'Gospel is welcome'
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ASUNCION, Paraguay — Happy news from Asuncion reached Church headquarters in Salt Lake City just over a half century ago: The gospel is welcome here.
Church leaders had contacted Paraguayan officials about a week earlier and made a formal request to begin missionary work in Asuncion, the country's capital city. It was 1950 and the Catholic Church was the only religious organization enjoying official status in Paraguay at the time. Yet the government responded quickly to the request, saying The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would be both recognized and welcomed in Asuncion and throughout the country.
With that, small groups of missionaries from the Uruguayan Mission began trickling into Asuncion, knocking on doors, sharing the Book of Mormon and writing the first chapters of Paraguayan Church history.
That history's preface was actually penned in 1949 when two Latter-day Saints working in the U.S. embassy in Asuncion baptized Carlos Alberto Rodriguez. Today, there are more than 45,000 members in Paraguay with many calling the capital city on the edge of the Paraguayan River their home.
Asuncion is a vibrant place, rich with affable, soccer-rabid people who are proud of their indigenous Guarani heritage. Walk the city's streets or visit a local ward and you'll still hear a little Guarani spoken alongside Spanish. Meanwhile, the Paraguayans are, slowly but steadily, learning and embracing the gospel.
"The people in Paraguay are probably the most loving people on the face of this earth — the people are so gentle and kind," said Mearl K. Bair, who presided over the country's first mission from 1977-1980.
The Church was taking its baby steps in Asuncion when the Bairs arrived. Full-time missionaries essentially maintained the Church during the first decade of Church work in the nation. Then in 1961 several Paraguayan men received the Melchizedek Priesthood and gradually the leadership and day-to-day operations shifted to the local members. The first meetinghouse for the Asuncion's venerable Moroni Branch was completed in 1964 on an attractive plot of land that is now home to the newly-dedicated Asuncion Paraguay Temple.
Still, there were only about1,400 members in the entire country in 1977 and President Bair could count the number who had been through the temple on one hand. The membership was small yet strong, recalled President Bair.
"We had some very good leadership; . . . seeds had been planted earlier," he added.
The newly formed mission, headquartered in Asuncion, seemed to spur growth and invigorate the long-term members who had known adversity. A stake was organized in 1979. Now there are seven stakes and several districts in Paraguay.
A career military officer, Luis Arsenio Ramirez was baptized in 1963 when there were only two small branches in Asuncion. He remembers opposition during those early years, but adds he was sustained, in part, by a hopeful patriarchal blessing that said he would one day reside close to a temple.
"That was 37 years ago and now I'm living seven blocks away from the temple," said President Ramirez, who became the first Paraguayan-born member to preside over a mission in his country.
President Ramirez and his fellow Paraguayans who joined the Church during its early years in Asuncion were forged strong by service. There was no time to adjust to life in a small branch or district, says longtime member Maria Elena Samaniego. New members were welcomed into the fold — then put to work.
"I was called to be a seminary teacher two weeks after being baptized," said Sister Samaniego, who joined the Church in 1974. "I asked how I was supposed to teach things I didn't even know yet, but the missionaries told me the Lord knows I can do it."
Now a temple and a pair of missions bless both long-time and new members in Asuncion — and offer plenty of new opportunities for gospel service. Liduvina Nieves has spent more than four decades serving in the Church, sometimes amid struggle and hardship. She recognizes the blessings that follows sacrifice.
"I've [endured] a lot of persecution by friends and family, but it's been worth it now that we see the temple," Sister Nieves said. "It's a blessing we've waited for a long time."
E-mail: jswensen@desnews.com
