Join the Army- See the World

  Week of November 16-22, 2015
  You know all those stories about army recruiters getting молодые люди (young people) to join up,  "Join the army! See the world!"  Well, we joined this army of missionaries and yup, we are truly  seeing a beautiful part of the world.
     Tuesday we were invited to a couples conference in Kyiv.  This time, we decided it was time for us to be Senior missionaries instead of Jr companions and try taking care of the trip ourselves.  Ned went online, figured out how to purchase tickets, printed them, and checked out the metro, trams, and маршрутки routes (with this part he needed help.  Elder Kudaibergen showed him exactly how to get where we needed to go.  Elders are awesome!).  It was so much fun.  We weren't very daring, only going to places we'd been to before, but we had fun.
     So, here is our adventure
     We hadn't had time to purchase family Christmas souvenirs, so our first stop was the spusk" and it totally sounds like Spruce, but "spusk" is the russian word for decent, and the full name of that "souvenir alley" is "Andriyivsky Spusk", because at the top is St. Andrew's Church, or Андреевская церковь.
Here's a Wiki link if you want to learn more! (Thanks to Catlin Carr for this information) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andriyivskyy_Descent#Saint_Andrew.27s_Church 
We wanted to get шапки (big Russian fur hats) for all the family and to check out some things for Aunt Karen.  So- Go from the train, onto the Metro, two stops, transfer from the blue to the red line, one stop, then hope that the tram to the top of the hill was working this time.

I think the metro is the same anywhere in the
world but in Eastern Europe its clean and
most of them have beautiful artwork.
(We'll get pics of that next time)    

Once you get off the metro, the Spruce is at the
top of a big, steep hill.  Last time this tram was broken
and we had to walk up a million stairs to get there.

the hill

the tram

Can't really see it, but it was a beautiful, foggy day.

The back of St Michael's Cathedral 

Artwork on one of the gates into St Michaels

I hope we have done nothing wrong in taking a
 picture of this hardworking priest, but this is such
a perfect depiction of what keeps this country
beautiful.  You can see how much work is left.
It's all done by hand, by people who love their
country and take pride in their work. 

I wish I could communicate.  I would love to
visit and become friends with this man.

Such a beautiful building!  It's the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
for Ukraine

This is why the Cheshire Cat didn't know which to go!

St Sophia's on the right, center is the bell tower of
St Sophia, on the left, more of St Sophia's.  This
one is not named after a saint.  It's original name
was Hagis Sophia which means Holy Wisdom.

The Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine behind. The Princess
Olga Monument (памятник) in front

Looking down a beautiful street.  Sorry- pictures just don't do
it justice.  Velyka Zhytomyrska Street

St Michaels Cathedral. One of the most famous throughout
the middle ages, it has been ransacked, broken down, re-built, finally
 demolished by the Soviets in 1930.  It was re-built and opened
in 1999 after Ukraine achieved independence. 

Murals on the outside walls of St Michaels.  If you zoom in
you can see the names of the figures depicted.

Just a close-up of a beautiful building.

St Andrew's Cathedral- I guess its not really a cathedral, it started
as a cross on this hill put there by Andrew in the first century,
now, after its own troubled past, it sits beautifully atop its hill
as one of Kyiv's landmarks

These will both, someday, be saints.  One is the man to go to
in Kyiv if you want quality souvenirs sold by someone who
speaks impeccable English.  A good friend to all
missionaries. The other - posing as St Mikk.  

Some of the beautiful handwork at the Spruce

 Next, back on to the red line to the end and hop onto a #56 автобус to the Temple site where the meeting would be held.  We were not sure it was the right bus so we had a pamphlet with a picture of the temple and with a few simple words confirmed that this was the right bus. A delightful evening with delightful people being reminded of why we are here, that we're not alone, that we are loved, and that the Lord is in charge.  We just need to get out there and get to work!

The Patchett's from Mesa AZ on the front row on the left they are
returning home.  They have served most of their mission in Odessa.

Wednesday we were lucky enough to be able to go to the Kyiv temple.  The spirit is so strong there.  It is so exciting to be able to do work for East European people.  Its hard to explain the peaceful, joy- filled experience we have each time we go.

Check out this link for the youth dedication
of the Kyiv Temple.
https://www.lds.org/youth/video/kyiv-ukraine-temple-cultural-celebration?lang=eng

These next pictures are from later in the week when we went for шашлики at саша's.  He invited his sweet sister and his best friend, who is a kind, caring, good man. They both are.

Elder albert and Саша

And here is how we ended the week-  Sunday is the last day of the week in Ukraine.

Looking at pictures of the family.

No one! wears shoes inside the house in Ukraine.  It shows
great disrespect

Such great friends.  We love them all!

Looking quite dapper in his new Beaver шапка. (shopka)

     We have a friend we meet quite frequently on our way home from the church. He hands out fliers for one of the stores we pass by. He complained one day, which Ukrainians don't usually do, that his was a difficult job because there was nothing to challenge his mind or his hands. We decided to give him a scripture to think about each time we pass by. Let me end with the last one we shared. We were discussing new developments in the war and the troubles in the east. He was very troubled. Then we handed him this scripture. John 14:27 (He had known all the others we have given him by heart, but not this one) A great one for us all to ponderize.

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Have a wonderful week!

Love the Mikks