[MUSIC PLAYING]
Néstor Curbelo, a native of Uruguay,
has lived most of his adult life in Argentina.
After joining the Church, he served a full-time--as
a missionary and then began working with the Church
Educational System in Argentina while concurrently serving
in various leadership capacities in the Church and later
as the director of public affairs.
Since the 1980s, he has served as Church historian
in Argentina, and then in 2010 was
called to be the area Church history advisor for all
of the South America South Area and has served in that capacity
until the present time.
He recently had articles featured
not only in the local pages of the Liahona in South America
but also in the October 2014 Ensign.
Just last week, Nestor was awarded the Leonard Arrington
Award for Outstanding Contributions and Distinguished
Service to Mormon History at the Mormon History Association
conference.
Nestor has recorded and donated over 400
oral and video histories to both the Church History Library
Department and BYU, accompanied by literally
thousands of images of people and documents
he has gathered of early Church history
throughout Latin America, with particular focus on Argentina.
He has produced over 30 documentaries, many of which
have been aired on BYU Television International,
and has produced five books about the Church in Argentina,
Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, and Bolivia, respectively,
and several more on the way.
Welcome, Nestor Curbelo.
[APPLAUSE]
Brothers and sisters and friends and old friends
that I know in this audience, to come
from the other side of the equator land in the Southern
Hemisphere, where it is now winter,
to give a presentation that may expand and contribute
to your understanding and awareness of the faith
of the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints worldwide is not an easy task.
My concern is that we will not be
able to develop a true international sister-
and brotherhood in the Church until we
are able to better understand their manner of life,
their faith, and their work, like Doctrine
and Covenants says.
We need to understand each other to become friends,
to become brothers and sisters.
This valley, with a long tradition and generation
of faith, and those of us who live geographically distant,
with diverse cultures and distant social and political
realities, must become united.
The purpose, the proposed purpose,
of doing a history of the Church is
to finalize, collect, preserve and share
all that demonstrates the way that the hand of the Lord
touches our life.
Today, the fact that the Church is worldwide means that
the universe where the significant and important
histories occurred--are occurring--has expanded
to the entire world.
The question is how Mormon historians possibly deal
with this extensive history.
Looking at the size of the challenge,
why should we even attempt to fulfill the mandate
that the Lord gave us in the date of the organization
of the Church in April 6, 1830, in Fayette, New York?
As you remember, He says that day, "Behold,
there shall be a record kept among you."
The gospel, the priesthood, the scriptures, the miracles,
the faith, and the sacrifice that
occurred during the early days of the Church
in the 19th century are now duplicated all over the world.
It is the same God, the same power, and the same purposes.
Can He continue to be in the same Church history?
I can testify that after having visited, interviewed,
and documented the lives of hundreds of persons
and families throughout the Spanish-speaking countries
during the last 30 years, I have seen manifestations
of faith, miracles and sacrifice equal to those
of the early days of the Church in the life
of the members of the Latter-day Saints in Latin America.
I don't doubt that the same happened
in all the remote parts of the world
where the Church has been established.
How can we bring to the entire Church knowledge
of this experience and faith of members distant from the center
so that they contribute to the building
of a real worldwide brotherhood and sisterhood?
One of the ways we can meet that goal
is throughout sharing history.
The collecting and preservation of the history and stories
wherever they are found began with a more concentrated
program in the last five years.
The historical department of the Church
has significantly expanded its work
to all of the areas of the world.
We, the brothers and sisters in distant areas of the Church,
have also grown in faith, similar to the marvelous
history of the Church beginning in Palmyra, New York,
extending to the Salt Lake Valley.
We all recognize and appreciate this early history
that always, always will be the foundation and the trunk
of the history of the Church to build a faith
in the entire world regardless of what happened
in other parts of the Church.
The challenge is not just to collect and preserve
the history of the distant Church
but to tell and publish those histories to the members.
The present Church has an extraordinary means
of communication that make the goal less challenging.
We have seen the amazing opening of doors
communicating our faith and history
throughout the social media.
The prophets have taught us the concept
that we are a peculiar people, a holy nation, a people united
with the same gospel, the same faith, the same baptism.
The dissemination of our stories, experience,
and histories will be one method and technique
to create this unity.
What will be the reason to preserve
in records of our history if we never read them,
we don't know it, and we don't learn from it?
What will be the purpose to preserve the history?
What the purpose will be to have a Church history that not
contribute to the faith of the members?
How will it be if the Book of Mormon
is still in the Hill of Cumorah today?
