We have had a quiet week as far as office work goes, but we sure have had a lot of visitors. And next week looks to be more of the same. It must be summertime in the tourist-mecca of Saint Petersburg, Russia!
Sunday Sue was already home from church when Ken called and asked if he could bring home an extra for lunch. Of course! David Ben Abbot is a BYU student just finishing a semester internship in Moscow. He was here touring in St. Petersburg and glad to have an invitation to Sunday lunch.
On Monday evening we had our usual dinner with a set of volunteers and guests that they invite. This week Elders Tribe and Houston invited their downstairs neighbors! Elder Houston had met the son, Vanya, in the elevator several months ago. Vanya is 17 and in high school, and he comes some mornings to the church at 6:30 am to play floorball with the young volunteers. They have also taught him some about the church. We were pleased to meet him and his parents. It was a good dinner and an interesting discussion about our Church and religion in general. And Tuesday morning Vanya came to floorball. Elder Allen even played.
Last Friday the Assistants to the President sent a text to all the volunteers before they did their planning for the coming week. It said that all District meetings would be held at the Stake Center on Tuesday at 1:30. That is the usual District Meeting time but not the usual place!
Some of our Districts meet together at the local church building, but some meet together via video conference. One of our Districts this Transfer is Pskov/Novgorod. Here's the map of where they are. It's almost a twelve-hour roundtrip bus ride between them. We love these miracles of modern communication! (Especially so, because we can easily talk to children and grandchildren!!)
Anyway: President had also instructed the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders a few weeks ago to organize their Exchanges that happen once each Transfer so that the volunteers from the four outlying areas would all be in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, July 10. Why?? one might ask. Finally in his Sunday night letter, President Rawson explained it all. We were treated to a 'quiet' visit from Elder Gerrit Gong, one of the two new members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He and his wife, Susan, were on vacation here in St. Petersburg as part of a long-planned Baltic Cruise. He was not here as an official Church visitor. But we knew he was coming. Elder Gong grew up in Palo Alto. We first met him about 43 years ago when he was just home from his missionary service in Taiwan as a young man. His mother, Jean Gong, is still alive and well at age 92 and living in our home ward. His sister Marguerite Gong Hancock and her husband Russ also live in our ward and raised their family there. And Sue's wonderful friend, Sue Peterson Gong, is married to Brian Gong, Gerrit's brother. Sue Allen and Sue Gong have been friends since our Boston days--long before either of us knew any Gongs at all! Sue G and Janet Campbell were here to visit the end of May. (See our blog post from May 27 and June 3 for the details of that.) Sue G told us that Elder and Sister Gong were coming in July and she wanted them to know about Boris Leostrin, our wonderful Stake President and a professional tour guide. So we wrote and connected them. Elder Gong also asked if there was anything he could do for us. Sue A brazenly asked if they'd like to come to our apartment for lunch and whether he'd mind dropping into the Stake Center for an hour to be the guest speaker at our District Meeting on Tuesday. Then we started talking to President Rawson. Shuvalovo and Center Districts often both meet at the Stake Center because that is their ward building. The other Districts in St. Petersburg are about an hour away by Metro. It's easy for them to come here--they do it regularly anyway for other things. So, as stated above, the outlying cities came on their Exchanges this week, and we had everyone here. There aren't very many of us, anyway.
The lunch got moved from our very little apartment down the block to the Mission Home because if we have nine people we have to borrow chairs, and we are not quite sure where to put them. It was still just a simple lunch. Sister Rawson made crock-pot pulled pork sandwiches with chips. Sue made chocolate chip cookies. Also included were Dave and Shelley Senior, who were traveling with the Gongs. He is former mission president in Thailand. President Leostrin was not able to be the Gong's guide because of prior commitments, but had them guided by Mikhail, one of his co-workers. He's the one who took the photo.
Afterwards we walked the short block from the Mission Home to the Stake Center. (Our apartment is about half-way between.) When we arrived, the volunteers were all ready for the photo op and were singing hymns.
Then we got the official mission photo with Elder and Sister Gong.
