Becks in Siberia: Mixed Emotions

This was a week of mixed emotions. We found out during Zone Conference, in the middle of the week, that one of our Elders in Berdsk, Elder Bunnell, will be leaving us and going to another city in Russia. We have become very close to this fine young man. We call him one of our son’s. He will be missed dearly in Berdsk, as he has developed many wonderful friendships. We will be receiving a brand new Elder here in Berdsk, fresh from the MTC. We truly enjoy becoming close to these wonderful young missionaries.

On Tuesday, we traveled to Novosibirsk and went to dinner with the other senior couples that evening. It was nice to get together with these fine people. Then, on Wednesday, we enjoyed a full day of meetings in Novosibirsk at Zone Conference. We also enjoy the train rides to and from. It is always fun to look for someone to sit by and talk with. This trip was no exception. We sat by a nice Babushka going to Novo and a sweet young lady coming back. It is always fun to start talking to them about their family and then show them pictures from back home. We actually look forward to our train rides and our rides on the marshrutkas.

We also had an opportunity during the week to go help one of our members in Berdsk with a fence that she needs built. Tools and materials are a challenge but the reward of helping this dear lady and her daughter are well worth it. We also think that she is probably one of the best cooks in Berdsk, though she cooks all her meals on a wood/coal burning stove.

May 9th was one of Russia’s holidays with parades and fireworks. It is called Victory Day, celebrating the end of World War II. It is a large celebration that would be somewhat similar to our 4th of July.

On Sunday the family that we have become close friends with came to the meetings at our apartment. We had a full house with three of our members, five investigators and the four missionaries. Our living room was full. It was a nice feeling to have that many here. We are in the process of finding a place that we can lease to hold our meetings in. Hopefully that will materialize soon.

We are still waiting for it to warm up. All the Siberian people are still wearing coats and scarfs. We have had two days so far that we didn't need to wear a coat. Guess that’s the norm for Siberia. We did hear that the summers do warm up nicely though.