Welcome Home

April 29 - We were greeted in the Salt Lake airport by our grandkids holding a "Welcome Home" banner with their parents nearby. How fun it was to see Ryan & Tani, Todd & Beth, and Doug & Shannon and their families.

Grandchildren in Utah welcoming us
with their banner in the Salt Lake airport.
(Megan, Brynlee, Marisa, Joshua, Amanda, Ethan,
Carson, Brady, Jacob, and Jared)

Coming down the escalator at the airport,
we see our grandchildren with their sign.
It's an exciting time.

After hugs and kisses, we went to Leatherby's for more visiting while indulging in a variety of yummy ice cream concoctions. (Todd took these photos at Leatherby's.)

It's hard to decide what to order with
so many sounding scrumptious.

When they bring our order,
Beth and I are glad we decided to
share a chocolate/peanut butter sundae.
They are huge.


See how large the sundaes are.
Grandpa Sam offered sample tastes
to those around him.


Jared is anxious to dig in, but will he be able
to finish it!


Ethan is getting some help from Uncle Ryan,
as his root beer float (ordered from the
children's menu!) is overflowing.

April 30 - We stayed with Todd & Beth's family in Spanish Fork. That evening, we all were invited to Ryan & Tani's in Eagle Mountain for delicious Mexican food.

Grandchildren enjoy playing the
Wii interactive video game.
(Jacob and Ethan)


Brady and Jared
are taking a turn with Wii.


Jacob, Joshua, and Ethan
find something else to do.


Brynlee has finished eating and
drinking red juice and is
ready to play.


Looks like Jacob liked the red juice, too.


Joshua throws the ball to Uncle Ryan.


We realize the grandchildren are
a year and a half older
than when we left.
Marisa is a pretty young lady.
(Carson is at the high school prom.)


Megan and Amanda have changed some, too;
but they still look just alike (although they
have different expressions in this photo).

May 1 - The Utah families gathered at Todd & Beth's for pizza and more visiting.

The grandkids enjoy their pizza, bread sticks,
chips, and juice.
(Jared, Amanda, Ethan, Megan, Brynlee, and Jacob)

May 2 - Although the jet lag wasn't nearly as bad as it had been when we arrived in Moscow, our days and nights still hadn't gotten switched back properly; so when we were awake at 3:00 a.m., we got up and left for South Dakota. We had anticipated an early start and had said our goodbyes the night before. The drive home in our new Toyota Sienna minivan went well; and we listened to an audio book as we traveled, which made the hours seem not so long and helped keep us awake.

We stopped in Chadron, Nebraska, for groceries at Wal-Mart; and we still got to the farm by 3:30 p.m. No one seemed home when we stopped at Brent & Tauna's; but we no sooner got the luggage brought in when their children came to give us our South Dakota welcome-home greetings.

Seth and Sam are wearing their new
Russian raccoon hats.
We hadn't yet unpacked Weston's Harry Potter
matryoshka nesting doll, so he is wearing
Grandpa's hat and Julia's Russian scarf.
Julia is their German exchange student.


Rachel's matryoshka nesting doll
has yarn braids, which we
thought was cute and different.
Inside are five pieces, and the final
two are a dog and a cat.

May 3 - Brent & Tauna and their family went with us to Rosebud to church. It was nice seeing our friends there. Galen & Patti Busch have been our friends since our children were little, and Roger & Michelle Allen have also been friends for a long time. We enjoyed the excellent lesson Brent taught on the Atonement.

May 4 & 5 - Sam got back onto a tractor and helping with the farming. Narene unpacked and enjoyed doing a little redecorating with the Russian "arts and crafts" we had gotten.

May 6 - Since we had appointments in Rapid City this day for the dentist, accountant, and financial advisor, we also met with President & Sister Cannon at the mission office rather than having them come to the farm as originally planned. President Cannon gave us our official missionary release certificates. They took us to eat at Minerva's, a nice restaurant, where we continued our enjoyable visit with the Cannons. We appreciate their friendship and service, and are so happy they were still in the South Dakota Rapid City Mission when we returned. Their mission is finished July 1.

President & Sister Cannon
with the matryoshka nesting set of LDS prophets
we brought back for them from Russia.

We are happy to be home with family and friends, but we do miss the dear friends we have in Russia and the senior couples we have shared so many pleasant memories with during our eighteen months there.

How grateful we are for the opportunity we had to serve as Area Welfare Specialists in Eastern Europe and to be involved with the humanitarian work donated by the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to those in need regardless of race, religion, or cultural differences.

The Russian people we associated with were kind and helpful. We always knew we are all children of our Father in Heaven who loves us all, but it was so meaningful to have the experiences we had with other cultures to see how much alike we are even though our backgrounds are different. We appreciated the language of the heart and how much one can communicate love with a smile and a hug. Some of our dearest friends we had were those we could only have very limited conversations with unless we had an interpreter, because we found the Russian language so difficult to learn and remember.

I am so thankful for my knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for the guidance and comfort received through prayers offered to a loving Heavenly Father. I am thankful for the gift of the Atonement given voluntarily by our Saviour for me and for all who will accept the gift.

