Peru: 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 their time in Chile, they observed the possibility of missionary success in Peru and 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.

1943–60 • PeruStanley A. Moore and his wife, Edna Zaldívar, held regular Sunday School meetings in their home for fellow North American expatriates and other interested individuals.

July 8, 1956 • Lima, PeruThe Lima Peru Branch was created. Three days later, on July 11, 1956, the Church secured legal recognition in Peru.

August 7, 1956 • LimaThe first full-time missionaries arrived in Peru.

November 30, 1956 • LimaThe first meetinghouse in Peru was acquired. It also served as living quarters for the missionaries.

January 30, 1957 • LimaThe first local convert was baptized.

March 29, 1959 • Toquepala, PeruElder Spencer W. Kimball of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the first Church-built meetinghouse in Peru.

November 1, 1959 • LimaThe Andes Mission, with headquarters in Lima, was organized.

September 30, 1960 • PeruWilliam Cipriano Romera from Toquepala, Peru, was called as a full-time missionary.

February 2, 1961 • Buenos Aires, ArgentinaThe new building program was explained to mission presidents in South America. Young, full-time local building construction missionaries would be called and set apart.

September 11, 1961 • LimaRuth Ojeda, the first full-time sister missionary from Peru, arrived in Lima from Arequipa to begin her mission.

June 24, 1962 • LimaTwo members were called as building-construction missionaries as part of the new building program established in February 1961.

September–October 1962 • Lima and Trujillo, PeruFive branches in Lima and two in Trujillo were reorganized under local Peruvian leadership.

September 8, 1963 • LimaCarlos and Lily Rodriguez were the first Peruvians to obtain recommends to attend the temple for their own endowments and sealings. They participated in a special temple session for members with Indigenous heritage conducted in the Mesa Arizona Temple.

February 6, 1964 • Lima

Lily Rodriguez was called as president of the Andes Mission Relief Society Board.

July 1966 • Ayacucho, PeruAntonia Ataurima and Virginia Espinoza were the first Quechua-speaking Peruvian converts baptized.

February 22, 1970 • LimaThe Lima Stake was organized, with Roberto Vidal as president.

May 31, 1970 • PeruPeru suffered a 7.9-magnitude earthquake, the most catastrophic natural disaster in the nation’s history. More than 70,000 people were killed, including two Latter-day Saints.

March 8, 1974 • LimaGraduation exercises were held for seminary and institute students, with 466 receiving certificates—more than double the 1973 total.

September 30, 1976 • San Antonio, PeruRoberto Vidal was called to serve as a regional representative.

January 1, 1977 • LimaJosé Armando Sousa, the first Peruvian mission president, was assigned to the newly organized Peru Lima North Mission.

May 28, 1977 • PeruThe first baptismal service conducted entirely in Quechua was held.

1983 • PeruA high percentage of Peruvian missionaries were serving within their own nation, making up 40 percent of the missionaries in the Lima North Mission, 50 percent in the Lima South Mission, and 70 percent in the Arequipa Mission.

January 10–12, 1986 • Lima

The Lima Peru Temple was dedicated by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley. It was the third temple dedicated in South America.

January 30–31, 1988 • LimaEleven stakes in Peru were divided to become 18 new stakes. Lima was second only to Mexico City for having the most stakes in one city outside of the United States.

February 24, 1988 • LimaThe Lima Peru Temple conducted its first session in Quechua.

January 1990 • Iquitos and Lima, PeruPeruvian Saints celebrated the four-year anniversary of the Lima Temple, where attendance had tripled over the previous two years. Two planeloads of families from Iquitos came at great sacrifice, as flying was the only form of transportation available to them.

August 22, 1990; March 6, 1991 • Huancayo and Tarma, PeruTwo Peruvian missionary companions, Manuel Antonio Hidalgo and Christian Andreani Ugarte, were shot and killed. Six months later, another Peruvian missionary, Oscar Zapata, was shot and killed.

August 2006 • PeruPeruvian Saints celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Church in Peru, with more than 6,200 members participating in a day of service.

April 3, 2010 • Salt Lake CityJuan A. Uceda was the first Peruvian called as a General Authority.

June 11, 2012 • IquitosMore than 1,600 members gathered to hear President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency. This was the first time a member of the First Presidency had visited the isolated but largest city in the Peruvian rainforest.

June 30, 2013 • LimaThe largest body of Latter-day Saints in Peru’s history gathered to celebrate the creation of Peru’s 100th stake.

June 21, 2015 • TrujilloThe Trujillo Peru Temple was dedicated by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency.

October 20, 2018 • LimaMartín Vizcarra, president of Peru, met with Church President Russell M. Nelson at the presidential palace. President Nelson spoke in Spanish to thousands of Saints in Lima.

June 8, 2019 • LimaGround was broken for the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple, the fourth temple in Peru and the second in Lima.

August 11, 2019 • LimaThe Lima Peru Santa Clara Stake was created, bringing the total number of stakes in the Lima metropolitan area to 49, more than any other metropolitan area outside of the United States.

December 15, 2019 • Arequipa, PeruThe Arequipa Peru Temple, Peru’s third temple, was dedicated by Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.