When we first found out that we were moving to Moscow, we were thrilled. Calese taught English here while living at a local school about 10 years ago and Tyler served a Russian-speaking mission in the Baltic states. We have had the opportunity to live overseas as a family a few times since getting married, but we weren’t quite sure what to expect bringing our kids to Russia for an extended period of time. The experience so far has been nothing but wonderful. Almaty transport/Alma-Ata transport

One major blessing of being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the community of support that has always been there when we have moved to a new area. The church in Moscow is strong and growing. There is a stake here with nine units.

Our family attends the Moscow Ward, which is an international congregation that has meetings in English and French. About one fourth of the congregation are students from Central and West Africa who are studying in Moscow. Roughly 100 people attend each week, and we share the church (one floor in a commercial and apartment building in northwest Moscow) with a Russian-speaking ward.

Since we arrived we have also always had three companionships of young volunteers in the ward. There are even a few other families from Rexburg here, which really makes it feel like home.

Overall we’ve been surprised at the extent to which we are surrounded by the church. We have several member neighbors who helped us get oriented when we first arrived, a young woman from the ward babysits for us occasionally, and even a random Russian shopkeeper somehow knew that Tyler’s mom was a Mormon when she was buying a nativity set while visiting this past fall.

Although church members are obviously a very small minority in this city of 12 million, it’s amazing how the church works into our lives in lots of small ways. Local members are, of course, incredible, and it’s inspiring to see how much they look out for and serve one another.

Regarding life in general, we thankfully live next to a large forested park that feels a bit like the outdoors of Idaho that we grew up in. The wildlife is fun to spot, and we’ve gotten into a bit of cross-country skiing. It might not be as large as Harriman State Park or other trails in Idaho, but it’s a good alternative while we are here.

Tyler is able to speak Russian every day with his job, and our girls are learning Russian in school (one in first grade and one in preschool). Calese also is taking an online Russian course but still depends on Google translate for occasional help.

Celebrating Christmas and the holidays in Moscow was very interesting as well. There are activities all over the city, and Red Square is spectacularly decorated with outdoor shops, an ice-skating rink and a giant sledding hill made of blocks of ice.

Russian Orthodox Christmas was not until Jan. 7, so it was only foreigners celebrating Dec. 25. In general it is a very different holiday for Russians. The gift giving, decorations and commercialization around the holiday season are all centered on New Year’s, with Christmas being solely a religious holiday. A Russian who attends our ward explained to us that after 70 years of the Soviet Union, during which time religion was either outlawed or significantly stifled, many of the holiday traditions were transferred to the secular New Year’s celebrations. In some ways that seems a bit more fitting and would make it easier to focus on the right things during the actual Christmas.