Fifth VISA Trip - 3rd Time to Helsinki

We left for Irkutsk on Thursday 22 April 2010 on the Trans-Siberian Railway and stayed with President and Sister Southam.  We left Irkutsk the on Friday 23 April 2010, and flew to Moscow on Aeroflot Airlines. At Moscow we met Elder Stewart  from Novosibirsk (after the VISA Trip he was being transferred to Irkutsk) and the 3-of us then flew to on to Helsinki.  From the Helsinki airport we took a bus 540 (that left from Exit 1) to Lepavarra, and then transferred to bus 270 that took us within a block of the Helsinki temple.  The Helsinki Temple is located in Espoo which is the second largest city and municipality in Finland.  We all stayed at the Temple Hostel.  On Saturday 24 April 2010, we did 1session at the temple and took a bus 270 and train # 1 to Helsinki. This is the Elder Stewart's first VISA trip, and first time in Helsinki - so we wanted to show him around to prepare him for his next VISA trip.  By the way, the Helsinki Temple President said that, after the August 29 dedication of the Kiev Temple, all of Russia, except for Saint Petersburg, will be in the Kiev Temple district.  Some photographs are shown below:

Helsinki Temple as seen from door of Temple Hostel.  Spring is coming, the trees were in bud.

This is the Market Square, an open air market on the waterfront.  Sister Moleff bought yarn and took it home to Ulan-Ude, then promptly gave it away.  She will have to get more the next time we go so she can knit herself something from yarn from Finland.  Sister Moleff also bought a head of iceburg lettuce, head of cauliflower, a leek, and a bunch of broccoli to take back to Ulan Ude.  Those vegetables survived the 40 hour trip home on the plane and train in good condition.  Next day we went to our gormet grocery store (newly remodled) and saw a head of lettuce, head of cauliflower and a bunch of broccoli - it is the first time we have seen them in Ulan Ude.  Two days later we could not find them in the store.  We did have a good meal with a salad with lettuce and steamed vegetables.   At this market there was also a stand with just fresh strawberries, you could smell them as you walked by - we walked by twice.  Those would not have survived the trip back to Ulan Ude.

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC); or The Moscow Patriarchate (Russian: Русская Православная Церковь .Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov), or Московский Патриархат (Moskovskiy Patriarkhat -the latter designation being another official name) since 1943, Поместная Российская Православная Церковь (Pomestnaya Rossiyskaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov) before the reinstitution in 1943, also known as the Orthodox Christian Church of Russia, is a body of Christians who constitute an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Moscow, nominally in communion with the other Eastern Orthodox Churches.  The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world and second only to the Roman Catholic Church among Christian churches, numbering over 135 million members world wide and growing numerically since late 1980s. Up to 65% of ethnic Russians and a significant number of Belarusians and Ukrainians identify themselves as "Orthodox".  According to figures released on February 2, 2010, the Church has 160 dioceses including 30,142 parishes served by 207 bishops, 28,434 priests and 3,625 deacons. There are 788 monasteries, including 386 for men and 402 for women.  In Ulan-Ude the ROC is known as the Pravoslavic Church.

Inside the Church looking through the glass window into the church proper.  People were gathering for a wedding so we were not allowed to take pictures inside the church at this time.

Water front scene looking  to the right from the church.  The building at the bottom of this picture has a restaurant on the top floor.  Those windows/skylights give you a view of the Russian Orthodox church from your table.  We did not eat there but I think the view would be great especially at night time with the lights around the church.  I love to eat at restaurants with a view.  One of my favorite places to eat is at Multomona Falls (Oregon) in the room with the glass ceiling so you can see the falls.  Whenever we go to Portland I plan the trip so we can stop there and eat.  My favorite place to eat in Helsinki is Kappeli's.  There is a picture of us and the Simmons eating there in the  blog Elder Moleff published of our first trip to Helsinki.

This is the scene looking left from the church.   The large ferry goes to the Baltic States; if you look closely to the right back of the large ferry, you can see a semi loading.  The smaller ferry goes to Soumenlinna, an island fortress in the harbor.  We visited there on our first VISA trip to Finland in November.  I want to go back when it is warmer.