What value will be to preserve the history
of the Book of Mormon or the sacrifice the ancient prophets
did if we never publish it?
This suggests the following: In most
of the distant areas of the Church,
there actually does not exist written history
that is accessible to most of the members.
There have been occasional articles
published in the Church magazine that were excellent.
In the last two or three years, Church history
has been included in the area website pages.
In some countries and areas, with effort
of individual members, there have been written and published
histories, many, many with incomplete or questionable
documentation.
This private publication have very limited possibilities
to be distributed among the members of the Church
where they are published.
There are some important published histories
that are only found in English, which
are beyond the ability of most of the members to read it.
I have been privileged to teach seminary and institute
classes for over 30 years, and I can only
remember four books of the Church history
that exist in Spanish.
The first, I remember with a lot of love,
is essential to Church history, from Joseph Fielding Smith.
We studied this book in Sunday School in the '60s.
Also The Restored Church and a study
guide, and the History of the Church
in the Dispensation of the Fullness of Time.
And finally Our Legacy, that we all know.
Two of those books are textbooks for seminaries and institute.
But interesting saying that in these four publications
that we are familiar with them, that there are only maybe 20
pages in total that dedicate to the history of the Church
outside North America in the 20th century.
I cannot recall any included examples of faith
of the members of the Church, only description on the success
of the Church in different parts of the world.
I am not interested to minimize the importance
of the fundamental pioneer history of the Church,
or even--I'm not trying to increase the visibility
for our members in faraway places.
All I want to suggest is the need
to add our testimony of faith to the traditional history
of the Church in North America and continue
to build a brother- and a sisterhood of faith.
It is not enough to have written histories in our countries.
We need to add our story of faith
to those of all of the Church to build a feeling of a united
people and know of the faith of the members
in other parts of the world.
Let me tell you a little joke.
There is more than 17 miracles.
There are hundreds, even thousands
of miracles that regularly occur whenever
the Saint of the Latter-day Saints are.
I've heard testimony of those miracles.
I have heard a description of many.
I have personally witnessed many.
What we need to do is have them recorded, described
and documented, saved and protected,
and then share them at the appropriate time
when the story of this miracle will strengthen the faith.
These ideas are applicable to all the continents.
I'm not talking only about Latin America.
All the faraway members of the Church
from the center of the Church, which is in Utah.
We find inspiring examples of faith
wherever members are found in the world.
However, for this presentation, I
will give an example of the histories of which I
am familiar: the Spanish-speaking countries
in Latin America.
In this example, we will see how prophecy
comes before the history.
Before telling these stories, it's
necessary to place them in the historical context.
So I'm going to mention some things to give you
this context.
First of it, the total population of the Church today
is a little more than 15 million members,
and probably you're gonna be surprised with this,
there is 43 percent that lives today in the United States.
And there is--many thousands are Spanish-speaking,
English and Spanish and many other languages.
In Latin America now, there is 40 percent
of the members of the Church.
In the rest of the world, 17 percent.
Now I would like just to go through some
of the important events in the history of the Church in Latin
America.
The first to be mentioned is 1879.
The first missionaries went to Mexico.
Let me tell you that Mexico is the door through where
the Church got into the Spanish world.
Mexico is our old brother in the Church.
In 1925, Elder Melvin J. Ballard dedicated South America
for the preaching of the gospel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Nineteen twenty-eight, the Church
is established in Brazil.
Nineteen forty-seven, the work begin in Central America
and in Uruguay.
Nineteen fifty-six, the beginning
of the work in Chile and Peru.
Nineteen sixty-six, the first stakes
are organized in Brazil and in Argentina.
Nineteen seventy-eight, the first temple in Latin America
is dedicated in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
This is a temple where all the members in South America
get sealed and attend for the first time.
In 1983 a temple is dedicated in Santiago, Chile.
Nineteen eighty-six, a temple is dedicated in Lima, Peru,
and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Now I would like to talk about a moment of prophecy
and revelation, and you will see how prophecy
came before the history.
We all know the story of Lehi and his family
and relatives and friends coming to the Americas.
Academics in the Church continue looking
for evidence of the place they arrived
and the location of their subsequent history.
To me, however, what is much greater
importance are the inspirational words he spoke in the time.
What Lehi spoke in that day.
And here is a quotation.
"But, said he, notwithstanding our afflictions,
we have obtained a land of promise, a land which
is choice above all other lands; a land which the Lord God
hath covenanted with me should be
a land for the inheritance of my seed.
Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me,
and to my children forever, and also
all those who should be led out of other countries
by the hand of the Lord."
So this is what I want to remark.
"Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according
to the workings of the Spirit which
is in me, that there shall none come into this land
save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord."
There are many opinions related to this land of promise.
Where is the land as Lehi see it?
But the prophets talked often about the topic
on numerous occasions.
I know many quotations from all the prophets referring to Zion.
I will mention only three of those quotations.
The first is from Joseph Smith in a conference in 1844.
"The Prophets have spoken and written upon it.
But I will make a proclamation that will cover broader ground.
The whole America is Zion itself from north to south,
and is described by the Prophets."
President Brigham Young in 1860: "You
need not teach that this place is Zion,
or that Nauvoo or Missouri is Zion;
but tell the people that North and South America are
the land of Zion, and that our God will finish his work where
he commenced it."
And the last quotation is from from President Ezra Taft
Benson.
In that time he was an Apostle.
And, to me, it's very special because this declaration was
in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1960, and they published it
in the Liahona magazine.
And they make a comment in the Liahona saying,
"We were surprised with what Elder Benson says."
And hear what he says.
"I'm sure, my brothers and sisters,
the day will come when there will be stakes of Zion
and then there will be temples in this beautiful land
since it is part of the land of Zion,
and I am certain that it is the desire of our Heavenly Father
that you have all the blessing of the gospel,
including the rich and inestimable blessings that
come from the temples of God."
Now I would like to talk for a minute about
immigration--immigration in South America,
not in the United States.
For members of the Church in North America,
the history of the immigration to the United
States from Europe is a well-known story.
Few, however, realize that at the same time,
that there was similar immigration of Europeans
to Latin America.
Even though immigrants came to North America from all over
the world, the original--most was from United Kingdom and not
in Europe.
Similarly, immigrants came from all over the world
to Latin America.
But the original, most were from the Catholic countries
of southern Europe.
War, political problems, lack of opportunity, desire for land,
and other issues encouraged immigration.
Similarities of religion, weather, and culture
were the attraction to the South,
as similar factor were for the United States.
For example, in Argentina between 1861 until 1920,
2,700,000 Italians and over 1,200,000 Spaniards
immigrate to Argentina.
The immigration from Europe significantly
changed the culture and many of the countries of Latin America.
So, now I want to mention another moment
of revelation and inspiration, a prophetic moment.
In 1925, the First Presidency announced the beginning
of the missionary work in South America
and sent there three missionaries
to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to dedicate the land
and begin the work.
The General Authorities who were sent
were Elder Melvin J. Ballard from the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles, and Rey L. Pratt and Rulon S. Wells of the Seventy.
On December 25, 1925, at 7 o'clock in the morning,
these three missionaries went to the small wooded area
of willows in Palermo Park next to the Rio de la Plata,
where Elder Ballard gave the dedicatory prayer.
Events such as these are a moment
of prophecy and revelation.
Here are quotes from his prayer:
"[We] approach Thee on this beautiful Christmas morning,
in this secluded spot, in the City of Buenos Aires,
Argentina, South America, in a land far distant from
our mountain home, but in a country which Thou has called
a part of the Land of Zion.
We are grateful that we have been chosen
by Thy servant, President Heber J. Grant,
to come to this great land of South America,
to unlock the door for the preaching of the gospel,
to all of the people of the South American Nations.
To search out the blood of Israel
that has been sifted among the Gentile nations,
many of whom, influenced by the spirit of gathering,
have assembled in this land.
And we also pray, that we may see,
the beginning of the fulfillment of Thy
promises, contained in the Book of Mormon,
to the Indians of this land, who are descendants of Lehi."
Six months later, in July 4th of 1926, just prior
to returning to the United States,
Elder Ballard gave a prophecy related
to the growth of the Church in all of South America.
It is important to place his work in historical context
and their mission.
Of the three missionaries, only Elder Pratt spoke Spanish.
Early in the mission, Elder Wells got seriously ill
and had to return home a few weeks after arriving
to Buenos Aires.
In Buenos Aires there were only two families--German families,
immigrants--who were members of the Church,
who had written to the First Presidency requiring that
the missionaries were sent to Argentina.
Elder Ballard, who did not speak Spanish,
distributed more than 12,000 flyers
in the street and the train of the Buenos Aires city.
In those six months, they were only
successful to attract a few families to attend
the meetings held in what was the mission home, which
was also the living quarters.
Within the context, notice Elder Ballard's words.
