New Kiev Ukraine Temple

This is a picture of the placing of the Angel Moroni on the new Kiev Temple that our whole mission area is excited about. Moroni is the last Prophet in the Book of Mormon and is heralding the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A Temple is the fabulous place to feel peace and love. It is where you can be sealed together forever as a family. It is the house of the Lord! This one won't be done till next year.

Allie and I walk to the Mission Office and we get to pass by these beautiful flowers. They are at the top of the hill we climb each day so they are our reward for our daily hike.

The colors didn't come out as striking as they are in person but they are a source of happiness for us each morning.

Still more flowers by a very tall apartment building we pass by. We call it the "wind tunnel" because the wind is always pretty gusty right in this one spot. We can't wait until winter. In my mind I can see the icicles forming already.

This may seem silly to you but to us they are beautiful because there isn't a lot of color here. Everything is pretty much grey concrete, peeling paint, and rust. Oh yea, and dirt and sand.

This is one of those things that makes you go Huh!!!! This is or was the best sidewalk we have ever walked on in Russia. The other day workers came by and tore out the granite gutters and left it like this. We hope it improves before winter hits. You can't really tell but this is a downhill grade and it is just around the corner as we go to the office from one of those flower beds. We will keep you posted regarding the progress or lack there of.

This the ceiling of the train station in Vlad. It looks like a picture on a wall in this view. But it truly is on the ceiling.

This is a 180 degree spin on the ceiling. It is quite an impressive mural encompassed by a rectangle relief on the ceiling. I can only imagine how hard it is to paint it. It is beautifully crafted and I am sure it tells a story about the area since shipping is a very important part of Vladivostok.

Here is that same picture of the train station where the mural is located.

Trains No Planes, automobiles and Ships

This is the back of the train station in Vladivostok. It is really pretty and has a lot of shops in it.

Here a couple of tourists we ran into taking their own picture at the train station.

Here is the lovely miss Alice striking a pose for the camera. This too is the train station and on the backside where we are is also the port of Vladivostok. They were off loading some vehicles and we were just enjoying the show.

Oh yea, did I mention they had already off loaded some equipment. The ship in the background is a "cruise" ship. It is a far cry from the Love Boat.

More trains on the front side of the terminal. Lots of trains. Lots of trains. When the missionaries including the mission President travel to Kharbarovsk it takes 12 hours on one of these sweet rides.

Sights to see around town

This is a lovely little picture of "doves". The word pigeon doesn't exist in the Russian language. Therefore they are doves!!! But between you and me they are PIGEONS and they still make the same kind of mess even though their name has been changed. Never get under or look up at a Russian dove!!

More doves just in case you didn't get enough. Yes they scatter when you walk towards them. We have the same deal with them here in Russia as Seinfeld did in New York. They get out of the way when we come at them and we look the other way at the mess they make of everything.

Almost every building has a little graffiti on it. However, some is extremely artsy. This was a fresh little diddly someone did on the side of a building we walk by each day. I am glad I don't know what it says because I am sure it isn't announcing church services somewhere. But still some pretty well crafter artwork.

This is a planned picture. Every window at the ground level has some sort of protection over it. This one has steel doors that close when the shop is not open. It is a skate shop and this is what it looks like closed. I was going to try to convince you it was a photo of me in a mirror with my new dreds but I knew you would buy it.

Same picture with a flash. Don't ask me why I had to include this one but the general ordered ti so you better like it and give a lot of comments on how wonderful it was to have two pictures to enjoy.

This one is for Timmy (Mr. Remote)

Oh Yea Baby. This is where all of the remotes go when the world is done with them. Seriously they had remotes for almost anything you could imagine. I felt a bit wierd taking this video so it is a quick scan of this one little area in our shopping mall. The basement of this complex is all guy stuff. They have mixed the two worlds of shopping. Clothing etc upstairs, food on the main floor, and the basement is the "man cave". I might work with promoting this concept back in the states!!!