BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met with Argentine President Javier Milei on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at the Casa Rosada — the presidential palace in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“The meeting with the president was marvelous,” Elder Cook said, adding that they discussed a variety of topics, and he was “very warm and very gracious.”
“We were quite frank with him that we felt like we have been given a wonderful gift in this country as a result of its dedication a century ago.”
Elder Cook was accompanied by Elder Joaquin E. Costa, General Authority Seventy and president of the South America South Area; Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square President Michael O. Leavitt; and Church hosting director Gordon H. Smith.
Elder Cook was in Buenos Aires the week of Aug. 18-24 with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for their “Songs of Hope” tour and celebrating the 100th anniversary of missionary work beginning in South America.
Elder Melvin J. Ballard, an Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sailed to Argentina in 1925. On Christmas Day, he and his companions went to Tres de Febrero Park in Buenos Aires, and Elder Ballard offered a prayer to dedicate all of South America for the preaching of the gospel.
“I love the fact that in the dedicatory prayer, Elder Melvin J. Ballard had a whole paragraph blessing the heads of state and that there would be relationships with them and that they would bless the people,” Elder Cook said.
Elder Cook also told President Milei that the choir was in his country to say “thank you.”
The meeting with the president was one of several meetings they had with government, business, community and faith leaders during the week. The Church’s anniversary was also recognized in the Argentine Senate earlier in the week.
“We sustain leaders, and we want to have relationships with them, and we want to understand some of their objectives,” Elder Cook said. “There are opportunities, particularly on the humanitarian side of things, where we can work together. Doing good in the world is something we do because we love the Savior and follow Him.”
Earlier in the week, Elder Cook, Elder Costa, President Leavitt and President Gary B. Porter, second counselor in the Tabernacle Choir presidency, attended a meeting on Monday, Aug. 18, at the American Chamber of Commerce in Argentina in Buenos Aires that included several human resource managers from local companies.
Jorge Romeu, the South America South Area’s welfare and self-reliance manager, presented on how the Church helps youth and young adults with educational opportunities, including BYU–Pathway and the Perpetual Education Fund.
Memorial in Tres de Febrero Park
After several days of rain, the weather cleared enough for a visit on Thursday, Aug. 21, to Tres de Febrero Park, where a stone marker with a plaque describes Elder Ballard’s Christmas Day 1925 dedicatory prayer.
Standing in the park, Elder Cook said his thoughts went to the late President M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and grandson of Elder Melvin J. Ballard. President Ballard was acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles when he died in November 2023 at the age of 95.
“President M. Russell Ballard loved this spot where his grandfather had, in such a beautiful way, extended the dedication for all of South America from this spot in Argentina,” Elder Cook said, noting it was an emotional experience to be in the park thinking of President Ballard, his grandfather and events that happened there.
The plaque notes that President Ballard offered a dedicatory prayer in the park for Argentina in February 2014.
Elder Cook was accompanied by his wife, Sister Mary Cook; members of the South America South Area presidency, Elder Costa and his counselors, Elder Alan R. Walker and Elder Eduardo Gavarret, both General Authority Seventies, and their wives, Sister Renee Costa, Sister Ines Walker and Sister Norma Gavarret; the Tabernacle Choir presidency, President Leavitt and his counselors, President L. Whitney Clayton and President Porter, and their wives, Sister Jacalyn Leavitt, Sister Kathy Clayton and Sister Debbie Porter; and Gordon Smith and his wife, Sharon Smith. Elder Cook was at the unveiling of the monument in November 2015.
With the expansion of a nearby restaurant, the marker is behind a fence, and there are plans to move it to a different place in the park.
There are 4.1 million Latter-day Saints currently residing across South America.
