Winter in Russia

Every Tuesday evening we get together with other missionary couples in Moscow for Family Home Evening. This night it was -19C. We waited for a bus for about 25 minutes and then got on the "warm" bus. It was all relative.













On my birthday we went to dinner with the Moscow West Mission President and his wife. We went to the "Mafia Mall". It is a gorgeous place, but we never see any customers.






Note the size of the snowflakes.
















Jack and Frances on the way to work at about 7:45 AM.

Red Square on a very cold day.

I will post another blog with more detail on Red Square.















We went inside a mall called "GUM" to get warm. The Christmas decorations were fun.


One area had Christmaa that were quite beautiful and whimsical. This was a favorite.





















The children are bundled up for winter weather. The smallest ones look like walking snowmen. They are so cute.




This is looking out or our apartment window at the next buillding. We are on the top floor (10th) and the other building has 9 floors. Note the wires going from one building to another. That is how electricity, internet and all other things go from one building to another.





One day as we looked out we saw a man on the roof of the next building. He was shoveling snow from the edge. If you look carefully there is a metal rail that he could have been tethered to, but most of the time he wasn't. He stepped over wires as he went along.















When he got to the corner, he started swinging his shovel to hit the down spout to knock the ice loose. He is not tethered.














Apparently people below started yelling at him because they were bombarded by snow and ice.














He started yelling back at them and quite a discussion went on. Still no tether.




On February 6, 2010, we went to Victory Park to see the ice sculptures with three other missionary couples, Steve and Linda Rees from Payson, Utah; Devere and Arva Burton from Twin Falls, Idaho; and Jim and Susan Tadje from Kaysville, Utah.

Examining the coins implanted in the ice.

The ice sculptures were beautiful.

























It was fun playing with the ice sculptures













We had a good time sliding down a snow hill at the park. All of the others on the hill were children. Some of us don't want to grow up.
















We walked over a bridge and looked down at the river. An icebreaker boat goes through periodically.


We went to a park where there were reindeer that you could ride or be pulled on a sleigh.

The day was beautiful and cold, but as the Russians say, "There is no bad weather, just bad clothing.

Belarus

Over looking Minsk, Belarus from the top of the library.





We went to the most unusual ballet. It was a comedy. The mother was played by a man and he danced in house slippers. It was very cleverly done and we had a delightful evening with the Wades. It was nice to relax for an evening.

Belarus is a beautiful country of rolling hills and farmland. Here are a few pictures to show you some wonderful and unique things about Belarus.

A guide at Mir Castle beautiful!

A hugh indoor market.

Driving down the road we came to

villagers selling fruit. Such happy

pleasant people.

In two

different areas we saw men

with carts drawn by horses.

The country has known much suffering and tragedy. When we were there we went to XATblHb (pronounced Hatten). It is a memorial to villages that were destroyed in WWII (called the Great Patriotic War in Europe). During the war there were 209 cities and 9200 villages destroyed with a total of 2,230,000 people killed.

That figure means that one out of every

four people died in the war. It is hard to imagine that kind of tragedy. This village and many other villages were not rebuilt. It is now a memorial to the

people who died there and in all of the other villages. 433 villages were rebuilt.

Layout of the village.

In Hatten, the villagers were forced into a barn. The doors were blocked and the barn burned down. The troops, led by a German commander left with the barn burning.

Monument for the barn.

One man, a grandfather, had been in the forest. When he returned, he tried to save people, but it was too late. He found his grandson and carried him out. The statue is a monument to his suffering. I can’t even imagine the pain.

Now the memorial has foundations and chimneys where the homes were. That is what was left after the village was burned.

Each chimney has a plaque that tells the names and ages of those who had lived in the home.

