From Russia With Love...

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

Letter #66: From the Mission Field in Russia

Subject: #66
Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 21:47:50 +0600
From: Shirley Lynes <gma@jacklynes.com>
To: jlynes@jacklynes.com

Hello everyone! HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!! It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! It has rained almost every afternoon all week, but today it lovely! The temperature is standing at +23 degrees right now, and it's 7:30 pm. A couple of days I have worn my sweater, but mostly it's been very nice. After much frustration, I finally have the internet up and running. The elders came and got it all fixed. I could never have gotten it done by myself. You had to go on line to register your card and fill out all sorts of stuff, all of which were in Russian, of course, so I couldn't even read what it was they wanted!! I hope you got last week's letter I wrote on Saturday . I sent it as soon as we were able to get on line, even before checking my email. I didn't expect to have much mail, since everyone knew I was moving. I was so glad to have four letters waiting for me! Mail means so much!! I have been so frustrated by the internet thing that I was almost in tears one night. This card was different from the other ones I have had. Getting the internet going is the biggest problem I have in transferring. I should be grateful that's the worst thing!! I had to get registered here in Ufa on Monday. I couldn't tell you where we were, but I think we were somewhere in the middle of town. The elders (district leader and his companion, also the ones who fixed my internet) took us there, which is a good thing, because we never would have found it on our own! The Russian government likes to keep track of where we are, but also where the Russians are, too. I was told that when the Russians move they have to report their new address. What I have seen of Ufa looks good. I'm just not used to living in a big city. I guess the big cities in the US have lots of apartment buildings, but not little Aiken! Or Charleston, either, for that matter. It just seems so strange that in a country with so much land, they insist on stacking the people up!! We are on the ninth floor, and you would think we'd have a great view, but all we can see are more buildings just like ours. It stays light so late that the kids were playing soccer in the yard down below past 11 pm one night. I have started teaching the advanced class. I have been sitting in on the beginner classes this week. Being in the beginner classes just reinforces what I've been saying for over a year now. The beginner class should be taught by someone who can speak Russian. It is so much easier for them when you can teach them a word, and give them the Russian word so that they understand exactly what you are talking about. The missionaries teaching the classes do a great job with it. Pres. Hall said for me to set the schedule any way I wanted, but I will only be here for 3 months, and they (the missionaries) already have the schedule worked out for the rest of the year. I don't want to disrupt what they are doing for such a short time, and they would have to take it back over when I leave in September. The CES brother, who left this week, had the idea that we should utilize the English speaking young adults in the branches to teach English classes at night two or three times a week. Pres. Hall said he thinks it's a good idea, but that someone would have to be in charge of it. We think they could make the coordinator's job a calling, and the program could continue after I'm gone. It needs to be organized and these young people trained. The young people like to hang out at the church in the afternoons and evenings anyway. The missionaries can't be called on to teach after six pm because that is prime gospel teaching time. It would give the young people something to do that would be good for them and their students. I just got back from seeing the people off who are going to the temple dedication. Sis. Burlena got to go, but none of the American missionaries got to go. I'm grateful that so many of the Russians have the opportunity to see the dedication. None of them has ever had that experience. I hope you all got to see it. They had a really nice bus to make the trip in. From here, it's a 17 hour trip, on bad roads. No, I haven't been on those roads, but I've been on other Russian roads. Because of the extreme winter weather, the roads are in bad condition. This bus should be more comfortable than the marshroot I've been traveling in!!! I've seen a lot more children and babies here in Ufa, and more pregnant women, than I saw in Kurgan. The people here are also more "normal" sized too. Some of the young ones are slim, but not to the extent that they are in Kurgan. I think most of the people in Kurgan are pretty much vegetarian, whether they want to be or not. And they get lots of exercise walking so much. They look and seem healthy, just very slim. Maybe someday I'll be slim, too. No, not likely to happen! I hope I come to love the people here as much as I did the ones in Kurgan. I know I won't get the exposure to as many of them as I did in Kurgan, since I won't be teaching as many classes. There won't be any more American senior sisters coming in any time soon. They have enough senior Russian sisters that they say we don't qualify for more American senior sisters. Maybe if more senior sisters were available they could be sent here. We have a new president coming in next week. I don't know what changes he will be making, but I'm not worried about it. His ways will be just as good as Pres. Hall's. I am so glad that we are getting more and more Russian missionaries. The scriptures say that the gospel will be taught to people in their own tongue. Actually, in Alma 29:8, it says, "the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach His word." Our English speaking missionaries do their best, but the Russian language is so difficult. I think the work will really take off when there are more Russians doing the teaching. They are still in the beginning stages. We will yet see people in Russia coming into the church like they do in South and Central America. There is much blood of Israel here. You can just see it in their faces. We still have hot water, for which I'm grateful. The elders told me this week that it will be turned off for three weeks while they do their repairs. One of the elders was in Kurgan last year and said that the hot water was turned off there on May first and didn't come back on till the end of September. I'm glad I'm here! In Kurgan they said it would be turned off in July for two months. Bigger cities have more money to hire more workers, I suppose. This city has more than a million people, and Kurgan has about 400,000. That makes a difference. And Kurgan is also the poorest of all the regions (what we would call states, I guess). It was an agricultural area but I was told that the communist system destroyed it. So they are doing the best they can with what they have to work with. My health continues to be good. My blood sugar continues to stay in the