From Russia With Love...

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

Letter #61: From the Mission Field in Russia

Subject: #61
Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 21:15:00 +0600
From: Shirley Lynes <gma@jacklynes.com>
To: jlynes@jacklynes.com

Hello again! How could another week be gone by already?! Time is just going by so fast! Everything is going along fine, right now. You never know what tomorrow, or even the next minute will bring! The weather is beautiful, after a couple of days of rain. One day the rain was mixed with snow! We don't need any more of that!! But today the sun is shining and the sky is clear. It is a little cooler than normal, but we can deal with that. Wednesday was p-day and Sis. Burlena and I went to the internet place so the young missionaries could do their email. When we got back, we had no water! Hot or Cold!! They were repairing something. It was back on by the afternoon. Thursday morning I let it run a long, long time and it never got hot, just not quite cold. I had to shampoo my hair and take a shower. It was almost more than I could bear! Back to Wednesday: we went to the reenock and bought some more vegetables and fruit. You can't buy a lot at one time. It doesn't keep. I don't know how the people at the reenock can keep the produce fresh, but anything I buy will go bad within three days. We had time to look around since I didn't have a class till 6 pm. I found a lot of different kinds of dried beans. I bought some beans that I've never seen before. They are half black, half white. I don't know what they will taste like. And I saw regular baby lima beans, and also large lima beans. I know it sounds weird to be happy to find dry beans, but when you're not eating meat, beans are a good thing to have. And I needed to buy some rice. Sis. Burlena showed me rice from Korea and rice from Vietnam and asked me which one I wanted! How should I know??! The Korean rice was short grain, and the Vietnam rice was long grain, more what I'm used to using. So that's what I bought. We need to go to the reenock about twice a week, because the fruit and vegetables don't keep. So I buy three bananas, two oranges, one apple, two pears, two tomatoes, quantities like that. Since I'm only buying for me, I can't buy a lot of anything. I will have to buy like that when I get home, too. It still feels funny not to be feeding anyone but me! It rained while we were in the reenock, and had quit by the time we came out. (It's mostly indoors.) So we didn't have to walk in the rain. Just jump puddles! Thursday it rained on and off, with some snow mixed in, and it got cold again. This place has the most changeable weather of any place I've ever been! It sounds like Joseph may be coming home the same time I am. He is expecting a release date somewhere between 15th and 20th of September. As you may know, he was supposed to be finished at the beginning of August, but he extended till the middle of September. My release date, right now, is Sept. 18. I don't know what day I'll be flying home yet, though. I don't know if that release date is the day I leave here, or the day the stake president releases me. I still have 4 more months anyway. I'm told that Pres. Bush is in Russia now. And that he and Mrs. Bush did not fly on the same plane. Pres. Putin also has two daughters. He has kept them out of the spotlight. I'm told that Pres. Putin has been studying English. I don't think Pres. Bush has had time to study Russian! Any news that I get is from students in the class. Tatiana, who comes every day, tells me any news that she thinks is interesting. Sometimes, though, I think she must read something like the National Enquirer, some of the weird things she tells me!! Oh, by the way, the way it looks now, I probably won't get to see the dedication of the Nauvoo temple after all. Russia won't let our satellite equipment in because it has "encoding encryption" and they won't let it come through customs. But it has to have that so that we can receive the program. It of course will be encoded. Pres. Hall says that at least two people from each unit will go wherever need be to see it. He said he would send them to Salt Lake City if he had to! He feels it is that important! If we can't get it in Russia, then one man (probably the branch president) and one sister would be sent so that they can come back and be all enthused about the temple to inspire the other branch members. We have some branch members getting ready to go to the temple next month. It's quite a trip for people from here. Pres. Hall has people who contribute money so that the people who can't afford to go, after they have done everything they can, can get help to make the trip. It's a two week trip! Several days, both ways, on the train, and an 11 hour ferry boat trip from Helsinki to Stockholm, Sweden. We forget how blessed we are to have temples so close now. I remember when the closest one to Charleston was in Mesa, Arizona! Look how