Apostolic Prophecy Fulfilled with Kyiv, Ukraine Temple

In 1991, Elder Boyd K Packer from the quorum of the twelve apostles, Dallin H. Oaks and others went to dedicated the country of Ukraine for Missionary work.

Elder Packer, Dallin H. Oaks and 41 other people gathered at the top of a hill looking down on the city of Kyiv Ukraine early one morning. They gathered near the base of the statue of Prince Vladimir, who had brought Christianity to Ukraine in A.D. 988.

In the prayer of dedication of the country of Ukraine Elder Packer said, “We are gathered here as missionaries and as members, a small group. This gathering is prescient of the tens and the hundreds and the thousands and the hundreds of thousands that will yet join Thy Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in this land. We see the day when there will be scattered in the villages here and there a member and yet another member and then a gathering and then a branch and, in due time, stakes of Zion set firmly and permanently upon the fertile soil of the Ukraine. And in due time, the spires of temples will be seen across this great land.”

Elder Packer went on to say in his prayer:

“As we dedicate this land, our Holy Father, we remember those who have lived here in generations past and now are gone. We pray that this moment might be the beginning of an emancipation of their spirits in the world beyond through the sacred sealing ordinances of the work for the dead that thou hast revealed. We pray that there will be an outpouring of the Spirit of Elijah, that the names will come forth, the records made available, and the ordinances performed for them in temples in other lands, and in due time in temples in this land.”

This apostolic promise came up again on a return assignment to Ukraine when Elder Oaks spoke in a combined conference of the three districts in Kyiv, on March 20,1994. He said “While on my feet, I felt impressed to say to these people that at the rate of growth they had established and with the remarkable people they are, … if they remained faithful, they were likely to see a House of the Lord, a temple, in Ukraine in their lifetime. I told them to pray for that day, and the sister who offered the closing prayer began that tradition.”

Less than 20 years later, prophecy was fulfilled with the dedication of the Kyiv Ukraine Temple on Aug. 29, 2010.