Russia: Chronology

1843 • Nauvoo, IllinoisJoseph Smith called Orson Hyde and George J. Adams on a mission to take the restored gospel to Russia. The mission, however, never saw fulfillment.

July 1866 • RussiaBrigham Young Jr., president of the European Mission; his brother John W. Young; and Carl Widerborg, president of the Scandinavian Mission, visited St. Petersburg to explore the feasibility of preaching in Russia. They also briefly visited Moscow.

1875–88 • FinlandMissionaries preached in Russian-ruled Finland.

1888 • Yasnaya Polyana, RussiaSusa Young Gates wrote to Leo Tolstoy, leading to a correspondence with his daughter Tatyana. Gates also sent the Russian author the Book of Mormon and a biography of Joseph Smith.

June 11, 1895 • St. Petersburg, RussiaThe first Latter-day Saint converts in Russia, Johan and Alma Lindlöf, were baptized in the Neva River by missionary August Höglund.

1899–1945 • Königsberg, GermanyBetween the turn of the century and World War II, many Latter-day Saints lived in Königsberg, which later became Kaliningrad, and several other cities that became part of Russia.

August 6 and 9, 1903 • St. Petersburg and Moscow, RussiaElder Francis M. Lyman offered dedicatory prayers for the Russian Empire in St. Petersburg’s Summer Garden and Moscow’s Alexander Garden.

April 27, 1919 • Vladivostok, RussiaDuring the Russian Civil War, a Swedish-American serviceman, Andrew Husberg, was baptized in a lake near Vladivostok.

1925 • London, EnglandIn the 1920s, Andre Anastasion, who joined the Church in 1918, began to translate the Book of Mormon into Russian. He worked on the translation until his death in 1980.

1928 • Helsinki, FinlandSurviving members of the Lindlöf family moved to Helsinki in 1928.

1936 • UtahRussian-German émigré Charles C. Littke’s translation of Joseph Smith Tells His Own Story, a missionary tract, became the first Church publication in Russian.

October 1, 1959 • MoscowElder Ezra Taft Benson, visiting the Soviet Union as United States secretary of agriculture, delivered a sermon in Moscow’s Central Baptist Church.

1980 • Salt Lake City, UtahThe first translation of the Book of Mormon in Russian, based on Anastasion’s work, was published.

June 1987 • MoscowElder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve and Elder Hans B. Ringger of the Seventy visited Moscow to meet with Soviet government officials.

1988–89 • RussiaRussians traveling abroad joined the Church and returned to their homes in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) and Moscow. Finnish Latter-day Saints began to support new converts in Russia.

January 19, 1990 • Leningrad (St. Petersburg)Missionaries began visiting converts and other contacts in Leningrad.

February 11, 1990 • Leningrad (St. Petersburg)The first branch in Russia was organized in Leningrad.

April 26, 1990 • Leningrad (St. Petersburg)Elder Russell M. Nelson offered a prayer of thanksgiving and rededication for Russia in the Summer Garden.

July 1990 • HelsinkiThe Finland Helsinki East Mission was organized with Gary L. Browning as president to support Latter-day Saints living in the Soviet Union.

March 24, 1991 • MoscowThe Church’s first branch in Moscow was organized.

May 18–19, 1991 • Leningrad (St. Petersburg)The first youth conference in Russia was held. One hundred and nine youth attended.

May 28, 1991 • MoscowThe Religious Association of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Russia was registered with the Russian government.

Tabernacle Choir in Red Square

June 1991 • Moscow and Leningrad (St. Petersburg)

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater and the Philharmonic Grand Hall in Leningrad. During a reception in Moscow, the Church’s registration was made public.

June 25, 1991 • MoscowElders Russell M. Nelson and Dallin H. Oaks met with Patriarch Alexei II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church. The same day, Elder Nelson offered a special prayer of gratitude in Moscow in which he prayed to God for the Russian people.

February 3, 1992 • RussiaThe Church’s first missions in Russia were organized based in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

August 1993 • RussiaThe first seminary and institute programs began in Russia in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

December 11, 1994 • VladivostokThe Church’s first branch in the Russian Far East was organized in Vladivostok.

1996 • RussiaThe Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price were published in Russian.

May 4, 1996 • VyborgAndrei Semenov, president of the Vyborg Russia District, dedicated the first Church-built meetinghouse in Russia, located in Vyborg.

November 19, 1996 • VladivostokElder Joseph B. Wirthlin offered a special prayer “of faith and blessing” for the eastern regions of Russia while visiting Vladivostok.

September 10, 2002 • MoscowChurch President Gordon B. Hinckley met with 2,200 Latter-day Saints and guests gathered in Moscow.

May–June 2003 • St. PetersburgChurch members participated in St. Petersburg’s tricentennial celebrations and observed the centennial of Francis M. Lyman’s dedicatory prayer by cleaning the Summer Garden and volunteering as guides in the Hermitage Museum.

2005 • RussiaThe Church published a new Russian hymnal with 207 hymns, including some songs by Russian composers.

July 31, 2005 • VladivostokChurch President Gordon B. Hinckley visited with Latter-day Saints in the Russian Far East gathered in Vladivostok.

October 22, 2006 • HelsinkiRussian Latter-day Saints participated in dedicatory services of the Helsinki Finland Temple, including the celebratory concert held on the eve of the dedication.

April 2008 • Salt Lake CityAnatolii Reshetnikov was called as the first Area Seventy from Russia.

August 29, 2010 • Kyiv, UkraineRussian Latter-day Saints participated in the dedicatory services of the Kyiv Ukraine Temple, including the celebratory concert held on the eve of the dedication.

Elder Nelson in Moscow

June 5, 2011 • Moscow

Elder Russell M. Nelson organized the Moscow Russia Stake, the Church’s first stake in Russia.

2012 • RussiaA new Russian translation of the Book of Mormon and revisions of the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price were published.

September 9, 2012 • St. PetersburgElder Russell M. Nelson organized the St. Petersburg Russia Stake.

2015 • RussiaChurch members celebrated the 120th anniversary of the first baptisms in Russia by holding open houses, conducting acts of public service through Mormon Helping Hands, and a gala concert featuring Russian Latter-day Saint performers.

November 15, 2015 • Saratov, RussiaThe Saratov Russia Stake was organized.

April 1, 2018 • Salt Lake CityChurch President Russell M. Nelson announced plans to build a temple in Russia.