church

Sunday Sept 14, 2008

Yesterday we spend the day in Moscow—in the city. We’re just outside the city, but I have no idea what this area is called. Everyone I ask says they can’t think of the name, but it’s just the area where the president lives. Yes, the president of Russia lives down the street from me. And the Prime Minister, Putin, also lives in the neighborhood. Really, we haven’t even noticed (because every house is surrounded by 12 foot fences and guards), but when the president comes or goes they stop traffic for him, so we always have the lurking possibility of getting stuck in traffic for up to two hours.

So, back to the trip to Moscow. We caught the bus down the street from our house. It was a beautiful little 10 minute walk, but we all agreed it will be torture as soon as it gets any colder. I’m definitely not looking forward to winter. Anyway, from there we took the metro to Red Square. The metros here are absolutely gorgeous. The inside looks like a museum or a church with large hanging chandeliers and art work.

We went to church today. I know that doesn’t sound very profound, but let me explain what that entails. We left our house a little before 11am and walked about ten minutes to the bus stop on the main road. Then we waited for about 15 min for the bus that took us to the metro stop. From there we rode the dark blue line about 7 stops, got off and transferred to the red line for six stops. Then we walked about 15 more minutes, and at 1:20 we arrived! Normally that would only take two hours, but it took us slightly longer today because we couldn’t get out of the house. The gate wouldn’t open. Luckily one of the little boys who lives here was outside kicking a soccer ball against the wall. We explained our dilemma and he went and found one of the guards who fixed the gate. That delayed us about ten or 15 minutes. Our second delay happened when we switched metro lines. We were sitting/standing fairly close together in a line, so I signaled to the girl closest to me that we needed to get off at the next stop. She sent the message down the line, and we jumped off the subway. I turned to talk to them and only saw two of my four girls. It turns out the other two didn’t make it off in time. Considering that I’m the only one in the group with a cell phone, and that no one really speaks Russian, the rule we have for getting separated is to just stay where you are, unless you’re on the subway. If you get separated on the subway you’re to just get off at the next stop and wait. So I told the two girls I was with to stay put no matter what, and I jumped on the next car to go after the missing two. Luckily they had followed directions and were waiting for me at the stop. Then the three of us caught the next car in the opposite direction and the group was once again together! Surprisingly that delay was only about ten minutes. I love subways. They’re so convenient! Luckily we got to the church right as they were taking the Sacrament, so we didn’t even miss it! The branch we went to is an international branch, meaning that all meetings are conducted in English. There are about 120 members, mostly American, but there are a couple Germans and some Filipinos. Sacrament Meeting (the first meeting) was really good. I wish I could write more, but I’ve gotta go…