Merry Christmas...С Рождеством!

Christmas Thoughts

As I pen this blog it is almost evening.  It's been dark for an hour.  Vivian is in the kitchen putting our Christmas dinner together...FAJITAS!  What did you expect...a Christmas ham!  She's making tortillas from scratch.  This is quite a feat since some ingredients she's use to having in the U.S. are not available in Ukraine.  She will have to tell you all about it.

Elder Lundquist and Elder Hatch, who live in our apartment building, will be joining us for dinner.  It will be a very low-key affair.  Their primary purpose is to come and use our computer to Skype with their families this evening.  They are limited to 90 minutes each.  If I remember correctly when our boys where on their missions they were limited to 30 minutes for their Christmas phone call...no Skype available then.  Although I do remember one long-distance Christmas call from a distant country exceeding the 30 minutes limit.  For those curious about this please feel free to contact Mrs. Jenny Foley of Benicia, California.

This Christmas has been and will be different from any of the last 45 for us.  I was feeling very blue about the whole thing yesterday but found my spirits lifted this morning as I felt the Savior's love for me and experienced one of those tender moments.  After doing my daily reading in the Book of Mormon I started to get ready for the day.  I streamed the First Presidency Christmas Fireside for 2017 as background.  As I listened to the messages and the music the wonderful Mormon Tabernacle Choir I slowly felt my heart being softened.  As I knelt by my beside I felt the tears streaming down my face as I contemplated Heavenly Father's great gift to us all - He sent His Son to earth to redeem us and to bear our burdens.  As I prayed I felt the burden of homesickness being lifted from my shoulders replaced with great joy in knowing I have a loving Brother who knows me, cares for me and understands me.  What a wonderful Christmas gift that keeps giving and giving.  I love Him and know I can never repay Him.  All I can do is serve Him by serving the people Ukraine in sharing his love and concern form them.  

Christmas in Ukraine

This is the first time Ukraine will have December 25 as a national holiday according to the Gregorian calendar.  They have now joined the majority of the Christian world, including Europe in celebrating Christmas on this date.

Ukraine has always celebrated Christmas on January 7 according to the Julian calendar and will continue to honor that as a national holiday as well.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wished the Ukrainians a Merry Christmas, saying he is going to celebrate Christmas twice, today and on January 7.

Christmas Happenings

Vivian and I have been kept very busy with a variety of activities...

• Thursday, 12/21 - Elder and Sister Bingham hosted the other three senior missionary couples and President and Sister Kumferman, in an evening of food and games.  We ate street tacos until we could eat no more (corn tortillas from U.S.).  Wonderful desserts (chocolate tort cake with ice cream).  Sang Happy Birthday to Sister Kumferman.  Played a new card game introduced to us by the Haldemans (Five Crowns).  Had a great time and then called it an evening.  
• Friday, 12/22 - Vivian and I took the Metro to Ocean Plaza Mall for dinner at the Food Court and window shopping.  Had Chinese noodles and warm Cokes (they don't serve the drinks over ice here in Ukraine).  Saw a lot of beautiful stores (high end and expensive) and a lot of beautiful people. 
• Saturday, 12/23 - participated in the Kyiv Stake Christmas Concert.  We sang with the choir - Deck the Halls (in English), a Ukrainian Christmas song (in Ukrainian) but I don't remember the name and Silent Night (also in Ukrainian).  There were a lot of others in the concert, mostly young men and women and children.  There were many talented musicians and it was a wonderful evening.
• Sunday, 12/24 - Combined Sacrament Meetings with the Kyiv Branch-English Speaking and the Borschahivskyi Ward (Ukrainian speaking).  The meeting was conducted in both Ukrainian and English, the prayers, sacrament prayers and congregational singing all done in Ukrainian.  The sacrament meeting service was reading scriptures and text about the First Christmas ( the temple senior couples did this in English).  Also to compliment the reading/scriptures were various musical numbers including from the Primary (3 girls and their teacher).  Vivian and I sang with the senior missionary choir.  I also got to sing a duet with Elder Hahn, a senior missionary working in the temple.   In the evening we called Mark and his family and enjoyed reuniting with them and sharing some of their Christmas spirit.  I had been feeling quite blue but the phone call picked up my spirits. 
• Monday 12/25 - Christmas Day.  Opened our group gift from our family - a wonderful Shutterly photo book entitled "Foley Grandkids 2017 Sweet pictures for sweet grandparents".  What an utter thrill to get this heartfelt gift.  This is a gift that will keep on giving throughout the coming year. We miss them all so much.  We then went to the Borshahivskyi Ward for a Ukrainian lunch and Christmas program.  Very nice way to spend part of Christmas.  Vivian made a tossed salad for 50 people; two other senior sisters also did so the salad was for 150 people.  We then went back to our apartment to get ready for Christmas dinner with the full-time elders who live in our building.  Vivian served fajitas with home made flour tortillas.  It was great.  The elders took turns using our laptop to Skype with their families.  It was fun to see their excitement and their parents' joy in reuniting with their sons.  They left at 10 pm then Vivian and I Skyped/Facetimed/Google Hungout with the remaining Foley sons and their families.  What a joy it was to see them all and share in their Christmas.  We finished with them about 12:45 am, the day after Christmas.  I then called my brother Craig who was enjoying Christmas with his family in California and my cousin Darlene who lives in Coupeville, WA on Whidbey Island who was working at the Coupeville Inn on Christmas Day.  

