Spanish Church History

While spending time here in Alcalá de Henares I have been learning about the history of my faith-- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints-- and so i would like to share what I've found out. In the Americas and most other parts of Europe, the Church has been present since it was first formed in the early to mid 1800s by Joseph Smith Jr. However because of historical events and the political context of Spain, Mormonism and many other faiths were nonexistent in Spain until very recently.

Madrid Temple Square

Let's take a journey through the recent religious history of Spain in relation to the Gospel...

The Gibraltar Mission

In 1852 two missionaries were called to serve in Gibraltar, an English province on the southern coast of Spain: Elder Edward Stevenson (who happened to have been born in Gibraltar) and Elder Nathan Tanner Porter. They left in September of that year, but did not arrive in Gibraltar until March of 1853 (thank goodness for modern transportation!)

Unfortunately they ran into some serious stumbling blocks upon arrival. Because of local immigration laws Porter was forced to leave Gibraltar after a little over two weeks. Consequently he spent the rest of his mission in England helping newly converted saints to travel to Zion, leaving Stevenson alone to do the Lord's work in Gibraltar. Stevenson worked diligently in Gibraltar and baptized a total of 18 people after going through immense trials like incarceration. In 1854 he was also forced to end his mission and go to London.

Melitón Gonzalez Trejo and Spanish Translation of the Book of Mormon.

Although the Elders' experience wasn't as fruitful as they initially hoped, it allowed word to spread through Iberia about the Mormons until it came to a very influential person. Meliton Gonzalez Trejo came from a very influential, wealthy Spanish family, had an extensive education and had a successful career in the army. While serving in the military as a young man, he heard from a fellow officer/colleague about a newly founded religious group in the United States that was lead by a prophet into the Salt Lake Valley (Mexico at the time.) Intrigued by this bit of news, Meliton desired to learn more about the Mormon Church and sacrificed his career to go to Salt Lake City.

Melitón back when beards weren't
part of the hipster movement

After arriving in Zion and being taught the doctrine of Christ by Brother Blanchard, a teacher at Brigham Young Academy that spoke Spanish, Meliton was baptized in 1874, when he was 31 years old. Immediately after being baptized he began translating The Book of Mormon from English into Spanish. The first edition, “Los Trozos Selectos,” was incomplete but contained all the fundamental doctrines of Christ found in the following books: 1 Nephi, 2 Nephi, Omni, 3 Nephi and Mormon. 

With the first 2,000 copies of “Los Trozos Selectos” Meliton was in the group of men to open the first mission to Mexico in Chuichupa, Chihuahua. While serving in Mexico Melitón’s wife, Emily Jones, and four children joined him there as well. The mission to Mexico proved to be a very trying time as he lost important Church documents in the Mexican Revolution and was under custody for some time by some rebels, but at the same time his efforts allowed for many people to hear the good news of the Gospel. Meliton finished the first complete edition of The Book of Mormon in 1886 that was used as the primary translation until about 40 years ago. By living his life the way he did, thousands of people were and are able to learn more about Christ and the Restoration.

The Church's Second Chance- Spain's Religious Freedom

Although missionaries had served in Gibraltar and Melitón Gonzalez Trejo played a vital role in the Church's formation, Spain was still closed to other religions. In fact Spain didn't even have religious freedom! Everybody had to be Catholic and nothing more or less (Spain is still considered the "most Catholic" country in today's world). Finally in 1953 Dictador Franco luckily made a deal with President Eisenhower (the Franco-Eisenhower Agreement) to allow American troops to be stationed in four Spanish cities (Torrejon, Zaragoza, Sevilla and Cadiz) as a strategic defense against the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Although this doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Gospel, it was the first step for Spain to gain religious freedom.

Beautiful Catholic cathedral and bell tower in Sevilla

Initially Dictador Franco only allowed Catholic American soldiers to be stationed in Spain, but shortly afterward (1956) soldiers of all faiths were permitted—thus allowing for the first Mormons into the country since the Gibraltar mission. There were four American Mormons to begin with who could only spread the Gospel through example and through marriage to locals. Although there were very, very few Spaniards that were members of the Church, they had a great influence on the Church’s future in Spain. One woman in particular, María José Oliveida, would later prove to be a vital actor in the history of the Church.

The day June 28, 1967 proved to be an extremely important one in all of Spain, for it was when the Spanish Parliament finally allowed “religious freedom.” Now the Church could finally be recognized without oppression of the State! Shortly thereafter Howard W. Hunter and Gordon B. Hinckley (who were apostles at the time) visited Madrid to explore the situation in full detail, followed by members of the General Legal Counsel to the Church. Surprisingly enough, here is where my personal family history overlaps with Spanish Church History. My grandfather, Wilford (Bill) Kirton, was one of the lawyers called to investigate the legalities of getting the LDS Church established correctly and adequately under the recently passed Religious Liberty Law!

