Much To Be Thankful For

Picure of the Kiev Ward Building were the Church meets on 3 & 5th floors.
Panda bear picture. These were in the restuarant were we ate. There are several which are very colorful and elegant. seem like some where I have seen these before.

This is a piture of Elders Tanner and Walk after we fed them lasagne, helping your mother with the computer.
This a picture of Senior missonary couples with Pres. and Sister Davis on the right, looks a little blurry.
This is a picture of your parents. That I forgot to rotate.
This is a picture of a Jewish Temple across the street from the Kiev Branch/

As we grow use to living here in Ukraine we realize more and more how much we have to be thankful for. One of the first is the right to smile. When I ask people here, that talk English of course, their response is always "people from Russia and Ukraine do not Smile". I feel bad that they have not learned to express this as a form of greeting or just a way of life. So Smile - be thankful for the things you see, the creations of the Earth, the joy of life, everything! Even speaking in Russian and saying good day often times elicites no response, but I keep trying. The other evening in a group discussion, we were talking about how people here that have always been told how to act, how to think, etc. do not appreciate or even know how to handle their agency. They even sometimes prefer the old method of being given an apartment, having bread really cheap, even if they had to stand in lines for hours, and everything that went with the "communistic society" over having to make their own decisions. So use your agency, howbeit wisely for the good of others and yourself. When I have to walk every where I realize how dependent upon our own transportation we are in certain areas of the US. Like I said before, to go anywhere you either walk, take the Metro or hop on a little bus that may have 40 people jammed into it. There are a lot of cars in the area but usually the every day person can not afford one. The one good thing is that the metro only cost 10 cents for a one way trip to any where in the area. We can ride the large bus for 10 cents or the little packed buses for 30 cents. How funny we get sometimes as Dad complains that we could walk for nothing and save 10 cents. Now on the other hand in the States we could walk and save dollars!!! Going to the grocery store is an experience within its self. Somethings you can just not buy here, at least not in the stores we can get to. Brown sugar, peanut butter is hard to find, powder sugar both of these are from Germany and are very expensive. All foods have to be made from scratch. No cake mixes, no stove top, no hambuger helper, etc. But the good part of that is now I am back to cooking. Chocolate, pineapple&banana, brown sugar cakes, rolls, casseroles, taco soup, etc. and it has been fun! Dad does't expect it every day so that makes it easier. We have been able to find some good restaurants. Last night ww were down in Kiev and found a really nice Chineese Rest. ,still not as good as Christians, but had a fabulous decor. when we first went in and looked at the menu we were afraid that it would cost over $200 before we could get away. Fortunately what we though were dollars were grieven and we ended up at about $60. We had asked two Elders to go with us but they couldn't leave when we had to. Will take them to TIGF on another day. The medical problems are very sporadic, have a sister with a goiter/thyroid mass we are working with. Now, the medical system is another complexity we work with. Have to make most of the appintments through a referral agency, which adds a cost. A lot of drugs you can just walk into a drug store and ask for. There are drug stores and banks almost on every block. Just still alot of bureaucy.

This week we have gone to the mission home for a Sr. Sisters fairwell dinner, had a Doctor and his wife over for supper, went to the Bairds, the office couple, for Sunday dinner, worked on our power points, I can do it!, studied Russian and solved a few medical problems. And walked and walked and walked.Give all the grandkids hugs for us. Tell them to write and will try to call. Luv M&D, GM-GP, J&J