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Crypto-Mormons or Pseudo-Mormons?
Western Folklore, Summer 2002 by Eliason, Eric A, Browning, Gary
Our efforts to meet Mekhzavod's "Mormons" proved fruitless, but the recollections of Dan Jones, one of the first Latter-day Saint missionaries in Samara, suggest we may have missed something. Elder Jones's missionary journal entries reflect his focus on proselytizing at the time and mention little more than "we then went to visit the 'Mormons.' We talked with them about the Church for a while and then decided it wasn't worth it to go out there" (Jones 24 June 1993).
In 2000, Jones remembered that in May 1993-when Russian curiosity about things Western and religious was still high-a small group of people from Mekhzavod called "Mormons" sought him out to discuss religious matters. Jones recalls, "They did call themselves 'Mormony' but I'm not really clear as to whether they originally called themselves that or if they adopted the name that others gave them" (Jones 9 June 2000). Only after listening to the missionaries' message did the "Mormons" reluctantly explain that their religion had a leader or chief, was strictly off-limits to outsiders, and did not proselytize. Even members' own children were not told of their faith until they were initiated into its absolutely secret practices. Some of their group opposed the delegation's decision to contact the Latter-day Saint missionaries. In meeting with Jones, these Mekhzavod "Mormon" delegates showed little interest in the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith but were keen to know about secret Latter-day Saint temple ceremonies. Of course, Jones could not give them the details that they wanted, and they left, reluctant to make any further appointments. Eventually, Jones stopped visiting them. His is the only known, detailed, firsthand account of meeting known "Mormons" in Mekhzavod, people who were probably descendants of Samara "Mormons" (Jones June 13, 2000). Jones received the impression that the delegation may have been hoping to fill in gaps in their understanding of their own religion or to find information that may have been lost over the years. However, they quickly concluded that the Latter-day Saint missionaries were not adherents of the same faith and decided to have nothing more to do with them. Apparently, from the point of view of these Mekhzavod "Mormons," Latter-day Saint missionaries represented the "other Mormons."29
CONCLUSIONS
Bogdanovka, Mekhzavod, and Orenburg show a variety of ways the term Mormon is used in contemporary Russia. Local understandings of grave markers in a cemetery near Mekhzavod further illuminate the complexity of representation and misinterpretation concerning Russia's indigenous "Mormons." In this cemetery, along with the predominant Russian Orthodox crosses and abstract geometric Soviet-era markers are found many, perhaps more than a hundred, triangle-capped crosses-the "Mormon crosses" mentioned in Elder Scott's report (see fig. 1). Indeed, the surnames on these crosses can be found among the Mekhzavod residents identified as "Mormons." However, two sextons and the cemetery director, the latter a practicing Old Believer, all confirmed that a peaked-roof cross indicates an Old Believer grave. The Rogozhskoe Cemetery in Moscow at the spiritual center of Old Believerdom contains similar triangular crosses almost exclusively (fig. 4). A priest on duty confirmed that peaked crosses are distinctively Old Believer, but ascribed no special significance or function to the design except perhaps "to keep water off."
