work building who are native Russians and speak some English. Also, we have made so many lasting friendships with the senior missionaries already, that it is amazing. The Burtons who arrived here a week before us, have been great examples of hard work, and dedication to our callings, even in the short time they have been here.

     I had more assignments to fulfill at the office last week so was happier about that. I discovered that Ann Wilson (and Paul Jr.) my first cousins who are serving in the Dominican Republic with the church’s Legal Department are doing the same things we are. In fact, Ann made a comment on Instagram last week that she felt like she was living her life in Infoguide. It is the data base to which we add the legal information the attorneys are working on, and I am getting more familiar with it.

     We did not go to our Ward today, since they were just listening to General Conference. Fortunately, we have been listening to the talks all week at home with our WiFi. What tremendous instruction and inspiration we have received from living prophets. We also enjoyed viewing Elder Hales’ funeral at 8 pm last Friday night.

 Today we helped serve lunch at our workplace for our Area Presidency and a few area 70’s while they had meetings. There were four senior couples who helped out. We all transported our donations from our various housing locations across Moscow and provided a delicious meal of Chicken Croissants, veggie platter, fruit platter, chips, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. It was an enjoyable time of meeting them and serving them. Sorry this is so long, but I keep remembering things that happened that I want to remember! We are looking forward to being busy in October. Elder Kearon is supposed to come visit here and President Nelson is coming to some part of Russia soon, but details are not known yet. Day to day there is excitement. Thank you for your prayers and support!

We send our love to all!

Pam (and Jason)

Sept 17-24 2017

On Sunday, Sept. 17, I played the piano at our International Ward for all three meetings: Sacrament Meeting, Primary, and Relief Society. There are no real pianos in our building, but they use keyboards. Two of the music sisters had attended the Mission President’s Seminar in Georgia, Russia (not USA!) the week prior with their husbands picked up an intestinal bug while there, so they couldn’t make it to church.

 Due to the cut backs at the US Embassy ever since Pres. Trump closed the Russian Embassy in San Francisco, many of the Church members who worked there have gone back to the US and the numbers at our International Ward have shrunk. As I mentioned previously we have some Senior Couples in our ward, a few Russian, some families here with the US Embassy, OGC workers, Philippine women who are members and work as housecleaners and send their income home to their families (just like they do in Hong Kong, as we learned when we went to visit Larry and Lynda there), and some African members and investigators from Ghana. We are really enjoying church! It is about a 45-50-minute ride on the Metro to get there, with a few short walks included.

We got invited to the Burtons apartment for Sunday dinner, which was yummy Angus Beef cooked in the crockpot for several hours, on Russian Rolls, with Confetti Corn (yummy—I got the recipe and you will want it, I promise!), Green salad and Torpedo Melon—it’s a light-colored fruit shaped like an oval with texture kind of like watermelon. I made my first batch of Banana Bread here and took it for dessert. It turned out OK considering I don’t have vanilla here. Elder and Sister Burton live on the very top of one of the tall towers in a nice area, not too far from where we are, but on the other side of our work office. Their apartment is brand new and very modern. It rained a bit on our way home and we had to use our umbrella for one of the first times yet.

Monday, Sept. 18 we had a meeting with Arlen where he explained more about our roles in OGC. He wants me to be like a legal assistant to Jason, which so far means getting familiar with InfoGuide, our legal data base. Also, I have been assigned to put together some information on how senior couples can better transition into this Mission for the OGC. Elder and Sister Harris are arriving in early December, and I have been assigned to be their tour guide and support while they transition to the country in those first few days/weeks.  We thought we were the “New Kids on the Block” because we have been here a month now, but no, we are now “Old Timers”!

Jason and I found some lunch at the nearby Vegas Mall food court. We ate at a Middle Eastern buffet restaurant where I got something that looked like cheese pizza and a yummy salad, made of cucumber, tomato, onion—those are very popular here.  Jason had fish which they have in abundance here.

