We took a small detour

In 1985, five European countries signed an agreement to abolish border controls between their respective countries.  Since then, 21 additional countries have signed what is called the Schengen Agreement.  One of the stipulations, at least in Estonia, is that people from certain nations can enter the country and stay for 90 days without a visa.  On the 15th of April, our 90 days expired.  So to prevent any imperial entanglements, the Area office has moved us to Minsk, in Belarus, until our residency cards are ready to be issued to us.  So, here we are in the Orbita Hotel for a couple of weeks vacation.  Actually, the work is much harder when you have no assignments.  We are getting cabin fever.  Fortunately, Belarus is part of our mission and there are "volunteers" who are assigned here and they have been helping us feel right at home.  We are learning to use the subway and finding our way around.  We took a city tour and learned quite a bit about Minsk.  That tour will be in a future post that I will post once I return to Estonia (we have certain restrictions here).  Today we went to Brest.  It is located near the border with Poland.  If you know your WWII history, you will understand what happened here in 1939 and again in 1941.  More on that in a future post.

We love learning about this place, but really do miss our missionaries, and a few other things back in Estonia.  Here are a few pictures.

It was terribly cold and windy that day.

Heber C. Kimball and Bro. Brigham?

Palace of Culture

Closeup of the relief

Russian Orthodox Church

Icons on the Orthodox Church

I snuck this pic of the Orthodox priest walking by

Orbita, our hotel

The view from our window