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