Russia Vladivostok Mission

Free resources about the Russia Vladivostok Mission:

• Mission address and phone number
• Mission map
• Video interviews with returned missionaries
• Missionary blogs
• Facebook groups
• Mission t-shirts and gifts
• List of past mission presidents
• Cultural articles written by returned missionaries
• Survey with RMs

*Other Mission Pages: Russia Missions.

Russia Vladivostok Mission Address

Here’s a recent address for the Vladivostok Mission. We try to keep this information up to date, but it’s a good idea to check the address with several sources, including your mission packet or the mission office.

Russia Vladivostok Mission Map

Here’s a link to the mission map for the Russia Vladivostok Mission (LDS). To access the official, up-to-date LDS.org map for the Vladivostok Mission:

1. Log into your LDS account here.
2. Click here.

Videos with Vladivostok RMs

Here are in-depth YouTube video interviews with returned missionaries from the Vladivostok Mission.  We interview hundreds of returned missionaries each year, so check back regularly to see new RM interviews.

Russia Vladivostok Missionary Blogs

Here’s a list of missionary blogs for the Vladivostok Mission. This list includes the missionary’s name, URL and when their blog was updated.

Russia Vladivostok Mission Groups

Here are Russia Vladivostok Mission Groups- for LDS missionary moms, returned missionaries, mission presidents and other alumni who served in the Russia Vladivostok Mission.

1. Российская Владивостокская Миссия Group (60 members)
2. Vladivostok Mission 2012-15 Group (24 members)
3. Vladivostok 1994-01 President Alvin H. Price Group (1 member)

Russia Vladivostok Mission T-Shirts

Here are T-shirts for the Russia Vladivostok Mission!

Shirt designs include Vladivostok Mission logo/emblem shirts and Called to Serve shirts. The shirts make great gifts for pre-missionaries, returned missionaries and missionaries currently serving. LDS Mission shirts come in all sizes: Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, up to 4XL.  The mission designs are printed on white shirts and are shipped to you.

*Simply click on a shirt design to view the details and submit an order. The designs on mission t-shirts may also be printed on other LDS mission gifts, including: Vladivostok missionary aprons, Christmas stockings, ties, pillow cases, teddy bears and Christmas ornaments.

*Click here to browse Vladivostok Mission gifts

Russia Vladivostok Mission Presidents

Here’s a list of current and past Mission Presidents of the Vladivostok Mission.

1. 2015-2018, John W. Perkinson
2. 2012-2015, Gregory S. Brinton
3. 2009-2012, Michael Stephen Pratt
4. 2007-2010, Stanley Eugene Everett
5. 2004-2007, Dallas W. Rhyne
6. 2001-2004, William D. Oswald
7. 1999-2001, Alvin H. Price
8. 1998-1999, L. Lionel Kendrick
9. 1997-1998, Rex D. Pinegar
10. 1995-1997, David E. Sorenson

Russia LDS Statistics (2015)

• Church Membership: 22,472
• Missions: 7
• Temples: 0
• Congregations: 95
• Family History Centers: 56

Helpful Articles about Russia

• New Laws Restrict LDS Missionary Work In Russia

Russia Vladivostok Missionary Survey

Here are survey responses from Russia Vladivostok RMs, to give you a snapshot into what it’s like to live in the mission.

*Click here to take a survey to help pre-missionaries going to your mission.

When did you serve?

• 2014-2015 (Paige)
• 2013-2015 (Tyler)
• 2013-2015 (Andrew)
• 2001-2003 (Joshua)

What areas did you serve in?

• Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Angarsk, and Ulan Ude. (Paige)
• Angarsk, Sakhalin, Ulan-Ude, Nakhodka, and Ussuriysk. (Tyler)
• Nakhodka, Angarsk, Ussuriysk, Irkuts, and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. (Andrew)
• Vladivostok and Ussyrisk. (Joshua)

What were some favorite foods?

• Buryatan buuzi Goluptsi Pelmeni. (Paige)
• Оливье (oliv’ye, kind of like potato salad), yogurt (you drink it in Russia), плов (plov, made of rice, meat, and carrots), буззы (buzzi, a meatball wrapped in dough), винегрет (beet salad), солянка (cabbage and meat salad). (Tyler)
• Pirozhok s kartofelyem. (Andrew)
• Piroshki, Varenicki, and Milkis. (Joshua)

What was a funny experience?

• We forgot a chicken on the window sill for a week. The smell eventually tipped us off. (Tyler)
• One time, a bear wandered into the city. Our city didn’t have any sort of animal control, so the Russian police came, slung out their AKs, and blasted the bear away. (Andrew)
• Walking down the street after a light snow, and accidentally stepped onto a manhole cover and fell in! (Joshua)

What was a crazy experience?

