The Fall of the Iron Curtain

[_Runtu]

I remember vividly the excitement we church members felt when the totalitarian states of Central and Eastern Europe collapsed in rather rapid succession between 1989 and 1991. This was the long-prayed-for day when the gospel could be spread to these peoples for essentially the first time. Thomas Monson spoke several times about the miraculous events leading up to the opening of East Germany to missionary work and a temple. Now that the whole of the prior Warsaw Pact was open to the elders, great things would happen.

But then it didn't. Groups such as the Seventh-Day Adventists and the Jehovah's Witnesses have had phenomenal growth in these countries, but the LDS church has had horrible results, both in convert baptisms and member retention. 16 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the LDS church there is tiny and struggling.

What happened? What could they have done differently?

[_SatanWasSetUp]

What happened?

Satan

[_silentkid]

I was a freshman at BYU in '93. A bunch of guys on my floor got called on missions to Russia at that time. It was the most prestigious call one could recieve back then. The girls would worship you if you got called to a former SSR country (I got called to Tucson AZ so I was basically ignored). My roommate went to Moscow and my neighbor went to Samara. They didn't have much success in baptizing and converting this "newly receptive" group of people. I too wonder what went wrong.

PS I'll make the CFR comment before some apologist does. ;)

[_Tommy]

The Lord is obviously trying our faith. I have asked the question myself. He works in mysterious ways Runtu, and we must understand that. In the next life we'll look back and smile, then knowing His purposes. For now, we must have more faith and sacrafice more freely. His blessing shall flow in his own due time.

Amen.

[_Jason Bourne]

But then it didn't. Groups such as the Seventh-Day Adventists and the Jehovah's Witnesses have had phenomenal growth in these countries, but the LDS church has had horrible results, both in convert baptisms and member retention. 16 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the LDS church there is tiny and struggling.

Phenomenal growth for other groups? Can you provide some references please

[_Runtu]

But then it didn't. Groups such as the Seventh-Day Adventists and the Jehovah's Witnesses have had phenomenal growth in these countries, but the LDS church has had horrible results, both in convert baptisms and member retention. 16 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the LDS church there is tiny and struggling.

Phenomenal growth for other groups? Can you provide some references please

Here's some details for Russia.

Major Religious Groups
# Faith Congregations Active Members Adherents Percent Annual Growth Projected adherents, 2010
1. Jehovah's Witnesses 1028 114284 267617 0.18% 8.9% 627758
2. Seventh-day Adventists 538 52512 105024 0.07% 6% 188081
3. Latter-day Saints 113 5635 18785 0.013% 4.25% 28501

Active members:

JWs: 114284
SDA: 52512
LDS: 5635

Here are the same figures for Belarus:

# Faith Congregations Active Members Adherents Percent Annual Growth Projected adherents, 2010
- Population - - 10158476 100% -0.17% 9987096
1. Eastern Orthodox - - 8126700 80% -0.17% 7989598
2. Jehovah's Witnesses 27 2852 6950 0.06% 8.8% 16153
3. Seventh-day Adventists 45 3905 7810 0.07% 4% 11560
4. Latter-day Saints 1 120 403 0.0039% 1.13% 450

JWs: 2852
SDA: 3905
LDS: 120

[_silentkid]

Can you provide some references please

Do I win a prize for my prescience? ;)

[_Runtu]

Can you provide some references please

Do I win a prize for my prescience? ;)

Maybe you have the spirit of prophecy. ;-)

[_The Nehor]

Our mandate is to take the Gospel to all the World. We're never told the world will accept it. We had to go there. We have and a few souls have been aided.

[_Runtu]

Our mandate is to take the Gospel to all the World. We're never told the world will accept it. We had to go there. We have and a few souls have been aided.

If that's true, then why were we as missionaries constantly berated for our lack of "success"? I am quite sure I know what my mission president would have said if I had told him, "Well, no one ever said they'd accept the message."

Maybe you're not old enough to remember, but the late 80s and early 90s were a time of breathless pronouncements of how the work was going to explode in Eastern Europe. The people there were supposed to be anxiously awaiting the word to be preached to them. The success of the other religions shows that people were receptive. I wonder why they weren't receptive to Mormonism.