Kiev, Ukraine

On Thursday morning as we sat in the airport waiting for our flight to Kiev, we met a young man from Kiev who helped us understand what was going on with the flight delay etc. Aleksey (Oleksiy in Ukrainian) spent a few hours with us in the airport and we count him as our friend. He and Viviane had a wonderful conversation about a lot of topics while we waited. Once we arrived in Kiev he helped us get the passport check done quickly by telling us about the form we needed (no visa for Ukraine) and we have communicated with him a few times while here. Unfortunately, we have not been able to match our schedules to his so we could get together while in Kiev. We hope we see him again some day ... even if it is just over a web cam!

Because the flight was late we were too late arriving to get our visa forms to the Kazakh embassy before they closed at noon. So Friday morning we headed to the embassy with our driver, Igor, who has also been a God send, and turned in our request for visas. We were told to call back after 4 PM to see if we would get them on Monday. We left the embassy and went to Elder and Sister Miner's apartment in downtown Kiev. From there Igor acted as tour guide for the 4 of us. The Miner's go home in a month and so have lived in Kiev for almost 1.5 years but they said Igor took us places they had not seen and a couple they did not know about. We also had a great Ukrainian meal at a restaurant that was decorated Ukrainian country style (see pictures).

Our hotel near the Kiev temple.

Igor, E/S Miner, and Viviane outside government buildings.

This is a building in a park that has statues of fairy tale people that now includes me!

Maxwell's and Miner's in front of the statue for the founders of Kiev.

In the Ukrainian restaurant for lunch. The food was great and the atmosphere was fun.

After lunch we went for a walk in the old city as saw a few old Orthodox churches.

We dropped the Miners off around 4 PM and called the embassy and got the good news that we would get our passport/visa back Monday morning. Now it may seem strange that we are anxious to get back to Astana since it was -8 degrees when we left on Thursday morning and today, Sunday, it is 64 degrees in Kiev ... but we are - it is our calling to be there!

We spent Saturday morning in the Kiev temple. What a wonderful feeling and experience we had there. It had been over a year since we had been to a temple and we are so glad we could renew ourselves there. While praying and pondering I had a deep desire to see all of our new friends in Astana in the temple. In my mind's eye I could see them sitting in the room with us. It was a very emotional experience for me. I felt God's love for them.

This picture is of the Kiev temple from our hotel room.

Sunday we walked back to the temple grounds and attended the International Branch and their Branch conference. It was quite different from Ward conferences that we are used to, but very uplifting and strengthening for us. Saturday in the temple and again today at church we met a number of Senior Missionaries assigned to the temple and the temple President and Matron. One couple even knew some Tahitians that we know! It was fun to worship and meet with them.

We are so grateful for the experiences that the Lord has blessed us with. The miracle to get our visas so soon - we had been told that it would take a full week because of new regulations. We remember the blessing given when we were set apart as missionaries - "You will not spend time waiting but will be able to be engaged in the work.". No visa renewal has taken us longer than 48 hours. Even this trip, while longer, has been filled with temple work and missionary work while in Kiev.

We are grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ!