We have arrived.  We had tender mercies throughout our 24 hours of travel.  Because they had to change our flight a day at the last minute due to visa problems, we didn't have seats together.  When we arrived at the airport we asked them if they could put us together.  They did and the only seats they had left were the exit seats-very nice!  Then because the flight was full, they asked if anyone wanted to check their carry on luggage.  We both checked our larger carry on which we had packed with all our heaviest items and so we didn't have to wheel that around from place to place in LA and Seoul, Korea.  We had good seats from LA to Seoul and in Seoul the flight to Vladivostok wasn't full so once again we were able to stretch out in the exit seats which no one was sitting in.  In Seoul's beautiful airport we ate our last Burger at Burger King and took advantage of their foot massage chairs for our travel swollen feet and took a nap in their reclining chairs.  After 24 hours of traveling, We arrived quite weary from Seoul about 5:00 and were met by President Brinton and taken to the area office for a little training even though at this point we were were a little brain dead.  At about 8:00, were were taken with our luggage to our apartment after a short stop at the grocery store since there was no food in our apartment.  By the time we unpacked, were were really exhausted. The next morning, the office elders came to help us with our meeting with our landlady and to help us get our internet set up.  After we fed ourselves and the elders lunch we headed to the office for more training and once again didn't get home until 8:30 or 9:00.  Not much time for jet lag.  Big jolt to our system was when President Brinton told us He was taking us to Artyom on Sunday to speak and have Paul put in as group leader to a group that is not quite large enough to be a Branch and is two hours a away which will mean about 4 hours of travel on train and bus every Sunday.  So we will have very long Sundays--About 10 hours from start to finish.  I think the quote "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, may be changed to "what doesn't kill you makes you really, really old."  I'm not sure how you stay awake that many hours when you don't understand anything being said.  If anyone has any good suggestions for that, let me know!
Our apartment is nice and we have hot water tanks that are not part of the apartment water which is a very good thing.  We have water filters provided by the church in our kitchen for drinking water.  We have a nice bathroom with a washing machine about 1/4 the size of a regular one.  The oven is about the same size.  Our refrigerator is big and very nice, even though our kitchen is tiny.  We have plenty of space to put things and the kitchen is fairly well-equipped.  We will have to buy a crock pot because the one that is here is only good for burning food.







The biggest culture shock has been shopping.The food is very expensive here and it is difficult to find the food you want partly because for some strange reason everything is written in Russian.   The store is on the way home and we will probably end up shopping every other day.  The milk tastes terrible and will probably be used for cereal only.  We are working hard at learning our responsibilities and getting home late each evening so I am too tired to write anything clever.  More next time.  This afternoon, Sister Nelson asked us to speak tomorrow at the Especially For Youth gathering that they have every Friday.  Paul spent the evening preparing a talk.  I made cookies!

June 9, 2014
We packed up and drove to Utah On Saturday and landed at our daughter, Emily's house just in time for Millie's birthday dinner and celebration!

We have had a great week at the MTC (missionary training center) and met many wonderful couples. There have been a few extra features to our week, ones we didn't exactly plan for.  I started out Monday morning with an appointment at Paul's cousin, Chuck Brimhall's dental office getting my broken crown fixed, missing part of our orientation.  Then when we returned, we went to a small crowded classroom in a church building to begin our training.  As I was getting up to leave, I tripped
on the wheels on the table and chair right next to the door and landed flat on my back in the hallway.
Believe me, it was a sight to be seen.  Just call me Grace from now on.  It isn't everyone who breaks their arm the first day at the MTC.  I may just have the distinction of being the first and only one.
Some people will do anything to get a little extra attention
So I am carrying around a little something extra with me to my classes at the MTC.  What is even more fun is getting to explain it to the twenty or so people who ask me about it each day.
Not only will Paul get the privilege of cooking and cleaning when we arrive in Russia, he also gets to find a way to get my cast off in a month.  So, onward and upward.  We are beginning our second week getting a little office training.  Tender mercies:  no broken bones in my back; I still have the use of my right hand.  I still believe Our Heavenly Father answers our prayer, just not always the way we want.  I prayed often about going on this mission and the answer I always received was " be prepared to accept what comes, your mission will not be what you expect."  Well, we thought we were going to the Ukraine and sure enough the change to Russia was not what we expected.  We do know that they really needed an office couple in Vladivostok and were praying for one.  Sometimes answers to prayers are not for our comfort but for our preparation!

This is the beginning of a new adventure for us.  When we returned from our mission to Guatemala two years ago, Paul promised me that if we left our home and family again, we would just go for 6 months to a spanish speaking temple mission, maybe to Quetzaltenango.  Hmm.  So Chapter two begins .  .  .  . Last summer at a family gathering, my cousin Beverly Walker told me that her brother-in-law was the new mission president in Donetsk, Ukraine.   She knew of Paul's desire to serve there. We were all ready to do that 7 years ago, when, instead of his final mission interview with the Stake President, he was called to be young adult bishop instead.  So, after giving it some thought and prayer, Paul was prompted to remember the story of Leah and Rachel and Jacob.  He came to understand that his calling as bishop could be his Leah and as Christ came through Leah, this calling could bring him closer to Christ.  Then we would go on a mission which could be his Rachel.  So after  3 years as young adult bishop, we went to Guatemala to serve a mission.  Hearing again about the Ukraine, he felt this was our opportunity to serve in the Ukraine and it was indeed 7 years from the time we were first going to serve there.    I reminded  him that his was not 6 months and it wasn't Spanish speaking, but I suspect he wasn't hearing me.

So, we began again to prepare to go to the Ukraine.  First we were going in January, then we received our call for March and then it turned out that they changed it to begin in May so we could replace an office couple leaving in June.  So we have been in a state of readiness and limbo for quite a while.  We began studying Russian, well, I began.  Paul had started many years ago when he first started going on humanitarian dental trips to Russia, Siberia, and Ukraine.  So he began where he left off.  Then the trouble in the Ukraine started and we found out in April that they would not be sending anyone into the eastern part of the Ukraine.  Our call then went back to the brethren who soon changed our call to Vladivostok, Russia which seemed like the ends of the earth to me.  It is right next to North Korea, China, Japan, and Siberia.  We were leaving in the middle of July and then suddenly we are leaving, instead June 16th after two weeks at the MTC the first two weeks of June.

So, this is our story;  Chapter Two.