Wedding & Girls Camp

The branch celebrated the wedding of Nastia and Vova.  They were married in a civil ceremony, required by law, with only family and close friends attending.  Two days later, on Saturday, the branch had a wedding party (we would call it a reception) for them.  On Monday they left for Kiev to be sealed in the temple.  At right, they have just arrived at the branch and their nieces and nephews are their attendants.

They were proceeded down the aisle by the nieces who tossed rose petals.  The room was decorated with balloons and bows and flowers.

After we arrived, Rick was asked to perform a ring ceremony and give them a marriage blessing.  He's had lots of experience and did a beautiful job.  Sister Williams (right) and Sabina held the flowered arch for the ceremony.

The stand was decorated with satin covered chairs for the couple and their mothers.  Tamara, the branch Relief Society President  and Vova's mother is on the left and Marianna (right), the first member in Almaty, is Nastia's mother.

There were many dances and musical numbers for everyone to enjoy.  Sister Dautov is performing a traditional Uygur tribal dance.  President Dautov is Uygur.  The young women performed a traditional Kazakh dance and there was a fun line dance as well as dancing for couples. We have posted two videos below of some of the dances.

Vova and Nastia danced to one of our favorites, "Unchained Melody".  The younger children enjoyed blowing bubbles while they danced.  They loved being a part of all the festivities.

After all the dancing and games inside, we went outside to enjoy the refreshments.  The cake was truly a highlight as the sparklers were lit and it looked like it was about to take off in flight.  The evening was cool and pleasant as we ate the wonderful meal and desserts.  It was a perfect party for a perfect couple!

This video is the National Kazakh dance and is being performed by Sister Dautov and Sabina.  It was amazing to watch in person.  Sabina will be serving a mission at Salt Lake Temple Square beginning in September.  Sister Dautov has been teaching Kazakh dances to the young men and women in the branch.  Many of them performed at the celebration before the dedication of the Kiev Temple.

This video shows a traditional wedding dance by the bride and groom.  It was lovely to watch and Rick was especially impressed with Vova's ability.

BIRTHDAYS

We celebrated Elder Beckh and Sister Williams birthdays at English Club.  Their birthdays are two days apart, so we surprised Sister Williams.  All of the English Club participants enjoyed being a part of the fun.  We served cake, which Sister Williams made, and ice cream.  We had celebrated Elder Beckh's birthday at district meeting the day before and enjoyed having his cake after lunch.

YOUNG WOMEN CAMP

Rick and I were asked to go with the girls to their "camp" which was held in the Dautov's country home.  From left are Arina, YW President, her daughter, Deanna, Sabina, 1st Counselor, Austik, Nursulu, Adelia, Armanui and Masha.  Rick and I each did a spiritual presentation and gave the girls gifts to help them remember the things we talked about.  (Austik and Armanui are sisters.)

One of the activities the girls did was a life page.  They selected pictures and embellishments and each made a page of their hopes and dreams.  It was so nice to see the finished products with each girl focusing on being married in the temple, raising righteous children and getting an education.  These are truly exceptional girls who have strong testimonies and set the right example for those around them.  Each of them is very accomplished in their abilities and talents.  Several of them speak very good English so it's nice to be able to communicate with them.

Arina prepared all the food for each meal.  She did such a wonderful job and everything was s-o-o-o good!!  She's promised to teach me how to make plov, a traditional Uzbeki rice dish.  Hers is the best I've ever tasted.  She was so considerate of what Rick and I would eat and planned each meal with things that we could enjoy.  The whole experience was a blessing for us and we appreciated being able to get to know the girls better and also their leaders.


NEW ELDERS ARRIVE

We have been blessed to have two new missionaries join us.  Elder Hansen, from Chicago, above, and Elder Brinton, from Roy, Utah, right, were switched from the Moscow West Mission and have been serving in Novosibirsk.  They bring a fresh approach to the work here and their enthusiasm is catching.  Elder Hansen is the district leader and conducted district meeting the day after he arrived.  We appreciate having them join the other four in trying to build the Lord's kingdom and strengthen the Almaty Branch.

Mountain Trip

We enjoyed the two trips we took up into the mountains so much that we wanted to do it with our missionaries.  So, the P-Day after our guests left to go to Astana, we donned our casual clothes, piled into the car (Elder Beckh rode in the back where there isn't a seat) and we headed up into the mountains.

 On the way, there is a small park on the side of the road with flowers, horse statues and a scenic canvas print in the background.

We just had to stop and get pictures.  Here are Rick, Elder Beckh, Sister Williams, Sister Talakh and Elder Nalimov posing next to the horses.

As you can see in this picture, there are four horse statues.  They look so real, we could almost feel them running past us.

Rick had to take Anne's picture with a patch of her favorite flowers in the foreground.  She exclaimed when she saw them, "I've never seen such big daisies."

The gondola ride didn't open until noon, so we drove up to the top of the dam built across the valley for flood control.

In the picture to the leftg we are at the top of the dam with the mountains in the background.  Sister Williams is really enjoying the crisp mountain air.

