Category Archives: Tuesdays With Moisi

Back to School Hodgepodge

This collage above is from a first day of school in Ventura, California back in 1985 and a first day of school in Bothell, Washington in the very early 90’s.

Jo From This Side of the Pond asks the questions and here are my answers this week. Thank you, Jo!

1. As we begin this brand new month tell us, on a scale of 1-10, where does your life fall in terms of being in ‘apple pie order’? Please elaborate. (1=nowhere near it, 10=practically perfect in every way)

Yikes, perfect and neatness. That’s a tall order. The only thing I’ll attribute to perfection in my life is that I am perfectly forgiven and saved by Jesus Christ my Perfect Savior and Lord. I’m thankful for that position in this life and for what it means in the next. On a physical not spiritual level I’d say I’m about a 6. Most places in our home are tidy enough for surprise drop ins. I’d need a couple days notice to get everything perfect in every way! Outside in my flower beds, etc. I’d need a month to get things perfect!!

2. An apple a day keeps the doctor away…are you doing your part?

Not an apple but our new daily regimen since the Ch*na V started it’s spread is a multi-vitamin, vitamin D3, vitamin C, Zinc, Quercetin, and we just added N-Acetyl Cysteine.

Red or green?

Either.

Sweet or tart?

Like them both.

Ever played the game Apples to Apples?

Yes.

Do you like apple pie?

Yes.

If so, ala mode or just gimme the pie? 

As my dear old Pop used to say he’d like his “pie alamo”

3. Tell us about a time recently where you ‘upset the apple cart’ or the last time someone ‘upset your apple cart’? 

A good true quote is something that ‘upsets my apple cart’ in a constructive way.  Here’s one that makes me ponder, “Nothing is more deceitful than pride. We are inclined to believe anything about ourselves if it is favorable.” From a commentary on 1 Corinthians.

And from Spurgeon: “My own weakness makes me shrink, but God’s promise makes me brave. Lord, strengthen me according to Your Word.”

4. What are three words that come to mind when you think of September? 

School because traditionally school started in September. Birthday because Dear’s birthday is in September. Fall/Autumn because this great season of the year starts in September.

5. What are you most looking forward to this month? 

Our road trip to North Carolina and Dallas. Those are the two destinations in our 20 day trek that involve seeing some of our loved ones! Technically we won’t be in Dallas until October.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Tuesdays With Moisi ~ Fedot

This bit of family history was shared by our brother Steve when he visited our Pop (Moisi) in 2014, February 28th.

“Spent some time with my Dad today (while my house was being inundated by a mudslide), and we talked about his oldest brother Fedot who died in WW2 after stepping on a land mine. He is buried in this mass grave in Rostov. Another one of his brothers (Mike) was in Siberia mining coal during WW2. This brother was in Siberia for 18 years (the joke being he had a two year sentence but it took 16 years for the paperwork for his release to go through). This brother, Mikhail, forever held a grudge against Americans whom he claimed stole Russia’s gold. He witnessed them loading it onto ships.”

Putting together the bits and pieces of history we’ve learned here and there.

Tuesdays With Moisi ~ Holy Moses!

The Timofey and Martha Bogdanov family (Our paternal grandparents). From top to bottom left to right…Ivan Voloshin, Oxahnya (Agnes Bogdanov) Voloshin, Uncle Mike, Aunt Anna (Nura), Timofey (our Dzedushka), Martha (our Babushka), Our Pop (Moisi), Uncle Tim better known as Jim, Uncle Bill, Alex Bogdanoff (our cousin). I do not know why Uncle Alex is not in this photo.

Our Aunt Oxahnya’s (Agnes) first husband did not come to Iran with her so she ended up marrying Ivan Voloshin. Our cousin Alex was her child from her first husband who my grandparents ended up raising after Agnes died. Agnes died after giving birth to her third child in Persia. The child also died.

This was taken in the first city in Persia where Pop’s family settled in for about 3 years. Mahshett (Holy Town). Pop said that people who lived here were called Mashti as a preface to their name. Our pop was called Mashti Moosah for quite a while (Holy Moses!) This would be in the mid 1930’s.

I’m posting this for the benefit of our kids and family history.  It’s a small world as we found out after moving to Colville that one of Oxahnya’s grandchildren, our cousin lives just a few miles from us. She was named after Oxahnya. Her American name is Cindy. It has been fun to get together and connect some of the family history dots! We all grew up in Southern California and now both she and I have settled in Colville. It was Providence that we were able to connect.

Tuesdays With Moisi ~Collages

Yesterday May 25th, 2020 would have been Moisi’s 97th birthday. I threw together these collages from photos I could access off my current computer. They are not in any particular order from the Nineteen Forties thru 2018.

This was Moisi’s last birthday on this earth. He was 95 in 2018 and he died in June of 2018.

 

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

I am part of the “Fellowship of the Unashamed.”
The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made. I am a disciple of
Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down,
back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present
makes sense, and my future is secure.

