Monday, June 16, 2008

Time for Church and Ice cream


We had spent many days now with the girls and they were getting used to us. We had gone shopping in Stavropol. Mom seemed to enjoy herself...and was getting to know the girls. They were loud, funny, but they were very obedient too. We were starting to get ready for court. Michael, our translator spent a lot of time with us, mostly Vinny - explaining what and how to answer things in court. He told us exactly how to answer things and not to answer things. He told us what they were looking for and what they were not looking for. We were trying to be as prepared as we could be.

We regularly saw Aliana's family - her Aunt and Uncle - and it was nice. Vinny actually got to do some split's with the missionaries, and we met the couple he went to do the splits for. They were an older couple, very nice, and very very Russian. =). Vinny point out asked this gentleman why he was not yet baptized. He chuckled, and really didn't have an answer. We absolutely loved our missionaries over there. They were so key in helping us translate to the girls.

We were actually going to church over there. We had the translators tell the girls. Cami was not allowed to go, (grrr) but the other girls were with us constantly now so they got to go. We met at a small hotel, in a room, and I was overwhelmed when we walked in. There were maybe 20 people who were there at this small branch, living the gospel and following the guidelines of the church. They were so excited when they saw us, they excitedly announced that the DiGirolamo's (and the American's) would be speaking that day. Well, that scared Aliana and Nikki to tears. They thought they had to get up and speak too!! We reassured them that they didn't have too. I was scared!! My mom was such a trooper. The Bishop was just a young man, who had such a huge spirit. In this part, it fufilled a part of my patriarichal blessing, where it stated that "one day it would be my high honor to bear my testimony to the peoples of the earth that Jesus is the Christ". I was so touched. Well, the meeting started, and my mom got up - then me, and then Vinny. Nikki started to cry and complain of a toothache..so we didn't get to stay for all meetings. We had to take her to the dentist. But before we left, a lady who was around 60, came up and honest to pete, she asked Vinny to take home her grandson. Apparently she was raising him, and he was hard on her, and she just couldn't do it! She was VERY serious in her request. Vinny was dumbfounded. Take him home?? Just like that??? Oh, that's not how it worked. She was so very disappointed, almost rude when she found out we couldn't take him home. She really wanted to "give him to us". Vinny's advice to her was to keep him there and keep him active and raise him up to be a good person/ Elder in the church because they would need good people to run the church over there. She really didn't like that answer either. He tried to explain how hard it was to adopt, but she turned a deaf ear to it after that. That was one experience that really got to me. To just try and give someone away. I know she wanted the best for him - but she was that willing just to up and let him go THEN. At anyrate - I got to bear my testimony in a little hotel room in Stavropol Russia, that Jesus was the Christ, and that I had a testimony. How cool is that?

We took Nikki to the dentist, it was like going back in time. It looked like 1940. The equipment was old, they had no painkillers at all, they just went in and filled a cavity without deadning it at all. UGH. I felt very sorry for her.

We were almost ready for our court day. Anything could happen, we were warned, but if it went well, we could walk out with three little girls. The next night, we took the girls out for ice cream, and just sat on the street watching people. An old woman with a broom swept leaves up with a homemade broom. It was very interesting.

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