Tom and Shauna

Past Experience Comes in Handy

2011-10-09T03:50:00.000-07:00

Twice a year the Ukrainian Church leaders have asked that we conduct two service projects a year. This is about one Branch in Chernivtsi, which we attend on weekends (yes, that means 32 hours a week on a train to attend church).We helped the Chernivtsi Branch with their Helping Hands Service Project on 1 October. They chose to clean up a park, install some park benches, and repair and paint some playgound equipment. It was a great project that kept 21 people very busy for nearly 5 hours to complete.
In order to install the benches, we had to dig holes (very similar to post holes), place the bench in the holes, mix up a batch of cement and fill the holes so the benchers would not wonder off and remain upright! So this phot is to prove that I still know how to dig post holes in hard ground.

There is an old Soviet Mig in the park, so we called it Mig Park since no one else had a better name for it.

We will try to do a littel better on keeping our blog updated.

Tom and Shauna

Carpathian Mountians in Ukraine

2011-10-09T03:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Western part of Ukraine.

We just returned from several days in the west region of Ukraine, well know as the Carpathian Mountains. We had heard of the Carpathians since we arrived in Ukraine, as everyone talked about THE PLACE to go on vacation for rest, relaxation, beautiful scenery and fresh, clean air. They were right in all cases. The area once belonged to Poland, Hungary, Austria, etc. over the centuries. Thus it has a very distinct European flavor in the cities and landscape.

The highest mountain is about 6200 feet in elevation.

The mountain streams were clear with lots of evergreen trees. We were there the first week in October, with the leaves just starting to turn into fall colors. The mountain roads and small farms reminded us of Austria. Our trusted driver, Vlad, drove all the way to Lviv to pick us up and guide us on our trip. We did spend a few days working with various Branches so it was not all vacation!

One highlight of the trip was the Egg Painting Museum in Kolomyia (which is actually close to Chernivtsi on the east side of the Carpatians). There we saw how the artists painted the eggs that are so prevalent in Ukraine.

Tom and Shauna

Celebrate Anniversary in Istanbul Turkey

2011-09-16T02:03:00.000-07:00

Hi,Shauna and I celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary in Istanbul, Turkey. We spent 5 days in Istanbul and found out why so many people like to vacation in Turkey, at least in Istanbul. Istanbul, formerly Constanople, is located on two continents, Europe and Asia with the Bosphorous waterway separating the two parts.
We visited Roman ruins, many Mosques, several museums and a lot of shopping. Well known is the Grand Bazarr of Istanbul as well as the Egypt (spice) Bazarr. They sell all sorts of things, clothing, food, candies, and everything else imaginable.

We attended the Annual Public Affairs Training meeting for East Europe. We enjoyed meeting all Public Affairs specialists from each of the East European countries and missions. It was a nice time with lots of fun memories. We now know why so many travel agents suggested that one of the best places to visit as a tourist is Turkey. We did not get outside of Istanbul, but maybe next time!

Tom and Shauna

Growing Food in Space and Ukraine

2011-07-28T12:13:00.000-07:00

We were invited to joing the Mayor of the City of Zhutomyr, Ukraine for a tour of the Korolov Space Museum. Sergey Korolov was the mastermind behing all of the Soviet Union's space efforts. In fact, it is his designed Progress Transport vehicle which is the only way astronauts can get to the Internation Space Station since the Shuttle has been retired.
The museum is well done and represents many of the Russian and USSR achievements in space over the years. Korolov was born in Zhutomyr and they made a museum of the house where he was born and across the street is the actual space museum. I was quite surprised when one of the poster exhibits was an experiment showing the growth of plants in space, first on the MIR space station and then on the ISS. Then I recognized the plant growth chambers in the photos taken on the ISS. They were the modules designed and built at the Space Dynamics Laboratory. They were then transported to Moscow for testing and then launched on the Progress to the ISS. Russian astronauts conducted all the experiments and ate the food that was produced.
When I told the Mayor that I worked at SDL, who made the modules and cooperated with the Russians, he became very excited. He aske if I would come back for an interview and write up our history of the program so that the Museum can do a story and display on our cooperative efforts (he was not aware than this was a cooperative effort with the U.S.) They want to grow the international cooperation part of the Museum, and this was a perfect fit. We are looking foward to the follow up interview and story.
Then we had a chance to tour the Nation's largest producer of quail eggs and quail meat in Eastern Europe, maybe even the world. They have about 40,000 quail laying 30,000 eggs a day. They provide quail eggs for all of Ukraine.
We were fortunate to arrive just as about 20,000 quail chicks were hatching. They only eigh about 9 grams when hatched, and are an eating machine. For the first few days while they tripple their weight and size, they like loud noizes. We could whistle and they would come running to you. I guess that is instinct for where the food is. It is amazing how fast they grow and then begine to lay eggs. This photo is of thousands of two day old chicks. They reminded me of a floor covered with cockroaches moving for hiding when the light is turned on. It was fascinating and extremely educational. They gave us 100 fresh eggs that we will boil and put in a salad. They do taste just like chicken eggs, but the shells are several shades of brown kind of like a paint horse.
Having fun in Ukraine.

I Know Where Babies Come From!

2011-07-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

I have now learned where babies come from. This answer came to me as I was gazing out the window of our long Marshrutka rides from Kyiv to Zhutomyr, Ukraine. In fairy tales and old stories, I learned about storks. It ws rumored they brought babies to families. I thought they were just mythological and did not really exist.

But, trip after trip to Zhutomyr I saw several very large gray nests on top of power and telephone poles not too far from the road. Often there were several in a row, one on every pole it seemed. There must have been 50 or more over a 40 mile stretch. At first I thought they were ornamental, man-made to look like large bird nests. They were huge, even bigger than an eagle's nest! I knew eagles would not build a nest in populated areas, so that was out. They were close to houses and barns. I could not imagine any bird willing to build a nest that close to human activity.

Then, one day I saw movement in one of the nests. Upon closer examination, I saw two large white and black birds, one standing on one leg and the other kind of dancing around. This got my attention, so I looked closer at the upcoming nests. Then I saw several young birds in a nest, with one of its parents. They seemed to be mostly beak with a wooly covering on thier bodies. I found out they were the young ones being raised by their parents. The parents looked like the "fictional" storks that I read in those old storybooks when I was a kid.

Then I saw in the fields hundreds of these birds looking for food. They were not as thick as seagulls on a Utah field, but there were hundreds foraging on short grassy fields. When I asked a native what kind of bird they were, he said the English word was "STORK". So they really did exist and they were not just in a fairy tale.

Well, if storks are real, then the rest of the tale must be true as well. Thus, I determined that babies come from Ukraine because that is where storks live, waiting their turn to pick up and deliver babies. Just don't ask me how they know where to deliver them. That is someone else's problem to find out!

Interesting notes from Ukraine

Summer in Ukraine

2011-07-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

Greetings,

Our new mission president, Jorg Klebingat, replaced Lane Steinagel as he and his family arrived on 30 June. We miss the Steinagels, but the Klebingat's are already well adjusted and accustomed to Ukraine since they lived here for about 4 years. He took President Hinckley to view the temple site location options and recounted to us the selection process in which the site was selected, and where the temple now stands. They will do great as we all enter this new chapter of the Kyiv Ukraine Mission.

We are preparing for the next All Ukraine Helping Hands Day, or "Day of Service" as expressed by President Eyring during April Conference. We had a great turnout for ther Helping Hands Day in April and hope to duplicate it in October. In addition to building Branch unity, the media covered many of the projects and reported on them. It is great exposure for the Church as we serve the communities we live in.

