I've also included some information that the Mission President sent regarding letters, emails and basic information about where Destin is Serving. I've bolded the headings of each section so if you want to skip something you can.
Dear Parents,
We are emailing you to inform you that Elder Swartz has arrived safely to our Russia Samara mission and we thank you for sending such a wonderful young man. We are so excited to serve with him.
Attached you will find 2 documents and one photo. Enjoy!!
My parents response
Sister Sartori, (The mission president's wife)
Thank you so much for the e-mail concerning our son, Elder Swartz. My wife and I are so grateful for his desire to serve the Lord in the Samara Mission. He, like your other missionaries, is an exceptional young man who has prepared himself well to serve, and I have every confidence that his heart and mind are focused on the task of "losing himself" in that service. You will certainly find him to be capable and willing to accept difficult assignments as he grows in experience. Our prayers and gratitude are with him, and all the Elders and Sisters serving in the Samara Mission.
I speak sincerely, when I say to you and President Sartori, that we are simply grateful to give you our son for this time of service.
With much love and respect,
Destin and Dana Swartz
(Sister Sartori's Reply)
Thank you for your prayers and kind words. We love your son already! We spent the whole day today with him and the other 8 missionaries who arrived. He is so ready and willing to serve. He was so excited to see Elder Broekhuijsen today! They renewed their friendship and are both super-great missionaries who are so willing to do whatever the Lord wishes.
We just love him, can't say more than that. Sister Sartori
The following are the mission rules on letters and emails between the Elders and family and friends. (I shortened it for you all to the stuff that pertains to you.)
P-day is the day missionaries are allowed to email home and it turns out that 30 min. is about
the same time. (Our missionaries are given 1 hour, but are asked to read the Mission President's
letter and report on their personal missionary work with any other comments they wish to share.
So you see, the time for writing family (we encourage family only for emails and only written letters
to friends) is about 30 min. DearElder.com and personally sent letters are still received from
families through the Post Office.
Now--------- some cities are 1 1/2 hour drive away, some are 3 hours drive, some are 5 & 6
hours drive and a couple are up to 7-8 hours drive in the winter months. I tell you this so you
can understand that as important as home letters are - it may take months to get them delivered.
Mailing letters and packages from Russia is MOST DIFFICULT. President and I served for
10 months in the Russia Vladivostok Mission before we were called as Mission President and
wife.... and we only mailed out about 3 times because of the difficulty (which I will not elaborate
on). Now we are here in Russia again and we only use email!!! We have family members who do
not have or know computer email, so we mail an attached letter to some family, have them print
it off and US mail it to our other family members. It is like contacting and conversing in pioneer
times!!
Some of our family and some missionary families will send US Post Office parcels - I will call
them 'one price boxes' and 'international padded envelopes'. The boxes are priced about $23 $45
$55 . I do not know price of padded envelopes. In the boxes I just gave you prices of, you can put
as much as you can inside for that amount. Sometimes it takes 2-3 weeks to arrive, sometimes
it takes 2-4 months to arrive. These boxes can be decorated with crayon/colored pencils on
the ends, labeled correctly (all come to the Mission Office, as none are delivered to individual
apartments) and taped completely shut!! (When our daughter sent us some cake mixes, cream of
tartar and cornstarch, I asked her to wrap EACH individual box with Saran Wrap so there was no
leakage of white powder in case of breakage of the mailed box. Please take any extra precautions
for safety of diplomatic relations.)
PLEASE SEND BOXES AND LETTERS.......THEY ARE MOST IMPORTANT
FOR AND TO OUR MISSIONARIES!! We would encourage and invite you to send spiritual
and uplifting letters, minimizing 'fun' family activites, mentioning spiritual activities and
experiences and ALWAYS POSITIVELY ENCOURAGING YOUR MISSIONARY through
any difficult situations. The Lord is in charge of the Russia Samara Mission and He is watching
over each of us. We know that the Russian Missions are very difficult and our missionaries need
positive uplifting and reminding that AS WE WORK OUR HARDEST TO FIND THOSE
WHOM THE LORD HAS PREPARED TO RECEIVE HIS GOSPEL -- HE WILL BLESS OUR
EFFORTS.
Missionaries are sacrificing two years of their lives to serve the Lord and we encourage them
to do just that..... SERVE THE LORD!! We encourage them to remember President Hinckley's
counsel "forget yourself and go to work" and the other counsel of the Brethren when they
say 'forsake all at home and go forth to serve'.
Two years go by so fast!! We must say at this point - THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE AND
TENDER SUPPORT OF YOUR/OUR MISSIONARY !!!
To help you understand better our options for communicating with your missionary while he/she
is in Russia. He/she has the opportunity to send and receive e-mail on Mondays (P-Days).
