Photo taken down deep in the Metro station. Having a little missionary fun. 
We have Internet at our home!!!
It has been a tough couple of weeks since we have been in our apartment and have not had consistent use of the internet. They haven't even had it at the chapel which is just a few minutes walk from our home. We have an office there that they are setting up for us but no one has the sense of urgency like we do. Regardless, we currently have internet here and we are so happy. Another milestone also occurred today, we got an adapter for our water faucet so we can now use the 3 filter water system that the church uses here. We have had the system but we couldn't hook it up to our faucet... so now we have clean water that we can drink, make ice cubes, brush our teeth, etc. with.
So much has transpired since we sent our last email to the family and friends that it will be difficult to give you much detail in the time we have allotted.
So, "let me splain." "Princess buttercup....."
Seriously, Beau should be calling in just a few minutes to let us know how his three phone interviews went with Goldman Sachs this morning there in Washington. We have to pack tonight to leave on a plane for Istanbul, Turkey for a CES Conference being held there for the Eastern Area. Did you hear that there was an earthquake earlier today or yesterday there in Turkey? Apparently not as serious as Haiti or Chile, but an earthquake none the less. Anyway, we will be back home late Friday night.
The work has been hard here for the past 20 years and it remains so. We are going to do all we can to change that and make a difference. Just to give you an idea, in 2008 there were 8 baptisms in the Moscow Russia mission.... 8! for the whole year! Last year there was 20 for the entire year for the whole mission. Since we have been here for the past 3 weeks, we have had 3 that we have witnessed. We had standing room only in the chapel this past Saturday for this one.... it was a great one too! This 21 year old girl got baptized. The reason this one was so good was because her father has been less active for the past 11 years. He was one of the early members here in Russia. He was at the baptism and bore his testimony as part of the service.... everyone was in tears. It was almost like an open confession. It was just amazing to be a part of this process and see the change in the lives of these wonderful people.
It is still really cold here. It has stopped snowing for now but it snowed a little every day for over 2 weeks when we first got here. Now it is just cold and the remnant of the snow and ice is still very present in the streets, walkways, and alleys. Ice is just in piles all over the place. I will do my best to take some photos... I know all of you are asking for them. It is just not quite as easy to take photos like you can back in the states... people don't like their pictures taken and the frowns that they carry with them routinely each and every day just get "frownier!" The fact is that to this day the Russian people are very leery of others and want to really keep their privacy private! The Church has been trying to put together branch rosters and there are many that are completely against it! So, the photos will come but we are not going to send albums and albums of photos.
Every 6 weeks the missionaries get a chance to go to a cultural event of some sort. Our district invited us to a new musical production called "Monte Cristo" You all know the story, have read the book, or seen the movie. Well the play is "spectacular!" I believe it was written here in Moscow and has been performed here for months. We saw it in an old theatre which was just off of Red Square. We were in the "nosebleed" section but no matter, I brought our binoculars. If you have ever heard that the Russians are famous for their ballet and dancers... well we were NOT disappointed. I couldn't believe how beautiful the dancing was. Now if you have heard anything of the singing voices of the Russians.... there was no surprise there either. The singing was fabulous too. The whole story and passion that was part of this play was inspiring. Even though we could only understand every 15th word or so, we were just in "awe" of what we witnessed. It was a little "jazzy" but many many of the songs were just wonderful. The play was very appropriate even though it was a love story. We hope that it will be in the states soon if it is not already. We would highly recommend it. We bought the music. There is two acts with a total of 29 songs..... yes.... 29! Bethany and I "stayed up way past midnight" (what's that from?) and listened to two songs over and over with our Russian dictionary in hand to figure what they were singing.... By the time we got through the last one and found out what was actually going on in the music.... Bethany started to cry.... the message is so sad. Anyway, when it comes... go see it. You may want to Google it. The Cultural events will be something that we will definitely take advantage off. We are going to a musical concert in the Tchaikovsky Theater.... yes, THE Tchaikovsky theater, it is just a few miles from our apartment. I met a member of the church who is an American who works here and is one of if not the head of the FBI here in Russia and he and his wife and 4 children have lived here for 3 years and 7 years in Ukraine. He asked if we liked music and of course we said that we did. He proceeded to let me know that there is nothing better in the world that what can be found right here in Moscow. He invited us to come with them on occasion. We accepted.
We are so very grateful to all of you for your continued thoughts and prayers... please continue to pray for us. We really need the help here and need the faith and prayers of the Saints to help us all. These missionaries that are out in the field are good young men and women who love the Lord and have testimonies and want to succeed. We are eager to help them. We love the Lord and know that this is His work. The work is percolating and ready to blow. Hopefully we can be a part and have our finger print on just a small part of what is going on in the history of the Church here in Moscow. Keep the faith.
We love you all,
Elder and Sister Packard