We recently spent several days in Crimea where we participated in several Humanitarian Service project closing ceremonies. All the recipient organizations were extremely greatful for LDS Charities support. Typically the assistance is for orphanages, handicapped schools, homeless shelters, homes for the elderly and hospitals. Blankets, desks and dorm furniture, a washing machine and kitchen appliances go a long way to help those in need.

Whilei n Crimea, we took advantage of the long daylight to spend a few minutes near the Black Sea. One very interesting site was the old Soviet submarine tunnel that housed several submarines while being repaired or prepared for sea duty. Built in the 1950's, they were completely hidden from later satellite images. Now they conduct tours though the tunnel and have a nice museum.

We also had a chance to test out the Black Sea beaches. They are very nice, especially as you go further east along the Crimean Peninsula. It has been a cool and somewhat rainy spring, which means the sea temperature is a little lower than they would like. But it was OK for us in getting our feet wet.

We are in a time of uncertainty. If the Church does not replace us, then we have a lot of cleanout to do with our apartment since it serves as our office. If they replace us, then we have to clean up our computers so that they make sense to other people. I never was good a putting together a filing system, and the same goes for a folder system.

More to come later.

Tom and Shauna

Update from Kyiv

2011-06-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

From visiting the temple site to participating in Humanitarian project closings, we seem to be quite occupied here in Kyiv. We have been working with the Ukraine National Public Affairs Council and the Regional Speacilists to put together a plan for next year. Long range planning is relatively new to most of the people we work with, and it has been fun to help them see a vision for the future.

This lovely lady with the hat works with young children that have medical problems. She and her family do "performances" three times a week to the children and their parents. They were asked by the local adiminstration to take these childern from various hospitals and build up their outlook on life. Many will have struggles throughout their life, so instilling a little joy and making them smile is a tremendous accomplishment. They are to be commended for thier work, and their dedication.

We are planning to spend a few days in the Crimea covering Humanitarian Project closings and meeting with leaders to help them in their plans for the upcoming year. When we leave, we hope to have an approved plan in place for them to execute next year. One of the events will be two Helping Hands Days, one in the spring in April and the other in the fall. Every member is encouraged to join in on service projects during those days. The last one, and first one for that matter, was on 2 April. It was a tremendous success. There were many uplifting stories and a common desire to do these on regular basis. It so happens that it fell right in line with the day of service talks of General Conference.

We did spend 4 days in Chernivtsi, a city about the size of Ogden in teh southwestern part of Ukraine. (this is the 15 hour over-night train ride each way). We were able to spend time with Branch members and also participated in a Humanitarian project for wheelchair repairs.

We think there may be a couple designated to replace us. If that is the case, we will be able to determine our departure date. Theya re still awaiting their call, so things can change easily.

Bye for now.

Tom and Shauna

Riga, Latvia on the Baltic Sea

2011-05-28T00:42:00.001-07:00

We enjoyed a lovely trip to Riga, Latvia where we met with the Public Affairs directors for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Riga is a European city that reminded us of Stockholm with a variety of different European architectures. It is at the mouth of the Daugaua River as it opens to the Baltic Sea. With more than 700,000 people, it is the largets city in the Baltic countries. They speak Latvian with many who also speak Russian. Many also speak English and it seems to be used more as time as that is becoming the common language for the European Uniion, which. Their currency is LATs, but will eventually become the Euro.

Even though it was May, the Baltic Sea was quite inviting. There is a large Bay that enables the water to stay quite warm and less salty. We enjoyed walking on the beautiful sandy beaches.

During WWII, over 100,000 Jews were killed in a concentration camp on the outskirts of Riga. They now have a huge memorial park and museum to rememeber what took place.

We were treated to huge palaces built for royalty as summer palaces. They were gorgeous and the gruonds were spectacular. The lilacs were in full bloom and one did not want to leave the gardens tehy were so pretty.

Although small, Latvia was a very pleasant surprise on how modern it is, its beautiful and colorful architecture, how clean and upkept everything was, and what a great place to go as a tourist. We would go there in a heartbeat.

Our host was the Baltic Mission Public Affairs Director, Inara Jegina, who also runs a travel service. So we were well taken care of and saw lots of beautiful sites, including castles, restored palaces, new and renovated sity buildings and structures, and a gorgeous city. We even managed to obtain a Monopoly game in Latvian. Photos are of the city, the Russian palace built 200 years ago, a view of the old town.

Tom and Shauna

Sofia, Bulgaria

2011-05-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

We made a short trip to Sofia, Bulgaria to obtain a new visa to complete our mission. While there we took in a few sights of the city. Bulgaria is in the European Union, and was more westward looking that what we have experienced in Ukraine. At the same time, that means things cost more ther than in Ukraine.

This is a picture of a square in downtown Sofia in which there were hundreds of bears, all the same size and shape, but painted to represent each country in the world. Altough we did not look too closely, we assumed the bear painted as the Statue of Liberty represented the USA.
There were many very colorful and artistically painted bear statues.

The biggest cathedral is known as the Gold Dome, which is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and represents SOfia as a substantial landmark.

One of our (my) highlights was a visit to the Bulgarian Military Museum. There were lots of military hardware that stems from the Soviet times.

One was the illusive Scud missile that was used by Iraq in the first Gulf war against Israel and the Allied forces.

Most impressive, however, was the lengthy history of Bulgaria and the excellent displays that were housed in a 4 story museum. Bulgaria was at the crossroads of many invaders and/or occupiers of their land. Located in the Balkins they have been subjected to the Russians, Ottoman Empire, Romans, Hungarians, Germans, etc., etc. They sided with Germany in WWI and WWII, but ended up on the Allied side in WWII. They were a satellite country in the Soviet Union days, but not part of the Soviet Union. They do claim that they protected all the Jews that lived in Bulgaria from the Nazi exterminations.

We enjoyed our brief visit to Bulgaria. We even found a Bulgarian Monopoly game and an Anti-Monopoly game. It will be fun to see what that means.

Bye for now.

Tom and Shauna

All Ukraine Helping Hands Day 2 April 2011

2011-04-06T12:20:00.000-07:00

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ukraine contributed more than 3,000 hours of community service on 2 April 2011 as part of the first ever All Ukraine Helping Hands Day. Some 50 communities were served by over 1100 volunteers throughout Ukraine. Projects included children’s playground repair and painting, repairing park benches, riverbank and park clean-up and many more things. Wearing the distinguishable Helping Hands white and yellow vests, volunteers worked with community leaders and other organizations to make Ukraine a better place to live.

In Chernivtsi, 30 volunteers refurbished the square near the monument to Maxim Gorky, clearing the park of debris, clipping the shrubs and planting flowers to welcome spring. Among the participants were community leaders: the district council chairman for Sadhirskoyi, George Burega, and Head of Environment District Councilman Sergei Melenchuk. In Sevestapol, a children’s playground was renovated with other congregations offering to join in on future projects to better serve the community. Project zaklyuchavsya located at Ivano-Frankivsk was the repair, cleaning and painting children's playground Danyy Maydanchyku. The cemetery in heart of the city of Rivne was readied for spring by cleaning the grounds, removing dead leaves, fallen branches, the winter buildup of trash, and other debris. In Lviv, the weather cleared just in time to clean, repair and paint the benches in Ivan Franko park, located in the heart of the city. City leaders were very pleased with the work and want to encourage such cooperative efforts throughout the city.