This is another moment of revelation.
"The work of the Lord will grow slowly for a time
here just as an oak tree grows slowly from an acorn.
It will not shoot up in a day as does the sunflower that
grows quickly and then dies.
But thousands will join the Church here.
It will be divided into more than one mission
and will be one of the strongest in the Church.
The work here is the smallest that it will ever be.
The day will come when the Lamanites in this land
will be given a chance.
The South American Mission will be a power in the Church. "
For those who know the story of the evolution of the Church
in South America, it is amazing to see
how the history of the past 90 years
follows exactly the prophetic vision of Elder Ballard.
There was slow and deliberate growth for many years,
but then came the time to expand and strengthen.
One can recognize at the present time
that South America is a power in the Church.
The Church first began in the Atlantic, with the immigrants.
And after, in the '60s, they went to the Lamanites
in the other countries.
Now I will tell you three stories that reflect
what we have been talking.
The first is this.
It's a story of an immigrant that
came to Argentina and Uruguay,
In 1865 a ship called Mimosa arrived
on the coast of Southern Argentina
in the area called Patagonia, an Indian territory in that time,
bringing the first group of several Welsh immigrants, who
will settle it first near the Chubut River
and later extended westward to the Andes Mountains.
These Welsh settlers established similar communities
in the Patagonia and were able to maintain
their language and their culture while
at the same time successfully integrating themselves
into the Argentine nation.
They maintained their religion, belief, and practice,
and today we can visit 16 chapels built
by them in their settlements.
They were farmers and traders.
They were able to establish peaceful and cordial
relationship with the Tehuelches Indians who lived in this area.
Why would Welsh immigrants settle
in a harsh desert of Patagonia?
Why are these settlers still there?
There are many stories and explanations,
but I wish here to tell one story to share
what we have been talking about
that was brought by the hand of the Lord.
One of the important leaders of this country was Lewis
Jones--it's a Welsh name, not an English name--whose name was
given to the city of Trelew, which means in Welsh "City
of Lewis."
At the end of the 1940s the president
of the Argentine mission, W. Ernest Young, and then
Harold Brown both sent missionaries to the Welsh
colonies in Patagonia.
Iris Lloyd as a 16-year-old teenager, a descendent Lewis
Jones, believed the message of the Mormon missionaries
related to the Prophet Joseph Smith but was
but was not baptized.
She was the only one in her family
that believed and kept the testimony here for 15 years,
and when she became an adult was baptized
and consequently raised her family in the Church.
In the history of the Church in Argentina,
there is several families from the Welsh colonies
who have a legacy of faith.
I would like to conclude its history with the words of Elder
Alin Spannaus, presently in Area Seventy
and one of the sons of Iris Lloyd Spannaus Spannaus.
Listen to his testimony.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
I was thinking about the impact of one man's decision
when Lewis Jones, the Welsh leader,
decides along with his brother Michael Lee Jones
to come to Argentina with the Welsh, to America.
They had the chance either to go to the US
and to La Patagonia in Argentina.
Lewith Jones decided to go to Argentina.
And it is said in the Book of Mormon that--it a prophecy that
everyone will come to America being led by the hand
of the Lord.
So for me is very clear that Lewis Jones was
inspired to come to Argentina.
Now, some years later my mother, who
is the great-grandchildren of Lewis Jones, Iris Lloyd,
she was the seventh children of seven siblings.
She was the youngest.
And when the missionaries came to my grandparents' home,
she was the only one who believed
in the message of the Prophet Joseph Smith, you know?
But my grandparents didn't allow her to be baptized.
She was 15.
But she stayed strong with these feelings,
and finally--she stayed active for 15 years without being
baptized and finally decided to be baptized in [INAUDIBLE]
in Argentina 50 years ago.
Those two decisions, Lewith Jones
on one hand coming to America and my mother
accepting the message of two young missionaries who
were preaching on horses, literally
has had a super impact in my personal life.
Not only mine--my wife, my children and the whole
posterity.
So it is quite clear for me that two decisions that were
inspired in one moment in life have a huge impact
in posterities--not just one posterity, but posterities:
my brothers and sister, people we preach,
friends of ours that were baptized because our own
preaching when we were missionaries, et cetera.
So when you see that in perspective--and I have
at least 50 years of perspective--I can see
the impact of one decision in time,
and it's quite amazing and unequivocally inspired.
[END PLAYBACK]
The second story begins in Spain.
