5-30-10

Howdy y'all!

It is about time for another installment of the lives of Sister Packard and I here in Moscow. It has been very nice weather here as of late... in fact more than nice. It has been a little rainy but we surely need that in order to clean up the streets and sidewalks. I is supposed to warm up again this week and get back into the 70's.

We have had such great blessings happening to us each and every day. It seems as if the Lord has no other place to care for other than here and blessings keep coming and coming.

Many of you ask periodically about how we are adapting and how the language is coming. This language is hard and that is all there is to it. I now know why Elder Larry Gibbons laughed at us when we asked him how his language was doing after being here on assignment for 3 years! It truly is the gift of tongues to learn any of these syrillic alphabet languages. I am so impressed that the young missionaries are able to communicate as well as they do after just a few months of being here. Sister Packard and I are doing our best and it is a true statement that we are learning some and are able to pick up on bits and pieces of conversations but we have a real challenge in our communication skills. One of the challenges is that "everyone" wants to speak English to us. And, here in Moscow, many many many people here speak some amount of English. I am confident that if we were in the other parts of Russia which the locals call the "real" Russia it would be different for us.

We have had many of our investigators that have progressed toward baptism and others have let go of the iron rod completely. The challenges of tradition and change are paramount here in Russia. Some accept the needed change and see the light that the gospel brings and move forward. It is very interesting to see that some investigators are truly the "elect" while others are not quite so "elect."

This two weeks have been packed with so much stuff, I cannot condense into a letter that you will take the time to read. I know how busy most of you are. Just to give you an idea, I spent most of the morning this Sunday morning writing 5 full pages of information on one day of activities! It makes it hard to get out and really "do" the work when it takes so long just to write about the events of the day. This one particular day is quite unique though.... It is about a funeral that we were invited to. I think I will go ahead and send that day in my next email sometime later this week so you will still have time to read and ingest this letter.

Today I want to take a portion of a day this past week and let you see what we have been doing recently with one of our investigators named Vladimer (emphasis on the "i"). We in America pronounce the name incorrectly with the emphasis on the "a". Just a little Russian lesson for you all. Anyway, Vladimer is an investigator that is planning on being baptized on teh 12th of June. He is in his early to mid 70's and is not your typical Russian. He has a beautiful smile and his eyes just light up when he does small. We say that he has "happy" eyes. He is a retired military engineer and worked most of his 40 year career building rockets/bombs for their "Mig" fighter jets here in Moscow. One of the comments he made last week was "I never in my wildest dreams ever thought that during my lifetime I would have people from America give service to me preparing my summer garden." Last week and this week we have gone out to his "Dacha" or summer garden and been digging in the dirt and transplanting flowers, strawberries, and just cleaning up. Below is what I wrote about in my journal that happened this week at his Dacha (Daucha).

Day 95 Moscow Tuesday May 25^th

We had a great day today. We had another opportunity to go back out to Himke to work with Vladimer on his Dacha. Again, we left quite early and met the Elders out at the end of the Green Line in Rechnoy. It was a repeat of the day last week that we did the same things. This time we had an extra set of missionaries in that Elder O’Bryant and Elder Bogdonov came with us. We worked hard getting more of the Dacha cleaned up and tilled under. In fact, that is really all we did. We didn’t burn anything because everything was burned last time.

We had lunch just like last time and below is a photo of our group having lunch just like last time.

Just prior to leaving Elder Kadirov had a Spiritual Thought and it was all about “Faith.” During the last portion of the thought Vladimer noticed a bug crawling by his foot. He took the bug with his toes and moved it onto the sidewalk. Just then he took his big toe and smashed the bug and wiped it on the sidewalk with his toe. It was noticeable enough that everyone except Elder Kadirov saw it. Elder O and Elder B both started to giggle and snicker and that kind of got the rest of us to notice more and it got Vladimer to smile…remember, he is a 73 yr-old man and is not a member of the church yet. Once we got through the thought, we all opened up a little and giggled a little more and then Vladimer said the following in his slow and somewhat broken English… “I killed…, a bug…, but I still can because I am not baptized yet.” Below is a photo of Vladimer and I after we finished for the morning.

Keep you thoughts and prayers coming. We love you and we love the Lord.

Sincerely,

Elder and Sister Packard

5-2-10

Howdy Y'all from Moscow!

Actually I am writing this letter from Riga, Latvia... What a beautiful place! I am sorry for not writing last week. It has been difficult to take the time to write. We have been so busy with our assignments as well as working with our missionaries. First thing on the list to do in this letter is to let you know that your prayers for us and the other missionaries around the world are being answered in our behalf. Some of you are praying for the individuals by name that we are working with and some are even taking those names to the temple to be prayed for by the rest of the Saints. Thank you for your kindness in behalf of these wonderful investigators. Both of the investigators whose names are Alexander have accepted baptismal challenges and have baptismal dates set. A young man by the name of Dima who came to a "chalk drawing" session a few weeks ago has also accepted baptism and had a discussion in our home this past week. The work is moving forward and is beginning to progress a little more rapidly.

