I thought you might enjoy reading these. We were asked to each write a page or two of our thoughts as we complete our missions - to be included in the Area history. As you can imagine, it is a bit difficult to condense three years into two pages! Oh well, we tried. We appreciate all the support you have given us.
We love you all!
Reflections on our Mission
President Val J. Christensen
Russia Yekaterinburg Mission 2013 – 2016
We have grown to love Russia during our three years of service here. We love the culture and traditions of Russia and we love the Russian people. We have rejoiced in the love we have felt from devoted members of the Church; thrilled in the growth, progress and successes of our missionaries; and witnessed countless miracles as we have participated in the work of gathering the House of Israel in this great land of promise. In early 2016, we organized a new district comprised of 5 branches (Ufa, Chelyabinsk, Perm, Yekaterinburg 1st and Yekaterinburg 2nd. The district leadership, consisting of a District President and two councilors and a District Relief Society President and two councilors, has been active training priesthood and auxiliary leaders. They also planned and executed a very successful mission-wide women's conference held in Yekaterinburg which was attended by 121 sisters.
We had the privilege each week of being in the homes of investigators, members of the Church (both active and less-active), and many dear friends during our term of service. The life experiences and strong moral character of the Russian people have inspired us to live lives of increased gratitude and sensitivity to the needs of others. Our lives have been enriched by innumerable examples of selfless acts of service one to another during times of struggle. As we have focused on teaching the doctrine of Christ week-after-week in our branches, we have seen and increase in spirituality in the lives of our members.
Our missionaries encountered hundreds of people every day who share principles of high moral character and ethical conduct but whose religious traditions are essentially social, cultural and nationalistic. The vast majority of those with whom we had meetings and conversations were open, kind and respectful, but expressed a firm commitment to maintain official affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church, which most Russians view as an essential element of being Russian. We encountered thousands of people who lived during a time of government-imposed religious intolerance who have become settled in their minds that religious traditions offer little or no benefit. We also encountered many who simply have not seen anything in the religious world that excites them or appears relevant in their lives.
Nonetheless, our missionaries, often in miraculous ways, have had elect sons and daughters of God appear in their paths that were seeking religious truth. One such individual, Andrei, sought information about the Church on the Internet, located lds.org, and ordered a Book of Mormon. When the missionaries delivered his copy of the Book of Mormon, he began meeting with them regularly and reading in earnest. Following his baptism, he shared with us his gratitude that the Book of Mormon had restored his faith in Jesus Christ, which faith he had begun to lose because of the many conflicting and troubling interpretations of the Bible among religious denominations. During our term of service, many individuals like Andrei were placed by the hand of the Lord in the paths of our missionaries.
Most of the people who were receptive to our message faced a great deal of opposition from friends, family, and co-workers when they engaged in the process of investigating the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Many encountered highly demeaning and disruptive information regarding the Church on the Internet. At the end of 2014, and again at the end of 2015, we gathered information regarding investigators who had at one time expressed sincere interest in our message, many of whom had attended church frequently and many who had set baptismal dates, but who ultimately stopped having any contact with missionaries or the Church. We determined that during each of these years, over 1,000 people (mission-wide) had expressed significant interest in the Church but had completely abandoned their contacts with missionaries, largely because of negative pressure from friends or family members who opposed their involvement with an "American sect." We are confident, knowing the level of interest and commitment most of these individuals had experienced, that many of them will ultimately resume their investigation of the restored gospel one day and choose to be baptized.
During our entire term of service, we have taught our missionaries to follow the example and pattern of Ammon and his brethren in their mission to the Lamanites. We have felt strongly impressed that the missionary accounts of Ammon and the other sons of Mosiah were included in the Book of Mormon by Mormon, under the direction of the Lord, to show missionaries in Eastern Europe how to engage successfully in reclaiming members of the House of Israel who are suffering in darkness as the result of the false traditions of their fathers. We have taught and encouraged our missionaries to build sincere, close relationships of love and trust with individuals who were willing to meet with them. We established a culture of talking to as many people as possible every day. We invited those we met to attend branch activities, to participate in English Group, or to allow us to share a brief message regarding our purpose in Russia.
During the final year of our service, we placed a special focus on inviting as many people as possible to English Group where we engaged in English conversations regarding principles of virtue, high character and moral and ethical behavior. Many individuals felt the spirit in these meetings and saw the light of Christ in the eyes of our missionaries. Many became curious, as King Lamoni was with Ammon, to learn the source of the light and goodness in our missionaries and many became investigators of the gospel.
We have been blessed to enjoy a mission culture of love and submissive obedience. We have continually taught our missionaries the importance of having Christ's image in their countenances, to be meek and submissive instruments in the hands of the Lord who are motivated to be obedient, not by any external factors, but by their love for their Father in heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ. We consistently taught, studied and followed Preach My Gospel as the word of God for His missionaries and worked hard to be a "Preach My Gospel Mission." Our missionaries embraced the principle of having the law of the gospel written in their hearts and "being the message." We continually focused on exercising faith in Christ, repenting and living virtuous lives. Our missionaries have, for the most part, worked hard to overcome their fear of opening their mouths and have embraced a culture of seizing every opportunity to engage in pleasant conversations with strangers and transitioning to our missionary purpose.
As we look back on our experiences these past three years, we see the constant hand of the Lord in every aspect of this work. We recognize the convincing power of the Book of Mormon. We see dramatic increases in the gospel knowledge and testimonies of our missionaries. We have seen them master a difficult language, overcome shyness and apprehension, develop great faith, submit their wills to God and experience many miracles. We have seen them grow in virtue and confidence before their Father in Heaven and prepare emotionally, intellectually and spiritually to become wonderful fathers and mothers following their missions.