At Senior Council on Tuesday, Sept. 19, we welcomed another new couple in—Elder and Sister Perry, from the Tri-Cities area of Washington State. They are from Kennewick and will be working as Humanitarian Volunteers. 

I was called to serve as Primary Pianist, via an email from our Bishop Backman. I had not actually met him yet, and he apologized for using email, but that’s just the way things work better here in Moscow. Since I’m already a set-apart volunteer, I was just called and sustained, but won’t’ be set apart.

Our OGC compatriot, Eileen Crane, travelled to England for a week with her husband who is the Area Mental Health Advisor. He had a conference there and we babysat Eileen’s blue goldfish named “Baby Cosmo”, for all you BYU fans out there. We managed to keep the fish alive. The Cranes travel practically every weekend and that has been the tradition of some of the Senior Couples. I think they are travelling to St. Petersburg this coming weekend.  I have overheard other couples talking about going to Denmark and Sweden. We will be going to Helsinki, Finland for our visa trip, which I think I mentioned earlier how we must leave the country every 90 days to renew our Visas. We are looking forward to going about Nov. 20 and will be able to attend the temple there which will be a wonderful opportunity.

Sister Eileen Crane travelled with her husband Russ to England since Br. Crane had a conference there. One of their children and the family met them there and they spent a week enjoying one of their favorite places. The Cranes have travelled extensively and since she has joined the OGC  here, they have travelled practically every weekend. We babysat their goldfish named “Baby Cosmo” while they were gone. 

We are learning to dress “Russian”, which in my mind means adapting to the weather conditions outside. It’s surprising that even yet, it’s not that cold so I’ve been wearing a top and skirt, with a jacket or cardigan. Adding a scarf can help one be warmer on cooler days. The Russian women wear lots of scarves, which for the moment are not winter scarves but just beautiful silk or cotton scarves with all kinds of prints and designs. I like to watch them on the Metro and check out their fashion statements. Many of the younger set are very well dressed. And the young men all wear t-shirts with US Logos on them as well as Nike and Adidas shoes, backpacks, etc.  There is a bit of a wind tunnel right when we get off the Metro, so my hair gets totally windblown then. I found that a scarf works well to keep my hair back. As it gets colder I have a medium weight jacket with a hood that I bought at Costco back home.

Last Thursday Jason and I left the office after lunch to go to the European Medical Center to get the first injection of Eylea here in Russia from my female, 41-yr old Doc named Dr. Boschat, a beautiful young, tall lady. This is my second appointment with her. There is never a line of patients to be seen here. You never have to wait. I was in and out in 15 minutes. She numbed my right eye, then moved me to a different room and had me wash my face and all the makeup off and put on a hairnet. Then she put more drops in for numbing. Back home Dr. Baynham used drops then a needle to numb my right eye. Then she had me lay down on a table, whereas back home, I would just sit up. She used some kind of support to keep her arms steady, which Dr. B. does not, and she used a much sturdier spring/piece of equipment to prop my eye open. Dr. Hansen, our Area Med. Dr. wanted to come in to observe my injection, so both he and Jason were in the room. They both said I twitched during the procedure and I did cuz it hurt! I think she needs to numb me a bit more next time. She gave me antibiotic cream to put on my eye for three days following the treatment, and told me not to swim, or get in the sauna. I was not warned of these things in the US. The Clinic here is very clean, but maybe the general environment in Russia is not as clean as the US. I was curious about all the cleaning/antibiotlic stuff. I go next week for follow up. It takes about 30 minutes to get there plus a good walk, and that’s about average for most places around here.

Arlen left for Utah and General Conference last Friday and will be gone about two weeks His wife Debi was excited to see all of their children who live between Southern Cal. and Arizona. The word in our OGC office is that’s when the crises happen when Arlen leaves. Sister Limb is travelling by herself to go to Idaho/Utah where one of her daughters is having a baby next week. She’ll be gone about two weeks. I’m amazed at the travelling these Senior Couples do depending on their assignments, Visa Trips, and pleasure trips: Rega, Latvia; Helsinki, Finland’ Talin, Estonia, Georgia, Armenia, Istanbul, England, etc..  Our friends the Cooks who also live in our building are hoping to go to Denmark and Sweden since she has some ancestors from there.

