Ukraine and Our Friends We Left (An update) and Humanitarian in Balti, Moldova

 We left Ukraine on January 25, 2022. Since then there have been many things that have happened. All the non citizen missionaries went to varies places. About 24 young missionaries along with us and another couple came to Moldova. Some went to Germany, others to Canada, and some went to the States or home because they had only a short time left on their mission. The Mission President and his family just joined us in Moldova on February 21, 2022. Attacks started in Kyiv on February 24, 2022. 

Our friends tell us they have heard bombings that echo through the city. They have also heard gun shots. They have been told to stay home, and there is also a curfew for the citizens. The streets at night are quiet and eerie. Many citizens are driving west and crossing the borders into Moldova. Poland has said they would take in refugees. There were 1,900 vehicles that crossed the borders on February 24, 2022. The border lines are very long. 

I read that many civilians are camping in the subways (used as bomb shelters). The subways run deep and there are many of them. 

The airports in Moldova are closed because of the war in neighboring Ukraine, shortly after President Maia Sandu said Chisinau would introduce a state of emergency and was ready to accept tens of thousands of people fleeing Ukraine after the Russian attack.

There are three main border crossings with Ukraine Lipcani, Otaci, and Criva. Some Ukrainian citizens are moving on to Romania and further west. 

One of our favorite cities, Odesa has been invaded. 

It is very sad to see Kiev so deserted. 

In Humanitarian:

We are waiting for a request from this regional hospital in Balti that serves the northern part of Moldova. Their equipment has been dated as far back as the 1960's. They have a children's hospital wing that has 101 beds and 176 patients under the age of 18. 

Moldova-- Where We Are Now (February 2022)

We arrived January 25, 2022 in Chisinau (pronounced Kiss she now) We live in a lovely apartment behind the famous Soviet Architecture "Circus".

The Chisinau Circus was built in 1981 by Ala Kirichenko and Simion Shoyhet. It opened in 1981. It was the largest auditorium in Moldova. Because of economics the Circus closed in 2014. Windows have been broken and the steps have deteriorated. The bus stop is right in front of Circus and we walk up the steps to the right and to our apartment that is directly behind Circus. 

Catedrala Nasterea Domnului (Cathedral of Christ's Nativity) is about a 25 minute walk for us and the center of the city. It was built in 1830, but bombed during WWII. The bell tower (below)  was destroyed in 1962 and rebuilt in 1997. The people were prohibited from worshipping during the Soviet Era and the Cathedral  was used for exhibition purposes. During this period the building was completely "blank" inside but now it has the traditional gold and murals associated with an Orthodox Church. 

The Triumphal Arch was built in 1840. The clock was restored in 1973.

Ciuflea Monastery is a Moldovan Orthodox monastery. It is dedicated to St. Theodore of Amasea. It was consecrated in 1958. It became a monastery in 2002. 

Two brothers, Anastasi Ciufli and his brother Teodor Ciufli, financed the structure. They are both buried at the monastery.

The Red Mill (Moara Rosie) was one of the first steam mills in Chisinau. It was built between 1850-1860. This was the tallest building in the late 19th century. It had 3 floors and even an elevator. 

In 1901 a fire broke out and destroyed some of the floors. It was rebuilt using red fireproof brick, thus calling it "Red Mill". 

Over the years it became dilapidated. It is still on the historical list but boarded up. 

We just discoverd Valea Morilor Park  The park has a walking path around the lake. People can fish in the lake but not swim. 

The park also has significant archaeological importance due to the discovery of mammoth bones. There is also a summer theater. 

Humanitarian--Estonia Food Bank

The COVID 19 pandemic was causing a great stress to government and non governmental organizations who provided food relief to Estonian citizens. In Estonia, the public assistance resulting from the outbreak of COVID 19 was planned to expire in August 2021. This meant that many of those in poorer, disabled, elderly, and certain children from disadvantaged families, would be without government assistance. The reduction of government benefits resulted in an extreme need for emergency assistance for food and sanitation products for those who are unable to provide for themselves.

The government is working with those who are at greater risk and who are not already supported by existing governmental program. The information about those in need are shared with the Estonia Food Bank offices of the City of Tallinn, local food suppliers, delivery businesses, and Tallinn volunteer groups.

LDS Charities provided a truck load of food for the coming winter. Latter-day Saint missionaries started volunteering helping at the warehouse and delivering food. These missionaries are called to the Baltic Mission in Eastern Europe. 

We Are In Moldova Till the Conflict is O're

We left Ukraine on January 25, 2022 and arrived later that night in Moldova. We will continue to work from our apartment. There are many projects in Moldova to keep us busy. We are just setting up house. 

We have wonderful contacts in Moldova that made the transition easy and painless. 

Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. We are in the capital city called Chișinău (said, Kiss Eh Now) but we call it "Kiss She Now" Busses are going to be our main transportation. The City is in the RED ZONE (because of COVID) as of Monday January 24, 2022. 