FAQ’s
1. How long does it take to get a letter or package from us (in Utah) to him? We've heard that
packages can take up to 3 months, and that letters might only get distributed on transfer days.
Packages 2-4 months. Letters/packages get distributed when mail goes with Mission President &
Wife, Assistants, our driver (Roman) making a Branch delivery, etc.
2. Should we send personal letters and packages to the mission home, or to his current address in
Tolyatti? ALL LETTERS AND PACKAGES MUST BE SENT TO MISSION OFFICE !! We
cannot guarantee they will get them otherwise - the 'pochta (post office)' in Russia is different !
At least if they get to the Mission Office, we can and will deliver them.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Elder/Sister __________________
Samara Mission
Vodnikov Street 95-1
oblast
443099
Russia
Phone # 8462-310-282
Samara
Russia
Samara
Phone # is not needed if sent through the mail.
Phone # is needed if sent through a private courier.
Letters are international and cost about $ .95
3. Should we address the packages in Cyrillic (so as to not catch the attention of curious postal
workers) and, if so, how do you get it through the US Postal Service with a Cyrillic address?
Packages come addressed in English.
4. How does the pouch system work? We have the ability to send through DearElder.com
electronic letters which get printed off and then put into a pouch that gets sent. How long does it
take for the pouch to get there, and (since it presumably goes to the mission home), how does it
(the letter or package) get from the pouch to our son? Please call the Missionary Department on
their instructions of the pouch. Mission President and Wife, Assistants, Zone Leaders, or Roman
deliver when we have assignments to their Branch, or Zone Conference or anything else. We
check with Office Couple and let them know who is going where and they gather up what mail
has come.
5. How much time does our Son have each week to use the computer for reading and sending e-
mail (on his P-Day)? One hour...with instructions to answer his Mission President first. .... so
about the same time as in the MTC, 30 min.
6. How do you recommend that our son should send us photographs he takes? Should he put the
memory card into an envelope (with hand-written letters to us), and how long would that take to
deliver? Perhaps he should just e-mail them to us. Email them. If the pixels are reduced, several
can be sent at one time.
I realize this is a big barrage of questions I'm sending you. if you don't have time to respond to
all of them, I certainly understand. However, this might be the kind of information that would be
valuable to all parents of missionaries in your mission, and which you could eventually include
in your Welcome e-mail. Thank you. As I answered your email before reading it all, my husband
and I chose to do just that!!...I will be making a copy and documenting this email. May I have
permission to use your questions if we choose?
Thank you for your service and for being so welcoming of our son. We feel very blessed
by not only his decision to serve and his hard work to be as prepared as he can be, but also
by knowing that he has a wonderful, efficient, effective, and loving mission president and
his "first councilor" (you!). You are most welcome!! We feel so blessed to have this humbling
responsibilty to work with these amazing young men and women and to constantly be led by His
Spirit daily. There are so many inspired things happening in our mission -- WE KNOW THAT
WE ARE PERFORMING THE LORD'S WORK. We stress OBEDIENCE to the mission rules
so that His Spirit will continue to direct us. Sometimes our young men and women do not know
the 'why' to be exactly obedient, but they go forward with faith and we are all blessed because of
this FAITH. MUCH FAITH IS NEEDED here in Russia.
What the Samara Mission is like today
We can tell you what the Russia Samara Mission is like today! Today our missionaries
number is 51 elders and sisters, of which 9 are sisters. We have four Senior Couples
(of which one goes home in Sept. and the other in October) now - one Office Couple
training our new Office Couple, one Leadership Couple (also native Russian), and one
CES/Leadership Couple. We are asking everyone... if they will come serve here with us.
Do you know of any couples who are retired and could come? Do you know of any
couples who are thinking about retirement and would like to serve the Lord?
Senior Couples are so valuable and they really help our young missionaries. Their
love, example, leadership, encouragement, support, friendliness, help, ...........and I
could go on and on and on!!........... cannot be measured! We have seen how they
have helped in so many ways- with missionaries, with the church growth, with their
loving examples..........and HOW THE RUSSIAN MEMBERS LOVE THEIR SENIOR
MISSIONARIES!! The Brethren have modified some policies which will help more Senior
Couples be able to serve missions, so we hope to see more peoples’ lives being blessed
by serving a Mission for the Lord.
