Also we have found 3 different swimming areas in the river where they keep the ice cut and away from the water and some people take a dip in the freezing cold water.

Next to our building is the river. They built a large iceskating area on the river. The river becomes a huge playground for iceskaters, cross country skiiers, sleders, and ice fishing.

In the middle entrance of the iceskating rink they built an ice prince and princess out of ice blocks.

They built a tower with 2 sets of stairs at one end of the rink and made an ice slide. Quite a hit with the kids.

In the winter in Astana they built this beautiful iceskating rink out of ice blocks they cut out of the frozen river. The blocks are about 6" thick, 12" long and 8"wide. Literally thousands and thousands of ice blocks.

At the closing they gave us pastires to eat with juice and asked us alot of questions. from left to right-Mira, Ludmilla, 2 assistants and Sveta, the lady we worked with on the project.

The young people in this picture are mentally handicapped, the director,Ludmilla and the asst. Sveta are also in the picture.

When we got back to Astana we had to do a closing in Oskarafka, 100 miles south of us. The church gave them a gym , massage table and a bookcase.

The night we went to the 5-finger supper, we caught a bus back to our apt. It was snowing so hard and the roads were so slick we had to walk up the hill because the bus couldnot make it.

This is Norzya, our taxi driver in Almaty, and her husband; they invited us over to supper of 5-finger with horsemeat. It is wide noodles, potatoes, and you are to eat it with your fingers.

Quite often we would cleanup behind the missionaries at the church, we went to the closet and this is the broom we found. Standard equipment throughout the whole country.

The next two pictures are a few blocks from our apt. and the trees are full of snow not frost, it was a very beautiful day. Looking down the path and looking up the path.

In Almaty we lived on a hill and you could see the smog over the city even in winter. This is a smoke stack from a heating plant. They heat water and pump it through the radiators of the apts. buildings for heat.We were on our way to a travel agency a few blocks from our apt. when we saw this.

This is a Christmas tree! that the branch put up in the foyer of the church. On the 25 Dec no one in the country celebrated except the members. It was a working day for the country.

We went walking one day and this is a decorated tree we saw. They call it a New Year tree not a Christmas tree. And Grandfather Frost comes New Year's day and brings presents.

This is Backett who was just baptized the day after Christmas. He is the last member to join the church here in 2009.

This is one of our responsibilities-is to shovel the snow at the church. The snow was about 8 inches deep that day and the missionaries are right behind us coming to teach their lessons.

The first big snowstorm. This is the street we on walk to the church which is a 20 minute walk.

This is Sister Corbett from Canada and Sister Oaks from Utah with their gloves.

Before we left Astana we went to the outdoor bazzar and bargained on some winter gloves-6 pair of men's and 6 pair women's - with fur lining. Because we bought so many pairs we got a good deal. They were about $5 a pair. They made a great Christmas present for the missionaries and other special people we work with.

This is a Kazak gas station. We don't see these very often. We didn't think at first that they even existed. This one is about a half mile away from our apt.

The next 3 pictures are pictures we see out of our apt. on the sixth floor. one is the front window view and the other is the back window view. Almaty has one and half million people.

This is the zone and the Whitakers 3 children at the dinner.

This is Brother and Sister Whitaker, an American couple working here for the agriculture program who invited the whole zone over for dinner just before Christmas. Sister Oaks is sitting there too. It was a wonderful meal and we enjoyed our visit.

At the dinner they served us a platter of horsemeat. Some of the missionaires thought it tasted pretty good. But we didn't eat any because of a previous experience we had had. The people love their horsemeat and it is served as a delicacy and is very expensive.

After zone conference we all went to a Pakistan restraunt for dinner. The food was pretty good. you just have to be careful what you eat. President and Sister Woolley are here.

This is the couple we replaced here in Almaty for 7 weeks. Marc and Cherri Hall from CA. They went home. He has been a mission president and they have served other missions. After a short rest at home they plan to go on another mission. They are tremendously effective in their missionary efforts.

We took a 12 hour train ride on the fast train to Almaty where we will be for the next 7 weeks. There is a big Ramstore mall there close to our apt. In the center of the mall is a iceskating rink.

This is our KFC girl at the Mega Mall. in Astana. There is a KFC and they make a delicious spicy chicken kabob which we like very much. We generally eat here a couple times a week for lunch. This young lady sees us coming and tells the cook to start cooking the kabobs before we get to the counter. she is very sweet.