More Information about our evacuation from Elder Alan Allred:

The Big Exodus

Humanitarian--- A Special Christmas for Orhei, Rezina and Telenesti, Moldova

LDS Charities worked with Father Sergiu Aga, an ordained priest in Orhei, Moldova with the Orthodox Church. 

Father Aga said in a thank you letter, "The end of year 2021 has been a very fruitful one for doing good deeds in the name of the Lord, with your efforts and support, for which we are enormously thankful. We have finished the distribution of the goods provided within our joint project as planned and I would like to inform you that our joint results far exceeded our expectations because we managed to enjoy over 300 children and socially disadvantaged families from Orhei, Rezina and Telenesti districts."

"In such away, we offered 250 pairs of shoes for children and young people, 120 winter clothes for children and 100 food packages for poor families in these regions. I would like to mention that the products were of high quality and the exceeding number of beneficiaries is considered as a divine providence that turned our eyes to the possibilities of a wholesale shoe store (not very known by people) and a local small clothing factory, whose owner considered that offering winter clothes at a production price was also one of his philanthropic missions, which he also planned to accomplish before the winter holidays."

"The food was also purchased from a wholesale warehouse, the fact that permitted us to get in addition of food packages for families - boxes of sweets as holiday gifts for over 300 children."

Father Aga and his volunteers distributed the goods to the families during the Christmas Season. 

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Christmas in Lviv

 We had a white Christmas in Lviv. It snowed Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. The city center was busy with tourists, vendors, and good old Christmas music... (mostly Bing Crosby) all day and night.

St. Nicholas Day is a very special holiday for Ukrainian children and adults. Unlike Western Christian countries, where it is celebrated on December 6, Ukraine and other Eastern Christian countries celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December 19. The tradition to celebrate this holiday came to Ukraine with the Christianity during the rule of the prince Vsevolod Yaroslavovych (1088-1089). Saint Nicholas has always been considered to be a patron saint of children.

St. Nicholas Day had been one of the main holidays in Western Ukraine for many centuries. The tradition of giving gifts to children, relatives and those in need was specifically celebrated on December 19 (St. Nicholas Day) and not Christmas or New Year.

Lviv is one of our favorite cities in Ukraine with the European style buildings and the warmth of the people. 

It seemed like all of Kiev came for the holiday. It was busy at the restaurants and all the streets were full of tourists and excitable children. Everyone was bundled up and the streets were very slick. We woke up Christmas Day to 9 degrees F and walked to church in 13 degree F.

Lviv’s opera house is built on top of a river. The Poltva River flows beneath the stage and continues through centre deep beneath the asphalt. By the end of the 19th century Lviv was an increasingly rapid growing city with intentions of opening a European-class theatre. The project was put up for bids and many top European architects tossed in their bids. It was Polish architect Zygmunt Gorgolewski - designer of Kaiser Wilhelm Bridge in Berlin, the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden and the Vienna State Opera - who proposed the radical and intriguing idea of burying the small river beneath the opera. His plans also included the use of a concrete foundation, a first for Europe. The Opera House was completed in 1900. The building began to sink right away, but settled in the decades that followed. The Opera house seats 1,002. There are over 700 employees and over 200 performances are given annually.

Tour of Opera House

On Christmas Eve we helped the missionaries put cookie plates together for members. The missionaries delivered them later. 

Elder Blau helped cook breakfast for the Lviv Branch on Christmas morning. We enjoyed a breakfast, music, and the movie "Klaus" (in Ukrainian) with the branch members.

On Dec. 27th we ate dinner at a fun restaurant in the city with the 4 Lviv missionaries. One Sister was on her way home to Utah the day before. We missed her at the dinner. 

Ukraine celebrates the Christmas holiday all the way through January 7th. 

We wish everyone a Happy New Year.

May 2022 be filled with Health and Happiness.

Humanitarian in Riga, Latvia-- Motis Vita, and Children's Hospital

 MOTUS VITA is a nonprofit voluntary organization for people with limited abilities founded in 2009 in Riga, Latvia, to support persons with limited abilities affected by neuromuscular diseases (NMD) and their families.

LDS Charities provided mattresses, a medical bed, wheelchairs and parts, therapy equipment and other medical equipment to this organization.

We have not been able to get into the country because of COVID restrictions, but we hope to soon. 

"The main goal of our association is to prolong life of persons with limited abilities and to improve their quality of life."

Children's University Hospital in Riga, Latvia

LDS Charities is providing a Cardiotocography machine for the continuous recording of a fetal heart rate via an ultrasound transducer placed on the woman's abdomen especially for high-risk pregnancy.

"Specialists of Children’s Hospital provide a wide range of treatment and health care in the treatment of complicated and complex illness cases. All the processes in our hospital are organized so that the patient receives the most effective, safe and the best  quality treatment and care. It is realized through following the international experience and achievements in medical science and research, and by implementing these principles in the practice."