The Johnson's in Moscow: September 2012

September 22, 2012, Saturday Evening. Moscow.

(Christopher's birthday. Forty-four years ago I was standing on the tarmac near my B-52 at Utapao, Thailand, waiting to deliver some special-purpose iron onto the Vietnamese countryside when a messenger came from the flight operations office to tell me that the Red Cross had called from America to tell me that my first child had been born in New Jersey. Mom and baby were reported to be doing well. I felt all warm and fuzzy, except for the New Jersey part.

Good grief!, I was 24 years old. It seems like yesterday. Of course, this is how old people talk.)

It has been a beautiful day in Moscow, about 60, mostly sunny, and pleasant.

We returned from Estonia and Finland yesterday. The Annual Mission Presidents' Seminar was held in Tallinn, Estonia and we ended the seminar by taking the ferry across the Baltic to Helsinki to attend the temple and then fly 'home.'

We had quite a unique experience last Sunday. We attended the Tallinn 1st or 2nd Branch. (It does not really matter, Marlene, which one it was, because they met in combined session because of all the visiting authorities.) There were two members of the 2nd Quorum of Seventy (General Authorities) and three mission presidents, and us.

One branch speaks Russian (a holdover from 'soviet-times' when the commies occupied the Baltic States) and one branch speaks Estonian, of course. So, portions of the meeting were English speakers being translated into the two local languages. In priesthood meeting the Estonian speaker had his lesson translated into English for our benefit, and so it went. The Russian speakers had their own priesthood meeting.

The services were very nice. Two new converts spoke, one a nice Estonian young lady and one a young Chinese man who is studying abroad, away from China. I was struck by how the gospel reaches people from across the world--one soul at a time.

The seminar went well. I get to keep my job at least until the next one, in six months.

There were 13 mission presidents, five (of six) Area Seventies, one Seventy visiting from SLC and my three presidents, plus assorted people coming and going: the Area legal counsel, the PA folks, the Area doctors, DTA, and so on. I think we peaked at about 65 people one day.

You will see lots of pictures of Tallinn in a minute. It is a lovely city with lots of very old churches. The communists succeeded in making a lot of folks atheists. Well maybe it was not just the communists. but only 17% of Estonians regularly attend religious services. The lovely, old, churches are pretty much empty every day.

At the end of the seminar my Area President, Larry Lawrence, said something very profound to the seminar attendees. He said, "The most important meeting that occurred anywhere in Eastern Europe this week took place in this hotel, with you attending."

It is true. The only real hope these folks have for joy and happiness is in the gospel.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

The leaves are changing in the park outside our flat.

I don't know who this airline is, but we flew Finn Air to Estonia from Moscow. Who would have thought that Finland would have an Air Force?

Our first view of Old Town Tallinn, about 500 yards from our hotel. I got that building on the right in the picture on purpose. You will see it again in a minute.

Tallinn is a seaport. We saw cruise ships and industrial strength ferry's that make the 2 hour run to Helsinki.

More of Old Town. Lovely and quaint. That is a Russian Orthodox cathedral in the center of the picture.

We have dubbed this 'Becky's Tower.'

The Hotel Viru was put up by the Ruskies during the cold war, sometime in the 70's. The Russian's insisted that any visiting westerners had to stay in this hotel.

There is a KGB 'museum' in it consisting of the two rooms were all the bugging equipment was concentrated.

The locals have a story that the hotel was made of a special material: micro-concrete. This is concrete mixed with microphones. (Killer, joke, eh?)

The Helsinki ferry bringing Finns to Estonia. Apparently is is sufficiently less expensive in Estonia that the Finns come regularly to shop in Tallinn.

Our hotel, Radisson Blu.

Sister Johnson entering Old Town. The joint dates from about 1200, with some structures still standing from the mid 1300's.
Notice the McDonald's on the left.

24/7 flowers.

The north gate.

Ah, just inside the gate.

Notice the fortress wall. All of those booths at the base are selling sweaters, scarves, gloves, etc.

Further into town. We are almost at the Old Town Square, just right around the corner.

Sister Johnson was unable to place a Book of Mormon.

We do not think anything of guilds any longer, but they were the principal trade organizations in Europe for hundreds of years.

The town square. (Kent Johnson--remind you of the square in Rupert?)

A church is housed behind the doors with the rounded top.

This is the sign on the left of the previous picture.
I left a letter questioning BYU's football prowess. We'll see if the priest can answer that question.

A 'round-house' guarding the west gate into the city.

The kind of horticulture one gets when Ben is in charge.

See below.

This arc reaches toward the other portion of it, with a gap in the middle, symbolizing and memorializing a ship wreck in, I think, 1994. Something like 800 people died, of a total on board of about 1,000, on a voyage to Helsinki. A terrible storm kept the rescuers from getting to the people who were in the water. 800 dead out of a population of 1.4 MM is a big percentage.
Apparently this was a wrenching experience for the Estonians.

This Finnish couple explained the purpose of the arch for us. They were very friendly and kind.

Every bicycle needs its own sweater.

One of the rain down spouts on the town hall.

One of the local maidens getting ready to serve dinner to some tourists.

"Worthy Elk soup." Needless to say, I did not try it.
Unworthy I might have tried.

This is where the group had dinner on Tuesday evening. The first written reference to this building is in 1374. The name is fairly recent. I think it relates to Nathanael's equipment after a hockey game.

They sell almonds roasted in a mixture of five sugars and 14 spices. I asked the lady if she mixed the coating and she said, 'No. the mixture is made by smart monks, working in the basement. All monks are smart."
I have no idea what she meant.

He had some stock market advice that I think is going to suit me just fine. I hope he makes it past dinner time.

Conner and Tyler fighting over a fish.

A monument from the 1980 Olympics. The yacht racing was done on the sea near Tallinn.

The visiting Seventy from SLC insisted that I buy Marlene flowers regularly. I had to do this when we got to town, or he would have publicly castigated me.

(I don't think that is a permanent injury, but I did not want to take any chances.)

Brethrens and Cisterns eating lunch on top of the hotel. Markus is taking good care of us.

Peter the Great built Catherine a home in Tallinn. It was not finished before he died and she never lived in it. But,

I does provide a backdrop for a picture of the happy couple.

These are the gardens in back of the house. This is what grounds keeping looks like if Rachael is in charge.

Here is the back of the house. I just missed getting a picture of Mrs. Halifax looking in the window of the back door.

A broader view of house and grounds.

She is just teasing me. She does not really mean it.

Nathanael's newest, favorite, car.

We have just come back into the town through the west gate. The band had not yet started to play for our arrival.

Even 'the suits' did not seem to notice us.

Pushing iron.

The town square. These girls found the older ladies interesting.

Lunch on the square. Not too cold. Very good food.

The real reason for eating lunch. We had been out walking for about four hours and needed some relief.

All the fixtures in this 'cave' of a room were black. Interesting.

We are about to have a walking tour of the city, guided by Juliette.

The staff at the Pepper Sack getting ready to get us our dinner.

The coat of arms of the Pepper Sack's owners. Becky will have to interpret--I'm on a mission.

I let our meeting planner lady talk me into this menu: Pork neck (kind of like pork roast), pickles, potatoes, and sauerkraut--with pea soup to start.

As picky as I am, it was not too bad.