Returning home to her native Estonia
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TALLIN, ESTONIA
Tiiu Teemant Pehrson fled Estonia as a young child during World War II. Today, in fulfillment of prophecy, she and her husband, Sid Pehrson, teach the gospel in Estonia as a missionary couple. The road to present circumstances has been anything but ordinary.
The great escape
Enemy air raids were not uncommon to Talin, Estonia, in 1944.
During one of the attacks, sirens blared and flares fell as Mihkel and Aino Teemant snatched their two young children and fled for cover. With 2-year-old Tiiu and 4-year-old Viljar in tow, the parents ran to a nearby ditch, jumped in and covered the children with their own bodies to shield them from shrapnel.
As the air raids increased in frequency and danger, the Teemants knew they had to get out. They spent a few months at a farmhouse outside the city, but began making plans for a more permanent escape.
The family joined a group of about 14 people preparing to flee in a small fishing boat. Mihkel left his wife and two children to help ready the boat for depature. He told his wife the preparations would take several days, but she needed to be ready to leave as soon as he returned.
On the fifth night, Aino had an impression that Mihkel would be returning. She packed their most valuable items and put the children to bed fully dressed. Mihkel's knock on the window at 5 a.m. woke the family. Because of her impression, Aino simply handed the children and other necessary items through the window to Mihkel. The family promptly began walking to the boat. The vessel left land around 6 a.m.
Only later did they find out that all Estonian borders were all closed by 10 a.m., just four hours after their departure.
Conversion
The family enjoyed their freedom in Sweden, especially one of the freedoms that came knocking on their door in 1950.
"We first met a pair of young elders when they knocked on our door," said Sister Pehrson. "Their opening line was, 'Do you pray?'
"Mom answered, 'What business is it of yours?' and slammed the door shut.
"Elder Raymond Floyd Pehrson and Elder Stan Simmons wrote in the area book for our address, 'Crazy lady. Don't go back.' "
Fortunately, that wasn't their only encounter, Sister Pehrson said.
"Not long afterwards, Mother saw an advertisement in the paper for free English classes. She went, and to the surprise of them all, there were the two elders who had been at our door. They became friends and mother apologized more than once."
The family met with the missionaries every Tuesday for about a year. Tiiu's parents were baptized in 1951 after her father gained his testimony. Three months later, Tiiu and Viljar were baptized by their father.
The gospel brought the family a sense of unity and peace. In 1958, they were sealed together in the Bern Switzerland Temple.
The family returned to find a letter from the United States government inviting them to immigrate. They originally applied to immigrate in 1949, nine years earlier. After much prayer, they packed up their bags and moved to Los Angeles.
In California in 1974, Tiiu Teemant met the man she would marry, Sid Pehrson, a cousin to the original missionary who taught her family the gospel. The two dated and were married in 1976.
Bringing the gospel to Estonia
In 1961 when Sister Pehrson received her patriarchal blessing, she was blessed with a promise she never dreamed possible.
"It told me that I would teach my people. I saw only one problem — Estonia was under communist rule and not open to the Church," she said.
Though nearly unimaginable at the time of her blessing, over time, the prophecy began to be fulfilled, starting with her mother.
One night, Tiiu's mother, Aino, dreamed of offering a Book of Mormon to her mother. Tiiu's grandmother replied, "I can't read that. I need an Estonian Book of Mormon." She never forgot the dream, and in 1986, she translated the Book of Mormon into Estonian for her children.
Approaching the translation prayerfully, she used Finnish, English, German and Swedish copies of the Book of Mormon as guides. When she finished in 1989, there was no immediate need for the translation. That changed very quickly when the Berlin Wall came down later that year. When the Church was granted permission to temporarily proselyte in Estonia, she presented her translation to the Church. After revisions and editing, the official publication came out in 2000.
The release of the book was timely with the call of the Pehrsons' oldest son, Sidney Michael, to the Vilnius Lithuania Mission (Estonian speaking) that year.
"With the country now open to missionary work, I prayed and pleaded many times for a call that would allow him to work among the Estonian people," she said.
"Our family's hopes and dreams were fulfilled that day. We cried tears of joy when we told others of the calling to the Estonian-speaking mission," she said.
A few years later, their younger son, Rand, was called to the same mission, though the name had been changed by then to the Baltic States Mission.
Prophecy fulfilled
Finally, it was Sister Pehrson's turn to answer the call to Estonia, fulfilling the direction given in her patriarchal blessing 45 years earlier.
Nearing the end of their second son's mission, President Russell N. Watterson of the mission expressed a need for a senior couple to serve in the Baltic States Mission. Elder Pehrson relayed the need to his parents.
Unsure whether he would be granted time off of work for a mission, Brother Pehrson went with faith to his boss and asked for an extended time period off work and for insurance coverage.
His employer responded generously with insurance and a substantial wage. "His generosity blessed us greatly," she said.
Since their departure for their mission in the Baltic States in June 2008, they have been put to work.
The Pehrsons were first assigned to the Tartu Branch, one of five branches in Estonia.
Upon their arrival, Church attendance consisted of 10 missionaries and about seven members. During their nine months of service there they saw attendance grow to about 45 each week. The attendance has since grown to about 60 each week.
They have been serving in the Parnu Branch since March. Holding consistent English classes and weekly family activities, the branch has seen similar success as the sacrament meeting attendance has risen from fewer than 20 in March to 40-45 each Sunday.
In the spring of this year, 11 members made the six-hour drive and two-hour ferry ride across the Baltic Sea to the Helsinki Finland Temple. On that trip, four members received their endowment and others, including an 84-year-old recent convert, participated in baptisms.
In addition to their proselyting responsibilities, Brother Pehrson serves as the branch president. He studies the language two to three hours a day and is now able to conduct Church meetings and converse with members in their language.
Sister Pehrson has met with relatives in Estonia's major cities and feels a family connection with them.
"I am delighted that I am here. We have been blessed tremendously. We see the Lord's hand in the many small, daily miracles."
— David Packard Church News staff writer
