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SALT LAKE CITY -- Thousands have traveled from throughout the world to Utah for this weekend's General Conference sessions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Some former mission presidents and missionaries are gathering for reunions as well, and one group is meeting to mark a milestone: They're celebrating the 20th anniversary of the reopening of Latter-day Saint missionary work in the Czech Republic.
The Czech Prague Mission now includes both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Some former missionaries gathering to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the reopening of the faith there, remember being expelled.
"The Church, in 1950, when all the missionaries left, was declared illegal because it was an American-sponsored church," explains Edwin Morrell, former mission president of the Czech Prague mission.
During the communist years, he says faithful Church preached to friends; 80 secret baptisms took place.
"Then finally in 1990, the members had been fasting and the new government recognized them again," Morrell says. "Really what they did was reinstate the original recognition, so that's when the missionaries began coming back."
Richard Winder was the first mission president in the country after communism. He and his wife, Barbara, hosted the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and invited the dignitaries.
"Part of the purpose of this was to invite government leaders so that we could sort of solidify relationships and establish a stronger bond in the country," Barbara Winder explains.
"When we went there, we began with eight missionaries -- they had taken four from Austria and four from Portugal," Richard Winder says. "They didn't know the language, but they were excellent missionaries."
Another former mission president says the new Kiev Ukraine Temple has given the Czech saints hope. He calls them very faithful church members.
"The retention for new baptisms was between 70 and 80 percent," says former mission president Marvin Slovacek. "In 2009, both the Prague district and the Brno district were among the fastest growing districts in all of Europe."
The mission presidents are all meeting Friday evening to celebrate that anniversary and share memories.
There are just over 2,000 Latter-day Saints in the Czech Republic today, and just a couple hundred in Slovakia.
E-mail: cmikita@ksl.com
