The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico

Mexico is home to the largest body of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) outside of the United States.

History

The first missionaries of the LDS Church in Mexico came in 1874. This was shortly after Daniel W. Jones and Meliton Trejo had begun to translate the Book of Mormon into Spanish. The first missionaries did not perform any baptisms. Later in 1879, more missionary efforts were started in Mexico City. The first person baptized a member of the LDS Church in that city was Plotino C. Rhodakanaty. Missionary work in central Mexico continued until 1889 when it was halted for a time.

In 1885, a group of Latter-day Saints from Utah Territory and Arizona Territory settled in the state of Chihuahua. They were fleeing the U.S. federal government prosecution of Mormon polygamists. These Latter-day Saints eventually founded the settlements of Colonia Juárez, Colonia Dublán, four more in Chihuahua, and two in the state of Sonora.

In 1901, the Mexican Mission of the church was re-established with Ammon M. Tenney as president. In 1910, Rey L. Pratt became president. By 1912 he was forced to leave Mexico City but he was able to put most of the branches in Central Mexico under the leadership of local members. Among these was Rafael Monroy.

Most of the Mormon colonists left in 1912 due to rising violence, but many returned some were able to return in later years. Pratt remained as mission president until his death, also establishing missionary work among the Spanish-speaking populations in the Southwestern United States.

In 1936, a group of people called the Third Convention, influenced by the spirit of the Mexican Revolution, called for a Mexican to serve as president of the church's mission in Mexico. The tactics of this group led to the excommunication of its members. In 1946, George Albert Smith, the President of the Church, visited Mexico. He was able to establish a reconciliation with most of the members of the Third Convention and the vast majority of this group were brought back into the church.

In 1956, the Mexican Mission was divided for the first time, with the Northern Mexican Mission being organized. From this time forward the church focused on setting up the structure to organize stakes. In 1959, the church established a network of schools outside of Colonia Juárez. The only one of these still functioning, the preparatory school Benemerito, was established in 1963 in Mexico City.

The first Spanish-speaking stake in Mexico was organized in Mexico City in 1961. In 1966 Agricol Lozano became the first indigenous Mexican to serve as a stake president. In 1970, the Monterrey Stake (now Monterrey Mexico Mitras Stake) was organized with Guillermo G. Garza as president. This was the first stake in Mexico outside of the Mormon colonies and the Mexico City area.

Temples

The México City México Temple was the first LDS Church temple in Mexico; it was dedicated in 1983 and was rededicated after renovation in 2008.

From 1999 to 2002 an additional 11 temples were dedicated in Mexico. This comes after historic June 29, 1993, when the Mexican government formally registered the LDS Church, allowing it to own property.^[1]

Current status

As of year-end 2007, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) reported 1,121,893 members, 210 stakes, 40 districts, 1,459 wards, 503 branches, 21 missions, and 12 temples in Mexico.^[1]

As of January 2009, two men of Mexican birth and descent were serving in the First Quorum of the Seventy: Benjamin de Hoyos and Octaviano Tenorio. Carl B. Pratt, another general authority, was born and raised in Mexico but is of Anglo-American descent. Clate W. Mask of the Second Quorum of the Seventy is a native of El Paso, Texas whose mother was an immigrant from Mexico and whose grandfather was the first native Mexican to serve as a missionary for the church.

See also

• Mormon colonies in Mexico
• Mormon Corridor
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership statistics

References

• 2009 Deseret Morning News Church Almanac (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Morning News, 2008) pp. 413–419
• F. LaMond Tullis. Mormons in Mexico: The Dynamics of Faith and Culture. (Provo: Museo de Historia del Mormonismo en Mexico A. C., 1997)
• F. LaMond Tullis. "Mexico" in Arnold K. Garr, et al., ed. The Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000) pp. 741–743.

Further reading

• Robinson, Shirley Taylor (1992), "Mexico, Pioneer Settlements in", in Ludlow, Daniel H., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, New York, NY: Macmillan, pp. 895–897, ISBN 0-02-904040-X, OCLC 24502140, http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/EoM,3926 .
• Rubalcava, Boanerges (1992), "Mexico and Central America, The Church in", in Ludlow, Daniel H., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, New York, NY: Macmillan, pp. 297–902, ISBN 0-02-904040-X, OCLC 24502140, http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/EoM,3927 .

External links

• LDS Newsroom (Mexico)
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Official Site for Mexico (Español)