dedication

This headline appeared in the Church News yesterday:

Elder M. Russell Ballard: 'Day of the sons, daughters of Lehi is blossoming'

Elder Ballard offers blessing on nation of Argentina

The article is available on the link below.

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/64501/Elder-M-Russell-Ballard-Day-of-the-sons-daughters-of-Lehi-is-blossoming.html

This dedication actually happened several weeks ago, but we were asked to wait until it was officially announced by the church before we shared the news with others.

Anyone who reads this blog regularly will know what an important place this has been for us as a mission. To be invited to attend this event was an incredible opportunity. The original dedication in Argentina was for the preaching of the gospel in the land of South America. In the intervening years, every country has received its own dedicatory prayer. The news article states:

Elder Ballard dedicated the land of Argentina and promised a blessing on the country. Although there may have been an Apostle’s earlier dedication, there is no record of such in the Church. Elder Ballard said “it was a great honor for me to dedicate and record a blessing for Argentina”.

 

“The work (in South America) will go forth slowly for a time just as the oak grows slowly from an acorn. It will not shoot up in a day as does the sunflower that grows quickly and thus dies. Thousands will join here. It will be divided into more than one mission and will be one of the strongest in the Church. The work here is the smallest that it will ever be. The day will come when the Lamanites here in South America will get the chance. The South American Mission will become a power in the Church.”

The ongoing fulfillment of Elder Melvin J. Ballard’s prophecy remains one of the miracles of the restored Church. Today there are some 4.5 million members living in South America. Fourteen temples operate on all ends of the continent — from Caracas to Buenos Aires — and several more are being built.