I have mentioned briefly in previous letters that the adversary is doing his best to thwart this work. It will not happen. This work will roll forward and it is such a wonderful opportunity to serve in this capacity at this time in our lives and witness the Lord's hand in this very work. We have plenty of opposition, in fact, in church today we met a couple here in Latvia who just came from the States and are from Chicago. They were in a stake conference just prior to coming where Elder Dallin H. Oaks was a visiting General Authority. He took the opportunity to mention in one of the meetings that the church is struggling in Russia but is moving forward. He mentioned specifically that the Russian Orthodox Church is putting pressure on the Russian government to disallow proselyting in the country. The Russian Orthodox Church is very strong with about 80% of the population declaring it as their church of choice. In speaking with this new missionary couple today I told them that there are other faiths in Russia who are also proselyting and are currently in litigation with the Russian Government. It will be interesting to see what happens. The Church does so much for the Russian people in reference to spiritual wellness and of course it spends 10's of millions of dollars on humanitarian services in the area that is of immense help.

Let me just tell you all how grateful we are for your thoughts and prayers again. I feel impressed to admonish you to continue this simple act of faith. I am going to finish this letter with an excerpt from my journal that happened just last week. I will keep you posted as to what goes on here. We are working hard and are faithful in furthering this work and "fighting the good fight."

Day 65 Moscow Tonight we had the long awaited “Musical” which was written, arranged, and directed by a YSA from our area. It was very well attended and done quite well for the talent and budget that was provided. It was the story of a young man and girl who met at a dance, he was the DJ and she was just there with some friends. They fell in love, but he was not a member of the Church so she didn’t get engaged to him. There was a struggle inside her to do the right thing. She got good council from her mother and so she told him things were off! It broke his heart and so he started reading the Book of Mormon, joined the church, saw that one of their common friends got married in the temple so he decided to go on a mission and then came home, and they got married in the temple too! And they all lived happily ever after. That was the story and like a said. It was quite good. The sound was terrible and the venue was bad but it was the best we had and I think that all that were in attendance were pleased. It was standing room only in the Cokolniki building. ***The interesting thing that happened afterward was that the Overly’s and us went home together. As we walked the 15 minutes from the church building to the Metro stop we had a great conversation about how the production was. It was fun to participate in it. We got down to the platform of the metro station and waited for our train to arrive. The train came and we got on. Almost immediately as we were getting our seats, we were approached by a young family man who was sitting just a little way off from us. Before we could take our seats he asked (in English) if we were Mormon? I said that we were and then he asked if he could get a copy of the Book of Mormon. He was very sincere as he told of his experience with a young man who was trying to teach him English in Italy for about 4 months. He said that this “boy” had to leave to go to Taiwan and that because of his experience he wanted to read the book. As I was discussing this, Bethany went over to meet his wife and young son. They had a great short visit and so I got his name and phone number so I could give him a copy of the Book of Mormon later. The Overly’s were witnesses with us of a miracle that happens occasionally. For the past 6 months (since before we left for our mission), we have been praying to Heavenly Father to send those people that He has been preparing to receive the gospel to us to teach and bring them into the Church. This is just one short example of these prayers coming to fruition. We have a few others that have recently happened as well on the street, in the Metro trains, and on the escalators from one Metro station to another. I believe they are all miracles. Think about the following: There are approximately 18 million people in Moscow, with some additional 10+ million that come in and out of the city each working day. Approximately 9 -12 million people ride the Metro each day. The Metro is open and running for 18 hours each day. There are 8 Metro lines throughout the city, each with about 50 trains and each train with about 12 cars. There are over 100 stations. Trains come to stations almost ever minute or two. To come on the exact portion of the train car at the correct time of day is no coincidence. Some statustition needs to calculate what the odds are of that happening to meet this young family Vasily and Katia. The other happened chances are just as amazing as well. President Cranney, our mission president said it like this: “The Lord carefully crafts the intersections of our lives.” What an amazing experience. I am confident that the Lord is directing all of us each and every day. What a blessing it is to know that He is in charge of our lives if we will let Him. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy....The first one is of one of locations where the bombings took place (Lubyanka). It is about 3 metro stops from our home in Downtown Moscow. It is about 20 minute walk from our home. The one below it is a photo I took at the Pushkin museum. It is a statue (replica) of Barthololew's baptismal font... Notice the oxen. Thanks again for your help in this great work. Elder and Sister Packard

4-17-10

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

4-12-10

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

I have attached a link below from Russian Television (RT) here in Moscow that describes the incident this morning. The video that is part of the local broadcast will give you an idea of how many people ride the metro each and every day. If you have challenges with this link...just go to www.rt.com ; it should be in English.

