Elder Octaviano Tenorio learned early a simple gospel paradox: give yourself to the Lord — expect to receive much more in return.

Photo by Jason Swensen

Elder Octaviano Tenorio and his wife, Sister Rosa Elva Tenorio, have witnessed tremendous growth and maturity in their Mexican homeland.

The recently called member of the First Quorum of the Seventy was just 15 when his parents, Octaviano and Flora Tenorio, learned of the Church, studied its teachings and decided to be baptized. Their teenage son was investigating another religion and did not immediately follow their example.

"Then one day my mother said to me, 'Why don't you get baptized on May 10th (the Mexican Mother's Day)?"' said Elder Tenorio, 64, in a Church News interview. "So I was baptized as a gift to my mother."

He was immersed in the waters of the Rio Grande River and was confirmed a member of the Church the next Sunday. Unexpectedly, at that moment, the generous son found himself on the receiving end of a spiritual gift.

"I felt something very special and I began to read all the Church books that we had in Spanish at the time. I can say I was converted after I was baptized. Through my reading, I found all the information I was looking for."

Once converted, Elder Tenorio embarked on a life of Church service and study, culminating in his love for the temple and the blessings of family history and the law of the tithe. "I still have my first tithing receipt for $22.35 pesos (about US$ 2). Paying tithing has helped me a lot — I have a strong testimony of it."

Growing up in the coastal city of Veracruz, Elder Tenorio witnessed the strength and devotion of the missionaries.

"The missionaries did everything," he said. "They taught us in Sunday School, organized Mutual for us every week. Now we have local leaders. The Church has grown so much in Mexico."

Opportunities to serve in the Church came early for Octaviano Tenorio. While still single, he was ordained a high priest and was called to be a branch president. His job with Reader's Digest Mexico took him to Mexico City, where he would meet his future wife, Rosa Elva Valenzuela. A native of Chihuahua, Mexico, Rosa Elva grew up in the Church and enjoyed the loving support and example of her own parents, Francisco and Maria Refugio Valenzuela.

"Our culture is a culture of families," Elder Tenorio said. "I visit my 84-year-old mother and she still cares for me like a little boy. She cooks for me the food I liked when I was young. It is a blessing to have family close by."

Elder Tenorio said, with a smile, that he is grateful for in-laws who taught their daughter to look for a faithful priesthood holder to marry in the temple — instead of searching for a handsome or rich man.

"I saw how dedicated he was and was attracted to him," said Sister Tenorio. The two were married in Colonia Dublan, Mexico, on Dec. 28, 1973, and sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple a week later.

It's apropos that the Tenorios began their life together at the temple's altar. On many occasions they have witnessed the blessings available to faithful temple-goers. They remember the first time a temple was dedicated in Mexico in 1983. They have been humbled to watch 11 more such sacred edifices open in their homeland in recent years.

Elder Tenorio was serving as a stake president in 1983 when he received a call from President Marion G. Romney of the First Presidency. "President Romney told me President Spencer W. Kimball wanted me to be the first recorder for the new Mexico City Mexico Temple."

He gratefully accepted the assignment and served as temple recorder for seven years. He would later return to that position in the Mexico City temple after serving as a mission president, a regional representative, an Area Authority, a counselor in the Mexico South Area and an Area Seventy.

Meanwhile, Sister Tenorio has also enjoyed staying active and busy in the Church, serving in various ward callings and working alongside her husband in the Mexico Tuxtla Gutierrez Mission.

"It was beautiful to work with the young missionaries when my husband was a mission president," Sister Tenorio said. "I found happiness serving the missionaries."

Elder Tenorio is anxious for members, worldwide, to enter the temple and better their lives.

"Stay faithful, worthy and close to the temple," he counsels. "If you hold a temple recommend, use it. There is so much we can learn. If we have the Spirit, we can learn something new each time we attend the temple."

Now a General Authority, Elder Tenorio said he is once again blessed to answer a prophet's call to serve. He is certain the Church in 2007 is at a point of historic expansion.

"We will see beautiful things happen with the guidance of our prophet," Elder Tenorio said. "If we are obedient we will see things we have never seen before in Church history. We are already seeing some of those things happen."

As Mother's Day again approaches, Elder Tenorio will likely think back to that holiday gift he gave to his own mother decades ago when he agreed to be baptized. And, again, he will certainly give thanks for the many gifts he continues to receive by serving, keeping the faith and enjoying the blessings of family found only in the temple.

E-mail to: jswensen@desnews.com