We've had some wonderful temple experiences during the last few weeks. This first picture is of Fatih Yilmaz Parlar. He is from Istanbul, Turkey. He joined the church about 7 years ago in Denmark and just came to the temple for the first time to complete his own endowments. He does not speak Russian but does speak some English, so I was given the opportunity to be his host while he was here. He tried to absorb everything while he was here, so paid close attention to everything and asked a lot of questions. Sometimes we could not communicate very well, but we tried. He had dinner with us after spending the day at the temple so we got to take his picture. Before he left, he asked if he could pray for us. We couldn't understand anything and we suppose that he was speaking Turkish. He told us that there are a number of church branches in Istanbul, although none of them are large. We asked him what church assignments he had held and he said, "Everything; in a small branch you get lots of assignments."
A week ago, we had three couples from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, who came to spend 2 days serving at the temple. It took a day for them to fly here and this is the closest temple. We were surprised to learn that they have a Stake there. Of the three couples, one is a bishop and one is the stake executive secretary. The bishop is an area sales manager for Ford Motor in that part of the world.
Winter is coming but before the weather got too cold, we had the opportunity to spend a sunny day in the center part of Kiev along the Dnieper River. The bank of the river on the West side has an elevation of several hundred feet above the level of the river and afforded some great views. As we came out of the subway, there was an entrance to a tram called the Funiculer that went to the top of the hill. It was an interesting experience to ride it. One car was at the top when the other was at the bottom. they were pulled by a cable and passed in the middle. I could not figure out how the crossover worked even though I took a picture of it.
After getting off the tram, there were several large orthodox cathedrals at the top, some nice parks, and other government buildings. The cathedrals had large gold-covered domes as well as lots of gold inside. Women can't go in unless they have their heads covered so Ruth covered her head with a large tissue as she had no scarf. She received a few funny looks, but they did let us in. (She has since purchased a scarf for such occasions.)
The river is quite large as you can see from this picture and reminds me of the Mississippi River near St. Louis. It bisects Ukraine in a north-south direction, flowing into the Black Sea. It's possible to travel by boat from Kiev down into the Black Sea.
From near the cathedral pictured above, you can look south along the river bank and see additional monuments. The one pictured here is about a half mile away and my telephoto lens doesn't give high resolution to this arch that is somewhat like the one in St. Louis. We didn't have time to go south but we understand there are quite a few additional monuments so in the spring we can have another outing.
Here is one to the major Ukraine government buildings. We didn't get to go in, but understand that it is the Parliament Building. The statue in front is of Anna, the wife of Prince Vladimir, the ruler of Ukraine in 988 a.d. We don't yet know much about the history of Ukraine, but were told that the 2 monks on the right were heavily involved in the development of the Slavic alphabet and in the language that is used here.
This is another beautiful cathedral just behind the parliament building to the north. Anna and Vladimir played a major role in getting these buildings built and in bringing Christianity to Ukraine. Although Christianity was greatly suppressed during the Communist rule of Ukraine, it persisted and has somewhat recovered. This is likely one of the reasons so many people are willing to listen to the missionaries and then become strong members of the Church.of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
This is a close-up picture of the street that comes up the hill to the cathedrals and government buildings. Although is has a Ukrainian name, it is also known as Tithing Street. The street is very rough and very steep. When wagon or cart loads of goods were brought to the top of the hill, many items fell off. They were declared the property of the Orthodox Church and were called tithing. Along the sides of this street little street-side vending shops called renuks have been set up and cater to the tourists. I think you can find most any item of interest to a visitor ranging from paintings, wood carvings, clothing, fur hats, military relics, etc. Please come and visit us and we'll take you to spend your money.
This is a p.s. from Mom. You better come see us since your father (brother, brother-in-law, etc.) said he'd take you shopping! That will be a wonder in and of itself since he loves shopping and spending his money so much. Dan and Kay Black have been wonderful to take us to see the fun sites they have discovered. There is still more to see, as was mentioned above. I suspect we could go every week for our entire mission and not see it all. However, that is not our main purpose for being here, so we don't want to get too carried away.
We are looking forwarding to the Dnepropetrovsk Mission and more members from Rostov this week. Rostov was just here this past week and it was a neat experience to serve with them. They brought about six deaf members who were so diligent and took part in everything. It was great to serve them! Life is wonderful. We are blessed daily to be serving with such wonderful saints and to feel the Spirit daily in the Temple! Be sure to take advantage of the wonderful blessings of the temple. They are so readily available to you that you may not make as much effort as would be beneficial. We love you all and bear our testimonies that this is the work of the Lord. His gospel is the only way to true and lasting happiness. In it we can find the solutions to all of the problems in our lives. Remember, it is through difficulties and trials that we grow and are polished and refined.
Love,
Dad & Mom (Grandpa & Grandma, etc.)
