Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Update on Church Suspending Russian Mission Calls

The Deseret News put out a story about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' decision to stop mission calls to Russia. This article can be found at http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700243305,00.html . The Church will not give out mission calls to those from countries requiring visas in Russia. Russia now requires those with humanitarian visas to leave the country every 90 days to renew their visas. Russian law actually requires 90 days outside of the country before re-entry, but has not been enforced. This becomes expensive and time consuming for missionaries. Different former leaders of the Church in Russia talk briefly about how the Church has reached greater maturing in Russia and that maybe this decision would motivate members to be more active and introduce friends and family to the Church.

Russia still does not have a stake and instead has 15 districts. Districts closest to stakehood include St. Petersburg, Rostov and Saratov.

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