Pictures for those of you who managed to hang on until the end...

A winter wonderland outside our window

The 7 days before Christmas we had three days of snow giving Kyiv a very nice White Christmas

Our apartment.  We live on the 5th Floor

Here come the Christmas trees

And the word is out...more trees for Christmas

When will the trees stop coming...

Happy Family.  Toddler getting carried and tree gets the ride on the sled.

Senior couple missionaries - tacos, Five Crowns and lots of laughs...

Elder and Sister Bingham hosted the Kyiv senior couple missionaries and the Kyiv Mission President and his wife at a Christmas party the Thursday before Christmas.  Although the pictures are not so great I believe they capture the joy of the evening...

Above are Elder and Sister Haldeman from Las Vegas.  They are dynamite Humanitarian Aid missionaries.  As you can tell they are the life of the party.  There were no lamp shades to wear but who need them?

Above, on the couch President Kumferman (Ed) with Sister Kumferman (Karen) to his right, Sister Haldeman (Joyce) on the left with back to camera, Elder Bingham (Dr. Brent)to the right with his wife Sister Bingham (Karen) partially hidden.

Above, Sister Foley (Vivian) on the right, Elder Haldeman (Steve) to her right, Elder Andrus (Rolfe) with back to camera and Sister Andrus (Merrilee) to his left.

The Kyiv Ukraine Stake Christmas Concert

Vivian with a new little friend, Yuri.  He's wearing a traditional Ukrainian shirt

Primary Children.  For my LDS friends notice the stage.  It's the stand in our chapel.  The benches are not bolted down.  They just moved all the benches to the cultural hall, brought in the light and sound system and viola!  You have a performing stage.  One of our senior missionaries was having a hard time digesting this kind of use of the chapel.  We just told her "Welcome to Ukraine."

Look at all the recorders and the director with the drum.  I particularly liked the music stands...colors of the Ukrainian flag.

 I particularly liked this picture.  Very colorful.  Very Ukrainian

 I posted this picture particularly for my good friend and vocal coach, Ron Pickett.  Quite a voice for this little girl.  Her face reminded me of my granddaughter, Maggie.

 I loved these wonderful missionaries letting their hair down and having some fun.  The elder on the right and his companion were accosted at knife point the next evening while talking to people on the street.  Too bad.  All that was lost were their missionary name tags.  Fortunately they were not hurt but pretty shaken up.  The Lord looks out for these fine young people who are selflessly giving of their time and talents and their love for the Ukrainian people.

 Christmas 2017

Bishop Gakalenko, Borschahivskyi Ward welcomes us to the Christmas Day meal and program.  I liked Ukrainian shirt he's wearing.

 A view from the back of the cultural hall.  If you look closely you can find Vivian in the crowd

 There she is with other senior missionaries...Andruses at the head of the table with Sister Bingham in the foreground, right.

 President Kumferman and his daughter, Maggie, sang a duet as part of the program.  A real treat.  He is just a great man and so willing to give everything he has to his wonderful missionaries.  Plus, he speaks impeccable Russian.  He's a professor of Russian at BYU Idaho.  Go figure.

