Paraguay: Church Chronology

1851 • ChileElder Parley P. Pratt of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was called to open South America for missionary work.

1886 • Salt Lake City, Utah, USAThe Spanish translation of the Book of Mormon was published.

November 1939 • ParaguayFrederick S. Williams, president of the Argentina Mission, visited Paraguay and considered sending missionaries.

July 26, 1948 • Asunción, ParaguayThe first branch was organized in Asunción, with Samuel J. Skousen as branch president.

August 21, 1948 • AsunciónCarlos Alberto Rodríguez was the first local convert baptized in Paraguay. His wife, Brazilian-born singer Mafalda Figueira was baptized a few months later.

January 1950 • ParaguayFull-time missionaries arrived.

February 27, 1950 • AsunciónA government permit was granted to preach the restored gospel, not only in Asunción, as was initially requested, but in the entire country.

February 28, 1950 • ParaguayFull-time missionaries from the Uruguayan Mission arrived.

January 13, 1951 • AsunciónClara Ana Victoria Gigglberger de Krisch was the first female Paraguayan to be baptized.

1952 • ParaguayDr. Pacifico Montero, minister of the interior, authorized the establishment of the Church in Paraguay.

December 13, 1954 • AsunciónElder Mark E. Petersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited Paraguay to search for land that could be purchased for a new chapel in Asunción.

1955 • Amambay, ParaguayThe Amambay Branch was organized.

November 15, 1959 • AsunciónOsvaldo Decoud was the first Paraguayan Saint to be called on a full-time mission.

April 30, 1961 • AsunciónMissionaries serving as branch president in the Sajonia, Amambay, and Moroni Branches were replaced by local members.

January 1972 • Montevideo, UruguayThe Mutual Improvement Association (MIA) convention of the Uruguay-Paraguay Mission was held.

February 23, 1972 • AsunciónThe Church started operating an elementary school in the Moroni meetinghouse, with 110 students and 10 teachers.

December 1, 1972 • AsunciónA graduation ceremony was held for the 30 graduates of the home-study seminary program.

March 4, 1975 • AsunciónChurch President Spencer W. Kimball visited and dedicated the Amambay meetinghouse on the first visit by a Church President to Paraguay.

September 17, 1975 • Concepciόn, ParaguayMissionaries began preaching in Concepciόn, the second-largest city in Paraguay.

July 1, 1977 • AsunciónThe Paraguay Asunción Mission was created.

February 25, 1979 • ParaguayParaguay was dedicated for the preaching of the gospel by Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at the Botanical Garden and Zoo of Asunción.

February 25, 1979 • AsunciónThe Asunción Paraguay Stake was formed.

August 24, 1980 • AsunciónWalter Flores was the first native Nivaclé to be baptized.

December 4, 1980 • Mistolar, ParaguayThe restored gospel was taken to the Nivaclé people, who were taught in their native Chulupí language, leading to more than 200 baptisms in a very short time.

July 1981 • AsunciónLuis Arsenio Ramírez, a local Paraguayan, was called to serve as mission president of the Paraguay Asunción Mission.

1985 • AsunciónEfforts were made to train and call local leaders to replace missionaries as branch and district presidencies, resulting in four new district presidents and 16 new branch presidents.

1989 • MistolarSeveral families traveled nearly 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) from Mistolar in the Gran Chaco to the temple in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Three young children from two families died on the arduous return journey.

1990–95 • ParaguayThe Church in Paraguay experienced significant growth, with an increase in the number of districts from six to nine, and the membership from 12,400 to 20,200.

August 1997 • ParaguayChurch President Gordon B. Hinckley presided over a regional conference, in which he spoke to the Saints about the importance of “retaining” new members.

April 2, 2000 • Salt Lake CityMembers watched general conference in real time via satellite transmission, as plans to construct a temple in Paraguay were announced.

April 2002 • Salt Lake CityErnesto Da Silva was called as the first Area Authority Seventy of Paraguay during the April general conference.

April 29, 2009 • Salt Lake CityThe Book of Mormon was published in Guarani. Shortly thereafter, it was available as an audio recording.

September 25, 2010 • AsunciónAbout a hundred members of the Asuncion Paraguay North Stake met at a nursing home for a service project to paint walls, remove weeds, share food, and transmit love.

October 19–28, 2012 • ParaguayLuis Federico Franco, president of Paraguay, was visited by Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, along with their wives, Kristen Oaks and Susan Bednar.

October 22, 2018 • AsunciónChurch President Russell M. Nelson’s talk to the members in Asunción was broadcast to all stakes in Paraguay.

November 3, 2019 • AsunciónA small group of Saints gathered to rededicate the Asunción temple when it reopened following a remodeling.

June 22, 2021 • AsunciónAs a joint project with the Catholic Church through the Pastoral Social Aquidiocesana de Asunción, members of the Church established a “People’s Pharmacy” to provide medical assistance to patients with COVID-19.

July 2, 2021 • Piribebuy, ParaguayMembers of the Caacupé District delivered medical instruments to the District Hospital in Piribebuy to improve care for patients who suffer from respiratory diseases.