Lessons on the Temple
Lesson No. Thirty-Nine
To My Ukrainian Brothers and Sisters - December, 2022
The following lesson, along with other letters from friends of Ukraine, will be given to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ukraine in December 2022.
I am the father of John Lunt, and in July 1993 when John finished his mission to Ukraine with his mother and sister, we spent a week visiting Kiev and Odessa. We met many who John had taught the gospel to, and we fell in love with Ukraine and its people, especially the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We know and love many members of the Church from Ukraine.
The Lord arms His temple covenant people with righteousness and the power of God in great glory. When we were in Ukraine we learned about its history. I learned that Ukrainians are a very strong people who have experienced tyranny, and know firsthand “the great wickedness one very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men” (Alma 46:9). The Lord has delivered you from tyrants in the past and will do so again. Ukraine is blessed to have a temple When a temple is dedicated, and the members stay on the covenant path, then the Lord arms His temple covenant people “with righteousness and the power of God in great glory” (1 Nephi 14:14).
The Ukrainian flag is a modern-day title of liberty. I am a retired pilot and Brigadier General in the United States Air Force, and to me the flag of the United States and the flag of Ukraine are like the title of liberty described in the Book of Mormon. These flags remind us that some things are dearer than our mortal lives. These include “our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives and our children” (Alma 46:12; see also vs 13-21). The picture opposite shows First Lieutenant Denys Antipov of the Ukraine 95th Airborne Assault Brigade and three other Ukrainian soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag at the front in Eastern Ukraine. This followed the example of four US marines raising the United States flag at Iwo Jima during World War II. Lieutenant Antipov was killed in action on 15 May 2022. His sacrifice is an example for all of us.
Somethings must be defended at all costs. The actions of these brave Ukrainian soldiers and American marines remind us of the inspired words at the beginning and at the end of the United States Declaration of Independence, that somethings must be defended at all cost: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness… And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
The Lord Jesus Christ is our great Deliverer. You are like Captain Moroni who loved the Lord and his country. Like Moroni your hearts swell with thanksgiving to your God, and you labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of your people, and you are firm in the faith of Christ. (See Alma 48:12-13). You are the covenant people of the Lord, and I know that our “Mighty God shall deliver his covenant people. For thus saith the Lord: I will contend with them that contend with thee” (2 Nephi 6:17).
My family will continue to love and support you – Larry V. Lunt
