We thought Spring was on it’s way but little did we know. Apparently, when it starts to warm up here (it has been in the high 20’s to low 30’s) it just means it is warm enough to snow. We should have known this!!! Anyway, we have been getting a lot of snow lately which wouldn’t be so bad but it seems to be accompanied by this fierce 10 to 20 mph wind that comes right out of the Artic so even though the temp says 25-30 it feels more like 10-20 but hey this is Siberia so what is one to expect!!! It is getting better everyday though and is melting quite a bit which is also kind of messy with all the mud and water. You have to be careful where you step because the slush is probably covering a 2 foot hole of water which is not fun if you step in----but we are loving the warmer weather.
It has been quite a week for teaching too. This week we had a young woman, Christie, over for dinner. She is from Texas and is here teaching English at one of the schools in the city. Then there was Mikhail who came over one evening. He is a young man with a wife and 2 yr old son. Hopefully, he will bring them by next time so we can meet them as well. Yesterday Marina was baptized and then confirmed a member today in church. She came to dinner today and we had a great time getting to know her a little better and also helped the elders teach her another lesson. Also, today Alexey came to church. He is an older gentleman, a professor at one of the universities here, and just finished building his own home before winter set in. Then this winter the roof burnt on his new home and he has had several other set backs as well. It is always interesting to be reminded that it often takes crisis in our lives before we become humble enough to turn to God. We are pretty prideful in our own abilities in general and sometimes it takes being reminded that without God we are nothing. Anyway, it was great to see him come and always good to be reminded of the importance of the Lord in our lives. We give thanks everyday for the blessings of life we are privileged to enjoy.
There was a leadership meeting on Saturday, the first one of our new District. Elder Webb attended and gave a little instruction (with the aid of a translator of course) on the financial record keeping required and Sister Webb helped with the feeding of the whole crew. There were about 20 at the meeting here and another 10 or so that participated via skype from various parts of the District. It was really quite impressive to see the new leadership all together.
It is hard to believe that it is the last week of March already. The time seems to fly by (most of the time flys by). This coming week should be a little slower for us so perhaps we will have an opportunity to get out and see a little more of the city. Although it will have to “dry up” before we can get around too much. No transfers this week, no arriving or departing missionaries, no visa trips, just one missionary leadership training meeting on Wednesday and with the reorganization all done that will leave some time as well. We look forward to a great week. Hope you all have one as well. It is always fun to get a note from out there so if you have some time drop us an email. Be good, stay safe - we’ll talk again next week.
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| Our Leadership Meeting |
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| Sister Webb w/MARINA & the Elders |
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