Saturday, July 27, 2013

July 27, 2013


Здравстуите is the common way to great people in Ukraine. What it means is “long
Life - health”. So since I hear that about twenty times a day I am feeling really healthy.
And this I know…… I have never been healthier than the last sixteen months. I really know who is blessing me but with all these people also wishing me long life and good health I can’t go wrong. 

I believe


Saturday was a great day. Prince Daniel Oseamor from Nigeria was baptized. Daniel is an amazing person with a great conversion story that started ten years ago. In 2003 he came out of a bar in Brovery. He saw two missionaries looking very nice and he said hello. They talked to him and gave him a Book of Mormon. He took it home and put it on a shelf in his kitchen. The next night he was out walking in the same place and saw them again. He said hello and they asked if they could come to his house and teach him. He said yes. He loved the Book of Mormon. It brought a good spirit into his home. The missionaries came back and they read together some more. (Elder Christensen from Utah) He read the Book of Mormon alone every day and noticed a great feeling of peace in his home and in his heart. Then his landlord told him he had sold his apt. and he had to move out. He moved to Kyiv and when he got to Kyiv he couldn't find his Book of Mormon. He was sorry that he had lost his book but with all the changes he soon forgot about it. 

Ten years later he saw two elders on the street. He remembered the Book of Mormon and the good feelings he had when he read it. They started teaching him and He knew that it was his first priority to be baptized for the remission of sins. He testified that he knows that God brought him to this place so he could be baptized. His story is really much longer but in the end Gary confirmed him a member of the church and ordained him to the Aaronic Priesthood. And yes, he is a Prince. He says he has a very poor kingdom but he is Prince Daniel. 

Happiness Is......

Daniel's Baptism


Sundays are always great days here in our International Branch. I don’t know if it is because we have to make such  an effort to go to church that makes it seem so much better; seeing all our friends there that we haven’t seen for a week; or all the really great talks we hear and the great spirit that is in all of our meetings, but whatever it is,  it is always a really great day. 


Gary's Gospel Essentials Class


Sunday night I also met up with a friend and we went for a three hour walk which isn’t all that hard to do in this city. My friend Svetlana is someone that I met about a month ago right after we returned from L’viv. I met her on the metro and we went to a great exhibit at a museum close to the office. The museum only had three pieces of art, a Titian Vercelli 1565, a tapestry based on Raphael’s Miraculous Draught of Fishes which was woven between 1626 and 1629 and a Guido Reni (1575-1642). She doesn’t speak much English but it was amazing how much we were able to share based on our limited communication skills. I had the missionaries contact her for me and that is how we got together on Sunday evening. She loves reading and is now reading the Book of Mormon. We walked to Vladimir’s Park then to the Friendship Memorial and then down on the new boulevard that goes to Podil. We talked, laughed and had a real adventure. In August we are going to another museum together. I love all the new friends I meet in Kyiv.

My friend Sveta

Vladimir's Park

Walking Bridge Across the Dneiper

A walk up Andrevski


I finally did it. I had a sharyma. Ever since we arrived in Kyiv I have seen hundreds of these little sidewalk stands selling sharymas with the catchy slogan “Donar Time”. I have to admit that my first reaction was “never”. They do smell good and all the Elders eat them and are still alive to tell the story so while Gary was in L’viv on Friday I decided to give it a try. I had very little expectation and I was very pleasantly surprised. I really liked it. Well, of course I raved on and on to Gary about how good they were and so he relented and agreed to go have a donar for FHE.  What we found out is that no two donars  are alike and they definitely don’t have the consistency of McDonalds. I felt really bad that the ones we had were such a disappointment but isn’t that the way things always go. A funny thing about these sharymas…… When I first saw the stands that sell them advertising “It’s Donar Time,” which is an attempt to say “It’s dinner time,” I thought what they were selling was called a donar.  I have been going around telling people that someday I was going to have a “donar”.  No wonder they looked at me so crazy and wondered what it was that I was really going to have.  Elder Grange, who is also my Russian critic, put me on to their real name, “sharymas.”  And that is what I should be telling people I was going to try. 

Its Donar Time

Sharyma



Last week the Moscow Mission brought 14 young people to the temple.  The qualification to come to do baptisms was to index 5000 names and to find at least one family name to come to do the proxy work for.  Well, the fourteen youth came after indexing over 70,000 names and had a fun week performing baptisms for their ancestors.

 I reached a goal this last week.  Since I have been in Kyiv I have started indexing for Family Search.org. My sister Karen was my real inspiration as she had indexed over 24,000 names before I even started. Well, this last week I passed the 50,000 goal I had set to complete before I finished my mission. It is kind of addicting so I don’t know if I will be able to stop and I probably shouldn’t since we are encouraged to help if we have the time.  




