Otakar Vojkuvka — Inspiration for the 'Yoga' Cover

During the Communist era in Czechoslovakia, the LDS Church was strictly banned, and members were under constant surveillance by the StB (Secret Police). Otakar Vojkuvka, a key leader of the 'underground' Church in Brno, received spiritual inspiration to use the teaching of yoga and healthy lifestyles as a 'front' for LDS activities. Under this guise, the Saints were able to meet, study the gospel, and hold annual summer retreats (referred to as 'Yoga camps') for decades. This inspired strategy effectively shielded the Saints from arrest, as the authorities viewed their gatherings as secular health interests rather than illegal religious meetings, allowing the branch to survive and grow in secret.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in Christian Yoga, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints):

Frequently in the history of the Church, members have continued to share the gospel even in the absence of full-time missionaries. Over the next several months, Vojkůvka and his family gave Kovářová other books about the Church to read and then to discuss with them. Finally, at Kovářová’s request, they gave her one of their most cherished books to read: a nearly 40-year-old copy of the Book of Mormon in Czech. Before reading, Kovářová began to research the Church on her own. Shortly after her baptism, Kovářová began teaching Christian yoga classes of her own. With the Vojkůvka family’s support, she started a summer camp where young people throughout the country came to hear the message. Through these lectures, 130 people embraced the gospel and were baptized, and branches were organized in Uherské Hradiště and Jičín. “I soon realized,” Olga later observed, “that I had become one new link in the chain of women who have been significant among Latter-day Saints in Czechoslovakia.”