SANTIAGO, Chile—With joy and gratitude, thousands of Latter-day Saints and their friends celebrated the 100th anniversary of the official beginning of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South America.
Around 4,000 people filled an arena in Santiago, Chile, on Saturday, June 14, to watch the program full of music, dances, and messages, while others watched online from throughout the country.
Bringing the greetings and love of the First Presidency with him, Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles paid tribute to pioneers of the Church in Chile and invited all to rejoice in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“I testify that priesthood keys have been restored in this dispensation,” he said. “I bear witness of Jesus Christ, I bear testimony that He is the Son of the Living God, the Savior of the world.”
This year marks 100 years since South America was dedicated for the preaching of the gospel. In late 1925, Elder Melvin J. Ballard offered a prayer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, blessing the continent. Then in 1926, he prophesied that the Church would grow “as an oak grows slowly from an acorn”—small and slow at first, but increasing in size and strength.
“Thousands will join the Church here,” Elder Ballard said then.
Today, almost 4.4 million members of the Church live in South America, in nearly 5,600 congregations.
Read the rest of the article at the Church News.
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