HUANCAYO, Peru — An Apostle has brought a message of faith and repentance to this city high in the Andes mountains. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles invited those in Huancayo, Peru, to prepare spiritually to regularly worship in the house of the Lord when it is built here.
“This is a phenomenal time to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Huancayo,” Elder Bednar said.
A house of the Lord was announced for Huancayo by President Russell M. Nelson during the October 2023 general conference. It will be the ninth house of the Lord in Peru.
The chapel and overflow rooms filled early in the Mantaro Peru Stake Center on Sunday, Aug. 25, for a stake conference that was broadcast to two other stakes in Huancayo — and many friends of the Church attended.
To those friends and neighbors, Elder Bednar outlined how the Savior, Jesus Christ, established His doctrine, authority, ordinances and covenants anciently.
“That same ancient church Christ established with the authority, the doctrine, and the covenants and ordinances is here again,” he said. “It is available to you in a world that grows increasingly dark; it is the greatest source of light. In a world that grows increasingly confused, it is the greatest source of understanding.”
To members of the Church, Elder Bednar outlined how repenting and keeping covenants made with Heavenly Father and His Son will bring power to their lives.
“Fill your life with discipleship, not darkness. If you need to repent, do it now. Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance. And when the house of the Lord has been dedicated here in Huancayo, you will know why to go — to make sacred covenants that will arm you with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory,” he said.
After the meeting, Maria del Carmen Colachagua Acosta from the Concepción Ward sat with tears in her eyes.
She felt answers to her prayers through the Holy Ghost and felt the love of Heavenly Father for her: “God is a god of many miracles,” she said.
When asked what she learned and how she will change, she answered, “Today I learned from Elder Bednar to obey God’s commandments and to listen to His servants — that it is the same.”
Her husband, Richar Enciso Toribio, felt a new desire to share the gospel with his neighbors. And he felt the power of Elder Bednar’s words, saying afterward, “We have to prepare ourselves to be inside the building, not only for the event and where it will be built or what it will look like,” he said.
Elder Bednar was accompanied by his wife, Sister Susan Bednar, and Elder Jorge T. Becerra, General Authority Seventy and president of the South America Northwest Area, and his wife, Sister Debbie I. Becerra.
Elder Becerra spoke about receiving divine protection by following the Prophet, paying tithing and taking the sacrament each week.
Sister Bednar shared how ministering sisters have blessed her life and how much she loves the calling of being a ministering sister.
“Ministering has brought joy into my life. It has helped me see things from a different perspective, and it has blessed me in ways I never could have imagined,” she said.
In a ministering opportunity on Saturday before the stake conference, Sister Bednar met with a few of the women leaders in Huancayo to learn from them about their Church callings and families.
The Bednars and the Becerras also met with three couples in a focus group before a Sunday afternoon devotional for married couples. One of the couples had a young baby who, at one point, started to cry — and although the mother started to leave the room, Elder Bednar entreated her to stay, saying a baby crying is a beautiful sound.
Faith, action and power
Youth ages 11 to 18, their parents and leaders from three stakes gathered on Friday, Aug. 23, for a face-to-face event that was also broadcast throughout Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia.
Elder and Sister Bednar and Elder and Sister Becerra answered questions from two youth hosts about identity, trials, covenants, prayer, dating, sharing the gospel, technology, modesty and more — while teaching the congregation about how the Holy Ghost teaches line upon line, precept upon precept.
“Faith in Christ is a principle of action and power,” Elder Bednar taught.
Maria Riveros, 22, from the Mantaro Peru Stake, believed Elder Bednar’s words that consistently acting in faith would lead her to receive more power from God.
When asked what the Holy Ghost taught her during the devotional, she said, “I can ask the Lord for things, but I also have to ask, ‘What does the Lord want from me?’”
This was the first time that Camila Jorge Ccanto, 13, from the Huancayo Perú El Valle Stake, has seen an Apostle — and she felt peace in her heart. Through a translator, she talked about the desire to have Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, in her life.
The Bednars and the Becerras spoke with two young men before the face-to-face event. Angel Ilizzaba Meza, 18, from the Huancayo Peru Stake, has been called to serve in the Ecuador Quito South Mission, and the conversation gave him answers he was seeking.
“It was beautiful. You could feel the Spirit when talking with them, and the peace of the Lord,” he said.
With him was Jerik Rentaría Lozano, 17, from the El Valle stake, who said that the opportunity gave him things to change in his life. “It was an amazing experience, especially talking with one of the Twelve Apostles. I felt like he understood my needs, and he helped me in the conversation that we had.”
Patterns of learning from the Holy Ghost
During his time with full-time missionaries in the Peru Huancayo Mission on Saturday, Aug. 24, Elder Bednar showed them a pattern of how to learn from and teach by the power of the Holy Ghost.
For Elder Mijael Chambi, from La Paz, Bolivia, learning how to listen to the Spirit changed the way he paid attention. “I learned more about hearing things that are not said. It was the most powerful part of the meeting.”
Elder Cameron Archer, from Sandy, Utah, said he felt that he needed to teach with the Spirit more: “I am not the teacher; it is the Holy Ghost who helps convert people to the Lord. If we want to bring our friends to the gospel, I need to testify with the Spirit.”
Elder Paul Koch, from Logan, Utah, said he realized how much his consistent efforts count. “If we are trying to do His will, He will bless us and guide us.”
Elder Bedar invited the missionaries to bear pure testimony to those they are teaching — to declare what they know to be true. This will make them more effective servants of the Lord.
“A testimony is a declaration of what you know to be true by the power of the Holy Ghost,” Elder Bednar said. “It is the most potent spiritual tool you have. No one can argue against and no one can refute a pure testimony.”
Meeting with Huancayo city officials
On Friday, the streets of Huancayo — a city at 3,256 meters (10,692 feet) above sea level — were filled with groups celebrating the Fiesta de San Roque. Traditional clothing, bright music and market booths provided a backdrop as Elder Bednar met with city officials.
During their conversation, Elder Bednar spoke with Huancayo’s general manager, Cristhian Velita Espinoza, about a house of the Lord coming to the city.
Though it will be called the Huancayo Peru Temple, Elder Bednar explained that “house of the Lord” is a more accurate name because it refers to the Savior Jesus Christ.
Velita presented Elder Bednar with a key to the city, and Elder Bednar gave Velita a copy of the Book of Mormon. Elder Becerra spoke about how the Book of Mormon includes a record of how the Savior had come to the American continent.
Elder Bednar will continue his ministry in other cities in Peru this week, but he left Church members in Huancayo a promise to return and a powerful blessing.
“I invoke this blessing upon you, that through your study, through your prayer, you will more fully understand what it means to be one of the covenant people of the Lord,” he said. “I promise you will be armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.”
