Sunday, August 3, 2008

Picnic, District, Rabinsk

Branch Picnic
On Saturday, July 26th we went on a picnic with the local members of our Yaroslavl branch. We played Americanski footbol, soccer and tossed the frisbie around. There were about 20 in attendance, including four who were investigating our church.
There was also plenty of time to visit. Here Rick is visiting with Elder Pierce from Rexburg, Id and Natasha, one of our investigators.
Medina, the daughter of the 1st counselor in our branch presidency, is showing off a doll she made out of the local fauna.
Sasha, a convert just baptized last October, is preparing hot dogs for our lunch. He is 18 and organized this activity. He was sustained the next week as the branch Activities Chairman. Marat Vaneev, the first counselor in our branch presidency, is looking on.
The food is all layed out for us to eat. We had hot dogs, sliced tomatoes, sliced up cucumbers, bananas, cheese, cookies, filtered water and Anne made some banana bread which all enjoyed. Everyone had a great time.

District
All the missionaries in Yaroslavl gathered at our apartment to celebrate Elder Barney's birthday on Monday night. We had a cultural night and watched a couple of Russian movies made in the 50's. We didn't understand much, but the missionaries enjoyed them. At the top are Rick, Elders Morgan, Angelo, Pierce and Barney. In the first row are Anne and sisters Shevyeko (from Ukraine) and Brown.

Dinner with Chernikov Family
On Thursday night the Branch President and his family came to dinner. Kristina, the 15 year old in the middle, leaves on August 6th for Burley, Id and will be an exchange student for the school year. They have one more daughter who was staying with her grandmother who wasn't included in the picture. Kristina has been tutoring us for the past couple of weeks. We appreciate her very much.

Trip to Rabinsk
On Saturday we took a 2 hour train ride to Rabinsk to visit 3 members who lived up there. The train stopped many times to let people off to go to their datches (summer homes). The picture above is of one of the train stations along the way.
While in Rabinsk, we visited with one older sister and then with a mother and her son. While walking back from their apartment we saw this very cute home and decided to take this picture. The members there were very welcoming and we had spirit-filled visits in both homes. On the way home we decided to take a taxi which took us only an hour and only cost 800 rubles for the four of us ($34).

11 comments:

Camille said...

Yum! It's right after church and I'm hungry. The picnic looks so good.

There is a Russian exchange student coming to visit a family in our ward for the school year. I am excited to meet her and find out if she is from your area.

Member of the Vernier Family said...

I can't wait for your e-mails, Anne, and your blog entries, Rick. Both of you have always been so positive - it is such a joy to read of your experiences.
Do the Elders proselyte? Door to door? Are you mainly there to help the Branch? How do your neighbors and the store owners/employees feel about Americans? I find the graffiti interesting. Here we always associate it with inner city/slum/low-income areas. What type of neighborhood is your Branch located in? Everything you report is so very interesting. Have a good week. Love, Celia

texaswilliams said...

This is such a fun way to keep track of you! Thanks for sharing with me. Anne, you look so darling, skinny and hip!! God blesss you both!
Love you, Stacey

texaswilliams said...

This is such a fun way to keep track of you! Thanks for sharing with me. Anne, you look so darling, skinny and hip!! God blesss you both!
Love you, Stacey

SuzieBelle said...

What an adventure! A friend of mine has a son that went to Russia on his mission - it's fun to exchange your stories for her's.

Jan and Larry Myers said...

We're thrilled to get to share your mission through the blog and invite you to share ours, too, at www.MyersMission.com. It's a beautiful country! Love, Jan

Jenn Hamann said...

Wow, it looks like you guys have been very busy this past week! All very fun stuff! Of course I love the pic of the cute blue house. Love ya, Jenni from the hood

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the pictures of the Elders. We always enjoy seeing our boy. The Angelos

Amy Pennington said...

I'm gonna be a copycat and say I like the blue house too:)

You two look like you are really enjoying yourself. .. And staying busy.

God Bless!

Amy Pennington said...

Blogger just ate my ever so long and thoughtful comment. Oh well! Looks like you guys are having a great time and thanks for keeping us all updated.

Hugs to you!

Anonymous said...

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