El Salvador: Church Chronology

May 26, 1949 • El SalvadorEl Salvador became a district of the Mexican Mission. Elders Glen Whipple Skousen and Omer Farnsworth were the first missionaries to labor there.

August 20, 1949 • San Salvador, El Salvador

Arwell L. Pierce, the Mexican Mission president, requested permission from the El Salvador government to open missionary work.

June 5, 1950 • San SalvadorLucian M. Mecham, the Mexican Mission president, visited San Salvador and held a meeting, with 35 in attendance.

Fall 1950 • San SalvadorElder Vance Whipple was called as district president, regular Sunday services were established, and English lessons were given in a rented house.

March 2, 1951 • Apulo Beach, Lake Ilopango, El SalvadorAna Villaseñor was the first person to be baptized in El Salvador. 11 others were baptized that day, and four more the next day.

March 9, 1951 • San SalvadorThe El Salvador District was organized.

July 3, 1951 • San SalvadorForty-three Latter-day Saints were present at the El Salvador District conference. They welcomed mission president Lucian M. Mecham, who had been meeting with the minister of the interior regarding missionary passports.

November 16, 1952 • Guatemala City, GuatemalaElder Spencer W. Kimball of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presided at a ceremony creating the Central American Mission, which included El Salvador. Gordon M. Romney was called as the first mission president. During this meeting, he dedicated the lands of Central America for the preaching of the gospel.

September 25, 1960 • San SalvadorPresident Santiago Garcia accepted a calling to lead the San Salvador District. He was the first local member to preside over the district.

August 1962–November 1962 • El SalvadorDuring a three-month period, the three districts in El Salvador had a total of 229 baptisms.

October 1965 • Mesa, Arizona, USAEl Salvador members joined Guatemala members on their first temple trip. The participants had to endure many complications, especially since their route crossed two national borders.

May 3, 1968 • San SalvadorThe Church was officially recognized by the Ministry of the Interior.

1971 • El SalvadorHome-study seminary courses were introduced in El Salvador.

June 3, 1973 • San SalvadorThe San Salvador Stake was created, with Mario Edmundo Scheel as president. The stake had eight wards and four branches, with a total of 5,684 members.

1975 • El SalvadorInstitute was started as a home-study program.

July 1, 1976 • El SalvadorThe El Salvador San Salvador Mission was organized. Before this, El Salvador had been part of the Guatemala Guatemala City Mission.

1976 • El SalvadorEarly morning seminary started.

October–November 1979 • El SalvadorA nationwide civil war began following a coup d’etat on October 15, 1979. In November, North American missionaries were transferred to other Central American nations, and the mission was discontinued.

October 8, 1981 • El SalvadorManuel Antonio Berroteran-Diaz of El Salvador was called as a regional representative, supervising five stakes and 14,000 members.

October 1, 1984 • El SalvadorThe El Salvador San Salvador Mission was reopened, with Manuel Antonio Berroteran-Diaz as president.

October 10, 1986 • El SalvadorA devastating earthquake rocked the country. About 1,200 perished, including one young boy from a Latter-day Saint family. Many homeless families sheltered inside Church meetinghouses or in tents on meetinghouse grounds.

1990 • El SalvadorDespite civil war, the Church membership rose from 14,000 to 38,000 in nine years. However, more than a dozen members had been killed, many lives were disrupted, and seven meetinghouses were damaged.

1990 • San SalvadorAn official of the El Salvador government summoned Eriberto Perez, president of the El Salvador San Salvador West Mission, to his office and expressed his gratitude for what the Church was doing for his country. He asked President Perez to pray for El Salvador.

April 7, 1990 • San SalvadorElder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles dedicated El Salvador for the preaching of the gospel.

1992 • El SalvadorThe civil war ended, and foreign missionaries returned.

April 2, 1994 • El SalvadorGeneral conference was broadcast over television networks, reaching about 80 percent of the states in El Salvador.

January 23, 1997 • San SalvadorApproximately 10,000 Salvadorans gathered at the National Gymnasium to hear Church President Gordon B. Hinckley speak.

January 13, 2001 • El SalvadorAnother earthquake struck, killing 15 Church members. As before, the Church was quick to send aid. All missionaries were safe, and none of the 86 meetinghouses sustained structural damage.

January 2005 • El SalvadorThe Family Foundations program, organized by the public relations senior missionaries, was broadcast weekly by radio to the entire country.

February 10, 2006 • San SalvadorSalvadoran president Elias Antonio Saca hosted Elder Spencer V. Jones, President of the Central America Area, and other leaders at the presidential palace. This was the first time that a sitting Salvadoran president met with Church leaders.

2007 • Salt Lake City, Utah, USASalvadoran Silvia H. Allred was called as the first counselor in the general presidency of the Relief Society.

June 28–July 23, 2011 • San SalvadorNearly 166,000 people attended the San Salvador El Salvador Temple open house.

August 20, 2011 • San SalvadorPresident Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency and his accompanying party visited Mauricio Funes in the presidential palace. This was the first time a member of the First Presidency had met with a president of El Salvador.

August 21, 2011 • San Salvador

President Henry B. Eyring dedicated the San Salvador El Salvador Temple, the first temple in El Salvador and the fourth in Central America. The dedication was preceded by a cultural celebration presented by thousands of Salvadoran youth.

December 8, 2017 • San SalvadorJosé Ernesto Ramírez Aparicio placed third for his photography at the Consortium for Transparency of the Democracy, Transparency, and Justice Foundation.

July 2018 • San SalvadorThe president of the Legislative Assembly, Deputy Dr. Norman Quijano, received leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They discussed the Church and its work in El Salvador and the importance of defending and caring for the Church, religious freedom, and the family.

October 14–17, 2018 • Santa Tecla, El SalvadorLocal members served 200 breakfasts, 100 lunches, and 100 snacks to attendees of the medical day held at the National Hospital San Rafael in Santa Tecla, El Salvador.

October 24, 2018 • San SalvadorThe Church hosted a meeting of various faith groups to discuss religious freedom.

April 3, 2020 • El SalvadorIt was announced that the April 2020 general conference would be broadcast live on the radio to expand coverage.