Moscow sites.

We are trying to have as many of the branch members in our home as possible for dinner.  Faina is a faithful member with a great desire that the members live the gospel standards.  Her daughter lives in Madrid, Spain and joined the church there.  Faina joined there as well and goes back and forth from Lipetsk to Madrid where she attends the temple.  She left this week and we will miss her.  Elder's Harris and Bishop were our interpreters.  We had a wonderful time and even spoke a little Spanish.

We went to Moscow for Zone conference and a mission conference held on June 17, 2012.  I needed to stay for the leadership meeting held at the Moscow stake and broadcast to all of eastern Europe.  That meant we had a Friday to do some sight seeing.  I reported on those meetings in the post prior to this.

 These three Russian girls saw us with several missionaries and wanted their picture taken with foreigners.  They were very shy and their tour guide in the pink top behind them had to ask for them.  The blond on the right was so shy that when we asked her name she hid her face and spoke it quietly.

 Guards at the Eternal flame on the north side of the Kremlin wall.

 Close up of the eternal flame.

 Running along the north side of the Kremlin is a park and some very picturesque buildings.

The Russian people love bedding flowers and you can see them everywhere but these are the best I have seen.

The northwest corner of the Kremlin Wall.  Most cities in Russia have a Kremlin, which is their word for fort.  This is THE Kremlin.

Emperor Alexander II,  was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881.  He was known as the liberator as he was the one who ended serfdom in Russia.

Peter the Great standing on one of his war ships.  He was the father of the Russian navy.

The Cathedral of our Savior.  The original cathedral was demolished by Stalin in the 30's, wanting to build a palace on the property.  The palace was never built, and the cathedral was re-built in the mid 1990's.  They worship differently here, there are no pews in Russian orthodox churches.

There are seven buildings with this style of architecture scattered around Moscow and are called the seven princes.  This picture was taken from the grounds of the Cathedral.

Two cathedral doors.

Grounds of the Cathedral of Our Savior.

We got off the Metro one station too soon and had to walk several blocks past some wonderful government office buildings, churches and hotels.  This is the entrance to red square as we approached from the north.

Red Square is on the east side of the Kremlin Wall and this picture is looking northeast.

We were at red square on two different days and used two different cameras so that is why we are back outside red square.  This is resurrection gate, the north entrance to the square. The little blue roof is a small chapel and when we looked inside there was a priest reading a bible in a chanting voice.  There were only women coming in and out doing the sign of the cross and bowing several times at the altar.

The  Gym (Goom) Shopping center is directly east of the Kremlin on Red Square.  They have made old Russian military offices into a very up scale shopping mall.

Looking at the Kremlin wall with Lenin's tomb in front.  They were in the process of taking down scaffolding that was put up for the Federation Day celebration.  Federation Day marks the formation of new government after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Inside the Gym Shopping Center.

Here we are in front of St. Basil's Cathedral.  Can't go to red square with out taking your picture in front of St. Basil.

St. Basil is on the south end of Red Square.

The Kremlin wall as it extends south past St. Basil.  I can just picture all the military men, tanks, rockets, etc. marching past and into the square.

A broad picture of Red Square.

State Historical Museum inside Red Square.

Outside Red Square is one of the busiest McDonalds in the world.  The workers are packed as thick behind the counter as the patrons are in front of the counter.  Unbelievable!

Statue of Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov, in front State Historical Museum. Most decorated Russian Soldier from WWII. He was a rare survivor of Stalin's military purges and lead most of the major Battles.

Picture taken following the Russian National Dance Show (see previous post) of the State space museum featured art.  On the left is the metro station for this area.  Elder Walker is on the right.  He and Sister Walker were wonderful hosts and saw to our every need.  We had taken the metro so much I felt confident to take it by myself to the meeting at the church Saturday morning.  My confidence was strengthened by the fact that I didn't have to change lines.  The confidence was gone later when we used the metro again and I would have taken the train in the wrong direction.  I was glad Elder Janson  knew what he was doing.