Who is My Neighbor?

Winter has arrived in Ukraine, along with icy sidewalks and roads.  I’ve had a couple of experiences that have made me smile, but have also made me consider the question posed by the Savior “Who is Thy Neighbor?” 

On our way home from shopping, we drove onto a road that had an uphill slant (not super steep).  We were at the end of a fairly long line of cars.  Nothing was moving. We waited for nearly half an hour and our driver was calm and unquestioning about the wait.  I poked my head out of the car to see what was holding up the line, only to see that front car was unable to make it up the slippery hill.  Wheels were spinning and snow was flying.  The poor driver finally solved his own problem and the line was able to move.  I was dumbfounded!  Had even a couple of people left their cars and pushed, we would have all been on our way in no time at all.  Instead, everyone just patiently waited.  Our driver said, “It happens in the winter.”  There is was again – “It happens.”  While I think that is a great attitude when there is nothing that can be done to change the situation, it certainly seems odd to me to take that attitude and do nothing when something can be fixed or helped.

Two days later, I was waiting on the street outside of our apartment building for someone who was coming to see Howard.  He was having a hard time finding our address, and because I knew that even when he found the building, he wouldn’t know which of the many entrances led to our apartment, I went down to direct him, telling him that I was not wearing a coat (an unusual sight during this time of year), but that I was wearing a grey sweat shirt.  While I was waiting, a car was spinning its wheels, stuck in the snow between the sidewalk and the road.  Without a second thought and without being asked, I planted my feet in the slushy snow and pushed the front of the car with all my might as it slowly backed out of the slippery mush.  The visitor arrived while I was doing this and recognizing that I must be Howard Biddulph’s wife (an American woman in her 60s in a sweat shirt), he said (without helping), “Why are you doing that?” “Because he needs help,” I replied.  “I don’t care about that guy,” said he.  “Well, I do!” said I very emphatically.  (BTW, I wonder what that driver thought)!  

Why did I care about that guy and others seemingly didn’t?  I suppose that it is partially cultural.  It has been only twenty-five years that Ukraine shook off its communist overlords and became an independent nation. During communist years, Ukrainians, and I assume those in other communist ruled countries, were not only discouraged from helping one another but were actually prohibited from becoming involved in welfare service activities.  That was the domain of the state. Even religious organizations, when tolerated, were only to administer religious sacraments and no more.  I imagine that people helped those in their own families, but it did not go beyond that.  It takes a long time to change a perception of what one’s obligation is to those around him/her, especially if someone or something else (the government) is perceived as responsible for the relief of suffering.  Howard tells stories of how his missionaries undertook service projects, such as cleaning up the filthy hallways inside, and the courtyards outside, their apartment buildings to the absolute amazement and disbelief of those observing their service.

I have also observed the lack of communication or even acknowledgment as people pass one another on the street.  I most often pass people with a smile and a greeting.  I NEVER get a smile in return, just a stare and a quick looking away like I am some kind of crazy person. One time, when I held a gaze with a smile, the woman finally asked me what was wrong.  This contrasts starkly with a beautiful story we received about one man’s introduction to missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He wrote, “I went for a walk in the park the next morning.  It was summer.  I was walking along the river pondering over my life problems and my religious search.  Deep in my thoughts I noticed two young men dressed in white shirts and ties, they were still far away. I thought those were students and wanted to continue in my pondering, but there was something special about them that had caught my attention.  I didn’t quite understand it at once therefore I took a closer look at them.  Then I saw the reason of my interest—their faces were shining with happiness and joy.  I felt it!  I wanted them to be my friends so much! I wanted them to share with me the secret of that joy.”

Also contrasting are the ways in which active members of the church treat and help one another.  They are being changed by the gospel. They greet the ones they know like beloved family members.  They have welcomed refugees from Donetsk with love and critically needed assistance.  I watch each week as several members take turns signing for a deaf and mute sister.  This attitude towards others was not always so, and it is something learned after joining the church.  Howard tells me how one branch learned to love and help one another after a sister’s apartment burned.  They housed her while they rebuilt the inside of her apartment.  He tells another story about a branch that bought an accordion for a blind musically talented brother so he could support himself.  These acts of kindness were encouraged and taught by Priesthood leaders, and I marvel today at the difference I observe between Ukrainian Latter-day Saints and the other people I meet daily.  How the gospel changes lives!  And how everyone needs the gospel to be happy! The active Latter-day Saints that I know smile and show in their faces and actions the joy that good man saw in the faces of the missionaries so long ago.

