From Russia With Love...

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

Letter #32: From the Mission Field in Russia

Subject: #32
Date: Sat, 03 Nov 2001 20:34:48 +0500
From: Shirley Lynes <gma@jacklynes.com>
To: jlynes@jacklynes.com

Hello again,
I can't believe another week has gone by! It warmed up somewhat this week, temperatures still in the 30's, but enough to start the snow melting. And I was wrong when I said last week that they use sand on the streets. It is the blackest dirt you have ever seen! And with the melt-down, we are now walking in a mud soup!! There is no other way to describe it!!! And tonight it has started to sprinkle rain. Just what we need! It snowed really hard one afternoon, really big flakes and really heavy, but it didn't last. It did make walking a little easier. Where the snow is new, it is not so slippery. Where the snow is packed down, it is pure ice. Not fun! I am managing all right so far. And I know the snow and the cold are going to get worse. It is also starting to get dark early. Daylight savings time went off last Saturday night, just like it did for you. So we get a little more light in the morning, but it gets dark quicker at night. I guess you all know by now that Sara and Eric have a new baby son. They are going to name him Noah Albert (Albert in honor of Sara's dad). We didn't have a Noah, or an Albert. Eric called me the other morning to tell me all about it. It was so good to hear his voice and all about the new baby. Now that's two grandchildren I haven't seen, and they will both be almost a year old when I finally get to see them. Not being with family is the thing I don't like about being here. I miss all of you and being part of your lives. Don't let the little ones forget me! I could never forget any of you!!! The other big news this week is that I attended Serguei's baptism today!!!!! He has been in the hospital since Wednesday, but he asked for permission to be home today. He told me "I don't want to miss my wonderful day". He says that today is his spiritual birthday. He is so happy! It does your heart good to see someone like him accept the gospel! His wife was at the baptism too. Serguei was surprised that so many people showed up for his baptism. We had the room as full as it could get. Everyone is so happy for him! After the baptism, Sis. Mock, Sis. Snyder and I took Serguei and his wife out to lunch. That was fun! Getting to the baptism was an experience! We caught a trolley-bus near Rosy, and rode for what seemed like an eternity but was probably about 30 minutes. You've always heard the expression, packed like sardines. I have now experienced it. When the trolley bus stopped where we were waiting, there was no room for us to get on! But we pushed ourselves on anyway! That's what you do here! And at every stop, a couple of people would get off, but more than that would get on! There was one stop that one girl was trying to get off, but just couldn't!! Sis. Mock and Sis. Snyder were toward the front of the bus, I was about the middle, and the elders (four of them) were toward the back. Thankfully one of the elders is 6'8" tall, so we could see him, to know when to try to get off!!!! We didn't have to worry about falling; there was no way we could have fallen!!! If I had had an itch, I would have had to ask the man in back of me to scratch it!!!!!!! I have never been packed that closely with other people anywhere! But the Russians don't think anything of it. Russians don't seem to need as much personal space as Americans do. If they need to get on, they just push until a little room is made for them. Some of them were standing on the steps in front of the doors. Finally our stop came, and all of us managed to push our way out. Then we slogged through the mud soup to the banya. This was a different banya than the first one I went to. It was a very nice baptism service, completely in Russian, of course. Serguei had had all the discussions in English, by his request. He really speaks and understands English very well. After the closing prayer, he asked everyone to wait a minute and he said something to them in Russian, then repeated it in English for those of us that he knows don't understand Russian. He told everyone how happy he was, thanked everyone for coming and promised to live by all the rules in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. It was so sweet!! Coming back, Serguei brought the other sisters and me with him and his wife in his car. He'll never know how much I appreciated that!!! He insisted that I sit in the front seat, I suppose, because his wife is a lot more narrow than I am and it made it easier to fit three in the back seat!! On the trolley I couldn't see anything of where we were going, so I enjoyed seeing a little more of the town from the car. We had lunch at a new restaurant called the Golden Dragon. No, it isn't a Chinese restaurant. It is a Mongolian Grill. I don't know if any of you have ever been to a place like this, but