Spectacular Spectacular

Come one, come all to this Spectacular Spectacular!!

This beautiful art work was done by the wonderful J P. An incredible person I may add. This was our flyer for our branch in beautiful Kazan for a fairytale night. Kazan has around 2.5 million people in it. At the time when we were there, there were only four volunteers and one branch in this huge city. The third capital of Russia. The capital of Tartarstan. Yes, this is where tartar sauce comes from as my brother jokingly pointed out in a Patrick Star voice, "Is that where tartar sauce comes from?"  Turns out he did his research and it indeed comes from the state of Tartarstan. 

Anyways, this isn't about tartar sauce, its about a memory of a spectacular night of coming together in different cultures to share fairytales. Now you might think, "What was this for?" Well a couple weeks prior there was a law put into effect that made it illegal for us to preach the gospel. A devastating blow. 

We were now volunteers, there to help the members of our church in anyway possible. We noticed as a district that we were lacking a bit in unity with the branch. We decided to do family home evenings once a week for the branch to bring us closer together. 

For those who know nothing of Tartarstan, it is a state, or a kind of republic in Russia that still answers to the Russian Government, but they have their own president. I've actually briefly met the president of Tartarstan, but that's a different story. Like I said earlier, Kazan is a beautiful city that celebrates two cultures: Russian Orthodox and Islam. The Tataran people have their own language. It's extremely different from Russian, though it has a lot of similar letters in their alphabet. 

In the city, and on any kind of transportation we would hear three different languages: English, Russian, and Tatarskii. I learned a little bit of Tartarskii, but not enough to have a conversation. The only thing I remember is "Careful, the doors are closing" because of it constantly being repeated on the metro. 

Anyways, this city is a big cultural celebration. Downtown Kazan there is a kremlin standing proudly on the only hill for hundreds of kilometers.  Kremlin means fortress. It is said to be over a thousand years old. The Tatarans built it to protect themselves from the Rus. In the heart of the Kremlin there is the Qolsharif Mosque. 

This Mosque is one of the most beautiful structures I have ever beheld. They let you go inside, but they require the women to cover their hair in a scarf, cover legs in a skirt, and they ask for reverence and respect upon entering. I was able to go inside and was blown away by it. Also across from this mosque there is a Russian Orthodox temple. Both of these are representations of friendship and community between these two cultures. Walking down the streets its hard to tell who is Russian and who is a Tataran because they have inter mingled so much. This city was truly special. 

We felt that with our branch we could use a celebration of cultures and of backgrounds. We needed more interaction and friendship between the volunteers and the members. As a district we decided that a great way to do that was to have a fairytale night. Everyone could participate. They could pick a folklore from their culture to tell, sing, act, or read. It was a huge success. 

As a district, our American Fairytale we shared was Little Red Riding Hood. To be honest what helped spur this was a memory I had of my childhood. My siblings reenacted this fairytale. I was Red, my brother the wolf, my sister the granny, my other brother the huntsman, and the oldest was the filmmaker. We wanted to do this same thing. This time I didn't want to be Red, so I offered to be the granny, my companion was to be Red. The elders were the huntsman and the wolf. 

We called everyone and talked to everyone and told them to prepare something and to bring friends. We were hoping and praying that people would come and have a good time. And did people come. I was astounded by how many came to support us. It was phenomenal. In the begining we acted out a spiritual thought, and then opened it up to everyone to participate. They had a ball!

Russians have very many fairytales, and all kinds of songs and ways to tell their stories. There was not one soul who didn't look like they weren't having a great time. There was laughter, singing, and crying (the good kind). It was more than what we could of asked for. Then, we surprised everyone by putting on a little spectacular for them. We had costumes and make-up and sets we had designed. We had a lot of time since the new law. 

I only had two lines. My favorite was when the huntsman killed the wolf with a music stand and I popped up from behind a piano screaming, "Я жива!" Meaning: "I'm alive!" Kind of like Mushu in Mulan. 

This little celebration of cultures was the start of life long friendship with this branch. We did something each week for family home evening. I'll probably share with you what else we did in later weeks. It became a huge success and each week more and more people came. Less actives came, new "friends of the church" came,  and even the oldest members came. It brought the old and the young, the new to the church and old to the church, and different backgrounds and cultures together as we celebrated just that. Differences in culture.  And as well as our desire to follow our Savior. I honestly wish I can go back and still be a part of their family home evenings that have continued on even a year and a half later.