Latter-day Saint Life

"My Heart Exploded with Happiness": Saints Travel Hours to Listen to President Nelson in Tents, Gyms, Homes

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What examples of faith to sacrifice in order to hear the Lord's prophet on the earth today.

More than 4,500 people completely filled a massive tent here on Thursday night to listen to President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"I can hardly believe what I'm seeing, hundreds and hundreds of Latter-day Saints who have transformed this tent into a chapel," he said.

Buses and cars delivered them to the dirt and grass fields of the Landia complex in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park, where they sat below a canvas supported by 10 towering tent poles, but it is a fact of President Nelson's entire five-nation South American trip that they were just the tip of an iceberg of Paraguayans who would have come to see their prophet if there were space enough for them.

"My heart exploded with happiness to see him," said Janaina Silva De de Mollá, 36, a mother of three who is a staff corporal in Uruguay's army, runs a budding side business built on a loan from the Perpetual Education Fund loan and serves as first counselor in a Montevideo stake Relief Society presidency.

"I have no doubt that he is a prophet of God," she said. "He was super humble, clear in his words and full of love. Personally, I am full of energy and eager to continue in this wonderful work. It was a unique experience for me and my family."

The Mollá family is among of tens of thousands who have attended events with the church president in four countries so far or watched via in-country broadcasts. In Peru more than 6,000 packed an arena while about 35,000 more watched a video feed. In Bolivia another 9,000 filled an arena nearly to the rafters while 15,000 watched the broadcast. In Paraguay on Thursday, 3,467 spilled out of a convention center and onto chairs on the concourse, while nearly 35,000 watched a feed.

Lead image by Jeffrey D. Allred, story by Tad Walch, Deseret News
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