Opening Project

We opened a project this week Gayok Village, Minsk Region. This was a Retirement Home for 25 residents. The manager is Nadyezhda Sakovich and the Director is Svyetlana Kulbitskaya.


This man was sitting in a wheel chair donated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints.


They are in need of more laundry equipment. The staff does all the laundry for the 25 resident in this one very small home-size washing mahine. It is like the one we use in our apartment. They do not have a dryer--using a clothes line to dry all of the clothes which also includes sheets and blankets. The staff at this homes are so caring, dedicated, and sometimes under some trying circumstances. The residents seem happy and appreciate anything that is offered. One lady said she wanted another TV because all the men want to watch is sports!! We're not so different after all!!

A couple of the residents enjoying a little fresh air.

Walk-through

During the summer months, McDonald's installs a staircase to use as a walk-through window. Max and Lena were buying milk shakes for the office staff. They feature a kiwi milk shake that Max said is not very good--but he enjoys their other flavors. We like to eat there once in a while to have a good old American hamburger. They also feature a hamburger with cucumbers on it--which is really very tasty. We have eaten more cucumbers on our mission for two reason. They are plentiful and they are very good. We serve them each week for the meal when we invite the branch members over and there is never any left-over. Even the children love cucumbers. I've saw one family at church use a whole peeled cucumbers to keep their child quiet during church. I guess it beats cold cereal!!

More Rural Lifestyle Pictures

As you can probably tell this is a chalk board that was really made out of boards. I found that so interesting.

We even did a little missionary work. Vitaly offered our guide a pass along card.

Extra, Extra! Read all About it.

We made the news. This article in a local village newspaper tell how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated a tractor to their village that will be used to plow the gardens of the elderly. Two volunteer from America visited with some of the residents to find out if they enjoyed having their gardens plowed. (Recognize anyone in those pictures??)

English Club Field Trip

Instead of having English Club Saturday we all went on a field trip to the Belarusian State Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Lifestyle. It was an outdoor museum with displays from different villages in Belarus and how they lived years ago. There was some very interesting artifacts, it stopped raining while we walked around, and we found a beautiful spot to eat our picnic lunch. After posing for the picture in front of the church the group sang, "I Have A Family Here on Earth" and Vitaly gave our guide a pass-along card.






This is used when a baby is learning to walk. The baby is put inside the half circle and walks while the post turns in a circle.


The baby's cradle is hanging from the ceiling.






Reflection in window is Yulya and Polina


Thatched roof made out of small bamboo sticks stacked on top of each other.

Meet My New Friend!!

Grab the grandkids, come see what I see.
Is it alive, is it real, what can it be?
A snail carrying his house on his back,
I took his picture--his name was Jack.
To each of you he said to say Hi.
And then just as quickly he had to say Bye.
It takes a long time to get to his home
So I took his picture and left him to roam.
We watched him slowly move on his way,
But I'm sure to get home it took him all day.

Family Home Evening

The Girls!!


The Guys!!



The Great Lesson!! (Timofyeyev shared their trip to Israel)


The weather getting there!!

Botanical Gardens (the end)

I took enough pictures I could have several blogs--but since I put "the end" on the title this will be the last one.

You can't have a garden without a frog....

and a big rock. If we could only read Russia I'm sure there is a story behind this big rock. Of course I had to have a picture of it. The reason I'm in it was to show you how big it (the rock) really was. It was the only rock we saw.

Botanical Gardens

We had such a nice walk through the gardens it was really hard to decide what pictures would be the most interesting to share. Here is just a sample of what we saw. We want to return in August when the flowers will be in full bloom and to see the rose garden.

Are we there yet?

Our the road trip we often times have to stop and ask people for directions. Everyone is so willing to help us. We asked her....


and her....


and him.....

but not him...I think he must be lost also!!

Road Trip Shots

The floweres and the clouds here are so pretty. These were taken on our last road trip to Grodna.

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

This week for English Club we talked about body parts and gestures.

The group showing you what they learned!!

What better way to learn body parts than head, shoulders, knees, and toes.

People Watching

After shopping at Komaroski Renick

and while waiting for our bus we did a little people watching. They are not taken from a moving van but they are taken with a hidden camera. Actually the camera was sitting in my lap and I was just randoning shooting pictures of interest.

They sell lotto ticket on the street, cold weather and all.

This nun just finished sitting on the street with a collection box.

A homeless man (I'm guessing). Some of them are in much worse shape than him. I especially feel sorry for the women. They come on the street with their faces all beat up. I'm hoping they don't get hit just to get more sympathy. The wounds sometimes don't even look like they've been washed.

And lots of pigeons.