Snow! What's That?

Wednesday night it was difficult for Emma to go to bed. She has always wanted to have a white Christmas. Looks like she might even get a white Thanksgiving this year. About bed time Wednesday it began to "spit" a few snow flakes. By Thursday morning we had a light dusting for PK standards. There was enough snow that it would have caused problems in MS. Wheeler would have certainly turned out school and the grocery store would have sold all their milk and bread. Everything was normal in PK, even the grandmaw's were out and about. It did make for a fun walk to the magazine (grocery store). We picked up some klep (bread)just so we would feel like everyone in MS when snow is predicted. Lee and Emma did have a chance to toss a few snowballs at one another. Suzanne and I spent the day in language school. We are learning many words and different endings but still find it very difficult to make a complete sentence. I feel like I am in first grade again. Each day Zoya makes us recite the alpahbet. Two days this week she gave us a "pop" spelling test. Zoya is a great teacher and has taught us alot in only 7 days of class. Zoya only speaks Russian. That made the first couple of days quite a challenge.

Everyone is doing great. Rachel, the new homeschool teacher, will arrive this week. She has recently had knee surgery. Pray that she and the kids develop a quick and healthy relationship and that she is able to get around and her recovery from the surgery is smooth and easy.

We are here!!!

We finally made it!!! A little over a week ago we said good bye to our families inside the Memphis International airport and our journey officially began. We boarded and left for Chicago……….no problem. From Chicago we flew to Frankfurt, Germany. We landed in Germany and found our next terminal according to our tickets, gate B-72. The strange thing is that the airport in Frankfurt does not open until 5 am. We know this because our pilot stated that we were going to circle the airport from 4:35 am to 5 am until it opens. At gate B-72 it was a ghost town, no one was there. We sat a few minutes and finally found a lady who only spoke German but finally managed to tell us to check the computer on the wall. When we found our flight number to Moscow it stated in big letters CANCELLED!!! It was off to the races; I ran up stairs to the Lufthansa counter and stood in line for 45 minutes. They issued us a standby ticket for the next flight that left in 50 minutes. I ran back down stairs, found the family, ran back up stairs and around the airport and made the next flight to Moscow. We had someone meeting us in Moscow to help us change airports there. We did not make our original flight because of the cancelled flight in Frankfurt. Oh well, we were tired and it was a blessing to get a hot shower and a night’s sleep in Moscow before we flew on into PK. Our check in and flight the next day went as expected. We flew into PK and the mountain tops were covered with snow………..pictures will never do justice to the beauty of mountains. We were greeted by the Covington’s and the Putnam’s and Pastor Volodya. Volodya is the pastor of Central Baptist in PK.
Every single piece of luggage made it to PK in perfect shape. We loaded our bags and headed to our apartment. It is about 1200 square feet with great heat and hot water, two different views of the city and all the amenities that anyone would desire to have or need. We even got our internet hooked up today. We have purchased beds for each one of us, tea pot, microwave, table and chairs, washing machine and a few dishes. A person can purchase almost anything in the city, even ice cream and microwave popcorn.
We started our language training on Thursday. We have had 8 hours, 4 hours per day, thus far. It is fun but trying at times. On Tuesday’s and Thursday’s Suzanne and I catch a bus and travel to the next town, Elizovo, to meet our teacher, Zoya. On Mon, Wed, and Fri she will travel to our apartment. Please pray for Zoya, she is not yet a believer but a very nice lady and great teacher.
The three big mistakes Marty has made thus far…………………All comical! (1) The very first day in PK attempting to use a little Russia language……………I really thought I knew how to ask someone if they would like something to drink. I asked Pastor Volodya if he wanted something to drink,…..everyone laughed,…….somehow I managed to ask the pastor if he would like to go out and get a drink…………..an alcoholic drink………..Praise the Lord for a sense of humor, everyone just laughed really loud. (2) Attempting to use the Russian ATM to withdraw money to purchase the washing machine I punched in the wrong pin number and the ATM retained my card. Once again in big red letters……..CARD DETAINED IN MACHINE. Randy called the number on the machine and then we had to go to a Russian bank fill out some paper work and show them my passport. They had to go and retrieve the card, call Randy on his phone and then we had to go back and pick it up. (3) Shopping at the market…………….be careful on what you order…………….asking for a small fish and getting several pounds, market is a great place to practice your language but you never really know just how much stuff or what type of stuff you may be asking for. There will certainly be more stories to come from the market.
The kids are adjusting great! Lee already knows the bus routes better than any of us. Emma loves going to the market. They got to go eat real Russian food while we were in our first language class. Lee ate blini (a pancake or crepe type thing) and Emma ate a Russian salad and soup. We have had smoked salmon from the outdoor market. Lee even ate caviar (salmon roe) and liked it. The breads are out of this world. We go to the corner market to get fresh bread every couple of days. We definitely don’t have to be afraid of going hungry.
Thank you so much for praying for us. We are still waiting on a mailing address. As soon as we get one I will post it. Please remember that if you mail us letters or anything it will take about 4 to 6 weeks for them to get to us. Also, if you send material goods please do not list the value of being over $30. If it is over this amount we will have to pay taxes on it to receive it. Just label it as gift and value $25 or $30.
Thanks for holding the rope,
Roberts Family (Marty, Suzanne, Lee & Emma)
Philippians 4:13
Contact Information:
going.east@hotmail.com
http://robertsinrussia.blogspot.com
home # 011-7-415-227-3716
If you give us a call please remember the time difference. We are 18 hours ahead of the states or one day minus 6 hours. For example if it is 12 noon Monday in MS it will be 6 am Tuesday in PK.

