WE'RE BACK

DID YOU MISS US?

This picture was taken in Kharkiv isn't it beautiful?

WE ARE STILL HERE WE JUST HAD SOME INTERNET PROBLEMS AND I WAS NOT ABLE TO USE THE INTERNET FOR SEVERAL WEEKS. In fact, I am not even sure if It is fixed yet. It is still working for a few hours then turning off.

I am sorry for not staying in touch with everyone. I know that many of you parents would love to see some pictures and learn about some of the recent happenings in the mission and I will try to do another post soon that will include some photos but there is something I really want to write about today.

Two days ago we watched our new President of the United States sworn in. I don't think I have ever been more proud to be an American. As I watched all of those people gathered to see this historical event I was deeply touched. Not because I love President Obama .....

frankly I don't really know alot about the man, (we have been on our Mission throughout the whole campaign which means we did not have much access to the News)

but

because I live in America

I was born in a Country where ....

change is possible.

It was not that long ago that Black people were asked to sit in the back of the bus, and to drink out of seperate drinking faucets. I remember when I was in Junior High I did a report about the Watts riots. I was deeply affected by this.

I remember that this is when I first started writing about my feelings. I was young and naive and I didn't really understand why Black people had been treated with such hatred. I grew up in a home where the creed "all men are created equal" was deeply rooted.

Today a black man will lead our country.

Oh there is a part of me that just wants to say, "why do we have to keep saying, The first black President"? Why can't we just acknowledge him as our next President.

The truth is.....

It's a big deal that our Country elected a Black Man, the same way it is a big deal that Hillary Clinton ran for President. This was a historical election. The first black man and the first woman running for office.

The fact that President Obama was elected gives the whole world hope

that things can change.

There is suffering all over the world. Wars, Hunger, Deadly Diseases, Tyrants who run Countries.

The Whole World needs to believe that change is possible.

As my husband and I sat in our small apartment in Ukraine watching our new President take the oath of office I was filled with pride.

I am so proud to be an American. To live in a Country where we are free to choose our religion. We are free to have our own opinions and to express them.

We are free to live where we choose without having to carry a document prooving that we are a legal resident of the country.

We have now lived outside of the United States for 14 months in a Country that does not have these same freedoms. I will go home a changed person.

I now understand why some Americans returning to the States after a tour of duty in the Military or after an extended absence from America bend down and kiss the ground.

The words "God Bless America" have new meaning to me.

You may not have voted for President Obama and he may not stand for some of the things you feel very strongly about but he was Elected to lead our Country.

Our church has 13 Articles of Faith that express some of the things that we believe in. The 12th Article of Faith states,

We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

I am going to sustain the new President of the United States. When I complete this mission

I am going to go home and learn all I can about what his hopes for the future of our

Country are and do all I can to stand behind him.