Caution: Extremely long post

Maybe you've been wondering if I even returned from the Ukraine.  Well I did, and it was so good to come back.  It just seemed that life hit me with a ton of bricks when I got home.  Not only is jet lag a very real thing but I started watching my niece and nephew 3 days a week and 4 kids under the age of 4 is a lot harder than 2 under the age of 4.  I am trying to get back on track though.  My trip was great.  I am so glad that I went.  It seemed like we were always on the go and it went by so fast.  We got there on Tuesday night.
Kostik picked us up from the airport.  He is from Ukraine and served with Lindsey. He was so nice and volunteered to pick us up. He helped us to get to the mission home to pick up Lindsey.  It is a good thing.  I am pretty sure we would have never found her.  She was very surprised to see me.  We got it all on tape.

Picking up Lindsey at the mission home

She was a regular tour guide most of the time... we saw so many things.  The first couple of days we spent at the temple.  The Kyiv temple was dedicated this summer.  It was so pretty and I was able to get night and day pictures of it.  We also went to visit one of Lindsey's investigators.  She fed us Borscht.... and about 10 other dishes.  She was so generous and kept telling us to eat!   I am not really a beet fan but it was pretty good.  

Next we went to a place called Lavra.  Most of Ukraine is Russian Orthodox.  Lavra was where a lot of their cathedrals were.  We went twice, once at night and once during the day.  Lindsey wanted us to see the catacombs but they weren't letting people in the first time we went so we went back the next day.  The cathedrals were beautiful but they wouldn't allow any pictures inside.  The women had to have their heads covered and men were to remove their hats.  The catacombs were definitely interesting.  They gave us a candle to go down.  The monks that have been given sainthood are down there in their glass caskets,  They are dressed ornately and are covered from head to toe except for their hands, which are now black.  People walk by and kiss the caskets.  It was not like anything I had ever seen.

These are called squatters.  They also have regular toilets but
we saw these most in public places.

Next we went to the World war II museum. It was huge.  There were so many things to see there and I have about a hundred pictures to prove it.  I only picked a couple to show you because some of them are kind of disturbing.  It's hard to believe that human beings can be so cruel.  I came out feeling very humbled.  The people of Ukraine have been through so much.

These were different scenes from the war.  There were many of
them outside of the museum

This room was full of pictures of people who fought in the
war and their families.

This is the Motherland statue.  The missionaries
called her Big Mama. She was huge!

This picture is of a Babushka who had nine sons who died in
war.

We went to the Center square in Kyiv.  They had a huge tree decorated for Christmas.  I bought a couple of scarves there.  Everyone wears scarves in Ukraine.  You pretty much have too.  Although there is a lot of traffic, very few people have a car.  They take the metro, which is like the subway and the buses.  Everyone walks everywhere to get on the buses or the metro.  They are outside a lot.  The temperature is about the same as here but when you add the humidity and the wind.... it is pretty dang cold.  We learned to shove onto the buses.  It is amazing how many people they can fit on.  One time I didn't think there was anyway to fit.  Lindsey told us to shove and we did.  My dad kept getting shut in the door but we kept shoving and finally fit him in.   Let's just say we were very up close and personal with everybody.  It is no big deal to them.  They are used to it.  We met Kostik, at TGI Fridays for American food.  It was wonderful!

The statue of the founders of Kyiv.  

My mom and her American hamburger

They really go all out with the lights.  There were some buildings
we saw on the way from the airport that were completely covered
 in lights.

We spent our New years Eve on a night train.  We rode this train for 8 hours to Odessa, which was my sister's last area.  It is right on the Black Sea.  I have never been on a train before this and it wasn't too bad.  My sister was a little worried about drunk people since it was New years.  We didn't run into any though.  I guess a train wasn't the place to spend New year's eve.  We had a coupet to ourselves.  They give you clean sheets and pillowcase and the slow moving train just rocks you to sleep.  I slept better on the train than I did the whole trip.  It was pretty cheap too.  It was only $12 per person.  We arrived in Odessa around 6:00 that morning and a missionary couple invited us to come shower and have breakfast.  They were really nice.  They were from Idaho. First we went down to the docks.  There were the biggest boats I had ever seen. We also went to visit a new convert.  She fed us lunch.  It is hard to describe the food there.  All I can say is that they eat a lot of pork and put mayonnaise in everything.  We did make an appearance at the McDonald's there.  It is not like it is here.  It was really nicely decorated and had 2 stories.  We met a recent convert of Lindsey's there.  She was 17 and the only member of the church in her family.

