"Vzglyad" from our weekend

I learned the word "vzglyad" in church today. It means "look" or "glance". I think it's a fun word to say... and interesting that it has 5 consonants all together. Speaking of church, today the guy who was supposed to give the sermon didn't come. Leif and I had prepared to sing a song (which we did) and Leif had thrown the written sermon he'd prepared last week in with the sheet music "just in case". As the men from church prayed together beforehand, Leif mentioned that he could share if there were no other options. I really like this about Leif. If it were me, I would not have even thrown in the typed sermon in the first place and then I don't think I ever would have freely volunteered something like that unless someone outright asked me first! But Leif is willing and I like that. He ended up giving it (without having read through it since last week). I get really nervous when he speaks... especially in Russian! It's such a hard thing to do. I admire his bravery.

Last night we got together with Vitya and Sveta, a couple from our church. They just had a baby girl the end of June. We like them a lot. We ate posie at a little cafe. Posie is a national Buryat food and is like a dumpling stuffed with meat that you slurp the juice out of after you bit a little hole in the side. Very yummy. They also bought something called "fish flakes" for us to share. I was afraid, but they weren't so bad. Just really salty. After dinner we walked and talked. I really like talking with Sveta because she talks to me like a normal person and it doesn't feel like she "dumbs down" language for me. It's really refreshing because, even though I don't understand every word, I understand most of what she says and I feel like I get to know her heart. Vitya and Leif schemed together about a great project that would involve our church, the neighborhood, and meeting lots of young men. They're really excited about it, and we pray it'll come to fruition. We need to run some things through the proper "channels" before we can say more, but it's pretty exciting.

The second picture is one that Mama Irene took when she was here... it's the entrance to our apartment. We have three doors and seven locks (one lock doesn't work). This is pretty normal here. Everyone has multiple doors and locks. And really big keys. Irene saw a man walking down the stairway with his keys and she thought he was holding a weapon! We'll have to post a picture sometime.