There and Back Again ... Tales from Ukraine

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.