Saturday evening in Moscow.  St. Paddy's Day, I guess even in Moscow.  There is not much green showing, but I'll be there is plenty of drinking going on.

Here are a few odds and ends for the week, mostly the weekend.

We have tried to capture the flavor of the closet that the babushka lives in who guards the front door.  I am almost sure she lives in there.  I never don't see her there.  (How's that for good construction?)  I think the dimensions are about six feet by ten feet.

Marlene attended a special RS Anniversary broadcast today. It was the first Stake Relief Society meeting in the Moscow (therefore all of Russia) Stake.  President Schwitzer had asked the three Church female auxiliary presidents to record a message specifically for the sisters of Eastern Europe.  The broadcast was sent across the whole vast expanse of the Area.  The ladies all said it was very nice.

Post-meeting you will see pictures of sisters with roses.  No one will have just two (and maybe any even number.)  Two flowers is a sign of death, or bad breath, or something horrible.

I, of course, had to stay home and do the Saturday chores:  vacuum, take out the trash (see below), make the bed, iron all of my shirts and one of Marlene's, and generally play washer-woman, or cleaner-woman, or ironer-woman.  Oh, the tragic life I lead!

I have a special inclusion for Conner and Tyler Sturgis--pictures of the trash chute on our floor.  They opined the other day that they would like to ride it down to the bottom.  I think after they see the pictures they may wish to re-think that idea.

We have one more picture of winter-clad children, in the elevator.  These are cute boy/girl twins. Marlene has decided that she is going to be bolder about asking people if she can take their pictures.  What's the worst they can they do but say, "no."  Well, I guess they could also beat us up.

There is a picture of a distant relative of Marlene's, the sister side of one of the senior couples here.

Finally, we decided to really celebrate this Saturday evening, so we went with the Walker's to the nearby mall and had a Burger King burger.  The place was jammed and so there were no free tables at which we could put our four tiny butts.  But a  very nice, English-speaking, lady offered to share her table with us.  Marlene asked to take a picture of her daughter with the offer to email it to her.  She and her daughter were there for the two-year anniversary of the mall's construction.  She works for the construction company that built the mall, and therefore knew that the celebration was coming, so she brought her daughter for the fun.  She was very gracious and as you can see very lovely.  All of the Russians are not grouches.

Here is the babushka's front door.  It is just inside the main entrance.  

This is the right side of her home.  As I mentioned above it's about 2 meters by 3.5 meters.  The exterior front door is at the right of this picture.  It is a very heavy door and it swings shut with a bang every time anyone enters or exits.  The slamming shut has got to jar the closet.  I don't know how she ever sleeps.

This is Sister Palmer.  She is related to Marlene by being a descendant of Harriett Decker Young, who was one of the first three women to enter the valley with the initial party.  Since all of you remember the family conference in the summer of 2010 you easily remember H.D. Young and the First Encampment Park at 1700 South and 500 East.  Marlene is the bomb!
We are at the Central Building attending the Moscow Mission conference.  Pres. Schwitzer was the principal instructor.  We took some good notes and will try to get them distributed when we can.

During the morning meeting Elder Walker experienced some significant chest pain and profuse sweating.  The Area doctor was nearby and after some examination of Elder Walker determined to take him the the European Medical Clinic, which has been vetted for use by our missionaries.  In the end he was diagnosed with pericarditis, inflammation of the sack that holds the heart.  Not a great diagnosis, but lots better than a heart attack.

Here are the twins in the elevator.  Cute and shy.

Six American babes at the RS conference.

A branch or ward worth of Russian babes at the RS conference.  This is the chapel in our meeting house.  It is called the Sokolniki building.

Here is the very nice lady who shared her table with us this afternoon.  Her name is Nadia and her daughter is Alexandra.  She could not have been more gracious.

Our open front door.  I am going to turn around and walk down our little hallway toward the 'trash chute' room.-

The hallway.

The trash-chute room.  It is also the exit to the stair way in case of a fire or if the elevators quit working.  The trash chute is behind the half door.

The chute closed.

The chute access door open.  (Smelly.  Cold.)  The Ruski's are not dumb.  The rectangular opening is smaller than the chute.  That keeps one from stuffing something in the chute that will not fall to the bottom.  I have tested it a couple of times.  I keep thinking, "If I clog up this trash chute what will happen to me?  Will the police come and make me jump in from the top to see if I can dislodge the jam?  I'm not sure I can fit in the chute, but I am sure Tyler could.  He might have to come over here and jump down the chute.

The chute itself.  I think that stuff on the side is either modern art of the accumulation of about 20 years of stuff being thrown in.  Remember we are on the 16th floor, so there are only a few more floors up from us.  I wonder what the chute looks like near the bottom?  Too awful to contemplate.  I think instead I will think about Elysian fields and Gladiator.