From Russia With Love...

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

Letter #22: From the Mission Field in Russia

Subject: #22
Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2001 23:28:18 +0600
From: Shirley Lynes <gma@jacklynes.com>
To: jlynes@jacklynes.com

Hello from the land of the short, short summer!!!!! No, it hasn't snowed, but the temperature has been in the 40's this week when we get up in the mornings. It looks like summer has come and gone! The days are getting noticeably shorter, too. I've slept under a wool blanket all summer, and this week, I've put the second one back on my bed. They don't turn the heat back on until the first of October. They tell me we'll see some rather cool times before the heat comes back on. Be glad you have your own heating supply. And your own hot water supply, too. One of the elders told me today that while he was in Curgon he never had hot water. He was there about 3 months. Since he's be in Yekat, they have turned his cold water off. So he has the opposite problem! The poor boy still can't get a decent shower!!!! Our hot water is still on, hurray! This week I saw my first traffic accident, on my way to work. It was just a little fender-bender. I am constantly amazed that I don't see many more accidents. You just wouldn't believe the driving here! But the Russians seem to manage very nicely! People are still driving the wrong way on our one way street. It doesn't seem to surprise anyone except me! The other drivers just go around the ones driving the wrong way. They don't even blow their horns. I guess about the biggest news this week is that Subway opened!!!!! With real American bread! They don't have all the sandwiches yet, but it was still good! It is only about 3 blocks from Rosy. The bread here is all right. It just isn't what I'm used to. At least I don't have to make it myself! I don't have time for that. I went to my first Russian baptism this afternoon. The church doesn't have our own buildings here yet, so we don't have a baptismal font. The baptisms are held at public bath houses. They have some private rooms, and we rent one of those. It is the only place with enough water to perform baptisms. Nothing unusual happened. It just seemed strange. Two teenaged girls were baptized. Here, the missionaries don't do the baptisms. They have some local elders do the actual baptisms, so the people will have a connection with the local people instead of being attached to the elders, and dropping out when the missionary leaves. I think that is really smart. We have a senior Russian couple who are going on a mission. I think they are the first senior couple from Russia to go on a mission. That is really great! There are a lot of younger Russian missionaries serving, but no senior couples. This couple will be serving in a little town near Ufa, in the southern part of our mission. I met them today, and they seem ready and able. This is a big step for Russia. Did I tell you that they have combined two branches into one? Now they have enough people to actually staff all the programs of the church. (Once this branch gets going good, they are going to combine the other two branches too.) They have enough people that they even have enough for a good size choir. The choir sang last week. Sis. Jenkins and I stayed for their Sacrament meeting so we could hear them sing. It was quite good! One non-member student of mine was asked to sing with them, and he did. I was so proud of him. I told him that that was my third sacrament meeting that day, and he said it was his first ever! He is a really nice young man. His name is Sergei, also. We have Sergei 1, Sergei 2, and he said he didn't want to be called Sergei 3, to just call him Serge! I have had several gospel discussions with Sergei 1 this week. He always has so many questions. I would love to see all the Sergeis take the discussions and get a good understanding of the basics. Sergei 1 & 2 say they have had the discussions, but I told them they needed to listen to them again. It is so hard for them, after all their lives being told that there was no God, and then we tell them all the things we believe. I know it is difficult for them, but if they would let the Lord help them, they could understand, and then make their own decisions. Anyway, all I can do is answer their questions and keep praying for them. I want to tell you something that really moved me last Sunday. I just wanted to go somewhere by myself and cry. There is a man, maybe in his late twenties or early thirties, who is in a wheelchair, and is a member of the church. Sometimes he blesses the sacrament. We meet on the third floor and I had wondered how the elders were getting him up all those stairs. The elders bring him to Rosy. They got there Sunday just after we got there. As I was going up the stairs, I looked out of the window and saw them outside. I watched, because I wondered how they managed it. As I watched, one of the elders squatted down in front of the man in the wheelchair, with his back to him. The other elders helped the man get to the front of his chair, and then he put his arms around the neck of the one squatting down. That elder stood up and brought that man up all those stairs on his back. He's not exactly a little man, either. He's not skinny, and not fat either. They get him settled back in his chair before they bring him into the meeting area, so no one sees what is done. When I saw what they were doing, I went on in so that they wouldn't see me. All I could think was "He ain't heavy, he's my brother". I still cry just thinking about it. I hope everything is going well for all of you. I love hearing from all of you. Thanks to those who had time to write this week. You have no idea how much it means to me. I like to know what is going on in your lives. Just because I'm half way around the world doesn't mean that I don't think of you and pray for you. Take care and be happy. I love you all. Write when you have time.

Love,
Mom, Grandma, Great grandma, Shirley, Sis. Lynes, Aunt Shirley, sister, cousin, friend acquaintance, babushka (without a mowing scythe!) (Choose one)