October 20, 2012

When I was young I used to wonder how there were enough cows in the world to provide everyone with milk, where all the food came from to fill the grocery shelves in Pocatello, let alone Salt Lake City……that was before I started thinking globally… and how electricity came through little wires into all the houses so we could have lights, heat, and many other conveniences.  (My biggest wonder now is the I-Pad.  Incomprehensible what you are able to access and do with that small wonder but that is in a different realm.) I still wonder about all those things but have added so many more things to that list while growing up, and now here in Kyiv the list gets even longer. 

• How mass transit systems and huge underground malls could be built under an already existing city?
• Where all the garbage for 4 million people is deposited?
• How the city heats and controls the water for everyone in this city?
• How they control the heat for all of the same apartments during the winter?

This has been my latest concern as it has turned cold in Kyiv. We keep hearing about a second summer after the first cold spell (kind of like the second winter after the February thaw in Idaho) but it hasn’t arrived yet. Last week the evening temperatures dropped into the thirties. The heat is usually turned on in November but we heard that due to the elections we would get heat earlier this year. Sure enough we did. We get heat from seven in the morning until about ten in the evening which is really great. The walls of our apartment are about a foot thick and with people above, below and next to us we keep pretty toasty. 

When we left for Lutsk at 5:30 AM Sunday morning it was dark for the first time while traveling there. It was also a bit foggy and reminded me of when we used to drive home from McCall early Sunday morning after our fall trip there. 

The fields have been plowed and the harvested wheat fields are covered with crows. The winter wheat was already growing in several areas. There were stacks of pumpkins and squash piled high waiting for the horse and wagons to come haul them off. A few stalks of corn are still standing here and there in the fields. There are now several haystacks next to each little cottage to provide feed for the cows and horses in the winter. Most everyone one in the country has at least one cow, horses to pull the wagons and plow the fields, pigs, chickens and a goat. The families in the country are truly self-sufficient and are an example of industry to all of us. There were more horse drawn wagons on the highway today and the funniest of all was the wagon bus with about 30 people on board. (Sorry I didn’t get a picture of that one.) 

Foggy morning

Cornstalks still standing

Haystacks by the houses

Gary's secret pond

Harvest time

Loading up the pumpkins and squash

One interesting thing that I would like to mention about our trip to Lutsk. Last week a man had killed three security guards in a department store in Kyiv. We got stopped on the way there as the police thought our driver looked like the suspect. Luckily after 20 minutes he had convinced them that he wasn’t and we were on our way again. The radar in this country is amazing. The police stand outside of their vehicles with hand-held radar guns. They wave you over if you are speeding. If you don’t stop they start blowing their whistles. Most everyone stops. You can buy your way out of any ticket by paying a 100 hr ($12) bribe.   

Radar Police

In Lutsk it was conference Sunday. This is kind of a fun event. Because of the time difference, conference is not watched on the normal weekend. Then the translations have to be done in Ukrainian.  So, the second week of October is when the wards and branches watch conference together. We had already watched all the conference sessions on our computer during the week so we were excited for the saints to hear the wonderful messages. Several people we know here in Kyiv had done the translations for the conference so while watching the speakers we were hearing our friends voices in Ukrainian which was fun. After the first session the missionaries served soup which the sister missionaries had made and bread and cookies which the Elders brought. It was a fun social time for everyone before the second session. 

Sisters Von Stokkhom and Smith, and Elders Terry and Callister

Antonio

Conference Lunch

RS President and former Branch President Polyshuk

This week was pretty normal week with office work, classes and temple. Tuesday we had dinner with the sister missionaries Busch and O’Neil, and on Wednesday one of the ladies I visit teach took me to see the Normandy Art Exhibit at the National Art Museum of Ukraine. Friday evening we were able to go the Ukraine National Philharmonic Concert with the famous conductor Roman Kofman. The music was so absolutely beautiful that it is still playing in my mind. Beautiful music is truly a gift from God and brings such peace. 

