We were very reluctant to leave the feeling was so wonderful.
I was asked to share some of our experiences in sacrament meeting after we returned. It seems appropriate to add my talk here since I referenced Elder Packer's dedicatory prayer often.
My testimony today is that “the Lord’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are our ways his ways …for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are his ways higher than our ways, and his thoughts than our thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) His vision is infinitely broader than ours. His work is occurring and will continue to move forward. It is our privilege and responsibility, but also our choice as to whether or not we will take part in it.
It is also my testimony that although his ways are higher than our ways that does not mean he is distant or unconcerned. In fact, he is very near and familiar with the details of our lives.
I remember specifically a conversation my family had one morning on the way to church when I was a young girl of probably 10 or 12 years old, prior to the fall of the iron curtain. Along with my several younger siblings, my Dad and I imagined the places we might be called as missionaries. We talked about the people, the food, and the wildlife we might encounter in such far off places. I remember pulling up to a stop sign and Dad saying, “Who knows, maybe by then, one of you will be called to Russia.” At that time, in my mind, being called to Russia was like being called to Mars.
About nine years later, I was studying abroad in Mexico when I received a broken phone call from my Dad in Basin City, Washington. My family had received the big white envelope we had all been so anxiously awaiting. Over the distance my Dad read, “you are hereby called to serve as a missionary…you are assigned to labor in the Ukraine Donetsk mission, Russian speaking.”
In 1842, Joseph Smith prophetically declared, “Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, Australia, the East Indies, and other places, the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear; till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”
I have seen this prophecy in a small way fulfilled.
I also remember exactly where I was on a late Sunday in July 1998 when our branch in Kharkov Ukraine heard the announcement of the construction of the Kiev Temple. It was Sunday and we were meeting in the schoolhouse we rented on Sundays. Sweltering in the summer, frigid in the winter. The excitement of the news was nearly tangible.
It’s now been twelve years since that announcement. One of the longest periods of time between the announcement and completion for any latter-day temple. Yet, except for the early temples of the restoration, the Kiev temple is the only temple built where the church is less than 20 years old. This is a direct fulfillment of prophecy. In 1991, Elder Boyd K. Packer dedicated Ukraine. He said,
“We are gathered here as missionaries and as members, a small group. This gathering is a prescient of the tens and the hundreds and the thousands and the hundreds of thousands that will yet join thy church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 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 in and then a branch and, in due time, stakes of Zion set firmly and permanently upon the fertile soil of the Ukriane. And in due time the spires of temples will be seen across this great land.” The first spire now stands in stark contrast to all that surrounds it on a busy highway.
Interestingly, in that same dedicatory prayer he said, “Bless the young men and young women to find one another, to pledge their love to one another, and to bring children into this world under the bonds of the sacred covenant and to raise them in righteousness.” The morning following the dedication we stood in line at the distribution center to buy temple clothes in order to attend a session. We stood behind three young couples, all scheduled to be sealed that first functioning day of the temple.
Equally as impressive as the miracle of the construction of the Kiev Temple are the miracles that have occurred in the lives of the individuals who live within its reach.
As we visited with these saints they recounted experiences I had long since forgotten. I share them only as a witness that small efforts can make lasting differences when we act on the Lord’s direction and errand.
Victor Beloyc told of a night when his family was struggling both financially and spiritually. My companion and I dropped in that night with a bag of apples and a spiritual thought. After 12 years that was still a vivid memory for him. Now actively involved in the church, the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed Victor’s life.
Lyudmila Bodabetz shared the memory of my companion and I visiting with their family one evening. We asked them if they were reading the Book of Mormon everyday. When they responded negatively we had compared spiritual food to physical food, and challenged them to read the Book of Mormon each day that they ate physical food. She then shared how they took that challenge to heart and how it has blessed their lives. Since that time, their family has lost their father and their oldest daughter who was at the time carrying twins. Their challenges have been severe, but the power of the Book of Mormon has carried them through. The other daughter, Katya, has since served a mission and on the first day after the Kiev Temple was dedicated, her companion asked her to be his eternal companion as they sat in the celestial room. She accepted. The gospel of Jesus Christ has changed the lives of Lyudmila and Katya Bodabetz.
Twelve years ago, Valentine Evashina, his wife, and toddler daughter seldom made it to church. My companion and I decided to work to strengthen their testimonies. We visited them in their basement apartment, read the scriptures with them, shared our testimonies, and challenged them to live the principles of the gospel. We also taught them how to make an all American rootbeer float except with orange soda. Valentine now serves as the branch president, his wife serves in the young women organization where his daughter is one of a few young women. He said they hardly eat ice cream any other way. The gospel of Jesus Christ has changed Valentine’s life.
When my companion and I began teaching Elena Nazarenko the fundamental principles of the gospel, she was struggling with cancer in a sub par medical system. She was depressed, discouraged, hopeless, and struggling to put food on the table for her 11-year-old son. She took hold of the gospel and step by step dug her way out of a dark time in her life. She sacrificed to go to Frieberg, Germany to receive the blessings of the temple. Her son served a mission and sang in the temple dedication choir. She rode with us on the overnight train to Kiev for the temple dedication and testified that although her challenges in life haven’t changed all that much, her outlook and approach to them has. Her whole countenance reflected that testimony. The gospel of Jesus Christ has changed the life of Elena Nazarenko.