However the Spanish Parliament’s definition of “religious freedom” doesn’t quite mean that people can worship however they please. The government needed to be aware of how many members there were, where they were meeting, their funds, etc. Consequently, because the official meeting houses were affiliated with American airbases and were not “Spanish” property, the first petitions for recognition were rejected. It wasn’t until October of 1968—almost a year and a half after the declaration of the Religious Liberty Law—that the application was accepted due to the fact that María José Oliveida sent the application in her name with her own address. Now the Church to finally be recognized as a Spanish institution.

The Dedication of the Spain Mission

The dedication of Spain as an area to receive the fullness of the Gospel proved to be exceptional due to the circumstances. One thing that made it unique was the size of the event; Assemblies in public venues had to be kept at a maximum of twenty people unless those authorized had permits allowing more. Another was the location; The dedication took place outside in the Parque de la Casa del Campo, a public park very near the Palacio Real in the heart of Madrid. The whole event took place outside in the open. The last and most important aspect is the spirit that was present.

The chosen opening hymn of the program was “The Morning Breaks” written by Parley P. Pratt and George Careless. In my opinion, I don’t think that a better song could’ve been chosen for the event because of the message behind the hymn and how well it fit with what had been happening. The lyrics of the first verse are as followed:

“The morning breaks, the shadows flee;

Lo, Zion's standard is unfurled!

The dawning of a brighter day,

The dawning of a brighter day

Majestic rises on the world.”

The first line “the morning breaks, the shadows flee” takes on a new significance because it suggests that life beforehand was a perpetual night. As far as Spain goes, this night is lack of the Truth as well as the inability to believe what you wish to. I love the line “the shadows flee” because when I think of shadows I think of doubt or the inability to see something clearly due to obscurity. With the ability to spread the Restored Gospel came the opportunity to banish those shadows of doubt if there is a real God or the shadows of fear to believe something different. Obviously problems and doubts in Spain didn’t end with the dedication; Instead it brought “the dawning of a brighter day” and marked the beginning of a new era for Spain.

The First Missionaries of the 20th Century

Now that missionaries could come to Spain there arose a new question—Who on Earth would be the first to serve in Madrid?

Initially Church Headquarters went about the problem logically by deciding to pick missionaries to serve in Spain as zone of the France Mission that spoke Spanish very well and had a good amount of missionary experience. Consequently they asked the mission president of the Argentina mission, Elder Richard G. Scott, to select four young men that fit this merit-based description. Here are the following missionaries: Robert Hernandez, Clark Hinckley, Craig Ward and José Barco. 

LDS meeting house in Alcalá

Although I am positive that they were chosen by their success in Argentina, I think that they were also called for a more meaningful reason—their willingness to give up anything to serve the Lord. All of them had to sacrifice the comfort of having a well-established missionary setting to come to Madrid less than two weeks after the dedication where they literally had no clue what to expect. 

Since these missionaries weren’t certain what they were getting into, they came prepared to start from scratch. They brought excess hymnals and bibles to start up sacrament meetings, only to have the pleasant surprise of a branch thanks to the American Servicemen. After getting acquainted with the members they went to work without any close instruction or supervision. In Clark Hinckley’s record of the experience he says, “The four of us just picked a street, drew a line and said, ‘You take that side; We’ll take this side. Let’s go to work!’” The first converts baptized by the missionaries were Marisol Portomarín and her mother in a swimming pool.

Me with Sister Wright in Alcalá de Henares

Gradually more missionaries started trickling in as the months went by, which made way for the opening of several new areas, such as Sevilla and Barcelona. By the beginning of the new year 41 converts had been baptized as the fruit of the labor in the Lord’s vineyard.

As progress increased it became evident that an official Spain Mission needed to be organized independently of the France Mission. Consequently the Church called Brother R. Raymond Barnes and Sister Chloris Barnes from Utah to serve as the very first mission presidents. Upon receiving the call, the two prayed fervently and counseled with their five children to contemplate if it was the correct decision for them. Finally they accepted the challenging task and went straight to work in July 1970. By this time there were 36 missionaries serving in the following Spanish cities: Madrid, Sevilla, Cádiz and Barcelna. The Barnes family literally had nothing to go off of—they didn’t even have a place to stay. So they lived uncomfortably in José María Oliveida’s home--son of María José Oliveida (confusing, I know)-- until they found a permanent residence and office.

As the president of the mission of Spain, President Barnes needed very much to establish a good reputation and relationship with the government, which proved to be a challenging task. Turns out that the Religious Liberty Law didn’t allow for complete freedom, but required lots of supervision from the State. The clause that brought the most trouble went something like this: Any religion/ religious practices were acceptable within Spain except if they threaten or preach against the Catholic Church.

This clause brought up some problems. One specific example happened in Sevilla to the sister missionaries that had gone knocking on doors and came to an apartment where a maid opened the door. The maid seemed friendly and accepted a pamphlet, but admitted that the man of the home wasn’t available. A few days later the sisters stopped by the same house again hoping to see the man who lived there and got what they wanted. He invited them inside and then called the police to have them arrested for intimidating him in terms of his religion. The two sisters were put in custody and forced to sign some legal documents in order to be set free.

After events like this one President Barnes decided to try another way to solve the problem. He sent personalized letters to the government officials in the cities where missionaries were serving along with booklet information about the Church and some Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD’s. This turned out to be a very smart move because in general the government realized that the missionaries hadn’t come to destroy Spain, but to add to it. After that the Church slowly came to be on better terms with the State. 

