The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Russia

The Church is growing in Russia: 1843 - the first missionaries were called to Russia by the prophet Joseph Smith. However the assignmet was not fulfilled.

June 1895 - The first Russians were baptized in Russia. (Russians had been baptized in other countries before then but not in Russia.

1903 - Russia was dedicated for missionary service by Elder Lyman of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
1917 - atheism became the official religion

October 1959 - Apostle Ezra Taft Benson visits the USSR

June 1981 - Book of Mormon in Russian is published

April 1990 - Ambassador Yuri Dubinin visits Utah and allows the Church into the Soviet Union.

April 26, 1990 - Russia rededicated to missionary work.

May 1991 - The Soviet Union Socialists Republic grants the Church republic-wide recognition.

June 1991 - Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs in Moscow and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg)
1992 - Russia Moscow Mission is established
September 2002 - President Gordon B. Hinkley  visits Moscow, Russia, the first time ever a president of the Church visits the Country

June 5, 2011 - the first Stake in Russia is created in June by Elder Russell M. Nelson. . There were 6 wards (1 English speaking) and 3 branches  .

2012 - when we came to Moscow there were 2050 members, 10 branches (the stake had 9 and Lotoshino, a tiny branch outside of Moscow.) 48 young missionaries and 12 senior couples.

July 3, 2012- our numbers have doubled! The Russia Moscow West Mission has been dissolved and has become part of the Russia Moscow Mission. We now have: 19 branches, 88 young missionaries and 20 senior couples. The original Russia Moscow Mission includes the greater Moscow area. The Russia Moscow West Mission included the countries of Kazikstan, Belarus and large metropolitan cities in all directions outside of Moscow. Needless to say, it covers an enormous geographical area. Now the two missions are one. WOW. The mission covers an area about the size of the United States. Obviously, not all of these areas have missionaries in them.Kazikstan and Belarus are not part of other missions.

The Russian Orthodox Church, with its close ties to the government is the main religion today. Sadly Jesus Christ is not mentioned or talked about or taught or known.

The Berlin Wall came down in November 1988 and a year and a half later Russia was re-dedicated to missionary work. However, with the economic chaos of the 1990's following the breakup of the Soviet Union, the government went into default in l998. Many of the members, as well as other Russians left Russia if they could.,weakening the Church and leadership base.

The core strength needed to maintain the growth of the Church was diminished. Well above 50% of the Church members are in Moscow., many having been baptized in surrounding areas but moving to Moscow because of better economic opportunities.
It truly is hard to imagine just how large our mission is. Veronezh, where we have a senior couple and a few young missionaries is 900 miles away!! The senior couple, the Craythorns, just transferred there from Moscow. They are definitely too far away now to attend our Thursday Senior Council nights!

It is truly humbling to be serving in a part of the world where the Church is still very much in it's infant state. There is a small but growing stream of Russian returned missionaries and valiant young adults who are finding each other, getting married in the temple in Ukraine for time and all eternity, and establishing families here in this wonderful land of Russia.

At the last stake conference last month, a young woman who spoke told of how long it took her to be taught by the missionaries. She said they literally had to start from the very beginning because she had never even heard of Jesus Christ. I cannot imagine growing up not knowing of a loving Heavenly Father and His Son who love me and taught by example the way to live. So many of these sweet people are thirsting to know who they are!

Serving in the office gives Elder Sutton (Dave) and I a chance to get to know many of these fine missionaries who sacrifice 18 months to 2 years of their life to come to a foreign land  to spread the joy that come through knowing the Savior and His teachings. We both feel humbled to play a tiny part in this.

21,421 members
140,041,000 people in Russia
.014% of the population is LDS
8 missions throughout Russia
116 branches (congregations)
1 stake (like a diocese)
13 districts (a zone consists of several districts) There are 4 zones in our mission, each zone having several districts. The farthest away is over 900 miles).
After 20 years in Russia, the Church now has a firm foundation and will continue to grow. Our missionaries here in Russia will continue to spread the gospel  to a people too long in the dark, many of whom are looking for light and the joy the gospel can bring. May this proud people be able to shake off the shackles that beset them under Soviet rule!

