Our bishop, Roman Nobotnikov and his sweet wife, Elena, have 5 children. Their oldest daughter will return from her mission to Finland in October. Her fiance will return a few weeks later from his mission and they are planning a wedding soon after. The Nobotnikovs have little space or money but big hearts. They have adopted a 16 year old girl whose parents died in a car accident. The only family she has left is her grandmother.
The missionaries began teaching the grandmother, Valentina, and she was baptized last night. It is wonderful to see the joy and hope that the gospel has brought to this young girl, Sasha and Valentina. They now have the promise of uniting their family on both sides of the veil. Lots of tender tears. This is Valentina with Bishop Nobotnikov and Elena.
Boris is a bear of a man whose favorite thing is to come up behind Elder Pierson, wrap those huge arms around him and squeeze really hard. Boris won acclaim as a national champion in boxing. Before his conversion to the gospel, he was also known for his prowess in the spy world as a major KGB officer.
Now he is best known for his love for the temple.
This is a tough time for Russian men between the ages of 18-60. Travel to the Kiev, Ukraine temple is prohibited for them and the travel to the Helsinki and Stockholm temples is too high. "Why is God doing this?" Boris ask Elder Pierson. One of the misconceptions among Russian members is that if we are long time members from America, we have an inside track on the mind of God.
Boris is sweet, tender and prone to cry when he bears his testimony. We all pray for the removal of anything that hinders temple work. Boris will be one of the first ones back.
Our sprightly 90 year old friend, Tyeecya, invited us, along with the sister missionaries, to her tiny apartment to show us how much she loves playing the guitar. She has written the words to her favorite hymns in gigantic letters in a huge notebook. She sings with abandon. Her lungs and her handshake are decades younger than her years.
Tyeecya was born just 7 years after the Bolshevik Revolution. She worked in an armaments factory during World War II, married an actor and toured widely as she raised two children. She was invited to church in 1995 by a friend who was also a musician. As she heard the teachings of the restored gospel, a feeling came into her heart that she had never experienced before. She knew that God was aware of her and loved her. She has retained that feeling and she also loves the temple.
Tyeecya is very proud of her 5 temple trips. 4 to Helsinki and 1 to Sweden. Her health no longer permits her to travel but she was privileged to do the endowment work for 40 family members, with untold initiatory and sealing ordinances. She has the temple cards for each one is a beautifull box with instructions to her children to place them in a special family history file when she dies.
This little darling has become our special friend. She actually runs to us. You think we don't miss our grandchildren? We adore all of these people..
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