A Visit To Armenia

This picture of the cows on the road were taken in a Kurdish village. There is a cow herder that goes out each morning and picks up all the cows to take them to graze for the day. As he returns at night he brings all the cows back and as they go by their road they just peel off.

Pictures depicting the countryside of Armenia. I found it a relly poor county, with a lot of rubble around everywhere.





This is a picture of The Marriot where we stayed.
This is a building just across the square-think this was a government building.
This is the Pagan Temple that we climbed to the top of - the stairs were quite steep but did not compare to the magnitude of those in Mexico. Was destroyed and rebuilt in 1960's.
This is the Church-Monstary built in the side of the mountain. Lots of the rooms are carved out of the mountain side.
This is a picture of a pen of sheep/lambs located next to the meat shop.This is the local meat shop. The meat is hanging on the hooks for you to choose what would you like for the day.





Dear Family and Friends,

Sorry, I am slow in getting my thoughts together and posting to the blog. On the 17th April we flew to Armenia so we could test some Elders who had been exposed to TB and do an "inspection" of hospital facilities for safety in treating the missionaries. We got in about 3:00 AM and they had a very nice Marriot where we stayed for two nights, as nice as any we have probably ever stayed. As the Mission Pres. was not going to be able to pick us up til Monday morning we decided to do a day trip to some areas around Armenia. We had a tour guide who took us to a "Pagan Temple" and a Christian Monastery/Church. We learned quite a bit about the Armenia history. Armenia is a land locked country, has no natural resources, an unemployment rate of 70% and the first county to embrace Christianity. It is borded by Turkey, Iran, Russia and Georgia. The first two, they have been fighting with for years, they won't let any of them even travel through their borders. In fact the Mount Ararat, which Armenia claims as theirs is actually now located within Turkey. This is the Mount where Noah's Ark is buried (?). There is a population of 7 million Armenians in the World of which only 3 million actually live here. A lot of them go out to make a living for their family which stays at home. There is also very little timber in the area so they use cow chips as their source of fuel. Aremenia has a Christian Church which is called the "Apostolic Church" which dates back to 300AD. With 70% unemployment rate a lot of men can be seen on the roadside talking - solving the Worlds problems - or playing games. There has been a lot of structural damage from the earthquakes that have hit this area and they seem to make no effort to clean up the rubble.

We visted the Pagan Temple called Garni. This was built to a sun God. The steps were very steep which reminded us of the ruins in Mexico, but not any where near the size of those ruins in Mexico. This was destroyed by an earthquake in the 1600's and rebuilt in 1960, out of some of the original stones. At one time there was a Christian monastery for nuns built next to it. There are also some Roman baths that were used by some King and Queens on the property, from 300AD. There are probably other buried structures but there is no monies for escavations. Need to go out. SO Need to Bathe (the hot water was off for the day and when it came back on it was orange. They have also turned the heat off in our apartment for the summer. Have had to go back putting a heavy blanket on at night. Will finish the posting later with pictures. MOM

The Mystery Is Solved?

It is amazing. They dig up all the grass and then reseed it. The pigeons and other birds think it is a God send. They are planting a lot of new trees around the area.
The apricot trees are all around the area and are in full bloom. Wonder if anyone can eat the apricots when they become ripe? Who claims what?
This is a spot in the front of our apartment where I decided to plant Zinnia. Wanted to see how well that black soil will grow.