Ken also took individual photos of each of the volunteers with Elder Gong. Here's our individual photo. On Wednesday Sue emailed the individual photo to each volunteer and their parents. She's really glad we only have 33 young volunteers, and not 200+ like many missions!
Elder Gong is a wonderful man. We've loved watching him grow through the last 40+ years and be a leader in the Church, and in our country. He was serving in a high position in the US Embassy in Beijing in 1989 during the Tiananmen Square disaster. Although born and raised in California, he and Susan have lived a good deal of their lives in China and Hong Kong. Both of them served young missions in Taiwan. They bring a great perspective of this area to the Church leadership.
The meeting was great. We had short testimonies from President and Sister Rawson, from Shelley and Dave Senior, and then wonderful counsel from Susan Gong and Elder Gong. After that, they all went back to their touring, and the Districts split up into different rooms in the Stake Center to have the 'business' portion of their district meeting. Usually one of the District members teaches a lesson as part of the meeting. We were blessed to have our lesson taught this week by Elder Gong.
Then everyone took off back to their areas to carry on the work. As the numbers in the building thinned out, Ken found a set of scriptures sitting on the Office counter. They belonged to Elder Herrin. Oops! He is assigned to Kaliningrad! We were hoping his Exchange would keep him in St. Petersburg. No such luck. We called and he was already at the airport. But his companion, Elder Meek, was still here working with Elder Muhlestein. So we arranged with them that we'd bring the scriptures down to them in Avtovo on Wednesday morning. They met us at the Metro stop, and we just handed the bag over the turnstile. That way we went down and back on one ticket. :o)
World Cup continues, and so does the craziness! This week France won over Belgium, as expected, in the semi-final. But Croatia beat England so will be playing in the final this week. It's Croatia who had a better record in the Group play and forced Argentina to play France in the first knock-out round game. By pre-tournament predictions, it should have been Croatia in that knock-out game and Argentina in the final against France. So England and Belgium got to play Saturday for the third place prize here in St. Petersburg, which underdog Belgium won 2-0. France and Croatia play on Sunday in Moscow. Then life goes back to 'normal' in St. Petersburg. That means the tourists in the Hermitage will be many fewer buff young men and many more busloads of Chinese tourists. The numbers don't change--just the demographic.
Friday evening, after our regular service at the Hermitage, we were relieved by sister volunteers on an added late shift, and met up with the Pecks and the Rawsons for a date-night dinner at Mama Roma's near us. Here is the photo memorializing that sumptuous meal. It was a time to enjoy the warmth and light of a midsummer evening and rest our sore feet.
We have been having wonderful warm weather--high 70's most of the week. Sue went for an after-dinner walk one day this week and loved these flowers in front of an apartment building across the street from the Church. This is a beautiful world that God has given us, for sure.
And the days are getting shorter. Today the sun didn't come up until 4:00 a.m.! And in a few days it will go down before 10:00 p.m. Imagine--more than six hours of darkness.
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| Ken, Sue, David Ben Abbott |
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| Elder Tribe, Sue, Elena, Slava & Vanya, Elder Houston |
Last Friday the Assistants to the President sent a text to all the volunteers before they did their planning for the coming week. It said that all District meetings would be held at the Stake Center on Tuesday at 1:30. That is the usual District Meeting time but not the usual place!