normal range, with no medication! I feel so much better since it isn't running so low all the time. (It was running so low because I was over medicated.) I can walk and not be weary. Twice this week I have even run to catch busses, and I didn't even get winded! Climbing up on some of these busses is a job, though! Some of them have very high steps, and some of them don't even have any hand rails. The other day I just couldn't step up that high, and literally crawled up on a bus! No more pride!! It just doesn't matter to me anymore what other people think! Sis. Burlena was already on the bus, and I couldn't let myself be left! I could get my knee up on the step, but not my foot!! Oh,well. The elders came by and put our water filter on on Tuesday. We had been drinking bottled water since we got here. That's not bad, but it takes so much water to cook macaroni or spaghetti. You can run through a bottle of water in no time at all. In the move, one of my bags got lost. It was inadvertently left in the taxi, which wasn't a taxi at all, but a private car. I think I've told you about taxis here in Russia. When we got to Ufa, we went to the CES couple's apartment. There were a lot of things the president was picking up, so our stuff was unloaded there, since he didn't know where this apartment was. So when they finished loading the van with the CES stuff, one of the elders got a "taxi" to bring our stuff over here. When they unloaded the car, I didn't check to make sure they had unloaded everything, which I should have. Later that night when I was finished unpacking, I wondered where my bag was. I couldn't find it anywhere. I know where it was left, but even if the driver wanted to return the stuff, he doesn't know who I am or where I am. They unloaded everything at one entrance to the building, but our entrance was the next one down. Ours is #2 and they had unloaded at #3. So everything that was in that bag is gone. My rain boots, a pair of Easy Spirit shoes, my Sunday shoes, (I now have one pair of shoes to my name!) my shampoo and conditioner, all my clothespins, and my kleenex. That's all I can remember that I put in that bag. Oh, well. I hope my Easy Spirit shoes that I have left will hold out for 3 more months. They are the ugly ones that lace up. They are all right for every day, but they don't look pretty for Sunday. There are clothes pins on the lines on my balcony, and Sis. Burlena has some, too. I have already bought shampoo. It's not a big loss, right now. I will have to replace the shoes when I get back home. Oh, well, I would like some new ones anyway! Well, that is a pretty rambling paragraph! I write like I think, sometimes. There is a young sister here in Ufa who interpreted for me in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. I really appreciated it so much. Her name is Jahnna. She has gone to the temple dedication. I don't know how many people we will have in church tomorrow. I think most of the active members "got on the bus"! I am by myself tonight. The young sisters could come stay with me, but one of them would have to sleep on the floor. And I'm really all right. The doors (there are three doors between me and the outside world!) are locked, and I'm not opening them for anybody! I will be just fine. They may have to stay with me tomorrow night, if the elder in charge finds out I'm alone tonight! We're not supposed to be alone for safety reasons. I stayed alone two nights in Yekat, when I was between companions. Remember me writing about Elder Ady when I was in Kurgan? He had been transferred to Perm. Well, he has just been transferred again, to UFA! I was so glad to see him here today!! He is such a nice, good young man! There have been some other elders transferred in that I used to see a lot in Yekat, too. Almost "old home week!" This week I have been rereading a little book by Elder M. Russell Ballard. It's part of the "missionary library". The name of the book is "Our Search For Happiness." If you have access to it, take time to read it. It is really written for people who are not members of the church, to help them understand us. It is a good book to help you to help others understand what we believe, and helps you know how to better explain the basics of the gospel. It's just a little book so it shouldn't take too long to read it. Good information! I ask every week if you are reading, or how your reading is coming, and no one ever answers me!! As a missionary, we are supposed to read the Book of Mormon for at least 30 minutes every day. In that length of time, I usually get about 10 pages read. There are 531 pages in the BOM, so at that rate, you could read the whole book in less than two months! Of course, that's just reading, not "studying". You can never read it too many times! Every time you read it, you will find something, or understand a concept that you haven't thought of in that way before. And if you read it as a family, it will bring peace and harmony into your homes. Guaranteed! This book was written for us, for our time, not for the people back in Nephi's time. The prophets who wrote this book knew that they were writing for us. They knew the kind of times we would be living in. It's not so different from what they lived through. There were secret combinations then, and there still are. Satan would have you to stay so busy that you don't have time for the important things, like reading the scriptures, and establishing a close relationship with Jesus Christ. Remember to put first things first. When your priorities are in order, everything else falls into place. You might need to get up 30 minutes earlier to have the time to read. So, go to bed 30 minutes earlier! The tv isn't going to get your spirituality where it needs to be! "Retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated." (Your assignment: find where that quote is from!) It really does work!! I know some of you are night owls, but you can retrain yourselves. Think about your spiritual needs a little. Sermon over! I hope things are going well for all of you. I really would love to hear from you. That means YOU! Don't think, oh, she means someone else! You are each one important to me. When I told the class the other day how many children and grandchildren, and great grandchildren I had, someone asked me if I knew all their names, and how could I remember everyone. I told them that yes, I know all the names, and I do remember everyone! When people are important to you, you know them! Heavenly Father has LOTS of children, but He knows each one of us, and what is best for each one of us. I don't have nearly as many children as He has!! But I realize that as I know and love each of you, He knows and loves each one of us. He has greater capacity and really does know us! I love each of you and pray for your well being and happiness every day. Have a wonderful week. Enjoy the holiday. It will be just another day here. Be grateful for America!! You can never be too grateful for America!! Till next week!

Love,
Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma, Sis. Lynes, Shirley, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, acquaintance, email pal, babushka in love with life!! (Choose one!)