Day 5 Prayer Time

This has been a very crazy day and it has become very apparent that extra prayers are needed. The plan was to meet with the boys at noon today which we did. When we went to go pick them up they both greeted us with great big hugs and cheerful smiles so I did not think there was anything wrong. Although Griselda felt something was not quite right with Roman. We went to a pizza cafe to have time to bond with the boys and to discuss any questions and concerns the boys might have. We had to obtain permission from the orphanage to go. Vlad was thinking about the future and the risk he will be taking to go the USA; however, he says he still wants to go and realizes that might be best for him because he does not have much family and opportunities here. However, Roman is now having second thoughts. Apparently he saw something on TV last night which said that a family in America who had adopted a Russian child had killed the child. I hope this is not true. This has scared him. Also he is getting peer pressure from his peers not to be adopted as well as a teacher telling him bad things about being adopted by Americans. Roman was also told that the Mormon Church is bad and that it is a cult. This has made him very unsure. He asked Griselda if we would make him go to church because it is very important to her. She explained to him that we have agency and that it would not be good to force him to go to church. The decision will be his. Griselda explained to Roman that her Mother was an orphan in Guatemala and that she would love to give him the opportunity that her Mother never had. Oleg and Griselda had a long talk with Roman to help him feel more at ease and comfortable about the adoption. It is interesting that he could not wait for us to come and then all of a sudden after our joyous reunion the adversary has intevened with all his might. It was explained to Roman that this is his choice and that no one is forcing him and that he needs to go with his heart and not with what those who are saying that are opposed to the adoption. Roman will have until Monday morning to make his decision. Therefore we need to pray hard that Roman can think clearly and not let the distractions bother him so he can make a wise decision concerning his adoption. Roman is a very good boy who deserves a chance for a better life and better opportunities then he will likely have if he stays here. As I am writing this Griselda who is here with me at the internet cafe is suddenly overcome with emotion as she realizes the stark reality that Roman may say no and she wanted so much for him to be a part of our family because of the strong love she feels for him and the opportunities we understand that he will be turning down. On the bright side Vlad is very optimistic and we showed him pictures of our house today both inside and out and he asked to take the pictures to show to his friends at the orphanage so we let him take them. Also Vlad was calling me Dad today and that felt so good. Vlad will be going to church with us tommorrow so he can see what it is like. Hopefully he will feel a warm spirit there. Thanks again for all your prayers and support and we will see Monday what Roman's decision will be. Griselda just asked if someone reads this email before the temples close today in Utah if you can put Roman's name on the prayer roll.

It is very interesting that Oleg who is not LDS has a great respect for our faith and he suggested on his own that we have ward members here to say prayers on our behalf as well as having the missionaries say prayers also. He said that he saw that with other families he has worked with how prayer really works. He is a man of faith. His life story is very interesting. He grew up as a single child with a single mom in the Soviet Union era here in the Ukraine. He says it was a very hard life. When the Soviet Union broke up when he was sixteen he found God by studying the bible. He cherishes the values the bible teaches and about being good to others. He gained his own testimony of Jesus Christ and was baptized in the Orthodox Church. When he found God and was going to the University he said he was a missionary on his own to preach the importance of Jesus Christ to others for four years. I was really impressed by this. He said that when the Soviet Union broke up those were very difficult years and people did not have work and everyone was struggling so hard and crime was very high. However, he said that there is no way he would want to go back to the old ways. He really loves freedom and knows how important freedom is. He is a very good man. Oleg explained to us that because his Mother was single he had to go to school at an orphanage while his Mother worked. As such he saw the plight of the orphans and it was his dream to be able to help orphans find families so they can have a better life. So he has a profession he really loves in which he is helping people, both orphans who need families and the families who want to adopt.