Odds And Ends

At the end each day I am finding it harder and harder to sit down and compose a blog. We have reports that must be done, cooking and baking to do, and service to be rendered. So, while we still think of all you dear ones at home, who look forward to our adventures, I am afraid our blogs will be shorter and farther apart.

I snapped a picture of this odd little fellow outside a quaint souvenir shop in Old Stockholm while we were recently there on a visa trip. Cute in a strange sort of way. Towards the end of October we flew to Helsinki and then took a boat (ship) across the Baltic to Stockholm Sweden. We have been blessed to see many countries, meet interesting people, and have experiences that wouldn't have been possible had we served a mission outside of Russia. Still, we hope and pray that the policies governing missionaries/foreigners will be relaxed and the three month trips will become a thing of the past.

The sights along the shoreline were beautiful --

We were able to attend the Stockholm temple -- and we welcomed the peaceful break. Stockholm city center at night.

At the end of the summer we took a trip to the

country with the youth. We enjoyed a beautiful day hiking in the woods. Tying ribbons to trees is a tradition that is supposed to bring good luck.
Then we stopped at one of our youth's family dacha (garden home) and ate bar-b-qued pork.

This is a street meat market -- similar ones can be found all over the city. This must be a pretty good one because we have waited for the missionaries here many times and there always seems to be a line. The lady in the "delicatessen" takes the order, then whacks off a hunk of meat, weighs it, and puts it in a plastic bag. I was watching -- she did not wear plastic gloves, did not wash her hands between transactions, while taking money and using the cash register, and she scratched her nose a number of times. Ewe!!! The thing that is odd is Russians become very upset when you don't wear a hat -- Ron has been scolded several times. They think sickness comes from having your head exposed to the cold. The reason I took a picture of this bar was because of the odd sign on the street in front of it. Who would have thought -- a "Watch Out for The Drunks Crossing" sign. Only in Russia!

Oh, and Ron is not one of them.