We served in the Russia Vladivostok Mission in 2009 before we were called as Mission
President and Wife. We loved it!! Khabarovsk (our city we lived in) was supposed to be
very cold, but when you dress for it and walk all over, you just do not get too cold. In
Winter, our low in Samara could be -35 C. It is good our missionaries follow the white
Missionary Handbook and they are inside when it is early. We caution our missionaries
to watch for and protect from frostbite. Now to mention the blessing of this cold.... IT
IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL IN EACH ONE OF OUR CITIES WITH SNOW PILED HIGH
AND MANY DAYS OF SNOW KEEP COMING. IT REALLY IS A WINTER WONDERLAND OF
BEAUTY HERE. The Volga River (which many of our cities are on) is frozen and adds a
serenity of peace and calm. Spring and Fall are absolutely delightful. Russia also has
pollens and allergy season is very real here also. Summer can get hot so we are careful
and take safety precautions.
Samara has a population of 1.2 million people who mostly use transports -- bus,
trolleybus, tramvie and overnight trains between the cities. We have great Branches
and some even meet in our own building, but mostly, we rent buildings to hold church
in. Now the buildings are nothing like in the USA, but they do afford us a place of quiet
worship. The church is in an 'infant-like' stage and we are basically teaching leadership
items constantly and many times our missionaries are called on to be 'shadow
leadership' for the people so they can see and learn in 'action' what to do.
We have 21 Branches in our Mission. Samara Zone/District, (Bezimanski,
Novokuybishevsk and Avrora) Saratov Zone/District, (Engels, Volzhski, Solnechney,
Oktyabryski, Dachney, Zavodskoy, and Trafimoski) Tolyatti Zone/District,
(Komsolmolski, Old City and New City) and Mission District whick includes Branches:
Penza, Kazan, Marks, Orenburg, Balakovo, Ulyanovsk and Izshevsk. Our cities are
from ½ hours to 8 hours driving distance from Samara (depending on the weather for
travel).
This area of Russia was opened to missionary work in 1992 in the cities of Samara
and Saratov . During 1993, Ufa and Rostov were opened; and then over the next
three years, Volgograd, Tolyatti and Engels were added. Ufa and Rostov eventually
became parts of the Yekaterinburg and Rostov Missions, respectfully. In 1996, the
cities of Penza and Kazan were opened to missionary work. However, in January 1998,
misssionaries were withdrawn from Kazan. The next month Novokuybishevsk and
Marks received missionaries. The city of Orenburg was opened in September 1998, and
the city of Balakovo in February 1999. In the year 2000, missionaries were brought
back into the city of Kazan. In August of 2000, the city of Ulyanovsk was opened to
missionary work, and in the fall of 2003 Izhevsk was opened to the restored Gospel.
The church is in an 'infant-like' stage and we are basically teaching leadership items
constantly and many times our missionaries are called on to be 'shadow leadership'
for the people so they can see and learn in 'action' what to do. Great opportunities
to share the gospel and the ecclesiastical or leadership part of the church are in
abundance here. You will see and feel the love of the Russian Saints for you, the
Gospel, and our Savior. Our members total more than 3,600 in the Russia Samara
Mission. There are many who have been baptized and have gone inactive, so
our 'rescue efforts' are constant and loving. Missionaries in the Russian Missions are
so blessed with so many kinds of hard things to do, but so blessed because the Lord
knows His people and there are many here who He has prepared to hear His Restored
Gospel.
There are two constructed church buildings that we own in our mission: Solnechney
and Marks. Many branches meet in renovated rented buildings.
We are NOT the largest mission in Russia (Yekateringburg, Novosibirsk and Vladivostok
Missions are the largest geographically.) We do have two time zones (I believe it might
have been 3, years ago... but we only have one city that we have to adjust time to. We
are the same as Moscow and 1 hour different than Kiev, Ukraine.
In ending, we would like to share this most special information about the Russian
Missions. There are two Patriarchs who live in Utah..one in Bountiful and one in Orem.
They come to Russia every year and give Partiarchal Blessings. They have found that
EVERY TRIBE OF THE 12 TRIBES IS REPRESENTED HERE. Hence, the 'believing blood
of Israel' that Elder Bruce R. McConkie spoke of is here in many numbers. If you
will look at a world globe and notice how far north Russia is and many more of the
countries on this continent, your heart will swell with joy at the many children of our
Heavenly Father's who could be part of the 'lost 10 tribes'.
We are in the latter days and the missionaries are gleaning in many parts of the Lord's
vineyards. We are so blessed to be apart of this fantastic work! ............. Missionary
work is an important tool to find Heavenly Father's children.
We love these choice young men and women and will help them every day in whatever
we can do!! We are in the latter days and the missionaries are gleaning in many parts
of the Lord's vineyards. We are so blessed to be apart of this fantastic work! .............
Missionary work is an important tool to find Heavenly Father's children.
Thank you for your many prayers for your son/daughter serving now. We love these
choice young men and women and will help them every day in whatever we can do!!
Our love to you,
President Ralph J. and Sister Julie L. Sartori
Russia Samara Mission
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