The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) (Spanish: La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días) has had a presence in Mexico since 1874. Mexico has the largest body of LDS Church members outside of the United States. Membership grew nearly 30% between 2011 and 2021. In the 2010 Mexican census, 314,932 individuals self-identified most closely to the LDS Church.
History
Immigrating to Alta California and the Mormon Battalion
When the Latter-day Saint settlers arrived in the Intermountain West in 1847 and established early communities, like Salt Lake City and Bountiful, Utah, they were settling in Alta California (a federal territory of Mexico). It was during the following year that the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed and ratified, ending the Mexican-American War and making the territory where Latter-day Saints had settled part of the United States. The main reason that the Latter-day Saints settled in Alta California was to live in an area where they could govern themselves independently.
During the Mexican-American War, the Latter-day Saints participated by enlisting the Mormon Battalion, a group of over 500 volunteers who served as a unit of the United States military. Their primary purposes in enlisting were to build a good relationship with the United States government (in case the U.S. won the war and gained control of the territory) and to earn some income to support their emigration. The Mormon Battalion saw no combat with Mexican troops, but did take part in a brief occupation of Tucson, guarded the Luiseño people in the aftermath of the Temecula massacre, and occupied San Diego until they were discharged. Concerns about their potential reception as a result of the Mormon Battalion's involvement in the Mexican-American War may have contributed to the decision to send missionaries, including Parley P. Pratt, to Chile in 1851 rather than to Mexico as the first proselyting efforts in Latin America.
Early missionary efforts
The first missionaries from the LDS Church to Mexico were called during the late summer and early fall of 1875, shortly after Daniel W. Jones and Meliton Gonzalez Trejo had begun to translate portions of the Book of Mormon into Spanish. This initial scouting mission consisted of a handful of men who journeyed through Arizona to the Mexican state of Chihuahua, lasting ten months. These first missionaries did not perform any baptisms; church president Brigham Young had instructed them to merely observe the conditions of the country in order to determine if their preaching would be effective.
In 1876, Young sent six missionaries to Mexico and instructed them to contact and preach to the Yaqui in Northern Mexico. This group consisted of Helaman Pratt, Meliton Gonzalez Trejo, Louis Garff, George Terry, James Z. Stewart, and his brother Isaac. A few of these missionaries found success in Hermosillo, and Jose Epifanio Jesus was baptized on May 20, 1877, becoming the first official member of the church in Mexico. Jose Severo Rodriguez, Maria de la Cruz Pasos, Cruz Parra, and Jose Vicente Parra were all baptized a few days later on May 24.
Following the death of Brigham Young in 1877, missionary efforts in Mexico were halted, until in 1879 when missionaries were again sent to Mexico City. The first person baptized by missionaries in Mexico City was Dr. Plotino Rhodakanaty, a prominent Mexican anarchist and socialist figure. Rhodakanaty had come across a Mormon doctrinal tract in 1875 which so impressed him that he wrote a letter to the First Presidency, requesting that additional materials and missionaries be sent to him in Mexico City. By the end of 1879, sixteen converts had been baptized and joined the church in Mexico City, in large part due to the influence of Dr. Rhodakanaty. In 1880, Desideria Quintanar de Yáñez became the first woman in Mexico City to join the church. Missionary work in central Mexico continued until 1889, when all missionaries were withdrawn due to the strong opposition to foreign ministers following La Reforma.