Well Everyone,
I know it has been quite a few weeks since I last wrote and I apologize for that. I know that none of you have been clamoring for my letters either so I know that they are not #1 on your list. Regardless, I am requested to write "home" regularly and although there are very few traditional mission rules that apply to Senior Couples, I guess I should try to be somewhat obedient to merit the blessings of Heaven. Once again, if you will review our Facebook page regularly, you may see things a little sooner and will a little more regularity.
As you all know, it is summertime. Here is Russia it is also summertime and this particular summer has been a "doozy!" If this isn't the last days, I don't know what it will be like when it finally is. This past winter we had the most snow and coldest temperatures for over 65 years. This summer has been on the very opposite extreme. To date, this is the driest summer in the past 135 years here in Russia and according to reports, 9 million Hectares of grain crops are lost. That is an area the size of Portugal, yes, the country. It has also been the hottest on record for the past 70 years and due to the heat over 1200 people have drowned due to drinking vodka, then cooling off in the rivers, sea's and lakes. It is a sad tale but that is what is happening currently in Russia.
Because I have not written in quite some time I am going to do things a little different. Instead of giving you all of the details of this past week and the previous ones I am going to give just the highlights. They will be numbered so you can decide if a particular item is important or not and then go on to read it. There are less than 10 items so it shouldn't take too long. Here is the list of which is in no particular order of importance.
1. Elder L. Tom Perry Visits Moscow 2. Vladimir ("I killed a bug") gets baptized and receives the Priesthood. Other Baptisms
3. Kiev Temple Cultural Event 4. President Robert C. Packard Visits Moscow with his lovely wife Talmadge
5. Landon Marries Adriana Melendez 6. Other family happenings on interest
7. Bethany's Father passes away 8. CES Institute Fall Kick-Off
1. Elder Perry came to Moscow a number of weeks ago now and visited with every imaginable group/category of members...He met with the missionaries, the Young Single Adults, and the general membership. His visit with the missionaries was particularly fun for us. Each missionary had the opportunity to shake hands and visit briefly with this Senior Apostle of the Lord. When we got up to meet and introduce ourselves he quickly responded by saying, "Are you part of the famous Packard family of missionaries in the Church?" We both answered in the affirmative. What a great legacy our parents and extended family have given to us to follow. We had him for a special Family Home Evening/Fireside with the YSA's and what an evening it was. He spoke with boldness and authority as he is famous for in the Church and told the story of Joseph who was sold into Egypt. He mentioned how that in every situation that Joseph was put into (being sold into slavery, put in prisons, servant to Pharaoh, etc.), Joseph seemed to make the best of it and came out on top. He said to the youth, "we need more Joseph's (and Josephine's he added) and fewer Davids, referring to King David in his later life. He told the kids to "live with Enthusiasm!" Sister Packard has since made a 20' banner that says that saying in Russian and we have posted it on the wall in the upstairs Institute Room in our local building. The District Conference that we had while he was here was just fabulous. We had almost 1000 participants and about 100 were investigators. It was a great event. Almost twice the size event than in previous years. He was a great boost to all that were in attendance.
2. Vladimir, the 70+ year old who "killed a bug" with his toe and then said, "it's ok, I am not baptized yet." He was baptized a few weeks ago and just yesterday received the Aaronic Priesthood. He will be a great leader here in the for a number of years to come. We have also had record baptisms here in our mission in the past few months. Now don't get too excited, this is not South America, but needless to say, we have had more baptisms in the past 3 months than we had in some complete years in recent past. It is a great trend that we are able to witness a participate in. Miracles definitely are happening.
3. As we have mentioned to some of you, Sister Packard and I are in charge of overseeing the Kiev Temple Cultural Event to take place at the end of August, yes, just a few short weeks ahead. We feel tons of pressure to make this happen in a way that will be pleasing to the Lord as well as The First Presidency and the members in attendance. The challenge has been getting people to participate and recognizing the immense task at hand. Coordinating this effort between several missions and a number of surrounding countries is overwhelming. Keep your fingers crossed and continue to pray for us.
4. Mom and Dad Packard have finished their mission to Tbilisi, Georgia early on account that they have been called to serve as the new Temple President and Matron to the Dallas, Texas Temple beginning in November. We are so proud and excited for them. They made a special effort to come and see us as part of their trip home and we were so grateful to have them come and stay with us for 4 days. We traveled around the city and saw the sights of Moscow, including Red Square, The Kremlin, etc., and we ate at fancy restaurants and played games each evening. We introduced them to all of the other Senior Couples and missionaries and they were able to have one last dose of the Russian language as they attended our Sunday services. It was just a great treat to have them here and staying with us.
