Becks in Siberia: Wrong Train

An occurrence that is not too uncommon seems to be getting on the wrong train. After we arrived, the Elders hopped on the wrong train which headed to who knows where. After they realized, they had to get off and find a taxi, etc. to get back to Berdsk. About a week ago, a friend of ours that has lived in Berdsk for several years happened to do the same thing and it took her most of the night to get back after she realized what had happened. Well, not to be completely outdone, we were in Novosibirsk last Friday waiting by the train tracks for our train to come in; about 4 minutes before our train was to arrive, a train came in. We asked a lady that was getting on if this train went to Berdsk and she said yes, so we hopped on it. After going down the tracks for a ways, a couple of young ladies came and sat by us and tried to explain to us that this train was not going the way that we needed to go. They didn’t speak one word of English, but we were able to decipher what they were saying. We are thinking that the lady that told us incorrectly sent them to inform us of the error. Anyway, we went down the wrong tracks until we could exit the train, wait for another train to take us back to our original train station and then catch the next correct train. It ended up being a very beneficial mix-up for us anyway because we were able to meet several people during our wait and on the train, some of which we hope to be able to become better acquainted with in the near future.

For some time now, we have been talking about having a party with the adult English class that we have been helping with. Well, on Saturday, we had them come to our apartment and we had a fun get together. Everyone brought some type of food item and we sat around and talked for quite a while. Actually, it started at 3pm and went until 9pm and we had a great time with them. We have become great friends with all of them. We talked of having another one before we leave.

We went to Novosibirsk in the middle of the week and helped the missionaries with the English conversation group that they hold each week. They invite people off the street to come in and speak with missionaries from America. They divide into about four groups based upon the English ability of the individuals. It goes for about an hour and a half and there is time for a short language activity, a story, a musical number, a spiritual thought and then one on one conversation after. It was enjoyable and we hope to do it again. Hopefully, we will be able to start doing the same thing in Berdsk sometime soon.

We had our new friend, Yuri, come to our apartment again and we had a nice visit. He is a BIG fan of Chuck Norris. He even brought his Russian Chuck Norris,“чак норрис”, book to show us. We have great hopes of becoming much closer friends with this good man.

It has finally warmed up… The apple blossoms are out!! We were able to go for a nice walk down the road from where we are living and it was very nice. Lots of pine trees line the road and walkway and there is even a nice beach along the way, not too far from our apartment.

Sunday felt great in our new meeting place and it is working out real well. The best part about it was that our dear Brother Vitali, that has been so ill, was able to make it to our meetings. It was such a welcome sight to see him walk through the door.