This week has been an event packed week. We have been blessed with so many wonderful
opportunities.
Sunday was our monthly trip to Lutsk.
I will never tire of the ten hour road trip as there are so many things
to see and I absolutely love the countryside of Ukraine. We had a different driver this week and he
took us on a little different route. He
speaks some English so I could even ask him to stop along the way a few times to
take some pictures. I wanted four
pictures. Cottages with their beautiful
fall flowers blooming, pumpkin patches, harvesting crops and people in the
country setting. I didn’t quite get all
but what I did get was better than ever.
We stopped so I could take some pictures of a flower garden. While taking the picture I spotted a little
couple about 200 yards away sitting in the sun by their house enjoying the
beautiful morning. Of course I couldn’t
resist running across the field that was drenched with dew to get a picture
(not knowing if they would let me take one or not). They were so adorable and we communicated as
best we could. They will be in my heart
forever and I just wish I could go visit them once a week. When I got back to the road and turned
around they were both waving to us and I got one last picture. They live about 35 miles out of Lutsk.
Fall Flowers |
When we got to the church we had another pleasant surprise. There is a babushka in the branch that we have heard about but have never met, Sister Matsoxa. He daughter lives in Poland and is a member. She had come to see her parents who live about an hour outside of Lutsk and brought her mother to church. Sister Matsoxa is coming to the temple in September to receive her endowments. The missionaries go out to see her about once a week and take her the sacrament so it was just perfect that we were there this Sunday to meet her. She is precious. It will be so fun to see her again in September, along with all of the other branch members that will be coming to the temple.
Gary and I were also very privileged this week to meet a man that was instrumental in helping the church obtain the property to build the temple. He is not a member but has very high regard for the church and was a friend of President Hinckley when he came to Ukraine to pick the place for the temple. The story is so fascinating about the five places that were visited by Pres. Hinckley and the feelings he had about each them. He was in tune with the spirit in not picking the land that he was encouraged to pick just because of its beauty, and was definitely inspired to pick the one that he did pick. Mr. Sydnek had some investigations done on a few of the properties that President Hinckley had a bad feeling about and realized that President Hinckley had truly been inspired as it would have not been wise to build the temple in those locations no matter how beautiful they were. He is an amazing man and has many political connections in Eastern Europe. We are blessed that he is a friend of the church.
Friday was the Independence Day celebration (Nezalezhnosti) in Ukraine
but activities were held all week long and will continue over the weekend. As they have only had their independence for
21 years all people over about 25 years old remember it vividly. In English class this week we talked about
what it was like to be under Soviet control. It was not good. All of the
people worked for the government and were paid by the government. There were some weeks that they didn’t get
paid. That meant no food for the
family. Parents sacrificed what little
food they had for their children. There
was basically no freedom of religion. (The
reason why the church is only 20 years old in this country). The only time school was held on Sunday was
on Easter. That was because they knew the people would go to church on Easter
and they really didn’t want them going to church. If
you didn’t attend school that day when you returned you had to stand in front
of the class and tell where you were on that day and why you weren’t in
school. A girl in our branch,
Natalia, told how when she was eight
years old she decided she was going to go to church on Easter and not to
school. Her family was very strict
orthodox but her mother encouraged her to go to school because of what might
happen if she didn’t. She refused and
went to church instead. Her mother told
her that when she was asked to tell where she had been to tell her teacher that
she would tell her at the break. For
some reason her teacher allowed her to do just that, and when she found out she
had been in church she told her not to tell another soul where she had
been. When Natalia was baptized and
learned that eight was the age of accountability she recalled what she had done
the Easter she was eight years old. Independence is so very near and dear to these people’s
hearts. It is because they
remember not
having it and know how different their lives are now.
We were able to attend a few concerts and the festivities for
Independence Day this week. It made us
feel so grateful and understand better why Al Sher can always bear such a strong testimony of gratitude in July
of every year. We are so grateful for the blessings of
liberty we have enjoyed all of our lives; especially those blessings that have allowed us to have our freedom of
worship. We are reminded in the Book of
Mormon at least twenty-three times what our obligations are to maintain that
land of liberty. May we never forget…………
Quote from Neal Maxwell, Notwithstanding My Weakness.
It is no accident
that the lessening, or loss, of belief in certain absolute truths, such as the
existence of God and the reality of immortality, has occurred at the same time
there has been a sharp gain in the size and power of governments. Once we remove belief in God from the center
of our lives, as the source of truth and as a determiner of justice, a
tremendous vacuum is created into which selfishness surges, a condition that
governments delight in managing.
Country Pride |
Patriotic citizen signaling fought in 3 wars |
The old and the young |
Cute boys |
Decorated egg from each region of Ukraine |
Enjoying the day |
2 comments:
Those are such beautiful eggs. And I love the picture of the old couple in front of their house. That is how I imagine Tim and I one day. I hope we will be able to grow old together and spend our days enjoying the beauty all around us.
You have so many great pictures!
Fabulous photos! It is so beautiful and quaint!
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