I'm sure this did not stand out to many/any of you, but in October's General Conference, as one of the speaker's name was announced, I KNEW he was from the Baltics! Such a great Baltic name, and it sounded Lithuanian to me, and he looked it, too. Sure enough, Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis told a story in his talk about his Lithuanian family!! And again, that doesn't mean much to you, but I served my mission in the Baltics and it is very meaningful to me. In the Church History, we talk about the pioneers all the time, but there is a church video called Ensign to the Nation and talks about the pioneer that braved political boundaries or whatever to be the first member in their own country and have led the way for The Church to grow and prosper in their home lands. I loved to show that to our strong members, and tell them they are The Church's pioneers in Latvia. It touched me to see a Lithuania speaking in general conference, because it means to me that The Church IS growing in the Baltics and is coming out of obscurity. This is a long process, but to me it is a miracle and hearing him speak reminded me of another miracle that may have been missed by many in my mission.
The Baltics are small countries by Russia that have been invaded and taken over many times in their history. I don't know which invasion it was, but I'm guessing that it was WWII or something, they were being invaded again. There was a family that was trying to flee the country to save their family from the bombs and horrors of war. The man worked in a library in a village in Northern Lithuania and fled over the border to a small town on the coast, called Liepaja. There, as his wife was holding her new baby boy, at the port trying to buy tickets to sail away, the port was bombed and they were blessed to be on board a ship before they were harmed. About the same time, there was a baby girl, whose family's story was quite similar, except they fled from Romania.
The two babies grew up safely in Australia, and met and dated as teenagers. The missionaries found them (Peter & Genny) and taught them, and they loved the gospel. Their parents weren't excited about it at first, so they would pack up the car on Sundays so it looked like they were going to the beach, but would really sneak to attend church. When their parents found out, they said if they were really that dedicated, they could get baptized. They were married and raised a family in the church and were very active and helped the church grow.
Later down the road, when Peter & Genny retired, they wanted to serve a mission. Soon, they were given a special call as Mission President & Wife....and an even more special location. They were called to The Baltic States Mission. Peter's mother was worried and did not want them to return to that land. All she remembered of the country was the war-torn place they had barely escaped decades before. However, the countries are safe & stable now, so they went on with their plans.
When the current mission Assistants picked them up at the airport, they drove away from the city and started through countryside. President Barr asked them to pull over, and proceeded to get out of the van and went over and knelt down on the earth and scooped some up in his hands and emotionally stated how this was the first time he had stepped foot on his homeland! Later in their mission, President Barr found the library/home where his family had lived, received his official birth certificate, which he had never had before in a small ceremony that involved city officials, & I'm sure found out some great genealogy. President & Sister Barr served an amazing mission, and I was lucky enough to serve under them & my mission ended just a week or 2 before theirs.
I don't think there was an instant when I heard all this story at once, but in bits and pieces (& I'm not sure the chronology is exact, but the details are to the best of my memory). But it started to amaze me.
So many people say that Biblical miracles don't take place anymore....but there seems to be a very similar story of a baby's life being saved in the Bible...and then coming back to save his people. Moses' life was in danger as a baby because of the government/politics of the time. He, too, as a helpless baby was floated down the water to a safer place, and his life spared while many others died. Moses also realized who he was during his adult life, similar to the Barrs discovering the gospel. Moses fled, but was called back to save his people, too, not unlike the Barrs being called back to help spread the gospel to people of their own nationality, in a small mission where the gospel had been for hardly a decade. All starting with a helpless little baby.
When we choose to see parallels, we realize that God works in the same ways today as He always has....He is an unchanging God....
Happy Easter to you all!
President & Sister Barr