In Kiev, more than 350 members and their friends wearing vests with the words "Helping Hands” served in 9 locations, including the traditional clearing and cleaning of Babi Yar park joined by other congregations. Other places were determined to serve the local State Administration and utilities for maintaining green space. In Lutsk, invited friends and acquaintances numbered 35 people, who removed debris in the park Lesya Ukrainka and cleaned the beach on the river bank Stir. In the Mining District of Makeyevka, 25 members of the Church managed to clean the Square located around the Palace of Culture and remove garbage. In Donetsk, volunteers cleaned the territory of the city park, removing the debris accumulated over the winter months.

In Billa Tserka, a well organized group of 40 members cleaned the large park area, inviting other organizations to join in and participate in cleaning up the surrounding areas and festivities. Although in somewhat rainy conditions, 14 joined forces in Zhutomyr to clean the park in commemoration to Yuri Gagarin, removing over 25 bags of garbage and debris, making the grounds presentable and attractive for taking a stroll across the wooded areas. In Maripul, 20 combined their efforts to clean the large housing area that surrounds the church.

That same day, Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints asked all members around the world to perform a “Day of Service” to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Church’s welfare program. President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, made the announcement during the Saturday morning session at the 181st Annual General Conference. Local Church leaders decide the details of each project and Latter-day Saints are encouraged to invite neighbors and friends of the Church to participate. “The feelings of unity will multiply the good effects of the service you give. And those feelings of unity in families, in the Church, and in communities grow and will become a lasting legacy long after the project ends,” President Eyring said.

His words were demonstrated in deed, and fully realized during the All Ukraine Helping Hands Day, 2 April 2011. The consensus from participants is that this should become an annual event in Ukraine, encouraging cooperation with local communities and other organizations within the communities.

Visit to Armenia

2011-02-07T11:07:00.000-08:00

So, where in the world do you think the photo below was taken? About a year ago, I went to Promontory Point to watch a rocket test firing at Thiokol, and this is what it looked like when looking back at the mountains to the east of Tremonton. When we woke up in Yerevan, Armenia, it was hazy with some snow in the higher elevations. It reminded us of northern Utah with the valleys and mountains. We went to see Mt. Ararat to see if we could help locate Noah's ark, but had no luck.

This is what it is supposed to look like most of the year. The climate is not too different from Albuquerque, but it hardly ever snows in the valleys of Armenia. Armenia is located just east of Turkey. It borders Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Azerbijan. The borders are generally closed except with Georgia, which borders Russia. In addition to Noah's ark tourism, Armenia is famous for great fruit (apricots, peaches, apples, pomogranits, grapes, etc.). Their most famous export is wine.

We stayed at the Marriott Hotel in the center of Yerevan, thanks to Jeromy's discout he got for us. It is the best hotel in Armenia and we enjoyed our stay there. It is located on Republic Square, which is a very modern and beautiful area with a great big round-about.

Our hosts were Margarit and Sergus. They took us around for a day to see many of the interesting sites around Yerevan, including the genocide memorial that pays tribute to the 1915 massacre by the Turks of Armenians. This needle statue is located by an eternal flame. The Armenians still do not get along with the Turks, so that is why the border is still closed. The Turks also took land away from Armenia in 1915, which included Mt. Ararat. They still remember it well.

The Armenian Christian Church is the big player throughout Armenia. We went into a few churches and museums to see what they were like. The Apostle Bartholomew carried out part of his ministry in Armenia, so it has a very long tradition of Christianity, since the 1st century AD. Below is a photo of a bible that was hand scribed in Armenian. There are 36 letters in their alphabet, and we could not read a single letter. It has some resemblence to Thai so maybe Britt and James could decipher some of it. There is a single mission that covers both Armenia and Georgia. The two languages are totally different, but the common language that many speak is Russian.

We went to a monastary up in the mountains that was built into and from the rocks in the mountainside. As you can see from the photo, we were in snow at this elevation. It rained in the valley and snowed in the mountains most of the time we were there. We need to go back during apricot season, and hopefully get a better view of Ararat.

Armenia suffers from many people leaving for better living conditions. There are more Armenians in Claifronia than there are in Armenia. Many go to Russia to find jobs, but many do not return as they prefer to not live in Armenia again. It is quite sad, but hopefully things will pick up in the future.

We cannot leave without a picture of the Kyiv temple, and how it looks in January. Our winter has been quite mild, with a little snow and cold. We do not mind it at all. We have been a lot warmer than the temperatures back home.

We need to go to Bulgaria and the Baltics in the next couple of months. We look forward to the adventures. It is hard to believe that we are nearly half way through our mission.

Bye for now.

Tom and Shauna

Winter In Kyiv

2011-01-15T08:54:00.000-08:00

This is a view of our apartment (on the left) just across the playground. They use the playgound as much in the winter as they did during the summer. We had a couple inches of snow, but it warmed up enough that it is all melted. Some of the grass is still green as the snow melted. Another view of the building construction in the middle of our apartment complex. Almost all of the apartments in view are not yet occupied, so we expect the foot traffic to really grow as they build out the apartments. The new construction will be a health and fitness center with swimming pool. There was little construction during the summer, and we thought it was the slow economy. Since the weather turned colder, there is apartment construction work going on everwhere. I count 14 new buildings goin up from where I took the photo. So the economy must be picking up.

We went to the temple Saturday morning. This picture shows an early morning picture of the temple with a new dusting of snow. The nativity scene is on the right. The temperature has hovered around 32 degrees the last couple of weeks, and all the snow melted by noon today.

Time to get some work done.

Tom and Shauna

Happy New Year

2011-01-10T23:06:00.000-08:00

We are still celebrating the end of the Christmas season, and the beginning of the New Year. We were surprised at all the Christmas trees, both artificial and real, that were everywhere. The Ukrainians are more festive and really celebrate the new year coming around. It was fun to experience it. These are some carolers from a local church that came by our apartment and sang. They sure had beautiful voices. It was the first time that anyone that we did not know knocked on our door. Kind of surprising.

Shauna's Christmas plant started to bloom and was in full force during the Orthodox Christmas (7 Janaury). Not sure how it knew what country it was in but it really produced.

The day after Christmas, the Stake held a children's party. It was in commemoration of Christmas, but was a cross between our holloween and Christmas. All the kids came dressed up in costumes, with a lot of animals represented. They portrayed a typical Christmas story that involved good guys and bad guys, with the good guys winning over the bad guys. They really had a lot of fun, and it was totally different than anything we had expereienced. We look forward to getting an English version of the storyline and plot.

Now we have to go back to work.

Tom and Shauna

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011

2010-12-31T22:31:00.000-08:00

We brought in the New Year walking around downtown Kyiv with Elder and Sister Miner, Humanitarian couple from Bountiful that arrived about a month ago. We are standing in front of a Christmas tree at St. Sophia's calthedral, one of the historical monuments in Kyiv. We then took a stroll down Kreshatik, the main street in the heart of Kyiv. The lights were phenomenal. Thier Independence Square is like Times Square in New York, only larger. Following are a few photos from the evening.

There were bands playing, vendors selling all sorts of Chirstmas things (Christmas is not until 7 January so this seemed like the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. A light snow falling really shows up when using the flash on your camera.

One of the themes in walking in the underground shopping is the really neat clothes for children. I think we will be seeing more pink and purple from the looks of what is available in the stores.