Each chimney has a bell. The bells ring one at a time, every 30 seconds to honor those who died. It is a very humbling experience to go there. So many have sacrificed so much for freedom. We are so

blessed to live in a free country. In one area, four trees were planted. One tree was cut down symbolizing that one in four people in Belarus died in the war. The man that took us there is named Sergei. His grandmother left Belarus for Ukraine during the war seeking a safer place. During a bombing raid, she folded her body over her six-year old daughter. She was wounded by shrapnel and later died. The daughter that she saved is Sergie’s mother.

We were also able to meet the cousins of a friend in Albuquerque, Maya Limanovich. Maya was raised in Belarus and her cousins took us to see the home where she grew up and to another monument to victims of the war. We were also privileged to go to their apartment. It is so amazing to be invited into someone’s home. They are both college professors. We had a great visit. This is Maya's cousin and the home where she used to live. She said it has changed a lot.

Sergie is a church employee that helps with humanitarian projects in Belarus. He has been a member of our church for 10 years. He is a former KGB member. He is wonderful. He has a beautiful wife and 3 children, daughters 15 and 11 and a son 2. I will tell you more about them later. Sergie works with the humanitarian missionary couple in Belarus, Max and Deanna Wade, from Idaho. They make a great team.

One of the projects that they took us to was in a boarding home for the elderly. The home didn’t have a kitchen or

any way to prepare food for several hundred residence.

All the food had been brought in. The boarding home changed an area to make a kitchen and we provided appliances, sinks, shelves and other things that they needed to prepare food. They hired a chef and everyone was happy. When we went on a tour, we saw 4 women sitting on a bench. When we were introduced to them as the providers of the kitchen, the women broke into song to show their appreciation. They said that now they can smell their food being c

ooked, such simple things that we take for granted.

We went into rooms to visit residents. Sergie sat and talked to people and touched them gently.

We saw a young man (probably in his late 30’s). Both of his legs had been amputated at the knees. I asked him how he lost his legs. Hle explained that he was drunk and passed out on a cold night and his legs had frozen.

We visited another lady who was 92. She shared the room with her 68-year old son.

He had been an invalid all of his life.

Even though she is in a boarding home, she is still sitting beside his bed taking care of him.

We went to another boarding home where we had provided a centrifuge for the laundry area. Before they had this machine, three women would wring the laundry out by hand, all day long. It was frequently hot and humid in the room and one of the women had even passed out. They now only have to hang the laundry up to dry. There are over 200 people in that boarding home. The three women couldn’t stop smiling.

There is a tradition in Eastern Europe for a wedding party to spend the day going from place to place having their pictures taken. We came across several wedding parties in the botancal garden. I couldn't resist

sharing the pictures, especially the bridesmaids.

It may start a new trend in the United States.

Just so you don't think it is only one wedding party.

On our last day in Belarus, Sergie and the Wade’s took us to Mir Castle. Much of it has been restored.

I thought about all of the old movies where you see sword fights on the curved staircases. This could never happen on the narrow, steep staircases in this castle.

Just to give you an idea of how steep and deep the stairs were. Narrow, too.

Don't you think that he looks like he belongs?

Then Sergie took us to his mother’s home. This wonderful woman had prepared the most delicious pancakes for us. They are not like any pancakes we have ever had. They have a completely different texture. They are wonderful with sour cream and jam. Jack ate 11. I didn’t count how many I ate, but surely it was less than 11.

I would like to finish by telling you a little about our visit with Sergie’s family. His daughters are bright and pleasant. They have a two-room apartment. We had dinner on a portable table put up in the girls’ bedroom. The 11 year old had made a delicious apple cake. I am trying to get the recipe. After dinner we went into the living room, which is also the parents’ bedroom and the little boy’s bedroom. We had a family home evening with them. The apartment was neat and clean. They showed me a pantry with home canned fruit and vegetables that they had grown in the summer. In March, they are going to be able to move to a 3-room apartment.

We have been so blessed to meet wonderful people in Eastern Europe and to be of service here. Thank you for contributing to the humanitarian effort of the church. The money is able to do much good throughout the world.