So, who really are my neighbors?  Well, it is easy to be kind and neighborly to those we know.  When we know them, we love them and we naturally reach out.  But how successful are we in reaching out to those we don’t know?  How about those who serve us as we visit stores or other public places?  How about those we pass on the street?  How about those with whom we share public transportation?  How about those who once attended church with us but are no longer seen there?  How about those for whom we have been assigned to visit as visiting or home teachers, but who are hard to reach or who don’t seem especially glad to see us?  I believe that the Savior would tell us that yes, these are our neighbors.  He would plead with us to show kindness and compassion to all those with whom we come in contact.  He would especially ask us to seek after His lost sheep and bring them back to the fold – back into the love we feel in the presence of good friends – back into the joyful presence of our Savior.  I love our good bishop who is seeking to teach our ward members this important lesson in compassion.

Why did I care about that guy?  It’s because over the many years of making covenants with my Heavenly Father, the Lord has helped me to see his children, not just as my neighbors, but as my brothers and sisters.  

When All is Said and Done

To follow the mainstream and social media in the USA, you’d think the world is at its end.  In my inconsequential opinion, however, the things that really matter – well, they still matter. Imperfect people are still good. Good people can differ in opinions and remain friends. God is our Father. And Jesus is Lord.  When all is said and done, what really matters are the loving relationships we foster between ourselves and our God, our families and our fellowman.

We’ve had some great experiences that make us optimistic about the future, not only in our own country, but also in the spot in the world where we currently live and love.  Before I get to those here in Ukraine, I need to rejoice just a little (amid tears) that Annie Schmidt’s body was found.  She lost her footing and fell from a place high above a steep incline covered in rocks and undergrowth.  It is evident that she died from the fall and didn’t suffer from pain, fear, cold, exposure or dehydration and starvation.  She was found only through the intense and unrelenting efforts of many people, most of whom didn’t know her or her family.  Her family credits their success in finding her to the many prayers offered from those across the country and the world.  What an outpouring of love and service!  If you have lost faith in your fellowman, this should bolster it.

Another lesson gleaned from the Schmidt family experience is how dear to us are our families, and how merciful is our Heavenly Father’s Plan of Happiness which binds us eternally with those we most love.  Extremely moving are the messages of love, gratitude and comfort extended to all of us by Annie’s parents.  They demonstrate the peace that the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings to families, especially during times of extreme distress.  They know that Annie is theirs to love and cherish in their forever family – they will be with her again as mother, father, daughter, sister – because they were sealed together in a temple of our God, bound together as a family with cords that even death cannot sever. 

Some of our most cherished experiences in Ukraine have been watching members come to the temple to seal their families together by the power of the Priesthood of God restored to earth in fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy:

“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 heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Malachi 4: 3-4 

      

This past week, in addition to latter-day saints from Kiev, we have welcomed to the temple members from Rostov-on-the Don, Aksai, Donetsk, Minsk, Saratov and Crimea.  Crimea, although a part of Ukraine, is currently under the control of Russian-backed troops.  An elderly lady presented herself to the temple after walking long distances past the soldiers on both sides of the conflict.  We were amazed at her courage and fortitude.  All of these saints who travel for long distances and at great sacrifice bring with them the names of family ancestors so that they can perform proxy ordinances for them.  They bring so many with them that they are disappointed when they can’t do all of them before it is time for them to return home again.  Our time serving in the sealing room is especially wonderful, as the veil is gossamer-thin and we often sense families from both sides of the veil there together.  Children’s hearts are turned to their fathers.   And the fathers (and mothers) are close to their families here upon the earth, providing heavenly assistance.

One very interesting temple experience involved meeting Brother Picard from France.  He is in Kiev often as the Deputy Director of the Conflict Prevention Centre, located in Vienna, which organization is working to peacefully resolve the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.  It was heart-warming to see the saints from Aksai, where he had served his LDS mission, hug him and greet him with love and joy.    It reminds me of how long-time members greet Howard.  It seems we really love those who brought the good news of the Gospel to us.  And missionaries truly love those with whom they have had the privilege of sharing in their spiritual journey to Christ.

