Tuesday, December 27, 2011

December 27, 2011 Sunrise



This picture was taken at 10:00 a.m. just as the sun was coming over the horizon. Again this is looking just about straight south across the city of Moscow. It was cloudythe rest of the day so we didn't see this on at all that day. The sun sets approximately 4:30 and when we walked homeby 5:15 it was almost totally dark. Russia stayed on the daylight savings time so it would be light longer in the evening. It actually warned that today so by this afternoon it was 41°. Almost unheard of nice weather for this time of the year.

December 27, 9:25 a.m. 2011 Moscow looking south



This picture was takenat 9:25 a.m.looking almost due South along the main highway running north and south. It was still dark only let up by the streetl ights and cars.

2011 Christmas dinner in our apartment



Here we are all together for a great mealwith our traditional meat balls potatoes and gravyand all the other trimmings with ricecrem. It was a great way to spend Christmas when you have no family.These are people we have grown to love and appreciate here in this far off country.The employee in our office and his girlfriend arefirst on the left, then the sister missionaries, the Andersons who leave to go home in four days,one missionary and mom.We had a wonderful day.

Mission Christmas Party-Senior Couples Skit



December 24,we attended a missionary baptisma young woman in our branch. Following that baptis, in the same building we had an all mission conference with the senior couples. It was a great activity and lots of fun. It lasted all afternoon until seven o'clock at night.

Europe the East Area Presidency



Each Morning at 8:30a.m.we are privileged to have a devotional with these brethren and the other workers in our building.They and other members of their staff are often traveling,but for all who are there we have a morning devotional. One morning we sing together in Russian and the next morning the song is in English. Following the song someone has been preassigned to give her spiritual thought and then another gives a closing prayer.This is a great way to start the day.These brethren are all members of a second quorum of 70s. Two are medical doctors

English Club Group



This is the English club that we teach on Wednesday nights. This is the last nightthat Chad and Bethany taught the class.Some of these have attended many yearstrying to improve their English.The older fellow at the front right is an engineer and has developed several patents.They are a fun group tobe withand motivate them to speak about different subjects in English.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Old-time circus-Moscow



They wouldn't let us take pictures during any of the performance, but this is the arenaand as you can see we are sitting quite high up. That arena held six big elephants with dancing girls. The girls rode on the elephants during some of their stunts.There was a live orchestraclear in the background behind thethe big picturesyou see in the back ground across the hall. This was absolutely amazing talent of all kinds. It lastedmore than two hours and 15 minutes.

Traditional Russian dance and costumes after farewell



A picture showing Chad and Bethany and mom and Iwith some the branch members which joined in the dance. The Russians know how to have a good time. They are so differentfrom what we were taught they were light through the years.They have weathered the storms of oppression very well and our friendly and quite gentle.There are occasional bad apples, as once in a while the missionaries and even last week the mission President got mugged by three thugs who took his money and cell phone. Fortunately he was only roughed up a little.

Packaged farewell branch party



Chad and Bethany work closely and extensivelywith the young single adults, they taught an institute class on Tuesday, English club on Wednesday,choir practiceThursday evening, and then usually some party or games on Friday night. They were loved and respected by these young people.This couple were dressed and acted like chat and Bethany. Hard to depicked in the picture, but she had this wig thatl ike Bethany and she looked spoke with American-Russian accent and acted just like Bethanyit was hilariousand great to watch.

Amazing architecture-Odessa



Old housing, 100 150 years oldbuilt with amazing architectural designsand then very neatly preserved what such as this building.There were many other buildings with just as unique character and hard to explain

On the dock At the Black Sea-Odessa



We Toured around the City of Odessa and I saw many great historical sites.We are on the docks with our backs facing the Black Sea.Unlike Moscow, which has virtually no hills or valleys, Odessa has some fairly hilly parts of the city.

Ukrainian restaurant in Odessa



We tried to restrain differenttraditional Ukrainian restaurants and the food was excellent. Most of the Russian food is not very spicy but yet very tasty.The waitress and service was above average.

Sunday, December 4, 2011



We saw a lot of great sites, old buildings,anddined in some of themost famous Ukrainian-Odessarestaurantsat the expense of theLeavittInstitute,funded by a government program. I taught at two different law schools, which I havetold about earlier,and enjoyed the subject in thestudents very much.This is a pictureof the smaller classat one of the schools.

We flew from Keivto OdessaSunday evening.Odessa was establishedunder the rule ofCatherine the greatin the 1700s.Like Keiv,Odessa had some magnificentbuildingssuch as you seehere.The building in the front centeris the Odessa Opera House,claim to be the secondgreatest opera house in all of Europe,with the operate in St. Petersburgbeing first.

Weattended the Operaof Prince Igorwhich wasabsolutely amazing.It was thepart opera withsubstantial amount ofdancing ballet.


On Sunday weattended the international branchat Keivand enjoy their meetings.The most exciting part wasI met a man by the name ofJan Karlssonfrom Oslo, Norway.The most excitingpart of this meetingwas that he married a 16-year-old girlwho lived in Oslowho I knewwhile I served in Norway.His wife was Benta Bakkenand I was in their home just before I leftmy mission.She was a great pianistat that ageand later graduated from BYU in music.Their daughter marriedKaren and Steve Affleck's oldestson Steve.It was great to meet him.


This is where the president of Ukrainehas his officeand we stood under his sign.The sign readsquite clearly-PresidentUkraine.This buildingwas a huge old buildingright across the squarefrom the last building with all theornamentalanimal heads.


Keiv is the capital of Ukraineand there are manyhistoric buildingssuch as this one.Key was alsoin years pastthe center ofand capitalabout Russianland beforeCommunistand there are stillsignificantold structuresto be seen.The ornamentationon the top of the building ismade of concreterepresenting heads ofmany different kinds of animals, deer, elk,rhinoceros,etc.


