Week of April 11-17, 2016
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| Ten days later |
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| Day one |
Time, where does it go? Each of us is allotted 24 hours each and everyday. We must spend it all everyday. There is no saving up for the future. So what do we deposit with the expenditure of our time? For many years I headed off to school everyday and twice a month we got a deposit at the bank. That was evidence of the expenditure of our time. In retrospect, that was just a compensation for our time. The evidence came in how and if we made a difference in the people around us. "When you are in the service of others you are only in the service....." So actually the only deposits we can make are acts of charity and service. This past Women's Conference we were challenged to go out and find refugees and help them.
We look around and in our neighborhood we don't see any displaced people and we decide all is well. May I suggest we look again and look for those whose eternal life has been displaced, those who are refugees trying to escape so many things. There are many of those around us that need assistance or rescue from someone, anyone. In yesterday's Sunday School lesson we learned that we need to assist those who are in distress. Mosiah 4:26, "And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants."
We can't turn away those in need. If we do, we turn away from the Savior. So, all in all, it is about spending our "time" in the service of others. That is the way we can make deposits in the bank of eternal life. That is the currency that will have real value as we meet our maker and He announces, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of the Lord. (Matthew 25:21)
So now on with the week. This opening thought was brought about because our blog mentors and good friends are heading home this week from their mission. Mike and Lynnette Waite are getting transferred back to Bunkerville.
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| Elder and Sister Waite Soon to be Mike and Lynnette |
They have served in Saratov Russia for the last 18 months. They set a great example for us and we will miss their weekly blog. But we have decided that while serving in the mission field it seems the 24 hour clock speeds up and the time goes by so quickly.
Monday we had to do a little cleaning and shopping so that kept us busy that day. It was a foggy day by the Black Sea.
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| Just hanging out the 3rd story window cleaning |
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| Foggy day |
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| Looking out to the port and the Black Sea |
This week we look back and see all the blessings we were able to witness. We were blessed when 12 of our youth came to FHE on Tuesday.
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| Chicken Dinner and good company |
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No one wears shoes in the house this is the
Shoe Garage! |
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| Cute couple |
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| These guys didn't want to be upstaged by the photo above |
Our District meeting on Tuesday's is always a highlight and this week, the Packers were in town doing interviews with the missionaries.
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| District meeting and being with the missionaries keeps us young |
They always brighten our day.
On Wednesday we were busy working with our new Pathway students. It has been fun trying to contact all of them. They live all over the East European area. Some speak English very well and others struggle but when they talk to us they are forced to speak English (our Russian is pretty limited). We also have English practice and institute at the church so that is always fun to participate in.
Thursday Sister Mikkelsen and the Sister Missionaries hosted a Relief Society activity to help the sisters be better missionaries.
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| Making gift bags to give away |
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| The sisters were very proud of their creations |
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| the finished project |
It was a fun activity for them and on Sunday one sister came up to Sister Mikkelsen so excited because she gave her bag away to a friend that she had an argument with many weeks ago and and their relationship was healed. Little acts of kindness can heal many wounded hearts.
Friday we traveled to the Odessa Airport to pick up the area Patriarch, Brother Browning. He is from Orem Utah and taught Russian at BYU for many years. He also served as the first in country mission president in Russian in 1990-93. He travels to the East European area two or three times a year to give blessings. He he will do up to seven blessings in a day. Friday was his day off so we took him to his Hotel were he could rest for a minute.
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| Patriarch Browning relaxing at our house |
Saturday we picked up Brother Browning and took him to the church where he gave 5 blessings from 9 AM until 2 PM. He was very tied after so we went out for a quick lunch and then back to his Hotel room. It was such a blessing to be there. As each of the people came out of the room, after receiving their blessing, they were mostly crying and glowing all at the same time. These people are so close to the spirit they truly appreciated this opportunity. That evening the Elders in Tairovsky had a baptism of a family of three. The mom, dad and daughter were baptized in our building. It is the only one in the area that has a font so all the baptisms are done in our branch. We so enjoyed being able to share this wonderful experience with them.
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| Wonderful Baptism |
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| Former District President he baptized the Husband of the family |
Sunday Brother Browning was able to give one more blessing before church a sister in our branch. She has a wonderful conversion story. She was living in Kyiv. One day she was driving her car and ran into the mission van. It was her fault and she expected to get yelled at but the mission driver, Kolya, was so kind to her and wanted to know if she was OK. She was so impressed by what happened that a few days later she went to the mission office on the temple grounds to find out more about the church. President Packer met her and they began giving her lessons. In the mean time, the driver was also in contact with her telling her about the gospel. So a week or two later, Kolya, started telling President Packer about this wonderful lady he had met when she ran into the mission van. Not to be out done President Packer started to tell Kolya about this wonderful lady that had come to the mission office that they had been teaching. After comparing notes for a few minutes they realized it was the same lady. She got baptized several weeks later and then moved to Odessa and now lives in our branch.
Well, as you can tell from this very long blog, we had a wonderful week. We hope each of you are also experiencing the opportunity to serve where you are. If you are bored with your retired life I can recommend a wonderful solution to you. Go visit your bishop and say "We want to go on a mission" and your life will never be the same.
Love you all Elder and Sister Mikkelsen
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| Elder Mikkelsen is not starving in Cancun |
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| Our little movie star |
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| Grandkids are the best |
