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I have a question for those of you who have recently returned...are digital cameras pretty usable over in Ukraine nowadays...meaning can you easily get pictures printed, or is it better just to take a regular film camera still?
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I was wondering if anyone might be able to give some contact info for Maksim Shiyan. I know he may work, or have worked in the Service Center, but that was a while ago. Email or mailing address, either would be keen.
Thanks
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If I, Брат Хант, taught you (or tried to teach you) Ukrainian in the MTC, and if I haven't made contact with you for several months or more, PLEASE send me an e-mail. I'd love to keep in touch and know how things are going in your life.
In fact, whether I taught you in the MTC or not, if you know me but haven't heard from me in a while, contact me. Thanks.
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Does anyone have contact information for Elder Tamir from Ulan Bator, Mongolia? A working e-mail address would be great, if he has one.
Please don't post Tamir's contact information here. send me an e-mail.
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www.ukrnow.com
http://www.razom.org.ua/
http://www.yuschenko.com.ua/eng
Web cam on Maydan Nezalegnosti http://www.1plus1.net/video/camera.php
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My memory is gone of the even the branch name that I served in or any names for my short time in Kiev . But I remember some members wanted me to stop by on my way home and I never made it. I may have been connected with their conversion. If anyone has email addresses, especially for leaders, I would appreciate it. I guess I'll just ask if any one remembers Elder Roiz from 1992 and early 1993.
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hi,
does anyone have an email or address for jenya shmurak in kiev? does anyone have any email address for anyone in Simferopol? does anyone know if baba Ada Krashinekoba is still around?
thanks,
kathy
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Hey I was wondering if anyone had elder Pshnipsies address, otherwise known as elder wheaty
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Hey,
Does anyone have Sasha Sechgarenko's email address? He lives in Simferopol. Any help appreciated.
Lyle
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We are going to have Eastern European Banquet at Utah State University on April 8, at 7:00 PM. Taggart Student Center 2nd floor Walnut Room next to the Auditorium. If you are near Logan, Utah or would like to drive there and have some free time please feel free to come. It will be fun. The program should be very exciting with food and entertainment from Eastern Europe(Ukraine, Russia, Poland etc.) The cost is $ 7 students and $ 9 non-students. I hope to see you there.
Take care.
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Hello:
I am an American traveling to Kiev soon. I am wondering if the missionaries have any helpfull hints or can assist me in my arrival. I am nervous about traveling around alone with out speaking the language. Thanks, Jon
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Some members in Odessa, Ukraine have requested that I find for them the address of Sister Merkley, who served there about a year ago. Apparently they lost it and would like to write her. Spasibo bolshoe.
-Jason
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Would like to know meeting times for any branch in Dnepropetrovsk. Thanks!
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for Ray and Annette Shefield!
I was not able to read your e mail.For some reason, it was only one sentance . My friend Ulia Simanovskaya would like to write to you.I would like to wrighte to you too!
Anya
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Hi, everyone,
My old friend in Kiev are looking for br. and sis. Shafield(did I spell it right?) e mail adress or mailing adress. Plese, help!:)
Thank you!
Anya Garrett
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I would like to know if there is a branch in Krivoy Rog. Any info. you could provide asap would be appreciated. Also, are there American or English-speaking missionaries serving there? This would be a great comfort to me. Thanks!
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It is with a heavy heart that we report the death of Mykola Krayluk. Brother
Krayluk died at 5:40pm Thursday August 21st, 2003 in a construction
accident. A memorial service will take place Sunday August 24th at 6pm in
the Praia da' Vitoria Chapel, Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal. If you would like to write a letter of support for the
family (or to our other Slavic saints) we encourage you to do so. We know
that Myloka is in a better place, and take comfort in that fact that he
found the gospel before he was called home. He will be missed.