Oh, and yes, it is election time here as well as in the United States. We were glad to be out of town on Sunday as there was a large demonstration of 10,000 people in the park across from Gary’s office.  There are more military in the metro stations and all over town, political signs everywhere and booths set up all along the sidewalks with people handing out propaganda. Election Day is Sunday the 28th and we will be glad when it is over.

I have observed some very unusual things this past six months in Kyiv and since this blog is a little short I thought I would include some of them.  

Good and bad uses of tree stumps on the sidewalk....

Tree stump used for litter....and tree stump used for flowers!

Interesting advertising technique!

Trees in the forest.....and trees growing from porch of deteriorating apartment building

Tree seeking light between buildings....a few months later it found the light!

Flowers at the temple (in spring) and flowers at the rose garden at the monastery (in summer)

If you can't find a park on the sidewalk....there's always the balcony!

Tree behind our apartment

Moms, just get up a few minutes earlier to get ready for church!

Quote of the week taken from General Conference talk of President Uchtdorf, entitled "Of Regrets and Resolutions" Click here to read Pres. Uchtdorf's talk

We shouldn't wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available--all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. "This is the day which the Lord hath made...," the Psalmist wrote. "Rejoice and be glad in it." Brothers and sisters, no matter our circumstances, no matter our challenges or trials, there is something in each day to embrace and cherish. There is something in each day that can bring gratitude and joy if only we will see and appreciate it.

Ukraine Temple at night

October 13, 2012

If variety is the spice of life then our lives were pretty spicy this week. 

After a number of contacts with several of the embassies here in Kyiv, we finally heard back from three, and are waiting for what will be more. We are not sure if it was our persistence, or that everyone finally got back from vacations, or that there is an interest in the elections going on in the U.S. but this week we finally started getting responses. 

Our first visit was on Wednesday with the Embassy of Nigeria. Ambassador Isoh is new to his position in Ukraine. He was an emissary to the United Nations before coming to Kyiv. He had no idea that the Church had over 100,000 members in Nigeria, a Temple, and had given over six million dollars in humanitarian aid in his country. He was very impressed that we weren’t a religion that only takes money and gives nothing back. Our goal is to befriend these individuals and make them aware of the efforts we are making in their country. We do not proselyte however, when he asked us the difference in our Church and the Orthodox Church we were happy to be able to tell him about our living prophet and that we believe in continuing revelation. We also explained the Book of Mormon and left a copy with him which he said he would read and study. We exchanged gifts and left knowing that we had made a friend with Nigeria. He offered his assistance to us if we should ever need it. 

Visit with Ambassador Isoh of Nigeria

Our second visit was on Thursday with the Assistant to the Ambassador, Svitlana Yavorska, of Great Britain. Ambassador Smith is currently out of the country and wanted her to meet with us in his absence. It was a very different meeting but also very productive. Our Church has a long history in Great Britain and is widely known by the people there. We talked about our humanitarian efforts there and also in Ukraine. She made us aware of all the efforts that Great Britain is currently involved in here in Ukraine. We discussed possible ways of working together to help with humanitarian projects and also to support their efforts in enhancing a Rule of Law program that would be very beneficial and greatly needed in this country. It is a very ambitious goal. 

Visit at the Embassy of Great Britain

Next week we will be meeting with the Ambassador of Malaysia and hopefully we will also get more responses to our latest letter. 

We also spent some time sightseeing with the Stuarts and their daughters and friend, Marion Nagel, from Berlin. Our first stop was at St. Sophia’s Museum. We have walked by, taken pictures of and attended concerts in the Square but every time we have wanted to go on a tour, there were so many tourists that we have put it off, so I was really excited to get to go there with a tour guide. The Cathedral was built by the Greeks in 1037. At that time it was considered the most glorious in any northern country and is still considered one of the greatest and most famous of the old cathedrals of Eastern Europe. Originally built by Yaroslav the Wise, it’s walls are covered with beautiful frescos that have only been partially preserved. The mosaics that have survived are also comparable to the ones found in Venice. Over the years, damage to the cathedral was repaired and the cathedral was enlarged.  (Aren’t you all glad that we had a tour guide so I can report all of this?) 

Notice the sun, moon and star symbols that are not only on the top of the cathedral, but inside as well (no pictures allowed inside).

