rusalka

Yeah, I was looking a little into that, but for now I will just volunteer. I just got a new job in the health food industry, which I really enjoy too, so translating for the Church professionally is something in the future. I love the MTC though, and I get to hear all the good talks too.

MisterT, those are some expensive restaurants! Winter in FL is the best season, IMO. It's nice, bright, and not too hot. I also love SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, forgot to mention those. I enjoy roller coasters, so that was a good place for me. I heard from my friends that it snowed in Florida this year, more like flurries, but it's still SNOW. I like translating at the MTC a lot, although so far I have only done live translation. I hear and see the teacher give a lesson or a talk on a monitor and talk in a microphone for the missionaries to hear. The hardest is when they play clips of general authorities during a lesson, it's hard to translate those as eloquently as they speak!

I think the pig was called Bauernbraten, peasant roast. Could definitely be something related to Spanfeckle. I have never had Pho soup, but I love curry too. I have some very good Pakistani friends (we all lived in the dorm during my German program) and they cooked with it a lot. That's how I got into food from that region too. I really enjoy it. Thai is very good. I have attempted making it, but I think I need a little more practice with it still. We are thinking about getting a fishing license soon (when the semester ends) and trying out some of our own catch, and I really don't mid cleaning and scaling the fish either. I also like the idea of getting/catching my own food. Pickled tomatoes are the best. My grandpa liked the Baltika stuff, don't remember which number.

hahahahahaha! So true! Neither of us is from the Moscows though, but it works out. I thought it was really funny when I found out that there was Moscow in ID and St. Petersburg in FL. Agree on the second point. We were raised in very different families though, he was raised in a truly Gospel-oriented home, and I was raised by a single mother and my grandparents 50/50 and then my mom got married when I was 14. That's when I started to drift away somewhat. I think I was raised well considering the circumstances, just different environment from my husband.

The last thing made me laugh! I love food myself, but I am not a big meat person, just never have really eaten it much. But I really enjoy fish, so I can relate to that. Caviar is good too. I like the salted dry fish, and in Russia it's mostly a beer snack, although I obviously don't use it for that purpose. I just like to eat it. I like all kinds of seafood, especially squid-related things. Dried, canned, in salad, boiled, fried. I am still new to our area here, so I haven't found any good ethnic food sources. In Orlando there was always an abundance, for example, there was a huge Asian supermarket that sold live fish, crab, eel, etc. I spent time in Germany as well, went there on an exchange a couple of years ago for a semester. I liked the food there too. Although I will never forget the time when I ordered something seemingly ordinary in a restaurant and got a huge piece of roasted pig. German cookies were the best though. I love to cook and try new things overall too.

I was at a fireside with Elder Holland in Orlando, FL last year, and afterwards someone asked him that same question at the Q/A session. His reply was that it is fine, and that the Church does not have an official stance on interracial marriage. He counseled that the only concern that there could be is possible cultural (not racial) differences, but that referred more to people coming from very different backgrounds; these differences might affect the marriage in various ways, and it is in the interest of the Church for members to have successful marriages. I have seen a few interracial LDS couples at the Temple and at General Conference. My marriage is intercultural, since I am from Russia, and my husband is from Idaho. No clashes though, everything is going very well. So everything is fine. Best of luck to you!

That's cool. I like borscht and cook it pretty often; my husband likes it too. I like introducing people to food that they've never had before. Plov is another good dish, but salo I cannot stand, seems pretty icky to me :) I miss good mustard though. It's nice to meet you!

Nelly, wow, I was in the Orlando area too. That's great to meet someone from there! I thought the climate was a little too hot, other than that it was good. Nice to meet you! GregO, yes, it's hot and humid, and there is a big Disney World. It's a few parks all together, and there are also 2 Universal Studios theme parks. I liked those a little better.

Hi, Connie! Thank you and nice to meet you too! That's cool about the lady. I wish I can work for the Church and help out with translation some day! Right now I volunteer at the MTC, so I get some translation done that way. MisterT, privet! Do you speak a little Russian? :)

I haven't seen the episode that you are referring too, but you raise some very valid points. The Lord should be our focus, and not politics. I agree that members of the Church don't have to adhere to a certain political party; faith is not something to be politicized. Also, income level of members is another concern in addition to their country of origin. We can have the Quorum of the Twelve as a good example of friendly merging of very different views and origins. I consider myself an independent and will vote for a candidate that I mostly agree with regardless of his or her party affiliation.

Thank you! It's hard to learn for many people, I have helped other students to learn it while in college, so I could see that. The story is truly beautiful, even though it is sad. It's great to meet someone from France!

I have a blog on Blogger that I very recently started to share my testimony with people and to document my journey as a convert. Feel free to add me, I am also very open about adding other blog links to my page.

Thank you, everyone! "Rusalka" means "mermaid" in Russian, and I have always had some kind of attachment to the fairy tale about the Little Mermaid (not the Disney version, but the one by Andersen). So it seemed like a fitting forum name. Pretty much all of my family is still in Russia, and I am finding doing family history a little difficult in that respect.

Hi! Just wanted to quickly introduce myself. I am a convert to the Church of a little over a year. I got married at my one-year mark at the Rexburg LDS Temple. I love the Book of Mormon; it has changed my life. I am very grateful that I have found the Church, and that my questions about life have been answered. I would like to have a wonderful and loving eternal family. I am Russian, came to the States with my mother at age 14, since she got married to an American. Spent about 7.5 years in Florida, went to school there, and got introduced to the Church my last semester of college. Now I live in Provo with my husband. I studied languages, so I am also fluent in German. I like to read and to draw, and I enjoy doing the outdoors stuff. Don't know what else to say :) I am interested in building a strong family and truly living thee Gospel. Nice to meet you all!