A global family thrives in Europe East
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Members of the Church in Moscow had just left the Kosmos Hotel where President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Elder Neil L. Andersen had addressed them in a member meeting that evening and had reassembled in the subway where they continued their socializing when, to their surprise and delight, the two General Authorities suddenly appeared.
Instead of being driven to his hotel that night, President Uchtdorf opted to walk to the Metro where he and his associates descended the thick tile corridors to Moscow's massive Metro system several stories below ground.
Among those he greeted was a blond-haired, blue-eyed woman, the only member of the Church in her family, who had been baptized three months earlier. She planned to spend the night with a friend before beginning her five-hour journey to her family the next day.
President Uchtdorf said, "This faithful sister was so appreciative of the gospel and longed for her husband and two sons to join."
President Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, and Elder Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve returned home June 8 after completing a 12-day tour in Europe that included Ukraine, Russia and England.
Traveling with them were their wives, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf and Sister Kathy Andersen. (See Church News issues of June 6 and 13 for additional coverage.)
"Our focus was on the members," President Uchtdorf said in an interview with Church News, where he and Elder Andersen summarized thoughts and experiences. "We came to see how their lives are, and what the gospel does, how it impacts them for good. We came to get a feel of the goodness of the people, how the Church will grow in these diverse countries. Russia was dedicated for the preaching of the gospel in 1903, but the Church has only been organized since 1991. It has grown slowly but steadily since then."
President Uchtdorf found the centers of major cities to be very modern, compared with the old Soviet architecture he saw in the mid-1990s when he visited as president of the Europe Area.
"The key was to feel the love of the people for the gospel, for the Church and for the prophet," President Uchtdorf said. "Wherever we went, everybody said, 'Oh, give our love to President Monson.'?"
Elder Andersen spoke of meeting a young couple in Samara, Russia, in their home. "The husband is a branch president who works in a store," Elder Andersen said of his host. "His wife is a devoted mother, full of faith. They have two beautiful girls. The girls sang Primary songs to us. Their home had the same pictures of the Church on the walls that we have in our home.
"I saw the future of the Church in the faces of these two little girls and in young people across Eastern Europe," he said.
President Uchtdorf recounted an afternoon visiting a couple in a dacha, their summer cottage in the country where Russians grow their own vegetables.
"It was special to be there," President Uchtdorf said. "To see this faithful Russian wife, who is not a member of the Church but who supports her husband as the branch president. They were pleased with their hard work and eager to show how they took this dilapidated dacha and have improved it. You could feel that the marriage benefited a lot. They had farmers' hands. By working together growing vegetables on their dacha they were growing together in their lives. She wasn't quite ready for the gospel yet. I felt that this coming together will make all the difference."
In the southern Russian city of Samara, President Uchtdorf and Elder Andersen met a counselor in the district presidency who works as a police officer and has two teenage daughters. "Their home was as clean as anything," President Uchtdorf said. "Visiting like this helps me better understand the people and their needs."
While in Samara, President Uchtdorf and associates walked near the wide-sweeping Volga River on a sun-drenched day when the grasses were deep green and the sky a royal blue and drew an analogy.
"The Volga River is sometimes called the mother of Russia," he said. "It has strength. It is a huge, deep river that is solid, steady and majestic. The Russian people speak fondly of how it brings strength and peace and goodness of life as it winds its way, delivering the source of life to plants and animals as it goes.
"We see that the Church is like the Volga River," President Uchtdorf said. "The Church brings the life-sustaining doctrines of the gospel to members who draw from its banks. The Church brings steadiness and strength for challenges in life and sustenance to prosper and grow."
One message that resonated with these first-generation members, said Elder Andersen, was the assurance President Uchtdorf gave that if they are trying to do the work of the Church, then they are doing work of the Church. "They want to be perfect," he said. "They try to do their best." Quoting President Uchtdorf, Elder Andersen said, "?'If you're trying to do missionary work, then you're doing missionary work. If you are trying to serve your neighbor, then you are serving your neighbor.' He brought them hope. He lifted their sights."
President Uchtdorf reflected on the morning they met the ministers of the Central Baptist Church in the same sanctuary where then-Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve was invited to speak 50 years ago. "The reception was wonderful," he said, though a bit timid at first. Within minutes, any unfamiliarity dissipated. "It was wonderful to feel the kindness and spirit from our shared belief in Christ."
The time in Europe was fast-paced and passed quickly, President Uchtdorf said. "We stayed 1½ days here, then two days there. We were on the run and had many wonderful meetings with members and missionaries. Each place was hard to leave. I felt like I was leaving a piece of my heart in those places. After only a few hours we felt at home in each place, like we were part of a great global family."
