Before we were born, we lived with Heavenly Father and He told us that we could come to earth and we would gain bodies and we would have families, and we could have so much joy. But He also explained that it would be hard here and that we would have to learn to walk by faith. But Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to return to Him so He gave us some things that would help us along our earthly journey. He gave us prayer and he gave us the scriptures and prophets. One of the greatest gifts that Heavenly Father has given us is the Holy Ghost.

One thing that the Holy Ghost does is help us to know when something is true. In this world there are a lot of competing voices trying to convince us of truth. The feelings of the spirit will help us know without a doubt of somethings truthfulness. The book of Mormon prophet Moroni said that the Holy Ghost can help you know if the book of Mormon is true. Moroni 10:4-5 says, “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

Can the Holy Ghost help you know that the Book of Mormon is true? I know he can. When I was a teenager, I read the Book of Mormon every day and I prayed to know if it was true. I felt the Holy Ghost speak personally to me and I knew without a doubt that it was true.

Another purpose of the Holy Ghost does is to warn us. Satan is so tricky and tries to confuse us. The Holy Ghost will help us not fall into Satan’s traps.

In the air force Elder Hales learned how to fly. On one flight lesson his instructor quickly flipped the plane upside down. They were going so fast that he couldn’t tell that the plane had flipped. With his plane upside down when he tried to pull up the plane went down, when he tried to go right the plane went left. This is what Satan tries to do to us. He tries to confuse us, and he tries to make the good and right choices seem wrong. But one of the Holy Ghost’s jobs is to warn us when Satan is trying to trick us. The Holy Ghost helps us know the choices that we should make every day to help us keep our plane right side up.

The Holy Ghost is a gift given to us from a loving Heavenly Father. The Holy Ghost will help us know what is true and will warn us of Satan’s traps. If we listen to the Holy Ghost, we will be guided home to live with Heavenly Father again.

Leavenworth

This was our second year going to Leavenworth at the end of Christmas break. This year it was us, the Redds and Lublins. We stayed in the Bavarian Lodge again. I love this cute hotel with all the lights and the outdoor pool.

The drive up highway 2 is so beautiful anytime of year but is especially beautiful with the snow and the raging river. We got into Leavenworth around two o'clock, checked in and then waited for the Redds and Lublins in the hotel lobby. Tate immediately began beating up a stuffed bear and Quinn knocked over a display of hydroflasks. The hotel staff were probably wondering who let these hooligans in. When the Redds and Lublins came down we bundled up and headed out - all 17 of us. We took those tiny shops by storm - by the time we rolled through they didn't know what hit them, haha! The shops are super cute and fun to walk through. We saw this puzzle in a toy shop with 18,000 pieces! We joked about buying it and doing it that night. I think the dads about had it by dinner time.

We went to dinner at a fun hamburger place and then walked back to the hotel for some night swimming. The pool at this hotel is so fun because they keep it super heated. It's fun to swim in an outdoor pool when there is snow on the ground. It's nice for the adults because we can sit in the hot tub and talk and the kids can burn off all their energy swimming and playing in the pool. Tate was running back and forth between the pool and hot tub and slipped on the wet ground and hit his head. He was fine but it was kind of scary right at first. It was a good lesson for all the kids to not run around pools.

After swimming we all went back to our rooms and got the kids in pajamas and headed back down to the lobby where we took over a conference room. We set up tables and we played games and ate food that we had all brought. We stayed up way too late playing Cover Your Assets and Codenames. After games we all went up to our rooms for the night. Our family barely slept - we are just too big to sleep in one room anymore. In the morning we swam some more, had breakfast then headed out for pretzels at Munchen Haus. It is a really fun tradition. I love wrapping up our Christmas break making memories with people that we love.

St. Petersburg Little Things

There are a lot of people in St. Petersburg and the sidewalks were crowded. Everyone, and I mean everyone, smokes. Since we were out walking most of our time there I got so sick of the smoke! By the end of the trip it was starting to make me sick and I would hold my breath as we walked down the street as much as I could.

A lot of the sidewalks that we were on were made of cobblestone. Of course, since I'm clutziest person in the world this created a serious hazard for me and I was always tripping. One time we were in a crowd and I tripped and I swear my nose was an inch from smashing onto the ground and Mark caught me and pulled me up. I was so embarrassed but also I loved my studly husband a little bit more in that moment. He is always there to catch me.

St. Petersburg stunk sometimes. You would just walk around a corner and the smell would smack you in the face. Especially if there was an open sewer grate.

One night we were craving a hamburger so we walked quite a ways to get one. It was this cute little burger place with a surf theme and they had a t.v. with some old American surfing documentary. The owner came out and explained the menu to us and then talked with us for about fifteen minutes. He told us how he dreams of opening a restaurant in the U.S. but that in the U.S. he will have so much competition but in Russia he has government red tape and restrictions that he has to fight. His burgers were delicious. They had cucumbers on them which sounds really weird but actually good.

