“Brazil,” Liahona, Feb. 2011, 8
Church History around the World
Brazil
When Max Richard Zapf emigrated from Germany to Brazil in 1913, he had been a member for five years and became the first known Church member in Brazil. After a Brazilian family requested materials from Church headquarters, the mission president of the South American Mission visited Brazil in 1927 and sent missionaries in 1928. The first mission was created in São Paulo in 1935, and by 1939 the Book of Mormon had been published in Portuguese.
The first temple in South America was dedicated in São Paulo in 1978, shortly after the revelation on the priesthood extended the priesthood to all worthy males. The Church’s second-largest missionary training center, located in São Paulo, was dedicated in 1997.
Brazil was the third country (following the United States and Mexico) to reach one million members.
The Church in Brazil | |
---|---|
Membership |
1,102,428 |
Missions |
27 |
Stakes |
230 |
Wards and Branches |
1,884 |
Temples |
7, including the Manaus and Fortaleza Brazil Temples, currently announced or under construction |