June 23, 2013

More holiness give me, more strivings within.
More patience in suffering, more sorrow for sin.
More faith in my Savior, more sense of His care.
More joy in His service, more purpose in prayer.
More gratitude give me, more trust in the Lord.
More pride in His glory, more hope in His Word.
More tears for His sorrows, more pain at His grief.
More meekness in trial, more praise for relief.
More purity give me, more strength to o’ercome,
More freedom from earth-stains, more longings for home.
More fit for the kingdom, more used would I be,
More blessèd and holy, more, Savior, like Thee.

This hymn is one of my favorites and is per­haps one of the most beau­ti­ful of all com­po­si­tions writ­ten by Philip P. Bliss in 1873, af­ter he had giv­en up his mu­sic­al con­ven­tion work en­tire­ly and en­tered ful­ly upo­n his life­work for the Mas­ter. It seems that it was on­ly af­ter he had giv­en up ev­er­y­thing and com­mit­ted him­self and all his gifts to the Lord’s ser­vice, that he was en­a­bled to write such a hymn as this.
Bliss called the hymn “My Prayer” but thou­sands in ev­ery Chris­tian land have made it their prayer as well, and it will con­tin­ue to voice a heart­felt want of mil­lions in years to come.

Mr. Bliss was at the time of his death a mem­ber of the First Con­gre­ga­tion­al Church of Chi­ca­go. On one oc­ca­sion dur­ing his work as an evan­gel­ist, he was asked to sing this song in church. He struck the keys on the pi­a­no, stooped for­ward, and read­ing the words in the lat­ter part of the first verse, "More joy in his service," said, “I do not think I can sing that as a pray­er anymore; it seems to me that I have as much joy in serv­ing the bless­ed Master as it is pos­si­ble for me to bear.” 

And that is truly the way that I feel when I am in the service of the Lord, especially serving in the Kyiv Temple.

Sunday June 16  - Father’s Day in the United States but not really celebrated in Ukraine. It was the last day for many of the embassy families to attend church as they are all leaving for the summer so after church we had a “linger-longer or dash and dine” following the services. It was also kind of a farewell party for three of the Temple missionary couples that are leaving in a week and also the Mission office couple. The food was delicious and the company grand. And of course the weather was absolutely beautiful. 

Linger longer

Departing interns

Vatican Embassy

Monday evening I was returning some things to the Schorrs' and since I had to make cookies for the missionaries that we were taking to dinner on Tuesday I made some to take to their family. They live about 2 kilometers from us and it was a great evening. I stopped to talk to a cute family along the way when they greeted me with “hello”. I needed some language practice so I started my little Russian introduction speech and they were able to practice their English skills on me. It was interesting that they actually knew where Idaho was and mentioned the weather there. They reported that it was so cold there and snowing and I told them that the weather was pretty much like Kyiv. When I got home I saw where there was actually snow in the mountains that day so they actually knew more about Idaho than I did. It is really fun walking in the evening as it stays light so late here and everyone is either out walking or sitting on their balconies enjoying the evening.  (This is totally contrary to something that Gary read on the internet before we left. Actually the sun comes up about 4:30 AM and it is still light at 10:00PM---it is quite different in the winter but summer is a wonderful time here.)

Kyiv sunrise

Enjoying a summer evening

We had an occasion to have dinner with the Elders Grange and Van Schlegell that are in our area.  Of course it takes the missionaries at least 30 minutes or more to get to our apartment so we try to find places close to where they are teaching to make it more convenient. We love having time with them and hearing about all of their missionary experiences and we are so impressed with their resilience, dedication, sense of humor, and proficiency in the Russian language. The Lord loves His missionaries and so do we.

Elder Von Schelgell and Elder Grange

June 19 – What started out to be a quiet night out at the symphony turned into a group event when one by one several couples wanted to also have an opportunity to hear Gershwin and we were so fortunate to have an internationally famous Russian pianist, Vadim Rudenko, as the guest soloist. We enjoyed a dinner at a Crimean Restaurant before the concert and then were wowed by the concert itself. It was a wonderful evening.

Dinner before symphony

Vadim Rudenko

Thursday was birthday party day for one of my English class groups. These girls are so adorable and I will miss them so much. They are all returned missionaries and already know English quite well but we have fun talking, reading together and sharing experiences and that is a major part of preserving your ability to speak a foreign language. I hope I still have Lena to talk to when I return.

Birthday time

I have wanted to go to Mamayeva Sloboda, an outdoor museum, since I heard about it a few weeks ago. Friday seemed to be an opportune time so Jill and I headed out early while it was still cool. We were the only ones at the park which was nice as I am sure it is crowded with this weekend being a holiday weekend (Pentecost). We had a fun morning there and although it is much smaller than Pirogov Village it is an enchanting replica of a historical settlement built around the Lybid River and basically right in the middle of Kyiv. One thing I love about Kyiv is all the parks, trees, forests and hiking opportunities right in the middle of the city. 

Entrance to Mamayeva Sloboda

Scythian statue of Mamay

Picturesque

Church

Country living

Haven't we seen him before?

village girl

notice the baby cradle

This was also a fun week as I was able to meet up with a friend I made at the Classic Concert on the evening of the 1533 birthday of Kyiv. Helena and I met at the park across from the office and conversed as best we could. We shared family pictures and she took me to see Vladimir’s Cathedral. I then invited the Sister missionaries to meet with us on Saturday so we could have an easier conversation with them there to translate. We met and went to the area by the Friendship Arch. Helena had made us a little picnic with blennies, deruny (potato pancakes) and pickled cucumbers. She is just the sweetest person and we had a very enjoyable time. We will meet with her again in a week. 

Valdimir's Cathedral

Looking across the Dnepro where Helena lives

Sister Russavage, Helena and me

Sunday we were down to two children in primary, Clark who is 3 and his sister Lilly who is 5, and who will be leaving this week for America. We had a really fun time playing American childhood games like Ring Around the Rosie, and London Bridges Falling Down which neither of the Ukrainian sisters knew and then since the children had their shoes off I taught them the Scandinavian toe names that my father had taught us as children and has passed on in our family and which we thought was really funny--  Eekie pee, penny rue, Rudy whistle, Mary hossel and old Tom Bumbo. And then we spent time playing, eating berries and taking pictures around the Temple. It isn’t everyone that has this wonderful opportunity right outside the church house. 

Clark and Lilly

 Quote for the week by Wallace Goddard: 

“One of the most important lessons I have learned is that joy does not depend upon our circumstances. Having joy does not require comfort, health or life going in the direction I prefer. It is an inner condition that is relatively unaffected by life’s circumstances. I can choose to be grateful for the magnificent God who presides in my life and all lives. I can look for and appreciate blessings that He extends to me even during this challenging experience.”