So . . . THIS is Lugansk . . .

Walking to our apartment from the train station we usually stop once or twice

 to take calls from missionaries . . . or thrice or . . .

This is our Kvatera in Lugansk.  Our kitchen is small but efficient. 

I know that you have seen the living room because

that is where we hold our FHE and district meetings. 

 In the winter the two hooks in the entry hall hold coats. 

The rest of the time they keep our umbrellas handy.

The bedroom is not as large as it looks. 

It is amazing how much more space one has if one can forgo the

Queen sized bed we once thought was a necessity.

The other place where we spend a lot of time is in at the church. 

Here, below is Lugansk Branch :

Our Seminary - From left to right:

Safonova Natalia - Сафонова Наталья

Safonov Sergey - Сафонов Сергей

Patokina Yevgenia - Патокина Евгения

Grishchenko Natalia - Грищенко Наталья

Litvinova Anastasia - Литвинова Анастасия

Kucherenko Artur - Кучеренко Артур

Gorbenko Olena - Горбенко Олена

Prytulyak Artyom - Притуляк Артем

Our Lugansk Centrale elders are always willing to help with the Aaronic Priesthood boys.

Young Men's activity night is usually held at our apartment. . .

Artur brought a nonmember friend.

Victor lives in a kvartera on the second floor of the building our church is in.  He came to the open house that our Branch held.  He used to teach metalurgy in one of the institutes here in Lugansk, but now he is retired.  Some of our branch members knocked on his door and invited him to come down to our open house.  Brother Vladimir is an elderly member of our branch who has also lost his sight, just as Victor has.  Vladimir's wife promised Victor that her husband would call him . . . and he did.  Now they are great friends and Victor is studying with the missionaries and attends our church meetings.

Sister Zoya teaches our Gospel Essentials class and is a counselor in the primary.  Some sisters have described her as a sort-of Mrs. Santa because her purse is always full of wonderful surprises that she offers to anyone she feels would be blessed by them.  Our primary is very small . . . no boys, usually two little girls.

Yulia is our Family History Director.  Every branch in our mission has a family history center.  Those attending our open house who had questions about family history research were invited to take a seat in our family history center so we could explain why this is such an important part of what we believe.

Office of our Branch Presidency

To us, Lugansk is an old city.

 Within walking distance from where we live, Lugansk has a wonderful historical museum which presents a very comprehensive picture of this area.

On Yulia's birthday we toured the museum with Yulia and Lance.

Ukraine is one of the places where bones of prehistoric mammels have been preserved.

There were displays of endangered animal populations.

Display cases below mirror the timeline banner above.

We found it fascinating to contemplate lifestyles of those people so far distant in both time and place.

The beautiful Ukrainian handwork has been used to ornament homes and clothing for many generations past.

Case after display case was filled with a treasure-trove of wonderful handicrafts.

I absolutely loved the nineteenth century, pre-soviet era furnishings

I felt enveloped in the world of War and Peace,  Anna Karenina, or Doctor Zhivago

Elder Hatch was also fascinated by that era - just a different aspect of it.

The following century was not as pleasant.

Finally the war ended. 
Then came the first television, "sputnik" and mass industrialization.

This is familiar.  This is the Lugansk that we know. . .

. . . a city in a land, not greatly changed since those years of enforced productivity.