We have asked the members to record their spiritual journeys.  These stories will be compiled into a book of remembrance – a spiritual history of Ukraine’s first 25 years.  As these stories are written, hearts are again touched by the Holy Ghost who brings all things to our remembrance.  We’ve already received some of these wonderful stories.  A week before yesterday, we taught in the third hour a combined class of both women and men.  Our focus was to encourage the members to write their stories and to reach out to the less active through the sharing of spiritual stories.  Our good bishop is doing all in his power to move this program forward.  I don’t understand all of his words (yet), but I understand his humble and willing spirit and I am moved with awe and love for him.  He is such a good man.  He spoke in Sacrament meeting yesterday and later led the elders and high priests in considering what it really means to love and nurture those for whom we are responsible to home teach.  Oh, and yes!  We were called and set apart as missionaries!  We are official!

That each of us will have and remember our spiritual journeys into the baptisms of water and the Spirit is the desire of true followers of Jesus Christ.  As we enter into sacred covenants with our God - covenants of obedience, sacrifice, service and consecration - we become covenant sons and daughters of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We promise to bear one another’s burdens and mourn with those who mourn.  We feel a kinship with others of the covenant, regardless of nationality, race or culture.  We are family.  And families not only strengthen one another, but they have fun together too.   

What fun we had as we attended an event of the Kharkovsky Ward family!  It was a wonderful cultural celebration of happy Ukrainian music, varenniki, a (staged) marriage, dancing and food.  The kindness with which the members treated us and each other is a testament to their covenant relationship with God and to their spiritual brothers and sisters. I smile every time I think of it. I have attached some pictures and videos at the end so you can catch a glimpse.  I have to say that it was quite an experience traveling to and from the event via the metro.  I marvel that man could construct such a thing so far beneath the surface of the earth!  We never would have been able to manage without the help of our dear friend, Yevgeniy Zaryugin.  Howard isn’t steady enough on his feet to jump on and off the (extremely long) escalators or the trains by himself, as they move so fast.  We were quite a sight with Howard in the middle and Yevgeniy and me on each side! 

We also enjoyed a “family home evening” with the senior couples serving here in Ukraine.  We shared stories of our holiday traditions. What struck me the most was that all of the traditions shared centered around strengthening family ties and teaching children about the goodness of our Father in Heaven and His Holy Son.  And really, after all is said and done, isn’t that what really matters?   Isn’t this the true desire of our hearts -- that through the mercy and goodness of our Father and Jesus Christ we can return home to our Heavenly Family, not alone, but with our earthly families and with all those whom we encompass with our familial love?

To end this epistle, I want to share a poem Howard wrote and which he dedicated to me in anticipation of my birthday in a few days.  I know positively that I don’t deserve such high praise, but I am thankful for a husband who demonstrates his love for me and for faithful, covenant-keeping children.  I count the successful raising of them, despite difficult circumstances, the greatest achievement of my life.  Howard insists that I include pictures of me and my children to go with the poem.   When all is said and done……  

For Laurel (and her children)

Your ark,

            like Jochebed’s reed cradle on the Nile,

Prepared a progeny

            to come forth of the water and a burning bush,

Allegiant to their true identity,

Although apprenticed in strange lands that bow the knee

            before Osiris, Ashtoreth, Minerva’s owl.

Striplings your chrysalis formed

            like Ammonites of old,

Whose armament near Antiparah

                                    was their mothers’ faith.

            Howard L. Biddulph  

Kharkovsky Ward Event:

Come to Zion!

We just returned from an amazing trip to L’viv.  My interest in history was totally stimulated and to top it off, my sense of the Holy was keen as we attended a District Conference of the L’viv Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We traveled by train across Ukraine – an eight hour trip, on which we saw small farming villages clad in Autumn oranges and golds.  (I’ve even chosen in which one of them I will hide out after the US election J).  The trip gave me a perspective of the country as a whole. My experience with the saints in L’viv left me again pondering the creation of Zion. 

