Where Yarmiks Roam

Russia Yekaterinburg Mission - Week 70 - July 23 - 29, 2018

Another sunrise over the mountains.

We had an appointment with Miriam whose NGO helps adult cancer patients. Finally.........finally (we first met her on January 2nd) the project is complete. Here is the hospital - it is a governmental hospital....pretty big - new. Stem cell transplants are done here.

We had to wait a bit in the lobby on these couches. I"m talking to our translator Zhuldeez (Жулдыз)

When we met Marina for the first time last January, she showed us these rooms which were not very useful because of the exposure of the direct sunlight..........we're told that direct sun is very difficult for cancer patients to bear. And, yeah, it was really bright!

Miriam requested window coverings for ten of the rooms. And they had been installed! Quite honestly, it seems poor planning to have a hospital built without planning for window coverings. But maybe that is just me.

Here are the windows now. I'd rather rest and recover in this room.

And Marina requested two - just two - high quality, water filters. These are the kind that are installed under a sink with a faucet installed on the counter. Guess how many water filters there are in this hospital - yep, just these two.

Note the extension cord slinking up into the "under the counter" space.

We wore face masks to go into the rooms

Marina says it is a great blessing to the patients to have the filtered water, because now their families don't have to bring in their own bottled water.

Marina had a framed Letter of Appreciation for us.

It was really a good feeling to have been able to help in such a 'big' way by doing such small and simple things - water and sun protection.

After meeting with Marina we went on a exploratory walk to find the DHL office where we needed to pick up the passports for President and Sister Beck who were coming to Astana later in the week. These were their "second" passports which they need to get a new Russian visa - kinda complicated to explain. So we walked on a very main street which, except at bus stops, had no sidewalks.

But there were some great flowers

And some interesting sidewalk public art

We got the passports just fine and then went to a food court and got KFC. No photos this time around as this was a mundane DHL quest after the one we experieced in Antalya....and we've been to KFC too many times by now.

One day this week we passed a lady in a wheelchair who sells bracelets - I assume she makes them herself. We've seen her before, but this time we stopped.

I bought this one but think the next time I see her, I'll check for a turquoise blue one.

Some interesting pictures

This cobblestone roadway is being torn up and something else will soon be here.

Some poor, dead, dried up, and brown pine trees were being plucked out of the soil of the steppe and taken to tree heaven.

Landscaping crews getting ready to cut grass

Some big construction project is going to be happening at the Triathlon Park

Here you can see walls of sheet metal going up all along one of the paths - this is a sure sign that something will happen but, no, you can't see it.

Big machinery

A security tower has been moved to the site

And a workshop - which shows signs of having been previously moved by the braille method

And a new workshop being created from an old shipping container.

And the next day, the colorful plastic murals had been attached to the fence, and we learned that the building will be a Triathlon Academy.....I'll have to ask Mr Google to see what a triathlon academy is.

It'll be interesting to watch (if there is a place where I can see through the fence) the construction over the next two months.

President and Sister Beck came for the weekend; we picked them up from the airport.

After our District meeting we look pretty happy at the prospect of LUNCH!

On our way to catch a bus

We went to a restaurant called "One More Burger" which had their own variations to, in my opinion, the greatest American burger, The Favorite Star at Carl's Junior (here it is called Hardees). The restaurant is so serious about their burgers, that black gloves are served with each one. Elder Shutler-Levi takes this business seriously while Elder Paul is, well...normal.

Sister Beck has a good, "I'll try anything attitude."

Saturday evening we had a Branch Social where President Beck and Sister Beck presented some great thoughts about making small changes in your, then we had Dodo Pizza (which was, like doughnuts, disappointing) and, then we watched a recording of Almaty's production of the Book of Mormon............

Sunday morning there were 12 in attendance - 8 Americans, 3 Kazakhs, and 1 Russian. The meeting really went well - I think sometimes, the smallest meetings are the most spiritual.....like our Christmas meeting in 2018 may have been the best one I've even attended....because it was just "us".

The Young Volunteers sang a rendition of "Come Thou Fount of Many Blessings" accompanied, blessedly, by Sister Beck.

During the second hour President Beck gave us a presentation on the church's new program of Ministering which replaces Visiting Teaching and Home Teachers. It was all new to me because for the last year I have been in Primary and had never received any of the new information and training. Jenny -if you read this, can we be ministering partners???

Sunday dinner was with the Becks and the Young Volunteers. I tried a new recipe called Mongolian Beef - but it really is just Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Beef with Veggies. Quite tasty.

And after dinner, the Becks gave us new ideas about how to think about changing our methods if we want different results. All in all, it was a great evening.