The streets are full of New Years and Chirstmas lights. They were amazing, and the people really enjoy them. There were many St. Nicholas', Father Frost's, and mor and more Santa Clause's walking and entertaining the crowds. We tried to capture the magnitude of their celebration with a few photos. I believe New Year's celebration is their biggest holiday event of the year, and they really do it well.

We brought in the New Year 9 hours before most of the family. It was a cool, festive time in Kyiv. Lots of lights, people and fireworks. We spent the last couple of hours in 2010 with the Kamka's, the CES missionaries from Idaho Falls that live in our apartment building 4 floors above us. They have a better view looking toward the city and all the fireworks. There were more than 100 different fireworks displays. Seems as though every neighborhood set off fireworks that lasted until at least 2:30. The closest was just outside our window less than 100 yards away. It was fun and people were partying all night long. It is now 8:00 in the morning and things have quieted down.

Tom and Shauna

Christmas Comes Twice a Year

2010-12-26T11:38:00.000-08:00

Greetings all,

In Eastern Europe, the regular Christmas Holiday is 7 January based upon the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox religions. So we get to celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December as well as the 7th of January. But the 25th was pretty much a regular day in our life. We are starting to see lots of evergreens for sale as Christmas trees, and a lot of artificial ones as well. We have a 1 meter tall tree in our apartment all decorated. It will have to stay there until about the 10th of January. They also celebrate New Year's a little differently, since they have two calendars. The common one used is what we are used to, but the New Year's holiday goes until after the 10th of January. So we are looking forward to people on holiday for a couple of weeks. This is the card (in English) that we prepared for the Church to send out.

We attended a small Branch in Zhutomyr, which takes us about 3 hours to get to each way. First by metro to the Vaxhall, then Martruska for 2 hours to Zhutomyr, then a 2o minute walk to the house they use as the church. All the young kids belong to the Branch President. There are some young men and women, but attendance is kind of scarce. They held a Christmas program on the 25th and had 40 people attend. So there is potential for a larger attendance. The Branch President used to be a rock star, and his family is very talented.

We are keeping very busy with Public Affairs training. We leave early in the morning to go to the Crimea for a couple of days. We hope to take a few hours and go to the Black Sea, near Yalta. I have always wanted to go there, and this may be our only chance. We chose to fly instead of the 18 hour train ride. We will see how it goes. We previoulsy went to the Black Sea at Odessa, but it was so foggy that you could not see across the pier let alone into the sea.

The Kyiv temple has been very busy since it opened. They say it is too small for the number of patrons using it. That is a great problem to have. They are trying to organize a stake in Moscow, so if that happens then maybe they will announce another temple in Eastern Europe. From expereience we know that it will take awhile to build, however.

We wish all a Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!

Tom and Shauna

Travel Log to Kharkov

2010-10-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

We had a Public Affairs Council meeting in Kharkov, Ukraine, which is a 5.5 hour train ride from Kyiv. We took the day train to see

the countryside, and spent the night in a nice hotel. We spent a little time in downtown Kharkov. It was quite impressive and a very beautiful fall day. Lots and lots of fountains with wedding couples everywhere. One fountain was a little different version of "The Kiss" that we had never seen before with two bronze statues stretching across the fountain.

Another eye catching display in a park was various churches encased in glass. Reminded usof the Temple crystals that have been a tremendous hit over here, at least of the Kyiv temple.

We enjoyed the train ride, but it sure was hot on the way back. They do like it warm inside here, whether at work, on the train or at home. By the way, we had a great Public Affairs training meeting in Kharkov. It lasted about 4 hours and then we had lunch before heading back home. It was a very pleasant weekend.

Bye for now.

Tom & Shauna

Fun Experience in Khmelnitsy

2010-10-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

It seems as if everyone wanted an interview at the Blind Humanitarian project in Khmelnitsy, Ukraine. Several reporters from Ukrainian TV and newspapers covered the event. There was one shot of our missionary badge that was shown on the TV news. Two weeks later one of the missionaries serving in Khmelnitsy came up to me in Kyiv during transfers with a big smile on his face. He said everyone in Khmelnitsy saw the news story, and what a wonderful organization the church was for sponsoring it. They recoginized the missionary badge, even the local barber, and compleimented them on the grat example of the Church. Their reception on the street and in homes was greatly improved as a result. We owe our thanks the humanitarian folks who put this together.

Now the Mission President has us going back and speaking in their Branch this Sunday.

T & S

More of L\viv, Ukraine

2010-10-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

L'viv of Ukraine will host some of the Euro2012 soccer games. We did not see the stadium, but the town will be ready. They are working feaverishly to make the road from Kyiv to L'viv drivable. Lots done, but lots more to do. It seemed to me that L'viv was way ahead of Kyiv in preparing for the games. They are totally renovating one stadium in Kyiv, and they will have to hurry to make it in time.

The second picture is of a typical street in L'viv that accommodates a trolly for public transportation. The streets are mainly cobblestone, so not the smoothest for driving or walking. It is a clean, quaint and pretty European city. It has several McDonalds, for what that is worth.

Outside L'viv about 70 km is this castle, which is undergoing restoration. Again, lots has been done, but lots to do. They are strapped for cash to take on all of these projects. The economy has not helped at all.

This also goes for our apartment complex. Barely more than a year old, they are starting to work on finishing the buildings. There is to be a parking garage beneath each apartment building, but the concrete driveway into the parking lot does not exist. Money drives the schedule.

Tom and Shauna

L'viv, a Taste of Western Europe in Ukraine

2010-10-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

I felt sorry for this dairy cow. She needed to be milked a day or two ago. There were several cows that looked miserable, but they were driving them to, I assume, a milking barn. Just some of the neat cultural in Ukraine.

Ukraine and Poland are co-hosts of Euro2012. One of the cities to host these soccer matches is a City in Western Ukraine called L'viv. It has a very European flavor to it. Fortunately it was not destroyed during World War II, like most of the cities in Ukraine. First by the Nazis and then by the Russians as they drove out the Germans.

L'viv is about 400 miles west of Kyhiv. We went there in a car with a councilor in the Mission Presidency. It was fun to see all the country and listen to his many stories. We stopped at a couple of castles taht dated back to the 16th century. It was great. But next time we will most likely take the overnighte train since you can sleep while travelling for 1q hours.

There are two branches in L'viv, and they have a big beautiful LDS building to meet in. We spent a couple of nights in L'viv and took in some of the sights. We ate at a restaurant called the G9lden Boar. There used to be lots of wild pigs in ukraine. They had one stuffed hanging from the ceiling. It was huge, and looked like a big steer ready for slaughter. At any rate, it was a fun city to visit and we look forward to going back over the next few months.

We went into a couple of Catholic Churches of various backgrounds, which was ineresting. We saw more people in the churches on this Saturday morning than any other churches we have been to in all of Europe. Most of them were older women, but a few men and younger people.

The church has been invited to participate in a religious museum in L'viv. So we will most likely be involved in building a display to go into the museum. There seems to be more religious tolerance in Western Ukraine, so we look forward to help set that up.

It seemed good to spend a little time away from the hustle and bustle of Kyiv. We also enjoy getting out a seeing a little of the country. The soil is so rich and the crops are bountiful. It is fun to see the horses pulling wooden wagons, most single horse drawn but some teams. We see lots of dairy cows, but no beef. We have not even seen any pigs even thought that is a staple in Ukraine. We will keep our eyes out for them.

So long for now.