 Elder Lundquist from Alpine, Utah
Elder Hatch from Clinton, Utah

These two elders are examples of the fine missionaries in the Ukraine Kyiv Mission.  It was a real pleasure to have them spend their Christmas evening with us.

If you look hard you can see me in the dark shadows of this Christmas tree in front of Ocean Plaza in Kyiv.  It's still the Christmas season in Ukraine until after January 7.  

 "God bless us, every one!" 

Can't Get Away From Black Friday

Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Ukraine.  Way to state the obvious.  Right.  But we found out today they are into Black Friday just the way they are in the United States.  Today Vivian and I spent a nice afternoon and early evening in Kyiv.  We met a senior couple, the Humphreys, who are serving as Church History missionaries in our mission.  We've done things with them before and it is always an enjoyable time.  This morning they called us and wondered if we'd like to meet them in the city; they were getting a little cabin fever and wanted to get outside for awhile.  We jumped on the opportunity.

We rode the tram to the metro station to a stop in a historical part of the city.  We had a nice, leisurely lunch/dinner in a very nice Crimean restaurant.  Very good food.  We then took a trip on the metro to a very large shopping mall - Ocean Plaza Mall.  It is huge.  We stopped in the food court for a nice treat at Cinnabon.  A great food court.  We'll go back there again.  I looked for a new printer.  The one I inherited is pretty old and requires a lot of hand holding.  Plus it is not wireless so it's impossible for Vivian to print from her Surface Pro.  We walked the mall for awhile.  Very high end shops.  There's a Levi Store here.  I've lost so much weight since I've been here my Levi's are way to big for me now.  So, now I know where I can go and replace them.

I've included some pictures to enhance this post.  Hope you all enjoy them.

By the way, we did have a "thanksgiving" dinner yesterday.  We attended a zone conference with the two Kyiv zones - about 50 missionaries plus the senior couple missionaries.  After the conference was over we gathered together in the cultural hall for dinner. The chicken and mashed potatoes were catered and the senior couples supplied all the side dishes and desserts.  No pumpkin pies though.  Maybe Vivian can weigh in on why there were no pies.  Also, no turkey.  There are turkeys in Ukraine but they are mostly wild and no breeding or cultivating of the butterballs we are used to in the United States.  It was nice to get together as we envisioned our extended families in the United States gathering together 7 to 10 hours later to have a traditional Thanksgiving.

I've included some pictures of our outing today.  Unbelievable but I didn't take any pictures yesterday.  Cannot believe I didn't get any!  Oh well, always next year.

The Humphreys and Vivian

Heading to the Crimean restuarant

The Food Court...cinnamon rolls in the bag on the table

Self explanatory - 1

Self explanatory - 2

Inside the mall

We are leaving the mall...notice the crowd on the left entering the mall.  It's 6:00 pm

I did get one picture on Thanksgiving.  The cleanup crew...Sister Karen Kumferman on the left (Mission President's wife), Vivian and two of the many sister missionaries serving in the Kyiv Ukraine Mission - Sister Brekke (lower right).  I forget the name of the sister in the background.  I'm sorry.  She is from Kharkov in eastern Ukraine, called to serve in the Philippines, currently assigned to the Kyiv Ukraine Mission until she gets her visa.  

A Change In Seasons

Look at what greeted us this morning as we looked out our apartment window...

We have been expecting this for a few weeks and finally it is here.  We've prepared as much as possible.  Below is evidence...

So, new experiences ahead.  Transporting ourselves through snow as we go from place to place.  Should be a lot of fun!

I Believe In Angels 

Yes.  I do believe in angels.  I believe they are the way God blesses our lives.  I believe in them literally and I believe in them figuratively.  I believe in them even though I have never actually seen one.  I believe I've been helped by them in the past and I expect I will be helped by them in the future.  Last night was one of those times when an angel came to my rescue.  T More to come about her and her angelic help to me.  But first some background.

Electricity.  Who needs it.