We are well and fine. We did not hear anything this morning when the blasts occurred. We are about a 20 minute walk from one of the sites which is close to the Kremlin. the blasts occurred deep underground.




http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-03-29/moscow-metro-blast-victims.html#

Moscow Bombings

Below is the Fox News link revealing the information that has just come out about 2 bomb blasts that occurred just about 2 hours ago here in Moscow. The blasts occurred a few miles away from our home in two separate Metro (subway) stations, killing up to 40+ people. We did not hear any blast and have not been affected in any way by the bombings at this point. We are safe and are under "lockdown" by the mission president.

Your continued prayers are welcomed.

Love,

Chad and Bethany

http://www.google.com/url?url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/03/29/blast-moscow-metro-kills/&rct=j&ei=HzmwS9ynMZiEmgO976E0&sa=X&oi=news_article&resnum=1&ct=result&cd=1&ved=0CDQQqQIoAjAA&q=bomb+in+moscow&usg=AFQjCNFDssIyh0c6TP2H2FTdmGUtrTZgOA

Dear Family and Friends,

We are alive and kicking here in Moscow and have had another great week. The work here is consistent, although it is slow but there is just lots to do here for people and for the church. We were able to do a variety of things and have some very interesting experiences. Here are a few highlights.

1. It got about freezing this week and rained instead of snowed. Actually it was nice to experience the cleansing effect of rain. We are supposed to have a few more days of it.

2. We had the opportunity to attend a choral and dance concert in Tchaikovsky's concert hall here in Moscow. It was fascinating and historical to be in this beautiful facility. It was not as ornate as I thought it would be but it was beautiful none the less and interestingly enough, we had seats on the very front row just on the left side. The music was amazing and very unique. They say of their heritage and culture and it was interesting to hear how their music was portrayed. It was a little intimidating and scary to listen as they sang with such passion and enthusiasm about their country and to hear the thunderous applause and watch people, including military men in uniform, come to the stage and give flowers to the participants. Although we did not understand much of what was said, one could feel the deep conviction they have for their "Mother Russia." It was a wonderful experience to witness and to behold.

3. We experienced "tranfers" which happens every six weeks on the mission. Luckily, Bethany and I are still missionary companions and have no transfer happening. It was exciting to see all of the missionaries here in this mission together and hear of their excitement to work in new areas of Moscow with different companions. We had a few changes in our district.

4. We met someone from the past this week. We may have eluded to this in a previous letter, but there is a dentist who is an American who has been working here in Moscow for a number of years. He works a lot with the missionaries and helps them periodically when things are needed. It turns out that he is from California and his name is Dr. Giovanni Favero. He practiced for a number of years in the Sacramento area and interestingly enough Bethany worked for him for about a year while we lived in California, prior to moving to Texas. It just so happens that this same doctor has been coming here for a number of years and is here now. We just had dinner with him last night and reflected on old times and well as current times as well. Since he is not a citizen of Russia, he cannot own his practice. He shares it with several other dentists, none of which are American. There is one Canadian orthodontist that comes over periodically to work. The thing that keeps Dr. Favero coming back is the money. He can make a good amount of money here in Moscow and pay 13% income tax. He works 3 weeks here and then goes back to California and spends the next 3 weeks golfing, then comes back to Moscow and starts all over again. When I say the next 3 weeks golfing, that is all he does. He told us of a time he was ruffed up by a couple of hooligans who were trying to get him to stay in the states so that one of his business partners could just take the business here from him. Dr. Favero has just stayed the course and keeps coming back. He indicates that if he had to do it all again today, it probably could not be done. He said that things have changed drastically here in Moscow over the past 10 years. It is just very interesting and too much of a coincidence that someone we knew 20+ years ago in California is here in Moscow and we have been able to meet up again and renew old acquaintances.

It has been a good week. We had had several meetings in our home here with individuals investigating the Church. The Spirit remains strong as we share and testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The people here are good people of God and want what is best for their families. Some of them are very radical however and many don't like the fact that we are here in their country. We continue to get strange looks from most of the people as we walk along the streets and on the Metro. We just look different than they do and thus they stare. Many of them want what we have, they just don't know quite where to find it. They are searching. We had about 200+ people to English Club on Wednesday night. I couldn't believe how many people there were who wanted to learn English. When they come to the Church, they feel something and want to return again and again. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers in our behalf. If you haven't been praying for the missionaries, please begin doing so. The work needs to progress more rapidly and there is so much work to be done.

We love you all,
Sincerely,
Elder and Sister Packard