Respectfully,
Anthony Russo
Mark James
Miles Lewis
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Has anyone had any contact with our Uzhgorod Saints lately? Elder (Trent) Miskin was a junior companion there when it closed, stranding eleven members and a few nearly-ready investigators; early 2000 sounds about right. Serving in L'viv in early 2001, he and I received permission to visit them and hold a Sacrament Meeting. At that time their numbers had dwindled to eight. (One family moved to Norway, and the Church was able to maintain contact with them only because Heavenly Father arranged for us to run into their son on the street.) They were still receiving the Liahona and other newly-translated materials regularly. AFAIK that is the last time they had the sacrament until I went home a year ago. Has anyone heard of them since? May God uphold them in the trial of patience.
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We just had a member return back from Odessa, and he was concerned about a few things there... I wanted to get some background info form people who have been there before I decide if there is anything to what he is saying.
First off, he was very unimpressed with the director of the branch/ward there. Apparently the members of the church can't receive any support (both temporal and spiritual) from him. One of the phrases that was uttered to our member was, "Are you here for support, or are you here to pray...so go pray." I understand that there is a probably a translation difference...but it still bothered me.
Some other things that were mentioned were that there was no home teaching program established, whenever a shipment of DI type supplies would arrive, none of the members would receive any, (They would always go to the leaders families). Also, they kept calling it the American Church instead of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also heard rumors in town that were obviously started by the adversary like: If you are a member long enough, and you pay $5700, you can immigrate to America.
These are some serious accusations, and I need an insiders perspective before I decide my next course of action. Can anyone please confirm/refute/explain any of these situations? Thanks in advance.
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I want just to say HI to everyone.
I am living right now in Provo and if you want geve me a call.
Hristov
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Veselin Denev Hristov
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I am the Mission Leader in the Lajes, Azores (Portugal) branch. We are very sad that one of our Ukranian borthers, Mykola Kralyuk, will be returning to the Ukraine on the 17th of April. He was baptized last year and has been an awesome member, friend, and home teacher. His wife has recently become ill, and he wants to be there with her. He also has expressed a sincere desire to help build the Kiev Temple...for free. He is a retired engineer that has experience building large structures.
Please take care of him!!!!!!
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For the record, I had two cameras stolen during my mission, though the bigger loss was the 4 rolls of film that was either in or with the cameras. I do think I just had unusually bad luck, but if you bring anything nice (cameras or anything else), you need to be aware of the risk and take precautions to make sure nothing happens. Another suggestion for the photography enthusiast is to find an older camera that has all of the manual shutter speed and aperture settings and maybe a decent zoom lense, and leave your fancy new camera at home.
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Along the same lines as the last question... this one is about cameras. I'm kind of into photography and I'd love to bring my good camera, but would this be a bad idea? It's not huge but it's kind of expensive. Have many missionaries had things stolen? If so, I will leave it at home and bring something less valuable.
Any advice would be great!
Nichole
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the last i heard the church is still working through the red tape in order to get the temple in kiev. i don't think the church has decided to wait on more membership. the problem seems to be getting things worked out with the government. since ukraine was communist, there are many laws which cause problems for private land ownership...
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If anyone does have any news, I think it is fairly safe that we would hear about it here. All I know is that nothing has been publicized in the papers here. My conclusion is that the Church has decided to wait for the membership in the Europe East area to strengthen a bit. I believe that because they have announced a Helsinki Finland temple and recently completed renovations to the Freiburg temple that they are in no hurry and will wait to build a temple until the Church has strengthened some more.
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Here is a report from a Humanitarian missionaries that I work with.
"Subject: President Hinckley
Good Day to you all.
I promised I would collect my thoughts about President Hinckley's visit here. We took Svetlana from Countpart which is an organization that brings humanitarian aid into the country via other NGO's. Previous to us they brought a lot of our things in and we used them a lot to get the containers in for other NGO's. Now the system is changed and we do it via the church and through ourselves so we do not send it through anyone else. That way the church gets the credit and recognition.
Svetlana was amazed that we as a church were as big as we were in all of Ukraine. She was also surprised that we could go anywhere in Ukraine while their organization is world wide and can only work a few Oblasts at a time.
The Friday before President Hinckley came I was talking to her and asked if she would like to see him. She said she was very interested so I took an invitation to her and we agreed where to meet. She was most impressed with the amount of people who came, the place where it was held, everything. The quietness of 3,500 people, the choir, all the talks. The people hugging each other and some crying and most feeling just plain happy.
