Good air quality (0-50) Primary pollutant O₃ 41 ppb Besides being the year the LDS Church dedicated its first temple inside the former Soviet Union 2010 marks several key LDS anniversaries in countries once behind the Iron Curtain — the 25th anniversary of the Freiberg Germany Temple and the 20th anniversaries of missions in Poland Czechoslovakia and Hungary and the first branch in Russia Deseret News reporter Scott Taylor is taking a look at the LDS Church’s past present and future in these countries in a series of stories Czech Republic — Four decades of strong-armed Communist rule in Czechoslovakia soon after World War II forced local Czech Latter-day Saints to go underground to worship and practice their religion That meant secret church meetings of usually no more than six to eight people at a time in a member's apartment as well as never telling relatives — sometimes even parents or children — of one's church membership It meant constantly worrying about government spies and the possibility of arrest and interrogation It meant hiding any church literature and painstakingly writing by hand typing out or — only in the later years — photocopying smuggled scriptures and church manuals The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints survived — and even thrived in Czechoslovakia during the Cold War era because of clandestine nighttime baptisms in the backwoods small copies of the Book of Mormon mistaken for Karl Marx writings and a makeshift yoga education program that doubled as a proselytizing tool The LDS Church's heritage in what constitutes present-day Czech Republic and Slovakia (the two nations peacefully separated in 1993) dates back to 1929 when Czechoslovakia was dedicated for missionary work by Elder John A Widtsoe at Priests Hill near Karlstejn Castle The creation of the Czechoslovakia Mission followed that same year with missionaries in the country for 10 years until having to leave at the advent of World War II Missionaries resumed their work briefly beginning in 1946 adding new members to those war survivors who stayed put on their native soil Jaroslava Kaderabkova was one of the early post-war converts as the missionaries met the 20-year-old woman and her friend in Plzen and invited them to a film about Mormon temples and eternal marriage I learned the gospel,\" said Kaderabkova \"My girlfriend didn't accept it — she went away — and I became the third member of the Plzen branch.\" That branch totaled 45 members by the end of '49 the LDS Church was already under intense scrutiny following a Communist coup in Czechoslovakia in 1948 Trying to discredit the church and its local membership the new regime unleashed a flurry of restrictions and accusations against missionaries Sometimes members responded bravely rather than recoil in fear Gad Vojkuvka of Brno recalled how his father helped organize a large-scale church conference in a local stadium dropping promotional leaflets from an airplane but the elder Vojkuvka was arrested on trumped-up charges had his factory seized and was imprisoned in a work camp after a pair of missionaries were jailed for several weeks on charges of spying all missionaries were forced out of the country as the Communist regime disallowed the LDS Church An added insult: The announcement came on April 6 — on the 120th anniversary of the LDS Church's organization and during Easter Week the Czech Saints lost considerable Melchizedek Priesthood leadership and organization Also lacking was any contact with church headquarters in Utah because mail and printed materials were intercepted and either censored or simply destroyed The Communist government wrote letters to all Czech church members citing their own 12th Article of Faith in honoring and obeying the law of the land \"We were asked to promise to give up all religious activities,\" said Gad Vojkuvka \"All church members had to sign it and return it I believe my parents were the only ones who didn't sign it — I still have the letter at home.\" Czech Latter-day Saints learned to worship in stealth and in silence meeting together a handful at a time in a rotation of member apartments and on any day of the week Thin apartment walls required messages to be spoken softly and hymns sung very quietly \"We couldn't meet openly and publicly,\" Kaderabkova recalled We were taken to the police for interrogation — they wanted to make spies out of us.\" Czech authorities considered the LDS Church and its missionaries a front for American spies so they hoped to turn the tables and have Czech members spy for them Some church members fell away into inactivity after the 1950 crackdown \"Young men went into military service Many of them didn't wish to come any more,\" Kaderabkova said \"A member dug a hole in his garden and made a great baptismal font,\" he said \"We baptized 25 to 30 people in that font An already difficult situation became even worse when the 1968 Soviet invasion squelched a short-lived Czechoslovakian liberalization Many long-standing Czech Latter-day Saints — including a good share of the local leaders — opted to immigrate west Those who remained needed resolve — and creativity — to continue their religious commitments the Vojkuvkas were among those creating a system of yoga classes and camps as a vehicle to spread the gospel and recruit — over periods of months and years — prospective members of the church who could maintain a quiet observance of the LDS faith if we can't have missionaries come here then we will have missionaries who were born here,\" Gad Vojkuvka said of what became the Czech trademark of member-missionary work the weekly \"yoga class\" began first with an hour of physical exercise but followed with a focus on mental and spiritual well-being a journey to happiness and abstinence from alcohol Then came seven daily \"vitamins\" such as respect along with 10 rules of happiness from a man named David O \"We talked to these people about the purpose of life,\" Vojkuvka said \"We were not talking about the church but about principles of the church.