"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

It began snowing on October 27 and has snowed every day since then.  It is in the 20's during the day as of Nov. 5 and will get down to 12 degrees tonight.  We find that if we bundle up well, we can still go out for afternoon walks, though the sun sets at 4:45 as of today and it will continue to get dark earlier each day for the next two months.   

Eskimo Jim

The lake behind our house is just beginning to freeze over.

We love hiking the trail behind the lake.

Such a beautiful and peaceful walk and sight.

Churches of the Moscow Kremlin

We visited the Kremlin (Red Square) on Monday and toured the inside of the churches.  We will cover other museums on  days when it's too cold to be outdoors with much walking around.

Ivan the Great Bell Tower 

The Assumption Cathedral erected in 1475-1479 was the major church of the state in which all Russian Tsars were crowned.

We also toured the Annunciation Cathedral built in 1484 and was the home church of the Moscow Great Princes and later Russian Tsars.  We went to the Archangel's Cathedral constructed in 1505 and was used as a burial vault for Moscow Great Princes and Russian Tsars.  The Patriarch's Palace and the Twelve Apostle's Church was built in 1653 for Patriarch Nikon. The Church of laying our Lady's Holy Robe was erected in 1484 and was the home of Russian Metropolitans and later Patriarchs.  

Of course, St. Basil's Cathedral is a MUST and the most ornate and colorful of all, commissioned by Ivan the Terrible to celebrate his conquest of the Tatar city of Kazan in 1552.    

Volgograd, Russia War Memorial -Mamayev Kurgan

Volgograd, Russia became famous for its resistance during the Battle of Stalingrad against the German Army in WWII.  It is often regarded as the largest and bloodiest battle in the history of warfare.  Volgograd, formerly named Stalingrad, is a city in southwest Russia on the western bank of the Volga River.  This enormous statue is called "The Motherland Calls" and is the tallest statue in the world of a woman.  

The Flaming Torch memorial in remembrance to those that lost their lives in the battle.  The names are listed on the wall around the torch.

Guards are changed every hour that stand in front of the flaming torch.

Statue of a mother holding her dying son.

A soldier-nurse carrying one of the wounded.  The battle took place in the winter months of 1942 and it is estimated that between 1,250,000 and 1,798,619 casualties took place.  Forging through snow, sleet, taking shelter in fox holes and starving had to contribute to the many deaths.   

Beautiful onion-domed, Russian Orthodox church at the Memorial Park.

Rostov-on-don Mission Tour, October 2016

We did a mission tour with the Rostov-on-don, Russia Mission with President and Sister Minter in October, 2016.  We began with a Zone Leader's Council in the beautiful mission home.  Two of the Zone Leaders are native Russian and had to have the meetings translated for them.  The Russians have to serve one year in the military the year after they graduate from high school so they are a little older when they serve a mission. 

Jim teaching in Zone Conference.  He always captures their attention, holds their interest and inspires the missionaries to  "raise the bar."

After Mission Leadership Council, we drove 4+ hours to Krasnodar to hold a Zone Conference the following day. Then drove back to Rostov-on-don to hold this Zone Conference.  This is the office couple that are such a blessing to the mission.  

Thursday, we flew from Rostov to Moscow for a connecting flight to Volgograd for a 3rd Zone Conference.  The mission has 55 missionaries spread out over a very large area.  We are finding the missionaries in Russia to be very bright, high achievers.  

Shopping at Izmaylovo, Arbat Street and nigt cruise down the Moscow River

Izmaylovo Market is an open air Russian souvenir market that is much more budget friendly than other places in Moscow. It is an hour metro ride to get there and such fun to bargain and see all of the choices.  BUT, we've been warned that the quality may not be what is presented, such as a "wolf fur" hat may only be a rabbit had instead, which we here is quite smelly when it gets wet.  

Arbat Street is the most touristic street in Moscow where you can find all of the standard tourist stuff including some nice souvenir shops.  They are of better quality than Izmaylovo but 4 times pricier also.  I'm in search of the perfect Father Frost, but he's not made himself known to me yet.  However, it's a lovely place to walk, window shop, eat an an American eatery, buy an ice cream cone that doesn't melt (yikes) and hear some English.

We lucked out and took a cruise down the Moscow River on the LAST pleasant-weathered evening of the season.  It was truly magical!  We took an hour metro down to Gorky Park, near Red Square, boarded the Radisson boat and enjoyed a 1 1/2 hour cruise down the river.  The buildings are beautifully lit at night as are the many, many bridges.  I am pleasantly surprised at how safe we feel, even walking around at night.  The metro station is much cleaner than anyone I have ever seen.  There is no trash, graffiti or "interesting" characters that one often sees on the Metro in NYC.  However, no one talks on the metro or even makes eye contact.  But if a woman or an older person gets on the train, men give up their seats for them.

Mission Presidents, their wives and the Area Presidency at the St. Peterburg's seminar in Sept. 2016.

"Church on the Spilled Blood" in St. Petersburg

The most beautiful cathedral top in all of St. Petersburg (in my opinion) is the "Church ON the Spilled Blood."  It as built on the exact spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in 1881.  It has 5 beautiful and brightly colored domes and the interior is completely covered with brightly colored mosaics that cover the 4 Gospels.  There are no paintings, ONLY mosaics that are master pieces.

This is the exact spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in 1881.