We had a walking tour of Khabarovsk, Russia.....OUR KHABAROVSK !!! We want to share with you our lovely city and some of it's famous sites. We still do not understand all of the history of Russia (because it is much!), and we do not know all the names of the leaders at different times, but we do appreciate the beauty, the architecture of the buildings, the love of the people and all of our experiences that have been so special. I know 'special' is not a unique word, but it does describe our feelings of this beautiful city. We did our walking tour on two different days...on Monday, our 'P-Day' we walked from our apartment down to the Amur River. (This is the river that separates China from Russia at some points.) Elder Sartori figured out our total walking distance on Monday and it was 7.5 Kilometers (4.5 miles)!!! We walked down to the Amur and walked around this huge park that had walkways, a statue and it was fascinating. I will include a picture of the ice in the river that was on Monday and another picture with most of the ice gone today!! Amazing! We will also include a couple of pictures of the buildings that are the center of Khabarovsk. It is beautiful here and is only getting prettier! They are Spring-Cleaning the whole city! They rake-up, plant or get ready to plant grass & flowers, the trees are beginning to bud, and they are painting the concrete garbages along one of the main streets.
Today, which is Wednesday (it will be dated Tuesday, because of time change - and because I always want to know what time it is at home, I am not changing my computer. I know it sounds strange, but my computer is still 'in Utah'! - go figure!!) we rode the bus and then walked a mile. Our dear friend, Lena Kocyx, told us that in her Russian Orthodox Church, the stairs to the Bell Tower are unaccessable to the public except one week during the year...that week is the week after Easter. Easter in Utah was April 12, 2009 and Easter in Russia was April 19, 2009. So we went to this beautiful church and when you first go in the huge doors (it is a temple for them also) you enter a large, huge, room with icons and candles all over. You can purchase candles, light them and place them in one of many holders - the icons are pictures of Saints, and it looked likes stories from the bible. I asked in very broken English if we could go up the stairs. This sweet, sweet 'sister' understood my gesture and couple of words, took a few minutes and found a young man to escort us upstairs. We walked up about 300 ft. or 95 Kilometers (about).When we got to the top, he rang 7 or 8 bells and then let us ring them. The view over Khabarovsk and the Amur River was breathtaking. I couldn't help but feel a beautiful peace that in their own way, they are seeking our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Oh how we need more missionaries to help people all over the world to 'Come Unto Christ'...to come to know Him as we know Him, as our Savior and Redeemer.
We hope our work keeps us here in OUR KHABAROVSK! There is much work to do. We love you all and think about you often. Elder and Sister Sartori
