Chattanooga Residents Phil and Gloria Smartt Called To Serve LDS Mission In Bosnia To Spearhead More Organizational Growth And Missionary Work

In 1985, the original nation of Yugoslavia was dedicated to missionary work by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since that time, Yugoslavia dissolved into the new nations of Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Slovenia; subsequently, the nation of Kosovo was created out of Serbian territory. In May 2010, the Church created administrative branches in Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Montenegro to assist in the preparation of opening these nations to missionary work and formal Church activity. Then in September 2010, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve rededicated the new nations of Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosina-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia and offered prayers of blessings on the lands and for the people. None of the Balkan nations currently without an official Church presence have any legal obstacles barring the Church's establishment.

Now comes the next step. The Chattanooga Times & Free Press reports that the LDS Church has called a Chattanooga couple, Phil and Gloria Smartt, to serve a two-year mission in Bosnia (officially named Bosnia and Herzegovina) in order to build up the Church and prepare the way for more full-time missionaries. The Smartts will be leaving behind six children and 28 grandchildren. They do not know any of the three official local languages, and will not receive advance language training; they depart Chattanooga on Monday June 6th for five days of orientation at the Provo Missionary Training Center before flying to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. Like all missionaries, they will pay their own way, although the Church will lease a car for their use. A Mormon who handles housing for U.S. embassy personnel has researched housing for them, but whatever housing they secure will need to be large enough to accommodate church services.

“I’ve been in church administration most of my life,” said Mr. Smartt, 67, who sold his insurance agency to help fund their way. “I know how a church operates. We’re looking forward to it. We know it won’t be easy, but what’s it worth if it’s too easy.” Many people in Sarajevo speak English, and Bosnians tend to be friendly towards Americans because because the U.S.-led NATO bombing helped bring peace to the country in 1995. Bosnia does have one bureaucratic hurdle for LDS organization; a church requires at least 300 adult citizen members to apply as a religious community in order to receive official recognition. The Church can operate without it, but official recognition guarantees it the maximum protection under the law.

According to the Free Press, the only identified Latter-day Saints in Bosnia are several members of the U.S. embassy who have been meeting for church services, although LDS Church Growth reported in January that there was an actual branch in Sarajevo under a Bosnian branch president. One individual, Lucy P. Emma, who identifies herself as a student, documents her experiences HERE; she has an uncle who's a mission president in Berlin.

Visit the LDS Newsroom Fact & Stats page for more information about LDS membership in different countries.

Switzerland Using The Foreign Nationals Act Of 2008 And Two Other Laws To Restrict Entry Of Foreign LDS Missionaries From Outside The European Union

The revelation that Switzerland is preparing to restrict the entry of non-European missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is generating increased media coverage, as the Utah media in particular is leading the charge. Stories have been published by KSL Channel 5, the Deseret News, and the Salt Lake Tribune. However, there is more a sense of disappointment rather than outrage; since there's no legacy of organized hostility towards the LDS Church by Switzerland, many people are simply baffled by the Swiss government's action.

A December 16th, 2010 story in Swissinfo.ch provides more definition. The restrictions revolve around the combined effect of three pieces of legislation:

-- A 1986 law defining "gainful employment", deliberately worded so as to prevent employers taking on foreign nationals as “trainees” and paying them lower wages.

-- A 2002 agreement allowing the free movement of people between Switzerland and the European Union (EU).

-- The Foreign Nationals Act of 2008, which imposed severe restrictions on the numbers of third country nationals allowed to take up residence in Switzerland.

Thus while LDS missionaries from another EU country will still be allowed to enter Switzerland, missionaries from outside the EU will have restrictions imposed upon them, with none allowed effective in 2012.

One of the purposes of the Foreign Nationals Act of 2008 is to preserve as many jobs for Swiss nationals as possible by limiting residence permits only to third country nationals who are skilled and qualified. In the religion category, only professional vocations (such as priest, vicar, imam, etc.) are acceptable. The LDS Church has countered by saying that since LDS missionaries are not paid, they are not taking jobs from the Swiss people. While this is not disputed by the Federal Migration Office, which is responsible for allocating permits, it is not the point, according to Adrian Wymann, head of the Labour Market Section for German-speaking Switzerland. Wymann explained that “If you are doing something which by regular Swiss standards you can expect to be paid, then that is gainful employment”. This interpretation is driven by yet a third law passed 1986, which gave a very broad definition of gainful employment, in order to prevent employers taking on foreign nationals as “trainees” and paying them lower wages. Apparently the Swiss government noted how employers and immigrants in the United States collaborate to misuse H-1B and H-2B quotas to steal jobs from Americans, and wanted to prevent the same problem in Switzerland.