The Wooden Palace

In late June Barb went with some of the other senior couples to see the Wooden Palace in Kolomenskoye outside of Moscow. (Dave was home sick) It is incredibly beautiful. It was originally built in the 1670's for the Tzar Alexey Mikhailovich. It is sometimes referred to as the "eighth miracle of the world." Called the Kolomenskoye Palace, it took five years to build. Russian and foreign craftsmen brought new devices into the traditional Russian wooden architcture. It was built without nails or using saws. The Palace consisted of separate towers and living sections connected by passages. There were 26 living sections of different height from 2 to 4 floors. There were 270 rooms which were lighted by 3000 small windows. (which are very beautiful) It was a most unusual structure, being build of wood instead of the traditional stone or brick. In almost all the rooms, icons were kept in the "red" corner, (which means beautiful), curtains on windows, and floors and walls were covered with woolen cloth. There were glazed tiled stoves in many of the rooms; in the men's side they were square and women's side they were round. There was a women's half of the Palace and a man's half of the Palace. The Empress Catherine the Great who reigned from 1767-1770 ordered the Palace pulled down. (It has ben recreated according to 18th century surveys found which Catherine the Great had kept). It was completed in 2008, also without using saws or nails. There are many pieces of original period furniture, a set of knight's armour, a crossbow and other weapons. The grounds are very beautiful and it was a delightful day. We were blessed to have a guide with us who spoke English and explained many things to us. We walked for quite a distance on the grounds. Her great grandmother (our guide) is buried in a tiny cemetery not far from the Palace.

this is one of the fancy furnaces that was in most rooms. women's side was rounded.

Catherine the Great

13th century sculpture of woman outside the grounds of the Wooden Palace

Group picture taken on the grounds in front of another churh

GO HOME

Today on our way home from church we had another "first" to add to our list of experiences. This was not pleasant. We knew that other couples and young missionaries had it happen to them so it didn't come as a total surprise. We were sitting on the bus and there was a man in his early 40's just in front opposite of us. His countenance was not pleasnt. There was a hardness and surliness about him. He looked back at Elder Sutton and was looking at his name tag which has says Elder Sutton in Russian and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He pointed and said forcefully Sersha! Sersha! Dave told the man he did not speak Russian and the man glared at him and said GO HOME. Sersha means to bring disgrace or to bring shame upon us. (we looked it up when we got home) There are those who do not want us or any Christian denomination or Americans here in their country. We have watched people's reactions as they see our name tags and we have seen curiosity, hate, indifference and others don't seem to care one way or the other. Our responsibilities as the office couple keep us in the Mission Office where we help the Mission President, order supplies, take care of finances (Dave) and assist the missionaries in numerous ways. We are not exposed to the same degree as those in humanitarian work or prosyliting missions as our young missionaries are as they take the gospel to the Russian people. I had one young missionary share the sadness he feels when the message he brings is rejected. One of the sister missionaries told me today she feels overwheleming sadness when someone they have been teaching for a while no longer wants to be taught. The missionaries learn to love those whom they serve. God has not been a part of the lives of many of the Russian people due to the official religion in the country for so long being aethism. Anyway, we are here until September 2012 at which time we will then go home and not until then. Until next time, dos vidonya.

The metro station

It is hard to accurately describe the metro station. There are MANY metro stations with many different metro lines with many different stops in the greater Moscow area. In Mitina we begin our metro journey either at the Mitina Station which is at one end of the "blue" line. The full metro system is like a big wheel with spokes and each spoke is a different color and represents a different metro line.(red, blue, purple, green, yellow, brown and light blue. I may be able to figure out how to get from one point to another once I am on the metro, but since the station is so huge, finding my way from one line to another proves very daunting due to my lack of any sense of direction. (therefore, I have NO plans to ever ride the metro alone). It is VAST with 9 million people using the metro system on a daily basis. WOW. Walking through one of the metro stations is a feast for the eyes. They are truly beautiful. (Sometimes it's hard to appreciate it though as you are moving along quickly with the hoards of people going from one place to the next. We have had only experience where the metro station was very quiet with almost no people. It was on this day that Dave just happened to have our camera with us and decided to take a few pictures. These pictures represent only a small fraction of the kind of artwork and intricate design to be found there. Many of the walls are marble as are the floors.

