WINTERTIME WHERE WE ARE...

We love the winter here in Kyiv.  The snow is beautiful.  It covers all the blemishes and muffles sounds.  Our first snowfall was just before Thanksgiving.  We had a couple of more snow falls since then.  Our latest was today.  The forecast is for snow this weekend.  Oh, and the temperatures are in the 20 degree and little below.  Oh, and one more thing...the sun comes up a little before 8 am and goes down a little before 4 pm.  The shortest day is on December 21st and from there we will gradually have more sunlight during the day.

As mentioned in previous posts we travel mostly by foot, aided by either by a tram or small little buses called marshrutkas.  We have the right winter clothes so we are fairly comfortable when we are outside.  The Ukrainians don't let the cold weather keep them inside.  It's interesting to see all the little children bundled up like Ralphie in the movie "A Christmas Story".  Families are out, pushing the baby strollers or putting the kids on little sleds and pulling them along the snowy sidewalks. We see kids in our "front yard" sliding down a small hill near our bus/tram stop. The snow and cold doesn't seem to bother the dogs or birds either.  

I've take quite a few pictures during the past few weeks and thought I would share some of them for you to see what I've been writing about.  I hope you enjoy them.

Our "front yard"

Kids sliding down the hill from the main road

A Christmas tree lots in our front yard.  The building in the upper right is our tram station

    

Vivian ready to go outside in her new winter coat.

                                                        

Vivian outside in the snow.  See, she's still smiling.  A very warm coat indeed.

Here I am sitting on a bench inside the gates where the Kyiv Ukraine Temple is located.

This is the "Cadillac" of the trams we take.  The newest.  Heated on the inside and comfortable seats.  There are what I call "Soviet era" trams.  Not as nice.  This photo taken where we get off 5 days a week and then walk a mile to where the Kyiv Temple, Church building and Kyiv/Moldova Ukraine Mission Office are located.

This is where we walk from the tram stop to where the temple is located.  The picture on the left was taken at about 12:30 pm.  The picture on the right was taken a little after 4 pm the same day.

                                                                                       

Ukrainian Heckle & Jeckle

Yes, fruit and vegetable stands, even on a wintry day.  Gotta love it!

This is an outdoor meat stand.  The sign says "Fresh Meat" in Ukrainian.  It's as cold as a meat locker outside, so I guess the meat is ok and won't spoil.

This is church building in Kyiv where we attend Sunday services and where the Kyiv/Moldova Ukraine Mission Office is located. 

The Kyiv Ukraine Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latte-Day Saints.  This was taken from the steps of the church building in the previous picture.

This is my favorite picture.  It captures a very holy place in a beautiful winter landscape.  

Thank you all for staying to the end.  A very Merry and Joyous Christmas Season to you all.  I am so thankful for Jesus Christ, Savior of us all.  

A Year Ago Today...

August 15, 2017

 

August 15, 2018

We landed at Boryspil International Airport in Ukraine after taking off from Salt Lake City International Airport with a connecting flight in Amsterdam.  On that day we officially began our work as senior missionaries in the Ukraine Kyiv Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Today, we continue with the work.  However, we are now serving in the Ukraine Kyiv/Moldova Mission.  Moldova, previously part of the Romanian/Moldova Mission, became a part of the Kyiv Mission on July 1 of this year as part of a reorganization of over 40 missions throughout the world.

Moldova borders part of Ukraine's western border and was part of the Soviet Union.  The Church has a small footprint in Moldova with four branches of the Church in Chisinau (Keyshinow), the capital, and in Orhei (Oarhay) and Balti (Belts).  The people speak both Romanian and Russian.  There are currently 18 missionaries serving there plus two senior missionary couples.

