Warning & a trip to Tbilisi Georgia...Day One.

I must preface this post with this statement:  

 I write this blog so that I may recall what an absolutely fantastic, wonderful, remarkable, spiritual experience serving a mission is and that we will always keep in our remembrance what we have learned.  With that said, Read or read not. (Do I sound like Yoda?)

Tbilisi, Georgia was never on my bucket list. Who knew that this charming, ancient country could captivate my heart.  Our purpose as Church History Missionaries traveling with Matthew Heiss and James Miller was to gather the first oral histories EVER from the pioneering saints in the branch.  We were also joining a group of Europe East Area Senior Humanitarian Missionaries as they concluded their conference.  Well, that happened and much, much more.

Elder Wheeler singing....."Georgia, Georgia, the whole day through.
An' just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind." in front of a flower display of the Georgian National Flag.

Our First Day in Tbilisi was a visit to the Metekhi St. Virgin Church where Elder Jeffrey R. Holland dedicated the land of Georgia for the preaching of the gospel.  He stood at the base of the statue.  Notice the position of the arm of the man on the horse.    

Pictured here is the Metekhi river.  I call it the Beheading river.  Christianity came to Georgia in the 1st Century.  I learned this history from Bob and Barbara Jones who visited Tbilisi on their mission to Armenia.  

In 1227 an army of Turkmen attacked Georgia. After terrible atrocities were inflicted upon men, women and children, the sultan ordered that the cupola of Sioni Cathedral be taken down and replaced by his throne. And at his command the icons of the Theotokos and our Savior were carried out of the Cathedral and placed at the center of the bridge across the Mtkvari River. The invaders goaded the people to the bridge, ordering them to cross it and spit on the holy icons. Those who betrayed the Christian Faith and mocked the icons were spared their lives, while the Orthodox confessors were beheaded and thrown over the bridge.  

 A hike to the Narikala Fortress was interesting and refreshing.  This ancient fortress overlooks the Kura river and the botanical gardens of Tbilisi.  

View from our hotel room at night. 

Were we in luck...It happened to be Cultural Day in Tbilisi.  Parades, costumes, and performances of traditional dances.  

 We had a wonderful conversation with these two young men.  Both are juniors in high school.  They speak five languages.  Georgian, Russian, German, Turkish, and English.  They recited historical facts of Georgia with such pride.  Impressive.

Ensuring Remembrance of God's hand in the lives of His children...

We have laid some good groundwork in preparation for our supervisors from SLC to visit us.  The past few days and been enlightening, instructional, and informative as we have witnessed the administrative arm of the church and the miracles that occur as it is ultimately governed by the power of the priesthood.  

Thirteen and three and two.  Those numbers have been tossed around for the last month as we sorted through thirteen boxes in the EEA, three boxes that were "somewhere in the building" and then found, and two boxes from St. Petersburg.  

In the storage room at the Kubik Building [our Church Office Building] with our thirteen boxes.

Look at this handsome happy helper using a wheelie chair
to transport the boxes to a conference room.  A Wheeler wheeling.

More treasure hunting with James A. Miller.  James
is from Las Vegas.  It's fun to talk to him about Southern Nevada. 

Elder Wheeler with Matthew Heiss.

We had a wonderful meeting with the Public Affairs Department.  Sergie, Marina, and Lena.  Their job is monumental in establishing relations with different entities in the country.

Ahhhhh....Organized and ready to put in to acid free archival storage folders and boxes.

The three boxes that were hiding and two boxes from St. Petersburg
are now in our apartment ready for the magic touch of James and Matt.
You know how I love to organize.  This is so fun!

Just one of the treasures we found was the original hymnbook that was printed in 1990 the year that the church was officially organized in Russia.  This was before the church owned a copy machine.   Thirteen hymns were translated to Russian and on an old mimeograph machine were copied in purple ink.  Officials at the time were monitoring how many copies were made on each machine.  Dmitry Marchenko asked his father to copy them on a machine that was in the Russian Orthodox church, which he did.  Since no American know Russian, the translations are loose to say the least, but it served a purpose in bringing the hymns of the restoration to this great country.

