Easter Sunday in Russia

For me personally, one of the highlights of my trip to Russia was attending church on Easter Sunday. Because it was such a special experience--and because my previous post was getting pretty long--I thought this story deserves its own post.

A little background is important to understanding why it was such a neat experience...

When I was a missionary in Moscow 13 years ago, we worked really hard to build the Church in Russia--to introduce people to the Gospel and help strengthen those who had joined the Church. Our goal in Russia was the same as it is for missionaries throughout the world--to foster personal faith and righteousness and to develop priesthood leadership. This is often a difficult task in areas where the church is new and members are few. When I arrived in Moscow in 1994, the church had been in Russia only 3 or 4 years. Moscow had maybe 1000 Church members total, most of whom did not attend church. Throughout my 2 years there, we met for our Sunday meetings in rented facilities--elementary schools, auditoriums, recreation centers, etc. We would typically have less than 20 members at church on a given Sunday. One branch I served in had 20 members total, and many weeks we had more missionaries (four) than members in attendance.

My mission also coincided with a period of difficult economic times in the former Soviet Union. The currency was unstable. People were unemployed and homeless. The comment was made to me several times that during Soviet times people had plenty of money but nothing to buy, and now they had plenty to buy (comparatively) but no money with which to buy anything. And when people are struggling with money, they tend to be less interested in God and religion. At least that was my experience in Russia. The growth of the Church at that time was pretty stagnant. And while I absolutely loved my experience in Russia and cherish the friendships I made, I will admit that I have questioned whether our Church would ever grow in Russia.

So, back to my Sunday in Tomsk...

Prior to leaving the States, I looked up the address of the Tomsk branch on the Church website. "No. 10 Prospekt Mira". I figured I'd find it when I got there. I didn't know what time church would start, but I figured 9 am was a good guess. That Sunday was Easter Sunday in Russia (Easter in the US was the week before). Prior to leaving that morning, I checked with the receptionist at the hotel who pointed me in the right direction. I caught a bus heading north and got off at No. 1 Prospekt Mira at about 8:45. I spent the next several minutes walking up and down the street looking for No. 10. It was not as easy as it would seem, since I wasn't sure exactly what type of building I was looking for. It could be a school or a library or some other building that would otherwise normally be closed on a Sunday. I asked some passers-by where No. 10 is, but no one knew. By then it was about 9:20, and, discouraged, I headed across the street to the bus stop where I would catch a bus to take me back to the hotel. I had just missed one bus and it would be several minutes before another would come. I figured that rather than stand around waiting, I'd walk down the street to the next stop in line. As I walked I admired the simple architecture of a building about a block down the road...

As I got closer to the building, I noticed a sign beside the entrance that I recognized almost immediately...

A real building! I was dumbfounded as I went inside. It was as if I were back home going to church. It was clean. There pictures of missionaries from Tomsk in a nice display and announcements for Institute classes and family home evening activities posted on the bulletin board. There was even a list of home teaching assignments posted on a bulletin board. (The idea of home teaching was pie-in-the-sky when I was in Moscow). Best of all, Sacrament Meeting didn't start until 10:00. So I was actually 35 minutes early.

I had to be back to the hotel by 12:30, but was able to stay through Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School. It was an incredible experience and a stark contrast to my recollections of attending church in Russia. The men all wore suits (I was actually under-dressed, with only shirt and tie--no jacket). The branch leadership were all Russian. The talks were well prepared and on topic. Nobody interrupted the speakers. And there were several families--moms, dads, kids.

Several people noticed me as an unfamiliar face and came up to introduce themselves. One young man, Sasha, was from Moscow and his wife had served a mission there (or maybe it was the other way around). They had been sealed in the temple and were starting a little family. That's the second generation of the Russian Church right there! As someone who for the past 13 years has wondered whether the Church would ever really take root in Russia, I admit that I got a little emotional as I realized, happily, that I was very wrong.