This escalator is over 20 stories high and is the longest we have been on

Happy Fourth of July! A day to celebrate the gift of freedom!

Since we have arrived here in Moscow on 20 March 2012, about 3 1/2 months ago, I have been struggling with my weight, which, as those of you who have known me for a long time, has been an ongoing battle, many years which I lost that battle. Before our arrival here I was well on my way to success in this area. I had discovered a couple of years ago that GASP! Exercise was not going to kill me and in fact, would make me feel better and help me accomplish my over-all goal of greater health and weight loss. So, I joined Dave at the gym 3 - 5 days week bright and early depending on our schedule at the Boston Temple. I do not have a gym to go to here, but we do walk everywhere (almost) and I was hoping that would be enough. Sadly, it is not. We work in the Mission Office which is wonderful, but I'm not getting the exercise I did at home when I was running around on errands or cleaning, etc. PLUS, we have been eating out so much, (most of it out of necessity due to our schedule), eating dinner at the homes of friends who happen to be wonderful cooks, and enjoying more desserts than I have ever seen in my life, compliments of generous office workers who bring all kinds of goodies to the office or to our various meetings during the week. This has not boded well for me. So, being the dramatic person that I can sometimes be, I have given considerable thought as to what I am going to do about this. Since thinking doesn't accomplish much physically, I needed to come up with a plan and a date to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Today is July 4, a day of freedom. I thought this would be a perfect day to begin my goal of attaining greater freedom. In my case, freedom from sugar cravings. I have chosen 40 days to diet. A symbolic number. The Savior fasted for 40 days in the wilderness. I feel I can better serve Him if I am feeling my best physically and 40 days is "doable, a good place to start. (please don't think I am comparing what He did to what I am trying to do. I'm not.) I can certainly give up sugar for that amount of time, thereby ridding myself of the cravings and be on my way to weight loss and better health generally. Which means I will sleep better and have more energy and better be able to accomplish my goal of being an effective and healthy missionary. I have come to know that what I eat affects every other aspect of my life, spiritually and emotionally as well as physically. I have gone through cancer once and don't want to repeat that experience. Cancer cells love sugar and therefore, that is another wonderful reason to avoid it. So today I begin. I felt that if I told you about it, it would make me more accountable and have a better chance of success. I do not believe in dieting. Dieting is generally short-lived and not healthy and people revert back to old habits afterwards anyway. I believe in eating healthy and will not be doing anything foolish to attain this goal. It would actually defeat my purpose. JUST SAY NO will be my goal. Russia offers many healthy foods which I can enjoy and help me acheive my goal. So, August 13 will be the 41st day. I will report back to you then to let you know I am doing. Wish me luck! May God bless you as you go about your daily lives striving to accomplish those things of importance to you. Until later, dos vidonya.

Pick Pocketed on the metro!

