Zheka read the translation of biblical passages and he was stunned by the text's depth and unusual nature, calling to mind a message sent from another world. It was forbidden to keep a diary, especially with entries detailing where they had been and what their assignments had been. But on these diary pages were philosophic ideas, written in very small, but legible handwriting.
It was clear that the handwritten notes were for him, not others, which pointed to the fact that Parkhomin was a spiritual, deep person. Several prayers were even written out. In his things, Zheka found an Orthodox Russian Christian prayer and an amulet (as it turned out, it belonged him before the war), though, for some reason Parkhomin hadn't taken it with him on the last mission. Later, after meeting Parkhomin's relatives, Zheka found out that his grandfather had kept it with him throughout World War II, and so he finally understood the source of Parkhomin's ideals.
There was also a letter to his son. On a large envelope was written: "If something happens to me, send it to my son. Let him read it when he turns 16."
Zheka read a few paragraphs which had been translated from the Bible. They impressed him deeply, even though they were only words. Since that time he began to pray and remembered how his grandmother had taught him to cross his heart and he did same, too. He did it when nobody was near because no one would understand it.
Insofar as he had been slightly wounded, they assigned him to security detail on the HQ and warehouse. Now he had a lot of his own time to reflect on his life. He gave his word of honor to God yet again, but this time with much greater awareness: "God, if I return alive, I want to serve You; I want to read and learn the Bible. I am only alive because such people as Captain Parkhomin sacrificed their lives for me. I have no right to live without virtue."
In a few months, he returned to the Soviet Union. He later remembered going through the border crossing station. He had used his saved-up soldier 'scrip', at the time valued higher than regular rubles, to buy himself a Japanese radio/ tape player and a watch. At the border crossing, the guards were being excessively attentive to customs rules and took it away from him, reprimanded him, and, to top it off, right in front of him discussed which of them was going to get to keep them. (At the time, these were unusual, valuable items.)