This past week we had several wonderful experiences. First
of all, we will share our experience with a sweet Russian family that came to
our apartment and had dinner with us. This was a mother, father, daughter, son
and his girlfriend. The young missionaries found this family and had a visit
with them prior to us arriving in Russia, but we haven’t had the opportunity to
meet with them until last week. What a wonderful time we had. They absolutely
enjoyed looking at our pictures from home on the computer. Everyone from Russia
that we show our pictures of the mountains above home to, say that it looks
like an area in Russia called Altai. We instantly felt a great love for this
dear family, as they just glowed as we talked with them. After showing them the
mountains by our home, they invited us to go on a trip with them to the Altai
region. Not sure if that’s possible, but it would be fun. We would first need
to learn Russian much better than we know now. We are looking forward to meeting
with this dear family again, hopefully much sooner than later.
On another day, as we were entering our apartment, a gentleman that lives in an
apartment near ours was coming out. We had a brief conversation with him in the
hallway. He has a basic understanding of English, enough that we were able to
have him, his wife and his daughter over for a nice visit. He said that he
wanted to take us on a tour of Berdsk and show us where the good and not so
good places of the city are. They were very pleasant and we look forward to
becoming closer friends with them. We gave them a copy of the Liahona magazine
that we hope they will enjoy.
This week was a week of travel. We went to Novosibirsk on Friday for a meeting,
on Saturday to a concert and again on Sunday for Branch Conference. We most
always enjoy the train ride, it seems more often than not, we are able to have
a conversation with someone and enjoy it. Though, many times there is a great
language barrier, but it is still fun. It is interesting how almost everyone on
the public transportation just sits with somewhat of a blank look and don’t
communicate with others. We seem to be about the only ones talking. We have found the best way to break the ice and start a conversation with people is to show them pictures of our family and of Utah. It is handy to pull up pictures on the iPhone and start showing them our family. They always say: Wow, Large family - Not using those words though. We have met
so many wonderfully kind Russian people by just trying to strike up a
conversation. As we reach our destination and depart from each other, it seems
that we feel a bond of friendship towards each other - We love it. We have
little handouts with information about the church and with a contact number that we enjoy giving out. Most will accept them with a smile.
On the cultural side of things, we attended a symphony at the Novosibirsk Theatre on
Saturday. This is the largest theatre in all of Russia. It is larger than the
Bolshoi Theatre (which means Large Theatre) in Moscow. It was an enjoyable
evening with the other senior couples. We even went to another KFC in
Novosibirsk and had fast food again. That is uncommon for us, as there are no
fast food restaurants in all of Berdsk, even though it has a population of
around 100,000 people. We haven’t figured that one out yet! Here’s a great business
opportunity for someone in Russia. : -)
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