This week is the celebration in Kyiv marking the anniversary of 1,025 years of Christianity in Kyiv. It was in 987 that Vladimir exhorted the residents of his capital to the Dnieper River for baptism. This mass baptism became the iconic inaugural event in the Christianization of the state of Kievan Rus.

At first Vladimir baptized his 12 sons and many Russian aristocrats. He destroyed the wooden statues of Slavic pagan gods (which he had himself raised just eight years earlier). They were either burnt or hacked into pieces and the statue of Perun — the supreme god — was thrown into the Dnieper.

Then Vladimir sent a message to all residents of Kiev, "rich, and poor, and beggars, and slaves", to come to the river on the following day, lest they risk becoming the "prince's enemies". Large numbers of people came; some even brought infants with them. They were sent into the water while Orthodox priests, who came from Chersoneses for the occasion, prayed.

To commemorate the event, Vladimir built the first stone church of Kievan Rus', called the Church of Tithes where his body and the body of his new wife were to repose. And so this week Kyiv is having many celebrations. We will be leaving for Moscow, where by the way they are also celebrating this event in Kyiv, so will miss the celebrations but I was able to get to the Landscape Park to see the entire beautiful flower sculptures created for this holiday. This is one of my favorite places as you have seen on past blogs. It is like going to a mini Tournament of Roses Parade with all the displays made totally of flowers. 

1025 Years since Baptism of Kiev - St. Sophia's
First Stone Church built by Vladimir - Tithe Church









Counldn't resist stealing this shot


Monday was another birthday celebration luncheon during English Conversation Class.
I always make the “birthday girl” her favorite food and this time was quite a challenge. I made Penne pasta with Alfredo Sauce with only a microwave. I couldn’t imagine that it could be done but if you have the knowledge found on the  internet I’m convinced you can cook anything, anywhere.



Birthday Party
A few other visitors at the office on Monday.  Sister Russavage and Sister Nikogasyan



And Tuesday evening we had a fun dinner at our apartment with Elder Grange and his third mini-mission companion Elder Velechkovsky. We have been doing the Domino’s two for one special with the missionaries but I couldn’t handle it another night so we had a much better dinner and a lot more fun in our apartment. I think Elder Grange enjoyed the down home cooking but I’m sure it was a test for Elder Velechkovsky. He was a real sport though and absolutely a perfect missionary. Mini-missions are usually 2-6 week long missionary service by young men in the area that are a little too young to go on a mission or just unable to serve a full-time mission and they are put with Elders when the mission has an uneven number of missionaries. 


Guess who came for dinner..................


Elder Grange and Elder Velechkovsky



During the summer most people in Ukraine spend a lot of time working in their vegetable gardens. These gardens not only supply their food for the summer and coming year, a lot of them sell their surplus at market to supplement their income. This summer work causes a little shortage of workers at the temple so I have now started working there three days a week. I love all the people that work there and the ones that come from near and far to complete the vicarious ordinances for their ancestors, so this is truly a labor of love for me. 




When this blog is published we will be in St. Petersburg. We are leaving for Moscow on Thursday the 25 where Gary will meet with the Office of General Counsel Staff there and then we will take a little holiday to St. Petersburg. We are so excited.

Quote for the week by President Thomas S. Monson:

"Temples are more than stone and mortar. They are filled with faith and fasting. They are built of trials and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service."

July 20, 2013





Saturday, July 20, 2013

July 19, 2013

The area where our office is located is in the Museum District on Terashevchenko. There are about twenty museums that we walk by on the way there and we love visiting them. They all have one area where they periodically display "traveling" exhibits so there is always something new to see. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed.

This week I have decided to do a little exhibit of my own pictures taken this week of some beautiful and some unique things in Kyiv. Hope you enjoy my museum!

A hollyhock view of St. Sophia's

One Happy Bee

Sunrise from our window

Straight from the 80's - so popular here(and just why is it in English??)

National Opera - Closed for the Summer

Sidewalk cafes are everywhere

Water wheel

The apartment's mailbox

Evening walk through the monastery

Eye of the Needle

A place dear to me

Our favorite tram


Hidden away in Podil

Two common things - braids and cell phones

Academy of Art and Architecture


There's a new park in the neighborhood

Entry to Shevchenko Museum

International Center of Culture and Arts - Where church was organized in Ukraine

Cheerful flowers


So that was my week and I hope yours was as beautiful.

Quote for the week is one of my favorite songs by Cecil F. Alexander.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flow'r that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountains,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky.

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden, 
He made them every one.

The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,
To gather every day.

He gaves us eyes to see them, 
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.



Friday, July 12, 2013

July 12, 2013


Potpourri – A little bit of this……A little bit of that. That’s  what I feel like this blog is this week……..  A little of this and a little of that.