We got there an hour early and were given seats saved by Alex and his children. They were great seats as were all seats there. It is the largest hall in Ukraine. It is a small conference center. Has one balcony that hangs over just like the conference center. The accustics were excellent, chandeliers were beautiful. Not at all like the older buildings we have been to for conference meetings.
Everyone was just sitting there quietly when Pres. and Sister Hinckley and Mission Pres. and wives and necessary people came in on the stage. The curtain lifted on a choir of more than 100 people all dressed in black skirts or pants and white shirts or blouses except for a few that sat in a triangle in the middle. Very effective.
All the talks by Pres. Callister, Pres. West, and Pres Christensen were great but the anticipation for Pres. Hinckley was so great. When he took the podium the energy became more elevated than it already was just because he was there. He spoke through an interpreter who tried to keep up with him in finding the scriptures he used. He said that 21 years ago he came here when there was not a member of the church in Ukraine, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Lennongrad, Latvia. Wonderful people who later embraced the gospel and made it a part of their lives. He prays for the people here. 'You will be happy, church will grow.( I don't have all the words so you can fill them in.) He said,'I don't know how much time I have left but I want to give you my (testimony). I want to talk to you briefly (1 Peter 2:9) about a matter.' He talked about being a chosen generation, pioneers, wonderful time to be alive, science, etc, 'And on top of that the gospel. Greatest age in history of the world. You & I partake of all blessings available to the world, because of Jesus Christ and the Royal Priesthood. This is the day Peter saw. Available to all who would accept the gospel.
Brothers, keep your lives in order. I am disturbed to hear 2/3 men in Russia die of alcohol related problems. 2/3 marriages end in divorce. Lord blessed us that no such thing should happen to us. He gave us the Word of Wisdom.
I believe with all my heart that you need blessings of the Lord. You pray for them. He has set forth laws by which he will bless you. Tithing is one of those laws. You cannot afford not to pay it. Lords promise---open windows of heaven..etc. Not my promise. He can bless you." Told story of some people in china. A man and wife. They had enough money to either pay tithing or buy rice. He said they should buy rice. What would they do if they had no rice. She said they had just been baptized and promised to keep the commandments and tithing was one of the commandments. So they took what little money it was and took it to Branch President and returned home. He said, 'what are we going to do?' Next day when he went to work his boss said he was a good worker and had decided to give him a raise. The money for the raise was exactly the amount of the tithing. It is difficult but I plead with you. Take the Lord at his word. Let him fulfill his promise which I testify he will do.
Let me in conclusion tell you how much I love you. This is the first time I have seen you but I'm so glad I came. Thank you for all your good (work). I promise it is never a sacrifice when you get back more than you give. You will grow in capacity and strength. Become better men and women, better meighbors, better citizens of the nation you are in. We pray for you. Grateful for promise for us. God in Heaven will smile in favor upon you. You look so wonderful to me. Wish I could put my arms around each of you and say thank you. I probably will never see you again until at Jesus feet. Walk in faith. God will bless you, with food upon your table, cloths on your back, place to live............
By this time everyone was very emotional. I did not want to write anymore. I just wanted to look at him. I just wanted to see his eyes, his face, hear his words. When he finished the choir sang and he just stood there. He sat down and there was a closing prayer by a young adult woman from our area. The choir sang as he got up to leave. Everyone started to wave white handkerchiefs. He and his wife got a little across the stage and then he turned and walked back to the middle of the stage and up front. He just stood there and looked out. Everyone just waved the handkerchief. Not a single sound could be heard. Everyone could feel his arms around them in love just as he said he wished he could do. I thought ' this is how the Nephites felt when Jesus left them.' I know there was the choir singing somewhere "God be With You' but I don't remember exactly where. I just know I want that feeling for the rest of my life.
Our friend took Dee's white handkerchief and waved it like everyone else. She felt the spirit so strong. She put the handkerchief in her purse and wants to keep it.