Almost from the beginning of arriving in the Ukraine I have had a problem with my taste buds. Everything taste like baking soda and at times I even feel like I have salt on my lips. It happened when I made my first cake so we thought that the baking soda had a clump in it or it didn't get dissolved good, from then on I made sure the baking soda got mixed well. The odd taste continued. I even mentioned this to Elder Lee, a dentist, thinking maybe he had heard of this happening. Nada! John even told me to call an Internist in the States thinking I may have a metabolic imbalance and since this has been going on for almost three months I was beginning to think maybe I was sick and developing diabetes, etc. I even tried to get your dad to lick my lips to see if he could taste what I was tasting - he was a no go for that idea - oh, well I tried. Even when I taste my hand I can taste salt. The tip of my tongue even as I sit here typing burns and I have a metalic taste in my mouth. This was most noticeable after all the baking goods that I made, at least to me. John did not have that problem. Yesterday the Elders came over and they brought me a box cake to make. Since I gave them lunch and used the left over cake I had, I made the box cake for the Elders that were to come over for supper. I made a white icing, powder sugar from Germany and put two packages of vanilla in it because I was just going to make a white icing, not chocolate. I tried the cake and to my surprise it burned my tongue and I tasted baking soda. Oh, well I thought it must be the powder sugar since it was a cake mix. When we came came home Natasha was already here, we now have a Ukrainian Sister who is waiting to go to America living with us, and we were discussing what she ate and how I always had this taste in my mouth. She immediately sa1d "it's the vanilla, that's a cheap kind and they make it out of , I don' know what". So I go in and open a package, put my finger in, taste it and think, no it's okay, so I try a bigger bite and Yelp that's the taste that I have had in my mouth for 3 months! So I don't know how long it will take to work that "poisoning" out of my system but I will definetely get a new vanilla. And to think I put twice as much in my cake for the flavor. Hope this will finally make eating more enjoyable, that taste has been in my mouth almost 24/7.

Natash,is a return missionary, who is going to the States to get her professional Genealogy license. She had been living in an apartment with a Single Senior Missionary who went home about 2 months early to help her daughter with back surgery. Natasha then lived in a apartment by herself for a month but did not like the apartment, not very nice she said. So she has moved in with us, she can help with Russian, she translates medical records for us, takes us places, etc. She will probably go home for the month in June and then hopes to go to the States in July.

Our life has been rather the same the past two weeks and I have been a little slow in writing. Dad even was feeling a little "under-used" on Wednesday and was thinking that he could of been more valuable in staying at home, still working and paying his tithing, etc. Well, we have decided that we will never complain about the amount of work we are doing because since then we have hardly been off of the phone. Had to send another missionary home for surgery, had one bleeding for over 2 months, have 2 or 3 with diarrhea, etc. We will just do the work the Lord has called us to do with a grateful heart! We head to Armenia tomorrow evening. Will only be gone til next Thursday evening but will be able now to go to a Stake Fireside Next Friday evening with the Area President Counselor, President Gibbons.

We will meet with all the senior couples at a surprise birthday party for Brent Lee tonight. Also need to go to the Service Center to work on missionary medical recoupments.

Sometimes I am a little hesitant to write about the "tender mercies" I have in my life but I want to express my love to my Heavenly Father for the one of healing at this time. Sunday night I woke up around 1:30. I had a leg cramp and had to get up to put pressure on it to get rid of it. I then went back to sleep for a short time and was again awakened. This time I had a pain in my right flank. Got up to go to the bathroom. And then began to feel nauseated. John woke up to see what was going on and I replied that I did not feel well, felt nauseated and had a pain. He then told me to let him check my abdomen. He did and then I told him that was not where the pain was. I would think that after all the kidney stones I have had he would know how my symptoms present, but sometimes I just wonder. I headed to the bathroom a few more times with the waste can in hand, in case I had to vomit, I did a small amount once. By this time I guess I was in my pacing mode and was beginning to get a little perspiring. When one has a kidney stone it is hard to get in a comfortable position, thus the pacing. He then asked if I wanted a blessing, I replied wait a few. Then we decided we had better go look for the pain medication, we brought some along just for this sceranio. Anyway he gave me a blessing. Then we tried to lay back down when he jumped up again and told me he needed to give me another blessing, this time telling me the pain and stone would go away and cause no problem. He also gave me a pain medication and went to the kitchen where he was doing the dishes. I immediately preceeded to vomit up the medication and water he gave me. I then decided to lay down and as I was doing this I noticed that the pain was lower and that it was easing up. By the time John came back to bed and we laid down, the pain was basically gone, and we slept through the rest of the night. John just replied that he had never know any one to pass a stone in less that an hour - I am pretty sure that was what I had as I had the typical sympoms for me. I am so thankful for this blessing as I sure did not to want to labor 2-3 days and only pass a stone. I truly feel that this was a healing power in my life.

