January 28, 2013

“There will always be something to miss.” This is a quote out of the book Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan. I was thinking of that quote today in relation to winter in Kyiv. And since we are in the dead of winter I thought now would be the time to think of what I will miss about winter before the excitement of spring in Ukraine takes over. 

Seeing all of the beautiful and crazy fur coats and hats...

And if you don’t have a fur……….the layered look.

Beautiful snowy days. ……….Like being in a winter wonderland.

Icicles everywhere...

Grandparents pulling grandchildren on sleds...

And that is not even to mention two Christmases and two New Years. Definitely a winter we will never forget.  

Gary had a busy week. While I was at the temple on Tuesday he and Alex Kikhno met with the United States Embassy. It was a pretty top level meeting so no pictures were taken but here is a file photo of the United States Embassy in Kyiv.

We left at 5:30 AM on a frigid (-17 c) Sunday morning for Lutsk.  The full moon was absolutely beautiful as we headed west. 

Morning moon

Setting moon

About half way there it started getting light and oh what a different scenery we saw from our other trips to Lutsk before winter.  (Our trip in December was postponed because of the weather conditions.)  For miles in every direction, all that was to be seen were white fields of snow. 

As we went through the villages the thing that amazed me the most was that in sub-zero temperatures, clothes were hanging on almost all of the clotheslines we saw. I guess it takes two or three days but they eventually dry out. Love those cold crisp sheets on a cold night.

 

Clothes on the line

An interesting thing our driver told us is that none of the churches in the villages are heated and sometimes the masses last two hours. And we complain if the church is only heated to 72 F??

Love the ceramic trim on the houses in the west (Polish influence)

Church at the bend in the road

On the way to Lutsk

We had been asked to give talks in church and it is always very interesting to speak with an interpreter. Your talk is only as good as your interpreter. Apparently we both had good interpreters as through the same interpreters we were told that many people loved what we had prepared. The people in that branch are such gracious people and we really enjoy going to see them once a month. There was some really exciting news. The missionaries had two baptisms since we were there last. One lady has been attending the branch for the last twelve years. President Klebingat gave a fireside at the branch in December and she told him she really wanted to come to the temple. He invited her to get a recommend from the Branch President and found out she hadn’t been baptized yet. He asked her if she would like him to baptize her and she said yes. That was easy. The other baptism was Sasha, a really great guy the missionaries have been teaching for some time and he was baptized a week ago. He is so happy to now be a member. There are now six missionaries in Lutsk.  And there were at least twice as many people as usual at church. Several of the people that attend are long time investigators but the missionaries there are amazing and I am sure they will have continued success as the people witness the changes in Sasha and Anna’s lives now that they have been baptized and received the Holy Ghost.

One very special thing about the people in the Lutsk Branch. They have all been learning to say, "How are you doing?" in English. It was so sweet of them to learn this just for us. Makes me realize how important it is to be able to speak a little Ukrainian to them in return.

Walking to church

Lutsk Relief Society

Lutsk Branch Primary

Elders Callister and Nielson

Sasha and Sophia

About an hour out of Lutsk it was sundown, and as beautiful as the moon was when we left, the sunset was even more beautiful. And we even saw a few horse-drawn sleighs as we were driving along. The pictures aren’t the best I would have liked but when the roads were clear we were going 120 kmh and when we slowed down on the icy roads they were so bumpy that it was hard to get a focused shot. Anyway, as you can see, the countryside of Ukraine is still very beautiful, even in the winter.

Frozen river

Familiar picture from previous posts

Sunset on the way home

And so ends another great week.   We are indeed enjoying our big adventure.

Quote for the Week by President Thomas S. Monson

“Remember that you do not walk alone. … As you walk through life, always walk toward the light, and the shadows of life will fall behind you. …

“As I [have] turned to the scriptures for inspiration, a particular word [has] stood out time and time again. The word [is] ‘come.’ The Lord said, ‘Come unto me.’ He said, ‘Come learn of me.’ He also said, ‘Come, follow me.’ I like that word, come. My plea is that we would come to the Lord.”