When it came to the everyday Spaniards, it was a different story. A small group of four or five missionaries formed a band for folk and religious music called “Los Salt Lake City.” They performed in concerts and toured around Spain giving out free copies of The Book of Mormon and pamphlets about the LDS Church along with their CD recordings.

The Turning Point: Construction of the Madrid Temple

My friend Faith in front of Temple Square

Despite the wonderful progress and spreading of the Gospel throughout Spain, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints still had a negative connotation among Spaniards du to bad press. The Church was seen more of an American institution inside Spain instead of a truly Spanish one. To be a Spaniard and not be Catholic was an oxy-moron and by changing religions converts were considered traitors to their heritage. Luckily this was soon to change!
When President Hinckley became the Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the main focus of the expansion of the Gospel was centered upon building temples, one of which was the Madrid, Spain Temple.

Before the 1990’s, Spanish members and Church leaders highly doubted that a temple would be built in Spain any time in the near future mainly because of the Church’s financial and logistical policies concerning the building of new temples. Luckily the Church lifted the policies in order to have the ability to build temples where they are needed instead of where they can be financially supported.

After the policy change the First Presidency noticed the growth of the Church in both Portugal and Spain, and saw the need to build a temple in one of those two countries. But the question was—which one? So President Hinckley arranged two regional conferences to help him make a decision in February/March of 1992, one in Lisbon and the other in Madrid. The Spain regional conference was held in what was then the stadium for Real Madrid on March 7 and 8. Two days after this conference, the Spirit strongly prompted President Hinckley (who was a counselor to President Ezra Taft Benson at the time) that Spain was where the temple needed to be built, and so the work began!

In order to get official permission to build the temple the Church needed to somehow present itself before King Juan Carlos. Getting an appointment was surprisingly easier than anticipated. In August of 1978 (waaaay before any of this Madrid temple stuff) President Hinckley stayed in the same hotel in Santiago de Compostela as King Juan Carlos and was able to briefly and informally meet with him for a few moments. Although this seemed like a coincidence in the moment, it definitely wasn't because it allowed for the Restored Gospel to poke its head in Spain’s doorway and get President Hinckley a better chance at having another meeting.

Consequently on March 9, 1992 President Hinckley, Elder Ballard, Elder Condie (Area President) and Elder Faustino López (Madrid Stake President) were able to meet with King Juan Carlos in the Palacio de Zarazuela just outside of Madrid about building a temple in Spain. During the meeting the King realized that the LDS Church was no longer an American church inside Spain, but now was becoming a truly Spanish church instead because he met Elder Faustino López, a native Spaniard member. As the meeting concluded President Hinckley gave the King and Queen a beautifully leather bound copy of The Book of Mormon as a gift of gratitude for the meeting. Spain was now able to have a temple.

All of us students with Faustino López

With that all settled, another question arose-- where exactly should it be built? After scouting out possible cities, it became evident that Madrid would be the best due to its geographic location within the Iberian Peninsula. Should it be built in the busy city of Madrid or on the quiet outskirts? This caused some debate, but after driving in the country-side President Hinckley decided it would be most convenient for members coming from longer distances if the temple was in the heart of Madrid so that public transportation could be accessible.

So then he began looking at the plots of available land, but was disappointed with what he saw. Upon passing by a public soccer field owned by the State (aka it wasn't for sale), President Hinckley declared that it was the perfect place for the temple. It would take two more years to negotiate the purchase of the land. On June 11, 1996 the ground was broken for the Madrid Temple and construction began in July.

While the temple was being built, there was lots of press about the Church and beliefs of the members. Before the temple the articles of Mormons were cynical and harsh, calling us non-Christians and members of a cult. But the temple brought a great positive change in the hearts of the public view and marked the beginning of a more tolerant and accepting era. This proved to be a wonderful manifestation as 100,000 visitors came to view the Temple during the Open House and the porcelain company Lladró made figurines of Christ for the dedication of the Temple.

Lladró figurine of Christ

The Temple was dedicated in the presence of President Hinckley, President Monson and Elder Ballard almost three years after the groundbreaking on 19-21 of March 1999. King Juan Carlos was invited to come to both the Open House and the Dedication, but was unable due to protocol. As a result President Hinckley visited the Palacio de Zarazuela for a second time with President Monson, Elder Holland, President Somoza (Stake President) and Faustino López. This time President Hinckley gave the King and Queen a Lladró figurine of Christ and thanked them for allowing the Church to build a temple. In return the King Juan Carlos gave him "abrazo".

This hug proved to be very significant because it was a manifestation of Spain’s recognition and acceptance of the Restored Gospel.

The LDS Church in Spain Today

The Church is obviously still in its infancy, but the members are very strong and the missionaries are having lots of success. The ward in Alcalá reminds me of a ward at home as far as size and interaction goes, and there are members of all ages.

Me with Ricardo (left) and
Adrian (right) in the YSA center.

Fellow students with our sunday school teacher
Marta (second to last on the right)