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.”