Traditional Ukrainian Dinner Prepared By Our Youth

Our last Sunday and our last Council Dinner. We prepared dinner for them and they prepared a dinner for us. What  a  great night we had, reminiscing, talking, laughing, loving, none of us wanted the evening  to end. Many tears were shed and much love filled the room. It will be a lasting memory in my mind forever. 

Last Weeks of Our Mission

The last weeks of our mission have come and gone.  What a wonderful experience and opportunity we have had to  be on a mission in Kharkov Ukraine. We came with high expectations but we didn't really know what to expect. We have left with our buckets overflowing. We hope that we have been the kind of missionaries our Lord sent us to be. I know  that we have left gaining the most. Our Beloved Youth have made a deep impression upon our hearts that will remain there forever.

A Special and Extraordinary Experience

     Once a year all the Eastern Europe Area CES couples join together for a training. This year we were privileged to go to Turkey. I never realized before the significance of the country of Turkey. It was well traveled by the ancient Apostles and many converted Saints lived in that country in the early days of the church after our Savior had died. We had wonderful instruction from great men who lead the Seminary and Institute Program here in the Eastern Europe Area. They are all natives from Russia and Ukraine. They are great leaders, men of great testimony, and great faith. This year we had President and Sister Lawrence, the Europe East Area President (right here on the front row, 5 and 6 from the left) with us. Each night they gave a wonderful spiritual and edifying fireside.
    One afternoon of our training conference we took a field trip to Ephesus and walked through the restored and uncovered ruins of ancient Ephesus. The top picture: we are standing in front of  the ancient Library and the bottom picture: we are sitting in the Colosseum, the very Colosseum where the Apostle Paul spoke to the Ephesians. It was a most wonderful experience and one of the most awesome places I have ever seen. 
     Being together with all these great senior couples is also an edifying and uplifting experience. There were 18 couples. Together we had 107 children and 318 grandchildren. One couple even had 57 great grandchildren. The ages ranged from 51 to the late 70's. Wonderful people and a wonderful experience.