Last Saturday we went into Red Square and ended up touring all day on the Hop On Hop Off Bus. They have three tours included: red (which is downtown Moscow), green (a two hour tour further out from the city) and a boat tour. We went on all three that day and had a blast. It gave us more a feeling of the layout of the city. We met a young couple on the boat who spoke English and really enjoyed that experience—he was a tall blonde engineer from Germany and she was a beautiful Chinese girl who now lives in Vlad. where Hannah served, but is preparing to become a stewardess for Aeroflot. She speaks Chinese, English and Russian. He speaks German and English. She was helpful in telling us about some excellent places to see and restaurants to eat at. They recommended one called “Wild Meat” which was a Siberian restaurant where they ate deer and other interesting food.

I have been branching out and have travelled a bit alone on the Metro and have done a little shopping close to the office. I went to a store like Home Depot and bought a desk  lamp for our apartment. It’s sometimes hard to find an English-speaking clerk, but you learn to use sign language, a smile, and some animation to get your message across.

Jason is really getting involved in the legal work since the Burtons are leaving soon. They have delegated a lot to him. I have done some data entry on the legal matters and helped Jason with these contracts he’s creating for three countries. He has been having some heel pain, like Plantar Fasciitis, so we bought him some gel inserts.  He will have to tell you about his visit to the US Embassy last night on a special work assignment.

We find the news interesting that Huntsman was approved as the Ambassador to Russia, that Elder Hales and Pres. Monson won’t be at conference. We’ll be able to get conference on WIFI this weekend at crazy hours, but will watch it at times that are more convenient. The Senior Sisters are getting together Saturday to discuss the Women’s Meeting talks and have food too. They men are going to meet and “play” while we discuss.

We are getting ready to leave the office two hours early today to go on a special visit to Sokol, an area where the Church has a building(s). Life here is very interesting and I’m loving it!

Hope you all get to enjoy your conference weekend!

Hugs,

Mom/Pam

Sept 10-17 2017

A week ago we attended the church employee and volunteer picnic at a “resort”. It took about an hour and a half to get there, which is average for a commute here. Some of the employees in our building commute on the Metro more than two hours each way to work. There were only about eight or ten senior couples who attended the picnic, and we were the only ones from the legal office. It was good to rub shoulders with the Russian Saints. We tried to participate in a few of their games and did our best to communicate with them. We have become good friends with a few of them so far like Zoya, the secretary on the 9^th floor, and Irina, the secretary to Arlen on the 10^th floor. They are about 36 and 42 years old, and both single. Irina is divorced and has two grown daughters. She is new at her job with OGC and we like her a lot. In fact, on Friday we took her to lunch with us, and she helped us pick up a few items at the grocery store that we had been unable to locate. And her being able to speak fluent Russian was a big benefit for us!

     The way we shop is that we go into the store and use Google Translate to try and figure out what things are, so it’s kind of a laborious process. One way to use GT is to use your phone camera to align the Russian text and it’s supposed to translate it for you.  It was wonderful having a native Russian with us and made it so much easier to shop. I went by myself to work last Thursday, since Jason was starting to get a cold. Then on the way home, I went into this huge mall called the Vegas Mall near our work at the Kubik Building. I wanted to do some clothes shopping, but was very unsuccessful doing so. I have discovered that I’m already getting tired of the clothes I brought, having to dress up every day!  You know me, I love pants. I told Jason, I have never worn skirts and tops for so many days in a row before in my life!  And the first thing I do when I get home is change into comfortable pants.

      Last Sunday was our second week of attending church at the International Ward in Sokol, which is in the northwest area of Moscow. We had travelled via the Metro and connected to a trolley the week previously with Barbara and Mark Taylor, our associates in the OGC who are leaving at the end of this month☹ They travelled to St. Petersburg last weekend so we tried going to church on our own. We took a wrong turn and were 30 minutes late to church! That’s just what happens around here. It is such a big city and it can be confusing which way to turn when you get off the Metro.

