Honduras: Church Chronology

1851–52 • ChileElder Parley P. Pratt of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife Phoebe served a five-month mission to Chile. During that time, they determined that a Spanish translation of the Book of Mormon was needed.

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

November 1952 • Tegucigalpa, HondurasJuan Manuel Gálvez, the president of Honduras, granted permission for missionary work to begin in Honduras.

November 16, 1952 • Guatemala City, GuatemalaElder Spencer W. Kimball of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles opened the Central American Mission and dedicated the land of Central America for the preaching of the gospel.

December 11, 1952 • TegucigalpaJames T. Thorup and George W. Allen were the first missionaries to serve in Honduras.

March 8, 1953 • Tegucigalpa

The first sacrament meetings were held in the rented home where missionaries lived, with an average attendance of 10–12 people.

March 21, 1953 • TegucigalpaJosé Santos Ortega Flores, Alicia Castañeda, Antonieta Dávila Mendoza de Chahín, and Corina Bustamante and her young daughter were baptized in the Humuya River. They were the first local converts to be baptized.

March 22, 1953 • TegucigalpaThe Tegucigalpa Branch was organized.

April 12, 1953 • TegucigalpaJosé Santos Ortega Flores was ordained a deacon, the first Honduran to receive the Aaronic Priesthood.

June 2, 1953 • TegucigalpaThe first sister missionaries, Edith Cluff and Eldora Windley, arrived.

July 12, 1953 • TegucigalpaThe Relief Society, Primary, and Mutual organizations were established, with Alicia Castañeda as Relief Society president and Antonieta Dávila Mendoza de Chahín as Primary president.

September 16, 1956José Santos Ortega Flores was ordained an elder, the first in Honduras, as prophesied by Elder Spencer W. Kimball of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles three years earlier.

September 23, 1956 • TegucigalpaThe first local member was set apart as branch president of the Tegucigalpa Branch.

September 20–October 1959 • Tegucigalpa/San Pedro Sula, HondurasHonduran members began serving short-term and local missions.

May 24, 1963 • TegucigalpaAn open house was held at the newly completed Tegucigalpa meetinghouse, known by members as “Palmira” after the new neighborhood in which it was located. Two days later, members held a special service of thanksgiving for the new building. Built by construction missionaries, it was the first Church-built meetinghouse in Honduras.

November 18, 1963 • TegucigalpaThe new Tegucigalpa meetinghouse was dedicated by Elder Marion G. Romney of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

August 23–24, 1964 • TegucigalpaA youth conference was held for Latter-day Saint youth from the five branches throughout Honduras.

April 7–11, 1966 • Sarapiqui, Costa RicaSeventy Honduran youth attended the first missionwide youth conference for Central America held in Costa Rica.

1972 • HondurasA home-study seminary program began under the direction of Robert Arnold, who was the first area director of the Church Educational System for Central America and a former mission president in Guatemala. The following year, he was succeeded by Gilberto Cerda.

1975 • HondurasMarco Antonio Colindres was the first male Honduran to serve a two-year mission. He served in Costa Rica.

April 10, 1977 • San Pedro SulaThe San Pedro Sula Honduras Stake was organized, with Samuel B. Ventura as president.

January 1978 • Mesa, Arizona, USAMembers made the first temple trip from Tegucigalpa. Besides receiving their endowments, some members also received their patriarchal blessings.

February 4, 1980 • HondurasThe Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission began operations.

December 19, 1982 • HondurasA special Christmas program prepared by the Church was televised throughout the country.

December 14, 1984 • Guatemala CityThe Guatemala City Guatemala Temple, the first temple in Central America, was dedicated, thus shortening the journey Hondurans had to make to receive temple ordinances.

1985 • Guatemala CityAmong the first Hondurans to work in the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple were Raymond and Angela Rivera from the Toncontín Stake, Pablo and Marina Nicolás from the Uyuca area, the Venturas from the Tegucigalpa Stake, the Barahonas from the Torocagua Stake, and the Arguelles from the San Pedro Sula Stake.

March 24, 1988 • La Lima, HondurasThe La Lima Honduras Stake sent 20 full-time missionaries into the field on the same day. All were called to the Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission. The achievement was the stake members’ response to a plea from leaders to increase their missionary fund donations.

June 1, 1991 • TegucigalpaFifty local leaders gathered for a special dedicatory prayer on a mountain called El Picacho (the Peak). Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated Honduras for the preaching of the gospel.

July 1993 • TegucigalpaSalomón Jaar, with his wife, Berta Lucia Bueso, became the first Honduran to preside over the Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission.

July 1994 • HondurasRoberto Ocampo Reyes, a native to Honduras, was called as a regional representative.

August 15, 1996 • TegucigalpaSalomón Jaar was called as the first Area Seventy from Honduras.

January 21–22, 1997 • HondurasGordon B. Hinckley was the first Church President to visit Honduras. He spoke to more than eight thousand people in San Pedro Sula and fifteen thousand in Tegucigalpa.

October 22–November 9, 1998 • HondurasHurricane Mitch devasted Honduras, injuring and killing thousands. One member was killed, and 644 were injured. As part of a relief effort, the Church shipped more than five hundred thousand pounds of food to Honduras. Local Church volunteers helped package it for distribution to those in need.

November 19–21, 1998 • TegucigalpaChurch President Gordon B. Hinckley and others traveled to Central America, bringing hope to those devastated by Hurricane Mitch. During three meetings in harder-hit areas, the president spoke to more than 19,000 members.

October 2001 • HondurasHonduran president Carlos Roberto Flores and his wife, Mary, accepted the Church’s donation of hundreds of wheelchairs.

Spring 2006 • Central AmericaMore than 17,000 young men and women from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama gathered in national youth encampments to participate in spiritual activities and fellowshipping with each other.

April 7, 2010 • GuatemalaWhile traveling from Honduras to the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple, Elder Salomón Jaar died in Guatemala from injuries sustained in a carjacking.

October 2–4, 2011 • Provo, Utah, USADuring a religious freedom symposium at Brigham Young University, Honduran Minister of Religion Alberto Portillo Gradiz spoke of the openness and respect toward all religions in his country.

April 17, 2012 • Salt Lake CityHonduran First Lady Rosa Elena de Lobo met with Church President Thomas S. Monson and others and toured the Church Humanitarian Center and Welfare Square. She praised the Church for its generosity in helping the needy in her country after recent flooding.

March 17, 2013 • Tegucigalpa

The Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple was dedicated by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, then Second Counselor in the First Presidency. Roberto and Argentina Ocampo were called as president and matron.

2017 • Tegucigalpa, San Satias, Cofradia, Olanchito, Santa Rosa, El Progreso, Tela, and Mezapa, HondurasMembers worked together with Plantatón HN, a reforestation program, to plant thousands of trees nationwide.

November 12, 2017 • San Pedro SulaHonduran Saints brought food to patients and their families at the Mario Catarino Rivas Hospital.

April 7, 2019 • Salt Lake CityChurch President Russell M. Nelson announced plans to construct a temple in San Pedro Sula. Membership in Honduras surpassed 178,000.