I am thankful for my good parents who took the time to teach me about the Gospel of Jesus Christ that was restored in these latter days by the Prophet Joseph Smith to have the same organization that existed when Christ was on the earth. I am grateful our Heavenly Father loves us as much as any generation and continues to provide us with a prophet. I am grateful the heavens are not closed and that we are blessed with being able to have revelation as needed in our time.

I am grateful for the Plan of Happiness, which lets me know where we came from, why we are here on earth, and how we can be reunited with our families in eternity. I am grateful for the scriptures that help us to know Jesus Christ and how we should live to have joy.

I am grateful for my family and with all my heart pray that we will be an eternal family sealed by the blessings of the temple ordinances. I am grateful for my good husband whom I was privileged to share this mission with as his companion, and I am thankful I have the opportunity to be his eternal companion. The love we shared on our wedding day, 5 June 1959, has continued to grow; and being together almost 24/7 was an enjoyable blessing.

I highly recommend serving a mission with your spouse as a senior couple if health and circumstances permit. It is such a rewarding experience that I cherish, and I am so grateful we were able to serve this mission.

Now that we are no longer in Russia, this blog has come to its conclusion. For those who have enjoyed sharing our experiences in Russia and would like to keep in contact with us on the farm/ranch in South Dakota or wherever our circumstances might take us, please join us at our new blog:

"Irelands Here and There" found at - http://irelandshereandthere.blogspot.com

Going to our new blog, you will see that Sam has changed into different work clothes than the suit and tie of a missionary. The first blog on the "Irelands Here and There" site is of our annual branding held May 9.

Sam branding at the farm/ranch in South Dakota
May 9, 2009

Thank you for sharing in this journey with us in Russia and the Eastern Europe area. I welcome your comments or questions and wish you the best. If interested, you may e-mail me at eneranoslen@hotmail.com.

Taking the Electrishka to Sergiev Posad

Friday, March 27, we rode the electrishka to Sergiev Posad, which takes a little less than two hours from Moscow. This gave Scott & Kristine an opportunity to see some of the countryside outside of Moscow. It's also an experience to ride the electrishka with all the vendors circulating through the cars selling all kinds of things. We bought an ice cream cone on the way there and another on the way back.

Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius at Sergiev Posad
(Scott, Kristine, Narene, and Sam)

This was the third time Sam and I have been to Sergiev Posad. The first time we went with Greg & Chris Shepard in the summer time. We went again in September with Ryan & Tani. Since I have written about that trip and posted pictures on a blog posted 1 October 08, I will keep this entry rather brief.

For centuries, czars and commoners came to Sergiev Posad. It was thought to be a place of military strength as well as spiritual strength when one of Russian history's most important battles was won after the blessing of Sergius Radonezh, the founder of Sergiev Posad. Perhaps this explains why during the Stalin era it was left unmolested; and after World War II, Stalin even allowed the monastery to reopen as the spiritual center of the state-monitored Orthodox Church of the Soviet era. It remained the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox Church until 1988 when it was transferred to Donilovsky. Sergius was canonized after his death, and his remains lie in the Cathedral of the Trinity.

Looking toward the monastery, which is about a
10-minute walk from the train.


Assumption Cathedral (1559-1585)
with the blue onion domes is patterned after
the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Kremlin.
The smaller blue and white structure in front (left)
is where in warmer weather the pilgrims bring
jugs to get "holy water" from the spring.
To the right of that is the Chapel over the Well
where holy water can be bought.


Church of the Virgin of Smolensk (1745) -
the blue and white round structure at the right.
The blue and white building at center with the
narrower dark tower is the Pilgrim Tower.

Sergius is buried in the Cathedral of the Trinity.
(This photo was taken in September -
Narene, Tani, and Renee Mason in the foreground.)

One of the things we enjoyed was listening to the Gregorian chants by a half dozen singers, which was beautiful. The chants were sung at intervals between the reading of text by the priest while another monk or priest walked back and forth swinging a gold vessel with incense rising into the air.

Narene, Scott, and Kristine
with the monastery in the background.

Sightseeing in Moscow with Scott & Kristine

Scott & Kristine in Red Square

We have been blessed to be able to share Moscow and the Russian culture with six of our seven children and their spouses. Scott & Kristine arrived Wednesday, March 20, via their visit in Switzerland. This was a day later than planned, since they missed their flight out of Zurich due to an accident in the tunnel that made them take a detour. By taking a sleeper train to Austria, they were able to fly from Vienna to Moscow and arrive a day later than originally planned. They still were able to see several of our favorite places in Moscow, the circus, and take a day trip to Sergiev Posad.

Scott & Kristine arrived in Moscow Wednesday afternoon (March 25). We never tire seeing Red Square especially at night when the lights give it an almost Disney Land look, so we took them there that first evening to see this famous icon of Russia. Jet lag didn't seem to be bothering them, and we went almost nonstop from then on.