     We do have the Metro App along with Google Maps and some other electronic resources on our phones to help us out.  Jason has a new route configured for tomorrow which is shorter and all Metro with a little walking. He wants to minimize the walking, since he has been having some heel pain. I think he may be developing Plantar Fasciitis. I think I mentioned how we have been doing a lot of walking and I’m enjoying it. I notice that the Russians walk fast and there are rarely any overweight people here. They are very beautiful people and have strong legs!! Not so many cars to drive them everywhere. They walk and take Metro even in the frigid cold weather I understand.

     We were invited to have dinner with Richard and Emmy Burton last Sunday after church. They arrived in Moscow just a week before we did and lived in Salt Lake for part of their lives, but more recently from Washington DC. They live on the 25^th floor of a new high rise in the Strigino area. It is a nice new area and they are the first to live in their apartment, so everything is sparkling and new. They fed us a yummy meal of lemon chicken, breads with cheese, broccoli, green salad, and chocolate cake for dessert. The two of them are just the nicest people and so generous. We will enjoy working side by side them for our eighteen month stint here.

     Arlen, our “boss” was out of town most of last week, so it was kind of a slow week in the OGC office for me in particular. Jason started working on a few legal issues, and I tried to get more familiar with Infoguide, which is like a huge encyclopedia of all their documents and records. Sister Burton and I learned how to upload documents to Key Topics in Infoguide. Otherwise, I spent time organizing our office, and checking Family Search, Facebook, Instagram, and email.

     There is a devotional every Monday morning for all the Church employees and volunteers in one of the big conference rooms on the 10^th Floor. It was all in Russian this week, but they had a translator who gave us a tiny box and earphones so we could understand the message. Every Tuesday at 5:30 pm is the Senior Council where all the missionaries meet for a brief message, and to introduce new couples, as well as hear farewell talks from those leaving. Then they often go out to dinner together afterwards. The Scwendedmins who are from Rexburg, Idaho gave their farewell message last week. He has been an auditor and his wife has been along for the ride. They helped friendship Pable who is the driver that the senior missionaries use to take them places. He was baptized a few weeks ago and it was interesting to see pictures and hear about his conversion story through the Schwendemins. Sister Schwendemin has made a lot of quilts and cooked and provided food, friendship, etc. to many living here. After their mission report, we went to dinner at the Italian Restaurant in the Vegas Mall near our office. There were five couples and we sat at dinner for more than two hours ordering and waiting for our food. They just work on different timelines here!

     On our lunch hour, we will often go to one of the cafeterias on the main floor of this building with the Burtons, Taylors, Cranes, etc. I have enjoyed a yummy stir fry area, plus they have excellent salads with cucumber, tomato, onion, and a beet salad that was to die for! On Friday, we walked with Emmy Burton and Irina, the OGC secretary to Ashon, a big grocery store like Walmart here. It is huge and trying to find what we need is tricky. Fortunately, Irina helped us find a few things like Ziploc bags, Bleach, Stain Remover, and some Calcium tablets. We got the calcium tablets at a pharmacy located right near Ashon. There are several pharmacies all around us. This coming Thursday, I go back to the European Medical Center to get my first injection of Eyelea from the Russian Retina Specialist.

      The Taylors are also getting ready to go home, and they had to move into a temporary apartment so a new couple, the Perrys, who are arriving this Monday, will have a place to stay. It’s very interesting how hard the seniors have to work to find apartments for the new couples coming in. We lucked out and got right into an apartment when we arrived.  Some have to stay in a motel for a while until they find an apartment for them. The Russian way of doing things just takes longer and is more complicated. Barbara Taylor wears the same size clothes and shoes as I do, so she gave me three pair of boots the other day, a heavy winter coat, hat, and gloves, so I won’t need to purchase any winter gear. Bro. Taylor (Mark) gave Jason some boots that are two sizes bigger than he wears, but will work since he will be wearing heavy wool sock with them.