\" Those interested in learning more were then invited to attend monthly meetings for a \"School of Wisdom.\" Weeklong summer yoga camps were conducted each July and August where those from all across Czechoslovakia came together to continue to learn participants tearfully sang a song titled \"God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again.\" These large-group gatherings were flexible out of necessity Leaders scuttled camp once under the guise of a bogus \"hepatitis outbreak\" after suspicious Communist officials became too interested organizers lost their campsite when it was turned into a Czech national park For those Czechs ready to be baptized in the LDS Church at that time Baptisms usually were done under the cloak of dead-of-night darkness with a full moon or distant lightning a welcome light \"There was no place to be baptized,\" said Marie Cankova of Prague Radovan Canek's wife and a 1989 convert Her baptism was representative of so many Czech converts during those days — a 14-kilometer car ride trying to be as quiet and unnoticeable as possible the male baptismal candidates changing clothes behind the brush on one side and the females on another and converts — still in their wet clothes — walked back to the cars with the witnesses to return to the city a military helicopter showed up just before the baptism in a pond near Plzen sending people scattering for cover — but not until they had thrown coats and clothes over car license plates in order to avoid identification enjoyed a Czech rarity — a daytime baptism \"I was the first member baptized at midday because all people were at home for lunch,\" Podlipny said \"It was several years before the revolution My wife was a member of the Communist Party \"When we came home from the yoga camp after our baptisms 'You're different.' And I couldn't tell her why.\" Just as creative as the yoga classes and camps were the ways the Czech members obtained — and retained — scriptures and printed religious literature during their four decades of isolation Some publications were either copied by hand or typewriter as to not draw suspicion books and handbooks were smuggled into the country by visitors aware of the Czechs' thirst for such materials Manuals for priesthood holders and Relief Society members were created annually when possible — tediously rewritten page by page using typewriters and carbon paper government restrictions required signed receipts acknowledging who did the copying and for what purpose adding that Vojkuvka eventually was in a government-trusted position where he didn't have to record copier use and was able to more quickly produce copied church material And then there was the Czech Book of Mormon \"When we received our first Book of Mormon and we were told not to talk about it and to keep it a secret,\" Podlipna said And the Czechs committed its efficient utilization \"We promised that for every Book of Mormon sent to us that we would have one baptism,\" Vojkuvka said the two-letter acronym for \"Book of Mormon\" is \"KM.\" Members inside the country and book publishers outside quickly realized that those letters could also represent the name of revolutionary communist Karl Marx — and soon pocket-sized Books of Mormon became available bearing the \"KM\" title on the red-colored cover When stopped by border guards and military police members weren't about to correct the misconception that they were toting small booklets either written by or about Marx Czechoslovakia's \"Velvet Revolution\" began in 1989 the country's new government had restored many freedoms The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints returned in the country in short order and in full fashion Key LDS Church officials involved included Elder Russell M Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Hans B along with longtime local leader Jiri Snedefler The latter risked his life during a time when known religious leaders were imprisoned or executed by agreeing to serve as the Czechoslovakian representative required to push through church-recognition papers Czech deputy prime minister Joseph Hromadka met with the LDS leaders and promised full recognition for the LDS Church — not as a new church but as one that had been established 60 years earlier the LDS Church counted six branches and some 200 members residing in Czechoslovakia and LDS members could worship freely and speak openly about their beliefs Heading up the new Czechoslovakia Prague Mission formed several months later was President Richard W one of the same missionaries forced out in 1939 before World War II Podlipna remember her first two acts with the newfound freedom — to denounce her membership in the Communist Party and to tell her mother of her LDS membership \"We wanted to tell people about the church but nobody responded,\" recalled Stephan Lendel a 1991 LDS convert who now serves as a district president in Jicin but nobody really wished to hear about it.\" summed up the ironies about religion and beliefs following the newfound freedoms saying the Czech people struggle with authority and organization \"We are more jeopardized now by the worldly attitudes and worldly thoughts — there's no sense of righteousness,\" he said nowadays they think simply it is that you are free to do anything you want to do.\"