One of the many experiences in settling into a new country has been understanding how to handle every-day matters.  I've previously alluded to the various ways Vivian and I get around the city of Kyiv (Kiev); walk, trams, trains, taxi's, metro (New York subway/SF BART).  We've become pretty adept in navigating these waters.  We've also previously spoken about hot water and the lack of it in the summer and fall.  Now I can add to the list another item...electricity.  We pretty much expect that when we flip a switch a light will come on; both in the United States and here in Ukraine.  Yes, I remember the blackouts of yesteryear when we all overloaded PG&E in the summer time heat; and how PG&E required us to only use certain appliances during certain times of days/nights.  It all worked out and we were all pretty well aware of what to expect.

Well, guess what we learned yesterday morning.  When you flip the switch the lights do come on.  However, how long they stay on is a question.  At 8:00 am yesterday the power went out in our building.  No lights, no stove/toaster/refrigerator, no Internet.  All of this is pretty important to us since our apartment is not only our primary residence but also doubles as our office.  Most of my work here in Ukraine is done by phone and/or email and the use of an audit application accessed through the Internet.  So you get the picture.

  Fortunately we had already planned to meet someone in the mission office (7 kilometers from our apartment) to do some work.  So Vivian and I packed up our laptops and other electronic devices and decided to work from the mission office all day.  Before we left the building I wanted to talk to our building concierge.  A concierge in Kyiv is kind of like a doorman who sits in a booth all day.  In our case an older woman who sits in a booth in the lobby of the building and opens the door and monitors people coming and going.  I was going to use by best Russian to let her know we had no electricity in the building and when do they think it would be fixed.  We had to walk down 5 flights of stairs.  As I approached her booth she put up both hands in the air and shooed me away.  There was a man in the booth talking very seriously on the phone.  I think he was the building manager however I never got close enough to ask.  

So Vivian and I got in our taxi and went to the mission office.  We spent the whole day there working from the break area, walking to a local market to get a pizza for lunch and then going to our district meeting with the young missionaries (elders and sisters).  A pair of the missionaries in our building arrived for the 2 pm meeting.  They live 8 floors above us  and said the power had not yet been restored.  So I sat through the meeting trying to figure out what to do when we got back to our apartment in case there was no power.

Let me say this, I do believe we were being watch over.  We had set the meeting later last week to be in the mission office yesterday (Tuesday).  I don't believe in coincidences.  I do believe the Lord helped us out and we had a productive day...up until we returned to our apartment at 5:00 pm.

Hacked!!!  

No. No. It's not what you think.  I wasn't hacked off because we still didn't have electricity.  We got to the apartment and we had full electrical power...lights, refrigerator, stove/oven and...computer and other electronic devices.  I was so excited.

Until I logged on my computer and immediately started receiving messages informing me that an email was sent on behalf of  "Elder Foley" who was in Manila and lost his credit card and needed cash immediately.  I was mortified, terrified and stupefied!  My email had been HACKED!  This has never happened to me before.  I'm comfortable around technology for the most part.  But when this type of thing happens I am totally useless.  I didn't know what to do first.  I asked one of my friends who notified me about the problem and they provided some info but I still was lost and whole lot of confused.  I started googling for help, looking at the AT&T website and other places to get a clue of what to do and how to fix it.  All the while I continued to receive messages from many of my Facebook friends letting me know I had a problem.  My blood pressure, anxiety and stress levels were increasing and most of all...fear.  How was I going to find someone who could help me sort out this mess.  

Oh, did I mention that at 6:00 pm Vivian and I had a scheduled Zoom session with our language coach from Provo, Utah?  Of course there was no way I was going to get this fixed before then and the last thing on my mind was trying to improve my Russian language skills.

I finally took a big breath, tried to calm myself as much as I could and sat and waited for the Zoom session to begin.

Sarah the Angel 

If you have hung on this long in reading this posting here is the payoff for you.

Promptly at 6 pm Sarah, our language coach, showed up on my laptop screen.  She sensed something was wrong.  I shared with her what was going on and how I felt.  Her response was both a welcome and relief:  "Well, it is clear we don't need to worry about Russian today.  Let me cancel the session with the volunteer you were going to meet with to practice your Russian and then let me help you sort this mess out."

Then for the next two hours she was my tech support, troubleshooter and fixer.   I shared my screen with her as she talked with AT&T, Microsoft, Linked In (hugely affected by the hack job).  She went back and forth with them all.  In the end she stayed with me as we changed passwords on many of my critical sites, fixed issues with my email account at AT&T (Yahoo) and provided me with steps I could follow in completing the task of securing my email.  