I loved how canals run through the streets in St. Petersburg. It's so beautiful. I know that when it's winter that the canals freeze and that when it's warm there are boats. While we were there giant chunks of ice still floated in them.

The Hermitage

We had amazing weather the whole time we were in Russia until a couple days until we left. We knew that it would be cold and might snow but I was not prepared for that kind of cold until we stepped out of the hotel that morning. I wrapped my scarf around my head so that just my eyes showed but the wind whipped me in the face. It made me not want to go outside at all and luckily we just had the Hermitage left to explore.

The Hermitage was Catherine's palace and is now a museum that is supposed to be on par with the Louvre. It's impossible to walk through that amazing palace and not wonder what tales the walls would tell. The entrance is in a gigantic square and the back looks out on the Neva River. The day we went it was so windy that the waves were crashing into the shore. The yellow buildings in the picture below are government buildings and they stand opposite The Hermitage.

There was this peacock clock. At a certain time every day the peacock spreads it's tail and the whole thing moves in different ways. It is very intricate and was made by a famous clock maker.

We saw pieces from prehistoric times to modern. We saw masterpieces by Davinci, Matisse, Picasso and Degas. Degas is a personal favorite of mine, his paintings are so pretty. We saw mummies, urns, and statues.

Mark and I both loved the Rembrandt room We listened to a tour on Mark's phone that helped us understand some of the nuances that make these pieces so moving. Here are our favorites...
The Prodigal Son. We learned that the absence of a setting help us feel the impact of the moment. Standing out in the light we see in particular the Father's hands and how the son's clothes are ragged. The son's face buried in his father's chest show how repentant he is and merciful the Father is.

 We also loved this picture called 'Old Man in Red' because of the feelings it evokes. Again the light draws your eyes to his hands that are old and weathered and have seen work. His eyes are wise and have the understanding that comes with age and experience.

The museum was huge and warm and a perfect way to spend the freezing day.

I told Mark that I wished the kids were with us during the day and that we could be alone at night. It would have been so cool to experience the Red Square, the train, the Hermitage and different food with them. I think that is one reason why I missed them so much, I wanted to share this time with them. For now they will have to gain those experiences through books.

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and Swan Lake

One of the most unique and beautiful places in St. Petersburg is the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. It's built in the place where Emporer Alexander II was murdered in 1881, hence the name. Sadly, the church was looted and badly damaged in the Revolution of 1917. During that time it stored vegetables and was nicknamed 'Saviour on Potatoes'. It is mostly restored now and it is absolutely breathtaking. The inside is covered entirely of mosaics.

One night we had the amazing opportunity to see Swan Lake. It was absolutely beautiful. Like all the buildings in St. Petersburg the theater was super old. I cannot say enough about how much Mark and I loved both the music and the dancing. When I asked Mark what he remembered about it he said, "tight, stretchy pants".

 

Nevsky Prospect

Every morning in St. Petersburg we went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. They would make you eggs or crepes and then there was a typical buffet with bread, fruit, yogurt and cereal. There was also a deli meat tray and one tray that had cucumbers and sauerkraut. They have a lot of processed meats and pickled vegetables there.

After breakfast we did Rick Steve's self guided walking tour of the main street, called Nevsky Prospect. It was such a beautiful day and we had so much fun spending the day exploring.

One cool building was the one in the picture below. It's called the Singer House and was built for the Russian branch of the Singer Sewing Co. It's now a bookstore.

It was interesting to see all of the beautiful churches and read about what happened to them during communism. The picture below is of an Eastern Orthodox church (most of them are) that you were allowed to go inside. We were not allowed to take pictures but it was a large, cavernous room that was dark and filled with icons of saints that were gold plated. People were lighting candles and praying. There were a group of women singing and a large group of people that were kneeling, praying I suppose, on the hard cement floor the entire time we were in there. I thought it was touching to see people that were so devoted. I wish that they had the gospel and an understanding of the restoration. This church was turned into a grocery store during communism and symbolically named 'Grocery Store Number One'.

The blue church in the background is an Armenian church and was turned into a swimming pool during communism.

Here is another pretty church. They were everywhere. 

There was probably a big church like this on every other corner.

We bought these roasted nuts from a street vendor. 

I don't know what they were but they were big and I didn't like them.

We ate lunch at a place that made the most delicious meat pies! They were filled with everything you can think of; chicken, fish, beef, fruit, you name it.

 We also had beef stroganoff and it was delicious. The Stroganov's were rich nobles that lived in St. Petersburg back in the 1700's. They are credited with inventing beef stroganoff and the Stroganov Palace is right on Nevsky Prospect.