Cold Showers

Hi everyone, It seems like it was a short week and there's not too much to tell. Norm was gone for three days and I got to stay home alone. (It was nice) Sometimes 24/7 gets a little hard, even though we love each other and being here and doing what we're doing, it's still nice to be by myself once in a while. Norm went with our Branch Presidency and a few other men to Moscow for a Priesthood Leadership training. He said it was very good even though it was all in Russian and he didn't always get things translated to him. He went a day early and did some training with the Pattersons in Moscow and went over plans for the wheelchair project. He enjoyed a night out to dinner with them and then crashed on their couch. The next day, after his meetings, he rode the night train home with the rest of the men from our branch. They got home Sunday morning just in time to take a COLD shower and get right to early morning Church meetings. Long weekend for him. Now about the COLD shower thing. We are starting our second week of no hot water here. Every year they turn off the hot water for 2 - 4 weeks supposedly to clean the water pipes (or some weird reason). So everyday it takes me about 45 minutes to boil enough water to get about 3 inches in the tub. Then I take an extra bucket of hot water to pour over me when I'm through. It takes forever! Norm just showers in the freezing cold water and it takes him about 30 seconds. The water comes out of the tap like cold, melted snow temperature, water. It's great for drinking but a bit chilly for showering. What a lovely experience it is. Then they tell us that sometime this summer they will shut off ALL the water for about 3 days so we will need to use bottled water during that time. Can't wait! We might have to skip the bathing all together that week. Hum . . . sounds great! While Norm was gone I caught up on some reading, cleaning, and spent one whole day working on the grounds at the Church. You know me - I was in heaven. We have started the 40-day fast program in our Branch here. Already in the last week we have seen several miracles. All of a sudden we have three baptism dates scheduled for this month, we haven't had three baptisms in the last three months, so naturally we are all very excited. There's no question in my mind that when the Branch as a whole is united in prayer and fasting that many great miracles can and will take place. It's very exciting to see our missionaries respond to it and to see the snowball affect of their enthusiasm spread throughout the Branch. Our old Branch president is the new mission leader, and our new Branch president is wonderful so we are a happy little group. With as much rejection as our missionaries get each day, this is a real boost to their moral. It's very exciting. Keep us in your prayers. This next weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Elder Nelson will be here to organize the first Stake in Russia. It will be in Moscow, they finally have enough members there to make a stake, so our missionaries don't get to attend the meetings. But still, it is a very historical and exciting event for Russia. It will be the beginning of many great things to happen here and it's exciting to see the Church growing here. Everywhere we go we hear the words "missionary" and "Mormons" in Russian as we walk past them. People at least know who the missionaries are. That's good news. Don't forget that good missionaries teach the gospel everyday and sometimes they even use words. (That was one of my favorite quotes from this last General Conference). Have a great week everyone. We love you all so much. Love, Mom, Michele or Sister Frost