Joy and Light

We felt on the verge of snow all week: It rained in the cold while we studied a little Russian, updated the Mission History, paid a few bills, held a few organizational meetings to prepare for visits from Church General Authorities, and enjoyed a rare day of sunshine. 

'Tall' Aleksay joined us for dinner with the Officeniki on Tuesday, where we practiced listening to a real Russian conversation. [There are several Aleksay's in the ward, so we call him 'tall' to keep him straight from the others.] We also acquired a copy of a children's Book of Mormon--in Russian. We look forward to being able to read it.

Elder Pierce Wilson, Aleksay Lamar, Elder McKay Muhlestein,
Sister and Elder Allen

At the recommendation of two friends from home, Miriam deSchweinitz and Nanci Thomander, Sister Allen has been listening to a wonderful book, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. It is the story of Count Alexander Rostov who was sentenced in 1922 to "house arrest" in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow. As we rode the bus to the Hermitage down Nevsky Prospekt--the main street through St. Petersburg--Sister Allen happened to be listening to the part of the book where a friend writes of his 4 a.m. walk down the length of Nevsky Prospekt. Most of the buildings have not changed in the 50+ years since the story took place. This book is such an interesting study of the transition from Tsarist to Soviet times. October 2017 is the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Other than a few posters in the Hermitage describing 1917 activities, we have seen no official acknowledgement of this event.

On Wednesday afternoon we worked our regular volunteer shift at the entrance to the Winter Palace of the Hermitage, then we toured the rooms with the classical 18th-Century French paintings. However, the natural beauty of the late afternoon with approaching storms really caught our eyes. While you all can see the paintings on the Internet, you won't see any of these scenes!

Palace Square from a window of the Winter Palace of the Hermitage

St. Isaacs from the window of the Winter Palace of the Hermitage with the evening traffic

The spectacular inlaid floors 
of the Winter Palace

A 17th Century French Sphinx. 
We are used to seeing sphinxes
with the head of an Egyptian -- 
not with the head of a 17th-
Century French woman!

The historic "White Room"
 in the Winter Palace

Children of all the Ages love to blow bubbles.
(The Laundress, by Jean-Baptiste Simeon Chardin 1699-1779)

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Thursday evening Elders Parker and Hawkins joined us for dinner with Justin Mburli from Cameroon, a young man who sought out the Church here in St. Petersburg and asked to be baptized. He is so ready. He was baptized Sunday morning October 22.

Elder RJ Parker, Justin Mburli
and Elder Collin Hawkins 

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Saturday morning the whole Mission was privileged to hear from visiting General Authorities, Elder Patrick Kearon, one of the seven presidents of the Seventy, from England, and Elder Alexey Samaykin, a member of the Quroum of Seventy from Moscow. Below Sister Allen greets Elder Kearon and learns that his wife is from Saratoga, California, near our home. Small world!

Sister Allen greets Elder Patrick Kearon 
as Elder Allen looks on

For three hours, Elder Kearon and others addressed us in St. Petersburg, as well as the volunteers in Kaliningrad and Petrozavodsk--by video link. (See below.) 

Elder Kearon spoke of the values we all have and the joy we all share. We realize that life is just a blip in the eternal scheme of things. Elder Kearon spoke of his conversion to the Church thirty years ago at age 26 in England. He spoke of joy, and he showed it himself. Look at his smile. He simply radiates happiness--joy and light!

Elder Kearon encourages the young volunteers present--and those
watching via video link (right) from Kaliningrad and Petrozavodsk.

Sister Allen did double duty. She prepared salad and dessert for all and kept thorough notes of all of the messages. The notes were not just for her. Church Public Affairs in Moscow made a special request of us to photograph and take notes of the Conference. 

Here are a few quotes from the notes: 

"Don't just seize the day but attack it!" 

"People will hardly remember what you say, but they will forever remember how they felt."

"Experience joy and light."

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Afterwards, before departing that afternoon for their flight to their next country, Elders Kearon and Samaykin shared lunch with all the volunteers. We sat at their table for lunch. They and we were touched as Elder Samaykin, Elder Kearon and young volunteer Sister Eaton shared personal and family conversion stories. Elder Samaykin learned of the LDS church at 17, but had to wait until he was 18 to be baptized. One year later he went on a mission over his father's strong objections. At the end of his mission, his father's heart had so softened that he welcomed him home with open arms. 

Elder Kearon told of spending many months in on-and-off contact with the missionaries in London, finally encountering them on the street one day and feeling of the Spirit. Young Sister Eaton told of how in the 1950's her English great grandmother learned of the LDS Church, but could not be baptized because of the objections of her husband.  She prayed and prayed for a miracle to change his heart.  She soon was diagnosed with tuberculosis and told she had only a month or two to live. Unfazed, she told her husband that if the Elders gave her a blessing she would be healed, and he must be baptized.  Her faith was so strong that she was confident she would be cured. After the Priesthood blessing, she went back to the doctors. She was cured! Her husband joined the Church with full support.

Elder Alexey V. Samaykin and 
an eternally smiling Elder Patrick Kearon
enjoy Sister Allen's chocolate chip cookies 
and green salad with a bucket of KFC.

The Lord Works Mighty Miracles

From Elder Allen: For many months I and Elder Ryan Hallstrom, (since returned home) had been trying to follow up on a contact named Fikret Ören, a German-speaking man from Turkey who is working on a new highway in Russia and who had shown interest in the Church. Many months ago I spoke with him in German on the phone but have never met him. I texted him every few weeks asking him how he was doing, but I never heard back. Then a week or so ago, I got a telephone call. The voice said, in German, "Is there anyone there who can speak German?" "Of course," I answered. It was Fikret. We spoke for a few minutes. I again invited him to come by and visit us in St. Petersburg. On Saturday afternoon after the Conference in St. Petersburg with Elder Kearon, I got a call from Elder Archibald, then on his way back to Novgorod from the morning's Conference. Elder Archibald is the only other German-speaking senior missionary in the mission, in fact the only one in the whole region! The Archibalds are scheduled to be transferred to Kaliningrad in two weeks and almost didn't come in for this Conference. Otherwise they would not be on their way back to Novgorod. On the phone, he said to me, "You will not believe who I just met,” and he started to speak to me in German. He then gave the phone over to another person. It was Fikret! Well, we conversed in German for a few minutes, and then Fikret said, “I guess the Lord really wants me to meet with the missionaries.”  Elder Archibald had heard a man speaking in German as they waited for the bus and introduced himself. After our telephone conversation, he had the opportunity to speak with Fikret for two hours on the bus ride back to Novgorod, speaking of eternal families and sharing spiritual experiences. Fikret will be staying in that area working on a new highway and will meet with Elder Archibald when his 12-hour-long work days allow.