    The Church has two floors of employees in the Kubik building in the Strigino area and there are about 90 employees in all. We are on the 9^th floor, but the main OGC office is on the 10^th floor, so we go up and down stairs between the floors to get a little exercise. The one problem with the stairs is that many of the other people who work in this large business building smoke.   Even though they go outside to smoke, the stairwells are like chimneys and the smoke collects in there. Many stand outside close to the building and smoke there too. There are many more visible smokers here than in the US and there are not as many restricted areas for them. We travel from the Molodyzozhnay Metro Stop to Myakinino, then can either take a bus or walk for 20 minutes up a gentle incline to our office. Every Monday there is a church employee and volunteer devotional given by the native Russians in Russian so far. This last week we used headsets and had a nice gentleman translate for us. Several of the employees speak a little to a lot of English.

Saturday Sept. 16, we met the Griffins at our Metro Stop and travelled to Izmailovksy Market. It is a huge market where there is apparently the best tourist shopping. Items from the stacking dolls, to Father Frosts, to fur hats, tablecloths, artwork and a flea market with used items is also included. It’s huge! We enjoyed eating lunch in an area where there were four different businesses all cooking various kinds of meat and veggies. I ordered salmon and Jason ordered lamb, with veggies. After we ordered they

I was busy at church Sunday with the music. Two of the sisters who are involved with the music in Sacrament Meeting and Primary went with their husbands to the Mission President’s Seminar in Georgia last week and had diarrhea from something they ate. There is a nice Yamaha electronic keyboard in the Sac. Meeting area, then another not as nice one in the Primary Room, and a bad one in the RS Room. I enjoyed being in Primary Room and observing the combination of ex-pat children, Russian children, and both Senior and Junior Primary combined. I will be subbing in Primary for the next two weeks since Sister Debi Woffinden will be gone for the two weeks around General Conference with her husband, Arlen, who is our Legal Counsel boss here.

I haven’t cooked much at home, since we eat our bigger meal at noon, but tried my oven out with cooking up banana bread from the brown bananas we have been buying.  We had another delicious with the Burtons and the Taylors on Sunday, Sept. 15. Emmy cooked two Angus Beef Roasts in her crock pot while we were at church, then we put the juicy meat on yummy Russian bread, with cheese slices, Confetti Corn, green salad, and torpedo fruit. We ate my banana bread with ice cream on it for dessert. The Taylors had to move out of their current apartment to allow the Perrys to move in. They arrive on Monday and will be MLS Missionaries. It has been a bit of a hassle for Barb and Mark, since they had to move to a temporary place for just about three weeks. Then Barb’s back went out on her later last week. They are literally “enduring to the end”!

I am hoping they find me more things to do. You can see from the length of this letter, that I have plenty of time on my hands. Jason is being given some legal cases to work on and I think will gradually be super busy, especially once the Taylors are gone. They are both attorneys, as I think I mentioned previously, so it will be a big loss. Elder and Sister Harris of Wilsonville, Oregon, are a senior couple who will arrive in November. He is an attorney and she is not, but they came to our home for a short visit before we left Oregon to come here. They have only lived in Wilsonville for a few years, so didn’t know Stan and Roslyn. He was a Circuit Court Judge in Southern Oregon. Sister Harris has done lots of work with the refugees in Oregon. We look forward to having them come and join the group here.

It is a toasty 72 degrees Fahrenheit here in Moscow today (Monday Sept. 18, 2017) I had brought my medium weight coat, since it rained yesterday and I thought we were in for more. Turns out, didn’t need it and took it off at lunchtime when we walked to the nearby mall. There are two of them very close to our work: the Vegas Mall and the Crocus Mall. Then there are malls everywhere you go!

We miss you all very much and hope that you are all doing well.

From Russia with love,

Sister Pam Carlile