Our testimonies of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ have become sure. We have established eternal bonds of love with our precious members and the many wonderful non-members whom we have met. We have forged eternal bonds of love with our missionaries with whom we have shared countless experiences of divine intervention in this sacred work. We love Russia. We love the Russian people. We will be forever grateful for the sacred trust placed in us by our Father in Heaven and the wonderful privilege it has been to be His servants at this time in the history of this great country.
Reflections on our Mission
Sister Lauralee Christensen
Russia Yekaterinburg Mission 2013 – 2016
As we approach the end of our mission my heart is full of gratitude for the opportunity we have had to serve together in this wonderful part of Russia. We have experienced so many blessings, miracles and answers to prayers, and have grown to love so many dear people and missionaries, that one page of "reflections" simply cannot adequately reflect the true and deep gratitude I feel to my Father in Heaven for allowing us this opportunity to serve and to grow. Here are just a few brief thoughts:
I have cherished the opportunity to serve side-by-side with my husband. I have clearly felt the mantle of his priesthood calling as Mission President and witnessed the Spirit working through him countless times to bless missionaries' and members' lives. His dedication to the Lord has truly been sure and steadfast, and his efforts untiring. I have marveled at the limitless patience, kindness and love he has shown missionaries as he has counseled them through various challenges. He has humbly sought and received inspiration regarding transfers, trainings, zone conferences and his wonderful weekly letters to our missionaries, frequently finding later that the impressions received and acted upon were exactly right, for reasons he was not aware of at the time. My admiration and love for him has grown even greater. I am so thankful to the Lord for this sweet experience of serving together and falling in love with my husband all over, again and again!
Our family has been richly blessed through this experience. We were promised by Elder Perry when he set us apart that we could leave our family in the Lord's hands and trust that He would take care of every need. This promise has truly been fulfilled. There have been many pressing and difficult needs, and every prayer has been answered. As our eight children and their spouses and families have supported each other and us, the unity and love in our family has grown even stronger. This shared experience has strengthened everyone's testimonies and their desire to honor temple covenants. Seven little grandchildren have joined the 23 we left. The older grandchildren have loved hearing the missionary stories we have shared in our monthly family home evenings by Skype, and all are diligently reading the scriptures, studying Preach My Gospel, finding missionary opportunities with friends at school, and preparing to serve missions themselves.
It has been an honor to serve with these valiant and dedicated young missionaries. We tell them when they arrive that as they truly consecrate themselves to the Lord's work they will come to understand more clearly than they have before, who they were "30 years ago," and who they can become through the Lord's transforming power. It is a humbling and wonderful experience to watch that growth and transformation. We love them all so very much and look forward to continuing our friendship with them.
I will treasure forever the opportunity to come to know and love the dear members of our branches. Many are inspiring examples of true devotion to the Lord, of unwavering faith and hope in spite of very great challenges, and of willingness to sacrifice cheerfully whatever the Lord asks. I'm so grateful for the kindness and love they have shown us. I have enjoyed working with my husband to do all we can to strengthen our members. We have held many firesides, third-hour Sunday trainings, and auxiliary leadership trainings. While there is still room for improvement, the quality of teaching in our branches has improved and the spirit of love and unity between members has increased. We held a mission-wide Women's Conference in 2015 that was very well received and enthusiastically viewed as "historic". We focused on becoming true disciples of Christ. Our conference in 2016 was even better. This time President Christensen and I only provided shadow leadership and encouragement and the auxiliary and district presidency of the newly created district did a wonderful job of organizing the conference. A highlight both years was the Priesthood blessing my husband pronounced upon the women. Most of our women do not have a Priesthood holder in their home, and this blessing was received with deep gratitude and faith. I hope this conference will continue to be held each year. It has great capacity to strengthen testimonies, foster friendships and create a sense of unity in a mission where the branches are geographically so far flung. A facebook page has been created that is actively being used to support and encourage each other in many challenges and aspects of their lives.
We have felt a great desire to do all that we can to rescue those who have fallen into inactivity. We found that many were stranded on the outer perimeters of our cities by the consolidation of branches that took place years before we came, usually combining four branches in a very large city into one. We have held many special branch activities with great success in helping them feel again the fun and love of a branch family. I have enjoyed visiting many in their homes, with my husband or with Sister missionaries. We have looked at baptismal pictures, which they usually show enthusiastically, and tried to help them feel again the feelings they once had. We have learned of their life experiences, challenges and concerns, and encouraged them with expressions of our love and testimony.
We have appreciated so much the associations with the other mission presidents and wives in the area. Our semi-annual meetings are always a spiritual feast. We are deeply grateful for the Area Presidencies and their wives who we have felt so much love and support from. These are friendships we will always treasure. Last February, as we sat in our final meeting together, basking in the testimonies shared, and feeling the unity and friendships that bond us together as we strive to do the Lord's work, I felt like I was being given a glimpse of Zion.
It is an honor to serve with such valiant and devoted people.
During our mission, I have experienced many times the Grace offered by my Savior. His enabling power has helped me do things I was simply not capable of by myself. I echo Ammon's words: "as to my strength I am weak; … but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things." I am so thankful that our request to serve the third year here was granted. We have gained some understanding as to why it has previously been a two year calling, but feel so grateful and have rejoiced frequently in the many blessings and wonderful experiences this last year has brought. My testimony of the Gospel and of the reality of our Father and Savior has been deepened. I have felt the help of angels, and the love of the Lord more clearly than at any other time in my life. My greatest desire is to continue to consecrate all that I have to Him, striving always to do His will and help others come unto Him.
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