5. A few weeks ago now, our youngest son Landon married a wonderful and beautiful young woman by the name of Adriana Melendez. She comes from a wonderful family and we had the great honor and privilege to get permission from the Area Authorities here and the Missionary Dept. of the Church and attend the wedding in the Salt Lake Temple. She is going to be a great addition to our family and we are so very grateful to have her become a integral part of our growing family, and we are so pleased that she loves our son. The wedding and sealing ceremony was just so uplifting and sweet. The sealer was so very inspired to visit with all of us on a personal level. We loved being in the temple and on the temple grounds. They are a very happy and lovely couple.
6. Like many of you, our family is just growing and is so very busy with tons of things.
7. Prior to leaving for our mission, Bethany's father's health was failing. So much so with Diabetes complications, he made a specific reference that was, "I hope I will be around by the time you come home." We assured him that he wasn't going anywhere (those of you who knew Don Grabow know that he was always "barking" about something or other). Just over two weeks ago as he was planning on driving down from Idaho to Utah for his grandson Landon's wedding he mentioned to his wife Marlene that he really wasn't feeling well and really "hoped that the Lord would let him hang on until Chad and Bethany got home from their mission,"and according to her, she said later that he really did not look too well. His color and things were not good.
We arrived into SLC late Saturday night. The next day was Father's Day. Bethany called and spoke to her father and had a very nice visit with him on Father's Day. He was excited to come down within just a few days and be together with all of his children and grandchildren. We planned on spending three or four days together.
Just shortly after 4 p.m. the next day (Monday) we received a call from Bethany's mother indicating that she found her father dead on their bedroom floor when she came home from cleaning a house. It was a complete shock to all of us. Although we have all been preparing for his demise, we just were all shocked due the fact that within the past 3 months he had had full checkup of his heart. The Coroner's "cause of death" was "massive heart failure." This event was a blow to everyone. All those family members from Idaho who were planning on attending the wedding of Landon and Adriana were now going to be staying to prepare events for a funeral there in Idaho.
One of the interesting things that occurred just a few days later as we were in the sealing room of the Salt Lake Temple, participating in the Sealing on Landon and Dri, Bethany leaned over to me as asked, "Do you think that my father is here with us?" I thought for just a second and responded that I thought that the spirit of our bodies had responsibilities to the body until the body was interred. So with that, just about 30 seconds later, Landon and Dri, along with the Sealer came in. They sat in their seats while he introduced himself and apologized for being a little late. We all understood, it being June and all at the Salt Lake Temple. He began by saying that he felt prompted to speak on a portion of the sealing verbiage. He referred to "Angels." He asked the question, "Who do you think the angels referred to in the sealing ordinance are?" There were no comments of course but he answered by saying that he had always felt that "angels" were pre-deceasing family members who had interest in what transpires in the sealing rooms of the temples of the Lord. He also then mentioned that he had a fairly lengthy conversation with Neal A. Maxwell and other Sealers on the subject and that he agreed. I leaned over to Bethany and whispered, "well, I guess there is your answer." We both then felt that Don Grabow, Bethany's father, was indeed there in the sealing room in spirit with us. The ceremony was wonderful and very sweet. Once it was over, we took the opportunity to visit with the Sealer and we thanked him for what he had said and how it was said. We asked if he normally speaks about this topic and he shook his head and said "no." He mentioned that he just felt that he should speak about it that day. We then told him a little about the recent events that transpired in our extended family and he gave his condolences and thanked us for mentioning it to him. It was just a wonderful experience.
It has been another testimony to us to make sure we pray specifically to Heavenly Father for what we want or need. In this case, Dad Grabow prayed that we would be home when he passed on. In a sense we were. The very next morning after this wonderful and glorious event, of joining two worthy young people together eternally, we left very early in the morning (Saturday) and drove up to Idaho to be with the balance of the family and participate in the funeral services of our father and Patriarch Don Grabow. These services, like the one of the previous day in the Temple were just wonderful and inspiring to review and celebrate the life of Bethany's father. It was great to see all of the support and love that was showered onto the family by all those in attendance.
I was great to be with everyone and spend some time together. What a whirlwind of events during the week we were home from our mission. We had the full gambit of emotions and now memories to remember and recall. We thank you all now for your thoughts and prayers for us during this time.
8. One of the events that we are so excited about now is the Institute Fall Opening. We plan on having a wonderful event. As many of you know, this year's subject is Church History and Doctrine and Covenants. We plan on having a great pioneer event with a Chuck Wagon Feed, Games, Visitors past Pioneers, and a good ol' fashioned Ho Down! We think it will be a great kick off to the Fall program of Institute. More info to come.
Well, that is about it. Sorry again for not writing as often... but I hope this gets you caught up. We love and miss you all. We love this work and are working hard to build the Kingdom of God on this side of the world.