After it was over we went out side with everyone else. It was an absolutely perfect evening. Not a breath of a breeze. Just the right temperature. People just hung around, seeing old friends, hugging, happy. Not loud, just peaceful joy. Some strangers walking by asked what was going on that all these people seemed so happy? Eventually we had to leave. Svetlana said whe was not ready for the missionaries but would let us know. She said she had never experienced anything quite like this. She could not ever forget that sweet, simple but great man.
George, the man we have a contract with, had his whole family there. He called us this morning and said they had all three come, his wife, daughter and son. He is the only member. His wife sometimes came to church with him but did not join. He said his daughter was not interested in the other talks but when the President started to talk she could not take her eyes off him. She listened to every word. He is so excited.
Bogdons mom brought a friend and came to it. This is her first time to be exposed to the church. Valentina said her parents would not be there but she hoped her sister and children would be there. I don't know if they made it.
It is a testimony to me that Gordon B Hinckley is truly a prophet of God. His spirit touched every person in the hall.
Even a doubter could not deny that. Sergey and his friend Sergey were there also. Sergey will be baptized when Lloyd comes over to do it. Probably next month.
I have seen other Presidents of the church. This is in fact my fourth or fifth time. But I have never been affected like I was Monday, September 9, 2002. A testimony grows by itself with every thing you think and do. When it is full it must be like Pres. Hinckley's. I want that. I want you, my friends and family to have that also. Cultivate it, read the scriptures, pray for it, hope for it. It will come.
We love you so much. Love, Elder & Sister Swensen
P.S. This is not word for word what Pres. Hinckley said, but from my sketchy notes. He said much about the royal priesthood, introduced his wife, talked about more than I have here but I hope you can catch an essence of what Ukraine felt with him here."
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Member count in the mission after the boundary change: about 3850. Baptism count is about 200 or 250 per year.
Kyiv - OPEN, about 1/3 Russian speaking. 2 districts, 12 branches.
Bila Tserkva - OPEN, one or two companionships.
Bogatoye - Donetsk (Crimea, 80km from Simferopol)
Brovary - OPEN, two companionships.
Cherkasy - OPEN, two companionships.
Chernivtsi - OPEN, three companionships.
Chernihiv - OPEN, two companionships.
* Illiochivs'k - OPEN, two companionships.
Ivano-Frankivs'k - OPEN, one or two companionships
Kherson (?) - Donetsk, even though Mikolayiv is so close.
Luts'k - OPEN, two companionships.
L'viv - OPEN, five companionships.
Mikolayiv - OPEN, three companionships.
Odesa - OPEN, six (?) companionships. 1 district, 3 branches.
Rivne - OPEN, two companionships, last I knew some minor problems keeping missionaries there.
Ternopil' - CLOSED. Was only open 10 months with 1 baptism.
Uzhorod - CLOSED early 2000, I think. Several members "stranded", nearest branch is L'viv.
Vinnitsya - OPEN, two companionships.
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Here goes the rumor mill again. Unfortunately we aren't likely to get concrete information.
My conclusion is that there is an 80% chance of there being land for the temple on which we can build, but only a 30% probability that construction will begin in 2002. My personal opinion is that the temple dedication will likely be within five years given that the current situation continues to improve (which I believe it has been). If it worsens, the timeline will, too.
DISCLAIMER: The remainder of this message include what I have been told. I am not an insider. I have no concrete facts. I am willing to trust that those who are visiting this site are not going to take these remarks out of context or read more into them than is really there. You'll find that most of this is opinion mingled with supposed facts.
I asked about the temple a few times while serving in the mission office. The answer is (per President Trythall) that the only source of definitive information about the temple is ultimately the Temple Department of the Church or from President Hinckley.
The permission to build problem is not as big as it has been. That does not mean that we will build anytime soon. For that matter, to my understanding it is POSSIBLE that we could build a temple now (with the minor concern that the government is still known to repossess or threaten to repossess completed building projects if even the slightest of building-related laws are violated). But I also sense that the Church is beginning a policy of not building temples in areas where tithe payment is low. I don't know specific numbers but I would hypothesize that given Ukraine's weak economy that payment of tithes is a problem.
