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Elena Nechiporova: I’m doing great, thanks.Great. So you’re not lying in a pool of your own blood after the Young Guard brutalized you, or anything?
No. They just picketed our meeting houses, but nothing was happening there on that day anyway. The picket was peaceful.
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That question should be addressed to the Young Guard. We've never had contact with them before this. I don't think they know anything about who we are or what we believe. We're happy to start a dialog with them, though. We have a lot of smart and worthy young people in the church who are the same age as Young Guard members. They'd have a lot of things in common to discuss.Do you expect it to continue?
I don’t know. Hopefully the situation will be stabilized through increased understanding of our church.How has it affected your community?
It was sad. At the same time, the situation united our community even more. We keep these young people in our prayers.To be honest, I didn’t even know there were any Mormons in Russia. Can you tell me a bit of the history?
The first baptism was in St. Petersburg in 1895, performed by Elder August Joel Hoglund, a native of Sweden. We couldn’t grow under the Soviet government, but the church was officially recognized by the Russian government in 1991.How big is the Mormon church in Russia now?
In 1991, there were 750 members. Now, there are 22,000 members in more than 120 congregations across the country.

We are Christians. We follow Jesus Christ. And most members of the church in Russia are Russians.
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All leaders of Russian legal and ecclesiastic entities are Russians. We have one international branch in Moscow, too, where leaders are foreigners.And how about the Young Guard’s claim that a lot of Mormons join the CIA or FBI?
To be honest with you, I don't know. I don't have any statistics related to that topic.How convenient. The Young Guard says that the Mormon Church in Russia gives free English lessons as a way to entice young people to the Church in order to convert them. Is that true?
Well, they’re called “English Club” meetings and they’re free of charge. No diplomas or certificates are issued. But it’s just part of the humble service of missionaries to society—we just talk about culture, sport, weather, music, and that sort of thing. We don't preach during the lesson.Do you think there are any aspects of Mormonism that would be useful to a US secret agent who was trying to infiltrate Russia?
I do not want to fantasize or speculate. The Church is open for everyone to study it and its mission around the world is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to teach members to serve others and to be good citizens wherever they reside.---OK, so I don't want to jump to any conclusions here, but did you notice she didn’t actually deny being a front for US state-sponsored espionage at any point? Yeah, I know. Still, it’s inconclusive and I'm no further in figuring out whether an openly evangelical Church originating in America would be a completely brilliant Trojan horse for state-sponsored pro-American agents in Russia, or a very, very stupid one.Follow Simon on Twitter: @simonchilds13Mo' Mormons - The Mexican Mormon War