Here is the place whereElder Boyd K. Packercame to Keivwithout the general authoritiesand dedicatedthis land for the preaching of the Gospelshortly after Communism crumbled.This is a hallowed spot to the Saints


Last Thursday night afterThanksgivingwe flew toUkraine, to the city of keivand the next two day, Friday and Saturdaywe were able to tour the city of Keivas well as attendfour sessions and it was wonderful.The temple presidentand I were in the elders quorumtogether at BYU before my mission.That week we werethere the presidentindicated the temple hadfunction that 104%all full capacity.In other words every sessionthat weekwas completely filland I had the movie and shares.This last year it has performedat 87%of full capacity the entire year.One ofthe topoperating temples in the world.We had dinner with President Galbreath and his wifeand a great visit.


This is a view of the buildingshowing its massive sizean ornamentalstructural design.It is hard to believedid you seewhat kind of moneywas put in to these places of worship.These are a few scenesaround Moscowwhich is absolutely gorgeous huge citywith many many unique oldbuildings.It's a great place to visit.


Another picture showingthe elaboratepaintings, decorations,ornamentation,imagesinside of this sameCathedral.


This is the third time I posted this picturebut keeps disappearingso I tried it once again.It is further explainedbelow.
This is a picture looking up in one of the towers of the cathedral they are much more massive than the picture shows beautiful carvings and decorative designs all the way up.



This is anotherpaintinginsidethe Cathedralwith a elaborate gold carvingsdepicting the quorum of the 12 time of Christ.Of most interest to uswas the fact thatJudas sitting on the left sidewas not highlightedwith a radiant of light around his head.


Inside St. Basil,sCathedralit is elaborately decorated withgold and bronzewith magnificent paintings, sculpturesand decorative ornaments.Each toweris opened or down to the main floorand eachas aseparate room underthat towerso there can be separate meeting rooms, whereseparate congregations meetsimultaneously.


This is a pictureChad and Bethanyand Marianne and IonRed Squarein the center of Moscow.You can see theSt. Basil'sCathedral in the background.It is a massiveChurch that survived Sovietregimeand was not dismantled like many were.Some of the following picturesour tourto thatbeautifulbuildingwhere construction started in themid-1500.




This is one of theMetro stationsapproximate three stories in megroundand this is one of the pillarsholding it up.The Soviet Union started to build thisMetro systemin 1932and it is one of the mostefficient andmassivesystems in the worldthat movesmore than 9 million people a day.


This is our firstThanksgivingdinnerin Moscow.It was great.We had three companionshipsof young missionaries,two sets of eldersand one sisters.We had one other senior couple, theMark Anderson's,one investigatorand one other employeefrom ouroffice.We had a wonderful meal and a great time together

Sunday, November 6, 2011

This picture shows Lary being introduced by our supervisor from the Leavitt Institute where he taught classes on American Law. The supervisor has graduated from Law school and is about 22 years old. Her home is in Ukraine and she speaks Russian, Ukrainian and pretty good English. She is not a member of the church, but made sure that we got to church and stayed with us the whole 3 hour block She reminds us a lot of Kirsten. It made us a bit homesick!!

This is a picture of Lary in a chapel in St. Petersburg. He went with the Physical Facilities committee from Salt Lake City to evaluate the quality and up-keep of the buildings there. The buildings there are much nicer and newer than the ones in Moscow because it is easier to purchase and build there.



This is a picture two of the children in our branch posing with our Branch President. The little girl is about a year older than Lanette and reminds us so much of her. Our Branch President is such a good man and is doing his best to to improve the branch and follow the programs.





This is inside of the Metro that travels under the city of Moscow, Russia. The underground stations are really unique and very beautiful. The construction of the Metro System was begun in approximately 1935. It is amazing that today it carries 9 Million people a day to various destinations throughout the city. We just pay one ticket and can ride on as many lines as we want to until we reach the part of the city we need to go.







Saturday, October 15, 2011

This is a pcture of the young Russian who is taking the discussions. He and the missionaries have met at our apartment 4 times now. He has not committed to baptism yet, but is progressing very well. This picture was taken at the Central Building where two of the wards meet here in Moscow.

Friday, September 16, 2011

On the left is the sign that is on the building where we live.


Below is a picture of our drying rack. We have a small front load washer but no dryer. This is the


rack we dry our clothes on. It works quite well!









This picture is of a worker cleaning the leaves that have fallen and sweeping the sidewalks. They keep things quite clean along the streets. Notice the broom he is using. They just replace them when they wear out.

















This is a picture of KLynn and one of the ladies that she likes to buy from at an indoor market near her home. This display is just one of the 10 or 12 places you can buy. As you can see in the back ground, there is another stack of watermelons. That is another seller just down the isle . It is amazing and wonderful produce from southern countries below Russia.




Well Family and friends-------This is my first real chance to post on our blog. I hope you can all see and enjoy some of the things we are enjoying on our mission. I will send an email to let you know that we actally got it done after several weeks here.


Love you all---Mom & Dad

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Mission information

Hi everyone,




We have just spent two days at the Office of General Counsel being trained for our Mission to Moscow, Russia as Assistant Area Legal Counsel. We are busy getting everything ready. In the morning we are meeting in Kaysville with the James & Susan Tadje, the previous couple who served with Bob in the OGC. We will be speaking in church on the 28th and would invite anyone who wants to come and be with us that weekend.




Last week was such a wonderful time at Rebekah & Nate's wedding in San Diego. We will post some pictures taken in California sometime.





Love, Lary & Marianne



PS We are at Kira & Aaron's tonight! She shared this cute picture of Hazel. We hope to get pictures from you all while we are on our mission.