Tom and Shauna

Life 25 Years After People

2010-10-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

A few senior missionary couples trvelled to Chernoble, a former city north of Kyiv about 80 miles. Chernoble is where the nuclear power plant blew up in 1986 and created a lot of rediation contamination throughout Eastern Europe. Belarus was the hardest hit and many peo died due to the readiation exposure. The prevailing winds were westerly after the explosion, and then northward. So even thought Kyiv is only 80 miles away, most of the effects left Kyiv untouched, except that the Dnipro reiver runs through Chrnoble and then down to Kyiv. Needless to say, people are still afraid to swim or eat any fish that come from the river. All missionaries are precluded from eating any local fish, and of course they do not go swimming. After 25 years, people are starting to go back to Chernoble. We took a tour that started out in Chrnoble, and then to the reactor site. There was a city of about 50,000. Over three days after the accident, they were all evacuated with the intent that they could go back within less than a week. Well, that week lasted until today.

N0 one was allowed to return to get any of thier belongings once the magnitude of the accident was understood. So this city remains a ghost town. We drove through the city and took a fer pictures of what nature has done to a city in which man left 25 years ago. There was vegitation growing up everywhere, and animals have come back to run freely and without any interferrence. They built an amusement park that was scheduled to open three days after the accident occurred. Lots of fun palythings that never were used.

This photo shows the group as we were leaving Chrnoble. The world got together to fund a big tomb for the demolished nuclear plant. There were 4 in operation, and two more under construction. All work ceased but they never shut down the last reactor until the year 2000. Most thought that working in the other plants was not too hazzardous, so they continued to produce electricitiy. They are in a three year project to encapsulate the troubled site. With all the nations and organizations involved in deciding what to do, it has taken many years to finally put a plan together. And the plan is to just encapsulate the trouble spot until someone can find a better solution. Quite an interesting mess. The reactor was a Soviet design, built in Ukraine, and operatied by a team from several former Soviet countries. I asked if Belarus was cooperating with them since the reactor is less than 5 miles from thier border and they took most of the damage from the accident. The response was that there was no cooperation nor dialogue with Belarus. Too bad.

An interesgting experience to see the effects of nuclear radiation. But many lessons were learned so that it will hopefully not ever happen again. There are no more reactors of this type in operation. The have all been closed down.

Tom and Shauna

Trains The Ultimate Experience

2010-09-29T05:35:00.000-07:00

THis is a photo of the temple approaching dusk. Compliments of Hanno.

Our most recent adventure to Chernivsti via train (this was the 4th time on such a trip). We did the standard McDonalds treat just outside the train station before boarding the 15 hour overnight train from Kyiv to Chernivsti. This time we shared a 4 bed compartment with two elderly gentlemen who spoke a lot less English than we spoke Russian. The normal routine is visit for awhile, get a cup of tea or coffee to go with your evening snack (nice dinner in many cases), make up your bunk beds with the sheets, pillow and blanket they provide, then figure out a way to let everyone make their beds and get ready for bed without stepping on each other. Going to sleep with the lights on or off is indifferent to most. Just make the most of it and enjoy the night’s sleep with the rickety rackety of the train meandering down the track. It is not the smoothest train track, but it kind of rocks you to sleep. Actually, the ride reminded me of driving down the Bone road to Idaho Falls from Grays Lake.

About an hour after the train left, Shauna went into the restroom at the end of the sleeper car to freshen up a bit. That is where she spent the next hour because she broke the door handle and lock. After 9 train workers with crowbars, hammers, chisels, screw drivers, and yelling, they managed to twist the door enough to unlock it. I think they bent the train frame to finally open it up. It was amusing listening to them yelling instructions to Shauna, and she quietly did what she thought they wanted her to do from inside. Finally she just stood back and let them hammer away until they bent the metal door and got her out. I hope they think it was a malfunctioning door, otherwise we will need to pay for all the repairs.. We think the train purser is on our side because it seemed like she was apologizing to us and offered us free tea and coffee. From now on I have to accompany Shauna whenever she goes to the toilet to guard the door because she will NOT lock the door again when she gets inside! She always struggled with the compartment doors and usually needed help to open them. So this really did not surprise me that much.
I will try to capture some of the experience on camera. But it can never do the actual ride justice.

Chernivtsi, Ukraine

2010-09-18T10:16:00.001-07:00

We visited the Chernivtsi Branch for the Mission the middle of September. It takes a 15 hour train ride to get there, plus another hour to get to the train station. Due to ticket availability, we left Saturday late afternoon, arrived on Sunday morning. We then spent Sunday night at a hotel and then back on the train the next night. So it is an ordeal to do this a couple times each month. But it is a great experience to visit the branch there. Several speak English and we help teach classes.

The picture on the left is just before having lunch a "Helen's". A great place for lunch. It kind of reminded us of the Pubs in London for a great lunch.

Chernivtsi is over 1400 years old (historical founding was in 602). Its archetecture was not destroyed in WWII, so it is a fun place to visit. They love flowers, and the wreathes at the Shevchenko monument are beautiful. We wish we could take them back to the States, especially for Memorial Day. You can get flowers nearly everywhere as they sell them in street stands, along the roads, etc. They are so colorful and many varieties that we had not seen before. Ukraine is truely a gardener's delight.

We spent some time at the University. It is beautiful and fully functional. They still have hard wooden benshes for the students, but that doesn't matter as this has a reputation for teaching and learning excellence.

It is not a huge university, but is prominent in the city and is a favorite place for weddings. On Sunday we counted 22 limosines parked waiting for the bride and groom to come out of the University grounds. The weddings are very beautiful as well, with lots of people pampering the bride. Their dress is very formal and quite expensive, we are sure.

The last two photos were taken at Independence Square in Kyiv. This is where the Ukraine Orange Revolution got started in which they turned their attention west to Europe. The last election brought an end to the Orange revolution as the new government is making friends with Russia again. Personally, they need to keep a tie with Russia for economic and political purposes, but look to the west for models of democracy and ecomonic growth. Russina depends on Ukraine for food and manufacturing, and Ukraine depends on Russia for energy and some raw materials.

The last photo is along side Independence Square looking at more beautiful floweres. The clock is never the right time, but the flowers make it worthwhile.

Enough for now. Best wishes to all.

Tom and Shauna

Mail Day in Kyiv

2010-09-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

Hello,

We received two different types of mail today that gave us good news. Jan sent us Jordan's baptism announcement as a reminded that she was baptized on the 14th of August. Great job everyone in Airzona.

Then in tmail today we received a nice picture of Hannah telling us hello in Russian. "Hello to Grandma and Grandpa" for you non-Russian speakers. It was fun. Also, Britt and James sent us a care package that included two great big bags of marshmellows (wow, but they will not last very long). We will enjoy them. That is one thing that I have not found here at all. They also sent us a desparately needed batter and charger for our camera. After turning Kyiv upside down for a battery charger, we cam up empty every time. They do not seel chargeres separately from the camera, and we were not too keen on buying another camera.

At any rate, the postal service came through very well. It was one week from the time they sent it until it arrived. Much better than we were told. So thanks very much.

We gave a lecture at the Kyiv Mohyla Acadamy (National University) this evening on the LDS Church including the temple. It was well received with lots of interest. We were asked if we were the same as Monks when we described our Word of Wisdom and missionary service. We had a good time.

Well, Mom and I just expereienced our 43rd anniversary. Only 7 more till the Golden one comes upon us. We are doing well still recovering from the exhaustion of the temple dedication. Still more to do than we seem to have time for.

Bye for now.