L’viv, the largest city in western Ukraine, is a fascinating city, an eclectic mixture of Polish, Jewish, Armenian, Hungarian and Ukrainian nationalities, culture, architecture and history.  It was the historic center of Galicia.  Because it is really in the cross-roads of several cultures, L’viv has a history of foreign domination and influence.  At various times in its history, it has been ruled by the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and the Soviet Union.  It was the last area to be incorporated into the USSR and was liberated at its fall.  L’viv is passionately loyal to Ukrainian independence, figuring importantly in the Ukrainian people’s quest for an independent nation and for freedom of belief and religion.  It is just 43 miles (70 kilometers) from the Polish border and looks much more European than do the other cities in Ukraine.

I can’t leave the subject of diversity within L’viv without mentioning the Jewish population which existed before WWII.  Fully one-third of the population at that time was Jewish.  We saw the spot on which the major synagogue once stood and heard the horrific story of the extermination of the Jewish population when the city was occupied by Germany.  One hundred thirty thousand (130,000) Jews were reduced to only one thousand (1,000)!  Such a terrible price extracted because of great prejudice against religious belief!  Man’s inhumanity to man is beyond what one wants to even contemplate!  It stands in stark contrast to the concept of Zion – a place and a people of one heart and one mind who love and care for another and for our Maker – a place whose only ruler is the all-powerful, all-loving Redeemer of us all.

An important characteristic of L’viv is that it is predominantly Catholic.   Both Greek and Roman Catholic churches are plentiful (and very beautiful and historic).  Other regions in Ukraine are predominantly Orthodox, some governed by the Kievian Patriarchate and others by the Moscovian Patriarchate.  Because there are three primary religions with large followings in Ukraine, none of which can claim a majority, and because in the past when a president favored one above another it led to violence, the government has now taken the role of fostering the toleration of all faiths in Ukraine, even small minority ones like the LDS Church. This leads to civil tranquility.  Unlike other nearby nations, Ukrainian identity is not tied to a single religious persuasion.  Ukraine stands out in this regard, and it is evident to me that revelation directed the erection of a Temple of God here and not elsewhere.

Missionaries were first assigned to western Ukraine after the Book of Mormon was published in Ukrainian (1997).  Ukrainian, not Russian, is the language used in the western part of the country. I’ve written about this translation and the translator (our dear friend) in my last blog.  Despite not having a branch or missionaries in L’viv until then, faithful members who had been baptized elsewhere helped to establish the church there.  One of these is Anatoliy Malonos, the first baptized member from L’viv who left Ukraine because he felt directed to go to Germany to find truth about God.  There he encountered missionaries and joined the church.  For a long time, he was the only member in L’viv.  Howard recommended him for full-time missionary service and he served an honorable mission.  He, along with his wife and children, now live in L’viv because, as he says, “God wants me here.”  He is a true pioneer and stalwart member.  Another such early member is Brother Chemizov, who was the second baptized member in L’viv. 

Malonos family

Although Howard wasn’t able to open L’viv as mission president, because no materials were yet available in Ukrainian, the saints there were so very warm and welcoming.  It was a joy to be with them.  We enjoyed a district conference over which L’viv Mission President Stephen Rizley presided.  Seven branches came together for the conference, many members traveling together by bus for hours overnight.  In President Rizley’s talk, he urged the saints to do something about the things they had learned from previous speakers.  He outlined three things they (and we) can do to become a Zion people: 1) Remember that the Sabbath is the Lord’s day; 2) make the Book of Mormon a daily part of our lives; and 3) seek to be unified as a people, reconciled with all, including the Lord.  As the closing hymn, “Come to Zion,” was sung, Howard leaned over to me and said, “Do you feel it  - the spirit of Zion?”  And of course I did.

The church meeting was followed by a dinner and then a joyous celebration concert.  I have been so amazed at the musical talent of the Ukrainian saints wherever we have traveled, and L’viv was no exception.  Howard spoke at the beginning, but the rest was musical and so very lovely.  I thought again and again during the performances of these diverse saints who had come together from great distances to celebrate the Gospel and how they represented Zion in the making.  We love them!

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I have attached pictures below and also a short video consisting of a collage of pictures of the celebration which was done by Ludmila Shepeleva.  Be sure to click on the link for a fabulous peek into what we experienced.