Hope for Ukraine

Many of you have been hearing a lot about Ukraine in the news recently, what with all the riots and turmoil that has been going on. Not to mention the occupation and annexation of one region of the country. Having spent 16 months of my life walking the streets of that beautiful country, these news reports have held a great deal of poignancy to me. Half of my heart is still in that country, and at every report I hear of a riot, a takeover of a government building, the death of a soldier, I ache.

Because I love Ukraine.

I love the people with whom I rubbed shoulders for those many months.

I love the babushky who sell flowers on the streets.

I love the little children running around the parks, chasing pigeons.

I love the bus drivers who simultaneously count money, give change, and navigate traffic.

I love the warm mothers who welcomed me into their homes and begged to feed me.

I love the young fathers who protect their tiny daughters.

I love the shy teenagers trying to figure out who they are.

I love the people who changed my life forever.

And that’s why my heart aches at each of these reports from my beloved Ukraine.

As of today, one entire Ukrainian mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and part of another have been closed to missionary work and the missionaries relocated until further notice. And as the members in Ukraine (and indeed, many people throughout the world) have been saying, “Everything is okay because we have missionaries here. When the missionaries leave, we’ll start to worry.” Well, since several cities in Ukraine no longer have that comfort of knowing that missionaries walk their streets, is all hope lost? Is that a conclusive declaration on the inevitable downfall of a nation?

NO!

Missionaries have been taken in and out of different areas for decades. It happens. But, as Joseph Smith prophesied, no unhallowed hand can stop this work. The church will move forward in that region of the world. As soon as possible, the Lord will restore his beloved missionaries to Eastern Ukraine and to Crimea. He loves his Ukrainian children and knows that only the gospel can save them.

I have long drawn comfort from the words of President Packer, uttered in the prayer he offered to dedicate Ukraine for the preaching of the gospel. These words bear especial power in this time of turmoil for the land I love so much.

As we dedicate this land unto Thee, Our Holy Father, we invoke Thy blessings upon this Republic of the Ukraine, upon the city of Kiev, and upon this land by any other name by which it might be known in the generations yet before us. We invoke the blessings of the Lord upon the people of this land, those who struggle and seek to find the light and truth. We are told in the revelations that there are many yet among all nations who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it. We are gathered here as missionaries and as members, a small group. This gathering is 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 and then a branch and, in due time, stakes of Zion set firmly and permanently upon the fertile soil of the Ukraine. And in due time the spires of temples will be seen across this great land. We invoke Thy blessings upon those who preside over this land and those who will preside from time to time to manage the material and political and governmental affairs of this people. May they have inspiration, and be guided of Thee and know what to do and how to do what they ought to do to govern this land in such a way that those who desire to join Thy church will have the freedom so to do.

And I trust that prophet of God. I have watched as those prophecies have come closer to fulfillment. And even though there seems right now to be a temporary set-back in the fulfillment of these miracles in Ukraine, God will continue to move His work forward. Missionaries will return to all regions of Ukraine. More temples will be built. Those seeking truth will find the light and joy they have long sought. The prophecies and promises of the Lord regarding Ukraine are powerful.

And because God loves those little pigeon-chasing, Ukrainian children more than even I do, He will fulfill His promises.