The Church in Venezuela
The first branch of the Church was organized in Venezuela when they received official recognition from the government in 1966. In Caracas, a stake was organized in 1977 and a temple was dedicated in 2000. After 2004 political tensions prevented preaching from outside missionaries, but local Venezuelan missionaries continued spreading the gospel.
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History of the Church in Venezuela
Beginning in 1955, American Latter-day Saints living in Caracas began holding meetings in their homes and inviting neighbors whenever possible. In 1966, Church members received official recognition from the government of Venezuela, and a branch was organized. Missionaries from the Central American Mission arrived soon after and began teaching. In 1967, the first Venezuelan converts—Natividad and Hernán Sepulveda—were baptized.
Over the next decade, branches and districts were organized in Maracaibo, Puerto Ordaz, and Mérida. In 1977, Venezuelan Saints traveled to Salt Lake City, where they participated in temple ordinances. Later that year, a stake was organized in Caracas. Members continued to work to share the gospel with their neighbors and prepare the way for one another to attend the temple and make sacred covenants. After the São Paulo Brazil Temple was dedicated in 1978, members in Venezuela made regular group trips to the house of the Lord. When the Caracas Venezuela Temple was dedicated in 2000, membership in Venezuela was nearing 100,000.
In 2004, Venezuela underwent a major political revolution. New laws prevented most non-Venezuelans from preaching in the country. Church leaders discussed closing the four missions in the country, but Venezuelan Saints, committed to the Church’s continued presence in the country, assumed leadership of the missions, and young men and women across the country accepted callings as missionaries. Through their faith and diligence, Venezuelan Saints have shown that “the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people” (1 Nephi 22:20). The four missions have remained open since 2004, with no outside leadership or staffing support.
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Notes
Baum, Floyd S., comp. “Venezuela, Early Missionary Work November 1966–July 1968: A Collection,” 2014. Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
Jensen, Jay E., Francisco J. Viñas, and Carl B. Pratt. “Conversation: The Church in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela,” Ensign, Jan. 1997, 79–80.
Manning, Alan K., comp. “The Opening of Venezuela for the Preaching of the Gospel,” 2000. Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
Portal, Alejandro, and Beatriz Porto. Interview, Mar. 25, 2011. Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
Un Bosquejo de la Historia de la Iglesia en Venezuela: 1966 a 1986 (Sistema Educativo de La Iglesia S.E.I., 1986), 4. Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
“Venezuela Opened to Missionary Work.” Church News, Nov. 12, 1966.