The Village

Pray for the Small People of the North who live in Far East Russia!!!

Visas Issued

Praise the Lord!!! We have recieved our visas. We were issued a one year multiple entry visa. What does this mean? This means that we fly out on Monday October 29. We will leave Memphis International Airport at 10:47 am. Our flight will take us through Chicago, IL; Frankfurt, Germany; Moscow, Russia and finally to Petropavlovsk, Russia. We will land in (PK) at 10:00am on October 31. It takes a little while to fly around the world. Please pray that we make each flight change and that our flights go well. Pray that all of our stuff is packed correctly and that it will check all the way from Memphis to PK. That would be a blessing. Once on field we will have a week of orientation, learning how to get around the town, where the market is, and eventually will begin our language study. Thank you for holding the rope! We will send out a mailing address when we get one.

Tight Grip

Thanks for holding the rope!!! PRAISE THE LORD................our LOI's (Letters of Invitation) came in today. We were able to process all the information and get the documents sent over night express to apply for our Visas. Please pray that all the document changing of hands will go smoothly. Pray for a tight grip on our paper work. Pray that our flight will be booked to leave Memphis on the 24th and Moscow on the 27th. God is in control and we are very content with His timing. God bless each one of you for joining us as prayer partners. Keep holding the rope!

Lee and Emma are enjoing their homeschool curriculum. However, Suzanne and I are not as good at recess as we used to be. They are both doing well and are still very excited about going. Lee thinks that he is going to learn to snowboard once we get there, "you might hold a tight rope on that also." Emma is content on the idea of making some snow angels and of course a few snowballs to "smack" her brother with.

Lee invites ya'll to email him at lee_red13@hotmail.com

Mississippi

The Roberts family is back in MS for a short stay before we leave for the Far East. We had a safe trip in from ILC. We are currently awaiting our (LOI) Letter of Invitation that comes from Russia. Once we get the LOI we will file for our Visas and then the airline tickets will be issued. We should depart on the 24th of October if all goes well. We will be in Petropavlovsk for a year while we are in language school. We will then move to the village. Pray for us as we continue to process the necessary paper work for us to enter the country. Pray that there are no hang ups that would cause us a delay. Thanks to all of you who are continually "Holding the Rope" for our family. God bless each of you!

Mississippi Bound

Today was the last official day of class at FPO. Tommorrow we will have a departing ceremony and we will head back to Mississippi for a couple of weeks before we depart to Far East Russia. Please pray for us as we travel back home. Pray that the Lord gives us a couple of great weeks with our families. Pray that the LOI's and Visa's come through at the correct time. We are MS bound and we see some of ya'll very soon.