Hey everyone,
We have had another fabulous week! It seems as though we are getting more and more busy... by the end of this week we had two to three lessons each day. I want to invite you to come and see our facebook photo album. If you are not on facebook, consider getting on it. You can be on Facebook and still keep your temple recommend. For those who are not on Facebook and still want to see a picture or two I will try and have a few shown on this email.
Our weeks are now pretty much routine and I have mentioned several things that we are doing and people we are working with in previous emails so I won't be quite as detailed in some aspects of our daily routine.
First off, I forgot to mention in this letter last week that since we are on our mission and money is tight all around the world, including Moscow, we decided that we would save the $200 -$250 it would cost to cut and color Bethany's hair and she enlisted my help in making this process happen. As many of you may know, I have cut my own hair for the past 20 years. I learned how to do this from my father's example and my sister Daphne's expertise, and practiced on our boys when they were younger. When they got to be in their late teens things were a little more critical to them but I was still asked to cut their hair. Now Bethany asked that I do her hair with the color... and all I can say is that we are still on our mission, we still are happily married, and we both maintain our temple recommend status! Her hair looks good and she is as happy as she can be. We will probably do it again in a few more months. (Wish me luck).
This week started out quite interesting in that all of the snow is officially gone, even in the deepest and darkest corners of the city. Since things are warming up and are clean and dry one of our missionaries who is almost finished with is two-year service has begun to "Chalk Draw." Some of you may have seen this procedure in emails that ran rampant a year or so ago about missionaries that draw scenes from the scriptures on sidewalks and as people wander by seeing the artist (the missionary) and the art, they naturally stand and watch and often ask questions. Well, apparently Elder Warren from the Moscow Russia mission has been one of the pioneers, if not, THE pioneer in this method of finding people to teach. I will include a picture that he has done. As I get more photos of his work, I will try and pass them on.
During one of the Chalk Drawing days a week or so ago, we met a young man who was very interested in the work that was being drawn. This young man "Dima" started asking questions of one of the Elders and the next thing you know, he attended all 5 sessions of General Conference and he also invited us to watch one of his practice sessions of American Football. There are 4 Football teams in Moscow. They have just started practicing for the year. We need to get some jerseys sent over here to give them a little variety of what they can wear to practice and games.
Later this week we saw several investigators and we have had wonderful meetings with all of them. Many of them are progressing nicely toward Baptism. We had one baptism this week of the lady who was in my father and mothers branch in Tibilisi, Georgia. I talked about her in my last letter to you last week. Well, she was baptized on Saturday and it was a wonderful experience. She was confirmed today. Her son, who was baptized 3 years ago as a teenager and now lives in Yorba Linda, California is so happy and excited that his mother has made such a good choice. Within about 16 months he will be prepared and eligible to leave on his mission. If all goes well, Svetlana, his mother can go with him to the Temple. Maybe they will both go together for the first time. We will just have to see what the Lord has in store.
Just prior to the Baptism we went to the Marriott Hotel in downtown Moscow and waited for my cousin KLynn and her husband Bob arrive from the U.S. They arrived a few hours delayed because of the Volcano eruption in Iceland (since the Russian flights from the U.S. fly by the tips of Greenland and Iceland). It was such a great experience to see them both here on this side of the world. Bob has agreed to work for the Church as the legal counsel for Eastern European Area. It is a tremendous responsibility and they are assigned to be her for 3-5 years. We had a great time with them (even though they were exhausted) riding on the Metro to get to the Baptism. We talked and had a great time during dinner and talking about what our experiences have been thus far and what they will be in the coming years. They are here for just a few days to get some training and get a feel for what to expect before they arrive officially in mid-June. They are pictured with Bethany and I and Sister Ivanova who was baptized.
It was a wonderful week. Tonight we had a meeting with a member of the church who told her story of her conversion. She was committed to praying 7 times a day at that time in her life. One day she was praying to receive answers to her questions about the gospel and of Jesus Christ. During prayer #6 a knock came to the door and she opened up and there were "two beautiful young men dressed in suits, white shirts, and ties." (her words) She asked them who they were and they answered with their names and "who" they represented and that they had a message for her about Jesus Christ. Her and her husband were baptized shortly thereafter. Her and her husband became very active until recently as their health is beginning to fail them. We have committed to visit them "regularly" as part of the "rescue" effort from President Monson. We will begin to organize the missionaries and ward members to begin routinely visiting them to make sure they have the Church Magazines in their home as well as receiving the sacrament whenever possible.
Once again, I admonish you all to keep us all in your prayers. The work is moving forward at a slow pace but in the past few months has really begun to pick up tremendously. I am convinced that this is the Lords work and we need his divine help to carry it forward. Your prayers, specifically praying for the people here in this area is of great importance.
Sincerely,
Elder and Sister Packard
Dear Family and Friends,
I think it has been a few weeks since I last wrote about the goings on here in Moscow, Russia. We have had such busy days and weeks, we can hardly keep up. If you have not had the opportunity to read any of my previous letters, that is just ok, but we are grateful that you take the time to read and ponder the thoughts and happenings that have transpired here in the mission field and this part of the Lords Kingdom.