Dad and Mom

CES Anniversary

2010-09-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

Well, it was our anniversary today. We spent the day working and were supposed to host the CES class in the evening for awhile. It turns out the teacher never showed up and so we taught the class. We had a good time, and I think they all enjoyed it as well. You can make do by adlibbing, but it only works for one time. We are supposed to help out once a week until the new CES couple arrive, which may be several months away. We will see.

These are two students from our USU 18th Ward that came over to the Temple Open House. They both served missions in Ukraine. Chris Hupp and Rachel Russak.

A picture of us before sealing up the cornerstone at the Kyiv Temple. Lots of memories and fortunate to be part of history. Not sure we will make much of a difference, but we hope to.

Dad and Mom

Early Fall Day

2010-09-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

We are one of ant-like creatures that live in this ant-hill apartment complex on the Left Bank in Kyiv, Ukraine. Below are some photos of the area as we got our hike in for today. A military museum with lots of tanks and a few airplanes.

The prominant statue commemorating the sacrifices for the Homeland (large statue of a lady signifying the Motherland).
Here is a photo outside our apartment building. The flowere have done remarkable well this year.

It is the 4th of September, and the day is really beautiful here in Kyiv, Ukraine. Yesterday's showers cleared out the air and the sky is dark blue with a few puffy clouds. A great day for taking photos.

Tom and Shauan

Life After Dedication

2010-09-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

Well, we got to sleep in until 0800 this morning. What a difference since the dedication. We still have lots of follow up work to do, plus two more senior missionary couples just left to go home. That leaves us with some CES and Humanitarian duties until new couples show up later this fall or winter.

The building you see in the far left is the one we live in. We are on the 13th floor. There are three small elevators, and so far we have been lucky that the power has not been out when we needed to go to our apartment. The apartment complex is interesting. Only about 1/3 of the apartments are ready to live in. They continue to do some work as a very slow pace. Also, there is supposed to be parking under each apartment building, but there is no access to get there, and I think they still need to finish it before it can be used. So eveyone that has a car drives and parks on the sidewalks.

For all you interested folks, to get to our apartment you surface from the Ocokorky Metro and wals about 400 yards to the southwest and there is our apartment, overlooking the river and in the distance is part of Kyiv. The pins mark the starting and ending points.

The last photo is of all the missionaries (young and old) on the stage at the Cultural Celebration the evening of the 28th. We are in the picture, if you study it long enough you might be able to pick us out. This photo was taken by Deseret News photographer. Hint: the sisteres are not dressed in dark suits. And the senior couples stand by each other.

Kyiv has a lot of history and we look forward to learning a little about it.

We will add more as we now have a little more time to do such things.

What is your excuse for not updating your blogs?

Dad and Mom

Kyiv Temple Dedicated Today

2010-08-29T03:33:00.000-07:00

Sunday, the 29th of August the Kyiv Temple was dedicated. We attended the first session along with the Cornerstone Ceremony. We also attended the third session in the Temple. A couple of photos taken during the day.President Monson arrives at the temple site. He and President Uchtdorf and Elder Nelson were present at the Cultural Celebration the previous evening. It was quite a spectacular event. Nine different countries participated with all their colorful folk costumes, dances and songs. Lots of fun and lots of enegy.

While there we had a mini 18th Ward reunion from Utah State. It was great to see people we knew, and now have many more great friends.

My hero is Hanno Luschine, the temple architect and builder here in Kyiv. He is from Austria and was baptised by a good friend that retired in Cache Valley. He had his hands full to build such a beautifu building, and it will be a real monument for the future of Kyiv.

Mom and Dad

Open House Memories

2010-08-22T23:12:00.000-07:00

Some scenes from the Temple Open House.

The first picture is in the reception area with Temple President Galbraith and his wife. After the tour, the groups would assemble in the Cultural Hall and discuss whatever. There were Sister Missionaries that would mingle amoung them, answer questions and provide material on the temple or the Church. They were discouraged from distributin the Book of Mormon, but people were asked to fill out COmment Cards and request a return vist from the missionaries who would provide the BofM.

One of the news media covering the Open House is Carole Makita of KSL-5. We enjoyed talking with her and spending some time with her and her crew. They will be here for the dedication. She will do a story about a family in Utah and their daughter is serving a mission here in Kyiv. It was fun to introduce her to the missionary as we know her quite well.

One of the nicest surprises was that Dmitry and Olga Chvanov from Moscow came to Kyiv and spent several days. I worked with him on the RAMOS program for years and have spent quite a bit to time with he and his family. In addition to working with Dmitry, he served as our tour guide in Moscow and St. Petersburg when we all made that trip. We were able to take them on a tour of the temple. Although he had been to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, he had never been inside an LDS temple. The Russian Orthodox church has temples, but that is just another neam for a catherdral or church. We had a great time visiting with them. Unfortunately we could not spend more time with them, but they really enjoyed thier visit as they had not been to Kyiv before. They told us of all the good places to visit when we have some time. He is a great tour guide. I might have to bring them down again to guide us around.

Dmitry is the one who we took to Grays Lake and had him ride horses with Dad, me and Jeromy. We also went on the 4-wheelers up WIllow Creek, around Caribou and down Eagle Creek. It was one of the most beautiful fall days I had ever seen in Grays Lake. He really enjoyed it. Most of all, they were very surprised at what they saw in the temple. We talked quite a bit about the Church. One of the perceptions he had was that we had an agressive recruiting campaign in the missionaries. I agreed, but said the intent is help better the lives of people, and be a positive influence in each of the contries that have Church members. He understood that from his dealings with SDL over the years. All the Russians we worked with have the most respect for us, and know what we stand for. When he realized that we were not interested in building an empire, but wanted to make life better for individuals and the countries themselves, he was very impressed. He also was that there were no icons in the Temple, and the simplicity, beauty and feeling were unmatched in anything he had experienced. He is a good friend and we will continue to keep in touch.

We were able to take a few photographs during the Open House. It is a beautiful building and really stands out along the Ring Road around Kyiv.

More to come as time permits.

Mom and Dad

Kyiv Temple Open House

2010-08-22T22:29:00.000-07:00

We just completed the Kyiv Temple Open House with some 13000 people touring the temple. Although fewer in number than most of the temples, the local leadership was quite plesed with the turnout. Many non-members passed through, plus it was a chance for the members from throughout Ukraine and other Eastern European contries to get together and renew acquaintences.

Local members really supported the Open House with a large turnout every day to conduct the tours. The dedication is set for Sunday the 29th of August, with the temple open for operation on the 30th.

We have had some interesting visitors, including the US Embasador to Ukraine, Carol Mikita of KSL, and the former Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko's family.

We finally moved into our apartment that has air conditioning. What a blessing and relief! It has been over 100 degrees for several days in a row with nearly 100 percent humidity. It finally broke the last couple days of the Open House, and we were sure greatful.

Now that I re-learned how to add a blog, we will provide some updates during the next couple of days, plus send out a news letter.

Tom & Shauna

WC

2010-06-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

I just had to take these pictures! This is in a restaurant in Kyiv and I thought this might bring back memories of England and for Brittany Thailand. I just remember the first time we saw this WC sign in England. The first sign is typical of the mens and womens bathrooms here.

Our Kitchen

2010-06-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

We have been in our apartment over a week and this is the first meal that we have fixed. Tom fixed breakfast because he didn't want cereal. Our kitchen is small and it works fine until you want to fix a meal and then the cupboard space leaves a little to be desired. We have a small table in the kitchen which works just fine for two people but no more. The last picture is a picture of our filtering system for the water. We are grateful to finally have it because we are tired of buying water or worse part is having to carry home a container that is 4 liters which is heavy to walk home the quarter of a mile with. We will appreciate having a larger kitchen when we move into our permanent apartment which won't be until the first of September.