We do love you all, miss you, and pray that you are aware of the blessings in each of your lifes, even with struggles. May the Lord Bless each of you in you needs. Love Mom, Dad, GM, GP, J&J

Life in Kiev

Apparently there are hedgehogs that live outside the apartments in Obalone. I try not to go out late at night to see them or anything else but he is rather cute. We have not done a lot of traveling these past two weeks. A week ago Tues. we had the Branch Pres. over with his wife and daughter. They came through a blizzard like snow storm. The ground was to warm for much of the snow to stick but the lights did go out while we were eating dessert. Made for an interesting night, however we were prepared and had candles and even matches, thanks to the Lees. As you know Pres. Bush came for a visit this week. We were instructed to keep out of Central as there were a lot of protesting going on. Was told that there were lots of protestors.




One thing that I love here is all the flowers that one can buy at about any place in the area. However, as Dad found out, they are not always as cheap as we think they should be. On Women Days the flower vendors just seemed to multiple.



This is a picture of the best University in Ukraine. It is in Kiev. It cost about $10,000 per semester to go here. If you could see the cars parked in front they are like Porches, Jaguars, Mercedes B. etc, only the rich go here I am told. I sometimes wonder how the education system works because Pres. Davis said that when he talked to a man cleaning the street by his home he was told that he had been a physist. Many of the highly educated in the former system can not make a living in their profession now.

We continue with the phone calls from the missionaries. Some days it seems like dad is always on the phone and others are really quiet. We will go to Armenia on the 19th -27th of April. That should be an interesting trip. Will try to see what kind of Medical facilities they have in that area. Did visit The American Clinic here. Some family from Connecticut, that had ancestors from Russia, have established these clinics in Russia and Ukraine. They serve most of the xpats, etc. They hire Dr. that speak English to work for them. It seemed like a clean place.

On Saturday we went to another baptism. We traveled with the Elders in a taxi. The Elders who were to fill the font forgot to do so and they had to help fill the font with extra water from buckets. Oh, the life in Ukraine is interesting. Also had a desire for American food, besides Mc Donalds, so we actually went to TGIF twice last week. We took a couple of Elders once and they enjoyed that. Have also had the Elders over for a couple of dinners, they always seem to appreciate that as they tell us that they are usually short on monies. We even went to the International Branch for fast meeting last Sunday. That was good for us to do. My knee has another pain in the left side so I am walking a little slower. Dad said to tell you that he always thought he could never get tired of walking 10 miles a day but he is even having second thoughts about that. I found the Missouri Death Certificates on line from 1910-1957 so am doing a little genealogy. Hope all is going well in your homes. Think of you often, pray for you and miss you. Luv Mom and Dad, GM & GP, J&J

A Visit to Chernobyl

We had the opportunity to travel with three other couples to Chernobyl yesterday. The Mission President was along with us so I thought if he was going then we could possibly be safe. Just a little bit of history about the area. In about 1972 the city of препять (Prepat) was started out in the country as a city to house those that worked at the nuclear plant named Chernobyl. Prepat became a city of 50,000 and was considered the most modern in all of Russia, actually it is on about 80 miles from Kiev and is in Ukraine, and very good place to live. It was only 13 years old when the disaster struck. On 26 April 1986 it was decided that an experiment to test the capabilties of the reactor would be done. Some of the safety precautions were removed and the test failed. Many people in the area did not know that radiation was released so they went out on roof tops to watch the cloud and fire and the children went to a bridge close to the area to watch. The firefighters and first response people died within three weeks of exposure. The next day over 35,000 people were removed from Prepat within two hours. There is no exact number of the people who have died from this. This city is still in the 8 mile radius of the ractor and is uninhabited. There are workers at the site but they stay for only about 20 minutes at a time in certain zones. Radiation levels of under 50 are considered safe, some areas go to over 3000 rads. This is a picture of reactor number 4, it is the one that failed. It is now encased in cement to keep the radiation in but that cover is failing. France has offered to pay for a new encasement.
This next picture is of reactors number 1 and 2. They were finally all closed down in the early 90's as another fire broke out and they became another safety issue.
This is a picture of reactors 5 and 6. They were to be finished in 1986, they were 90% complete but were abandoned after the first accident.




Following are some pictures of the city. The Ferris wheel was to begin running on 1 May as there is always a big May Day celebration in Russia. In fact Kiev had that celebration but none of the government officials came. This has become a famous ferris wheel. I think most of these pictures speak for themselves. The bridge is called the "Bridge of Death". You can see the diving board through the window in one picture, another is of a hotel. Will put a few of the apartment buildings on. Later looters came in and took anything that was left and sold much of the furniture in Kiev. When we were driving out we saw a herd of wild boars. There were about 15 of them and vey big. It is now called "the Ghost Town". There is hardly any noise, we heard none but think maybe those boars may make some noise some time. But as the saying goes when a tree falls if no one is there to hear is it a sound? John mentioned that he saw no birds in the area.