One hundred and forty missionaries arrived at the Central Building today in the heart of Moscow for our first ever all-new mission meeting. Many took the metro while others in the outlying areas came in by train. One of our senior missionaries, Elder H. was pick-pocketed on the way to the meeting while riding the metro. (I didn't say it was us that had our pockets picked). You have to be SO careful. He is not the first this has happened to and sadly will most likely not be the last. Fortunately, we all have been counseled not to carry large amounts of cash on our person (which he was not), but it is still very inconvenient.) Riding the metro at rush hour is a nightmare! Today was the first time I have been on the metro when I didn't have anything to hold onto. I can't reach the bar overhead, and there were too many people around. I stood behind Elder Sutton and held onto his belt. While I have been told it can get even cozier, I felt like a sardine in a can. We stood up for a good 40 minutes before we got off. The metro is an interesting way to travel though and is remarkable in its own right when you think about the fact that 9 MILLION people ride the metro in Moscow area every day. Isn't that amazing? (I think there were about a million on our metro alone this morning.) OK, slight exagerration there. If you miss the train, no worries, another one comes along within a couple of minutes. It is a very effective way to travel. And very fast. You never know what you are going to come across as you ride the metro. It is not uncommon for people to take advantage of a captive audience and play their instruments or break into song as they walk along (obviously when it is not as crowded). they have a little bucket for people to put money in if they want to. Sometimes it is a crippled person that looks for handouts. They get off the train and climb on the next one and earn a few rubles this way. The metro station is VAST and since I am so directionally challenged, I get turned around very easily which is why I will never go to the metro alone. I may know to take the purple line for 7 stops and switch to the green for 2 but in the metro itself finding my way around is not something that is likely to happen in my lifetime, let alone in the 15 remaining months here in Moscow. Also, the escalators are the longest I have ever seen. Some (but not all)of them are many stories high. You see all kinds of things on the escalators. People reading the newspaper, chatting with their neighbor, kissing, combing their hair. I like to get the little one's attention and wave to them and see how many respond as they go up (or down) and I am going in the other direction. The ornamentation on the walls and the ceilings are very ornate and beautiful. There are beautiful sculptures in the metro as well of soldiers, dogs, different things. The millions of people who pass through seem oblivious to the beauty around them. Sometimes we feel like cattle being herded along. It can get very crowded! These metro stations were built to be used as bomb shelters during war time which is one reason why they are so deep under the ground. They never had to be used as bomb shelters though. There is so much more to post, but will wait until another day to tell you about the momentous meeting that took place today and my trip to the Wooden Palace last week. We continue to work hard but are having such an incredible experience! Until later, dosvidonya.

Daisies and vodka bottles......

An interesting combination, but one we have seen frequently as we walk to the mission office every morning. Beautiful daisies (my favorite flower) blooming in the grass along the sidewalks, and not far away, empty vodka bottles strewn in the grass or standing up as if someone had neatly left them behind. The stray dogs come and sniff the flowers and then the bottles, hoping for something to eat perhaps? or maybe a drink? Just what we need in Moscow. Drunk stray dogs! That would surely improve their dispostions. (which are generally quite mellow. They are used to people but are still strays). Summer is here in Moscow and everything is green and beautiful. We get plenty of rain here, along with abundant sunshine. Temperatures have been moderate and not hot and humid as we expect in July and August. Of course, days are so long and bright. We continue to have experiences here we will have nowhere else. A few days ago, David ran an errand for me which has fallen under my responsibilities as the secretary of the Moscow Mission. While I made dinner he went to the opteka (pharmacy) looking for de-worming pills and prozac. As previously mentioned, when the missionaries go home they are instructed to take de-worming pills. EEEYOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU. I'm responsible for getting our missionaries ready to go home and since this is in their departure packet, I guess I need to buy the pills too. Pharmacists don't blink when we go in and ask for 10 or 12 boxes of these pills. hmmmmmmmmmmmm. We continue to be more comfortable as we go through routine daily experiences. Dave gets his hair cut at a barber shop similar to those in America. He shows a photogaph of his haircut (even though I don't think it's necessary. It's not like he has lot of options. ha ha.) because the barber doesn't speak any English. The cost is only $4 or $5. One of the more disconcerting experiences Dave has had is that in the men's public rest rooms, it is not uncommon for a cleaning woman to just walk in. She walks in like she owns the place and it doesn't phase her at all that she is in men's territories! (however it DOES bother Dave!) When we moved in we noticed a very large watering pot on a shelf. We learned that this is to be used when we lose our hot water for a couple of weeks during the summer. I have noticed our water is looking rusty and not as warm. I wonder if it is starting. I tend to think so. OH NO! There is a lot more to post but will do so a little later. Until then, dosvidonya.