My point is that she didn't need to do this; this was not her job.  But she saw a fellow human being in trouble and not only threw me a lifeline she jumped in to be with me until she could get me to shore, dry me off, fill me up and send me on my way.

Is this not the work of an angel?  No one will ever be able to convince me otherwise.  I will be forever grateful for her kindness and love.  She personified our Savior Jesus Christ in providing this relief.  Thank you Sarah.  Someday we will meet in person and you've got a big hug coming.

Meet Sarah, our angel

Frogger - Ukrainian Version...

If any of you are Seinfeld aficionados you will remember George Costanza's epic trek across a busy New York City Street with his beloved Frogger Video Arcade game.  Well, Vivian and I were visiting the missionaries in Vinnytsia last Friday.  It is a city about 200 kilometers southwest of Kyiv with a population of over 600,000.  More to come in a later blog posting about Vinnytsia.  Now back to Frogger.

While in Vinnytsia we observed the Ukrainian version of  Frogger that included cars, buses, trams and people navigating the busy traffic on the main street running through central part of the city.  It was something to behold.  It would take me too long to describe in words what it is like to navigate the busy streets either by foot, rail or auto/bus/taxi.  All I can say when crossing the street you need to throw caution to the wind, be bold in your efforts, move with all determination and never give an inch once you've committed yourself to cross that street!

Vinnytsia Frogger Video

New York City Frogger You Tube Clip

If you're interested enjoy George Costanza's as a human frogger:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FaVdO6aYYM

Our Thoughts and Prayers

Vivian and I have been following news accounts (San Francisco Chronicle app on my iPad) and Facebook postings about the horrible and devastating fires in Northern California.  While our home and families have seemed to escape the horrific consequences (so far) our hearts go out to those we know and do not know who have suffered loss of their homes, lives of family members and the displacement of so many thousands more based upon the accounts we've been following.  We have also read of so many accounts of heroic efforts to save and if not to save to comfort those who have lost so much.  Of course the courageous firefighters who are going beyond what seems so humanly possible to protect us all need to be recognized.  My brother is a retired firefighter and has done his share of fighting these types of fires in California so I am particularly sensitive to those who put their lives on the front line protecting us.  Thank you so very much

I see that so many agencies and churches and others are reaching out to help those in need.  I'm particularly aware of the stake presidents and bishops of the Santa Rosa, Napa, Fairfield and Ukiah California Stakes who have the front line responsible in our Church to provide the assistance and comfort to help their communities survive this disaster and build for the future.  Our prayers and support go out to Presidents Kitchen, Judd, Edman and Engstrom and their bishops and hundreds of members who are doing absolute best to provide assistance the way the Savior would have them do. To lift the burdens of those whose arms hang down and minister to each others' needs.  They truly are the Lord's representatives in their respective communities and deserve all our support and prayers.  Thank you especially to my stake president, Kory Judd and my bishop, Shawn Barlow.  And thanks to all of our stake and ward members who truly are angels to those whom they are serving.

Vivian and I were just reading some accounts posted on Mormon Times.  We were completely overwhelmed as we listened to a first hand account of one of the Santa Rosa bishops who lost his home and what it was like to be in the middle of the firestorm; not only for him but his neighbors.  Yet, in the midst of it all his faith was strong even though he lost so much.  His attention was on those who needed his assistance and service.  Another example of Christ-like attributes in action.  I'm aware of at least one high counselor if not two in the Napa Stake who lost their homes but are anxiously engaged in helping those in their stake and community.  Such great examples of rising above the fray and looking to serve others in need.  My testimony is strengthened in hearing these accounts.

We wish we could be there with you all to help and render service to those in need.  Our hearts are turned to you from Eastern Europe and our prayers are with you all, each and every day.  Our branch here in Kyiv even prayed for Northern California today.  May the Lord bless all in Northern California and keep them safe from further harm.  And continue to bless the first responders as well.

DINNER WITH THE SENIORS

Last night all the senior couple missionaries in the mission were invited to have dinner with President and Sister Kumferman and their daughter, Maggie in their home.  The president hosts this dinner twice a year before General Conference.  It's a great way to spend an evening with wonderful people who all have sacrificed their comforts of home and family to serve the Lord in many different ways.  It also to say recognize couples who are going home before the next General Conference and for couples who have newly arrived.  

