No Matter What Life Deals, You Can Play an Excellent Hand

Early this morning we left Sokol for the outskirts of Moscow to meet one Vladimir Prischepa a retired rocket scientist, the Packards, and Olga our talented translator to all head out of town to Vladimir's dacha (Russian country home or garden). It was a site to see. After spending days in the Moscow Metro system and seeing huge buildings and streets and subways packed with people and cars, suddenly we found ourselves in the open air and scenic pastoral land known as the dacha. After visiting one you can really appreciate why Russians love to retreat to them during the summer months. They are quiet peaceful areas where you can tend a garden and escape the city. Today's visit to the country was not the only refreshing moment of our visit. Meeting with Vladimir, a recent convert to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was truly invigorating. On top of his cheerful quirky expressions, Vladimir's spirit of humility and kindness is really contagious. As a small child of only three and a half years, Vladimir was baptized into a christian church by his mother to save his life and protect him from being suspected a Jew during the Nazi occupation of Belarus in 1942. Unfortunately, in 1944 he and his family were eventually sent to a concentration camp in Dresden Germany in 1944. After the war his family returned to their home only to find it had been burned. Despite having suffered these hardships, Vladimir believes that God protected him. After the war he was able to go to school in Ukraine and earn exceptional grades that led him to higher education in Russia and ultimately to becoming a rocket engineer. During his career he has amassed a staggering 70 patents, helped send some of the first cosmonauts to space, designed rocket engines, and made many accomplishments in engineering--yet you would never know it by being around him. We truly appreciated spending our day with this humble man of faith.

Here are some shots of the crew.

Quite the Crew

We had a wonderful few moments on Wednesday with Timur and Vasya. Jonathan Wright has been keeping up this blog well with a contribution or two from me (Charles Cranney). Each member of the mentoring group is unique and their talents combined to make what we hope will be an inspirational product. A special thanks to Jed Wells, our director, for leaving his wife and three children and his free lance business in directing, filming, and designing to become our mentoring lead here. What a wonderful, talented volunteer! Here's a behind the scene shot of Vasya's band and our crew on last night's shoot (direct from my iPhone). Today we head out to a dacha for a shoot with a retired rocket scientist.

Feeling the Vibe. Reflections on the Atonement.

Today was a wonderful day. Where do you begin when every moment you encounter someone or something that kind of blows your mind. Being here over the last few days we have met and worked with many many wonderful people. Meeting and working with the saints here in Moscow has truly been a blessing. Their faith and willingness to open their lives and homes to us is humbling. Today was no exception. We met again with the charming Timur to wrap up his story and get some final shots of him in the metro. We also wanted to go to a place that was contemplative and that would go well with his story. So Timur suggested a park near Bolotnaya Square that has a sculpture he is very fond of. The title of artwork is  "Children: the Victims of the Vices of Adults."

I was blown away by the message of the sculpture. Depicted are 13 vices in the form of figures that take various shapes and hold different symbolic objects. The vices represented are drug addiction, theft, prostitution, alcholism, ignorance, irresponsible science, indifference, propaganda of violence, sadism, for those without memory, child labour, poverty, and war. These are just a few shots of the scene. It was very moving and made me think how much the Atonement of Jesus Christ has played in not only Timur's life, but my own, and everyone else. Thanks Timur for a great day! After that we caught up with Vasya to film some of his band practice. They were awesome and really left all of us kind of skipping out the door. As I think about this trip and realize that we are more than half way done with the shoot I just feel very grateful for all the support and effort that has gone into making this a reality. There is a great work being done here and it wouldn't be possible without our sponsors and most definitely the beautiful Russian saints. Thank you all for everything you have done for us and for being who you are. A city set on a hill truly cannot be hid (Matt 5:14-16).







We also wanted to just share a raw clip so you could hear Vasya and his band. (No editing or sound engineering has been done). These guys rock!

With the Lord, All things are Possible

Timur Kodivor has quite a story to tell. Falling from a 5^th floor building at age 10; losing his father at age 14 and then his mother a couple of years later; spending some time in a Russian prison—and then finding the Church through an uncle and the Book of Mormon, Timur Kodirov’s life is one of courage and change. Now, after serving as a missionary, he is preparing for higher education and starting his own business. We noticed a Russian version of Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and his follow up book on the eight habit. Timur wanted us to shoot him in a nice office space, but the crew was quite taken by his humble apartment, with a view. From his window one can see three of the seven sisters.

Having a Balance in Life

Tuesday was an exceptionally busy day for shooting, from the morning to late evening, getting back home after 10 pm. Our candidates today were Vanik Arutyunyan and Timur Kodirov.

As a local leader of the Church, attorney, businessman, and 6^th-degree Shotokan master, Vanik Arutynyan has the discipline, spirit, and meekness to find balance in is life. We enjoyed the interview and then shooting some of his Karate. A gentle and accommodating man, he personally drove us from the metro stop to his studio on this rainy and drizzly day. On Saturday, we’ll film him with some of his students. The picture here is Vanik with his wife, Ludmilla.

Sharing Your Talents

Today we spent our day with Vasya (short for Vasily) Sapozhnikov talking about his passion for music and for sharing it with others. Vasya is not only a talented vocalist and musician, he also has a talent for helping others believe in themselves. At the Central church building in Moscow Russia, Vasya directs the non-auditioned single adult choir for the Moscow district of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also teaches primary, a Sunday school class for children. Vasya believes that when you help others to develop new talents like singing you are really helping them believe in themselves and gain self confidence. He believes that while not everyone is blessed with the same music ability, those who put forward the effort to come to choir can feel unity and strength as they share a common desire to serve and do their best. According to Vasya, singing in the choir is a lot like our relationship with God and Jesus Christ. While many find it hard to sing, coming to the choir helps them grow and become better. In a similar way sometimes our faith isn't very strong, but when we come to God and Jesus Christ and try to follow them, they help our faith grow and become stronger. Vasya is a vocalist, a teacher, a choir director, a rock musician, and he's a Russian mormon. Stay tuned to see Vasya's video coming soon.

Preparation for Our First Shoot

We had our first day of shooting on Sunday. Our Russian Mormon is Vasily Sapozhnikov, a remarkable musician who teaches children music skills but also conducts the non-audition Young Single Adult Choir for the Moscow District. This video shows Jed Wells, our director, prepping the others for the shoot.