I am finished and done with low living, sight walking,
small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams,
chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,
promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by
presence, lean by faith, love by patience,
lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace
is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my
road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few,
my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought,
compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back,
diluted, or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the
presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy,
ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander
in the maze of mediocrity.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until
Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know,
and work until He comes. And when He comes to get
His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.
My colors will be clear.

~

 The Author of this work is a Rwandan man in 1980 who was forced by his tribe to either renounce Christ or face certain death. He refused to renounce Christ, and was killed on the spot. The night before he had written the commitment “The Fellowship of the Unashamed” which was found in his room. Bob Moorehead had written this in his book “Words Aptly Spoken” c. 1995

Paul said: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…Romans 1:16

Our pastor quoted this piece at the end of his sermon for Memorial day this past Sunday. I thought it was appropriate to post on this Tuesday With Moisi. Moisi never looked back after becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ his Lord. He was not ashamed of the Gospel.

Tuesdays With Moisi ~ The Checkbook

This photo of our parents with grandchildren was taken at our sister Kathy’s house in Whittier. Our sons, Kathy’s daughters and Vera’s daughter and son.

On the deck of our first home in Washington state. My parents came to visit with my sister Kathy and her daughters. Dear’s mom, Verna, was living with us.

Neither of my parents were formally educated. When they came to the USA they had to learn the English language and they also had to pick up reading skills and writing skills. For much of my early childhood my parents used cash for everything. Bills were paid at a store in Montebello that took care of those types of transactions. Water, gas, electricity, phone, etc. all paid with cash. Other payments were made at a bank.

When my parents finally got a checking account to help our pop out I wrote out every transaction he would need to know that he could keep inside his checkbook. I showed him how to fill out a check.

Ten dollars and 50/100

Four hunderd fifty and 00/100 etc. etc.

All in cursive.

It was a long list of possible check amounts that he might need to write.

A long time after I did this he showed me that he still had that sheet where I had written out all those possible check amounts for him. Over the years he learned how this all worked and didn’t need my list anymore but he kept it.

Love the fact that he was known for having his checkbook in his shirt pocket!

Tuesdays With Moisi ~ Melissa’s Tribute

This is a photo and tribute our niece Melissa wrote about her Dzeda, our Pop, Moisi, on May 7, 2014.

“My Deda….he loves his Bible. Tonight he told me that he doesn’t rush when he reads. ‘I meditate on it,’ he says. His goal from now on is to start memorizing more of it. He’ll be 91 at the end of the month and questioning his purpose on this earth without Baba is a daily struggle. Yet despite his broken heart, he has never lost sight of what is truly important. He presses on, striving to live for Christ every single day. The man never ceases to amaze me. He is a true inspiration.”

This photo was taken of our Pop in his bedroom when he was still living in the senior apartment in Brea, California. He would soon move in with our oldest sister and her family, Melissa’s mom.

My prayer for you is that if you are meditating that you would only meditate on the Word of God, something from the Bible.

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

“For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.” Psalm 18:28

“My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:20-23

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me -practice these things and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4: 8-9

Tuesdays With Moisi ~ Katie and Andrew’s Wedding 2012

This last week our daughter and her husband celebrated 9 years of marriage. Katie and Andrew were legally married at the magistrates office in Jacksonville, North Carolina before Andrew’s 1st deployment to Afghanistan. We planned a marriage ceremony and celebration one year later in Seattle. That weekend in March of 2012 was packed with gatherings of family and friends who came from near and far to celebrate. We were so grateful to God that Katie’s Babushka and Dzedushka could travel to be at her wedding and that Andrew got back in time to get leave to come to his wedding ceremony!

It was a lovely wedding on a cold clear windy March 11th in Seattle on Lake Union.

Moisi, Katie’s Dzeda (grandfather), prayed a blessing over Katie and Andrew.

These were all of Moisi’s people at the wedding.

Did I mention it was really windy?

Katie and her Dzeda (Moisi) at her first Christmas and birthday.

Moisi and Nadia were able to attend our niece Debbee and Lenny’s wedding in 2013 and that would be the last grandchild’s wedding the two of them could attend before our mom was ushered into Heaven in September of 2013. They watched some of grandson Caleb’s wedding in August of 2013 from their apartment via the internets. It was too far for Moisi to attend our son Daniel’s wedding in 2015. Moisi was able to attend grandson Joseph’s wedding in January of 2017 since the wedding was in California.

A good word from Spurgeon during these trying days of the COVID-19 Pandemic:

God is with the true, the just, the holy, to deliver them; and he will deliver you. Remember how Daniel came out of the lions’ den, and the three holy children out of the furnace. Yours, is not so desperate a case as theirs; but if it were, the Lord would bear you through, and make you more than a conqueror. Fear to fear. Be afraid to be afraid. Your worst enemy is within your own bosom. Get to your knees and cry for help, and then rise up saying, ‘I will trust, and not be afraid’.

HT: Jeremy Leffel Photography

Tuesdays With Moisi ~ Moisi and Me

A look back at some photos with my Pop (Moisi).

