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Mexico is home to the largest body of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) outside of the United States. The Church claimed 1,197,573 individuals in 2010. In the 2010 census, 314,932 individuals reported belonging to the LDS Church. ==History== The first missionaries of the LDS Church in Mexico came in 1874. This was shortly after Daniel W. Jones and Meliton Trejo had begun to translate the Book of Mormon into Spanish. The first missionaries did not perform any baptisms. Later in 1879, more missionary efforts were started in Mexico City. The first person baptized a member of the LDS Church in that city was Plotino C. Rhodakanaty. Missionary work in central Mexico continued until 1889 when it was halted for a time. In 1885, a group of Latter-day Saints from Utah Territory and Arizona Territory settled in the state of Chihuahua. They were fleeing the U.S. federal government prosecution of Mormon polygamists. These Latter-day Saints eventually founded the settlements of Colonia Juárez, Colonia Dublán, four more in Chihuahua, and two in the state of Sonora. In 1901, the Mexican Mission of the church was re-established with Ammon M. Tenney as president. In 1910, Rey L. Pratt became president. By 1912 he was forced to leave Mexico City but he was able to put most of the branches in Central Mexico under the leadership of local members. Among these was Rafael Monroy. Most of the Mormon colonists left in 1912 due to rising violence, but many returned some were able to return in later years. Pratt remained as mission president until his death, also establishing missionary work among the Spanish-speaking populations in the Southwestern United States. In 1936, a group of people called the Third Convention, influenced by the spirit of the Mexican Revolution, called for a Mexican to serve as president of the church's mission in Mexico. The tactics of this group led to the excommunication of its members. In 1946, George Albert Smith, the President of the Church, visited Mexico. He was able to establish a reconciliation with most of the members of the Third Convention and the vast majority of this group were brought back into the church. In 1956, the Mexican Mission was divided for the first time, with the Northern Mexican Mission being organized. From this time forward the church focused on setting up the structure to organize stakes. In 1959, the church established a network of schools outside of Colonia Juárez. The only one of these still functioning, the preparatory school Benemérito, was established in 1963 in Mexico City. The first Spanish-speaking stake in Mexico was organized in Mexico City in 1961. In 1966 Agricol Lozano became the first indigenous Mexican to serve as a stake president. In 1970, the Monterrey Stake (now Monterrey Mexico Mitras Stake) was organized with Guillermo G. Garza as president. This was the first stake in Mexico outside of the Mormon colonies and the Mexico City area. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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