In 1917, a young 17-year-old teenager by name Ramón Ávila
left his native Spain with a cousin,
crossing the Atlantic in an old boat,
arriving in Argentina hoping to fulfill a dream.
He wanted to make enough money to give
to his widowed mother and older brother and sister a better
life.
His plan was to work in Argentina
and send part of his salary back to Spain
to help to provide his family with financial assistance
they couldn't get in their small village.
He was successful in helping his family
but never returned to Spain.
Ramón met a young immigrant woman in Buenos Aires,
married her, and raised a family of seven children.
In the 1940s, Mormon missionaries entered
into the life of the Ávila family and converted them
to the Church through a miracle of faith.
Today, the Ávila family have left a mark in the Church
in Argentina.
Listen to the testimony of Elder Juan Carlos Ávila,
one of the grandchildren of Ramón and Eliza Avila.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- [SPEAKING SPANISH]
[END PLAYBACK]
The last story that I have for you began in Spain also.
The name is Sacramento and Rafael Viñas.
They were two young friends who lived in Seville.
The Viñas family owned a factory and allowed them to live
financially well.
Rafael was privileged to study in the Spanish Air Force
school.
And then in 1936 the Spanish Civil War begins,
and the life became very confusing.
When Rafael Viñas and his companion were sent to prison
and received a sentence of death,
every day Rafael watched as Some of his companions were removed
and later heard the gunfire that took their lives.
By miracle, Rafael's life was saved,
but he spent four years in prison.
Shortly after getting a pardon from General Francisco Franco,
he was set free.
He returned home and married his girlfriend
of his youth, Sacramento.
But Rafael has only one thought in his mind:
leave Spain and immigrate to the Americas.
In 1948 the Viñas, with their three young children,
left Spain, leaving their families, friends,
good economic condition, and went to Paraguay,
where they soon met the Mormon missionaries.
They decided to settle in Uruguay,
where they contacted the missionaries again and were
soon baptized by Elder Richard G. Scott and Elder Roland
Skinner.
Both--you know Elder Richard G. Scott,
a member of the Quorum of the Twelve today,
and Roland Skinner, a missionary from Utah.
The Viñas family were pioneers in the Church in Uruguay
and have also left a legacy and a name or faith.
Listen to the thought of Elder Francisco Viñas,
today a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy,
the young son of Rafael and Sacramento.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
The fact that I am able to be here this afternoon
is a blessing for which I must express appreciation
to my parents, who many years ago when the missionaries came
to them, heard for the first time the voice of the Lord
through his servants and hearkened to it.
That changed the course of their lives
and was a great influence in the lives of their children
and grandchildren.
[END PLAYBACK]
Dear brothers and sisters and friends, with this discussion
I hope you see the necessity to share our experience of faith
in the gospel, which will in turn increase our fellowship
and unity in a worldwide Church.
We have listened to a few beautiful stories.
Now I want to leave you with this word
from the Book of Mormon:
"He inviteth them all to come into him
and partake of his goodness; and he
denieth none that come into him, black and white, bond
and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen;
and all are like into God, both Jew and Gentile."
I say this to you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
We do have a little time for questions.
Please wait for the microphone.
Always is good to have a good friend.
I know Irma since she was a teenager, almost.
Me too.
OK, brothers and sisters, some of you have some questions.
I just want to know--because this whole talk is helping us
to understand the Latinos, so we can understand them and love
them--how has recording the histories affected
their testimonies?
Have you seen any influence in that?
Can you repeat the last part?
Because there was [INAUDIBLE].
Yeah.
Totally.
How has recording their histories affected the Latinos?
That they have access to it, to their histories
and their stories?
That's a good question.
I can answer this in English.
OK.
Well, like I said during the talks,
we pick up--a door have been opened for us to share.
We are talking about sharing history on both sides:
from outside and for here.
We exchange it.
So now the Church has wonderful media tools.
So the answer to this question will be just in a few weeks,
we're going to have a website called "The Church History
in South America South."
And you're gonna see there many histories, even documentaries,
even the complete story of the Sacramento and Rafael Viñas
in a documentary.
They're gonna be published just in a while.
So remember www.mormondelsur.org/history.
Even today you can get to this page.
That answer to you?
Was the pattern throughout of all
of the South American countries similar to what
you described here?
The immigrants from Europe joined the Church first
before the Native people joined the Church?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Well, I don't know if I should say this in public,
but when you say Latin America really is not Latin America.
Because we have the mestizo culture that come from the,
you know, the Spaniards with the Indians.
