Moscow in the Winter

This was my last trip to Moscow while working for SDL. This picture is of me, A.T. Stair and Dmitry during my quick trip late January to discuss future potential work with the Russians. The weather in Moscow was about the same as what we experience in Grays Lake, but sometimes warmer and slightly more mild.

I talked with a couple serving a mision in Kiev. They will come home in August, and have enjoyed their mission. Hard work and long hours, but well worth it. They said the Church has a mini Church Office Center in Kiev, which is the doorway to Russia as well as other Eastern European countries. Tha is most likely where we will work, which is in the City. We did find out that we will have to rely on public transportation all the time as no missionaries other than the President has a car. He has a driver so he does not drive much. The temple should be dedicated in the early Fall, we think. It is supposed to be finished in late June, but it takes a few months to get the approvals to occupy and use it. We look forward to some folks coming to visit us during our mission.

Tom H.

Russian or Ukrainian?

Well, the call came this morning. We are called to serve in Kiev, Ukraine in the Public Affairs Missionary Office as a Public Affairs Specialist(???) for 18 months. Provo MTC report date is 24 May, 2010. Exact duties are subject to change per the Mission President.

I hope our Cowboy English and miniscule Russian will get us by, but the official language is Ukrainian. It has a slight resemblance to Russian, at least to foreigners.

We are very excited and look forward to the upcoming challenges. The report time is perfect, as it will allow us to get the yard in some sort of order, time to decided what we will do with the house, and may enable me to help with some of the fencing in Grays Lake for the summer.

I think the Kiev temple will be dedicated this summer, so it will be a lot of fun and create a lot of opportunities. I am concerned about the language, but I think we will do fine unless we have to speak Ukrainian or even Russian. Getting around should not create a problem. I did visit Kiev about 13 years ago, and remember it was quite impressive. There are about 41 million people in Ukraine, but they are struggling with the global economic downturn and adjusting to post-Soviet times.

We are looking forward to it.

Dad and Mom

Although I do not have a neat picture, I want you to know that one of my New Year's resolution is to help keep our blog up. I bet we will do better than Jana and Clint.

Grandpa H.