We prayed together, ate together, played a parlor game together and then had those who were going to go home to share their experiences and testimonies with us all.  Then President Kumferman shared a spiritual thought with us from the Book of Mormon.  He focused on Abinadi's testimony of the Savior focusing on His atonement and how during the Atonement He could see those for whom he was atoning and how this gave him the strength to go through this for us all..  A very powerful and thought-provoking message.

There were eight couples (counting the President Kumferman and his wife) with eight different areas of service...mission office support,  member leader support, Church Education - Institute and Young Adult Activities, Church History - collecting the history of the Church in Ukraine since the early 1990's with a focus on the first temple built in Eastern Europe - in Kyiv, overseeing the medical care of missionairies in Eastern Europe, Humanitarian Aid and Church Auditing (Vivian and I).  We all had things in common - we all left families behind and are missing significant family events, we all came to the mission field with different life experiences, skills and abilities, we all love the Ukrainian people and feel it a prviledge to serve them and most important of all we all love the Savior and are humbled to be serving him in this special way.  

President and Sister Kumferman are wonderful people.  They are open, loving, gracious and fun and funny.  It is uplifting to be around them.  We all had a very enjoyable evening. and are looking forward to viewing the upcoming General Conference sessions that start in less than an hour.

And of course, a picture...

The senior missionary couples of the Kyiv Ukraine Mission

President Edwin Kumferman and Sister Karen Kumferman

Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC)

A Week to Remember...Aug 7-11

We entered the MTC on Monday, August 7, 2017 at approximately 10:30 AM with great excitement and some anxiousness.  We were met by local volunteers who helped us get checked in and pointed in the right direction.  Part of the package was having our pictures taken as we came in.  Those of you who have either gone on missions or sent out your sons and daughters on their missions will recognize the locations and posing of these pictures...glad to be a part of the world-wide missionary force.

I remember dropping all of our sons at the MTC at the beginning of their missions with the exception of Mark.  Mark was our experimental child.  Before we knew we could go inside the MTC with them we said goodbye to Mark at the Oakland Airport and sent him on his way.

My Reflections

We started our mission off in the same place we said goodbye to our sons...whew that brought back a lot of memories, strong feelings of emotion and great happiness.  Now it was Vivian's and my turn to have the MTC experience.  We were not disappointed.  There were over 60 senior missionary couples plus three single sisters.  We quickly developed a love for them as we all learned the deeper meaning of full time service for Jesus Christ.  We were fed...spiritually from the first moment to our last.  We prayed, we sang, we were instructed, we laughed and we cried.  The Spirit was so strong in this place you could feel it; you could see it.  You could see it in the faces of those there.  We passed groups of missionaries, young elders and sisters, who freely came to serve at various missions throughout the world.  The are strong, they are vibrant and they are ready.  We took strength and courage just being around them... 2,800 strong.  At the end of the week Vivian and I did not want to leave...we knew it would be difficult to replicate this feeling outside the MTC.  However, we did, at the end of the week, feel prepared to understand the character of Christ, His Gospel, His Atonement and the Plan of Salvation and how it relates to taking His message throughout the world.  In other words we came to understand on a deeper level what our missionary purpose is and how to express it to others.

We appreciated the young returned sister missionaries who trained us and our district for the 5 days we were there.  They were outstanding and so knowledgeable and Christ-like.  We appreciated those senior couples in our district with whom we discussed and interacted as we were trained in Preach My Gospel.  We shared our concerns, excitement and anxiousness  We were given opportunities to explore our testimonies and come to understand the Spirit guides everything we do and without it we can do nothing.  We appreciated the scores of MTC employees whose sole purpose was to care for us and all our needs.  I'm still amazed how they could feed 28,000 of us three full meals a day within in a narrow 90 minute time frame and do it over and over again.  In the end, as I write this post, I realize the strength that comes in pondering on this experience and the solace it gives to me...to remind me of what my purpose is...to represent Jesus Christ as a missionary and invite others to come unto Him.

More pictures...

Lobby area in the MTC outside our room.  A great place to meet and mingle with other missionaries.