Chernobyl is a country town about 16 miles from the reactor site. It had about 16,000 inhabitants at the time. Now we were told that there about 40 people who have returned to their homes. If they are going to die they would rather die at home than be homesick the rest of their lives. Am posting some pictures of the town Chernobyl. There are a couple of monuments also in this area. We also had a meal prepared for us in Chernobyl.



Just wanted to show you that there really are storks - they live above the pole on the right!
Dad may be sideways but he was checked for radiation before they would let us out.





I just looked out the window and it is snowing, we thought Spring had come. We both are doing well. we have had a busy week and have been down to the city the past three days so today we are just answering phone calls from home. Tomorrow, we will have the Lees and two companionships over for dinner. Sat. will head to the Church for the RS Birthday celebration. They want me to bring Brownies so will have to make a couple of batches, probably one brownie and one Texas sheet cake. We love you all, write and let us know what is going on once in a while. Luv M&D, GM&GP, J&J

More on Odessa

Sorry, didn't get everything posted before I had to feed the missionaries. Oh, there is another thing I use to make, meatloaf! We went to Odessa last Wednesday for a three day Senior Conference. We met all the other Senior couples serving in the Ukraine Kiev Mission. There are eight of us. One couple, the Williams, came out last week from Pingree, Idaho. They spent Tuesday night with us. He was an Idaho State Rep., just a really nice couple. Most of the other couples are having some really different experiences than we are. One couple, the Reber's are on their third mission to this area, Siberia, Georgia and Ukraine. Just some really great couples. We are now able to recruit anybody that would like to come here. We won't get any more sent until a few of us go home. So drum up some recruits for us! We got to go to the Opera while in Odessa. Got to do some shopping, they have a 7kX7k reninks, little shops with anything you could want.
We only bought two bags to carry our groceries home in and a pair of tights that I want to show the girls (Angie and Marin) for the store.



Wanted to send you a picture from the opera. This shows the costumes and the great scenery. If you just click on the picture it will be larger.




Here is a building in Odessa that is really interesting!
One has to be really skinny to live in that apartment.



Oh, it is an optical illusion!




Will have to post more later. Have some more neat pictures. We are doing fine. Had a long day today, had to go to town to try to find medications, etc. Hope all are doing well. Hope to hear from you soon Luv M&D, GM-GP, J&J

Trip to ODESSA

Odessa, an ancient Greek colony, is a seaport town located about 300 miles South of Kiev founded in Jan 1795. It was a town inhabited from those placed in excile from Russia. The people in Russia's government had never been to the area to check it out and the people got to choose between Siberia and Odessa. Odessa was a favorite choice because it was warm and had lots of educated people. It was a melting pot of European nationality. Alexander Pushkin lived here in internal exile for awhile. There was also a large group of Jews who settled here. Most of these immigrated between 1970-1990s to Israel, US and Western Europe. Today Odessa is a city of over a million people. It is one of the best know tourist cities of Ukraine. This is a picture of the Government building. It overlooks the seaport.


The next few pictures are just some of the many different styles of architect that we saw as we walked the city. They are located down narrow streets and I do not know what kind of buildings they are: apartments, office, etc. There are modern mixed in with older as the WWI soldiers did not destroy all the buildings as they did in some areas.







One of the biggest attractions of Odessa is the Opera House. We were able to see Verdi's "Masquerade Ball" performed. The first Opera House built in 1810 was destroyed by fire in 1873. In 1887 the present Opera House was opened. It is designed in baroque style. A whisper from the stage can be heard in any part of the hall. It is the second most famous Opera House in the World, Milan being the first. When the people learned that the construction cost 1.3 million gold rubles they gasped, but when they saw the new theater they gasped again, this time in admiration. Almost immediately after it was built the foundation began sinking and there were cracks in the foundation. The east side of the theater sank almost seven inches in the first three years. It was remodeled in 1960 and just finished being remodeled again last Oct.. It was beautiful inside and out. The next are outside and inside pictures of the Opera House. The. coustumes and staging was esquisite!