Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met with the president of Peru, President Keiko Fujimori Higuchi, as part of a ministry tour in the South American country on Thursday, Aug. 27, at the Government Palace in Lima, Peru.
The two leaders discussed the importance of being peacemakers in an increasingly divided world.
“Peacemaking is so important,” Elder Stevenson said. “We approach peacemaking first in our hearts. Each of us as Heavenly Father’s children need to have the spirit of peacemaking in our hearts, then in homes and families. As we practice there, peacemaking will spread into our neighborhoods and communities.”
Elder Stevenson said any government leader in the world today is hopeful to find people who will strive to be peacemakers. “We teach members of our Church to strive to become peacemakers,” he said.
Fujimori shared some of her government’s priorities for addressing the needs of her citizens, according to a news release on the Church’s Peru Newsroom.
The two also discussed how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has worked to improve child nutrition in various parts of Peru, in collaboration with other institutions and the country’s Ministry of Health. The Church has supported UNICEF Peru to help children and babies receive care in the regions of Huancavelica, Loreto, Ucayali and Lima.
Elder Stevenson was accompanied by Elder Juan Pablo Villar, a General Authority Seventy and president of the South America Northwest Area, and Guillermo Estrugo, area communications and publications director.
“It was a very warm conversation in terms of expressing the needs of the country and how we can support each other,” Elder Villar said.
As part of the visit, Elder Stevenson presented a copy of the Book of Mormon to President Fujimori and explained its significance as another testament of Jesus Christ.
Elder Villar also explained that the Book of Mormon contains the account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and describes Jesus Christ’s visit to the American continent after His Resurrection.
Promoting peacemaking around the world
In June 2025, Elder Stevenson met with Uruguay’s vice president, Carolina Cosse, during a ministry visit to several South American countries.
In November 2025, Elder Stevenson also spoke to representatives from cities around the United States who gathered in Salt Lake City for a National League of Cities summit about the power of peacemaking and service.
Humility and courage “can transform cities,” he said. Being peacemakers “affirms that we see each other as neighbors, not enemies. We need vision and a willingness to bring people together. We can lead with compassion, we can act with conviction.”
The Church in Peru
Missionary work began in Peru in 1956. On Jan. 1 of that year, Frederick S. Williams — a former mission president in Argentina and Uruguay — moved to Peru with his family. He contacted Church headquarters for permission to organize a branch and begin missionary work.
A branch in Lima was subsequently organized on July 8, 1956, and four missionaries soon arrived on Aug. 7.
The Andes Mission, headquartered in Lima, was established on Nov. 1, 1959. There were 300 Church members and five branches at the time.
Today, more than 667,000 Latter-day Saints reside in over 800 wards and branches in Peru. It’s the country with the fifth most Latter-day Saint stakes.
There are 10 temples in Peru in various stages of operation and planning.
Four of those have been dedicated: the Lima Peru Temple (in 1986), Trujillo Peru Temple (2015), Arequipa Peru Temple (2019) and Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple (2024).
Three temples planned for the country have site locations: the Cusco (announced 2022), Iquitos (2023) and Piura (2023) temples. A groundbreaking date has been set for the Iquitos temple.
That leaves three more planned for Peru that don’t yet have site locations: for Chiclayo (announced 2022), Huancayo (2023) and Chorrillos (2025).
