day 2 in Omsk

We just ate hot dogs from IKEA. Tyler loves them as well as the donuts because they were a cheap treat as a missionary. I thought that I would mention that so Dave doesn't feel too bad that he is not here with us. (He hates Hotdogs) We have had them twice in Russia. We are in a Mall here and just went to a Walmart type store here. It was amazing. They even have peanut butter and granola bars. We got a few things for Vitaly and Oleg but not too much because we have to lug it all over Siberia but at least we have a couple things to keep them happy until we get home. I would still pay good money for a deck of Uno cards :) They don't seem to believe in many games around here.

We had a nice visit with a couple that Tyler knew (see the picture below) They told us cool stories about life in the Soviet Union. They were told how horrible the rest of the world was and how they were safe in Russia and how everyone else was out to get them. Capitalism was considered very evil (worse than most of us view socialism today) and it is sad to me that so many people believed all of it for so long. When this man (Vladamir) joined the church he was constantly spied on every day and they monitored him all the time to see what he was doing. It kind of sounds like the government was paranoid and wanted the people to be also so they could keep them here. I hope they don't swoop in and arrest me for saying that. I kind of came here thinking that all that was a thing of the past but people still are kind of scared of the government here.

The lady (Tamara ) said that her pension is about 200 dollars a month. They have a really nice apartment.. So do the Nickolaisens. They are the best we have seen in Russia and certainly Ukraine. The outsides of the apts are all pretty yucky but inside they are really nice. All protected by double doors and a bunch of locks on the doors. They have a daughter who married a missionary from Utah and they live in SLC. He said that if he still had a single daughter he would want her to marry Tyler. The sister missionaries seem to have a crush on him too. They are both from Ukraine.

We got tickets on the night train to Novosibirsk tonight. A lot of other members are going to hear Richard G Scott. They are so excited! He is one of the few apostles that I haven't met personally and it makes me feel so blessed as these people will probably only see one apostle in real life their entire life.

I am really glad that President Reagan did what he did to end the cold war. As a child I never dreamed that I would be sitting in Russia typing on a computer for others to read in America and have my sons actually live over in this part of the world. We have come a long way. I feel a lot of acceptance from the Russian people. It is hard to believe how much we have in common. I am sure that we would eventually begin to feel this kind of love for others no matter where we went. When people say that we have so many children I want to say "Well look how many God has all over the world and he loves them all."