10981_000_012Latter-day Saints in Mexico build on their heritage of faith to bring a beautiful future to their country.
On November 6, 1945, prayers were answered when the first group of Mexican Latter-day Saints arrived
10981_000_012Latter-day Saints in Mexico build on their heritage of faith to bring a beautiful future to their country.
On November 6, 1945, prayers were answered when the first group of Mexican Latter-day Saints arrived at the Mesa Arizona Temple to receive temple ordinances in their native tongue. José Gracia, then president of the Monterrey Branch said, “We have come to do a great work for ourselves and for our fathers. … Perhaps some of us have made sacrifices, but those that we have made are not in vain. We are joyous in having made them.”1
President Gracia and those who traveled to the temple followed in the footsteps of early Mexican Latter-day Saint pioneers, who likewise sacrificed for the restored gospel.
Laying the Foundation
A land of mountains, deserts, jungles, and exquisite coastlines, ancient Mexico was home to peoples who built beautiful temples and cities. Over the centuries, Mexicans built a strong foundation of faith and prayer that has helped them weather difficult times.
While the Saints were establishing the Church in Utah, the Mexican people were working to restructure their society, including writing a new constitution that separated church and state. The gospel message came to Mexico in 1876 with the first missionaries, who carried selections from the Book of Mormon, which they mailed to prominent Mexican leaders. Baptisms soon followed.
During a special Church conference held on April 6, 1881, branch president Silviano Arteaga, several local leaders, and Apostle Moses Thatcher (1842–1909) climbed the slope of the volcano Mt. Popocatépetl. Elder Thatcher then dedicated the land for the preaching of the gospel.
At the conference President Arteaga prayed, and Elder Thatcher related: “Tears flowed down his wrinkled cheeks, for the deliverance of his race and people. … I never heard any man pray more earnestly, and though praying in a language which I do not comprehend, yet I seemed to understand by the Spirit, all that he was pleading for.”2
During this same time, several Mexican branches were established in the area. Desideria Yañez, an elderly widow in the state of Hidalgo, had a dream about Parley P. Pratt’s pamphlet A Voice of Warning. She sent her son to Mexico City to obtain a copy of the pamphlet, which had just been translated into Spanish. She joined the Church in 1880, becoming the first woman to join the Church in Mexico.3
From that time on many members of the Church in Mexico remained faithful through decades of revolution, persecution, poverty, and isolation.4
Examples of Faithful Pioneers
One example of this faithfulness is found in the branch of San Pedro Martir, organized in 1907. Early members met together just south of Mexico City in an adobe building built by newly baptized Agustin Haro, who was called to preside over the branch. During the difficult years of the Mexican Revolution, when at least one million Mexicans were killed, many Saints sought refuge in San Pedro as their states became a battleground. The Relief Society sisters in San Pedro provided these refugees with much compassionate service.5
Members were also blessed with dedicated leaders such as Rey L. Pratt. Called as president of the Mexico Mission in 1907, he served in that calling until his passing in 1931. He loved the history, culture, and people of Mexico and gained their love and trust as they worked together to strengthen the Church’s foundation there. President Pratt’s efforts to build up native Mexican Church leader