July 17, 2012

Good Tuesday Evening Comrades,

It's a lovely evening in Moscow, about 65 degrees and partly cloudy.

We made an interesting trip to Sergiev Posad on Saturday.  This is a place of great historical significance for all of Russia.  Pictures to follow.  A holy man, Saint Sergey founded a monastery in the mid-1300's.  He was apparently wise and good.  He was able to convince a sufficient number of quarreling Russian princes to unite, at least for a season, to be able to begin to roll back the tide of the Mongolian invaders.

Over the course of his life he established the monastery that has grown into a lovely complex of buildings.  They are lovely now, but when the Commie's took over in 1917 they attacked almost all of the churches and confiscated the properties and desecrated the facilities turning them into stables, storage facilities, etc.  They of course, stole the art and gold.  It is amazing that the believers have been able to restore these facilities to the splendor that they have now.

We were told by one of the guides that late in WWII Stalin recognized that he needed the Church's support to rally the population to fight for Mother Russia.  One of the consequences was a cessation of the open attacks on the Orthodox Church and the return of at least their buildings, if not their treasures.  Therefore the church has been able to restore a great number of its facilities starting at the end of the war, rather than just the end of the Soviet Union in 1992.  Anyway, I think you will be impressed.

There are a few introductory pictures from other events.  Enjoy.  (Or don't, if you are a senseless cretin.)

This picture came from the camera of a couple who has just arrived in the Area.  This is sister Cropper, our beloved tutor.

We are at the Walker's, post-dinner.  The Jones' (on the couch) are the new couple.  The young man in the middle, is Dustin Olson.  He is a USAF major, a USAFA graduate, a C-17 pilot and is a former Russian missionary, here for an AF cultural and language immersion program.

I am on a telephone call that has connected folks in Moscow, Salt Lake City, the Oregon coast, and Kazakhstan.  My president is hosting the meeting trying to develop a plan to get the Church re-registered in Kazakhstan.

Dustin visiting in the Legal office.  Alexander is behind him.  I like them both.

Elder Walker at his desk (pretending) to work.

The Stapley's and Johnson's at perhaps the only Mexican restaurant in Moscow.

"Sombrero".  Our Mexican meal in Moscow was cooked by Kazakhstani cooks.  One is at the right.

Marlene noticed this mushroom growing on one of the trees we pass on the way to the metro.
I have thought about bringing it home and having Sister Johnson cook it up for us.  What do you think?

We have taken the Metro to one of the train stations.  We are on our way to Sergiev Posad.  We would never have found the right ticket window w/o Tim's ability to converse in Russian.

I don't know how this happened, but the Russians must have gotten a picture of Rod teaching Conner and Tyler how to fish, or hunt dragons.

Los Touristos trying to figure out where they are and where they are going.

On the train ride.  There was a constant stream of peddlers and musicians who went from end to end of the train looking for people pay them for their talents or buy their trinkets.

A babe on the train.

The Jones'.

The Walker's.

Our ace guide and interpreter.

There was a faster train parked near our clunker.  They had a line of 'stewardess' standing outside the cars, waiting to help the passengers board.  This is a very attractive young lady with a quite complicated hair do.

We rode this blue train out to the little city that contains the monastery.

Small, picturesque town.  You could break your ankle getting from the train, down to the tracks and across the maze to get to the landing.

Flower stand just off the tracks.

The toilet.  15 rubles (45 cents) for a chance to take a look at a hole in the concrete floor.

Guess what treasures are in this bag?  I think I've got a sandwich in here I built in 1982.

Our first view of the monastery.  It's a rather large complex of buildings surrounded by a wall.

You will see several pictures of these domes.  They are one of the images that identify Russia.

You remember that we found Sting on the Metro escalator?  He must be following us around.

Children love these docile pigeons.

Rachael's living room.

A striking element in the Iconoclasm wall.

This very nice young lady was taking a tour of the monastery also.  She speaks very good English and was gracious to us while we waited at the gate for our guide to come and pick up our little group.

Getting a little deeper into the grounds.  It was a beautiful day--white fluffy crowds, about 70 degrees.

One of the holy water facilities.  We come back to it later in the tour.

Lovely.

Old people eating some lunch.  I am holding out for McDonald's.

I had not realized how elaborate the crosses are until Saturday. 

A picture of a picture.

It does not matter how warm it gets.  The babushka's, and moms, always have hats on the children.

Sister Johnson found something that interested her in the gift shop, which she ended up buying.
 Her interest drew a crowd to the counter.

The church with the holy water fountains in front of it.  There are two smallish structures where you can get the water.

Here is the most easily accessible one.  We put some water on my infected nose, but it did not seem to have the desired effect.

This mom was giving her little girl a bath. 

Tim talking to his twin brother, an Orthodox priest, monk, or guy in a dress.

We are leaving and found this babushka and a cute, crying, little girl.  I got the sense the babushka was saying something like, "Cowboy up.  Stop crying."
 The American babushkas, of course, wanted to gather the little girl up and hold her tight.

 Another view of the towers.

Hoping for pigeons.

We asked this nice lady for directions to the train station.  She wanted to sell us restaurant coupons.

One more of the endless supply of nicely dressed women with less nicely dressed men.
We are walking toward the train station.

The long distance view of the monastery.  Some doofus and his bride.

A wedding carriage.  Ben and Nathanael driving the team.

The wedding party.  Notice the little girl in the pink dress.  She has quite a head piece.
The bride dominated the scene, of course.

The Jones' first encounter with a Russian McDonald's.  They were very pleased. 

Sister Johnson noticed this as we ate our hamburgers.

A local hero, not Lenin, but a look-alike.

Two babushkas eyeing a pigeon dinner.

More entertainment on the way back to Moscow.  I had not previously noticed the look of the lady in the foreground.  Not apparently happy at being part of the scene. Oh well, another rude American proving the stereotype.