This memorial website was created in the memory of our loved one, Mihail Smetanin, who was born on September 29, 1986 and went to be with the Lord on December 27, 2010.

Mishu was called to be with the Lord on Monday, December 27th, 2010. While snowboarding at Mountain High Ski Resort in Wrightwood, California with some friends and roommates,  Mishu was coming down the mountain at a very high speed, lost control, and collided with trees. He was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead shortly after. We are still awaiting an autopsy to be done.

Update Tuesday January 18th:

You can watch Mishu's memorial service on this website:

http://www.emanuelchurch.com/flv/service_archive.html

There will be a site were all the pictures will be uploaded from the memorial service. As well as pictures and videos from the burial.

If there are others who would still like to support financially you may still do so on the link we posted below. We will be donating funds that we raise extra to support other orphans in Moldova like Mishu. If you would like to support an orphan monthly please get in contact with me, Diana Petrusan at d.petrusan@yahoo.com

Thank You!

Memorial Tribute:

We are putting together a creative idea for a tribute wall for Mishu at his memorial service and we need your help. Those of you who served with Mishu in Moldova on the mission trip, was Mishu's friend, lived with Mishu ... and have pictures of him. Please email [ONLY] your pictures to d.petrusan@yahoo.com. We will be printing out the pictures and adding them to a Tribute Wall we will be making. [Spread the word]

Also, if you have specific pictures of the orphange Mishu grew up in at Cupcini. Please contact or send the pictures to d.petrusan@yahoo.com

Memorial Service and Burial- Latest Update on January 10th:

Mishu's Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, January 16th at 1:30 pm at Emmanuel Romanian Church. The address to the church is 1770 Cerritos Ave Anaheim, California 92804. Burial will take place on Tuesday, January 18th at 12:30 pm at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. The address is 4471 Lincoln Avenue Cypress, CA 90630. Please join us as we celebrate Mishu's life. If you are unable to attend you can watch the live streaming at www.emanuelchurch.com.  Also, if you would like to donate money towards Mishu's burial you may by visiting the link below.

http://bit.ly/h8II

Update on January 6th:

Deputy Lila has been handling Mishu's case and contacted us today stating that she had received a letter from Mishu's biological mother. This letter contained parental consent for us to claim and bury Mishu's body. Based upon Lila's information, we should have his body as early as this evening.

As of right now, we are aiming to have a memorial and burial service late next week. We are all trying our best to secure a location, date, and time within the next few days. However, the cost and available dates have been a concern, but we continue trusting in the providencial hand of God.

We also have been trying to contact our local churches to help raise funds for Mishu. If there is someone who would like to share Mishu's story and would want more details, please contact me (Diana Petrusan) @[email: d.petrusan@yahoo.com].

The Word of God calls us to minister to the orphaned and fatherless, therefore, I implore you to prayerfully consider a pledge or donation to support our brother in Christ, if at all financially capable. Thank you for your emotional and financial support throughout this grieving process. I will continue to keep you all posted. Grace and peace, to you all.

Here is the link, once again, to those who still want to donate:

http://bit.ly/h8II

Update On January 3rd:

We have talked to public officials that are dealing with Mishu's situation. They still need further communication with people who were responsible for Mishu. The American embassy is working with Moldovian embassy to get in touch with an aunt of Mishu.

All we can do now is wait and pray! We do not have a set date for a funeral. We cannot do much until we know Mishu is in our care.

Update On January 1st:

The U.S. Embassy has found a distant aunt of Mishu and are now waiting for her to send a letter to confirm potential interest/disinterest in the body. We will know more information about this on Monday.

We still do not have a date for the memorial service because we are still in the process of getting legal documentation allowing us to have possession of the body. As soon as possession is granted, we will plan further detailed arrangements and will announce it on the website.

Continuing praying for this.

If anyone is interested in helping in anyway, please contact a Charity Cup representative at your local church :)

Update on December 30th:

Tonight we had the privilege of meeting Mishu's closest friends and roommates, one of whom was with him during the snowboarding accident. It brought us all great comfort to hear that Mishu was among such great men when he passed away. Upon his final months, days and hours on earth, Mishu was surrounded by people who loved and cared for him deeply. It was encouraging to see everyone meet tonight in order to discuss and plan further arrangements.

RJ, one of Mishu's best friends, was with Mishu on Monday night when they were snowboarding. RJ was snowboarding in front of Mishu when someone else saw him going down the mountain at a high speed; he lost control and collided into trees. RJ ran back to him and was by Mishu's side the whole time. After the collision, Mishu was immediately rushed to the hospital. RJ explained and reassured us that the medical providers tried their best to revive him back to life. But the Lord had a divine appointment for Mishu and called him home to finally be with his Father.

The status on Mishu's body: We were able to receive the paperwork from the orphange in the Republic of Moldova that states that he was an orphan. This was a crucial piece of information  necessary to claim his body. This is an answer to our prayers! The Lord is faithful! With this document, we pray this is enough information for the officials to release the body to us and we can further plan and organize Mishu’s burial and memorial service. We are still waiting on the autopsy of Mishu’s body, which was postponed until after the holidays.

The date of Mishu’s memorial service has not yet been established, but will be updated as soon as arrangements are made.

At this moment, we want to ask if there are people who want to donate to the memorial and burial service to please prayerfully consider a pledge and contribution.

A few friends shared tonight that one of Mishu’s desire here in California for his future was to get stability in life, get married, and eventually go back and serve the orphaned children in Moldova. We want Mishu’s legacy to live on. Mishu has a stable home now in the presence of his Heavenly Father: the Lord has called his bride home. Funds will be donated to the orphanage in Cupcini where Mishu grew up. This will be done in honor of his passion to serve and care for orphans.

Here is a link where donations can be made:

http://bit.ly/h8IIe5

Thank you for your patience as we find more information about this situation.

Update Wednesday, December 29th:

The status on Mishu's body right now is pending. We are getting together paperwork in order to have the body released to us in order to proceed with further celebration of life arrangements.

Prayer Requests:

-For all the paperwork to resolved and be dealt with as soon as possible

-For all his close friends in the US and Moldova who are mourning, remembering, and celebrating his life

-For Mishu's life testimony to reach the hearts of his roommates and many others.

-For the gospel of Jesus Christ to be preached and lives be changed by the power of Christ.