• One time we were on a bus contacting and some lady found out we were American and started yelling at us. It wasn’t long before the entire bus was hollering at us to leave Russia. They were so angry. We got off the bus really frustrated, but by the end of the night we were fine–knowing that the Lord always blesses us through tribulation. (Paige)
• For some reason, we could complete an electric current through the sink and the stove. I learned that by accidentally letting some pans touch each other. The sparks were incredible. (Tyler)
• My companion and I were in a prison lineup when the accused told us he knew where we lived. (Andrew)
• While tracting a man came at us with a hatchet, and we fought him off. Also while tracting, several times you would here a gun cocking on the other side-you would just stand off to the side and keep going with the door approach. (Joshua)

What was a spiritual experience?

• Most people saw the missionaries in a dream before meeting them in person. (Tyler)
• I’ll never forget the time my companion told an investigator of his mother’s conversion. (Andrew)
• We watched  a family I helped convert say their testimonies at sacrament meeting and seeing their tears of joy as they felt the spirit. Also, standing in the circle while a man I baptized was ordained to the office of Elder, watching his wife look at him with tears in her eyes. (Joshua)

What are some interesting facts about the Vladivostok Mission?

• In the Vlad mission, there are two zones–east and west. The east is the coast and the west is Siberia. In order to get from one zone to the other it takes at least a flight as long as one would be from Boston to LA. So, although I served two months on the coast, the rest of my mission I was a whole day’s trip away from my mission president. (Paige)
• Airplanes are required for transfers. (Tyler)
• Biggest mission in the world, probably the highest missionary:member ratio, we take a ton of flights (I had 60, myself), it gets to about -40F in winter, and some places can have up to 15 feet of snow in a winter season. (Andrew)

What was the weather like?

• It is Really REALLY cold in the winter–you rejoice when it gets warm enough for snow to fall. But it is also really hot in the summers. As long as you’re in Siberia, you see both extremes. (Paige)
• Cold, -40 at the coldest. Hot in the summer though; around 35 C (90 F). (Tyler)
• Cold in winter, hot in summer. (Andrew)
• Hot and humid in the summer, and cold and humid in the winter. Lots of snow. (Joshua)

Any things you really like about the area/people?

• They are genuine and so ready to love someone who genuinely loves them. (Paige)
• They are extremely charitable once trust is gained. (Tyler)
• The place itself: Not really anything. The people: Incredibly kind and helpful. (Andrew)
• Beautiful, landscapes, hard people, but a very loyal and loving people once they get to know you. Rich history in their military and politics. Proud people who take pride in the obstacles they have been through. Generous to a fault, again once they get to know you! (Joshua)

Any packing/clothing advice?

• Layers are key! Then you don’t have to worry about having summer-winter clothes… Just layer layer layer! Especially because in the winter it’s freezing outside but blazing hot inside people’s apartments. (Paige)
• It really does get cold so prepare for it. Although, the  summers are warm, so not everything needs to be for winter. (Tyler)
• Buy your winter gear there. It’s cheaper and more effective and you don’t have to worry about weight when you fly over. (Andrew)
• Short sleeves for the summer. (Joshua)

What blessings did you receive from serving a mission?

• I have been home six months now and still every day count more blessings from my mission. It will continue forever, there’s no way to name them all. (Paige)
• Spiritual growth in all aspects. (Tyler)
• Too many to list. (Andrew)
• I saw that God loves all His people, He knows his children, and that trials have an enormous purpose I our life. (Joshua)

What are some skills you gained?

• I learned cooking, planning, and determination. (Tyler)
• How to do laundry, how to cook, how to teach, how to be confident, etc. (Andrew)

What do you wish you knew/did at the beginning of your mission?

• Learning never stops, so don’t expect to know everything about anything. And don’t let weaknesses make you feel like you’re a less effective missionary. The Lord knows your weaknesses and isn’t going to wait for you to get rid of them before He uses you, so you shouldn’t wait either. (Paige)
• Russia has almost all the conveniences of America except for peanut butter and Oreos (and even that was changing when I left). (Tyler)
• How to speak Russian. (Andrew)
• I wish I knew how hard it would be to see incredible people come so close to the blessings of the gospel, and then see then not have the courage to follow through on the feelings they had. But the feeling of watching those that did follow through on their feelings, is such great joy. I wish I had known what that type of joy feels like. (Joshua)

Any advice/testimony for pre-missionaries going to Vladivostok?

• Don’t doubt that you are meant to be in this mission. You will find people you are meant to find and you will be happy! Trust in the Lord and jump out of your comfort zone. (Paige)
• You will work hard. (Tyler)
• You will never expect what’s coming. (Andrew)

What was a funny language mistake?

• I accidentally said я хочу тебя instead of я хочу, чтобы ты. They both mean “I want you”, the difference is sexual. (Tyler)
• It’d be too hard to explain to someone who doesn’t know the language. (Andrew)