The Church of Jesus Christ Celebrates 60 Years in Bolivia

From the Bolivia Newsroom

Latter-day Saints in Bolivia celebrated the 60th anniversary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in that South American country on Saturday, September 28.

Missionaries from the Church opened the Andes Mission in November 1964, baptizing the first convert that December.

The commemoration included a cultural celebration with Bolivian folk music and dances in traditional clothing organized by the seven Cochabamba stakes: Universidad, Sarco, Sacaba, Alalay, Aeropuerto, Blanco Galindo and Quillacollo. The stakes also set up information booths to answer questions about the Church, its history and programs like self-reliance that the Church offers.

“For me, it is wonderful how the Church has grown in these 60 years,” said Elder Carlos Velasco, an Area Seventy. “It has been a source of countless blessings for families and brothers and sisters, and it will continue to be so. I thank God very much for keeping Bolivia in mind and because the work with great men, leaders and families continues.”

Today, the Church has 225,140 members in 273 congregations in Bolivia.

The first temple in Bolivia was the Cochabamba Bolivia Temple, dedicated in 2000. Construction work is underway for the Santa Cruz Bolivia Temple, for which a groundbreaking ceremony was held June 8, 2024. Another temple is under construction in Santa Cruz. 

President Russell M. Nelson announced a third temple in La Paz was announced during the October 2021 general conference.