Growth of Voronezh Branch is story of faith
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The dedication of a meetinghouse for the Voronezh Branch in the Russia Moscow West Mission by Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve on Oct. 20 is a highlight of the Church in its relatively short history here.
The first member known to be from Voronezh to be baptized was Vladimir Kavanov, who joined the Church on Oct. 10, 1992, during a visit to Moscow. He later served a mission and moved to Moscow. He and his wife, Natalia, have three daughters.
Brother Kavanov's baptism was followed by that of Nina Bazarskaya, who joined the Church on Christmas Day of 1992, also while visiting in Moscow. The rest of her family was baptized later.
Shortly after a group of students from Brigham Young University taught English classes in Voronezh, several people became interested in the Church.
In early 1993, four missionaries in the Russia Moscow Mission began the preaching of the gospel in Voronezh: Elder David Wilsted of Boulder, Colo.; Elder Russell M. Nelson Jr. of Salt Lake City, Utah; Elder Chad Benson of Salt Lake City, Utah; and Elder Niel Mahoney of Midway, Utah.
Alexander Bazarsky, the son of Sister Bazarskaya, was the first member who was baptized in Voronezh; the baptism took place in a local sauna at 6 a.m. on Feb. 20, 1993. During that same year, 30 other people were baptized in Voronezh, including a group baptized in a river.
Sister Bazarskaya's husband, Oleg Bazarsky, who was baptized on Jan. 15, 1994, became the first Russian to serve as president of the Voronezh Branch; previously, missionaries served as branch president. Sister Bazarskaya became the first Russian to serve as the branch's Relief Society president.
Six members from Voronezh went to the Stockholm Sweden Temple in 1995, the first from their branch to receive the blessings of the temple.
Over the years, members have met in various rented halls. Now they have a building to call their own. In 2002, the Church purchased a building that had been constructed as a theater in the 1950s. By the early 1990s, the building had become a warehouse and was used for other purposes.
"The building was in really bad condition," Liudmila Morozova wrote in an e-mail to the Church News. "By 2005 it was being remodeled and restored. It is surrounded by old five-story apartment buildings and looks as a focal point among them. The building itself is in the middle of a big yard where some landscaping took place this year. That brought a lot of attention to the meetinghouse from community members. The feedback was mostly positive.
"Many people take walks with their kids and pets around the meetinghouse and get interested in who are the people there, and what organization changed the building to look so good. Members often use this chance for missionary work and offer tours around the meetinghouse where they tell about the Church. Once the meetinghouse was visited by two men who actually built this building as a movie theater. They thanked the Church for taking good care of the building they once built. They became our friends."
