Venezuela: 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 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.

December 25, 1925 • Buenos Aires, ArgentinaElder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated South America for the preaching of the gospel.

February 27, 1955 • Barquisimeto, VenezuelaChurch members from North America who were living in Venezuela asked Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to hold a worship service with them during an official visit as the United States secretary of agriculture. It was the first public sacrament meeting held in Venezuela.

1959 • VenezuelaThe first branch was established, consisting primarily of North Americans living in Caracas.

October 31, 1966 • Caracas, VenezuelaThe Church was officially registered with the Venezuelan government, and a branch was organized, with Carl E. Wilcox as president.

November 2, 1966 • Caracas

In a private garden on the edge of the city, Elder Marion G. Romney of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated Venezuela for the preaching of the gospel.

November 29, 1966 • CaracasFull-time missionaries arrived from the Central American Mission, headquartered in San José, Costa Rica.

February 12, 1967 • CaracasNatividad Acosta de Sepulveda and Hernán Sergio Sepulveda became the first converts to be baptized in Venezuela.

August 1, 1968 • CaracasThe Colombia-Venezuela Mission was created, with headquarters in Caracas.

1971 • VenezuelaChurch membership surpassed 1,000 members.

July 1, 1971 • CaracasThe Venezuela Caracas Mission was created.

July 1972 • CaracasThe home-study seminary program was introduced in Venezuela.

October 1, 1972 • Maracaibo, VenezuelaThe Noroeste District was created, with Ubolfio Leal as president.

August 2, 1974 • CaracasElmen Rubén Rodriquez Perez and José Jaumaturgo Arzola from Maracay were set apart as the first construction missionaries in Venezuela and assigned to work in Mérida.

January 1975 • Puerto Ordaz, VenezuelaThe first Church meetinghouse in Venezuela was completed in less than four months of construction.

February 26–27, 1975 • CaracasSpencer W. Kimball became the first President of the Church to visit Venezuela. Approximately 900 members and investigators attended a special meeting held at the Caracas Hilton Hotel.

1977 • VenezuelaJosefina Febres Cordero was named Venezuela’s Woman of the Year for her book, La Puerta Azul, about her life as the wife of a Venezuelan ambassador and her conversion to the Church in 1973.

May 1, 1977 • CaracasAlejandro Portal Campos and Beatriz de Carmen Vargas de Portal were called to preside over the Venezuela Caracas Mission, the first local members to preside over the mission.

May 15, 1977 • CaracasThe Caracas Venezuela Stake was organized, with Adolfo F. Mayer Garcia as president.

1979–80 • CaracasThe Venezuela Caracas Mission office staff put together a music group called El Plan II and went on tour around the mission, performing and selling tapes and T-shirts.

1983 • VenezuelaThe film La Esperanza Familia was produced by the Church for distribution in Venezuela, primarily to be shown on television.

August 5, 1983 • CaracasThe Caracas stake and the Venezuela Caracas Mission cosponsored a musical performance about the life of Simón Bolívar at the Caracas stake center. More than half of the 1,300 people in attendance were not members of the Church.

August 1984 • UtahThe Venezuelan minister of religious affairs and his wife visited Salt Lake City, Provo, and the visitors’ centers, all at the cost of the Church. When he returned to Venezuela, he promised his future support and aid in getting visas for missionaries from North America.

December 1988 • VenezuelaVenezuelan missionaries in the Venezuela Caracas Mission were sent home to vote during the election. Church meetings were not held on Election Day and, because so many people were traveling, it was difficult for missionaries to return to their areas.

1979–89 • VenezuelaStakes were organized in Valencia, Maracaibo, Guayana, and Barcelona.

February–July 1990 • VenezuelaVenezuelan youth and priesthood leaders participated in a weekly missionary activity, sharing the Book of Mormon with people on the street on Saturdays. More than 2,500 people accepted the missionary lessons as a result.

September 30–October 1, 1995 • Venezuela; Salt Lake CityGeneral conference was broadcast live by satellite in Venezuela for the first time. Church President Gordon B. Hinckley announced that Church leaders were working on the possibility of building a temple in Venezuela.

1997 • Salt Lake CityThe Venezuelan minister of religious affairs visited Temple Square, the Provo Missionary Training Center, Welfare Square, and other Church sites at the invitation of Church leaders.

January 10, 1999 • Caracas

Ground was broken for the Caracas Venezuela Temple. Francisco J. Viñas, President of the South America North Area, presided and spoke.

August 3, 1999 • MaracaiboFive thousand Saints gathered with Church President Gordon B. Hinckley. He thanked them for their goodness, strength, and faith and asked for greater participation in missionary work as the Church grew in South America.

December 1999–February 2000 • Vargas State, VenezuelaFloods and mudslides inflicted mass casualties and widespread destruction in northern Venezuela, killing one Latter-day Saint, damaging the homes of several others, and flooding a local meetinghouse. The Church sent food, clothing, medicine, and other humanitarian supplies to the region.

August 20, 2000 • CaracasThe Caracas Venezuela Temple was dedicated by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley. Twenty-eight thousand people attended the open house in the weeks prior to the dedication.

October 2005 • VenezuelaDue to political concerns and difficulties in obtaining and renewing visas, all North American missionaries serving in Venezuela were reassigned to other Spanish-speaking countries.

Fall 2005 • VenezuelaThe removal of all North American missionaries from Venezuela prompted the Church’s Missionary Department to briefly consider consolidating Venezuela’s four missions. Local leaders urged against this course of action and promised to fill the missions with native missionaries. Thanks to their dedication, all four missions remained open.

April 5, 2008 • Salt Lake CityRafael E. Pino became the first Venezuelan to serve as a General Authority when he was called to the First Quorum of the Seventy.

September 2012 • BarcelonaOne hundred and fifty young people participated in a three-day youth conference. As part of the activities, the youth spent time in a nearby village, sharing the gospel.

August 16–18, 2013 • VenezuelaElder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited Venezuela to meet with the Saints. He praised them for their spiritual strength and obvious love for the Savior.

March 17, 2014Due to unrest in Venezuela, all nonnative missionaries were reassigned to other missions.

October 2019 • Guacara, Carabobo State, VenezuelaA health day was held at the Guacára Venezuela Stake facilities. Doctors with different specialties catered to people of all ages. Local leaders planned and organized this activity, which provided medical care and vaccinations for children. Relief Society sisters prepared food for all participants.

December 28, 2019 • Anzoátegui, VenezuelaAs part of a cultural activity, young women ages 12 to 18 put on a fashion show with the slogan “Because modesty never goes out of style.”

February 2, 2020Church President Russell M. Nelson and Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recorded a devotional in Spanish for the Latter-day Saints in Venezuela, which was distributed and broadcast to the stakes and wards across the country.