Sweet Oktabrina singing a hymn

Wow! A real bathtub! But, hey, where is the curtain? See the shower head on the right,
behind Eld.Dahl. Guess where all the water goes? At least it looks good.

In Anapa at Pres. Krivenko's. He is the fabulous painter. His whole family paints. His father, behind him does. His daughter, Aleena, son, Daniel, and wife, Tatiyana, also. I don't think those two famous missionaries, in the front, paint. They just look good! and work for the Lord.
Anyone up for Milk and.....................................














Bread? Loaves are not put in a bag until they get to the store. Smells good, tho.

One of our Golden Friends-Artyom on the pot! Part of his job for the day, working at a Party Shop. He is now in Utah.


Does this look like a good remodeling job?

Why we decided to start walking the 5 1/2 miles to church, and to everywhere we go, no matter how far. Most places are only up to 6 miles away and we are glad that we know our way around now, not like when we first got here and kept getting lost.












Any one up to "Modern Facitilities"?

Happy Mother's Day!

Elder Dahl's birthday!

Interpreters?

Not exactly what we expected for our "Highly intelligent interpreters", we were told we would have! So much for learning Russian!

This is a scrumptious shish-kabob {shashlychnaya} And we are having this great lunch with Alexander and Tatiana, and their son, Ivan. They do speak english, but Ivan speaks really good. This is one of the newest restaurants in Krasnodar. Great company and great food. See what senior missionaries get to do. We were so gald that they knew how to order, or we could have ended up with a pig ear or some such thing.
For example, we were at the store and thought we bought a box of brown gravy mix, but when I made some of it up, I knew within minutes we goofed again. The kitchen took on the strong aroma of horseradish and I mean strong.

This sweet lady is Tatiana, down in Sochi. It was women's week and she wanted to perform a special musical number for me since we wouldn't be there for their social. She is a great pianist and she wants to put on a production of some of the stories from the Book of Mormon with some of her musical friends and who are not church members. She is hoping that by them all working together that they might get more interested in the church.







Sister Harrison on left, Tatiana, her daughter, Katia, and son Micha, the 10 yr. old who wants to get baptized now. Elder Gnatyshn and Elder Dahl.

Women's Day

Today was another day for Russians to celebrate for 3 days. women's day, and all females were to get flowers. And yes, they celebrate for 3 days, of drinking and no govt. offices open. So guess we can't pay our power and water bill tomorrow. These 2 branches had a great celebration last night. I wish so much we could have understood it, because whatever Alexander was quoting in a poem and songs made them all laugh. I got alot on my video because Alexander dressed up as a woman and sang a song, made us laugh just watching him. Until today, he was the 2nd counselor in the branch pres. These people know how to have good simple fun. Rocky, and the ladies that exercise with him, put on a great aerobics skit, and thank goodness I only attended it one Saturday!! or I would have been in it too. We can hear our neighbors right now singing and having a good time celebrating! Wish I could peek in on them. And definitely in high spirits! It's funny, really. These are cement walls abt. a foot thick, but might as well be paper, so that has stopped us from ever getting into a disagreement!!!! ha, ha! We know when someone showers, or uses the toilet above us, or walks around in heels. Lee did such a great job his first day of being Branch Pres. in a Russian branch and can't speak the language. Thank goodness for wonderful missionaries and members who can interpret. The Lord and the Holy Ghost are amazing helpers, don't you all think? I was glad that he has a strong heart, because when Pres. Harrison called him to this position last night, he got emotionally sick and we had to leave the party just a little earlier than we intended too. I told Pres. Harrison this morning that he sure knew how to wipe a smile off of someone's face fast! Many came up and said how grateful they were that the Lord sent him to this branch, and that they would do all they could to support him. Because of the time it takes to go 6 miles on tramvi, our day started at 8 a.m and we got back at 5. We would walk the hour and a half if it weren't for being in Sunday clothes and carrying a brief case. Hmm. Since he will have more meetings now than I need to attend with him, I will send him on his way, and then walk on over to meet him when he is done. We don't have a primary yet, only 1 boy, so he asked me to teach him so he wouldn't be turned loose to do nothing. 2 missionaries came in too, and helped me with the language barrier, and we had a great time. He, Micha, Michael in english, is 10 and not been bapized because he didn't want to be. His dad is Alexander the past 2nd counselor. Anyway he wanted me to teach him some english phrases, and we did it with the things he likes to do. And, guess what? He told us that he wanted to get baptized now. He is a cute boy, and really does good learning the language. It was a fun day. He loves Kit Kats, football {soccer}, black, his dog Rex,& fried potatoes. His words for this week. Well, hope you all have a wonderful week, and we send our love and prayers that all will be well with everyone. Love, Mom and Dad, alias, Lee and Corine

March 7

Made banana breads all afternoon, for zone conf. tomorrow and because I had to taste them to make sure they were edible I am sick as a dog. Taste did not mean 10 spoonfuls of dough! I am done baking for a month! ..........
We are back from zone conf. and pray for your dad as Pres. Harrison just called him to be the branch pres. for at least the next 3 months. He will be put in tomorrow and he is almost sick. I know he can do it with the Lord's help and the missionaries'. He will have to have one right by his side every time he goes to the church and does anything for the branch. He is a good organizer and I know he can do it. And it's only for the next 3 mos, they hope. Then one of the other men, hopefully, will have things worked out in his life affairs that he could be the pres. Things are very very different in this part of the world!!! and we still have to travel to the other branches every other weekend. I was so hoping we wouldn't have to continue that for awhile only because of all the trains we have to take, and have to stay over night when we go. But, we are here to serve the Lord, and we will try to do as He asks and do it with a willing heart. We love the Lord and our Savior and can never, ever, repay them for all their tender mercies and blessings they have given us and our family. Have a great day, and we send our love. Love, Mom and Dad

Snail Mail

In case any one wants to write snail mail here is our address and it takes abt. 2 wks. to get to us. Elder and Sister Gregersen
ya. Stavropolskaya 183/2 #25
Krasnodar 350001
Russia

Good for regular letters but not packages because the packages usually don't make it unopened.