Khatyn

After visiting a project in the Minsk Region we took Brother and Sister Holmes (Area Welfare Managers from Moscow) to the war memorial, Khatyn, honoring the 2,230,000 people in Belarus that were killed in World War II.

The memorial is centered around this sculpture modeled after the only survivor, Yuzif Kaminsky, carrying his dead grandson. Before he died he was giving tours of the site and telling his story about the war.

There is a chimney representing the homes in Khatyn that were destroyed by the German invasion. The families were lead into a barn which was set on fire burning them alive.


A bell will ring from one of the towers every 30 seconds as a reminder of someone who was killed.

Also on the post lists the family members that lived in that particular house--their names and the ages of the children.

This is the Graveyard of Villages, commenorating 185 other Belarusian villages annihilated by the Germans.

Each capsule has dirt from where the village was actually located.

The Tree of Life listing the other 433 villages that were destroyed but rebuilt.

One out of ever four people living in Belarus were killed during the war. The tree represent the three that lived and the eternal flame represent the people that were killed.

Every family in Belarus was effected in some way by the war.

Roadside Deals

One of the fun things we like to do on our road trips is stop and buy fresh food from the roadside vendors. They sell apples, potatoes, wild raspberries, and mushrooms.

Max and Sergie examining the strawberries.

These are mushroom (we stay away from them)!!!

Max's favorite thing is to buy all they have. This lady was pretty happy when he bought all of her strawberries.

Opening and Closing

Last February we went to Orsha to open a project and this is what the ground looked like.

This is what it looked like today. Their flower garden was beautiful. Each year they save and plant their own seeds. They are even starting a green house to get an earlier start next summer.

This was surprising relaxing to run through your fingers. They say it's their most popular piece of therapy equipment.


The church donated equipment to provide an area for children with muscle control problems to play and develop.

We were each given a ribbon which we tied on this tree and made a wish, which is guaranteed to come true.

The director, manager, and staff of the clinic were so appreciative and of the help. They presented us with a book about Orsha, a CD about their center, and a tree made of beads and wire. They are such dedicated people that love the handicap people they work with.

Saturday Excursion

Each Saturday during the summer we tried to walk to different parts of the city and try different restaurants. This one is just down from our apartment and served authentic Belarussian food. We each had daniki which is a patty made out of shredded potatoes. The weather was nice so we ate outside.

This is a chicken salad we shared. The dressing was delicious.

The buses are not near as crowded on Saturday so I took a picture of the inside. This was actually the first stop of bus #91. By the time it reached our apartment it was full.

On this particular excursion we went to the a resevoir on the Slovilish River and saw these men fishing.

They use several poles with bells to alert them when a fish is biting.

The leaves are starting to fall off of the trees, winter is coming--which is very sad because we have really enjoyed our summer excursions.

Temple Trip--the Branch Members

I thought it would be fun for you to see some of the people that we went with.

Zoya Prokhodskaya

Alla and Angyelina Smirnov

Natasha and Ivan Makarov

Masha Ryabushko

Olya Liudvikovskaya and "yours truly"

The Branch Soccer Game

Temple Trip #3

This is the complex where the patrons stay when they come for a week to do work in the temple.


The kitchen where the families cooked all of their meals. There were two dishwashers which made it nice.

This is the home we stayed in. It was right behind the temple, but because of the fence we had to walk a ways to get to the temple entrance.

Her backyard--taken from our room's patio.


Our room--this is the biggest bed I've slept in since leaving home!!

Temple Trip

The Freiburg Temple is a small but very beautiful. There is only one session going on at a time and they only have three session a day. We did three session everyday and the youth did baptisms. There were three couples from the United States serving temple missions.








(Taken from the window of the home we were staying in)

Freiburg Temple Trip

The members of the branches in Belarus twice a year take a bus and travel to Freiburg, Germany to attend the temple. Because they are gone for a whole week they will bring the entire family. They all stay in the housing located on temple grounds, cook their meals together, have spiritual thoughts in the evening, and just enjoy each other's company. It's like one big week long family reunion.



All packed up and ready to go. All aboard!!






We have several stops along the way--some planned some not. We were stopped twice and the authorities boarded the bus and checked everyone's passports. Luckily we all checked out and they let us continue on.

We left Minsk, Belarus Sunday afternoon and arrived at the German temple on Monday afternoon--22 hours on the bus. We were 3 hours at the border between Belarus and Poland getting all the paper work completed.


(Stay tuned for some cool shots of the temple)

New Craft Ideas

This was decorating the lawn at the last Retirement Home we visited. They call this flower in Russian "Ringer." We call it the "Blue Bell."

A closer look will show that is is a soda bottle cut and painted green and blue. I found it so interesting.

(As I'm out of town this week--this were pre-posted,
but I wanted to share this clever ideas.")