St. Sophia's

Marcia, tour guide, Shelly, Marion, Karlene and Carrie

St. Sophia's

Then we went to the Golden Gate of Kyiv. When Yaroslav built up the city he surrounded it with a wall (similar to the gated walls of Jerusalem and Constantinople) and the Golden Gate was the one of three entrances to the upper city. All three gates were destroyed but the Golden Gate was restored in 1982 with the original ruins hidden within the new structure. 

Inside Golden Gate

Replica of Original Golden Gate

One last place we went was to Babi Yar which I have discussed in a previous post but this time with a guide it was much more interesting.

Friday evening we went to dinner and a wonderful Symphony (with four piano soloists and a guest conductor from Japan) with Georgia and Sherwood Ricks (the Mission Presidents office assistants). It was really marvelous. We have made friends with one of the ushers at the Philharmonic. She loves seeing us there and always moves us to the special row reserved for dignitaries. It is kind of embarrassing but we do get the best of seats. 

Saturday I decided that Gary just had to see everything that he had missed earlier in the week so I drug him around to all the sites ending with going to St. Cyril’s Church which is definitely not on the direct route to anywhere. I think we were the only visitors there in weeks. It has over 800 square meters of fresco paintings from the 12^th Century. We also took the challenge to ascend the steep (and I mean really steep – 2 foot rise on some of the stairs) staircase to the gallery to get a view of the frescos. Quite a feat. 

St. Cyril's Church

Stairs to the gallery

Tanya, from my English class had invited us to go the operetta Saturday evening to see “Welcome to Ukraine”, a love story that takes place in Ukraine and features many of their famous songs, traditions and dances. This operetta is usually held on Sunday but this year it was moved to Saturday so she was really excited for us to go see it. It was really beautifully done and I really enjoyed it. 

Welcome to the Ukraine

Add to that watching whatever conference sessions we could, English classes, temple, normal everyday requests and writing up reports and you can see that this week was full, not only of fun, interesting, educational and exciting days, but of many blessings. Tomorrow we head off to Lutsk for another adventure.

Quote for the Week:

“We cannot repay God for his blessings.  We cannot purchase His blessings by our service and obedience.  He cannot be placed under contract to us.  What he wants is that we acknowledge the ties that bind us to him, and that we accept his generous gifts with a loving heart and ‘confess ….His hand in all things.’” ….Chieko Okasaki

October 6, 2012

We have now been in Ukraine for six months. Time goes by so fast. We were thinking of how much our lives and lifestyle have changed in the last six months and these are some things that came off the top of our heads. 

Things I have done that I never thought I would be able to do 6 months ago:  1) run down escalator stairs at the metro, 2) clean house the way Ukrainians do, 3) give directions in Russian, 4) be mistaken for a native on a daily basis, 5) get by without a clothes dryer, 6) make brownies, 7) make friends with the highway coffee lady by the temple, 8) easily find my way around a city of 4 million, 9) fall in love with Ukraine.  

And Gary’s list: 1) enjoy cultural activities on a weekly basis, 2) get by without an automobile, 3) have the physical stamina to walk several miles a day, climb hundreds of stairs a day and in all kinds of weather, and 4) make life-long friendships with so many people. I’m sure these lists could be much longer and will be, the longer we are here. 

One very enjoyable custom that they have here is that whenever someone has an important event take place in their family, (birthday, wedding, new baby) they must provide chocolates for the office staff. It is a constant chocolate fest at the office. Candy is very reasonably priced but we have learned that we have to be careful not to buy the chocolates filled with alcohol which is sometimes hard to do when you are not sure what you are buying and you can’t read the labels. There is a brand new chocolate factory on Khreshchatyk. It is busy night or day. We happened in there Saturday evening to pick up some chocolates for work on Monday morning to celebrate our grandson’s blessing and it was very crowded.

The new chocolate store in town

Khreshchatyk is the happening place to be on a Saturday evening. It is somewhat like “dragging main” in the United States but without cars. The street is closed to traffic, the festive lights are on and that is where all the younger set hang out. And what were we doing there…………buying chocolates of course. 

