May 8, 2012

I’ve decided to go with a little historical blog today but will end with a few other insights.

On September 13, 1991, Elder Boyd K. Packer stood with Elder Dallin H. Oaks and 41 other people on a hillside overlooking Kyiv and Dnieper River near the base of the statue of Prince Vladimir who brought Christianity to Ukraine in 988 A.D and dedicated the land for the preaching of the Gospel.  It is noteworthy that on the same day, statues of Lenin, who was a symbol of communism, were being pulled down in the capital city.  In offering this prayer, Elder Packer said “In this land, we see the day when there will be scattered in the villages here and there a member and yet another member and then a gathering and then a branch and, in due time, stakes of Zion set firmly and permanently upon the fertile soil of the Ukraine.  And in due time, the spires of temples will be seen across this great land.”   These are the words of a seer and a revelator.

It is interesting to note that Elder Packer also said, “We remember those who have lived here in generations past and are now gone.  We pray that this moment might be the beginning of an emancipation of their spirits in the world beyond through …sacred..ordinances…We pray that there will be an outpouring of the Spirit of Elijah, that the names will come forth, the records made available, and the ordinances performed for them in temples in this land.”  This revelation is now being fulfilled in that every week from all over the Eastern European area people are coming to the temple with the records of their family members to perform the ordinances of the temple for them.  A youth group came from Russia and brought 1600 names of their ancestors for baptisms.  Last week the members from Armenia came and spent the week, all day, every day doing the ordinances for their ancestors.  This week members from Romania are here.  I had the privilege of helping with some of the sealing work and although it was in Russian I felt the spirit of the blessings coming to the people, both the members who were being sealed to their families and from their ancestors.  The members from Armenia who received their patriarchal blessings were mostly of the lineage of Gad and Simeon.  All of the ten tribes of Israel have been represented in the linages of the Saints in Eastern Europe. 

Yesterday I went with the Temple Missionaries to the Botanical Gardens  .(Gary doesn’t get as many P-Days as I do.)   There are 45 acres of lilacs blooming and they were so beautiful and smelled so good.  Every kind of lilac you have and haven’t ever seen.  We then went to a Russian Restaurant for lunch.  People in Ukraine eat lunch between 1 and 2 and believe me they are never in a hurry.  It is a good thing as you have to plan on about one hour to get served. 

I also wanted to tell you about the tenacity of the people here.  There is a bazaar (open market and stores) when you get off the metro stop by our apartment.  A few weeks ago about 50-70 armed gunmen held up the common folk and tried to take over the bazaar.  Well, those people would have nothing to do with it and fought back.  I don’t think they will have to worry about being bothered by the armed robbers again.  They now have more protective doors that they shut at night.  The people that work and sell their wares are just coming to work at 6:00 in the morning when we are heading out to the metro and they work until about eight or nine at night.  The ones that line the streets pack up their wares every night, take them home and are back the next day.  It is not only their work but their social life.  The other morning on the way to the office there was a large group of women surrounding one woman.  I peered over their shoulders to see what all the excitement was about and it was “white jeans”.  It really looked like “Black Friday” at Walmart.   I also must mention that there are at least 4 banks per block and about the same number of notaries.  Kind of reminds us of the number of cell phone and cash stores on Yellowstone.  Crazy.  Have a great week.  Be grateful for all of your conveniences and opportunities in America, and remember …..  the Lord has a lot of children to take care of so help Him out whenever you can.  

Love Gary and Karlene

 Park on a hill overlooking Kyiv and the Dnieper River

Lilacs at the Botanical Garden

Just wanted you to know that Starducks is alive and well in Kyiv

Babushka at the bazaar selling her wares

Sellers of goods by the metro

 You'll never see another McDonald's like this one