So why doesn't the Swiss government simply make an exception for LDS missionaries? This is where the Swiss allow "equality" to trump sovereignty. Swiss legislation mandates the principle of equal treatment of immigrants. As Adrian Wymann explains, "If we say we’ll continue to accept around 200 Mormon missionaries every year, and accept that they have a four month training before coming to Switzerland, there’s no way we can not accept missionaries from Brazil, from Africa, from religious communities which may not be as well known as the Mormons, which may be dubious or not – we don’t know. From a legal point of view, we would have no way of saying ’no’ to those communities".

But this is a weak excuse. Since Switzerland is a sovereign nation, it has the right to restrict immigration for whatever reason it chooses. If it wants to allow LDS missionaries but prevent the entry of Santeria missionaries from Third World countries, it can do that. Just as I have the right to restrict who enters my home, so the Swiss have the right to restrict whoever enters their national home. Equality should never be allowed to trump sovereignty.

Alternatives: There are currently two ways around the problem. LDS missionaries could continue to be admitted if they qualified as professional "religious caretakers". They would have to be trained for two or three years and have additional professional experience. Another possibility could be for them to come as students, but in this case they would have to matriculate at a Swiss university and would not be allowed to work for six months, and then only for 15 hours a week. Neither alternative is likely to appeal to the LDS Church.

In the final analysis, Adrian Wymann wants to assure people that neither he nor his government is specifically targeting Mormons. "It’s not directed against the Mormons...It’s simply bringing things back into line in order for us to be able to say we don’t have a practice here that is unconstitutional". And the effect upon the LDS Church will be anecdotal; European Saints will simply have to take more of the outreach burden upon their shoulders.

Switzerland Introducing De Facto Ban On Entry Of Foreign LDS Missionaries; LDS Senators Mike Crapo And Harry Reid Working To Resolve The Problem

Note: Updated post from December 16th explains how a combination of three different laws is being used by the Swiss government to justify restricting entry into the country by non-European LDS missionaries.

According to SwissInfo.ch, the government of Switzerland is preparing to institute a de facto ban on the entry of missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from outside the European Union into Switzerland. Although Switzerland is not a formal member of the European Union, it has signed numerous bilateral treaties over the years with the EU, including the immigration agreement driving this prospective ban. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), who is LDS, is working with the Swiss government to attempt to mitigate the problem.

The ban is not driven by anti-Mormon bias, and Mormons aren't being singled out. Urs Ziswiler, the Swiss ambassador to the United States, said “We have several similar cases from other countries and to make an exception for the Mormons would create a precedent.” The new regulations stem from a bilateral accord on the free movement of people between Switzerland and the European Union that came into effect in 2002. In effect, this agreement allows European nationals to seek employment in Switzerland while significantly restricting work permits for people from all other countries. A subsequent decision by the Swiss courts established that missionary work is considered to be for gainful employment and therefore subject to quotas, even though LDS missionaries are in Switzerland as unpaid volunteers performing ecclesiastical duties only and as such do not compete with other workers. But Urs Ziswiler did offer some hope; “Laws can be amended and regulations can be changed but it will be up to the relevant communities involved to initiate those changes”.

Under an existing transition agreement, a maximum of 80 LDS missionaries from the US were allowed into Switzerland in 2010, and 50 will be permitted in 2011. As of 2012, there will be no future admissions of missionaries of any denomination from any third party states, according to the Swiss embassy.

The article states that Senator Mike Crapo and Senator Harry Reid are leading an effort by 13 of the 14 current LDS members of Congress to mitigate the problem (newly-elected Raul Labrador of Idaho has not yet been seated). “We expect an ongoing dialogue with the Swiss government representatives and US officials to ensure that responsible religious missionaries have the fullest possible opportunity to continue their work abroad with the minimum of bureaucratic hurdles,” Senator Crapo told swissinfo.ch. A copy of their letter to the Swiss ambassador is available HERE; only Tom Udall (D-NM) failed to sign it. The original letter by the Swiss ambassador is available HERE.

Since this post was published, the LDS Church has now issued this short statement:

The Church has a long history in Switzerland dating back to 1850. We hope a solution can be found that allows missionaries, regardless of their country of origin, to continue to serve the Swiss people.

In our experience, the Church's missionaries return home after service in Switzerland with great love and respect for the people, history, and culture of the country.

Switzerland has traditionally been friendly towards the LDS Church. The first Church temple built in Europe was completed in Zollikofen, near Bern, on September 11th, 1955. Initially, it served Church members throughout Western Europe and the Nordic countries. As of December 31st, 2009, there are officially 7,947 members of the LDS Church in Switzerland grouped into 36 different congregations.