My mom, dad and Lindsey

My bunk

The lock bridge.  People will come here with their spouses, boyfriends
or girlfriends and put a lock on the bridge with their names on it.
I thought it was a cool tradition.

Stairway to heaven?  Well it felt like it walking up them! They
seem to go forever!

This ship was huge!! If you look close you can see my
Dad standing by it.  It is amazing something that big
can float!

Merry Christmas!  Ukrainians celebrate Christmas on January 7th.
We just missed having Christmas again.

Lindsey was embarrassed that I took this picture.  This is the plastic
they put over a building when they are building it.  I thought
it was pretty clever :)

This is the opera house.  We had hoped to go to one but
they weren't doing one that day

The library

The black sea at sunset

Lindsey and I

Mom and I trying not to freeze.  It was the coldest place we
went.  I wore thermals the whole time and put on as many
layers as I could.  I kind of felt like the Pillsbury dough boy.

We again spent the night on the train.  We went to church the next morning in 2 different wards.  Lindsey wanted us to meet as as many people as possible.  They were all so excited to meet us.  They have amazing testimonies.  Church was wonderful even if it was in Russian and I didn't understand anything.  That night we went to my Dad's aunt and uncle's for dinner.  They are serving a temple mission.  They live really close to the temple and the mission home.  It was fun to see them.

On Monday we took a bus ( where we actually got a seat) to Billatserkov.  Lindsey wanted us to meet a couple of Babushkas that she had met.  She was only in that area for 6 weeks but she learned to love the two ladies we met.  They were so wonderful.  We went to visit Babushka Larissa first.  She couldn't walk and was bedridden.  Even though she didn't have hardly anything, she was grateful .  We were able to talk and sing hymns with her.  

 We went to visit Babushka Anya next.  She lived by herself.  A few years ago her kids did some terrible things to her to get her money.  She ended up paralyzed on the right side of her body.  She couldn't talk very well and she was in a wheel chair. She was so excited to see us.  She was such sweet lady.

That night we went to the Spusk to get souvenirs. We also went to the grocery store for the last time to get treats for everyone.  We ended up not going to bed.  Our flight was at 6:30 a.m. Our taxi was coming at 3:30a.m. We had to shower, pack and clean the apartment we stayed in before 3:30.  Kostik was watching the apartment for a lady that he worked with.  She had gone home to America for the Christmas Holiday.  She was going to be gone for 3 weeks.  Kostik was feeding her cats.  She was nice enough to let us stay there.  It was a huge blessing. because we had had a hard time getting any apartment owners to commit to us.   

One of the cats we lived with.  They were really friendly.  We would
keep the doors to our rooms shut at night.  One night this one got in
and sneaked under my covers.  Scared me to death!

The bedroom Lindsey I shared.  Notice the bed.. pretty small.
It was just like sharing a bed when we were kids, me without
any blankets.

The master bedroom my mom and dad slept in.

The living room

The kitchen.  It might not have had the luxury of a dishwasher,
but it did have heated floors!  So nice!

Ukrainians have tiny washers.  They don't have dryers.

Twenty-three hours later we were back in Salt Lake City.  I have never been to a place where I couldn't speak the language.  It is a little unnerving and sometimes frustrating.  But I remember thinking how weird it was when we got on the plane in Paris and so many people spoke English.  I actually got annoyed after awhile.  I realized it was nice to be somewhere where they spoke another language.  I didn't have to listen to peoples' conversations.  That may sound weird, but after a 10 hour flight listening to the guy behind us yell at his kids... well? I got some great pictures out the plane window.  I do ok flying but I think I have had my fill for awhile I think.  It is good to be home.  I missed Shane and the boys so much. I wouldn't trade it though.  I had a great experience.  I think everyone should have a chance to stay in another country for awhile.  It definitely makes you grateful for where you live and all that you have.

Sunrise on the plane