Vision Statement for the Church History Department in the Europe East Area of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

[Paul and Kathy Wheeler ~ April 6, 2017]

Our overall purpose is to increase and strengthen the testimonies of the members of the church in the Europe East Area that this is the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

• ·      Expand awareness of the Church History Program among the members in the East Europe Area. 
• ·      Establish an efficient Records Preservation Center with a vision of looking in to the future for the generations of saints to come. 
• ·      Support the Area Church History Advisers in training and supervising their efforts. 
• ·      Develop projects that will stand as a witness of Jesus Christ .

In the footsteps of Apostles...

A glorious day in Moscow.  We visited the Kremlin and stood in the Aleksandr Gardens where on August 9, 1903, Elder Francis M. Lyman of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles offered a prayer of dedication.  Joseph J. Cannon recorded: “He prayed that the other peoples of this country, in whose veins the blood of Israel flows generously, might accept the truth, that Ephraim and Judah might thus become reconciled. He besought the Lord to touch the hearts of the Gentiles that they might be grafted into the true olive tree, that their branches might become fruitful. He called upon the Lord to bless this great empire, in many respects greatest in the world, and endow its rulers with wisdom and virtue, that there may be peace and progress here, that darkness may flee and the voices of His servants may sound the glad tidings to the uttermost parts of this great land.”

An incredible spirit filled our souls as we were taught by James Miller [with glasses] and Matthew Heiss [back turned], our supervisors in the Church History Department in Salt Lake City, who are visiting to continue our training and instruction.  Dimitry and Svetlana Marchenko also accompanied us.  The Marchenko's have been called to serve as the Europe East Area Church History Advisors.  They are two of the earliest members of the church in Russia.  Svetlana was baptized in 1991, just one year after the church was established in Moscow. Dimitry joined in 1992.  

We believe this to be the exact spot where the prayer was offered.  Seventy-five yards from the Trinity Tower.  Just pinch me now.  We are in Russia.  

On 25 June 1991, Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve offered a second prayer of rededication for Russia near the Water Conveyance Tower of the Moscow Kremlin. He prayed: “Wilt Thou cause the light of Thy gospel to reach the hearts and the souls of the people of this republic and of this great union. Wilt Thou thwart the efforts of the adversary who would make it difficult for Thy work to prosper.” Elder Nelson was accompanied by Dallin H. Oaks and Hans B. Ringger.

Oh, and by the way, these gardens are breathtakingly beautiful.  

Mother Russia has the Mother of all Flea Markets...Izmaylovo Market

It's charming, it's quaint, it's huge.  Can something be quaint and huge?  It's fun!  And it is a tourist trap to beat all tourist traps.  At the Izmaylovo Market you can purchase anything from old-fashioned vessels, strange articles, paintings, icons, hand-made items, boots, coins, clothing, and other unusual objects.  

The history of the village of Izmaylovo goes back to 1389. Since the days of Ivan the Terrible it was an estate of boyars in the Romanov family.  The architecture is phenomenal. 

What is the saying...Soup to nuts.  It is all here.  I will be contributing to the gross national product via Izmaylovo before returning home.

This display reminds me of the children's book..."Hat's for Sale". 

And what is a tourist trap without T-shirts.  Paul thought this one was pretty interesting.

We do like the food in Russia and Izmaylovo was not a disappointment.

Moscow River Dinner Cruise....

We cruised the famous Moskva River on this Moscow river cruise. We were able to view some of the most popular landmarks and attractions around Moscow's Golden Island, including the beautiful Gorky Park and Novospassky Monastery.

98 Meter Statue of Peter The Great.

A government building.

Novospassky Monastery

We sailed from the Radisson Hotel.  This building is one of six that was built by Stalin.  He had six wives and thus six incredible architectual masterpieces.

Our Moscow family.  We love them so....