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!