From Russia With Love...

a.k.a. Letters from Sis. Lynes in Russia

Letter #19: From the Mission Field in Russia

Subject: #19
Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2001 20:36:38 +0600
From: Shirley Lynes <gma@jacklynes.com>
To: jlynes@jacklynes.com

Dear Everybody,
I hope everything is going great for all of you. Things are pretty much the same for us here. There is not much that changes from day to day for us. We worked all week, and did a little shopping last night and today. We had zone conference Wednesday. That's always nice to have a meeting where most of it is in English! The sacrament meetings we attend (and all the meetings on Sunday) are all in Russian. So it is nice to be in a meeting where we can understand what is being said. I am still working on learning Russian, but I don't feel like I'm making much progress. There is one member of the church who comes to give me Russian lessons. I am sort of her service project. She is just the nicest, sweetest lady you would ever want to meet. And one of Sis. Jenkins' students used to be a teacher, and she has started teaching us Russian in return for being taught English. So our not learning is not because we aren't trying!!! Russian is a very difficult language. There are 6 cases in Russian grammar, and it is hard to remember what the endings are for all the cases, and which one to use when! Sis. Hall says that if someone would teach Russian like we teach English, then we could learn it! Anyway, we haven't given up. You haven't failed until you give up! But you ought to see us when we try to buy something where you have to ask for it! I needed hair spray today, and it was a joke! But the owner of the store speaks a little English. Sis. Jenkins went to him and asked for his help. I got my hair spray! The Russians try so much to help these funny foreigners! We probably give them something to talk about when they get home! "You should have seen these 2 old ladies in the store today!!!" Maybe we do serve a purpose after all! We brighten their lives and give them something to laugh about! We had a thunderstorm last night. I heard it start to thunder just as I was going to sleep. There were puddles all around this morning, and the weather has cooled off a little. It has been hot all week, but it is only in the 60's today. I hope it doesn't get much cooler for a while. They don't turn the heat back on until the first of October. So we may have some uncomfortably cool nights before then. It hasn't frosted yet! But some of the trees are beginning to loose their leaves. I guess they know cool weather is coming. The weather changes very rapidly here in the Urals. It was overcast when we went into the store this morning, and beautifully clear when we came out. And no, we weren't in there THAT long! Did I tell you they painted lane lines on Rosy Luxembourg Street last week? It doesn't seem to affect the drivers at all! They drive all over the place just like they always do, and still continue to go the wrong way on our one way street! But it doesn't seem to cause any trouble. For a city with the population it has (1.6 million), there are not as many cars as you would expect in America in a city of similar size. And most of the cars look to be less than 10 years old. Of course, communism fell about 10 years ago. I don't think there were that many cars here then. I think owning a car is a fairly new idea here. Most people here will never own one. But the public transportation system is pretty good. Of course, it doesn't usually take you right where you want to go. You almost always have some walking to do. Walking doesn't seem to bother the Russians. And we wear sensible walking shoes, but the women here wear stylish shoes. I don't see how they can walk far in some of them. Of course, the women our age don't wear those fancy shoes. They (the babushkas) almost always have on low heeled shoes, heavy socks, coats, and scarves on their heads. Even when it is hot! And they keep the babies all bundled up almost like it is cold. You never see a baby or small child without something on its head. My children wouldn't wear hats! These babies don't seem to fight them at all. They have some really cute little head coverings. And I know I've said it before, but we can't get over how beautiful these babies and little children are! Maybe we just miss our little grandchildren (or great grandchildren). But their little faces are so pretty and healthy looking. I have a research question for you. A student in my class said that a friend of his asked him (and then he asked me!) "Why don't woodpeckers have brain strokes?" Anyone have an answer for that one?????? It does seem that a woodpecker's brain (if he has much of one) would get quite jarred around with all that pecking! And that's the sort of thing I deal with some days! The people in the class know they can ask about anything, or talk about anything, and quite often they do! I had no answer for him. Something interesting I have noticed is that the street name signs are not on the corners of the streets like we are used to. The signs are on the buildings on the corners. Almost always there is a building right on the corner with the sidewalk joining the building. The signs are on the corners of the buildings. Once you get used to knowing where to look, it makes perfect sense! Something else I found interesting is that with all the construction going on, I haven't seen a wheelbarrow. I have seen two men using what almost looks like the body of a wheelbarrow (without the wheel assembly) to move stuff. There are long handles on the sides of the contraption the men use to pick it up and walk with it wherever they need to go. Of course, the pavement or ground surface is so uneven, it would be hard to push a wheelbarrow anyway. At least now we can see where we are walking. When it gets covered with snow, you don't know where the holes are! We'd better start paying more attention to where the big holes are so that we don't fall in later! It looks like I will be staying in Yekat, at least for a while. Pres. Hall had talked about sending Sis. Jenkins and me to Tyumen, but he told me Wednesday that he is going to keep me here. Tyumen is more spread out, and the transportation system is not as good there as here. He doesn't want me to have to be walking long distances in the snow. I really appreciate that. He knows that I have no experience with walking in snow or on ice. I like it here just fine! Rosy is a little over a mile from here, and we can walk that easily. After all, I am a Southern lady! The people here ask me about the winters I am used to, and have a hard time believing that I'm not used to snow! I have told them that we have snow sometimes, for about half a day, and then it has all melted! There are months & months of it here! Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to email me! You have no idea what it means to me! And if you know any other missionary who is serving, drop him or her a card or letter. Call it your good deed for the day (or week!) I see the young missionaries using the computer at Rosy to check their email, and how sad and disappointed they are when they don't get anything. If you haven't served away from home, you have no idea how much it means to hear from home! I can tell you that it makes my day to get email!!!!! It keeps you from feeling alone and unloved! Of course we know Heavenly Father and Jesus love us, but they don't often speak to us!!!! So we just keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep on going. I really am interested in what you are doing, or just say hi. We went looking for a coat for me today. I couldn't get one today, but I saw some beautiful leather coats for 2,000 rubles. That's about $71. When I find one that fits, you can bet I'm buying it! These coats were full length with fur around the collar. They were beautiful! How is your scripture reading coming along? I finished the D&C this week, and am half way through Alma again. I hope you remember what Pres. Benson said about reading the Book of Mormon and what the Lord said in Section 84:54-58. Pres. Benson and the Lord said that the whole church is under condemnation for not remembering the Book of Mormon, and not reading it--treating it lightly. Don't be guilty of this. And if you will read it together as a family it will help you to have peace in your homes. Be sure to read at least a little in it every day. Preaching is over for today! Did I tell you that the people here use a lot of wallpaper? Even on the ceilings! The walls and ceilings are concrete, and I guess the best way to make them look better is with wallpaper. It's very hard to hang pictures! So they use wallpaper! And outside every dom is a structure that looks like clothesline posts, only too close together. Maybe 6-10 feet apart. I asked Sis. Jenkins about it, and she said they aren't clothesline posts. This is where people can hang their rugs to beat them. Not very many people have vacuum cleaners, but they have rugs. So often we see someone down there beating the dirt out of their rugs. The floors are concrete, so you have to have rugs to make it comfortable. Be grateful for where you live and the conveniences you have. These people are doing the best they can with what they have. That's about it for another week. Time is going so quickly. One week runs right into the next. I hope things are going well for you, and that you are accomplishing the things you want to accomplish. Above all, be happy! God loves you, and so do I!! I will try to find something interesting to tell you about next week!!!

Love,
Mom, Grandma, Greatgrandma, Shirley, Sister Lynes, Aunt Shirley, cousin, sister, friend, acquaintance, stranger, who? (choose one)