Vivian and I took a trip to Moldova the last weekend in July to meet the people we will be working with on audit and financial matters.  We traveled with two other senior missionary couples who live in Kyiv, the Haldemans and the Humphreys.  We all had a great time together.  Vivian and I have appreciated them so much.  They were the ones who really helped us get settled and oriented here in Kyiv.  They will be returning home in September and November this year and we will miss them oh so much.  So, this trip was a great way to spend a little time with them before they leave.

We were hosted by the two senior missionary couples who are serving in Moldova..the Browns and the Carons.  They showed us the country, the members and the city.  We enjoyed seeing the beautiful rolling hills, valleys and vistas of this beautiful country.  Outside of the capital city of Chisinau there are villages, farms, churches and all manner of livestock roaming the country.  There are fields of sunflowers all over so I finally got my wish to go into one of the fields and get my picture taken.  That was a highlight for me.  We also visited a rebuilt/restored medieval fort on the Dniester River which borders Moldova and Ukraine.  We ate good food, had a lot of laughs, met wonderful locals and generally fell in love with this area of the world.  

We attended Sunday church services in the Orhei Branch of the Church with the Browns and the Haldemans.  The service was conducted in Romanian, Vivian played the piano to accompany the singing in the service and all four of us were asked to speak impromptu because one of the speakers was ill and could not make it to the service.  We shared our testimonies of our love for the Savior and our love of missionary work and meeting them.  We spoke in English, of course, and a young woman translated it into Russian,  The only other speaker was an elderly woman who spoke  Russian as well.  Vivian and I understood some of what was being said however we did have one of the young elders translate for us.

We finished Sunday by visiting a monastery where about 5 wedding parties were on the ground.  In one of the churches there we watched a Greek Orthodox baptism/christening.  A very beautiful service and you could tell the parents really loved their little baby.  

We also visited a monastery that was perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking a beautiful valley.  There are caves below the monastery and a monk lives year round in one of the caves. 

After the sightseeing we returned to the Browns apartment in Chisinau and enjoyed a Sunday evening meal - roast beef, potatoes, veggies, watermelon and peach cobbler with ice cream.  The end of a perfect day.  

Oh, yes, I also did some audit and finance training with Elders Brown and Caron, who will do the audits of the four branches of the Church in Moldova.

If you have stayed with me through this long posting you will know see some of the pictures commemorating our visit to Moldova.  Enjoy.

SATURDAY - 7/28/18

Sunflowers

The couples L to R:  Browns, Haldemans, Foleys, Humphreys and Carons

A day to remember

Fort

Looking across the Dniester River into Ukraine from Moldova

 Lunch

 Chisinau

Dinner

Sunday - 7/29/18 

 Church Services in Orhei

Branch meetings held on the first floor

Branch president preparing for sacrament meeting.  He is a sheep herder and construction worker.  Just got back from Russia working on a construction job.

Members of the Orhei Branch along with missionaries.  The young woman standing to Vivian's right translated for us.

Churchi Monastery 

 

 

Orhei Vechi Monastery

Can you see the monastery?  It's on the ridge, upper center of the picture.

Walking up to the monastery

Looking down from the ridge line where I took these pictures

Dinner at Elder and Sister Caron's in Chisinau (Elder Brown took the picture)

Audit and finance training after dinner - the reason we went to Moldova in the first place

All good things must come to an end.  We had a great time in Moldova!

WE'VE REACHED A MILESTONE

Today marks the half way point in our service as senior missionaries.  When we arrived in August 2017 it was the Ukraine Kyiv Mission.  When we leave in July 2019 we will be leaving the Ukraine Kyiv/Moldova Mission.   

As I write this blog I'm looking out on a humid, summer day.  Clouds in the sky, thunder, lightening and rain showers.  The weather has certainly been a change from what we had in California.  Here are some random thoughts on our experiences from this past year.

