Ziua de Chisinau

On October 8th Chisinau celebrated their founding day.  The city was founded in 1436 and they celebrate this day every year.  This celebration reminds me of our State and County fairs.  They close the main street in Chisinau (Stefen Cel Mare) and have vendors selling goods, displays of Moldovan life, bands playing traditional music, food (lots of Moldovan food), children preforming, etc. going on.  We had a good time walking up and down the street watching everyone enjoying the celebration.

Water Pojects signed in Colibasi, and Valeni

Elder Hinson and I just signed two more water project contracts for LDS Charities to provide clean water to the villages of Colibasi, and Valeni. We now have 4 water projects in the works, with one more pending. Both of these villages are in the southernmost part of Moldova. None of the village schools, health facilities, or public offices has running water in them. The homes in these villages do not have running water. Water is obtained from public wells, and is carried and stored in cistern located outside the buildings and retrieved with dip buckets as needed. When these projects are complete they will bring clean water to about 9,500 villagers. We are so excited to work with these two villages. They have worked hard to get their engineering designs completed, organize their water committees, and collect their money to implement these water projects. We are really helping people help themselves.

Fall in Moldova

We have enjoyed the beautiful fall here in Moldova. The leaves are just gorgeous!!! I had Fred stop on the way home from Ursoaia so we could take pictures. Have a Happy Fall!!!

Ursoaia Water Project

Villagers attending contract signing
Elder Hinson, Lydia (our NGO), and Mayor signing contract
Elder Hinson explaning contribution from LDS Charties
Mayor addressing villagers
Mayor took us to visit Ursoaia Kindergarten


We have started a new water project in the community of Ursoaia. Ursoaia is a village of 2,718 people in the southeastern part of Moldova. They currently use home cisterns for their water usage. We signed a contract for LDS Charities on Oct. 8 to bring clean water into the village. LDS Charities will rehabilitate the well, put in a new tank,replace all the old pipes,install new electrical system, and put in the main water pipe into the village. This village has not had clean water in their homes for 20 years. Now that the contract has been signed work should start next week. More pictures will be coming when we raise the tanks.

Peresecina Elementary School-New Windows

We finished our project at Peresecina elementary school by providing new windows for the Gym. This school is more than 40 years old, and the windows are old and unsafe. They use the Gym as the main gathering area in the winter months. This is their assembly area for the school. The new windows that LDS Charities provided will help keep the heat in the gym. Elder Hinson and I also saw a need for new soccer balls. When we visited the 1st time the students were playing with a thread bare soccer ball. Elder Hinson and I bought new soccer balls for the school. The highlight at the ceremony (completion of the windows being installed) for the students was to be able to sign their names on the new soccer balls. It was a highlight for us also to be able to see so many happy smiling faces with such a modest gift.