Our District for the week.  We spent most of our training with this wonderful group of missionaries.  From L to R: Sister Nelson - MTC Trainer; the Cummings - Washing Seattle Mission - Church Education/Young Single Adults; Arnoldsons - Australia Perth Mission - Self Reliance; Bairds - Arkansas Little Rock Mission - Mission Office Specialists.

There were many surprises as we met other senior couples.  In this photo the couple on the left are Kelly's.  They were called to the Sweden Stockholm Mission.  They are are from Fair Oaks, CA and in Scott and Linday's Ward.  Sister Kelly even taught our grandchildren in Primary - Ada and Ivy.  A very small world indeed.

A view of part of the MTC Campus from one of the new buildings just opened up.  They were doing tours all day long.  Provo Temple in the background.  

Look who we ran into...newly minted missionary Elder Dylan Heath (center).  Vivian taught Dylan in the Primary Sunbeam class in the Benicia Ward so many years ago.  It was fun searching him out in a sea of white shirts in the cafeteria

Vivian and I with our Russian Language Tutor, Elder Rickey Callister.  We took online tutoring with him each week since March..  We are continuing to study with him for another six months here in Ukraine.  He served his mission in the Ukraine Kyiv Mission.  A really delightful young man.

The Journey Begins

Leaving Benicia

On August 5th we said goodbye to Benicia and to Michael.  Mark and Barbara Thomas took us and our six pieces of luggage to the Oakland Airport.  What a great service by them.  They took their son's truck and we loaded the luggage into its bed.  Our Ford Escape couldn't handle the load.  They helped us schlep the bags to check-in and then we said goodbye to them before security.  Thank you Mark and Barbara for willing to do some heavy lifting to get us on our way!

Six pieces of luggage - Friday night before we left

Packing started...

Reuniting With Long-Time Friends

We then flew to Salt Lake City where our good friends Van and Elizabeth Gessel picked us and our six pieces of luggage up at the airport. They were generous in their hospitality.  Elizabeth is a wonderful cook and Van is a great sous chef and dishwasher.  We reminisced, talked about family, laughed and cried.  They did a really good job in preparing us for going on our mission and what to expect.  We introduced them to a new TV show from England - "Midsomer Murders" which is a favorite of ours and they really enjoyed it.  You can find it on Netflix by the way.  On Monday morning they took us (and our six pieces of luggage) to the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC) and dropped us off at 10:30 am.  Thank you Van and Elizabeth for a memorable week end and for your enduring friendship and love.

Van Gessel waiting with us and our six pieces of luggage at curb side...SLC International Airport  for Elizabeth and the van (no pun intended).

Key Lime Pie courtesy of Elizabeth Gessel

Greetings from Ukraine

Hello from Ukraine.  This is our first blog post of hopefully many more to come.  I finally have the blog up and running.  This blog is a private blog.  My understanding is since it is a private blog there is no notification sent by Blogger to let you know I've posted something.  So, the plan is to send a group email to let everyone know that either Vivian or I have posted something.  I am not going to hold myself to any particular schedule.  We will post as we have something interesting (we think) to share and hopefully you will enjoy it too.  Sometimes we may post something just to see if we can connect with our family and friends.  So....

A brief summary

We arrived in Kyiv on August 15 after spending the previous week at the Provo Missionary Training Center.  More to come on this in a subsequent post including pictures.  We've spent the past month getting settled in our apartment, learning how we can get around using public transportation and a lot of shoe leather.  Also, figuring out where to get our groceries, dry cleaning, hair cuts and a myriad of other details regarding daily living that we've taken for granted.  We've gotten to know the other senior missionary couples a little, the office elders and the missionaries, Elders and Sisters, in our district.  They have all been life savers for us as we get settled in a very foreign country...more on the country in future blogs.  

Thank you

The last time we saw most of you was at the sacrament meeting we spoke at and/or the farewell open house later that day.  That day remains for us an incredible experience.  Any time I'm feeling a little blue I think back to a month ago and my spirits are picked up.  The Temple Hill Choir's flash mob will be a hard one to top.  Thank you so much.  Vivian and I hope to share this adventure with you.  We value your love and friendship.  So...look for many more blogs as we chronicle our experiences.

After sacrament meeting on July 30th with a few of the notibles...Rojohn & Merilee Rieta, Tom Farris, Vivian & Gary Foley, Aimee Roylance and Ron Pickett