New District

This is our new District. Some thought it was a little warmer than they thought and they wished they had their jackets on. We're on our way to eat Pizza together after our District meeting.
This is what we do every time we have English class. The kids love to play ping pong. This board is broke but they just put tables under it and keep going. The fellow in the back, dark shirt, is not a member yet and the girls are member and the other one an Elder.
I put this picture on after the one under it but I don't know how they get mixed up. I thought you would like to see just how up to date we are in Ukaraine. This was the first time I've seen a Limo here. It was a beautful day and while walking down center I counted 3-4 brides. They have beautiful dresses and veils just like at home. This Limo is sitting waiting for the wedding party in front of a Catholic church.
I don't know why Elder Williams doesn't get up and show them how.

Nigerian Feast

Dorcas and Ceclia are cooking an authentic Nigerian dinner for Elder Allsop who is going home and his parents. This is what they wear in their home land. These are the people we have home evening with every Mon. night. Elder Allsop's parents came to pick him up and they were very nice to visit with. They are from the Salt Lake area. Elder Allsop baptised everyone of them.
You eat the things at the other end of the table, which is like cream of wheat, drained and put into balls (that's saran wrap around them) tear off a little and dip it into some chicken and sauce,(very hot) then some on the tray of chicken and beef on skewers and then rice with vegtables in it. One course at a time. Fruit juice to drink which is what we usually have at all the meals. It was very good. Elder Allsop in his Authentic Nigerian costume. He loved it.
This is all of us. They were kind enough to envite us. They're good people and trying to understand all that we teach them. Which is all new to them. They might be leaving to go to other schools and or back to Nigeria in the summer.
Tony the most recent convert pretending he's playing the piano. It's actually a player piano also in the chapel, so he really sounded good. He plays Soccer here in Ukraine for different clubs, he's really good.

Tour in Lviv

We have a code that we have to get into the entrance just inside the building and just before going up the stairs to our apartment. Most of the apartment or flats have these codes. They can be figured out with a little bit of time. One member that we visited had one but we couldn't figure it out so we called them and she said just pull the button on the side of the door and it will open, the code doesn't open it, and so we did and it opened.
This is part of our tour we took a while ago. She told us a lot of history. This is what they call their sitting statue of Liberty. Click on the picture for a closer view.
This is the oldest Apteka or pharmacy which was built in 1735. It is still a working one but it is also a museum.
The Opera Center in Lviv with it's newly built fountain really makes a beautiful entrance for the center. There is alway lots of people around the fountain. Today I walked by and they were fixing it but there were still a lot of people standing around it.
There were different area's that she took us to, where the Armenian's and Jewish and Ukranians communities lived. As you know during the war the Jews were hunted down. This is where their Mesusa were kept. Each time they entered their home they would touch them or kiss them with their hand I'm not sure. They took them out when the troops came.

District Meeting

This is after our District Meeting in front of the church. I want to say it is a spiritual experience when we have District meetings. These young men have such a testimony of the gospel. They can have fun but they can also be very serious when it comes to sacred things. They do such a good job leading out and inspiring others. We are taking pictures because the one in the front is finish with his mission and will be leaving soon. We usually take them out to eat when they leave so today was his choice and he choose the place that has steaks. He had never eaten there before so we weren't sure how good it would be. To buy steaks in the store, they are tough and not tasty so we mostly buy chicken.
This place was wonderful. Elder Allsop said that he has not been this happy for a long time. We all had a good time. We actually had two more Elders leave that we were so sad about, they were transferred. We will miss them all.
Elder Gassaway bought this authentic Cossack Costume to take home. Cossacks are known for their fierce martial spirit and love for freedom. He leaves the middle of June so he doesn't have too long left.
This is in the front of the restaurant with a statue of a Holstein, they were being crazy, it was fun.

Day at the Market

This was a beautiful Easter Sunday which is held on April 27 almost a month after the one in the States. Yes our leaves have already come out but as of now I'm still wearing my winter coat. It has rained for the last week off and on. They say the weather is a lot like London England.
This is a bag that we take with us to the market and this is the market. We take a Marshootka and it's called the Arson(p's are r's, c's are s's and h is n). We try to remember to take bags with us because you have to buy bags if you don't have them. It's always fun to get home and find out what you actually bought because if they don't have a picture on them you're not sure. Once I thought I had bought hair spray and it was moouse (sp) and we never get the right pickles. Also bottled water, gas or no gas that is the question. I actually don't mind the gas now because I bought some by mistake.
This is a resturant just down the road from us that we've been going to try out. It's really decorated cute now that they've put the tables and flowers outside.
This is just outside our bedroom. It has two doors going outside and there were 5 pots already out there so I put petunias in them. So far I haven't even had to water them because of the rain, I hope they don't go yellow with too much rain.

Branch Picnic

This is our two branches together at a picnic on a hill in the city. It was a wonderful park but we did have to climb up some hills and down some paths. It was quite cool this day which was all right if you were playing ball but too cool for us just sitting. It was a good activity because our Nigerians were there and the other members, even some people not members yet.
This is Tony from Nigeria, this was taken at the church before we went but we were watching him play and he IS good. He was just baptized last Sat. and confirmed last Sunday when a member of our area Pres. was to church, what an honor for him.
Elder Jacobs our Zone Leader. He loves any sport and is good in all of them. He and Elder Gassaway are very good missionaries and he can play the guitar. They are so much fun to be around.
The two on the right are Wenja and Julie, we went with them yesterday to an International music Competition just around the corner of our apartment, It was fantastic, boy what talent
They just got through playing soccer and we're getting ready to eat. It was a very good activity. Make sure you click on the pictures to zoom in. These are good people who we have grown to love.