Anyway: President had also instructed the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders a few weeks ago to organize their Exchanges that happen once each Transfer so that the volunteers from the four outlying areas would all be in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, July 10. Why?? one might ask. Finally in his Sunday night letter, President Rawson explained it all. We were treated to a 'quiet' visit from Elder Gerrit Gong, one of the two new members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He and his wife, Susan, were on vacation here in St. Petersburg as part of a long-planned Baltic Cruise. He was not here as an official Church visitor. But we knew he was coming. Elder Gong grew up in Palo Alto. We first met him about 43 years ago when he was just home from his missionary service in Taiwan as a young man. His mother, Jean Gong, is still alive and well at age 92 and living in our home ward. His sister Marguerite Gong Hancock and her husband Russ also live in our ward and raised their family there. And Sue's wonderful friend, Sue Peterson Gong, is married to Brian Gong, Gerrit's brother. Sue Allen and Sue Gong have been friends since our Boston days--long before either of us knew any Gongs at all! Sue G and Janet Campbell were here to visit the end of May. (See our blog post from May 27 and June 3 for the details of that.) Sue G told us that Elder and Sister Gong were coming in July and she wanted them to know about Boris Leostrin, our wonderful Stake President and a professional tour guide. So we wrote and connected them. Elder Gong also asked if there was anything he could do for us. Sue A brazenly asked if they'd like to come to our apartment for lunch and whether he'd mind dropping into the Stake Center for an hour to be the guest speaker at our District Meeting on Tuesday. Then we started talking to President Rawson. Shuvalovo and Center Districts often both meet at the Stake Center because that is their ward building. The other Districts in St. Petersburg are about an hour away by Metro. It's easy for them to come here--they do it regularly anyway for other things. So, as stated above, the outlying cities came on their Exchanges this week, and we had everyone here. There aren't very many of us, anyway.
The lunch got moved from our very little apartment down the block to the Mission Home because if we have nine people we have to borrow chairs, and we are not quite sure where to put them. It was still just a simple lunch. Sister Rawson made crock-pot pulled pork sandwiches with chips. Sue made chocolate chip cookies. Also included were Dave and Shelley Senior, who were traveling with the Gongs. He is former mission president in Thailand. President Leostrin was not able to be the Gong's guide because of prior commitments, but had them guided by Mikhail, one of his co-workers. He's the one who took the photo.
Afterwards we walked the short block from the Mission Home to the Stake Center. (Our apartment is about half-way between.) When we arrived, the volunteers were all ready for the photo op and were singing hymns.
 |
| The Volunteers sing to Elder Gong and President Rawson |
Then we got the official mission photo with Elder and Sister Gong.
 |
| Sue & Ken with Elder Gerrit W. Gong |
Elder Gong is a wonderful man. We've loved watching him grow through the last 40+ years and be a leader in the Church, and in our country. He was serving in a high position in the US Embassy in Beijing in 1989 during the Tiananmen Square disaster. Although born and raised in California, he and Susan have lived a good deal of their lives in China and Hong Kong. Both of them served young missions in Taiwan. They bring a great perspective of this area to the Church leadership.
The meeting was great. We had short testimonies from President and Sister Rawson, from Shelley and Dave Senior, and then wonderful counsel from Susan Gong and Elder Gong. After that, they all went back to their touring, and the Districts split up into different rooms in the Stake Center to have the 'business' portion of their district meeting. Usually one of the District members teaches a lesson as part of the meeting. We were blessed to have our lesson taught this week by Elder Gong.
 |
| Sue makes special delivery via Elders Muhlestein and Meek |
Then everyone took off back to their areas to carry on the work. As the numbers in the building thinned out, Ken found a set of scriptures sitting on the Office counter. They belonged to Elder Herrin. Oops! He is assigned to Kaliningrad! We were hoping his Exchange would keep him in St. Petersburg. No such luck. We called and he was already at the airport. But his companion, Elder Meek, was still here working with Elder Muhlestein. So we arranged with them that we'd bring the scriptures down to them in Avtovo on Wednesday morning. They met us at the Metro stop, and we just handed the bag over the turnstile. That way we went down and back on one ticket. :o)
 |
| The Fall of England |
Friday evening, after our regular service at the Hermitage, we were relieved by sister volunteers on an added late shift, and met up with the Pecks and the Rawsons for a date-night dinner at Mama Roma's near us. Here is the photo memorializing that sumptuous meal. It was a time to enjoy the warmth and light of a midsummer evening and rest our sore feet.
We have been having wonderful warm weather--high 70's most of the week. Sue went for an after-dinner walk one day this week and loved these flowers in front of an apartment building across the street from the Church. This is a beautiful world that God has given us, for sure. And the days are getting shorter. Today the sun didn't come up until 4:00 a.m.! And in a few days it will go down before 10:00 p.m. Imagine--more than six hours of darkness.
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