I’m having a birthday later this week so I decided to find some photos with me and our Pop in them for my Tuesdays with Moisi post. Our mom is holding brand new me and it looks as if I’ve upset my brother Fred with my crying and my sister Vera is shushing me. Our Pop looks a bit strained in this photo. I wonder who is taking the photo. This was while we were still living in East Los Angeles, 1951. This was about 3-1/2 years after they arrived in the United States.

So my little babushka was here in the USA when I was born judging from this photo. My mother’s only brother, Paul, is standing with my cousin Valia and my aunt Nina is holding my cousin Walter. My cousin Alex must be the one standing in the front. I’m crying again but I think I have a good excuse since that sunshine is blinding my poor infant eyes! Zena Katkov is standing next to my little Babushka.

I started out as a towhead. Is the pole in the center of this photo the focus or am I?

Someone needed to hone their photo taking skills. Stories are told about how I’d take off away from home and give my parents a scare.

We moved from East Los Angeles to Pico Rivera (Montebello Gardens). This Easter photo was taken in the front yard of our home.

Don’t know where we traveled to for these photos but we end up amongst tall trees so I’ll guess we were in the Angeles National Forest.

Looks like I got to hold the thermos while our mom took this photo or maybe she let Kathy take the photo.

Wherever we traveled it was hot since the girls are all sleeveless.

Camping at Big Bear?

I’m on the happy side of this photo unlike the three on my left.

Berry picking somewhere in California.

A pigeon on my head. I’m not a fan of pigeons these days. All dressed up for church with our patent leather shoes. Why do I have a pigeon on my head when I’m in my Sunday clothes?

In 2011 I received a card with a check from my parents for my birthday. I copied what my mom wrote and am adding it to this post for my memory:

From my parents…лена моисееьна Gods blessings on you for your 60 birthday. We hope you have a wonderful birthday We love you very much папа мама Bagdanov and they enclosed a check for $60 My parents are so adorable.

I love that she added Bagdanov. 🙂

Me and my Pop in 1973 and 2016.

I’m thankful for the good relationship I had with my Pop. I’m sure I drove my parents to their knees many times but God was faithful in bringing me back in good relationship with Him and them.

Tuesdays With Moisi ~ Siblings

On Sunday the first of March my two older sisters and I went to visit our Aunt Anna who lives with her granddaughter close to our sister Kathy. Aunt Anna or Nura will be 95 on April 25th. She was thankful for our time with her and we decided to take this selfie. While there I also took a couple photos with my phone of her framed photos. The quality of the photos is not great since there is glare from the glass in the frames.

This is our Aunt Anna from many years ago with her husband Pete. Uncle Pete died in the late 70’s.

The photo above was taken when Moisi’s brother Mike was able to get a Visa to finally visit in the USA. This was in 1982ish. Uncle Mike is in the center of the photo with the dark jacket on. Uncle Mike spent several years in Siberia after he decided it was safe to return from Iran to Russia in the early 40’s. He was arrested upon entering Russia and sent to Siberia. His sentence was supposed to be for 2 years and ended up being several years. Our Pop and the rest of his family had not seen Uncle Mike for 40 years and this visit was a grand reunion of siblings and our babushka. She is seated with the head covering on. Aunt Anna is above her in the turquoise. Uncle Mike’s wife is seated next to babushka. The rest in the photo are all of Moisi and Nadia’s children and grandchildren as of 1982.

The photo above are siblings and sister-in-laws and a nephew and his wife in the 1990’s. This was a dinner my parents had at their home in Yorba Linda before they sold that home and left for Russia to do missionary work. Going around from left to right.  Nura who was married to Uncle Vasilli, our cousin Vera and Alex, Moisi, Uncle John and his wife Kati, our mom, Uncle Alex and his wife Ouliana, and barely visible Aunt Anna. Aunt Anna and nephew Alex are the only ones who are still alive from this photo.

Moisi and his siblings at our Mom and Pop’s 60th wedding anniversary celebration in 2003. John, Anna, Moisi, and Alex. Anna is the only family member still alive. Of these four siblings John is the oldest, then Alex, our Pop and Anna the youngest.

Aunt Anna has survived all three of her children and one of her granddaughters, too. She talked about the fact that she’s the last one left of her generation of friends and family. She is still as sharp as a tack! My sister Kathy reminded Aunt Anna that her mother (our babushka) lived to be 98 so Aunt Anna might live that long, too.

I’ll be on my way back home this morning. When I get back I’ll post the photos from Vera and my beach walk on Monday. A beautiful day.

Tuesdays With Moisi ~ Russia

Moisi, our pop, in the living room of their home in Russia. Our mom sent me these photos with a note that I just found this week. Precious. These are from the late 90’s when our folks did missionary work in a village in Russia.

Mom in her kitchen cooking up some varenya, syrup. She made meals for large crowds on those little burners.

Where she stored the flour and the sugar.

She wrote on the back of the photo, which I appreciate.

She sent this photo for our daughter Katie.

In their living room.

Our mom never had schooling in the English language. The way she learned to read and write English was mostly from wanting to read recipes and following those recipes and also with Bible studies. She saved cards and letters from us and model her writing after them. She did a great job!

Happy day to you.