St. Basil Cathedral in Red Square (Sam & Narene)


We did lots of walking. Here are the "twins"
(as Kristine referred to Scott and his dad),
leading the way with Kristine and I close behind.
By the way, Sam is on the left.


Kristine with Novodevichy Convent and the

Moscow River in the background.

The Cathedral of Smolensk at Novodevichy Convent was built in 1524, and most of the other buildings were added in the late 17th century by Peter the Great's half sister, Regent Sophia. Peter had Sophia confined here for the rest of her life when he reclaimed his throne in 1689. After his death, Peter's first wife came to Novodevichy Convent from the convent in Suzdal where she had been confined by Peter the Great who did not like her. I read that since the convent had such famous nuns, it was very wealthy due to the donations of the Tsars and their families.

The Cathedral of the Virgin of Smolensk
(Kristine, Narene, and Sam)

Many famous Russians are buried in Novodevichy Cemetery. Some were political or military leaders from the Soviet era. Others were known for their profession or arts. Most have prestigious headstones, often with a statue to memorialize the buried person.

Scott & Kristine by one of the statues in
Novodevichy Cemetery.


Nikita Khrushchev, former Russian premier.

Kristine in front of Yeltsin's grave.
His monument apparently represents the
red, blue, and white Russian flag.

The first time we came to Novodevichy, there was only a covered mound where Yeltsin is buried, the next time we came it was covered with a tent, and on our third visit we saw it with the monument as it is now.

A military leader with his many medals.
On national holidays, the Russian war veterans like
to wear their medals, and they seem to have many.

All along the walls of the cemetery are small cubicles containing the ashes of those who were cremated, as seen in the photograph above. Many of these have pictures of the deceased. Some are children who died during World War II.

Flowers are seen on some of the monuments.

After our visit to Novodevichy, we went to Victory Park on Poklonnaya Gora, which is the hill where Napoleon waited for his troops to surround Moscow in 1812; but instead they were defeated. In 1834 an arch was built to commemorate the Russian victory over France, but it was moved to the present site in 1968.

Grand Triumphal Arch
Commemorating Napoleon's defeat in 1812.


Victory Park
150-meter high column topped with a statue of
Nike, the Goddess of Victory.

Victory Park was finished in time for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War, which is what the Russians call World War II. Leading up to the tall column and the museum behind it are five terraces that symbolize the five years of the war (1941-1945); and there are 1,418 fountains (one for every day of the conflict). Of course, the fountains are turned off until warm weather arrives. We have been to the museum twice before, and it has impressive dioramas of the significant battles of the war; but on Thursdays it is closed, so we only saw the monuments outside on this visit with Scott & Kristine. One monument is in somber memory of the holocaust victims.

A closer look at the tall column.


Escalator at the Park Pobedy metro station,
reported to be the deepest in the world
(90 meters down).
The name means Victory Park in English.
(Scott is impressed with how deep it is.)

Scott & Kristine were also impressed with how
long the lines are at a McDonald's in Moscow.

Russian officers in Red Square

Leaving McDonald's, we went once again to Red Square. It was temporarily roped off while these officers were practicing maneuvers on horseback. A short while later, we were able to enter at a different entrance. We continued walking going across one of the several bridges across the Moscow River and saw the huge Peter the Great statue in the river.

Moscow River and the Kremlin wall

The Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer seen across
the Moscow River at the left.

Sam and I have been inside the Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer and wanted to show it to Scott & Kristine, but it was closed.

Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer,
also known as Cathedral of Christ and Savior,
is the largest church in Russia. It holds
10,000 worshipers.

This is not the original building, which was completed in 1883 to celebrate the 1812 victory over Napoleon. Stalin had it destroyed in 1831 and planned to build a huge Palace of the Soviets on the land, but it was thought the land was too boggy. In the years that followed, the space was used for a year-round swimming pool among other things. In 1999, it was rebuilt mostly with private funds as a replica of the original. This time it took only four years to complete as compared to the 44 years it had taken for the original building.

This is called "Adult Vices." Each figure
represents a vice adults do that harms children.
It includes stealing, drugs, greed, gluttony, etc.


Marriage Trees
On this bridge across the Moscow River,
brides and grooms lock their padlocks with their
names and wedding dates inscribed to signify
their eternal love. The "trees" are metal.

I want to have a Marriage Tree in our yard in South Dakota where Sam and I and each of our children and their spouses will have a padlock and where our grandchildren will add theirs when they get married to symbolize our eternal love for each other. Our 50th wedding anniversary will be June 5, and I hope to have this in place when our family gets together to help us celebrate.

Kristine & Scott by a Marriage Tree.


As we crossed the bridge, we saw this sunset
with one of the Seven Sisters silhouetted
in the distance.

We ended the day by going to the circus, which I will write about in another blog. The next day, Friday, we took the electrishka train to Sergiev Posad; and I will have a separate blog for those pictures, too. Saturday morning, we went to Izmaly for souvenir shopping and to the Asian Market for that experience and ended the day by going to the Armory in the Kremlin.

Izmailovo or "Izmaly" is the largest souvenir
market in Moscow.

Looking down on the rooftops of "Izmaly."