Whitney was busy traveling to Prague today to renew her visa so she hasn't been able to write yet this week. In the meantime I will post a recent email we received from the missionary couple serving in the mission home in Rostov Russia.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3765094
Dear Parents of Missionaries in the Russia Rostov Mission,
In case you missed the news about Russia and missionary work, I have included the link above. You might find it interesting. It says that the church has decided to not send any more N. American missionaries to Russia for the time being. Those we thought were coming here have been reassigned. [Couples are an exception. We will still get an occasional couple from America. We got a couple last month, and are expecting one in September or October to replace us--we go home the first week of September.] If your son or daughter is currently serving here, they will finish their mission here. The change applies only to future missionaries.
We are hopeful that things might change in the future, but for now maybe it is a good thing for the church in Russia--to help them be more independent. We have seen many more Russian youth step up to the plate and get themselves ready for a mission. Many of these were on the sidelines before the change in visa requirements, but since have had a change of heart and are now preparing to serve.
Since about October of last year, the new visa requirements say that foreigners need to exit Russia every 3 months to renew their visas. The article didn't say this, but my opinion as to why this is would be a deterrent is two fold: 1.--Too disruptive to missionary work, and 2.--Too expensive. It takes several days to renew a visa, and the cost to fly to a foreign country that will do this for us is becoming a major factor.
From your personal front line reporters:
Elder & Sister Cameron
Russia Rostov Mission
news article below:
LDS Church stops sending North American missionaries to Russia
July 14th, 2008 @ 7:29pm
(KSL News) Because of visa problems, missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from North America will no longer serve in Russia.
The Deseret News reports that North American missionaries already there will finish serving their missions. However, those currently in the Missionary Training Center who had been called to Russia will be assigned to other missions.
Last year, Russia began requiring foreigners on humanitarian visas, which includes missionaries, to leave the country every three months to renew their visas.
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2 comments:
this is helpful, melanie and I were talking about this on monday, and we were very curious how it was supposed to all work. Thanks Mom Richards!
hmm interesting. Yeah, I figured this would happen sooner or later. Cool, because whit could be one of the last amercians to serve in Russia! (at least for a while!) ten years from now, it'll be even more awesome to tell people she served in Russia!
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