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News Item: North America Mission Calls Stopped
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| North America Mission Calls Stopped | 14 Jul 2008 |
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Hey all, This article from 'byu newsnet' was sent to me from another Russia Samara Alumni. The short and sweet is that North American missionary calls to Russia have stopped because of visa restrictions. "LDS Church Stops Russian Mission Calls By Katie Geilman - 9 Jul 2008 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has stopped calling missionaries from North America to serve in missions in Russia, officials at the church headquarters in Salt Lake City said. "The missions are fully staffed and the work is going forward," church spokesman Rob Howell said. "They have more missionaries than they can use." Howell would neither confirm nor deny the decision was influenced by the difficulty of obtaining and renewing visas for North American missionaries. Howell didn't comment on the cost of applying for visas or travel in and out of the country while waiting for visas. Like all non-native missionaries serving in Russia's eight LDS missions, Ben Wade, a returned missionary from the Russia Samara Mission, was required to leave Russia once a year in order to renew his visa. "We would fly to Moscow or St. Petersburg and then take a train to Tallinn, Estonia," Wade said. "We would spend about four hours there and then go back." The trip, which took two or three days, was required once a year for all the non-native missionaries in order to renew their visas. The cost of the trip was more than just monetary, as groups of missionaries were routinely pulled out of their areas. "I had an obedient group," Wade said. "When we'd go, we would talk about missionary work and come back excited about it. But for rebellious missionaries, it was a time to goof off and break rules. They would get really off-track." Renewing visas has gotten increasingly complicated, Wade said. Effective Oct. 4, 2007, non-Russian citizens are required to return to their native country every 90 days in order to renew their visas, according to a www.russianvisa.org, a Web site which assists travelers in obtaining Russian visas. The number of Russia-bound missionaries entering the MTC has tapered off over the last year, especially during the summer, said Josh Apple, a Russian teacher at the MTC. "Last week, 30 missionaries were reassigned to places like Texas," Apple said. "They got the call on Tuesday and left the next day." The missionaries were given limited time to go shopping and make other arrangements for their new assignments. Russian language teachers at the MTC have also been affected by the change. "Everyone still has jobs, but they can't hire more people," Apple said." If memory serves something similar happened in 1997 (which is why, for example, my group was one of the first in after about 8 months of no new missionaries). I am guessing the collapse of the ruble shortly thereafter helped to reverse Moscow's stance. Knowing our legal team the way I do (oh, and I do) there is already some kind of plan being hammered out. Whether or not it will prove effective or not is anyone's guess. It is also possible that the international attention from the 2014 games in Sochi will help us out this time. The way the visa program is set up we may simply see more missionaries from Europe and Asia filling spots. It could be that missions like St. Petersburg and Moscow are filled with kids from Finland and the Baltics while the southern missions get more from the Ukraine. It is also probable that Mongolian elders and sisters may make up a large percentage of Krasnyarsk and missionaries from Japan and Korea may be even more common in Vladivostok. If any one has more news on this thread please post or email! Matt |
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| Matthew N. Bradley | Send Email |