This past week I learned that my beloved
step-father’s 21 year-old great-granddaughter, Anna (Annie) Schmidt, has been
missing since she embarked upon a hike in Oregon almost two weeks ago. I also
learned that the wife of a very dear friend (best man at my first wedding) is
not expected to live more than for a few more days. Perhaps she is already
gone. This friend and his wife also lost
their daughter to cancer just last year.
To lose those closest to us seems almost unbearable. This I know personally. As I’ve thought about family relationships - relationships
which can and should be so loving that we ache to the very center of our being to
be separated - I’ve also reflected upon our Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness
for His children. The good news, the glad
news, the joyful truth is that it is a plan of happiness precisely because it is a plan for creating and nurturing
and bonding families – forever!
Our stake conference was a beautiful family
experience. We rejoiced in the families
we saw there. Where once there were few families
and many single persons, we saw family after family, some of three generations
sitting together. We arrived early to
find a good seat in the large hall rented for the morning. A sweet sister who
had been saving an entire long row for her family insisted, as she moved coats,
that we sit with and be a part of her family.
She stretched out both of her arms indicating the entire room of people
and said, “We are all family!” As her married children and their families
arrived, she waved them over to “her” row, greeted each and every child and
grandchild with a big hug and introduced them to us – children, children-in-law
and grandchildren. Such happy
demonstrations of love! And yes, they
filled the entire long row of seats. Talks of that session and the night before
were inspired and moving. I thought
about how each one of them was designed to help us be better sons and daughters
of God, and better family members within our earthly families, all of which
brings us joy. A beautiful musical
number was performed by teenagers who filled the stage Sunday morning as they
sang. (BTW I love teenagers). I thought, “The
gospel in Ukraine is secure – the Ukrainian church will be in good hands as
these young people assume positions of leadership!”
The joyous message that families are meant to
be together forever is to be declared to the entire human family, which is to
say to all of our Heavenly Father’s children who dwell upon the earth. Revelation
14:6: And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting
gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and
kindred, and tongue and people. Not only
shall it reach each nation, but it will be preached in the language of each
nation. Alma 29: 8: For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all
nations, or their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all
that he seeth fit that they should have…..”
During the Sunday morning session of Stake Conference we heard talks by our
dear friends, Vyacheslav and Zoya Gulko.
They were critically important in bringing the Gospel to the Ukrainian people
in the Ukrainian language.
When
Howard served as mission president here, the gospel was taught exclusively in
Russian because there were no scriptures or other gospel materials in
Ukrainian. There was a great desire on
the part of the brethren to translate these things into the Ukrainian language.
The first thing to be translated was the
Book of Mormon. The brethren insisted that the translator be a member of the
church so that he or she would have the gift of the Holy Ghost to assist. Howard soon realized that there was no member
in Ukraine qualified for such a task so he and the missionaries prayed in
faith, and then they were directed by their mission president to go and find
and baptize the right person. The
missionaries found a Jewish couple, Vyacheslav and Zoya Gulko. He was a nuclear physicist and she was an
English teacher. Just two and 1/2 months
after their baptism, Zoya was called to be the translator of the Book of
Mormon. She was very humbled by the task
which was beyond her capabilities, but she had faith and the Holy Ghost helped
her as she worked every night after working at her regular job all day. All of her holidays and weekends were devoted
to the translation as well. The
translation was finished in January 1994, only 18 months after it was started. This translation was more rapidly
accomplished than almost any other translation, except for Joseph Smith’s own
translation. The Ukrainian Book of
Mormon was printed in 1997. This is an
especially beautiful and literary translation of the scriptures. Brother Gulko then
led a translation team to translate the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of
Great Price, the Liahona, other missionary materials and the hymn book. Having materials, especially the scriptures,
in the Ukrainian language has been an especially important step in establishing
an Ukrainian identity in the church in these latter-days. This permitted the Gospel to go forth with
power into western Ukraine, which is now directed by the L’viv Mission of the
Church. The Gulko family is another
example of the blessings the gospel brings to families. Their daughter, Kyra, who has a strong
marriage sealed for eternity has three children – making three living
generations so blessed.
Sunday afternoon we had the great privilege of
attending the baptism of Irina Osipenko at which Howard had been asked to
speak. With or without a speaking invitation, we would have been there with “rings
on our fingers and bells on our toes!”
Such a joyous day, one for which her son waited for 25 years! Irina is the mother of Vasil Osipenko, an
early convert to the church and one of the “stripling warriors” sent by Howard to
Odessa to take the place of the foreign missionaries who had to leave the
country. Howard later sent Vasil on a full-time mission. Vasil knows the sorrow of losing a spouse to
death. He and his lovely second wife
flew in from the US for the occasion and Vasil was able to perform the
ordinance. We wept with joy. Irina’s face literally glowed with the Spirit of
God as she bore her testimony. In his testimony, Vasil explained how his
father, then not a church member, had supported his decision to serve an LDS
mission and give up his career as a professional tennis player. After his
father’s death, Vasil performed the saving ordinances for him in the holy temple
of God. It was after these ordinances
were performed for the father, that Vasil’s mother began her own spiritual
journey which started with a yearning to be an eternal family with her husband
and children. Next year temple sealing
ordinances can be performed to bind this family together forever.
During our temple service, last Thursday, we
participated in temple ordinances to bind families together for eternity. What a blessing the restoration of the
Priesthood and the sealing power has been! What happy news! The whole world
needs these glad tidings! Through the atonement of our Savior and the exercise
of His keys of authority to bind on earth and in Heaven, our loved ones are not
lost to God’s family or to our own families. Our stake president, Kirill Pokhilko, brought
with him into the sealing room, the names of his own ancestors, for whom proxy
baptisms had been done earlier. He knelt
at the altar to act as proxy for many of his ancestors as husbands were sealed
to wives and children sealed to husbands. Howard was so aware of the presence
of these people who had lived on the earth before our day. The room was filled with them as they
attended as a family this important event in their eternal destiny. The feeling of joy was palpable. Howard was so keenly aware of these wonderful
people that he could declare that they were a choice people of the Lord who had
waited for centuries for the gospel to come to their land, and then for a
temple to be built where these sacred ordinances could occur. How happy they were for the wonderful son
they had in Kirill, who really epitomizes the gospel promise. He is raising a righteous family in the
gospel who will continue for generations to come; he is helping other families
do the same thing; he is also connecting his present family with his family generations
back so all can rejoice together in the kingdom of our Lord. Malachi 5 - 6: “Behold, I will send you
Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heat of the
children to their fathers …..”
From left to right:
Liz Osipenko, Vasil Osipenko, Irina Osipenko, Howard Biddulph, Laurel Biddulph
Wow! Thank you for this beautiful account. We continually pray for Ukraine and you are helping to answer those prayers.
ReplyDeleteWe pray every day for this country. We wish you were here with you!
DeleteYes, when I was there we learned and taught in Russian. I learned just a little Ukrainian on the side. I read an interesting article recently that showed closer similarities between Ukrainian and ancient Slavic than between Russian and ancient Slavic. They are different enough that Ukrainians outside of Kiev sometimes had a hard time understanding my Russian. That's a nice Temple story. Thanx for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rex. As I've learned more about the history of Ukraine, I realize that Kiev was the enter of ancient Russ, not Moscow. That might account for the differences you mention.
DeleteThis is very joyous and uplifting to read, and eloquently expressed. The Spirit of the Lord can be felt in your words. All I can say is Hosanna!
ReplyDeleteYou are my best fan, Vaughn. Love you brother!
Delete