Sabbath

Our church buildings are in industrial/business areas and are somewhat well-disguised.

Sacrament Meeting started at 9:30 AM, and Bro Hopkinson, Zach and Julie's neighbor picked us up at 8:30. It was quite a long way to the building, a different one from where the baptism had been the day before. They attend the Moscow Ward, which is considered an international ward. Anyone who is not Russian attends this ward. Even people who are married to Russians end up coming to this ward, for the Americans are not to attend the Russian wards, according to church rules. Julie and Zach have been disappointed by this policy, but can see the good reasons for it.

The meetings went well. We could see that there are all ages here, maybe except the elderly. There are many church workers and a number of mature missionaries, along with quite a few young families and couples. Primary has about 30 children, and the youth program has only half a dozen. There is a group of about 20 student teachers from the US (Utah?) who teach English to non-English speakers in Russian schools, as well, here until later in December. And all non-Russians who join the church here are incorporated into this international ward, so there are quite a few Africans, Filipinos and others who are young in the gospel as well. It is a wonderful mix of people who help each other manage. 

Gospel Doctrine is taught by an older man who happens to be the Temporal Affairs person from the church over this area. It was a good lesson, with SO MUCH participation. (That is very different from my own ward!) Relief Society was a special meeting where all the sisters from the other auxiliaries joined for a lesson/experience on sisterhood. There were many visitors, and we all had a good time comparing notes on our experiences in the city and with not being able to sleep when everyone else is.

A dreary day outside, but great inside

After church Julie and Zach had their neighbor's children over to play for a couple of hours to give their mother, whose husband is working out of the area for three weeks, a break. The kids are 10, 4 1/2, and 1. It was cute to watch Zach and Julie have such a good time and do so well with children. We can see that they will someday make wonderful parents! Later we went to the children's house, where their mom had made pizza for our dinner, with pan cookies and Russian ice cream (which most of us had) for dessert. It was a wonderful, dreary day.