Vladivostok Mission tour, Irkutz meetings and Lake Bikal visit

We flew overnight from Moscow to Irkutz, arriving at 7:00 a.m. and went straight to this hotel for a quick nap and to wait for Pres. and Sister Perkinson to arrive from Vladivostok where the mission home is.

A zone conference was held in the Irkutz church building.
Irkutz is one of the largest cities in Siberia with extremely cold and frigid temperatures in the winter.
In the early 19th century, many Russian artists, officers and nobles were sent into exile in Siberia for their part in the Decembrist revolt against Tsar Nicholas I.  Irkutz became the major center of intellectual and social life for those exiles, and much of the city's cultural heritage comes from them; many of the wooden houses, adorned with ornate, hand-carved decorations survive today, in stark contrast with the standard Soviet apartment blocks that surround them.

We were gifted Fox fur Siberian winter hats at Zone Conference.

There is a lovely walkway through town where we had lunch and stretched our legs after our, long, overnight flight.

Jim and I spoke at an evening member fireside with the help of a RM translator.

Famous Lake Bikal is only 45 miles from Irkutz so a quick visit was a must.
The Lake houses 20% of the earth's fresh water, more than all of the Great Lakes combined, is the deepest lake in the world (over 5,000 ft), the oldest lake in the world and one of the clearest.  Of course, it freezes 80 inches deep in the winter for dog sleds to cross and where ice fishing is popular. 

President and Sister Perkinson 

Jim purchased smoked Lake Bikal fish for us sample.

Zone Conference held in Irkutz.

Jim and President Perkinson from Mesa, Arizona.

A cute Primary activity that was held in Vladivostok.

Cute primary children making animal and floral shapes from fresh fruit after a lesson on the "Word of Wisdom" and feeding our bodies healthy foods.

We took another overnight flight from Irkutz to Vladivostok.  Upon landing in Vlad at 5:30 a.m., we took an hour to see a bit of the bay and around the Sea of Japan while there was no traffic.  It is a 7 hour time difference from Moscow and 13 hour time difference from Texas.  This is a beautiful new bridge that connects Vlad to Moscow Island and houses the Russian Pacific Fleet.  It was interesting to see Russian submarines in the bay.  The bay, of course, freezes over in the winter where ice crushers go through each morning to break up the ice.
Wikipedia says that Vladivostok is a major Pacific port city in Russia overlooking Golden Horn Bay and borders with China and North Korea.  It's known as a terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which links the city to Moscow.  

Sea of Japan that houses the Russian Naval Fleet.

Another lovely church in downtown Vladivostok.

Zone Conference held in a rented building in Vlad

Trans-Siberian Railway station that connects Moscow to Vladivostok

A new district was created in Vlad on Sunday morning with President Perkinson standing behind the new District President along with us, our translator and the Area Seventy.  We had lunch at the lovely mission home after conference.