Boris Yeltsin's effect on Utah was more direct than one might think.

Take the Russian literature class at the University of Utah, for example. Six students were enrolled during spring term in 1993. That fall, enrollment jumped to 24 and currently hovers around 30.

"Those numbers are unlike numbers for any upper-division Russian literature class anywhere in the country, said Jane Hacking, assistant professor of Russian and linguistics. "We are the envy of many of our colleagues around the country."

The difference? Mid-1993 is about the time the first wave of LDS missionaries, many from Utah, began enrolling in college after completing two-year assignments in Russia.

In 1991, with the Soviet Union officially defunct and Yeltsin's new government in place, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints established a mission inside Russia for the first time.

Returning LDS missionaries still account for about 90 percent of the Russian majors at the U., Hacking said. Many graduate and move on to traditional government jobs in the FBI, CIA and local law enforcement. But more are returning to Russia to teach English or represent business ventures.

In all of Russia's military history, foreign military had never stepped foot on the island garrison at Kronstadt in the Baltic Sea, not far from St. Petersburg. Then Yeltsin's government invited then-Utah Gov. Norm Bangerter and the Utah National Guard's 23rd Army Band to perform both in St. Petersburg and on Kronstadt. Soldiers from Utah were the focus of a significant diplomatic gesture.

"Boris Yeltsin was a very powerful advocate of religious freedom early in his service," said Gary Browning, a retired Brigham Young University professor and first president of the LDS Church's inaugural Russian mission. Other Western religions gained a firm grasp on the first rung of acceptance in Russia's political and popular culture. It wasn't until 1998, in the final year of Yeltsin's presidency, that the LDS Church and others would gain the highest level of Russian political recognition.

"His role was to create an atmosphere where legislators felt they could propose and then agree upon legislation that would provide democracy in a broad range of areas. It was important for someone to stand out in front and say, 'This is the direction we should go.' Others were willing to follow but someone had to be out in front and have the stature to do what they wanted to do. Without a Yeltsin, that would have been almost impossible," Browning said.