Be Our Guest

Over the past week and a half, we have had the pleasure of entertaining guests in our home. First Robin Harris came to see us, then Dave and Kay Henry. See, St. Petersburg is not too far or too difficult to travel to from America! (ok, I have to admit that these friends were headed out to Siberia and using our home as a pit stop, but that doesn't mean that you can't come just to St. Petersburg to see us!)

We were privileged to celebrate Robin's birthday with her in between her many visits to friends in the city. Unfortunately, we didn't get the greatest picture of her, but here you can see her enjoying meeting our friend Luda before we went to church. Isaiah is of course trying to steal the shot.

A couple days after Robin left us, the Henrys arrived very early on a Thursday morning having taken the overnight train from Moscow. We didn't know how long they would be with us, but thankfully they didn't have to leave until Monday afternoon! We were excited to be able to get to know this very experienced missionary couple and benefit from their wisdom. We had briefly met them in 2005 when visiting Siberia, but this extended weekend visit gave us lots of time to chat and get to know them much better. We were also able to tell them about some great tourist spots to see, since this was their first time to St. Petersburg. Here they are in front of St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Having familiar faces visiting in our home refreshed us a great deal. Being able to talk with these other missionaries about our cultural learning experiences and language study encouraged us. Talking with people who have experienced very similar circumstances as we now find ourselves experiencing helped us realize that one day we will be able to communicate with people without struggling to think about what word we need to use and which form or tense it needs to take. How I long for that day!

So, now that you know that's it's possible to make it here, when should we reserve the devan for you?