Vera's dream by: Howard L. Biddulph

Vera was one of the early converts in Kiev.  Since the time she was a young girl, Vera periodically had a special dream.  In the dream she was promised that the true way to God would one day be shown to her and that it would bring her great happiness.  At times of great tribulation for her, the dream would come again, assuring her of  the Lord's love and the future blessings she would receive if her remained strong.

As a young girl during World War II, Vera was separated from her family and held in a work camp in Germany.  After the war she was reunited with her mother in Ukraine.  In every destitute conditions, Vera nursed her beloved mother until a lingering, painful death of this loved one left Vera alone again.

     Vera married, and a daughter was born.  Then she cared for her husband in his illness and watched him die, leaving her alone again, this time with young child to care for.  As she grew old,  Vera also suffered serious health problems that took her to the brink of death.  Yet she was always comforted by the recurring dream that promised a future way of happiness.

Shortly before a very serious operation, in which her life hung in the balance, this aged widow again had her special dream.  She was assured that she would survive the operation and be restored to health.  Shown the beautiful faces of two fair-haired young men who would soon teach her the true path of God,  Vera was promised great happiness and peace if she would accept their message.  These were unique, unforgettable faces she saw, unlike any young men she had ever seen in Kiev or Ukraine.  She assumed they would be foreigners.

     After her recovery,  Vera was shopping in downtown Kiev when she recognized with unspeakable joy the faces of two young men dressed in suits and ties-the very faces she had seen in her dream! Like aged Anna in the temple at Jerusalem (see Luke 2:36-38), she had waited throughout her life for the messengers of God.

     Elders Aaron Love and Rony Allen were assigned to the area of Kiev where Vera lived, and their own apartment was very close to Vera's home.  As a result of meeting them, she received the gospel with joy and was baptized.

     In spite of her age,  Vera has become a great gospel scholar and teacher of the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  One of my choicest experiences was to attend and Easter Sunday service in her branch and to hear her give one of the truly great sermons I have heard in my lifetime on the Savior Jesus Christ, his suffering and death, his atonement for sin, and his great resurrection.  on that sacred occasion, Vera blended movingly the testimonies of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Nephi, as well as her own gentle, loving witness of these events.

Vera lived and saved her widow's mite for the time when she could travel with other members of the Church to the temple of God in Freiberg, Germany, to receive her ordinances and to be sealed to her husband and deceased family.  Many years before, by the German troops that had occupied her country in World War II.  Now, with Joy, Vera returned to the same area where she had receive her first dream of the gospel, this time to partake of all the ordinances of eternal life.

***The End***

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