The fourth of July was not really a holiday here. I worked at the temple which interestingly enough, that is what I have done on a lot of holidays this last year, starting with 4th of July 2012….my birthday, Halloween,  Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and now the 4th of July again. And the very best day to be in the Temple is Christmas Day and now that will never ever happen again. A good friend of mine that I work with in the temple, Sister Shikolova, started making an alter cloth three years ago when the temple was dedicated.  The pattern is very intricate and beautiful and I hope that everyone will truly appreciate this labor of love.

 


Sister Shikalova


Also, on the Fourth of July we picked up our Russian Visas for our trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg in two weeks. Exciting!
On Saturday, the 6th of July, the American Chamber of Commerce had a big Independence Day Celebration and our friends the Barton’s invited us to go with them. The celebration was complete with an American Cowgirl, Uncle Sam, the Statue of Liberty, hot dogs and hamburgers, water balloon games, bungee cord trampoline, and fireworks. The only difference was that most of the people there were Ukrainian and the funniest thing of all was that the VIP attendees which included about 90% of the people had to go through a security check similar to that in an airport which meant waiting in line for about thirty minutes to get in. The regular attendees had no line, no waiting. Interesting.


Jessa, Jed and Gary in Line for July 4th Celebration on July 6th


line
Uncle Sam

Statue of Liberty - Striking Resemblance
Cowgirl



Earlier in the day I went to the Karina Maria Festival, an international ethnic festival, down at Spivoche field (Singing Field).  It is such a fun festival with all the people dressed in traditional clothes, performing and making and selling ethnic products.  The pictures tell it all.



traditional Ukrainian dolls

Pottery 
Barbie gone Ukrainian

Family affair

Hand made table cloths

Making Pottery


table runners


traditional dress

It was a really hot day and luckily on the way home I was able to get my favorite seat as money collector at the front of the marshrutka where I could enjoy the air conditioning.

Air-conditioning at the front of the bus


Three of the American temple missionary couples left this week. It was sad to see them go and they will truly be missed…….. President and Sister Ball, Elder and Sister Callister and Elder and Sister Stuart.  Also, it was transfer week so a lot of missionaries moved around.
 
Jay and Marcia night before they went home


President and Sister Ball, Elder and Sister Callister heading home

Sister Russavage to Brovery

Elder Pace to Vinnitsya



With the temple missionaries leaving and the changes in assignments made I am now the only American on the morning shift. My Russian is definitely going to improve. One thing about these wonderful people is that if they know you want help they all freely give it and they are very patient with your mistakes. I already have a whole new group of friends at the temple.
 



After climbing the Town Hall tower in L’viv a few weeks ago I decided that the time had come for me to climb the Bell Tower at St. Sophia’s Cathedral. We go by it a least once a day and so Thursday was the day. I am a little afraid of heights and the stairs at the bell tower are a lot more intimidating than the ones in the Town Hall Tower. It is more of an open stairwell instead of closed and made me a little dizzy all the way up, but the view was indeed worth it. Kyiv is such a beautiful city. On the way out I met the most interesting man from Brazil who is visiting Ukraine for a month. He is an economist and lives in a town that is called Beautiful Horizon (but of course in Portuguese) and is pretty near Rio.  He said if we ever get down there to give him a call, so who knows.
 

St. Michael's  and West Bank from Bell Tower

Stairs to Bell Tower

Independence Square from Bell Tower

St. Sophia's from above


Friend from Brazil


We have had a few birthday luncheons the last few weeks at work which have been fun and  there will be more fun things to come in the next few months.  More on that later.


Party Time



Party Time


The service center where Gary puts in all his time and I work part time is right across from Shevchenko Park. It is the greatest park and on one end they have an area for senior activities. They have senior relay races, senior Yoga classes and senior games including chess, card games, etc. It is the most popular place for seniors to hang out and have a great time. Next best thing to a golf course.
 
Serious Chess Match

Seniors in the Park


Saturday is going to be a great day. Oksana Poliakova is going to be baptized. She has been attending the branch for several months and the sister missionaries have been working with her. We are so excited for her to have the blessings of the gospel in her life.

Sister Lameroux, Oksana, Sister Sink


Quote for the Week by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf:
“God’s light is real. It is available to all! It gives life to all things. It has the power to soften the sting of the deepest wound. It can be a healing balm for the loneliness and sickness of our souls. In the furrows of despair, it can plant the seeds of a brighter hope. It can enlighten the deepest valleys of sorrow. It can illuminate the path before us and lead us through the darkest night into the promise of a new dawn.  This is the Spirit of Jesus Christ which gives light to every man that cometh into the world.”
 
July 7, 2013