The gondola ride finally opened and we boarded the cable cars.  They were just right for the six of us.  They don't stop, so you have to all get on while the car is slowly moving.  We all lined up around the curve so we could get on one at a time.

This is the start of our trip.  You can see the sign on the speed skating rink at Medeu just above and left of the center of the picture.

As you can tell, taking pictures inside the cable car doesn't produce a very clear picture.  The windows of the car dim the colors.

The views of the mountains going up this ride were fantastic.

This is a view of the front side of the damn.  Notice the steps starting at the bottom and going all the way to the top, right up the middle of the damn.  They were more of a hike than any of us wanted to attempt.

It was amazing to see the effects of the snow on the mountain sides.  Trees had been knocked over and rolled so that the limbs had been broken off.  There were crews on the roads hauling off these giant trees for lumber.  There is no way they will be able to clear off all of them.

Once at the top, Anne coearsed Rick into sticking his head through the hole in a picture board to get this shot.  This will be the closest he gets to skiing.

At the top of the gondola ride are the ski slopes and lifts for skiers.  Of course there are a couple of restaurants and a few other attractions there.  The picture on the left shows the slopes and lifts.

Anne turned just a little to the right and then took this picture to get the beautiful mountain tops.  You can still see the ski lift on the left side of the picture.

We treated the missionaries to lunch at one of the restaurants and then headed back down.

This is a shot just as we started down the mountain.  You can see some of the housing on the left.  They are probably rental properties for the winter season.  When we were with the mission president up here a few days earlier we were joking that we should move the mission home into one of these and then take another for the mission office.

The city of Almaty can be seen in the far distance between the mountains in the center of the picture.  It was a wonderful day to spend in the mountains.

Gibbons/Gushchin Visit

Kiev Visa Trip
On our last visa trip to Kiev, the Eurocup football (soccer) finals were being held and the city had gone all out to put on a good show for visitors.  This large flower clock had cartoon soccer players on each side designed from flowers.  We spent some time shopping in an underground mall across the street from this display.

A university student trying to earn a little money offered to take our picture in front of the Archangel Michael monument.  He is the patron angel of Kiev.  The soccer motif was on most buildings and the temporary booths positioned around the central square.

Dinner with the Tsay's

 Vitaly Tsay, the second counselor in our branch presidency, his wife Nadia, their son Deema, his wife, Allah and their adorable daughter, Angelina came to dinner the Sunday after our return from Kiev.  We enjoyed our visit with them and especially being able to hold the baby who is just a week younger than our youngest grandson.

When Angelina was waking from her nap, Anne caught this sweet expression.  She is such a great baby and has lots of family to love her.









A Trip Up the Mountain

One afternoon, we decided to preview the other side of the mountains so we would know which road would be the best for the visitors who were coming.  This mountain stream sounded wonderful rushing over rocks and reminded us of some of the canyons in Utah.

It had been raining a little, so there was a haze still hanging over the mountains, but as we approached the entrance to the huge skating rink at Medey, we loved the way it was nestled in the valley.

Looking over the wall from the Medey dam, the skating rink can be seen in the distance.  The wildflowers were everywhere along the winding mountain road.








A Visit from the Gibbon's, the Gushchin's and the Webb's

We had a district meeting with all our visiting couples which made us all feel pretty special.  In the back are Sister and Elder Webb, the office couple, and Rick.  President and Sister Gibbons (left front), Sister and Elder Gushchin, Sister Talakh, Elder Nalimov, Elder Beckh and Sister Williams.

After our lunch, we rode the gondola up the hillside of Almaty.  The views were incredible.  The Webbs and the Gibbons felt right home since both couples come from mountainous areas.

The Gushchin's, who live in Novosibirsk, also enjoyed the mountain views and said it reminded them of their visit to Utah when Elder Gushchin was called as an Area Seventy.  They are such a delightful couple.  We all enjoyed getting to know them.

The missionaries loved having the opportunity to ride the gondola and see the views from the hillside.  Starting left:  Sisters Talakh and Williams, Elders Beckh and Nalimov.

Anne couldn't resist taking Rick's picture in this beautiful setting.  Almaty is in the background and if you look closely, you can see the ski jump used for the Asian winter games last year.  It's just to the left of little branch in the center of the picture.

Elder Gushchin heard Beatles music as we were strolling down the walkway and when we came to this display, he was very excited.  He LOVES the Beatles and has many of their recordings.  When he was learning about the gospel, he asked the missionaries if the Church was okay with the Beatles.  When they told him there was no objection, he said, "Then I'll be baptized!"  I know this will be a sweet memory of his trip here.

We couldn't resist having a picture in front of the apple fountain.  Apples are seen everywhere in Almaty, which means apple.  It is said that genetically, all apples can be traced back to the ones that grow wild in the Almaty area.

Standing in a spot we think is very close to where Elder Nelson offered a dedicatory prayer in 2003 for the preaching of the gospel in Kazakhstan, President Gibbons read the dedicatory prayer and then favored us with a rendition of "Happy Birthday" and "We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet."  He chose a leaf from a lilac bush to use as his instrument.  Quite a talent he has!