Yugo Zapadnaya Branch

We miss the people in the Tver branch where we were first assigned and think about them often. They hold a special place in our hearts.

Tver Branch - Sergie & Svetlana's Marriage

However, we are enjoying being able to stay in Moscow and attend church in the Yugo Zapadnaya branch. Monday, June 23, we had an enjoyable branch Family Home Evening at the Curbishley's apartment. The Elders showed a video with Russian narration followed by an activity and refreshments.

Family Home Evening at the Curbishleys

We divided into two groups to play a game using Rook cards. Each player in turn added a card to the growing pile in the center. If the card played was the same color as the previous card, all hurried to touch a predetermined place on their face. If the two cards were red (красный), the forehead was to be touched. If the two cards were green (зеленый), the nose was touched. If the two cards were yellow (желтый), the ear was touched. Two blue cards (синий) meant that the neck was touched. The last person to touch the required place had to take the pile of cards, and the winner was the one getting rid of their cards first.

FHE Activity - Learning the rules of the game.

On June 29, President and Sister Collins visited our branch along with Elder Salinas (whom we grew to love when he served in Tver) and Elder Landquist (Assistants to the Mission President). Also visiting our branch were two members of the district presidency, three BYU students who are in Moscow for part of the summer on an internship program, and Elder & Sister Curbishley. There have been two sets of Elders assigned to the branch - Elders Terrell and Aikens and Elders Mills and Harker; but with a new area opened up, they have added two more Elders - Elder Armstrong and Elder Hudson. The branch president is President Karneav.

Lidia, Natalia (Relief Society President), and a friend

Rachel, a BYU intern for the summer and a
returned missionary who had served in Russia in the
Rostov Mission

Rachel translated for me when I gave a talk at Sacrament meeting June 8 and also when I gave the Relief Society lesson June 15. I have been asked to give the lessons in Relief Society on the third Sunday of each month, and Sam gives the Priesthood lesson every other Sunday.

There are frequently different faces we see each Sunday. Some are investigators, some are visitors from the USA, some are members of other branches in Moscow, and some are regulars. We meet in the mission office building. It only takes us about an hour to get there, and it's only a ten-minute walk from the Sportevna metro stop. This is so much nicer than traveling by bus or train to Tver, which often took four to five hours from the time we left our apartment and usually involved an overnight stay on Saturday.