blessed we all are now! There was a temple announced for Kiev, Ukraine about 4 years ago, but they haven't even found land for it yet, as far as I know. Getting a clear title to land in any of the former USSR states is almost impossible. I hope I'm still alive to see them get a temple in this part of Russia. I know when they do build one in Russia, it will probably be in Moscow. But Moscow is two time zones away from us! That's still a long way! The other day, on the way to the reenock, we passed a school yard where a small number of children, with a teacher, were playing. I thought I recognized the game they were playing, and asked Sis. Burlena to stop a minute and let me watch. She said she didn't know the game they were playing, but it looked very familiar to me. Sure enough, they were playing Red Rover. I don't know what they call it in Russia, but they were playing it the same way I played it as a child!! That was so fun to see! People are the same, the world over! I still haven't heard much from all of you concerning the Book Of Mormon promises. I would like to be able to put some more leaves up on our tree! Are you reading???? Remember that the scriptures say that the whole church is under condemnation for treating lightly the things we have received. See D&C 84:54-58. If you have trouble reading, or remembering to read the Book of Mormon, just open it and put it on the foot of your bed. Open it just anywhere. Leave it lying at the foot of your bed. Let me know how this works for you!! I took a break from writing for a couple of hours. I have a good excuse, though! I've been to Stephen's baptism!!! His mother realized that she couldn't change his mind, and gave him her blessing. I know she won't be sorry! It was a wonderful baptism service. He looks so happy! I'm so happy for him!!! I've also just been to a Visiting Teaching Conference. It was a success! It was well attended and the program was excellent. We really are trying, here in the middle of Russia, to have the full program of the church. We have all the auxiliaries organized and functioning. There aren't a lot of children in primary, but it's there for those who are here. We don't have many young men, either. We have a goodly number of young women. For a small branch, the people are accomplishing a lot! The home teaching percentage is good also. The building people from Moscow have been in Kurgan several times looking for a building for our branch. I hope they find something suitable soon. I know the wheels turn very slowly, and I probably won't be here to see them with their own building. I have seen it in the past that when you get a building, the membership grows. The days are getting longer here. I go to bed before it's dark outside! I don't know what time it gets dark, because I'm not up that late! But I can tell you that it starts getting light before 5 am. The light comes in my window, waking me up! As a missionary, I'm supposed to be in bed by 10:30 every night. Most nights I make it!! Tomorrow is Sunday again. The Lord really knew what He was doing when He said to have a day of rest every week! I'm grateful for the Sabbath, and being able to partake of the Sacrament. I'm grateful that Katya translates for me so I can understand what is being said. I love the church, I love the gospel, I love the Lord, I love these wonderful Russian people! It's funny, but I do love the people here. Not just the ones I've met and come to know, but even just looking out the window and watching the people go by, I can feel a little of Heavenly Father's love for them. I noticed that when I was in Moscow, and in Finland, I didn't have that feeling for the people I was seeing. I realized that I feel the love for these people because these are the ones I have been called to work with. I'm not responsible for the people in other places. I think I will miss that feeling of love when I'm released. Maybe that's what keeps other seniors serving one mission after another. You hate to be without that feeling! I love all of you. I hope life doesn't hand you more than you can stand. Sometimes it gets to be too much, but that is just to remind you where to go for help. And He's always there to help. Don't ever think He doesn't care, or that your problems aren't important enough for Him to care about. If it concerns you, it concerns Him. He really is your Father in Heaven, and He loves you even more than I do, and that's a lot!!! When life gets hard, don't let it knock you down, only let it bring you to your knees. There is always help there. Jesus can't forget us. We are graven in the palms of His hands. Don't ever forget that! Thanks to all who wrote. It means so much to me! I'm half a world away from you! I really do love you and pray for your well-being every day. Be kind to each other. Till next week!

Love,
Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma, Sis. Lynes, Shirley, sister, aunt, cousin friend, acquaintance, email pal, babushka been to a baptism!!!!!