January 20, 2013

Keys and locks are used by all of us in our daily lives but we never understood the importance of keys until we came to Ukraine. Keys are much more highly respected in Ukraine. Locks and keys were the one thing that drove Gary crazy about Ukraine for the first few months we were here. Every apartment has at least three locks that must be opened before you can get in. Besides that there are magnet keys that allow you to enter the building. It is no wonder that we have gained so much more respect for keys. You absolutely don’t lose or misplace your keys. You can’t get into or out of your apartment without your keys. And is there a locksmith you can call……that speaks English.......no.  Does your landlord live nearby with an extra set of keys to let you in…………no…. Boston. Keys become the most highly guarded item you carry with you, next to your passport. Keys are important.

Maybe it is for reasons like these that there are many other important things associated with keys; keys to happiness, keys to success, key to my heart, keys to becoming a great missionary, keys to a happy family and keys to eternal life. Without a key, a lock has no function, without a lock a key is unusable. This could also lead us to the Keys to the Restoration of the Gospel and keys of the priesthood. If you don’t have the restoration of the gospel then what good are the keys of the priesthood, and vice versa. Well, I could go on and on but you all get the picture.  Take it where you may. 

Last Saturday we woke up to the most beautiful snowstorm. Almost all of the brown snow was covered, there was another six inches and it was still snowing. It wasn’t as cold as it has been and since I needed some things at the market, I used that as an excuse to go for a walk 

in the snow. Last summer I would ask people what all the street vendors did in the winter. “They just keep selling,” was their reply. Well, Saturday morning I learned just what they meant. It was incredible to see the market as busy as ever ………..life goes on.

They just keep selling

The work must go on

On the way home from the market

Bell tower at St. Sophia's

St. Sophia's in the snowstorm

It was so beautiful out that I almost hated to come home and later in the day I went for another walk. And I wasn’t the only one enjoying the snow. People were out walking, baby buggies and all. The things I saw today really endear me to these people. 

Taking grandchild for a walk in the snow buggy

Sunday was the final New Year’s Eve of the year. And Monday it was back to work as usual.  Although it is their Old New Year it isn’t celebrated with a day off work for everyone, just a lot of fireworks. I’m not sure, but by the looks of things the Christmas decorations will stay up until the snow is gone. (Today, Jan. 19, in the grocery store they were playing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”)

Shevchencko University (Red University)

We have had wonderful opportunities this holiday season to attend some ballets, symphonies and Baroque Organ Music. We love the availability of great cultural events here.

 

National Opera

Street to the opera

And every day we see so many interesting sights that I thought I would add a few more random pictures.

Balloon delivery

St. Michael's

Traffic on Artema at 4:00pm

Just when we thought we were getting a reprieve from the snow and the sidewalks and roads were bare, another storm moved in. When we went to clean the church Saturday morning it was very slick again but luckily we had a ride with the other couples that clean with us.

I have learned one very important lesson from walking on slick sidewalks. Sometimes other people fall as a warning to us, and sometimes we fall as a warning to other people.  That is a lesson that can be applied in many areas of our lives.

 

Getting ice off the sidewalks

New sled for ride to church

More snow

Gary has had a very busy week. He was able to talk to his new boss that was here from New York and will be moving to Moscow in July. It is hard to believe how fast time is going. I am making every minute count of the little time we have left in Ukraine. 

The temple will be closing for winter cleaning in a week, so Saturday night we had our semi-annual ordinance worker dinner. It was a wonderful dinner put on by all the temple missionaries whom we have grown to know and love over the past ten months. It was such a festive, fun evening. Our Ukrainian Choir even sang our Christmas carols again.

President and Sister Galbraith

Dombrovkaya-Marachuk

Gul'ko's

Sister Shikalova

Choir

The quote for the week takes us back to the beginning; keys and locks and their importance. The power of the restored gospel is the key and the lock is our faith and testimony……

…………. that Jesus is the Christ and that He lives and leads His Church. We must also know for ourselves that the Lord restored His Church and the priesthood keys through the Prophet Joseph Smith. And we must have an assurance through the Holy Ghost, refreshed often, that those keys have been passed without interruption to the living prophet and that the Lord blesses and directs His people through the line of priesthood keys which reaches down through presidents of stakes and of districts and through bishops and branch presidents to us, wherever we are and no matter how far from the prophet and the apostles.

President Henry B. Eyring

Temple on January 19, 2013