The Church in the Dominican Republic
In 1978, Dominican Latter-day Saints who embraced the restored gospel while living overseas returned to Santo Domingo and helped establish a Latter-day Saint branch. Many Dominicans found a place in the Church. By 1996 nearly half of all missionaries in the Dominican Republic were local members. The first temple in the Caribbean was dedicated in Santo Domingo in 2000.
History of the Church in the Dominican Republic
On June 8, 1978—the day the revelation extending the priesthood to all male members of the Church regardless of race was announced—Eddie and Mercedes Amparo, Dominicans who had been baptized while living in the United States, returned to the Dominican Republic. In the airport, the Amparos met John and Nancy Rappleye, Latter-day Saints from Utah who were moving to Santo Domingo for work. The two families began holding weekly meetings together, and soon Noemí and Rodolfo Bodden decided to accept baptism. Missionaries arrived soon after, and a branch was organized.
The Church grew rapidly. Over the next three years, branches were organized in several neighborhoods of Santo Domingo and in several other communities. In 1980, a mission was organized in Santo Domingo. Around that same time, José Ramón Baez, Ana Rodriguez, Sara Espinosa, and Mayra Bobea, the first full-time missionaries called from the Dominican Republic, began their service abroad.
Dominican Saints have magnified their offices and labored in their might to bring the gospel to their neighbors (see Jacob 1:19). By 1996, nearly half of all missionaries serving in the Dominican Republic were local members, and the missions were the most successful in the Caribbean Area. In 2000, the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple, the first temple in the Caribbean, was dedicated. That same year, a missionary training center opened nearby. In times of need, Dominican Saints have reached out to bear up those around them. In the aftermath of several tropical storms, Dominican Saints have worked to rebuild homes, distribute emergency supplies, and care for the suffering.
Stories of Faith
More Areas of the Church
Notes
- Arcadio Vargas Everts interview: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 2016 August 27. Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
- Christensen, Clinton D. “Senior Missionaries in the Caribbean: Opening the Islands of the Sea, 1978–1990.” In Reid Neilson and Fred Woods, eds., Go Ye into All the World: The Growth and Development of Mormon Missionary Work. Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, 2011, 209–28.
- Dominican Republic Papers, 1981–1986. Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
- Máximo Jiménez and Liona de la Cruz interview: Santo Domingo, Dominican Repúblic, 2015 August 29. Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
- Mortensen, Kevin. Witnessing the Hand of the Lord in the Dominican Republic. Centerville, Utah: DR History Project, 2009.
- Salvador and Ilem Valentin interview: San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2004 March 6. Church History Library, Salt Lake City.