you fill up a bowl with the meat and vegetables you want (raw) and they take it and stir fry it right there in front of you. It is really good. You pay by the size bowl you use. A small bowl is 149 rubles and a large bowl is 179 rubles, about $6. Guess which size bowl I used!!! It is quite a bargain. You can pile as much food in and on the bowl as you can for the price. They had beef, chicken, liver, and seafood, and just about any kind of veggie you can ask for, and even fruit. So it really is a bargain. Anyway, it was a good day. I left elders in charge of Rosy and just took off! Serguei thinks he will be in the hospital for at least another week. They are giving him a lot of injections. He said it is making it hard to sit! They are also giving him B vitamin shots in his face along the nerves that are giving him the trouble. He said they are painful and the B vitamin feels hot in his face. Please keep him in your prayers. He is a good man. Well, I just had a phone call from one of the assistants to the president. He tells me that Sis. Kallanchova can't stay anymore. I checked her bed, and she had taken the sheets off, so I know she didn't plan to come back. I know she is very involved with a single adult conference they are having the first of the week. If we could have talked, she could have told me, but that's not possible. The AP is trying to find another baby sitter for me. I told him I am all right for tonight. I also told him to just let me know so that I could go on to bed! I am in, the door is locked, and I'm not going anywhere. I hope they leave me alone for tonight. The sister who is coming from the SMTC won't be here until after Thanksgiving! Almost a month away! That will keep the APs scrambling to keep me with a baby sitter!!! I don't mean anything ugly, calling them baby sitters. It's just that that's how I feel. What I need is someone to walk to and from Rosy with me. Once I get home with the door locked, I'm fine. I keep looking for a place at Rosy to put my bed, then I wouldn't even have to go out, except to get food! I'm there seven days a week anyway. But that wouldn't work: there is no shower at Rosy. I must have my shower!! A bed, a shower, hot water and heat. It doesn't take much to make me happy!! And food. Must have food! Nathan comes home this month! It's hard to realize he has been gone for two years. I know in some ways it seems like a long time, but in others it sometime seems such a short time. I keep thinking the days seem so long, but the weeks seem so short. I just turn around and it's Saturday again. But each day seems like two days long! Nathan probably feels the same way. And Joseph has been gone over a year, too. He gets home the month before I do. I don't know when Sam plans to leave. I hope I get to see him before he leaves. But he turns nineteen before I am finished here. So I might not get to see him. I hope Nathan has enjoyed his mission. David is going to Argentina to pick him up, like he did Jason. I think they are due to be back the week before Thanksgiving. I just got another call from the AP. They have found someone to stay with me tonight, and will be here before 9:30. I forgot to ask him if she speaks any English! I also don't know how long she will stay or if it is only for tonight. Oh, well. I hope everything is going well for all of you. Everything is fine here. I sometimes feel like I am on a merry-go-round. Get up, go to Rosy, come home, go to bed, get up, go to Rosy, come home, you get the idea. Tomorrow I get to go to church---at Rosy! I am reading at a pace that I should be finished the BOM again in another week. So you see, I'm really not working hard! I have a lot of time to read scripture. I'm still studying Russian with Paul. I don't know how long he will hang in there with me! In turn, I help him with his English whenever he has time to come by. He is so intent on learning. I asked him the other day his age, and he said 20. He is still going to institute or college or university, whichever they call it! I really do like these Russian people so much! I want so much for them to have the gospel. It is such a life-changing thing. For the better!!! Be grateful that you have always had it in your lives. I'm also grateful that I haven't slipped and fallen yet. I do a lot of praying about it! It keeps me humble! Thanks to those who took time to write to me this week. I see some of the young elders check their email, and don't have anything. If the families only knew how much it means to missionaries to get mail!!! I love you all and pray for you every day. Please write when you have time. I know you are all very busy. I don't have anything inspirational to leave you with. Just remember that Heavenly Father and Jesus love you unconditionally! And so do I!

Love,
Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma, Shirley, Sis. Lynes, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, acquaintance, babushka who has been packed in a bus like a sardine! (Choose one)