Dear Family,

I've been waiting for several things to happen before I wrote a very late news letter, but I think I better just go ahead and tell about the things that have already happened.

Sunday, October 14Th our branch finally moved into our new( to us) building. It is simply beautiful. It looks like a church inside and out. There is a steeple on the top and green lawn planted around the front. It is all new inside with new chairs, pianos, white boards, hymn books, everything we need.

We were able to watch General Conference on Oct. 14, after Sacrament Meeting. We watched Saturday's meetings on Saturday and on Sunday we watched the Sunday sessions with lunch together between sessions. It was a wonderful day. The talks were so uplifting. At Sacrament meeting that day we had over 90 people attending. Our attendance has been around 40 to 50 each Sunday in our old building. There were many people there that Sunday that we hadn't seen at church in a while.

Bart and I were asked to teach a class on strengthening marriage at a near by daycare center. The director is a friend of a member of our branch. We really agonized over what to say since were were using a manual written for church members and we couldn't use scriptures or refer to the teachings of the general authorities, directly. A young woman from our branch translated for us and the class members seemed to understand the material. They wanted to know why we came to Barnaul and was it difficult being away for our family for so long. All of the class members were women, for the first meeting, but we hope they will bring their husbands for the next classes. The classes are supposed to run for 6 weeks and maybe another six weeks of classes on strengthening the family. We will see how it goes.

On Saturday we had our first snow. The flakes were big and wet and didn't stick to the ground. Today it snowed again but this time it stuck and everything was a beautiful white for a few hours. Then the temperature rose a few degrees and it started to rain again. There is still a lot of snow on the ground so maybe this really is the beginning of winter.

In two weeks we are gong to Novosibirsk for a couples' conference. There have been two new couples arrive and we are anxious to meet them. After meetings in the daytime, we will go to the ballet in the evening.

On the Monday of Thanksgiving week, we will fly to Helsinki to renew our visas. We will arrive back home on Thanksgiving morning after being up all night traveling. Our dinner will have to be postponed until Friday.

We now have two wonderful young Sister Missionaries in our city. We are grateful to have them and the Branch is excited that they are here. It has been about 3 years since sisters were here.

Yesterday, a young man from our branch left for Madrid to enter the MTC there. He was baptized the first time we were here and was introduced to the Church through the English program. He is 26 and wasn't sure whether he would be able to go, but he sent his papers in and will be serving in the Russia St. Petersburg Mission. He will feel right at home. Several of the young adults who used to live in Barnaul have moved to St. Petersburg to find better work and better marriage prospects.

We hope life is going well for all of you. We miss you and would enjoy hearing from you.

We love you, Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, Bart and Sharon