Upon his release he managed to convert one of the witnesses who had got him imprisoned, one Antonin Just, and he would be the first person baptised into the LDS church on Czech soil.

[6] A mission to Czechoslovakia was created July 24, 1929 by John A. Widtsoe[7] and the first Czech language Book of Mormons were printed in February 1933.

[10] Following the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 the church reduced the amount of missionary work and focussed mostly on their baptised members.

[14] In 1949 the, now Communist, government of Czechoslovakia stopped issuing permits to LDS missionaries, effectively rendering their presence in the country illegal.

This had been the only mission in an East European Communist country[16] Local members continued to operate services, though the church was no longer recognised by the government.