Mormon Life - Mexico tag

Saints in Mexico Learn from Apostle’s Visit

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:59:00 -0600

source: news.lds.org

Mexico holds a special place in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first Mormon missionaries to visit Mexico in 1876 found a people ready to hear the gospel, and in 2004 Mexico became the first country outside the United States to reach a membership of 1,000,000 Latter-day Saints.

Visiting Puebla, Mexico City, and Monterrey in April 2012, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles counseled members, leaders, and missionaries in various meetings.

General conference becomes real in Mexico City

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:50:00 -0600

source: MormonTimes.com

One of the greatest blessings that the gospel can bring into our lives is the ability to eliminate the perception of other cultures. This was taught to my family and I while we lived in Mexico City, Mexico. It during the general conferences where we realized just how powerful the gospel is for Latter-day Saints all around the world.

I can remember the feeling that came to me as I saw how excited members of the church in Mexico got for general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What was even more humbling and truly touched our family were the efforts made by members to get to a Mormon chapel to watch our prophet and leaders share messages of hope and inspiration.

Mormons in Mexico confront violence with hope and faith

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:28:00 -0600

source: ksl.com

Mormon Life says: Wow. Just wow. In the mirror of a humble room in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Laura Cardenas posted a note with her wish list, little objectives that would motivate her to be better. There the list stared back at her each day, posted on the mirror with tape, handwritten and without mistakes. Its title: “Short-Term and Long-Term Goals.”

Laura listed the dreams of a 19-year-old woman: “Make it on the swim team. Work really hard to pay for school … Paint the house in September. Get new chairs for the dining room. Get new shoes. Read Plato. Be nice and kind to other people.”

On Jan. 23, Laura was kidnapped by a member of a local cartel and never returned to her Juarez home. Her case is one of hundreds of cases of people who everyday are kidnapped or killed by the increasing violence that affects this northern city in Mexico.

Elder Ballard makes visit to Cuernavaca, Mexico

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 11:56:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve and Elder Jay E. Jensen of the Presidency of the Seventy were in Cuernavaca, Mexico, Sept. 10-11 to hold priesthood leadership training, missionary meetings and stake conferences. They were joined by Elders Benjamin De Hoyos of the Seventy and the Mexico Area Presidency and Elder Julio C. Gonzalez, an Area Seventy.

In greeting the members Sunday morning, stake president José Antonio Cortés noted that Diana Aurea Recio Téllez, the director of religious affairs for the State of Morelos, Mexico, was a special guest at the Cuernavaca Mexico Civac Stake conference where Elder Ballard presided. In June, Mrs. Recio Téllez directed the organizational meeting of the Morelos Interreligious Council with the intent of "creating a movement that seeks for peace and hope, uniting together in behalf of the family, education and the common good."

LDS members in Mexico confront violence with hope and faith

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:59:00 -0600

source: universe.byu.edu

In the mirror of a humble room in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Laura Cardenas posted a note with her wish list, little objectives that would motivate her to be better. There the list stared back at her each day, posted on the mirror with tape, handwritten and without mistakes, its title: “Short term and long term goals.”

Laura listed the dreams of a 19-year-old woman: “Make it on the swim team. Work really hard to pay for school … To paint the house in September. Get new chairs for the dining room. Get new shoes. Read Plato. Be nice and kind to others people.”

On Jan. 23, Laura was kidnapped by a member of a local cartel and never returned to home in Ciudad Juarez. Her case is one of hundreds of cases of people who everyday are kidnapped or killed by the increasing violence that affects this northern city in Mexico.

LDS Church launches first international Newsroom site

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:10:00 -0600

source: Newsroom.lds.org

Mormon Life says: Mexico has received an official LDS Newsroom site--the first international news site from the Church. Nearly one year has passed since the launch of the most recent redesign of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Newsroom website. This week, Newsroom took another step forward in its Web outreach with the launch of its Mexico Newsroom website, saladeprensamormona.org.mx.

6 million records added to Mexico collections on FamilySearch

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:03:00 -0600

source: MormonTimes.com

More than 6 million images were added to five Mexico collections on FamilySearch.org this week. Additions were also made to collections from six other countries, including more than 500,000 parish register records from England and more than 250,000 images from Belgium, Oost–Vlaanderen, Parish Registers, 1588–1799.

The remarkable story of Guillermo Gonzalez, a Mormon pioneer in Mexico

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 11:21:00 -0600

source: MormonTimes.com

Mormon Life says: The little-known story of an amazing missionary. A serene, peaceful feeling filled the room as the sister missionary shared her tender testimony in Spanish to conclude the religious discussion.

The young husband and wife seated nearby looked at each other and shared a confirming smile. The message appealed to them and they definitely wanted to know more about this Mormon church.

Knowing it was the husband's day off, one of the sisters pulled out her date book and suggested they meet again in a week.

There was a pause as the couple made eye contact again, then stared back at the missionaries. Without warning the husband stood, moved across the room and locked the door.

"I'm sorry, patience has never been one of my virtues," the man said. "I can't wait another week to know what you will teach me about this church of apostles and prophets, so do you mind if we continue now, please?"

Seven sisters shine their light in the mission field

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:45:00 -0600

source: news.lds.org

In Job 38:31, the Lord tells Job He bound the Pleiades together. Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, is a constellation of seven stars that are so far away their light needs 350 years to reach the Earth, according to astronomers.

Marisol (Chile Osorno), Antonia (Argentina Resistencia), Daniela (Costa Rica San Jose), Florencia (Honduras Comayaguela), Verónica (Chile Santiago East), Anai (Guatemala City North), and Balbina Nava Aguilar (Argentina Bahía Blanca) are seven sisters bound by their concurrent service as full-time missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

These seven sisters from Mexico, ranging in age from their early twenties to late thirties, are letting their light shine in their family and in the mission field as they share their knowledge and testimonies of the gospel with people in five countries.