It has been implied that construction of a temple is not likely to begin until after the creation of a stake in Kiev. The Church is very conservative about establishing a stake. Officially we are only unable to create a stake because we don't have facilities large enough to hold ward-sized congregations.
Building such buildings will take time. Even if they are in progress, there's no way (in my mind) that they can be completed before next summer, because if they were close to completion I think news about this would have leaked back. Buildings are difficult to hide. Once the buildings are complete, the current proposal would be to merge branches into ward-sized branches under one district and have a "test stake", that is, the district would function like a stake but would remain under the direction of a mission president. So I don't see the formation of the stake likely for at least 18 months.
So assuming that the temple won't begin construction before the creation of a stake (which I would assign a 80% probability to), I don't see a completed temple for at least two and a half years.
I don't think the Church is in a hurry. The Freiberg Temple (to which Kiev is assigned) is currently being remodeled and expanded. One interpretation of this is that the Church has no plans to build a temple anytime soon.
Now for a rumor or two. First, I was in a large meeting in Kiev where the area president (Elder Hancock) gave a talk. This was last spring. He suggested (although didn't firmly say this) that there is land for the temple in Kiev. This is one of the times I asked around the office about this, and the specific answer to this question was that "Elder Hancock must know something that we don't."
I think this basically means that this was a slip of something that shouldn't have been said. Even then, the existence of land does not imply that construction will begin soon.
Second, we had some Americans in the Chernigov branch go home to Tri-Cities, Washington (site of the new Columbia River Temple). They came back with a rumor which they promptly spread around the branch that the temple would be under construction in the "near future" and claimed that the contractor would be the same one who was building the Columbia River Temple. This was last summer. Their suggestion was that construction was to begin after the dedication of the Columbia River Temple, and (hopefully) before snowfall.
Seeing no announcement (and I'm not surprised that there hasn't been one) I think this rumor can be discarded.
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Sister Smiley (and others interested) -
I just got back from Kiev about two months ago, so you'll want to remember that this information is that old.
Until this past summer, there were at least two American families in the city of Kyiv (both working for the Embassy as I recall). There are others in the country. You'll find that Kyiv differs from many European countries in that a lesser percentage of the people speak English -- but many (especially among the youth) speak it well.
Church meetings are great. If you are living in Kyiv, you will probably get translation by the missionaries. Actually, Primary in one of the Kyiv branches was entirely in English until the two aforementioned families moved out (that says something for the amount of Primary-aged children who are members). You will find that the members are very polite and anxious to meet Americans, and you'll also find that they will look to you for an example. Many members in Ukraine justify their actions and expectations based off of what they see American members do.
Medical care is fairly good. There is a facility called the American Medical Center in Kyiv. It is not far from the Embassy. The standards are very close to or equivalent to those in standard American facilities. (Most missionaries in the Kyiv Mission were sent there for medical problems until the recent assignment of a mission doctor to the mission.) I do not know if or how they handle insurance (the Church has a different arrangement with Missionary Medical for international missionaries).
You'll find public transportation in Kyiv to be generally reliable, although based on what I know of the two families, I expect that the U.S. government will provide you with a car. (You'll need to learn that their driving habits do differ from ours.) You'll probably also get an apartment (large and luxurious by Ukrainian standards but probably significantly smaller than what you're living in now if you're like the average American). Cost of living is somewhat lower, but that does depend on who you're buying from; I'm convinced that I paid higher prices in Kyiv sometimes because of my accent when buying from individuals.
Ukrainians like to complain about their crime rates and political/economic situation. My opinion (let me stress this as my opinion) is that the total number of crimes in Kyiv (a city of 2-3 million people) is probably less than they are in my hometown of Provo (at 1/15 the population), the political situation doesn't differ much from our own (pre Sept. 11), and the economic situation is worse than ours.
I'm not sure what else to tell you. This is an opportunity that I would probably jump at (remember that I already know a lot of these people and their culture, so I can say that) but I don't know you or your situation, so I am not going to recommend you one way or the other.
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