What We Have Enjoyed

1. The missionaries - both young and older.  We enjoy being with them in district councils, zone and mission conferences and good-bye dinners.  We've enjoyed the companionship of the senior couples both in serving the members in Ukraine and now Moldova and in socializing when time allows.
2. Meeting with the members of the Church throughout Ukraine.  They are dedicated, loving and kind with strong, firm testimonies of the Savior, the Plan of Salvation, the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ in the latter days and the truthfulness and power of the Book of Mormon.
3. Watching Ukrainian families as we travel each day; how they interact with their children.  The children are so cute and the mothers and fathers are so soft and kind with them.
4. Traveling by train and seeing so much of this beautiful country.
5. Seeing our first and second ballets - Swan Lake and Don Quixote.  
6. Seeing an indoor circus.
7. Seeing a concert of Ukrainian dancing - WOW.  What you normally equate to Russia actually originated in Ukraine.
8. Serving in the Kyiv Temple as ordinance workers once each week.  We have met faithful members of the Church from all over Eastern Europe - Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia and Turkey.  They come for a week at a time to serve as patrons and ordinance workers,  The temple is led by President and Sister Roth - from Austria!
9. Seeing beautiful gardens/parks in Kyiv.
10. Having Flat Stanley come and visit us; giving us an opportunity to show him the sights of Kyiv.  
11. Change in seasons - loved the snow as it blanketed the city in quiet and peace.
12. Helping Hands with the Kyiv Ukraine Stake spring cleanup of a beautiful park.
13. Two trips to Moscow for Area meetings.  Took a bus tour of the city and visited iconic Red Square and Lenin's Tomb.
14. Snow Queen on Ice during Christmas
15. Losing 50 pound (Gary) - change in diet and lots of walking
16. Fresh fruit and vegetables.

Some of the Challenges

1. Language - people either speak Russian or Ukrainian.  In the east mostly Russian speaking; in the west definitely Ukrainian speaking; in Kyiv a mix of both but Ukrainian is on all the street signs and stores and buildings.  We studied and continue to study Russian.  We are not fluent since we are not immersed in the language like the young missionaries.
2. Transportation - no car.  We travel by foot, tram (electric street car), marshrutka (small yellow bus) and taxi (Uber).
3. Shopping - combines both transportation and language challenges.  Labels are in Ukrainian and contents are not what you are expecting from the pictures on the jars/packages.  Managing the bags of groceries on a crowed marshrutka.
4. Changing water filters - water is not potable unless filtered. Change three types of filters every other month.
5. No hot water in the kitchen.  We boil the water to do dishes.  But, have a small hot water boiler for showers.
6. Small washing machine - can't hold a full set of towels.  No clothes dryer.  Clothes hang on a drying rack in the living room.
7. Elevator in apartment building very small.  Will only take two at a time. If you add a third person you are playing Ukrainian roulette - you either get stuck between floors or let off at a random floor.
8. Watching out for cars/vans/motorcycles on the sidewalks.  When there is bumper to bumper traffic the sidewalk apparently is another lane.  However, there are no lanes marked on the roads.

What We Have Missed

This is pretty common for all of us senior couple missionaries

1. Our family
2. Thanksgiving and Christmas with family and friends
3. 4th of July in Vernal
4. Baptisms and priesthood ordinations
5. High School graduations
6. Watching our grand kids doing water polo, swimming, basketball, softball, baseball, soccer
7. Our Benicia Ward family
8. Meeting Patrick's girlfriend
9. Peter Pan, Once Upon a Mattress and Lion King - all in Pennsylvania
10. Temple Hill Choir
11. Lamb of God Oratorio
12. Musical Theatre productions - both to see my friends and to be in a show or two
13. Vocal lessons with Ron Pickett (Gary)
14. Gardening (Vivian)
15. My Ford Fusion
16. Sandovals
17. Friday dominoes at the Plasketts
18. Our backyard

Mission welcomes us to Ukraine

Missionaries

 Senior Missionaries/New Friends

Vivian and Gary - Out and About

 

Cultural Opportunities

Helping Hands

Moscow

Kyiv Temple - Winter