Museum established for Mexican Mormon history

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 09:33:00 -0600

source: universe.byu.edu

A new museum in Provo is designed to provide another way for people to learn about church history.

The Museo de Historia del Mormonismo, or the Mexican Mormon History Museum, opened in Provo earlier this month. It is an extension of the MMMH in Mexico City, established to collect, preserve and exhibit church information for future generations.

Fernando Gomez, president of the Provo museum, said it is not affiliated with BYU but is a private, nongovernmental organization that seeks volunteers in helping out with the daily tasks at the museum.

Calderón’s rep will review request to suspend LDS missionary visas

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:43:00 -0700

source: sltrib.com

The office of Felipe Calderón has acknowledged receipt of a Latino activist’s letter urging Mexico’s president to suspend visas to missionaries until The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints takes a stronger public stance against enforcement-only immigration legislation.

Raul Lopez-Vargas received two letters, both dated Feb. 15.

One sent from Mexico’s national palace and signed by representative Juan Manuel Llera Blanco acknowledges Calderón’s staff received the letter signed by 130 people. It says the letter will be forwarded to the appropriate government official.

The second, sent by Llera to foreign relations secretary Patricia Espinosa Cantellano, asks her to review the matter and to respond quickly to Lopez-Vargas on Calderón’s behalf.

Group seeks to ban Mormon missionaries in Mexico

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 16:37:00 -0700

source: deseretnews.com

A small group of Latino Utah residents wants the president of Mexico to suspend the visas of Mormon missionaries until the LDS Church takes a stronger stand on the immigration issue.

Raúl López-Vargas says he has collected about 100 signatures on a petition that he plans to deliver to the Mexican Consulate of Salt Lake City on Monday. He is calling for Mexican President Felipe Calderón to sit down with the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ask them to take a concrete position on immigration.

López-Vargas said he believes the LDS Church has the power to influence Utah lawmakers. "They have to say something about this problem," he said.

Ban on Mormon missionaries to Mexico sought

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 10:21:00 -0700

source: cityweekly.net

A letter to Mexican president Felipe Calderon requesting that visas for Mormon missionaries to Mexico be temporarily suspended looks set to rachet up further Utah's fiery rhetoric on immigration.

The letter, written in Spanish, dated February 9 and signed "Mexican citizens based in the state of Utah," accuses senior figures in the LDS Church of "promoting a clearly racist position in relation to the immigration question." The responsibility of the church's hierarchy for "the proliferation of xenophobic and discriminatory laws against immigrants, particularly Mexicans, is here in Utah more than evident."

What seems to particularly incense the letter-writers is that the LDS Church, it says, has refused to sign the Utah Compact, a document of five principals put together by diverse religious, business and political figures, which aims to both support "family union" and stop the division of "our communities with relation to the immigration issue."

No Photos Please

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:00:00 -0600

by John L. Lund
source: MormonLife.com

As Americans we are used to a tremendous amount of independent thinking. This translates into American tourists frequently ignoring the request at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo or in the tombs of the pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings to refrain from taking pictures with cameras or cell phones. My very own wife in a moment of mental relapse took a picture inside a "No Photos Please" zone and had her cell phone confiscated.

With great dismay she came to me and said, "They took my cell phone!" In this particular case, the guard was a man that I had known for ten years. I apologized for my wife’s indiscretion and assured him it would not happen again. Fortunately, for only twenty American dollars in "Bakshish," a tip or gratuity in Arabic, I was able to recover my wife's valuable cell phone. The guard could have kept it and sold it for more than the twenty dollars. We were lucky. Others get away with a sneak shot or two, but many have sacrificed cameras worth hundreds of dollars. Frankly it's not worth the risk and most of the photos you might have taken are available in packets that can be purchased ten for a dollar by vendors everywhere.

Thousands of people a day cross the borders of Israel and the borders of other countries and have had to deal with smugglers or terrorist. When entering Israel we tell the people on the bus "No Photos Please" when we approach the borders. We tell the people that there are plenty of abandoned tanks and other interesting things to photograph once we are inside of Israel. There are security cameras pointed at the bus and we are under surveillance by the Israelis.

As you might imagine, there was once a very determined lady who decided that she was going to click a couple of quick photos. It was hot and the (IDF) Israeli Defense Force was not in a forgiving mood. Our bus was stopped and all of the cameras were confiscated, all the pictures deleted or the film was exposed and their ensued a discussion on whether the person who had taken the photos with her camera should remain at the border for further questioning. An hour and a half later, after a call to the American Embassy, and the assurances of a high Jewish official, who was a friend to Fun For Less Tours, we were permitted to cross the border after a careful inspection of each and every bag, purse, suitcase, briefcase and computer bag that we had brought with us. In all it was a four hour delay.

Imagine how the fellow passengers resented the lady who just had to ignore the “No Photos Please” request. It also meant that we were not able to stop at an extra site we could have seen had we had the time. We did tell her the consequences of her choice to ignore the request of "No Photos Please." She felt terrible and promised to never do it again. All was forgiven and we went on to an incredibly wonderful experience in Israel, Jordan, and Egypt.

In Italy, Mexico and Guatemala the local guides and guards will tell you that the flash from your camera will ruin the picture or artifact that you want to photograph. It doesn't matter that it may not be true. It is an issue of following the rules and respecting the laws of the lands we visit.

When you return from your trips abroad you will have dozens if not hundreds of great photographs. They will remind you of the wonderful times you spent visiting these historic sites. For your sake and the sake of all those who will travel with you, respect the signs and observe the request: "No Photos Please."