And we have the African root, which
is very strong in many of the countries like Brazil
and Colombia and Ecuador.
So there is a mix that is like an additional state.
So we can have immigrant from Europe in the Atlantic,
and the Indians in Bolivia, Peru,
Ecuador, and many other places.
So South America is a garden with many flowers.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Well, I think that there is two times.
One is when the conquerors--
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
The people they colonized and came to America.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
They want to conquer, like Columbus.
And then the people that arrive from Europe.
There are two different stage in South America.
And the other one is the immigration that came
because of the war, like in Spain and many others--and most
of them came to the Atlantic.
But you can see very clear the Spanish and Italian group
to all the South American countries.
I think it would be interesting to know if any of Lewis
Jones's families from Wales are presently members of the Church
in Wales and Brother Ávila--whatever became of his
family in Spain?
Have they become members of the Church?
And do the Ávilas in Spain today and the Lewis Jones family know
the contribution that has been made in South America
in the Church?
If that research hasn't been done,
perhaps it would be interesting to discover
the answers to those questions.
OK.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
No, he doesn't know if there really is any in the Wales
or in Spain.
They don't know yet.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
He's going now to try to find what is going on about that.
But we don't know about it right now.
Ray Mortonson.
Yeah.
Let me propose some input on Chile.
The first members there were definitely not immigrated
from other nations other than the fact
that they, yes, had mixed blood with them.
But they were Native Chileans, mostly having
crossed with the Indians at the time, Ricardo Garcia
being the first one in the nation.
And then the remainder of those, as you
went about from new branch to new branch,
you found that there was an awful lot of German
mixed in with them, together with English.
The main street, for instance, in Santiago, Chile,
is Bernardo O'Higgins.
That's not very Araucano.
That's more English.
So you do see that there is a great mixture of the blood.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Today I refer to the Italian and Spanish because ...
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
because the stories that I shared with
you were for those countries.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
But there are multiple nations in South America.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
The Church started in South America in Brazil
and in Argentina we see German people.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Was President Williams--Frederick Williams
was one of the first presidents there.
And he got a book with all the families,
first families members of the Church in those years.
They were from ...
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
In the branches they have in that moment
he count 15 different countries, nationalities
for different countries that were members
of the Church in that moment.
And that was in 1950s?
No.
Excuse me that was when he was a missionary.
That was about 1928.
1928.
That's enough?
OK.
Maybe the last question?
From your lecture I understand that the Church--missionaries
went to Mexico in the 1800s, but it wasn't until the 1970s that
they got to other Latin American countries.
Just wondering why did it take so long
for missionaries to go to other Latin American countries
if they were in Mexico 100 years earlier.
OK.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Well, the first easy answer is because it was not the time.
But also, the Church was prepared
to expand it to all the world.
So they went to Mexico, and there was a lot of problem
to get into Mexico because of revolution
and many other things.
So what I would say, when the time came
they sent the missionaries to South America in 1925.
I would say that the Church maybe was not prepared,
but also the field was not prepared
because of the influence of the Catholic
Church, the political situation and many other reasons.
But that was a time, and the growth of the Church after 1925
were very slow, like Elder Ballard says.
The real expanding of the Church in South America
begins in 1960.
Let me add to his question and partly to what you're saying.
So almost all of the countries, whenever missionaries
eventually got there, was by request
to Salt Lake City that missionaries be sent.
And so no matter what country it was,
that's the way it happened.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Well, usually when the Church begins some work,
there is some context.
There is some reason to send missionaries there.
But they work together, the purpose of the Lord
to open South America for preaching the gospel,
and some specific person.
There are key person in that time.
I don't think that the Church was open in South America
because just a family wrote a letter to the First Presidency.
It's because it was time, and the people
was prepared to receive the missionaries and the gospel.
Well, maybe one more.
The last one?
This is the real last one.
No more?
I was wondering if you have any idea--with so many members
of the Church that are Spanish-speaking,
why there are so few publications by the Church that
are in Spanish language?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Well, maybe it is same answer that I said before.
Maybe it's not good enough, but it's the time now.
Sometimes everything has to be prepared,
and the Church must be prepared.
Because it's not only Latin America.
Think in Africa today.
Think in Asia, Philippines.
So how can the Church expand so fast?
With the resources, and you have publication,
and you have everything organized.
So I would say that the time is in this moment
because we have wonderful opportunity now
to publish our histories.
All I said is we need to share history
to become better brothers and sisters.
That's all that I wanted to say this night.
[APPLAUSE]