This is the "Cascade Monument". It was built in remembrance of the independence of Armenia from Soviet rule (communism). It is said to have 800 steps to the top, I started counting them but kept forgetting my count so I will just believe what they say.

These are some of the women in our English Club, the one on the left is working in a laboratory and studying Nemotodes (did I spell that right Dean?). It is wonderful how we do not even speak each others language (they speak a little English and I can say about six words in Russian) but have formed an instant bond of friendship.

Does anyone know what the WC stands for on the top of this cute building? It is a "Water Closet" or bathroom in our language. They have these all over the city but this is the fanciest I have seen. They told me some you have to pay to use it but I have never had the nerve to check it out.

Here is our zone in the Saint Petersburg Mission.

On Wednesday Feb. 4 we had to leave Russia in order to get our visas renewed. We traveled to Tallin, Astonia. We left at 3:30 a.m. and rode in a van, the first time we have been in a car since we got here. We went through two border patrols going there and it was dark,cold and scary. None of the border patrol looked like the slinky blonds you see on the James Bonds movies. Luckily our driver had done this many times before, he was a member of the Church and spoke very little English: "passport, cold and it's okay" were about all he could say. We were only in Tallin for a little over two hours. It was a nice clean town and the people in the store we went into were very nice and spoke some English. On our return we were on a bridge between the two countries, Estonia and Russia and we were awed by the fortress on each side of the Narva River. The fortress was built when Sweden occupied Estonia many years ago. We were home by 7 p.m. Whatever happened to the visa trips we heard about for 10 days in Spain?

I know you all recognize this sign even if it says Макдоналдс in Russian instead of McDonald's. I just want you to know that a Big Mac taste the same halfway around the world. It is a sad state in life when you look forward to eating at Макдоналдс or McDonald's.

We were in the north part of the city about five miles from our apartment and were riding a tram-vi which is a train that is run by electricity and goes down the middle of the road. You have to watch out each side because the numbers don't correspond to each other, so I was looking out one side Tom on the other, we were looking for number 4 I saw number 13 so I thought we had a ways to go but Tom spotted it on his side and said "Let's get off" so I stood up to get off, he stepped out and the doors closed on him and the trolley took off with me still inside. I was a little worried; I had no money, had no idea what our telephone number or address was, and am not even sure I could have found it if I knew the address and I had no keys to get in if I did find it. About a quarter mile later the trolley came to another stop and I started walking back and Tom was walking to meet me. We realized that the 10 minutes separation was our longest for the past six weeks. Tom's gift to me for my birthday was some rubles, subway tokens, a list of telephone numbers and addresses. Later we got an extra set of apartment keys from the mission office. I carry all of it in my identification pouch which is always around my neck.