William Fred Heinz, an Idaho farm boy, knew how to plow fertile ground. So it was no surprise that as one of the first Latter-day Saint missionaries to Brazil in 1928 he was among the first to plant the seeds of the gospel in that land.

The German-speaking young man from Rexburg, Idaho, pioneered the work in Brazil and baptized the first members of the Church there more than six decades ago. Now at age 87, he recalls the events as if they occurred yesterday.Born in 1907 in the home where he still lives, he is the son of Mormon converts who immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1898. Because his parents spoke German in their home, he learned the language even before he knew English.

His German background led to his being one of four missionaries called by President Heber J. Grant to serve a mission to Argentina, a South American country where many Germans had colonized. It took Elder Heinz one-and-a-half months to travel from Idaho to Buenos Aires, which included 29 days on a steamer that sailed from New York City to Argentina.

He began his service not far from the site where, four years earlier, in 1925, Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve dedicated South America for missionary work. The Church's missionary effort moved to Brazil two years later when South American Mission Pres. Reinhold Stoof visited Brazil. He later received permission from the First Presidency to return to Brazil with two missionaries to begin proselyting in Joinville, a community made up of mostly German immigrants. In September 1928, the mission president returned with Elder Heinz and his companion, Elder Emil A.J. Schindler from Munich, Germany.

"We arrived by boat. We were to take a smaller boat to shore but there was a big wind storm and the small boat couldn't get to us," Brother Heinz recalled. "President Stoof said if the storm didn't let up then we weren't meant to be in Joinville. But the storm soon let up and we went ashore."

Brother Heinz said they were "successful right from the start. We met a lot of people without having to do a lot of tracting. We had no copies of the Book of Mormon and no Church literature in German. We did the best we could."

Their proselyting efforts mostly consisted of having meetings in a two-story home. The large front room was converted to a chapel, with Elder Heinz and his companion constructing the benches and tables. The upstairs rooms were used for classrooms. "We advertised our meetings in the newspaper and soon made a lot of friends. . . . Most were Germans and a few were Portuguese."

During the first few meetings, Elders Heinz and Schindler introduced themselves and taught the basic doctrines of the gospel. Later they organized Sunday School and Primary programs. "I worked with the children and usually taught 15 to 20," Brother Heinz said.

An average of 30 people came to the meetings held each week, he said. In April 1929, a few months after their arrival, the elders baptized the first Brazilian converts, Bertha Sell and her four children, in a nearby creek. They were the only converts of 1929. A year later, 29 more people were baptized. "That was just the start!" he said. "I've been amazed as I've watched the growth.

"I sure have followed the growth of the Church there," he said. "I never had any idea the Church would be what it is today."

A few years ago Brother Heinz declined the chance to return to Brazil with his son, saying, "If I were 20 years younger I might have gone."

After a 21/2-year mission, Brother Heinz returned to his home in Rexburg in 1929. Farming has been a lifetime career. Although he should be retired, he says he's only "tired." His wife Berneice, grew up across the street from him. They began dating after he returned from his mission, and were married in the Salt Lake Temple in November 1930. They have raised three sons, Don, Blair and Lyle.

Now decades later, William Heinz, the German-speaking Idaho farm boy, is remembered for his pioneering efforts in Brazil. Indeed, he was a gospel farmer in plowing the very fertile land of Brazil.