“I Knew That It Was of God”

In 1963, Latter-day Saints working in La Paz and Cochabamba submitted petitions and were granted legal status to organize branches, hold meetings, and preach in Bolivia. In La Paz, Duane and Edna Wilcox and Dube Thomas began holding meetings in Dube’s home and inviting neighbors. “Our meetings were very warm and sweet,” Carmen Molina, one early convert, recalled. “There were some very special moments, filled with the Spirit of the Lord.”

In Cochabamba, Norval and Sybil Jesperson hosted their neighbors each week for services in their home. When missionaries arrived in October 1964, many converts were awaiting baptism.

Carlos Pedraja de la Zerda of Cochabamba had read broadly about world religions. In high school and during his studies at medical school, Carlos attended meetings and other activities of a variety of faiths.

During Holy Week in 1965, missionaries knocked on the Pedraja family’s door and met with Carlos’s parents. Carlos’s mother felt challenged and offended by what the missionaries said and demanded they leave and never return. His father, however, arranged for them to meet with Carlos later that week. When the missionaries began to teach Carlos, he felt something he had never felt before. “The spirit was so strong that I realized it was the greatest message I had ever heard,” Carlos said. Before leaving, the missionaries gave Carlos the Book of Mormon with the challenge to read it.

Carlos immediately began reading it. He did not sleep that night and continued reading until he finished the next afternoon. “Even though I hadn’t understood everything,” Carlos said, “I knew that it was of God.” Carlos was baptized just over a month later.

As a new convert, Carlos was frequently encouraged to serve a mission and to marry in the temple. “At first, I did not think that I could go on a mission,” Carlos recalled. “All those I saw were North Americans.” Carlos submitted the paperwork for a mission and waited expectantly for a call to arrive.

Nearly two years passed, however, and no call arrived. In the meantime, Carlos continued his education. When an opportunity to study at a prestigious university in Colombia arose, Carlos expressed his disappointment at never having received a call to his branch president. The branch president called Church headquarters and learned that the paperwork had been lost. Carlos was soon called to the South Andes mission, where he served in Peru, Chile, and Bolivia.

During his mission, Carlos was part of a four-missionary performing group, Los Hermanos Mormones, that sang, performed short plays, and entertained at orphanages, at hospitals, and on the radio throughout the mission. The proceeds from the sale of their record helped pay for the first Church-built meetinghouse in Bolivia.

As the Church grew in Bolivia and new branches were organized, many Bolivian Saints accepted calls to serve as missionaries. Most served in Bolivia and in the surrounding countries. All taught the restored gospel and invited many to share in its joy.