The Timing of the Lord

In 1948, Jordi Subirats Ventura of Barcelona wrote a letter to “President, Mormon Church, Salt Lake City, Utah.” Ventura and a group of his friends were attending the meetings of various Protestant denominations when a minister suggested they “check out the Mormon Church because it had some very interesting teachings.” Jordi’s letter was forwarded to the Church Translation Department, which sent Jordi a copy of the Book of Mormon and other Church materials.

Jordi wrote again, asking for letters from other members of the Church. Betty Gibbs, a secretary in the Translation Department, wrote to Jordi and his family. In 1950, after Betty’s sister Norma finished her mission to France, Betty traveled to Europe and the sisters visited Spain. Betty befriended Jordi’s brother, Juan, and Juan and Betty began a regular correspondence.

Jordi and others in his group soon decided to join the Church. Because non-Catholic religious ceremonies were illegal in Spain, Jordi and Luis Moreno, his brother-in-law, traveled to Nice, France, and were baptized in September 1950. Two years later, Juan also traveled to France to be baptized. Jordi remained in France, but Juan returned to Spain, where he stayed connected to the Church by visiting with Latter-day Saints stationed in Barcelona with the US military.

In July 1953, after hosting a sacrament meeting at his home, Juan was arrested, stripped of his passport and identification, imprisoned, and beaten. “It was against the law for a group of more than five persons to meet together without official permission,” Juan later explained.

In February 1954, Betty visited Juan again and the couple decided to marry. That May, they secured a new passport for Juan and traveled to Paris, where they were married.

Although Juan and Betty moved to the United States shortly after, others in Spain were drawn to the gospel message and became instrumental in establishing the Church there. After José María Oliveira was baptized in 1966 in Bordeaux, France, he taught a Sunday School class in Spanish for local investigators attending the American servicemen’s branch in Madrid.

In June 1967, a new law expanded religious freedom in Spain. On February 4, 1968, the Spanish-speaking Madrid Branch held its first meeting. “This is the thing that amazes me, is the timing of the Lord to prepare His way in Spain,” José said. “This is for me the greatest testimony I have.” With a local congregation of Spanish citizens, members applied for government recognition. Their first application was denied, however, because an American was branch president. After the presidency was reorganized with José as president, the Church was granted legal recognition on October 22, 1968.

José continued to be a leader for the Church in Spain together with his wife, Patricia, who had first introduced him to the gospel. The two traveled together, ministering to the Saints while he served as a counselor in the mission presidency and she as the mission Relief Society president.

When the Madrid Stake was created on March 14, 1982, José was set apart as its first stake president. Juan Ventura, who had returned to Spain with his family in 1972 and had become the first local member to serve as president of the Barcelona Branch, was also present at the creation of the stake.

Juan Subirats Ventura (left) and José María Oliveira (right), ca. 1982