Khreshchatyk on a Saturday night

Tuesday is buy one get one present (get one free) at the Domino’s Pizza which is right next to our apartment. The missionaries and the International Language Program teachers have an open invitation to come by on Tuesday night and get our “present.”  Last Tuesday the ILP girls came by and we had a lot of fun visiting and eating with them. They were leaving for a tour of the Black Sea area the next day. In a month they will be going to tour Italy, France and Germany. They really have a great time for the four months they are here and get to see a lot of Europe. They live with local families and teach three to twelve year old students. Some of the girls that come have been on missions, some have finished a few years of college and some are right out of high school. The girls that came this Tuesday were from Arizona, Minnesota, and Alabama. 

Dinner with the ILP girls

Saturday we had a chance to revisit Pirogov Village with Jay and Marcia Stuart and their daughters from Utah. Pirogov Village is a museum of folk architecture, culture and rural life of Ukraine. It is located just outside of town on 150 hectares. There are over 300 structures that are original examples of wooden architecture that have been transported here from the different regions of Ukraine. There are churches as old as 1601 and thatched roof houses as old as 1587. The first time we went there was on a missionary outing in May. We were only there a short time and did not really get to see very much so we were excited to be able to go again when we could spend more time. 

It was a beautiful fall morning and the leaves were just starting to change…….. my favorite time of the year. Even though it was the day of the closing festival of the season and there were thousands of people there, we went the opposite direction of the crowds and really enjoyed the sights, and were still able to get back to the main area where the dancers and singers from the different regions were performing at the end of the day. And of course we didn’t pass up the delicious pork kabobs and other Ukrainian delights. It was such a fun day and I hope that the pictures will give you a flavor of the villages of Ukraine. 

Jay & Marcia Stuart with their daughters

What to buy??

Interesting foundation

Windmill

This week people from Moscow, Armenia and the Baltics (Minsk area) were at the temple. On Thursday I was able to look after the children of an Armenian couple so that they could attend the temple together. Most of the week they had taken turns going to the temple so that one could be with the children.  I offered to help out on Thursday so they could do some sealings of relatives. It had taken them three days traveling night and day, sleeping for brief periods to get here (2200 km but rough roads). They are leaving Saturday morning and will not get home until Monday evening. Their boys, 10, 7, and 4 are adorable and spoke English amazingly well. We played games and the interesting  thing I learned is that all seven year olds everywhere are the same; they love to win and sometimes change the rules to win. 

Armenian family

On the way home that day the traffic was heavy so I decided to take the Tram home which means going under the highway and walking about a mile to the station. The walkway under the highway reminds me of running through the Center Street Underpass when I was young. Not really scary but you could make it seem that way. 

The underground walkway

We all know the importance of having goals. The way to achieve goals entails four steps. Write them down, share your goals with someone else, be diligent in working on your goals and then report your  progress. We have heard these things many times and it is truly the way to be successful. Last week Elder Clarke talked about one thing we can all to do be spiritually successful. I really like this idea so I thought I would share it and hope that it will be as interesting to you all as it was to me.

Keep a little notebook with you at all times to right down promptings from the spirit. Keep it by your bedside at night and if you wake up in the morning with a thought of something you should do for someone that day then write it down. During the day if you have insights into how you can help others including things you should do for your family or children or friends or even strangers, write it down.  Then do what you have been prompted by the spirit to do. The more you respond to the promptings of the spirit the more you will hear. The more you fill your life with random acts of kindness the happier you will be. As you listen to and act on the promptings you will be a tool in the hands of the Lord to bring others to Christ.

In April 2010 Conference, President Uchtdorf gave a talk confirming these same thoughts, entitled “You are My Hands”. A great talk and well worth re-reading. Here is a quote from that talk:

"As we extend our hands and hearts toward others in Christlike love, something wonderful happens to us. Our own spirits become healed, more refined, and stronger. We become happier, more peaceful, and more receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit."

We love you all and appreciate your prayers and thoughtfulness in our behalf. We also pray for you and for all of God's children everywhere.

Ukraine Temple on a foggy morning