During the dark years of Czechoslovakia's political occupation and suppression, Jiri and Olga Snederfler possessed two attributes that brought light and hope for Latter-day Saints in that nation: faith and courage.
"Brother Snederfler was as Paul before Agrippa," said President Thomas S. Monson in describing how he stepped forward, facing the possibility of being sent to prison, and applied for the government's official recognition of the Church in Czechoslovakia.President Monson briefly recounted the Church's struggle to gain official recognition, an act that would allow members to meet openly in Czechoslovakia without fear of police raids and arrests.
In 1985, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Council of the Twelve and Elder Hans B. Ringger of the Seventy and now president of the Europe Area, began making visits to Czechoslovakian government officials, requesting that official recognition be granted the Church. In 1987, they were told that a formal application for recognition could be made only by a Czechoslovakian member of the Church, not by an American, as is Elder Nelson, or a Swiss, as is Elder Ringger.
"It was a dangerous thing to have a Czechoslovakian member step forward and apply for recognition of the Church," related President Monson. "Having a member identify himself to the government as a leader of the Church in Czechoslovakia at that time could have been an invitation to prison."
President Monson said the Brethren determined that they could not, and would not, ask anyone to take such a risk. However, when Elder Nelson and Elder Ringger visited the Snederflers in their home and told them what the government officials had said, Brother Snederfler volunteered to step forward.
President Monson continued, "With only a moment's pause, Brother Snederfler said, I will go. I will do it.' He looked at his wife, and then said,We will do whatever is needed. This is for the Lord, and His work is more important than our freedom or life.'
"Brother and Sister Snederfler embraced each other and said a tearful goodbye. He left home, not knowing if he would be able to return home. He was as Paul before Agrippa. He stepped forward before a powerful government to declare his witness and be the official representative of the Church in Czechoslovakia."
In an interview with the Church News, Pres. and Sister Snederfler filled in details of the rest of the story. "After I submitted the application papers in December 1988, I was interrogated by the secret police every month, until the revolution in November 1989," said Pres. Snederfler. "They wouldn't leave me alone until the Communist regime fell. They wanted to know the names of all the members of the Church in Czechoslovakia. They wanted lists of addresses, and where we met, what activities we had planned. I refused to give them any information."
He said he filled out numerous forms and wrote dozens of letters. "I was told when I made the first application that I would get a reply in about three months. I waited, but heard only silence," he said. "I filled out the request again, and waited again. Then a lawyer advised me to send a written inquiry about my request. For the next three months, I wrote letters. It seemed I was always writing.
"Then the government's regime fell on Nov. 18, 1989. The provisional government cancelled the Council of Religious Affairs, the office to which I had submitted the application. I had to start over, making formal requests with the new government in December 1989 and January 1990. At the beginning of February, a new government came into office. Once again, I submitted the application requests."
Recognition was granted Feb. 21, 1990, effective March 1.
Pres. and Sister Snederfler said they recognize the hand of the Lord in bringing about changes in Czechoslovakia. "In July 1988, the leadership of the Church in Czechoslovakia asked members to fast and pray every third Sunday of the month, in addition to the usual fast on the first Sunday," Pres. Snederfler related. "We asked all the members to pray that the Church would be recognized, and that Czechoslovakia would become free. A few months after we started the special fasts, things started to unfold."
President Monson has been acquainted with the Snederflers since 1985 when, a short while before he was called as second counselor in the First Presidency, he and Elder Ringger visited them in their home in Prague.
"When Elder Ringger and I entered their home, I saw more pictures of temples than I had seen in anyone's home. There must have been 12 pictures of temples in the living room. In the next room, there were more pictures of temples. Pictures were everywhere. I said to Sister Snederfler, Your husband surely must love the temple.' She didn't speak English very well then, but nodded her head and said,I, too.'
"Their love of the temple was exemplified during those dark years of religious suppression. That couple who continued to love the Lord, who never faltered and who served so valiantly, now find themselves walking the sacred hallways of the temple in Freiberg, Germany. They are succeeding temple Pres. Henry J. Burkhardt and the matron, Sister Inge Burkhardt, who have served marvelously ever since the temple opened."
President Monson added: "When I had the privilege to extend to Brother and Sister Snederfler their call to serve as a temple president and matron, I thought of their love of the temple and their demonstrated faith and courage through years of trial and hardship. I pondered a favorite line, `Who honors God, God honors.' " (From Chariots of Fire.)
During their visit to Salt Lake City for the temple presidents seminar, Pres. Snederfler, a retired economist in agriculture and water research, and Sister Snederfler said they "know the price and importance of freedom to worship."
"For 30 years, we could not meet at all," he said. "The Church almost fell apart in Czechoslovakia during that time. In 1972, we started to rebuild the organization of the Church from scratch. We lived in constant fear we would be raided by the secret police and arrested. But in all those years, we never were raided. In 1974, we held a conference for all the saints in Czechoslovakia; 11 members came. The others were afraid to attend. That was a very dark time for us."
Pres. Snederfler was called in 1975 as district president for the Church in Czechoslovakia.
Sister Snederfler said of the new freedom that Czechoslovakians now enjoy: "We receive so much joy meeting together. During all those dark years, we yearned to meet openly and often. Our way to survive the darkness was to lift each other up. When Elder Monson came to visit in 1985, we held a meeting and he spoke to us. That meeting kept us going for a very long time.
"Despite waiting 42 years, we knew that the dark regime would fall, freedom would come and the Church would move forward in Czechoslovakia, even if we didn't live to see it. We are grateful we witnessed this great event. Now, I don't want to remember the darkness. It's over. We look forward to the future."
Pres. Snederfler said, "Although the Communist regime fell on Nov. 17, 1989, we did not feel that the country was really free until we saw the missionaries. The first elders came on May 2, 1990. The joy we felt is beyond words. We welcomed the missionaries with open arms - and with banners. We never felt such joy."
From May 1990, when missionaries arrived, to Dec. 31, 1990, there were 102 baptisms in Czechoslovakia. There have been 126 this year, as of June 30.
Of his call to serve as president of the Freiberg Germany Temple, Pres. Snederfler, 59, said, "All people throughout the world are children of God. In the gospel, it makes no difference whether we're German, Russian, Polish, Czechoslovakian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian or any other nationality."
Elder Ringger told the Church News: "When I was notified of the call of Pres. Jiri Snederfler and Sister Olga Snederfler to serve in the Freiberg temple, I was deeply touched and tears filled my eyes. This call will further open the door of the gospel to the Slavic members. Today we may not understand the dimension and spiritual implications of this call for the growth and progress of the Church in the eastern countries of Europe but the future will testify of it. A sentence from a revelation given to Joseph Smith came to my mind: ` . . . that the fullness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and simple unto the ends of the earth.' "