Survived Heat Wave

2010-06-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

This last week was a real sauna here in Ukraine. It was almost 100 degrees and the humidity was nearly 100%. We spent over 30 hours on an unconditioned train last weekend to attend church in a faraway Branch. It was interesting to see the country, but seemed good to get back in our apartment with a fan to stir the air.

We keep really busy, especially trying to learn the names of the folks we work with, and the metro stops so we do not get lost. It is challenging but I think we are making some progress.

We are scheduled to move into our more permanent apartment on the 1st of September, which is the new date that the couple we are replacing will go back to Utah. They have done a fantastic job getting things ready for the Temple Open House. They will enjoy some time off since there in no such thing as a preparation day for them and us. At least not until the temple dedication.

We each now have a phone and just got a weak internet access to our apartment. We will have a direct line to the internet in our final apartment, which will allow us to use Skype, etc. Until then we are quite limited.

Bye for now.

T.H.

Greetings from Kyiv Ukraine

2010-06-04T06:10:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Kyiv on Friday morning, about an hour late. Thanks to Delta for providing both of us an upgrade on both flights. The 10 hour flight was really nice and we arrived quite comfortably. We are trying to hit the ground running. All is well.

We appreciated Steve and Roxanne for taking us to the airport in SLC, and for Brittany, James and Hannah for seeing us off at the airport. They surprised us but it was sure good to see them before we departed.

Elder and Sister Humpherys

Study Time

2010-06-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

Study time at the MTC for language training. It has been a little discouraging because I spent 4 weeks down her and have had lessons at home and Dad probably knows more that I do with only 5 lessons. We have been very busy and didn't have much time to study until this week. I am sure we will know a few words that will get us around, but we will be in training sessions in Kyiv with Elder Scott starting Friday afternoon. We arrive Friday morning about 9:30 and sessions start that afternoon, I wonder if we will be able to keep our eyes open.

We just received word this morning about 11 that our passports were back in Salt Lake and they will be down to the MTC by 3 this afternoon. We were anxious to see that they arrived because if we go out in the morning we will arrive just intime to start the special training sessions with Elder Scott on what will need to be done for the open house and dedication of the temple. I am sure the meetings will be really good -- our hope is that we can stay awake.

Waiting Game

2010-06-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

We are in Provo stydying a little Russian until our passports arrive so we can leave for Kyiv, Ukraine. We are currently scheduled to fly out of SLC early Thursday morning, the 3rd of June. That will happen provided the Russian Consulate gets our passports back on Wednesday, and the MTC gets them to us before close of business. We will try to keep you informed.

Dad

MTC Day 2

2010-05-26T12:15:00.001-07:00

We have successfully completed the second day of our MTC training. The most notable accomplishment is that we have gained weight because they direct us into the cafeteria every couple of hours for a great selection of food items. I can see why the missionaries gain weight while here.

We are receiving instruction on Preach My Gospel and the Russian language. It has been intensive, and we are glad for the 12 hour days to come to a close.

We are still expecting to fly out on Monday the 31st of May. They have our Ukrainian visas, but are waiting for Russian visas to come in. It is cutting it close for a Monday departure.

Tom and Shauna

Leaving for MTC

2010-05-26T05:55:00.001-07:00

Early Monday morning we left for the MTC. I have to admit we were a little nervous, well maybe really nervous and excited. The day had finally arrived and even though we have waited for this day for several months we still didn't feel quite ready and still have several things we need to do before actually leaving for our mission.

The weather was dark and it was raining as we loaded the car and headed for Provo. The farther south we got the worse the weather got. We got into a blizzard and it was slow going to get to Provo. We were certainly glad we had taken our raincoats and I wished that I had my winter boats because my shoes were soaked by the time we made it to the front door of the mtc.

We checked in and changed our room from a motel to stay at the MTC because we were the only couple staying at the motel. We found out we still have to have 2 more shots and that will happen on Wednesday. We were kept pretty busy but not so busy that we didn't have time to appreciate the cafeteria. The food was wonderful and the servings were too large. We can understand why so many put on weight while here and we are glad we only have 5 days here. That will all end when I start cooking again because I am out of practice. Brittany has done all of the cooking since she and James have been there.

We know we have a lot to learn and we are a little older and it takes us a little longer to catch on. Really wish we would have spend more time studying Preach My Gospel or I should say I wish we would have spent any time studying Preach My Gospel.

Farewell

2010-05-11T04:49:00.000-07:00

This the only picture we managed to take on Sunday, May 9, the day we spoke in Church. We spoke at 11 a.m. and we had spent the morning getting lunch ready for everyone. After we spoke, we were the last ones to get to the house. Everyone was busy putting food on the table. Several people brought food that I hadn't planned on so we had lots of food. We had all our brothers and sisters and Mom here. We also had James' parents, Kelly and Penney, Suzette and Sid and their family, Hollie and Jake and their family so we had a house full. It was fun, but very noisy. I think everyone enjoyed themselves.
Karen and Peggy did the dishes before they left and so there wasn't much left to clean up. We was very relaxing to have the day over with. Tom went up to the University Ward to take care of some business, but he no longer has to lock up the building so we just sat around and tried to think of everything we need to do.
Now we have to schedule every day so we can get everything done. Mostly we have to do last minute shopping and pack. I hope to do some more yard work, but the weather will have to cooperate. I promised Brittany we would get the windows washed before I leave.
Fourteen days and we will be in the MTC, it is hard to believe. It has always seemed to far away and now it is almost here. It is makeing me a little NERVOUS. What have we forgotten to do???

Salt Lake Training

2010-05-10T19:19:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Salt Lake and went to the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building as instructed. We were met by Bro. and Sis Rees the couple organizing the training. We weren't expecting the royal treatment that we got. We had a huge brunch waiting for us. We were expecting to see two other couples and there ended up being 7 couples total there for training. It was a very intense three days, but it was very interesting and informative.
As we left after three days, we all still wondered what we would be doing daily and their answer was it would be different for each couple because they would be serving in a different area. Still don't know what we will do, but they kept telling us we would have marvelous experiences and we would love it.
There are a total of 31 couples serving as public affairs missionaries and they made us feel very special to get to be one of the 31 couples.
We were taught by 5 different people. One is the head of public affairs and the other 4 are the only ones working in public affairs. They told us so many incredible stories that they didn't want leaving that room. They are 5 great men and they have very strong testimonies and know exactly how things are to happen. They did tell us that on occasion they were over ruled by the Prophet and in all cases the Prophet was right.
They told us that when the public affairs office in our area is closed we were on our own and could travel as long as we got permission from the Area Presidency and they would honor our requests. They said we would be free on week ends, but we know we have already been assigned two Branches to oversee and that we will be busy on Sundays. We know that we will be very busy until the dedication of the Temple on August 29 and it will be pretty slow after that.
The other six couples were so full of excitement and it was fun just to be with them. The first day they asked each of us to tell a little bit about ourselves. We said that we were surprised to get this assignment because we had been asked to fill a military mission, but we were excited about it. Sis Reese told us that her husband say our name and said that is the couple we need. She also said that other people wanted us as well, but the First Presidency said we need them in Ukraine. Made us feel great and I know that we will have an exciting time ahead of us.