Since my last posting, the Metro bombings have past and things have quieted down and all is back to normal. As many of you may have heard, however, things here are a bit "testy" due to the recent airline crash in Russia of a Russian Airline in a Russian City, where decades ago, 10's of thousands of Polish military and others were massacred by Russians. This plane crash had about 100 on board and 90 or so were Polish dignitaries and prominent Polish citizens who were going to this memorial service of what had happened to their people so many years ago. Now their countries' leaders were dead and like I said, things are a little "testy" over here now. I know that there is not any real reason to blame the Russians, but needless to say, the Russian people are a little concerned how the government is going to handle this situation.
It seems that like the movie series "Men in Black" it's just once galactic crisis after another over here.
We have had a wonderful past few weeks. The sun is out, the place is beginning to warm up and as of the last few weeks, listed below are a few interesting and welcomed/unwelcomed sights and sounds since we have been here in Russia these past 2 months. Here is a short list.
1. We heard birds singing for the first time just a few short weeks ago.
2. Motorcycles are on the road now.
3. There are inches of dust and debris all over the roadways and sidewalks.
4. The snow is all but gone "everywhere!"
5. No more gloves or scarves needed to go outside.
6. We have gone out without our coats in the last couple of days.
7. There are more children in Russia than we have seen in the past 2 months.
8. There is actually grass and bushes in the parks.
9. I have found out where all of the Russians who smoke put their cigarette butts.
10.The sun does actually shine here in Moscow.
In the past few weeks we have had wonderful experiences meeting with investigators, members, and missionaries. As was mentioned in my last letter, we had such a wonderful experience with the number of investigators that attended church with us. We had 5 of our own and the rest of our district had 6 others. This past week (Easter Sunday) we had 3 from the previous 5 that attended and it was wonderful. For those of you who have interest, Paulina was one of them that returned. In fact, she was playing the piano for church which was a wonderful sight. Your prayers for her are so very welcomed. Another investigator that attended again was Svetlana Ivanova. This wonderful lady is an investigator from my parents in Tibilisi, Georgia. Her son was baptized about 3 years ago and apparently she wasn't too happy about it. Since that time, she apparently has been attending church in Georgia fairly regularly, even though her son has moved to the U.S. and is attending school and the Church in California. In a conversation with Dad and Mom, Dad said, "Chad, just baptize her. She attends her meetings, she loves the Church, and she knows in her heart it is true, so just get her baptized." After Easter Sunday sacrament meeting she committed to be baptized if I would be the one to baptize her. What an honor for me. So now we need to teach her "officially" the lessons. She will be baptized on the 17th of April. This Saturday we had our first lessons with her. She has a very good spirit and she is agreeable to the doctrine we teach. Now I just need to learn the baptismal prayer in Russian. YIKES!!! Thank Goodness, the Lord has kept all of his ordinance prayers short and simple!
We have another investigator that seems to be progressing nicely. His name is Alexander (keep him in your prayers too!). I won't go into his story at this point but just remember him and hopefully we will have him as a member of the Lords Church sometime soon.
Again, we want to thank all of you for your continued thoughts and prayers. We see the Lords hand firmly but gently guiding this work along. It is extremely difficult to do here. Every aspect of it is challenging. If you were to ask Elder Larry Gibbons of the Seventy, or any other church leader who has worked over here, I am confident that they would confirm it.
I would also like you all to consider praying for the "elect" to manifest themselves to the missionaries here in this area. A short story: Immediately after the bombings we were in "lock down" if you recall. Once released from that the next day, we were still under restrictions for some missionary efforts. Two things in particular were requested by the Area Presidency. 1. No wearing of Missionary Tags and 2. No contacting people on the Metro or the street. In other words we could not initiate conversations with people about the gospel. If they contacted us, we could then speak to them but we were not allowed to discuss the church or the gospel of Jesus Christ by initiating a conversation with anyone.
Normally in this mission we get 15-18 new investigators each week. During the week of the "lock-down" and No Tags or Contacting people, we obtained 24 new investigators.... It was amazing to here stories from the missionaries about people just walking up to them and asking them about the Church and the Lord's gospel with really no way of knowing them specifically as missionaries due to them not wearing their missionary tags. One Elder was on a split with a member of his branch who was in street clothes when all of the sudden a man came running, yes running up to him pleading for the missionary give him a Liahona! The Elder didn't have one but gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon instead. Apparently this man had been introduced to the church in some other place and had a few copies of the Liahona given to him in the past. This elder was shocked that this man could pick him out of a crowd of people as a lone missionary that might have a Lianhona in his possession. (Landon, this was Elder Morgan's experience. He is one of the Assistants to the President right now).
So with that said... please pray for the Lord's elect to make themselves known to the missionaries by approaching them in some way.
Thanks so very much for all you do to further this work and help build the Lord's Kingdom.
I am going to try and have some additional pictures placed on our blog (chadandbethanypackard.blogspot.com). Sorry that we haven't updated it in a while. We have taken quite a few more pictures and some of you are wanting to see them. If you are not a friend on facebook, become one and you can see many, if not most of them there as well.
We love you all and thank you again for all you do.
Love,
Elder and Sister Packard
