“What Church Is That?”

By Gail S. Halvorsen

While I was working as a Church Educational System coordinator in Russia, my wife and I attended an activity of the Vesyoly Posyolok Branch, located in St. Petersburg, where we met the branch president, Aleksandr Tomak, and his wife, Yuliya. President Tomak, 28, was obviously well loved by the branch members. He and his bride of only a few months had joined the Church in 1994, and scarcely six months later Aleksandr had been called to serve as branch president.

After the activity we walked with the missionaries to the metro station and then home to our apartment. As we walked, the missionaries told us that despite his cheerful front President Tomak had been out of work five months.

The work situation was tough in Russia at the time, and good jobs that would support a family were difficult to find. It seemed the only available jobs required Sunday work or conflicted with gospel standards. President Tomak decided he could not accept such jobs and continued to seek work, pleading for help from Father in Heaven.

Then, a few weeks later, we visited with President Tomak at his apartment. He told us the following story.

“One day,” he said, “I answered a classified ad and found the advertised position suited me completely. The job would be interesting and well paid. I went to interview with a Finnish firm that was about to open a factory. Interviews were being conducted by a group of Russian and Finnish men, and prospective applicants were offered alcoholic beverages. When I was offered a drink, I declined. I wondered what they would think of me for refusing their hospitality since I hoped to be offered any position at all with the factory, even on the production line.

“During my interview, the boss asked me about my refusal to take a drink. ‘Do you have a health problem?’ he asked. ‘Are you sick?’

“‘No,’ I answered, ‘I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.’

“One of the Russians asked, ‘What church is that?’

“My prospects didn’t look good,” said President Tomak. “I explained to the men that we were also known as Mormons.

“There was a pause, and then, to my surprise, the boss smiled. ‘I know some Mormons,’ he said. ‘I live near a branch of your church in Finland. I know these people to be very honest and without harmful habits.’”

President Tomak was soon offered a job—not just any job, but the position of main supervisor in the factory. “I know that my dear Heavenly Father helped me to get such a good job,” he said. “This experience has been a testimony to me that Heavenly Father watches over us and will help us through our trials.”

• Gail S. Halvorsen, a former second counselor in the Russia St. Petersburg Mission presidency and CES coordinator for Russia, serves as a Sunday School teacher in the Oak Hills First Ward, Provo Utah Oak Hills Stake.