Warm ARIZONA

2010-05-10T16:29:00.001-07:00

This trip Tom and I both made it to Arizona and we did enjoy the warm weather. We still have winter in Logan, because everytime we return from a trip it snows. We Arrived on Thursday April 29, and left to come home on Saturday, May 1. It was a short trip but we got to see everyone and enjoy the nice weather. We even got Kennedy to hold still long enought to have her picture taken -- notice the kitten she is holding to get her to hold still.

Uncle Larry's

2010-05-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

Larry, Grandpa Humpherys' brother, had pictures and stories that he wanted all the kids to have so we all met at Larry's and got copies of his pictures and he told some more stories. Tom could remember most of the stories because he spent time with Larry, but Sherry, Mick, and Roxanne had never heard some of the stories. It was fun to get together. We just don't know how much longer Larry will be around because he isn't in very good health. We all brought something and we ate lunch there.

2010-05-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

We were fortunate enough to be able to drive to Denver and spend a few days with Jeff and Natalie. Becky drove up from Colorado Springs. The weather cooperated and we loved it because it was much warmer than Hyde Park.

We were fortunate enough to be able to stay for Caelie's piano recital on Saturday morning before we came home. We left Saturday after her recital and drove home. We got home just in time to change our clothes at the last stop before we got to Logan so we could attend the evening session of Stake Conference for the University Stake.

2010-04-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

Second trip to see more of the grandkids. We flew in on April 9th to Clint and Jana's. We arrived on Friday night and the weather was great. Jana's parents had arrived the day before. We were all there to see Kayla baptised on Saturday. We had so much fun with the kids. It seemed like such a long time since we saw them last summer. Little Brooke is still little and petite. She warmed right up to us but she kept on the go. It will be interesting to see how much all of the kids will have grown by the time we get back from our Mission. We returned from Houston early Monday morning.

Virginia Visit

2010-04-26T20:10:00.001-07:00

After spending the last 4 weeks at the MTC, we left for Virginia March 19th. We stayed in a motel near the airport that night because it was almost midnight when we arrived and Jeromy had the kids. Saturday morning we went to Jeromys and he had the kids for the weekend. It was good to see the kids and they acted like they saw us everyday. Jeromy has a large apartment without a stove. He does OK with a conventional oven and a microwave and a double burner hot plate. We went shopping and got bunk beds for the kids because they would fit in the car we rented and they wouldn't fit in Jeromy's.

We took the kids to their Stake Conference and after Conference we went out the Marriott Ranch to see Jerry and Kim. Of course, she had dinner for us. Jeromy had to take the kids back to Patrice and we were a little late and they were both asleep. Natalie had sent a box of clothes to Aylin and Brayden. Aylin had tried on all the dresses and decided she wanted to wear the red dress(everyday). Brayden was excited to wear the white shirt and tie.

Mission Call

2010-04-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

February 3, 2010 -- We finally received our mission call. It was sent into Salt Lake January 31, so it took almost 5 weeks. We are excited because we will be serving in the Kyiv, Ukraine Mission and we will Publich Relation Specialists. It sound so exciting even if we don't have a clue what we will be doing. Tom just returned two days before this from Russia. This area of the country won't be new to him. He visited Kyiv when he was in school in Virginia with Dr. Beckstead. Our first concern was what language we would be speaking. The mission call didn't list a language that we need to speak, but we know it is easier to get to know the people if you at least make an atempt to speak their language.

We enter the MTC on May 24 so we have almost 4 months to get ready to go.

Russian or Ukrainian

2010-03-15T20:32:00.000-07:00

What language do you think we should become most familiar, Russian or Ukrainian? Mom has been to the MTC in Provo for four weeks getting introduced to Russian. I purchased a Ukrainian Phrase book. So far sleeping on it for several weeks has not introduced a single expression into my brain. Mom is getting a few Russian words down. Hopefully they will help us out when we get there.

It has warmed up and Spring is just around the corner. This picture almost looks like our year, except green color instead of brown and white splotches, the mole trails, nest and debris all over every foot, and the melting snow on the north side. With consdierable amount of effort, I doubt our yard will even come close to looking like this when we leave. James and Britt will have to put in their toil to make it happen.

I am still busy working and doing some travelling, but hopefully that will stop the first of April and I can start to get ready to depart for the 18 months.

Moscow in the Winter

2010-02-14T17:46:00.000-08:00

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?

2010-02-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-02T20:42:00.000-08:00

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.

Stuck in the snow at the end of MAY???!!!

2009-05-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

We attempted to drive to Tony's Grove Lake to check it out for this summer. We ALMOST got there. We had to turn around (well the snow stopped us, literally, we got un-stuck, then stuck again, then un-stuck again) and head back home. The road was completely covered with snow. The funniest part of this was Becky trying to push the car in her shorts and flip flops! Needless to say, she did not plan on the snow. In order to get the whole picture I must tell you that it was 85 degrees in Logan and dad is sunburned from being out in the yard. It is not winter....in town at least!

2009-05-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

Under extreme pressure, we are attempting to update our blog. Wish us luck!

MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Humpherys

2008-12-25T21:30:00.000-08:00

We were fortunate to have the Pitts family from Mesa, AZ with us for Christmas. We remained inside all day except for shoveling the snow off of our driveway, a little sliding down the hill in our back yard, and building a snowman. We definitely had a white Christmas. Becky also came home from Pocatello and was the photographer. Pictured are Jackson, Jordan, Kennedy, Madison, and McKenna.

Kennedy turned 1 on 7 December and is walking everywhere. Her gate kind of reminds me of how Penguins walk, so my new nickname for her is "Happy Feet" NOte the shoes we brought back from Thailand. She will fit into them in another year or two! She is always very happy with a grin. It has been fun having them here. In a day or so, Clint, Jana and family from Houston, TX will join us. They spent Christmas with Jana's family in Blackfoot. Then we will see Jeff and Natalie and family in another 10 days in the Denver area. It will have been a great Christmas for us. Cheers!

Escaped from Thailand!

2008-12-03T20:25:00.000-08:00

Our trip to visit James and Bittany in Thailand was great, with a few changes from what was originally planned. We arrived at Bangkok, spent the night, then flew to Krabi where James and Brittany met us. We rented a car, spent 4 days in Krabi and Phuket (hot springs, beach, giant Bhuda, butterfly park, joy riding on scooters, and two evenings at their home.

When we tried to fly back to Bangkok, we were told the airport was temporarily closed and they would rebook us for the next day. Instead, we decided to fly to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, spent the night, and then flew to Hong Kong. We spent two nights in a hotel, did lots of sightseeing, and went to the temple. After two days, we knew we would not be going back to Bangkok to catch our flight bact home, so we rebooked to return from Hong Kong in two more days.

We spent the nights at the Temple patron's apartment and went to church on Sunday. On Monday, Brittany and James flew to Phuket and took a bus toward Bangkok and joined their Peace Corps meeting in progress. Shauna and I flew out later on Monday to Seoul, Los Angeles and Salt Lake, arriving at our originally scheduled time.

We were very fortunate that we did not get back to Bangkok as the airport remainced closed and we could have been stuck there for two more weeks at least. We were fortunate to have James and Brittany there to help take care of us. We did many more things than we planned, and are greatful that Brittany and James are doing so well. Brittany had us do a neat Thanksgiving FHE, and we had pumpkin fudge for thankgiving. We could not find a turkey in Thailand, however. Great time, but good to be back home.

Our Hawaii Trip in 2008

2008-10-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

This trip was a lot of fun for me but Dad had to work so he didn't have quite so much fun. We experienced a convertible for the first time. By the time we got where we were going it was getting dark, but we do have the proof!!!