“All Things Shall Be Restored”

Ana Lía Guedes Gentilini de Risso and her son Eduardo Risso were baptized in Montevideo, Uruguay, in February 1973. Although she never stopped believing in God, Ana had stopped attending church services for about a year before she met the missionaries. “For me, God was a being too far away,” she said, “too unreachable.” One day, a missionary, accompanied by a local youth, stopped at their house and asked if they could return with a message. Eighteen-year-old Eduardo said yes, they could. Ana did not plan to become converted.

Late one night while reading the Book of Mormon, she was touched by Alma’s message to his son Corianton. “All things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame,” Alma taught, and that “even a hair of the head shall not be lost” (Alma 40:23). Ana gained the knowledge that her husband, who had long suffered the terrible side effects of a grave accident, would “have a perfect life in the future.” She said, “With this, I knew that the Lord had something different for us.” Reflecting on this experience, she felt that the Lord was preparing her to receive the restored gospel.

In 1975, almost two years after his baptism, Eduardo left home to serve in the Paraguay-Uruguay Mission. Ana said, “He was a very special young man. The Lord had prepared him, you see, for something in the future.” Eduardo became a powerful missionary leader with tremendous faith. He was one of the first Uruguayan missionaries to serve in Paraguay.

Eduardo first went to Paraguay in April 1975. He served first in Asunción, then in Paraguarí. For the remainder of time he served in Uruguay. His time as a missionary helped him to see the gospel in action within the lives of others and within his own life. He recounted, “I was just a recent convert, at that time, and my mission service was extraordinary for the rest of my life.”