Lessons on Missionary Service
Lesson No. Twenty-One

Faith by John Lunt

The Fourth Article of Faith teaches us that the first principle of the Gospel is “Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”  I learned as a missionary that “Faith is a principle of action and power.” (Bible Dictionary, Faith).  When we have faith in Jesus Christ, we believe that He is who He says that He is.  We believe Him and His promises.  As missionaries, we had faith that the Savior could change our hearts through the atonement, and that He would change hearts in Ukraine.  I learned that faith is the parent of obedience, and that diligence and obedience strengthen faith.  As we have faith in the Savior, we will trust Him and do all of the things that He asks.  This faith triggers action and the proper use of our agency.  I learned through experience that faith must be exercised (Alma 32) and that no witness comes until after a trial of faith (Ether 12).

I would like to share the witness of faith that accompanied the opening of Odessa, a large port city on the Black Sea.  In late April of 1993, we learned of pending Ukrainian legislation that would make it impossible to proselyte in cities without registered congregations.  Our mission president, President Howard Biddulph, sent me and Elder Bingham to Odessa on May 9, 1993 with the charge to find the future leaders of the Church and firmly establish the work in Odessa.  Two other missionaries joined us a few days later.   We arrived in Odessa with a box of Books of Mormon and faith that we had been called to establish the Lord’s work.  We found a place to stay, we rented a hall for church meetings, and contacted people on the street from morning to night.  We had 80 people attend the first Sunday meeting in Odessa.  I will never forget the day (May 14, 1993) that we met Oleg Chernikov.  We were street contacting along Deribosovskaya, the main walking street of the city.  I saw Oleg across the street, and was prompted that he was the man that would be our branch president.  I immediately stopped him, and taught him about the Gospel standing under a tree just off the street.  Oleg had great faith in the Savior, and read and prayed about The Book of Mormon.  Oleg and Natasha clearly understood the implications of knowing that The Book of Mormon was true.  We taught them the third discussion on a Saturday evening.  The third discussion went into more depth on the Restoration of the Gospel.  Oleg wondered aloud during the discussion about the implications of this being Christ’s true Church.  We testified that he would be a great leader of this Church.  He felt inadequate, but he had great faith.

The next day we held a Sunday worship service.  Right before the meeting started, Oleg came and asked me for my English Doctrine and Covenants (at this time, the D&C was not translated into Russian).  I watched him during the meeting, and he was translating something from my D&C into Russian.  He told me after the meeting that the prior night he had had a dream, and he had been told to come and ask me for a book called The Doctrine & Covenants (he had never heard of this book).  He was directed to read D&C 1:30 which reads:  “And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth…”  Oleg and Natasha were the first people baptized in Odessa on June 6, 1993.  Many faithful saints followed, and the Church was firmly established.  Oleg became the first branch president, and later the district president.  Natasha has served faithfully in every imaginable calling.  Oleg and Natasha had great faith in the temple.  Natasha was pregnant with their second child a year later when they qualified to go to the temple.  They wanted nothing more than for their daughter to be born under the covenant.  With great faith, they undertook the multiple day journey by train and bus to the Freiberg Germany Temple.  After receiving their endowments and being sealed as a family, their daughter was born the next day in Freiberg, Germany. Their family continues strong in the faith, acting as anchors of the Church in Odessa.