“By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.” (Alma 37:6)
Multiply that by thousands of missionaries in hundreds of countries and one can get a glimpse at how the Lord brings about his purposes. Imagine what it would be like if we so diligently fulfilled our responsibilities as home and visiting teachers. Those effects could be multiplied by the millions and surely the “stone…cut out without hands” would soon fill the earth. (Daniel 2:34-35)
Along with the building of the temple there was another interesting facet of the Lord’s work occurring. In direct connection with temple work is the prophecy given by the Angel Moroni to the boy Joseph found in the 2nd section of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Elder Packer went on to pray, “As we dedicate this land, our Holy Father, we remember those who have lived here in generations past and now are gone. We pray that this moment might be the beginning of an emancipation of their spirits in the world beyond through the sacred sealing ordinances of the work for the dead that Thou hast revealed. 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 other lands and, in due time, in temples in this land.”
There is a man in my last area by the name of Andrey Novikov. We also worked with him and his family as less active members. He worked long days at the open market selling honey. When we would go to buy honey he would place a dab of each flavor one after another on the back of our hands until we decided on one. He small apartment was filled with boxes of papers and documents---family history and geneology was his hobby. But this was before the internet in Ukraine and the work was laborious. As the internet evolved, and he was able to accomplish more research faster, more and more people came to him for help---member and non-member. Finally, he couldn’t keep up his honey business and do geneology. Now he is a full-time genealogist traveling from city to city in Ukraine gathering the links to the chains of Ukranian families as the hearts of the children turn to their fathers.
We also thought it was fascinating to learn that the people we spoke with who had received their patriarchal blessings were from the tribes of Dan, Manasseh, Judah, Benjamin, and Ephriam.
At one point, during the proceedings associated with the temple dedication, President Monson told of President Kimball’s sentiment concerning temples. If the people can’t get to the temples, we need to bring the temples to the people. Hand in hand with this inspiration was the revelation President Hinckley had concerning smaller temples. We here in southeastern Washington are directly blessed by the Columbia River Temple, a result of that revelation. The temple was brought to us.
I know at times I take this great blessing for granted. I remember being brought back to my senses listening to Elder Holland in the Spring Conference of 2004 telling of some of his experiences as he and his wife served in Chile. I share it with you:
Jeffrey R. Holland, “‘Abide in Me’,” Ensign, May 2004, 30
The Punta Arenas Chile Stake is the Church’s southernmost stake anywhere on this planet, its outermost borders stretching toward Antarctica. Any stake farther south would have to be staffed by penguins. For the Punta Arenas Saints it is a 4,200-mile round-trip bus ride to the Santiago temple. For a husband and wife it can take up to 20 percent of an annual local income just for the transportation alone. Only 50 people can be accommodated on the bus, but for every excursion 250 others come out to hold a brief service with them the morning of their departure.
Pause for a minute and ask yourself when was the last time you stood on a cold, windswept parking lot adjacent to the Strait of Magellan just to sing with, pray for, and cheer on their way those who were going to the temple, hoping your savings would allow you to go next time? One hundred ten hours, 70 of those on dusty, bumpy, unfinished roads looping out through Argentina’s wild Patagonia. What does 110 hours on a bus feel like? I honestly don’t know, but I do know that some of us get nervous if we live more than 110 miles from a temple or if the services there take more than 110 minutes. While we are teaching the principle of tithing to, praying with, and building ever more temples for just such distant Latter-day Saints, perhaps the rest of us can do more to enjoy the blessings and wonder of the temple regularly when so many temples are increasingly within our reach.
As we walked away from the temple dedication we were a few steps behind three hobbling babyshka, or “grandmothers.” James grabbed some of the things they were carrying to lighten their load and asked them where they had come from. They had traveled two days on a train to attend the dedication and were headed to the train station for their two day return. As we walked, I asked one of the ladies if it was all worth it. She responded “а как же?” or, “are you kidding, of course!” A few minutes later I watched her unfold some brown paper parchment to pay her bus fare, and I saw inside a few neatly sorted small bills. I knew this journey was no small sacrifice physically or financially. As the hymn teaches “Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven.”
I use as a bookmark in my scriptures something Elder Featherstone said, words which I trust. “I promise you that all who faithfully attend to temple work will be blessed beyond measure. Your family will draw closer to the Lord, unseen angels will watch over your loved ones when satanic forces tempt them, the veil will be thin and great spiritual experiences will distill upon this people.” – Vaughn J. Featherstone As selfish as it may be, one of the greatest reasons I attend the temple is for the promise that unseen angels will watch over my children when satanic forces tempt them.
What James and I were a part of recently is the direct result of many miracles guided by the hand of the Lord. A working temple on former Soviet soil is historic. However, one need not travel half way around the world to be a part of miraculous temple experiences and be a part of sacred history. The blessings of the House of the Lord are as close as the mall or Costco or PF Chang’s. Each time an ordinance is performed for the living or the dead, history is changed for that person and his or her family.
I guess the bottom line is this: In the blessing of having a temple so close, do we recognize what we have within a few minutes of our homes, and do we treat it as such?
There was one thing I felt on this trip that as a missionary I never felt. Inside the walls of the temple I felt at home. Although as a missionary I became accustomed to the culture, the places, and the people, and loved all of them, I never experienced that same feeling of being “at home.”
It is my faith that there is a home with our Heavenly Father where our spirits long to be. Here on earth, the closest thing to that home is the temple. For now, our Heavenly Father longs for us to be there.
